The Auto Xone

By Joey Klender Posted on January 16, 2025 SpaceX completed its seventh launch of Starship on Thursday, accomplishing a clean liftoff and catch of the first-stage booster. However, the upper stage was lost after its ascent. The launch took place just a few minutes after 5 p.m. on the East Coast, as the first attempts at getting Starship in the air for the seventh time were delayed by weather both last week and this week . Conditions were favorable on Thursday as SpaceX looked to follow up a successful campaign by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s company, earlier today. SpaceX went into the seventh Starship launch with plans for a catch attempt of the first-stage booster, something it attempted and completed during the fifth test launch last year. It decided to skip a catch attempt with the sixth test flight as conditions were not aligned. For now, SpaceX is extremely selective as to when it attempts catches. However, it was successful during this attempt, it...

Image: Voltpost The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation’s Communities Taking Charge Accelerator has awarded $43.7 million to 25 innovative EV charging projects across the US. The Communities Taking Charge Accelerator was launched on April 16, 2024, and the funding comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The three main goals of the funding are to expand access to electrified mobility options for folks who don’t have access to home charging, accelerate opportunities for fleet electrification, and improve and advance managed charging systems to mitigate impacts and optimize usage of the grid. On January 15, 25 project awardees were announced that impact 23 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Challenges that the projects will address include: Solving for no-home charging. Not everyone has a driveway or garage to charge their EVs, e-bikes, or scooters. Projects are testing creative solutions like curbside chargers, multifamily charging setups, an...

By Joey Klender Posted on January 14, 2025 Tesla bull Wedbush weighed the potential of CEO Elon Musk buying social media platform TikTok, which is set to be banned in the United States in less than a week. Some are speculating that Musk could be an ideal buyer, as he has already purchased one platform in Twitter, which he changed to X. Last evening, a report from  Bloomberg stated that sources close to the matter said China was mulling Musk as a potential buyer of the platform to keep it running in the U.S. With t he stories persisting and many looking at how Musk could purchase the platform , Wedbush’s Dan Ives published a note on Tuesday morning driving home the idea that the Tesla frontman being at the helm of TikTok could make sense: “Given the strong and growing alliance between Trump and Musk this is not a total shock route as behind the scenes the Trump White House is looking at alternatives if the Supreme Court upholds the ban. In addition, ...

By Joey Klender Posted on January 13, 2025 Tesla has been snubbed for the second time by the Biden Administration for funding that would help build out an electric vehicle charging corridor on the West Coast for EV semi-trucks. It is the second time the Biden White House has denied Tesla funding for the corridor, a project it is working on with California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). In total, 49 applicants won $636 million from the Department of Transportation in this round of funding requests. Tesla was not on the list of recipients, and the SCAQMD confirmed to  TechCrunch that the two companies had once again applied for funding during this round. Tesla requested funding from the government in 2023 as a part of the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) program, which was part of the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal that was signed in 2021. In 2024, the first request from Tesla and SCAQMD was de...

The first all-electric Jeep and Dodge models have officially landed in the US. Although later than planned, Jeep and Dodge EVs are now arriving at US dealerships. Jeep and Dodge EVs are hitting US dealerships Stellantis is preparing for an all-out EV blitz in 2025 with the first electric Jeep, Dodge, and Ram Truck models rolling out. Although Jeep and Dodge were expected to have EVs on dealership lots by the end of 2024, software issues forced Stellantis to push it back. For the electric Charger, it was “90%-plus, 95%-plus” getting the software fixed. “The last few months, we have been tweaking all of the software to get the best drive experience, the best charge experience, the best customer experience,” Dodge CEO, Matt McAlear told The Detroit News at the Detroit Auto Show. McAlear said about 100 Dodge Charger Daytona EV models arrived at US dealerships on Friday. Bob Broderorf, head of Jeep North America, explained that the delays in the Jeep Wagoneer S, the brand’s first g...

By Zachary Visconti Posted on January 11, 2025 Labor efforts continue against Tesla in Sweden, as the company faces strikes and sympathy strikes from multiple of the country’s largest unions that have now lasted well over a year. In recent months, these strikes have prevented Tesla’s buyers in the country from receiving their license plates directly from the transportation agency, along with stopping newly built Supercharger stations from being energized. Tesla has been pursuing legal action for both of these issues, though Sweden’s long-standing history with a highly unionized workforce has some union and government officials scratching their heads as to why the company won’t sign a collective bargaining agreement. Originally approved by IF Metall, the country’s largest automotive and metalworkers union, the strikes have rippled into other major unions, including the government worker-focused Fackförbundet ST, and the Svenska Elektrikerförbundet (SEF) unio...

Yolo County, California depends on its climate for continued agricultural success. As such, the county’s leaders are taking environmental stewardship seriously by aiming for full carbon neutrality by 2030. To help achieve that goal, they’re putting zero-emission machinery like the Volvo DD25 Electric compactor to work. We got our first chance to sample the DD25 Electric at Volvo Days last summer , where the all-electric tandem roller’s vibrating drums impressed dealers and end users alike. It was no surprise, then, that when Yolo Country fleet superintendent, Ben Lee, when shopping for a compactor the DD25 Electric was high on his list. “The DD25 Electric will help us achieve our goals in several ways,” explains Lee. “By reducing emissions, lowering noise levels, being more energy-efficient, improving working conditions and promoting environmentally friendly practices … we’ll use it to compact soil, gravel and other base materials for road and foundation projects, as well as rollin...

By Joey Klender Posted on January 10, 2025 Tesla’s ( NASDAQ: TSLA ) Full Self-Driving suite and forecasted deliveries for the year have made way for Deutsche Bank analysts to push the company’s price target up $50, while maintaining a Buy rating on shares. On Friday, analysts at the firm cited both Full Self-Driving improvements and projections for deliveries thanks to new models as reasons for the price target boost. As it sits, Deutsche Bank has a price target of $420 per share due to these developments, up from $370. Analysts said: “Tesla’s valuation is now clearly embedding a higher degree of success for robotaxi based on our multi-modal framework.” In the note, they cited FSD v13 showing “significant improvements” and the potential of Robotaxi service being launched in Texas and California by the end of the year as two major points of emphasis on this side of their argument. Watch Tesla’s FSD v13.2 navigate away from park in a tricky situation ...

Image: WindEurope Wind energy powered 20% of all electricity consumed in Europe (19% in the EU) in 2024, and the EU has set a goal to grow this share to 34% by 2030 and more than 50% by 2050. To stay on track, the EU needs to install 30 GW of new wind farms annually, but it only managed 13 GW in 2024 – 11.4 GW onshore and 1.4 GW offshore. This is what’s holding the EU back from achieving its wind growth goals. Three big problems holding Europe’s wind power back Europe’s wind power growth is stalling for three key reasons: Permitting delays. Many governments haven’t implemented the EU’s new permitting rules, making it harder for projects to move forward. Grid connection bottlenecks. Over 500 GW(!) of potential wind capacity is stuck in grid connection queues. Slow electrification. Europe’s economy isn’t electrifying fast enough to drive demand for more renewable energy. Brussels-based trade association WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson summed it up: “The EU must urgently tackle...

By Joey Klender Posted on January 8, 2025 Tesla has officially appealed the decision against paying CEO Elon Musk the $56 billion pay package that shareholders approved on two separate occasions. Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick denied Musk the right to obtain the massive pay twice, with the most recent decision coming in December. Musk was initially granted the pay package in 2018 by shareholders, who agreed that he could obtain the substantial sum after achieving several lofty growth metrics the company had set for itself. Last year, McCormick officially denied Musk the opportunity to collect after a small-time shareholder took Tesla to court over the pay package, and won. In an effort to rectify the compensation, Tesla shareholders voted overwhelmingly in support of Musk getting paid. McCormick decided in December 2024 that she would uphold her ruling. Tesla CEO Elon Musk denied $56bn pay package once again by Delaware judge Tesla...

A judge has officially approved a settlement in a case brought by Tesla shareholders against board members who will now have to return stock, cash, and give up on stock options worth a total of nearly $1 billion. Let me start this article with a quote from Tesla CEO Elon Musk: Tesla will never settle a case where we’re in the right, and never contest a case where we’re in the wrong. Today, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick approved a settlement agreement between Tesla and all its board members from 2017 to 2020 and the Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit on behalf of Tesla shareholders over what the shareholders believed to be excessive compensation. The agreement was first reported in July 2023 , but it is only now being officially approved and we learn a few more details. Shareholders believed that members of Tesla’s board were compensating themselves excessively with hundreds of millions of dollars between 2017 and 2020 when the average compensation of a b...

By Zachary Visconti Posted on January 7, 2025 Elon Musk has confirmed SpaceX’s plans to delay its next Starship test launch, after it was initially aiming to perform the reusable ship’s sixth liftoff this week. During a livestream on X on Tuesday, Musk said that Starship’s seventh launch would be delayed “three or four days,” noting that it would now be set for “probably sometime next week.” The update comes after SpaceX was originally aiming to launch Starship for its seventh flight on Friday, after the company launched the craft a sixth time in November , and as the company aims to significantly increase launches this year. SpaceX has been holding a backup window for the launch running through January 16, so we could see it rescheduled for anytime between Monday and Thursday next week. READ MORE ON SPACEX: SpaceX discusses $1.6B Starlink deal with Italian government Crucially, the seventh launch is also set to be the first time SpaceX has attempted ...

It looks like GM is preparing for a new rival electric SUV to arrive in the US. Jeep’s upcoming Recon EV was just caught outside GM’s Detroit headquarters. What’s going on? Jeep Recon EV spotted outside GM headquarters Although the first all-electric Jeep, the Wagoneer S, will be at US dealerships any day, the brand’s second EV is generating even more excitement. Jeep’s upcoming Recon EV is “inspired by the legendary Wrangler.” In its tradition, the electric SUV will have options like removable doors and windows for that open-air feel. Former Jeep CEO Christian Meunier claimed it can even cross the Rubicon trail, reaching the end of it with “enough range to drive to town and recharge.” Leading up to its debut, we’ve seen Recon prototypes out in public testing several times. The closer it gets to production, the more it looks like a Ford Bronco. Most recently, Jeep’s new Recon EV was caught outside of GM headquarters in Detroit. The spotting by Kindelauto suggests GM could be b...

By Zachary Visconti Posted on January 5, 2025 Tesla had record electric vehicle (EV) sales in China for the last month of the year and an increase in sales for the full year, again solidifying the world’s largest automotive market as an important one for the U.S. company. On Friday, Tesla China reported that its 2024 EV sales rose 8.8 percent year over year to more than 657,000 vehicles, while the company’s global deliveries fell slightly by 1.1 percent to over 1.79 million (via Reuters ). Tesla’s sales in China also jumped 12.8 percent in December from the previous month, landing a record monthly high of over 83,000 vehicles delivered. Sales in the market made up 36.7 percent of Tesla’s full-year deliveries, and the company globally outpaced EV sales from China-based automaker BYD, which sold 1.76 million battery-electric units globally for a year-over-year increase of 12.1 percent. READ MORE ON TESLA CHINA: Tesla China ends Q4’s last full week with 18,...

Bosch eBike Systems plans to announce something new at CES 2025, perhaps related to advances in its electric bicycle battery technology. A cryptic teaser video gives a taste of what’s to come. In the video seen below, a Bosch PowerPack 800 e-bike battery can be seen along with the words “Protect what is valuable” on either side of the battery. The clues could lead in several directions, potentially relating to the battery’s safety or to advances in theft prevention. [embedded content] Is Bosch unveiling potted e-bike batteries? One potential theory centers around the possibility of Bosch unveiling potted batteries, a design that encases the internal components and battery cells in resin or other solid protective materials. This construction method is highly valued for its resistance to water, shocks, and vibrations, making it ideal for mountain bikers and commuters who ride in challenging environments. While the concept is not new, it is still uncommon in the electric bicycl...