Connect with us

News

Fiat-Chrysler CEO says no CO2 fines until 2020, thanks to Tesla pooling deal

Published

on

It appears that Fiat Chrysler’s decision to strike a deal with Tesla as a way to avoid incurring CO2 emissions fines in Europe is paying off. In a recent statement during a conference call about the company’s second-quarter financial results, CEO Mike Manley stated that FCA will not face fines this year or in 2020, thanks in no small part to the company’s pooling deal with Tesla. 

According to the terms of the automakers’ deal, Fiat Chrysler would be allowed to count Tesla’s electric cars as part of its fleet in Europe. This deal allows FCA to avoid the region’s steep and strict emissions regulations, despite the company having a very small electric/electrified vehicle portfolio. It should be said that this deal comes at a hefty price for the Italian-American carmaker, as analysts have estimated Fiat Chrysler’s payments to Tesla to reach hundreds of millions of euros. 

If the FCA CEO’s comments during the company’s recent earnings call are any indication, it appears that the money it spent on Tesla was, while significant, well-spent. With FCA likely being clear of emissions fines in 2020, Manley noted that the company will be pushing to introduce more electrified models and fuel-efficient internal combustion vehicles to avoid future fines. 

“This year we’ll continue to roll out improved traditional engine technologies including our new GSE three-cylinder and four-cylinder gasoline engines,” Manley said, according to Automotive News Europe

The FCA mentioned a number of notable, upcoming electrified vehicles in its lineup. Among these are PHEV versions of the Jeep Renegade, Compass, and Wrangler, as well as an all-new battery-electric Fiat 500. FCA’s battery-powered Fiat 500 and its plug-in hybrid Jeeps are expected to be launched in 2020, and according to the CEO, these vehicles will likely account of about 5% of the company’s European sales mix. 

The impending rollout of FCA’s electrified vehicle lineup, compounded with the benefits the automaker receives from pooling its fleet with Tesla’s European fleet, has left Manley confident and optimistic of Fiat Chrysler’s future. Overall, the CEO noted that Fiat Chrysler plans to be compliant without help from Tesla by 2022. During the conference call, Manley stated that by 2022, he believes that “the need for pooling deals would be very, very small.”

Apart from its pooling deal with Tesla in the European region, Fiat Chrysler was also revealed to be one of the companies purchasing federal greenhouse gas credits from the Silicon Valley-based carmaker in the United States. The purchases, which were disclosed in filings to the state of Delaware, showed that both FCA and GM, the maker of the once-noted Tesla Model 3 competitor Chevy Bolt EV, were both buying greenhouse gas credits from Tesla to offset the sales of their internal combustion vehicles in the US market.

Advertisement
-
-

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

SpaceX’s biggest test yet arrives this week and it’s not a rocket launch

Published

on

By

SpaceX will report second quarter results after the market closes on Tuesday, August 4, marking the first time the company has opened its books to the public since its record IPO in June. Management will host a live audio only webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET, streamed on X, with no dial in option.

The debut carries more weight than a typical first quarter as a public company. Two trading days after the release, on August 6, the first tranche of SpaceX’s lockup expires, freeing roughly 911.5 million insider and employee shares, worth well over $100 billion at current prices and the largest such release in Wall Street history. A second, larger tranche tied to the stock trading 30 percent above its $135 IPO price never triggered, since shares have spent most of July trading below that price.

Wall Street’s models point to revenue near $6.9 billion for the quarter, up sharply from the $4.69 billion SpaceX reported in the first quarter, with a narrower per share loss than the $1.27 posted three months earlier, according to estimates compiled by Motley Fool. Those numbers will be the first look at how SpaceX’s three segments, Starlink, launch and AI, are performing independently.

SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites

Investors heading into the call have a specific list of questions. How many net new Starlink subscribers did SpaceX add after ending March with 10.3 million, and is average revenue per user holding up as the service expands into lower income markets. How much of the AI segment’s revenue reflects contract signings with Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI this year, deals that combined could annualize to nearly $28 billion if fully ramped. Whether capital expenditures, which nearly doubled in the AI segment alone between 2024 and 2025, are still accelerating or starting to plateau. And whether management offers any forward guidance at all, something SpaceX has never done publicly.

The report will also land days after Elon Musk publicly denied a Wall Street Journal report describing internal planning to separate Tesla’s China business ahead of a potential Tesla-SpaceX merger. Whether Musk or SpaceX executives address that speculation on the call, even indirectly, maybe something investors will be listening for on Tuesday.

As Teslarati reported after Musk’s own warning to short sellers last week, the CEO has made clear he expects skeptics to be proven wrong over time. Tuesday will be the first chance for the numbers themselves to make that case.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo

SpaceX released new footage of Starship in space captured by the Starlink satellites it deployed.

Published

on

By

SpaceX released a new video Friday evening showing Starship from an angle showcased by its own Starlink satellites, watching the rocket drift away in orbit.

The 65 second clip, posted on X, stitches together footage from four cameras mounted on a single Starlink V3 satellite. It opens with a close view of Starship’s 171 foot upper stage, still catching sunlight, then pulls back as the two spacecraft separate.

The footage comes from Starship’s 13th flight test, which launched July 24 from Starbase after a scrubbed attempt and an abort caused by an engine issue the week before. When Flight 13 finally flew, it carried the first batch of functional Starlink V3 satellites Starship has ever deployed, twenty of them, with six equipped with cameras meant to scan the ship’s heat shield during reentry.

Flight 13 checked most of its boxes. Starship deployed all 20 satellites, relit a Raptor engine in space, and splashed down softly in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. Musk’s longer term plan calls for a Starlink V3 constellation of 100,000 satellites, according to a recent FCC filing, with Starship as the only vehicle capable of launching them at the volume that requires. Each Starship flight is designed to carry up to 60 V3 satellites once the vehicle reaches routine service, well beyond what Falcon 9 can carry in a single mission.

Starship is next expected to fly with an attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower’s mechanical arms, a maneuver SpaceX has so far reserved for the Super Heavy booster.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla Model Y L’s new features flexed at unveiling event at Diner

Published

on

Tesla Model Y L in a field
Credit: Tesla

Tesla flexed the new features of the Model Y L with a dedicated media event at the company’s Diner on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles.

The Model Y L is the extended-wheelbase version of the all-electric crossover, which has been voted the best-selling car in the world on three occasions. The vehicle is already rolling off production lines at Gigafactory Texas, and first deliveries are slated to take place later this year.

Tesla brings Model Y L ‘Launch Series’ to the U.S. at $61,990

Teslarati was invited to the event, but due to some scheduling conflicts, we could not make it to Los Angeles. Instead, we will have our hands on a media unit sometime in August, so we’ll be able to spend some more extended time with the Model Y L.

However, plenty of those who made it to LA shared some cool features that set the Model Y L apart from the Model Y.

Multi-Row Climate Control

Tesla fitted the Model Y L with full climate control on all three rows on the front screen. It can be adjusted by selecting which row you’d like to modify on the right-hand side of the touch screen:

Better Rear Window Visibility

One of the strangest things about the Model Y, especially the Juniper iteration, is the rear window has extremely limited visibility when looking into the rearview mirror.

Tesla has improved upon this with the Model Y L:

PowerShare will be included

Model Y L will come with PowerShare in North America, with an 11.5kW output to your home. Tesla said it would require Powerwall 3 for operation.

Wireless Charging Pad

There has been some speculation that Tesla would upgrade the wireless charging pads in the United States, but this is not the case.

Tesla owner fixes common feature complaint with crafty DIY retrofit

Tesla confirmed that it does not come with the cooled pads as the Y L in China does. This is because North America has not adopted Qi charging yet.

Thermal Management Improvements

These improvements in the Model Y L were seen with thermal management:

  • Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
  • +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather, 7 miles of real-world range gained
  • 8x more solar energy reflection off of glass roof
  • 30% reduction in solar energy entering the cabin

Demand

Tesla said the Model Y L is almost sold out in the U.S. It comes with

  • 1 year of FSD Supervised
  • 1 year of Supercharging
  • 1 year of Premium Connectivity
  • Free exterior paint color, interior, and wheel option at no additional cost
Continue Reading