Connect with us

News

Tesla, EV makers to benefit as President Biden announces electrified Gov’t fleet

Credit: Reddit | u/Coolioj

Published

on

Tesla and other American electric automakers are set to benefit from President Joe Biden’s plan to make the Government fleet fully electric, he said in a White House Press Conference on Monday.

Biden, a supporter of sustainable energy, laid out his plan to rebuild America’s economy through jobs through manufacturing on Monday. Among his many remarks to improve America during the first days of his Presidency, he stated that one of his goals is to transition the fleet of Government vehicles currently used to all-electric powertrains, making Government travel more sustainable and efficient while reducing emissions that accelerate climate change.

“The Federal Government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles,” Biden remarked. “We are going to replace [them] with clean electric vehicles made right here in America, by American workers, creating 1 million autoworker jobs in clean energy…and vehicles that are net-zero emissions.”

President Biden’s plans are especially beneficial to Tesla, as it produces a majority of its electric vehicles in the United States in Fremont, California. General Motors, Ford, and Volkswagen are all also set up for benefits from this plan. All three automakers operate plants within the U.S. and have electric vehicle transition plans set up for the future.

“Together, this will be the largest mobilization of public investment and procurement infrastructure and R&D since World War II. And with the Executive Order that I will be signing today,” Biden added, “will increase ‘by America’ requirements for these kinds of projects and improve the way we measure domestic content requirements.”

Advertisement

Which Presidential choice is better for Tesla’s future?

Biden’s Build Back Better plan targets an aggressive development of electric vehicles and related topics, including charging infrastructure, sustainable energy generation, and artificial intelligence. Biden is interested in spending $300 billion into “electric vehicle technology to lightweight materials, to 5G and artificial intelligence – to unleash high-quality job creation in high-value manufacturing and technology,” the President’s website states.

One focus will be to have a majority of the parts of a Government vehicle be manufactured in the United States. At least 50% of a car is to be comprised of parts manufactured in the United States. This was able to be avoided through loopholes, as some Government vehicles had the least valuable parts of a car are made in the U.S., with the more valuable components being shipped from foreign countries. Biden plans to do away with this loophole, ensuring that the car’s most crucial pieces come from U.S. companies.

Other countries, like Australia and New Zealand, have already initiated the use of electric cars for their government travels. The United States plans to do this under the Biden Administration but will keep its purchased vehicles coming from American manufacturers, ensuring the American economy and workforce will benefit from the plan to ax petrol-powered motors.

Advertisement

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

Advertisement
Comments

Energy

Tesla recalls Powerwall 2 units in Australia

Published

on

(Credit: nathanwoodgc /Instagram)

Tesla will recall Powerwall 2 units in Australia after a handful of property owners reported fires that caused “minor property damage.” The fires were attributed to cells used by Tesla in the Powerwall 2.

Tesla Powerwall is a battery storage unit that retains energy from solar panels and is used by homeowners and businesses to maintain power in the event of an outage. It also helps alleviate the need to rely on the grid, which can help stabilize power locally.

Powerwall owners can also enroll in the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) program, which allows them to sell energy back to the grid, helping to reduce energy bills. Tesla revealed last year that over 100,000 Powerwalls were participating in the program.

Tesla announces 100k Powerwalls are participating in Virtual Power Plants

The Australia Competition and Consumer Commission said in a filing that it received several reports from owners of fires that led to minor damage. The Australian government agency did not disclose the number of units impacted by the recall.

Advertisement

The issue is related to the cells, which Tesla sources from a third-party company.

Anyone whose Powerwall 2 unit is impacted by the recall will be notified through the Tesla app, the company said.

Continue Reading

Cybertruck

Tesla launches Cybertruck orders in a new market with a catch

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla is launching Cybertruck orders in a new market, but there’s a bit of a catch.

The Cybertruck was launched in the Middle East earlier this year, as Tesla launched the ability to place a reservation for the all-electric pickup in the United Arab Emirates. It would be the first market outside of North America that would have the ability to place an order for the Cybertruck.

Tesla confirms Cybertruck will make its way out of North America this year

Other markets where the vehicle has been widely requested, like Europe and Asia, have still not approved the vehicle to be sold to the public, mostly because of size and design restrictions.

However, in the UAE, Tesla is opening up the ability for those who placed reservations for the vehicle to finally put in their order. The Order Configurator is only available to those who have already placed a reservation; it is not yet available to the public.

Advertisement

Tesla said it would open up the public online configurator across the Middle East in the coming weeks:

The UAE is not the only country that will have access to the Cybertruck, as fans in other Middle Eastern countries will also be able to place orders soon. Tesla announced back in April that Saudi Arabia and Qatar would also have Cybertruck deliveries.

Advertisement

These vehicles will be built at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas plant just outside of Austin, as Gigafactory Berlin and Gigafactory Shanghai, two factories located in the same hemisphere as the Middle East, do not have established lines for Cybertruck production.

As for the other markets, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has hinted that the company could develop a smaller Cybertruck for those markets, as he admitted that in the long term, it likely made sense to build a more compact version for regions where roads are traditionally tighter.

Elon Musk hints at smaller Tesla Cybertruck version down the road

There has been no evidence of Tesla developing this more compact version, but it could eventually happen.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

Tesla rolls out new life-saving feature for kids in Europe

On average, 37 children die every year from being left in vehicles unattended.

Published

on

tesla model x
Credit: Tesla

Tesla is rolling out a new life-saving feature in the European market, one that has been available in the United States for some time and can be considered potentially invaluable.

One of the most preventable causes of death for children is being left in cars unattended. On average, 37 children die every year after being left in hot vehicles. The cause of death is usually heatstroke, and it is incredibly avoidable.

Tesla rolls out new crucial safety feature aimed at saving children

However, there are instances where kids are left in vehicles and lose their lives, something that many companies have tried to fight with alerts and features of their own.

Tesla is one of them, as it has rolled out features like ultrasonic sensors to detect heartbeats, interior cameras to detect movement, and alerts to notify parents if they leave someone in the car.

Advertisement

A few months ago, Tesla rolled out a new feature called “Child Left Alone Detection” in the United States. It was described as:

“If an unattended child is detected, the vehicle will flash the exterior indicator lights, play an alert tone, and send a notification to your Tesla app. This will repeat at regular intervals until you return to your vehicle. Cabin data is processed locally and is not transmitted to Tesla.

This feature is enabled by default. To disable, go to Controls > Safety > Child Left Alone Detection.”

This feature was only rolled out in the U.S. at the time. It is now making its way to the European market, according to Not a Tesla App, which detected the rollout in the 2025.32.6 software update.

The rollout of this feature could specifically change many unfortunate situations. For many of us, it seems hard to think about leaving something as precious as another human life in a hot car. Many of us won’t leave our vehicles without our cell phones, so it seems unlikely that someone would do it without a child.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending