E-week

01 Tesla’s Solar Shingles and Powerpack Energy Storage System Debut

On October 28th, Tesla unveiled a house roof equipment which has the function of both solar panels and roofs. The solar shingles can be used for energy storage and generation, and are bonded to the roof.

Tesla designed four different types of shingles with different appearances and textures, and used them to renovate four houses, presenting a small picture of their envisioned renewable energy life to the world: driving a Tesla electric car and living in a house that can charge and generate electricity. Supporting this type of housing energy is the Powerwall 2, a home energy storage system.

At the conference, Musk said that as long as the three major conditions of safety, aesthetics, economy, and high integration are met, the model of a solar roof, a energy storage system, and an electric car can be promoted worldwide. He also promised that the service life of the solar roof will be 2 to 3 times longer than that of traditional tiles, and the cost will definitely be lower than that of traditional roof design. If this is true, it is obvious that solar roofs already have the conditions to be promoted globally. However, these tiles will not be produced until next summer, so we’ll have to wait and see.

The significance of the Powerwall 2.0 is not just a home energy storage system, it is also an important part of Tesla’s plans to deploy renewable energy electric grids on a global scale. Tesla has previously announced a large-scale energy storage system, Powerpack 2.0, which costs less than traditional power stations, cable equipment, and power plants, but has better power and power density, and has more accurate control interfaces. This allows public power supply equipment to have better management and energy distribution, improving the performance and efficiency of public power grids. With the release of the home energy storage system, Tesla’s vision for promoting new energy infrastructure is now quite comprehensive.# Tesla finally made a profit

Little EV Comment: Tesla is not just ambitious and impulsive. On the road of advocating a new energy lifestyle, they are quite practical. Look, they even consider model houses. However, they also released a large number of product plans, which makes people feel a bit overwhelmed and lacking focus. Of course, I guess Tesla has Plan A and Plan B for the future of humanity. The specific content of Plan A is to gradually migrate to Mars through civilian rockets and spacecraft. If this ambitious plan fails, at least the global intelligent power grid laid out for the sake of Plan B can ensure that humans live a relatively low-polluting life with self-sufficient energy.

In the third quarter of 2016, Tesla achieved its first profit in three years. In this quarter, Tesla’s final new car shipments were 24,821 units, a 114% increase from the same period last year. Among them, 16,047 were Model S models, and 8,774 were Model X models. Tesla’s automotive revenue in the third quarter reached 2.298 billion US dollars, a 145% increase from the same period last year. The net profit was 21.9 million US dollars. In contrast, the net loss in the same period last year was 230 million US dollars.

Tesla is also quite optimistic about its business expectations for the fourth quarter. However, analysts in the industry believe that in the third quarter, Tesla made a profit of 139 million US dollars by selling carbon emissions credits to other companies, and there is news that Tesla will reduce the proportion of this business in the fourth quarter, which may affect its final revenue.

03 Comma One is suspended

George Hotz recently released comma.ai’s first official product, comma one, a $999 autonomous driving assistance system. However, just a few weeks after its launch, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration raised a series of questions and demanded that comma.ai provide detailed instructions and specific samples for the installation and use of the product, as well as provide specific plans related to production and sales to prove that the product complies with relevant safety regulations. George Hotz refused to negotiate with government agencies, gave up comma one, and will develop a new project.

George Hotz’s product gained industry attention because of Tesla. Prior to this, George Hotz had revealed his email correspondence with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, revealing that Tesla had offered him an expensive contract to develop an autonomous driving system, but he rejected the offer and started his own company, announcing that he would develop a product that would turn ordinary cars into autonomous driving cars at the end of 2016 for less than $1,000.

There are reports that George Hotz even made a bet with Musk, planning to use a Comma One-equipped Acura to defeat the Model S equipped with an autonomous driving system, and the two agreed to meet on the Los Angeles 405 freeway and upload the video of the race. It can be seen that George Hotz has great confidence in his product. This genius hacker, who is known for cracking the iPhone, claimed that the autonomous driving function of comma one was comparable to that of Tesla’s autonomous driving system, and that you could experience the fun of autonomous driving for less than $1,000. He originally planned to develop a product that would match more car models, but it has now become a thing of the past.

Commentary: It’s a pity for a product that one is truly confident in to be abandoned due to the reason that “it is not worth it to devote one’s life to developing extraordinary technology rather than dealing with regulatory agencies and lawyers. If there is no focus on the real interests of humanity, but only on the obsession with technological development, the true significance of new technology is limited.”

Audi Withdraws from Le Mans Endurance Race and Focuses on Formula E Electric Racing.

Recently, Audi announced that it will launch a new racing strategy and withdraw from the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race, focusing on Formula E electric racing.

The Le Mans 24-hour endurance race is one of the world’s three major automotive events. Audi has achieved brilliant results since the first time in 1999, winning 13 championships. Therefore, the announcement of Audi’s withdrawal from Le Mans is a regrettable event for fans.

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said in a statement: “Electric technology is increasingly being applied in Audi production cars. As a brand that pioneers new technology, Audi must make this decision. Racing departments, as Audi’s vanguard, are even more so.”

The industry generally believes that this is a strategic adjustment made by Volkswagen affected by the diesel gate.

02 Former GM President Criticizes Tesla: Fanatical Religious Fanatics

Just before Tesla released its third-quarter business report, CNBC interviewed former GM CEO Bob Lutz, who made a lot of criticism against Tesla.

Bob Lutz seems to be quite dissatisfied with Tesla. He said, “Tesla supporters are like fanatical religious fanatics. Just like the worship Steve Jobs received at Apple, Elon Musk is the same. He is regarded as a newly born visionary god, and promises to change the uncertain future and achieve high profit and high sales in the utopian world.” However, Jobs created something, and Musk created nothing but deteriorating funding conditions and low profits.” He also said that even if Tesla’s production capacity is tripled or quadrupled, the cars sold will not make any money if the cost of personnel, production materials, and operations cannot be adjusted.

Small comment: This former CEO seems to have a negative attitude towards the overall development of the electric vehicle industry, with many obvious bugs in his words. However, to be honest, whether the R&D costs of Tesla’s products can decrease with the delivery of mass-produced products such as Model 3 is a big issue. I think of Fan Ye’s words: withstand great praise, withstand great criticism. Little Musk, the editor is optimistic about you!

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This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.