Now that we have a production date for Tesla’s Model 3, you need to get prepared

Getting Ready for Model 3 is a new book by Roger Pressman. It turns out that Roger has already been inside the Model 3 and taken a demonstration drive. He’s one of the first Model S (and Model X) owners in the world. And, he also runs EVANNEX, the largest Tesla accessories company. Check out what he recommends in order to get prepped for the Model 3. Get an idea of what Roger covers in the book by checking out this handy infographic below.

Get Ready For Model 3

Electric Superchargers Ready For Prime Time

After years of existing in the periphery of automotive performance tuning- and, quite literally, in the periphery of low-budget tuning magazines- electric superchargers are finally ready to hit the road for real under the hoods of Volkswagens, Audis, and Volvos.

A supercharger is a compressor that forces more air into the combustion chamber. The effect is like fanning the flames of a campfire to make it burn hotter. We get more ooomph from a supercharged engine when we press on the loud pedal. There is no free lunch, of course. It takes energy to spin a supercharger and connecting one to the engine through belts, or clutches can be an engineering nightmare. Exhaust driven turbochargers are more mechanically efficient, but they take time to build compression (or, “boost”). Most of us know this delay as “turbo lag”, the difference in time between when you mash the throttle and when the extra power kicks in.

Both Audi’s RS5 TDI and Volvo’s High Performance Drive-E use electric superchargers to supplement engines that are already turbocharged. The electric compressor can spin up from rest to 70,000 rpm in about a quarter of a second, providing instant boost on demand. Once engine revs rise, the electric supercharger shuts off and the turbo takes over. From the driver’s seat, the impression is of one long, continuous burst of power with no gaps. Using an electric supercharger also provides a significant boost to fuel economy because the engine can get more power out of a given amount of gasoline, as demonstrated by the HyBoost Ford Focus project.

Adding an electric supercharger is easy. All you need is a bracket to hang it from and an electric wire to the power source. And that’s where things get interesting. The true beauty of an electric supercharger is that it uses stored electricity harvested during normal driving. Because a regular battery is slow to charge and slow to release its energy, the key component is the supercapacitor – an energy storage device that charges and discharges almost instantaneously.

While it does not have the power density of a battery, it doesn’t need to, since the electric supercharger operates only for short intervals – usually 1 to 2 seconds -every once in a while. Supercapacitors cost more than a comparable battery at present, but prices are coming down rapidly, thanks in part to the use of graphene. Another key to using electric superchargers successfully  is the software that controls the complex relationship between it and the turbocharger so the driver feels only a seamless flow of power.

Turbochargers are already standard equipment on many cars today. As manufacturers struggle to meet ever tightening fuel economy standards around the world, look for electric superchargers to find their way under the hood of more and more mainstream automobiles.

Source | Images: Road & Track, via Popular Mechanics.

100th Tesla Supercharger Installed…In New Jersey, No Less

Last week Tesla installed its 100th Supercharger charging station in the state of New Jersey, while promising this is just the beginning. The 100th Supercharger was installed in New Jersey, which last month banned Tesla’s direct sales model. Coincidence? Irony? It’s something, that’s for sure.

In relatively short order, Tesla has installed 86 Superchargers across North America, and another 14 in Europe to reach the magic 100 number. Superchargers now allow Tesla Model S owners to drive to every corner of the country without spending a single penny on fuel costs, and Tesla claims that by the end of next year, 98% of the U.S. population will be within the range of a Supercharger station.

But this is only the beginning, as Tesla is planning rapid expansion of its nascent European network, which is focused mostly on Scandinavia and Central Europe. Then its on to China, where the lack of charging infrastructure has seriously hampered electric car sales. It will still be years before these three major markets are fully connected, but the effects of the Supercharger stations can already be felt by Tesla owners and the environment.

According to Tesla, Superchargers have offput over 570,000 gallons of gasoline, saving owners an estimated $2.3 million in fuel costs alone. Tesla Superchargers have recharged more than 14 million miles of range, enough to go around the Earth 573 times, and in the past week more than 5,000 Teslas have plugged into a Supercharger.

Now imagine what that number will be if Tesla sells 250,000 cars a year instead of 25,000. The Tesla Model E can’t come soon enough.

Source: Tesla Motors

2015 Volvo Drive-E Engine Deep Dive - VIDEO

Volvo is betting the Swedish farm on its future customers being more enamored with environmental responsibility and outright performance than they are with the kind of “no replacement for displacement” commentary that is the automotive equivalent of the Monday morning quarterback. As such, they’ve put massive efforts into their new Drive-E series of 4 cylinder engines (available in both gas and diesel versions) which, in their most aggressive forms, are both turbocharged AND supercharged.

It’s a brave, new world of Swedish insanity, in other words.

That said, a lot of what Volvo has in mind with its new Drive-E lineup makes perfect sense. “We have created a range of smaller, more intelligent engines with power curves that give exciting drivability compared with engines with more cylinders. At the same time we continue to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions,” explains Derek Crabb. As the vice president of powertrain engineering at Volvo, Crabb was tasked with reducing the number of engines across the carmaker’s lineup from 8 to 2. It was important, then, to build an engine that could, in various states of tune, deliver maximum efficiency at 140 hp, and still offer 300+ hp for performance-oriented buyers.

They’re clever engines, and Volvo is- rightfully!- proud of them. Recently, they released the following 6 minute video that takes viewers through an in-depth explanation of what the Drive-E philosophy is, why Volvo’s betting big on its success, and what the future of Swedish luxury and performance cars will look like. Also: overly dramatic visual effects. Enjoy!

Source | Photos: Volvo, via TechVehi.

Tesla Supercharger Locations On East Coast Announced

Tesla Motors may charge a premium for its product, but Elon Musk’s electric car company is working to set itself apart from the competition in a lot of ways. The Tesla Supercharger network is just one of the many perks of Tesla ownership, and the electric car maker has announced two locations on the East Coast in the crowded Northeast corridor.

The two stations, one located in Milford, Connecticut and the other in Wilmington, Delaware, will allow for super fast charging for Tesla Model S owners driving between Boston and Washington D.C. The Tesla Supercharger can add about 150 miles of travel in around 30 minutes of travel, allowing the Tesla Model S to make the 450 mile trip with only two charging stops of 30 minutes each.

Tesla first announced a Supercharger corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, where it will no doubt see plenty of use. Eventually, the electric car maker hopes to make a cross-country Supercharger system that will allow Tesla owners to drive from coast to coast. Best of all, it will be free to Tesla Model S owners, just another perk of being a well-heeled early adopter.

But will it stay free? I guess that all depends on Tesla’s success as an automaker. There are a lot of people out there eager for a more affordable Tesla to call their own. It’s all a matter of when, not if.

Source: Green Car Reports

Tesla teasing Supercharger design before next week's reveal

We know a fair number of details about the upcoming high-speed charging network for Tesla vehicles. What we don't know is what the chargers will look like. This will change Monday evening.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently Tweeted that that Supercharger unveiling will make it "feel like alien spaceships landed at highway rest stops," so that give us some indication of the design. We're not sure if those vertical supports in the image above are part of the station or not, but it's the teaser image on Tesla's website now, so we think it's likely.

As for the technical aspects, here are some of the things we already know:

• A top-of-the-line 85-kWh battery pack will be able to be recharged in about an hour.
• You will be able to get around three hours of driving during a 30-minute stop, and that will get better over time.
• The capacity is "on the order of 100 kW."
• There will be solar power involved (we had heard rumors of battery swaps, too, but then that kind of died down).
• The network is intended to allow for long-distance drives and will require about 30 Superchargers to provide that capability along the U.S. continental coasts.

Musk recently told AutoblogGreen the reason for the proprietary network (other plug-in vehicles won't be able to use the special connector) was that, "the other charge systems don't have enough power and in order to really charge fast, the charger needs pretty advanced technology and it needs to exactly match the pack. It's got to be hand-in-glove."

The Supercharger will be unveiled, along with deployment plans that provide "a solution for the electric vehicle's long-distance road trip that only Model S* can achieve" on Monday, September 24, with a live webcast starting 8 p.m. PDT. You will be able to watch the event here.

*And not all Model S vehicles will be able to Supercharge, since the 40-kWh version was not designed for long trips, according to Musk.



Source: AutoBlog Green