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BMW, Nissan and Tesla to Develop Universal Charging Network?
Now that Tesla has tentatively opened some of its intellectual properties (IP) to the competition and that we have some insight as to its motives, who else wants to benefit from this strategy?
Tesla welcomes the competition
Welcoming the competition might seem like a bold and dramatic move, but it is one Elon Musk has carefully planned. In the past articles, we visited what it means to open some of the company’s IP to the competition, and asked what does Tesla Motors mean by “good faith” use. We also saw this is a strategic move to once and for all cement Tesla’s role at the core of the electric vehicle (EV) industry. It also gives it a chance for its charging protocol to become a de facto standard.
BMW and Nissan
BMW has demonstrated a willingness to step into the 22nd Century, leaping over its local German competition. It has dabbled with the idea of selling directly, but is careful not to rock the boat. The matter of the fact is that BMW needs other carmakers more than Tesla does in terms of manufacturing. Case in point, its partnership with Toyota, which gives it more production capacity. BMW also gains much of a strategic alliance with Tesla.
Nissan is the next logical choice. Already at the forefront of EVs with its best selling Nissan LEAF, which stands for Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable, Family car, it built and sold more electric cars than any other company in history.
Tesla already announced last week that it had a meeting with BMW, who showed great interest. BMW is working hard to make its “ultimate driving” electric machines not only fun to drive, but feasible. And serious, BMW is. BMW bought its own carbon fiber manufacturing company and developed a sophisticated resign carbon fiber tub for its electric i3 and the stunning plug-in hybrid (PHEV) i8. I was fortunate to interview Benoit Jacobs, the head designer of the iDrive team, who revealed the gist was to have static air flow control with no electronics. Every curve and line are functional on both the i8 and i3, from the static upper windshield spoiler to the dramatic rear air diffusers. Benoit told me he wanted static aerodynamics, not electronic automation. One glance at the i8 and we can say they achieved something the Germans are not always known for, dramatic beauty. Now the real work rests on batteries and electronics, something Tesla does brilliantly.
The only problem BMW has, as well as an other recent EV I tested on CarNewsCafe is the (in)famous Combined Charging Standard (CCS) plug. CCS stations are far and few between compared to more readily available CHAdeMO, with more than 1,000 globally and the Superchargers, 100 globally. Nissan uses CHAdeMO and enjoys many more locations than CCS, but it, too, has never developed a charging network.
How come electric carmakers don’t build charging networks?
One of the many question we, journalists, ask EV makers is why they haven’t actively built a charging infrastructure like Tesla? There are many reasons, most about keeping their core competencies and ROI balanced for survival. Both BMW and Nissan would benefit tapping into Tesla’s technology and hopefully shift the power away from the idiotic charging standard war dividing manufacturers, leaving consumers to pay the price once more. If BMW and Nissan adopt Tesla’s charging protocol, the industry inexorably tilts toward a unified charging standard, leaving the CHAdeMO versus CCS battle a vestige of yesterday’s knuckle-dragging battle techniques behind. Did I make that last point strongly enough? Now imagine how the rest of carmakers and the charging industry feels.
Image source: Autoguide
Elon Musk flew under the radar with his recent purchase of a $1 billion energy company, according to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) documents.
Transaction number 202612350 listed Tesla and SpaceX frontman Elon Musk as the acquiring party and CF APR Super Holdings LLC as the seller, with New APR Energy, LLC as the acquired entity. The deal, which closed without public announcement, came to light on May 14.
BREAKING: Elon Musk acquires Jacksonville power company APR Energy in a deal valued at more than $1,000,000,000.00.
— Polymarket Money (@PolymarketMoney) July 15, 2026
Analysts inferred the deal’s scale from minority stakeholder disclosures, including one report of a 5 percent interest sold for approximately $50.4 million. Fortress Investment Group had purchased APR’s assets in late 2024, rebranded the operation as New APR Energy, and subsequently transferred ownership to Musk.
APR Energy specializes in rapidly deployable power infrastructure. The company maintains one of the world’s largest fleets of mobile gas and diesel turbines, with more than 1.1 gigawatts of generation capacity. Its modular units, which are often trailer-mounted, enable turnkey installations ranging from 20 MW to over 500 MW.
APR provides full engineering, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance services for behind-the-meter power plants, serving everything from data centers, utilities, and industrial clients.
The firm has expanded aggressively to meet surging demand, recently adding turbines and deploying over 100 MW for a major AI hyperscaler. Its solutions bridge critical gaps where grid interconnections face delays of two to five years, according to Yahoo.
The acquisition means something more for Musk. As he continues to expand projects in artificial intelligence, especially xAI, his AI venture, there is a greater need to supply energy-intensive supercomputing clusters, including the Colossus project, with what they need: reliable and high-capacity power.
Ownership of APR provides immediate access to flexible generation assets that can be deployed adjacent to data centers, reducing dependence on a strained infrastructure. It also complements Tesla’s energy storage business, so Musk will be able to pull from his own entities to address the rapid scaling demands of AI training and compute.
Tesla had a petition protesting a recall to fix a potential issue with 2017-2023 Model Y and Model 3 vehicles’ headlights was denied, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) disagreed with the company’s opinion of things.
The recall covers approximately 19,917 Model Y and Model 3 vehicles built from 2017 to 2023. Tesla initially submitted a noncompliance report for the headlights on these vehicles on March 15, 2024. Tesla then petitioned for an exemption from the fix, which violated FMVSS No. 108 (40 CFR 571.108), arguing that the “noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
🚨 Tesla was denied a petition by the NHTSA to avoid a recall of 19,900 2017-2023 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
The NHTSA found that the vehicles’ headlights may exceed maximum lighting levels. Tesla argued it was inconsequential and did not require a recall. pic.twitter.com/m8Jmm1teLL
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 16, 2026
The NHTSA disagreed, stating that Tesla’s conclusion that the headlights do not increase any risk was not an opinion it shared. The agency said it disagreed with Tesla’s assumption that glare is not increased to surrounding traffic. This issue could be highlighted even more in certain weather conditions.
Tesla will be required to remedy the issue, the NHTSA ruled:
“In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that Tesla has not met its burden of persuasion that the subject FMVSS No. 108 noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, Tesla’s petition is hereby denied, and Tesla is consequently obligated to provide notification of and free remedy for that noncompliance under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120.”
The issue here appears to be the angle of the headlights and the brightness they emit during operation. The NHTSA report states that:
“Tesla’s headlamp supplier, Marelli Automotive Lighting, tested 25 right-hand and 25 left-hand lamps, and for this sample, found the maximum photometric intensity measured in the 10°U to 90°U and 90°L to 90°R zone was between 136.2 cd and 230.1 cd for the right-hand lamps and between 117.5 cd and 160.3 cd for the left-hand lamps. According to Tesla, these tests revealed that the photometric intensity of the right-hand and left-hand headlamp lower beam on the subject vehicles may measure as much as 230.1 cd in the 10°U to 90°U and 90°L to 90°R zone, exceeding the maximum photometric intensity by 105.1 cd. Additionally, Tesla states that a left-hand lamp tested by a Transport Canada recognized laboratory measured a maximum of 171.27 cd in the 10°U to 90°U and 90°L to 90°R zone. Despite these measurements exceeding the allowed photometric maximum of 125 cd, Tesla believes that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.”
Tesla also argued at some points that the headlights had not been deemed responsible for any complaints, accidents, or injuries related to the noncompliance.
Lifestyle
NTSB findings on fatal Tesla crash tell a very different story
The NTSB confirmed the driver, not Tesla’s FSD, caused the fatal Texas house crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board released preliminary findings Wednesday confirming that a Tesla driver, not the vehicle’s software, caused a fatal crash in Katy, Texas in June. The driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, had engaged Full Self-Driving Supervised mode on Rose Hollow Lane, a residential street with a 30 mph speed limit, before manually overriding the system by pressing the accelerator pedal all the way to 100%. Data recovered from the 2025 Tesla Model 3 showed the vehicle was traveling over 70 miles per hour when it struck a home and killed 76-year-old Martha Avila, who was inside. Weather was clear, the road was dry, and it was daylight.
Texas man charged in fatal Tesla crash where he blamed Autopilot
Butler told authorities he had passed out at the wheel. But security camera footage obtained by the NTSB told a different story, and showed the car accelerating through an intersection before leaving the road entirely. Police also found that Butler’s phone had Google searches including the terms “Tesla FSD not aggressive enough 2026” and “Tesla FSD too timid,” raising serious questions about how he was using the system before the crash. Butler has since been charged with manslaughter. The victim’s family has filed a lawsuit against both Butler and Tesla, alleging negligence.
The NTSB findings aligned directly with what Tesla VP of AI Software Ashok Elluswamy had already stated publicly on X in the weeks after the crash, writing that “the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%.” The data confirmed his account.
Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 22, 2026
Elon Musk secretly acquires $1B energy company to power the AI future
Tesla has to fix a big problem with its old headlights, NHTSA says
