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Ford Pro unveils new charging solutions tailored for commercial customers

(Credit: Ford)

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Ford Pro, the legacy OEMs commercial division, unveiled new charging solutions tailored for commercial customers’ electrified fleets. 

Ford Pro informed Teslarati about its newly designed Series 2 AC Charging Station 80 amp and expanded DC Fast Chargers for commercial vehicle fleets. Both charging solutions work with Ford Pro’s charging management software, which works with Ford and non-Ford electric vehicles. The automaker claims its latest commercial charging solutions are easier to use, service, and control. 

The Series 2 AC charger has a detachable cable and connector. It also has an RFID reader and increased connectivity. The AC charger is also designed with the future in mind. As Ford Pro states, it is “primed for future standards and over-the-air updates.” Below are the Series 2 AC’s charger’s features

  • Enhanced security with RFID that limits unwanted charger access. Fleet operators can issue a unique Ford Pro RFID card1 to control access to chargers, enabling charging sessions to be limited to specific individuals or vehicles by specifying days and times for access. The new RFID software also supports Ford and non-Ford vehicles, unlocking the ability for fleet operators to track energy reports through Ford Pro’s charging management software.
  • Improved detachable cable and connector reduces time and expense of charger repairs, avoiding replacement of the entire charging station if a cable or connector is damaged.
  • Wide range of connectivity options with cellular pre-configured and optional Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity for locations with restricted cellular coverage.
  • The new Series 2 AC Charging Station 80 Amp will be ISO-15118 ready and equipped to enable future functionality over the air, such as advanced vehicle-to-charger communications that can identify and log when a specific vehicle connects. Ford Pro designed the new hardware to be ready for the future so customers are better prepared for new electric vehicles and future capabilities.
  • The new LCD screen on the Series 2 charger displays step-by-step instructions to initiate charging and essential information, including charge duration, fault alerts, energy usage, and more.
  • Temperature sensors to monitor and alert for overheating by derating the charger automatically.
  • Extended operating temperature range of -40C (-40F) to 50C (122F) and operating altitude of up to 3500m to serve the needs of customers in more places.
  • The new Ford Pro charging hardware is backed by a 3-year warranty on charger parts and labor and continues to provide around-the-clock tech support to help increase uptime and productivity for customers.
  • Ford Pro Telematics, chargers, software, and service work seamlessly to provide fleet operators and managers with a single solution to monitor their vehicle network 24/7.

Ford Pro customers can choose between the extended DC Fast Charger options: 180 kW and 240 kW. The Series 2 AC Charging station and DC Fast Charger are available for pre-order now. 

The legacy automaker also provides customers with access to the BEV Fit team. The BEV Fit team offers complimentary consulting to customers who have electric fleets and are transitioning or are thinking of transitioning to electric commercial vehicles. The team helps customers find available incentives for their fleet. Ford Pro customers can consult the BEV Fit team regarding their charging site design and construction needs. They may also turn to the team for help collaborating with local utilities to meet their energy needs. 

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Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Elon Musk

Tesla Phone? Not quite, but close: analyst

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elon musk phone
Photo: Boss Hunting.com.au

For years, there have been images and videos across social media platforms that have reminded me of when I was a 15-year-old kid teased by “Xbox 720” videos on YouTube. These videos are of the supposed “Tesla Phone” that Elon Musk was secretly developing in between leading Tesla with its electric cars and SpaceX with its reusable rockets.

Although Musk has put those rumors to bed several times, it was never completely out of the realm that he could get involved in cell phones in some capacity. Think outside the box and more macro-level, though. Instead of reinventing the computer, Musk reinvented connectivity by developing Starlink with SpaceX.

It could be something similar, TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams said in a note last week, where he hinted SpaceX could be gathering some steam to acquire T-Mobile.

Williams said it would be the “clear choice” for SpaceX if it decided to go through with a network acquisition. He also suggested AT&T.

The move would be possible through selling more of its own stock, which would help SpaceX raise the money to purchase T-Mobile, which would cost roughly $300 billion. It could be one of the moves SpaceX makes post-IPO in terms of an acquisition: it already acquired Cursor AI for $60 billion.

Other analysts, like Dan Ives of Wedbush, believe SpaceX and Tesla will eventually merge into one anyway, and that conglomeration could come as soon as this year, some have said.

The implications of SpaceX purchasing T-Mobile are massive. A combined entity would create a truly ubiquitous network: T-Mobile’s terrestrial 5G towers and Starlink’s growing constellation of Direct-to-Cell satellites. This would essentially eliminate dead zones across the U.S. and potentially globally.

SpaceX would instantly become a full-scale facilities-based carrier with satellite differentiation; a huge advantage. This would pressure AT&T and Verizon heavily.

There are also concerns like a potential reduction in long-term competition, and of course, a deal of that size would face intense scrutiny from government agencies.

The strategic fit is compelling due to the existing Starlink–T-Mobile partnership and complementary technologies (space + terrestrial). It could create a dominant integrated communications player. However, the regulatory, financial, and execution hurdles are enormous — this remains highly speculative with no indication SpaceX is actively pursuing it right now.

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Tesla reveals huge Cybercab detail in new guide for First Responders

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla revealed a major new Cybercab detail in a guide it released for First Responders, showing new territory in its beliefs and intentions for the ride-hailing-focused vehicle that entered production in April.

The First Responders Guide is released to give fire departments, paramedics, and other emergency personnel the proper guidance on what to do in the event of an accident, entrapment, or other situation that would require immediate attention.

On one of the pages of the First Responders Guide, Tesla revealed a stark detail about the Cybercab, which could help personnel enter the vehicle more easily in case of an emergency.

Tesla Cybercab has one important piece that AI4 cars might need for FSD

It shows Tesla has no intention of releasing any Cybercab units that were initially proposed for ride-hailing services for the general public with any manual controls, meaning a steering wheel or pedals:

“A Cybercab equipped with steering wheel, brake pedal, and an acceleration pedal is typically an engineering or test vehicle, and operates at SAE Level 2 autonomy. Cybercab is not typically equipped with a steering wheel or acceleration and brake pedals.”

This is a major development for those who continue to believe Tesla planned to release the Cybercab with any sort of manual controls so that passengers could take over if needed. However, when Tesla started manufacturing production versions of the Cybercab in Giga Texas earlier this year, they were spotted without a steering wheel or pedals.

It essentially confirms the company has no intentions of bringing manual controls to the car’s production versions. Some have argued that the likelihood of Tesla having something

There still are some Cybercab units out there with a steering wheel and pedals, and as Tesla said, these cars are engineering or test vehicles, which have Safety Monitors on board to help the car out of a precarious situation or emergency.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ Release Notes: new capabilities and features

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(Credit: Megan Gale/Twitter)

Tesla released the Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ suite to owners of Hardware 3 or AI3 vehicles today, adding several new features to the vehicles that were once believed to be capable of unsupervised self-driving.

Now, Tesla has released this modified suite to older Tesla vehicles, adding plenty of new features and capabilities.

Here are the full release notes for the suite:

  • Distilled the intelligence from HW4 V14 into HW3. This allows HW3 to directly learn how to handle scenarios using HW4 V14 as a guide. This process unlocks the improvements that have been made to HW4 including Reinforcement Learning (RL) and offline models for HW3.
  • Improved both proactive and reactive responsiveness across a wide variety of categories including navigation handling, merges and forks, pedestrian interactions, traffic lights, and vehicle cut-in scenarios.
  • Improved general comfort in nominal scenarios through fewer false slowdowns, smoother steering and more consistent lane centering.
  • Introduced parking, unparking, and reversing capabilities.
  • Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, or at the Curbside.
  • Speed Profiles are now available at all times, to further customize driving style preference.

These improvements, according to Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, help distill the driving behavior from AI4’s v14 series into both the camera and compute configurations of AI3.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ for older cars finally gets released

He added:

“It includes destination options and speed profiles on city roads, but more importantly significantly improved safety. We hope you’ll enjoy it, once the build ships wide.”

Tesla will continue to roll out the v14 Lite suite more widely in the coming weeks, the company said.

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