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Tesla's battery-swap stations will finally arrive in December
Tesla has just told SlashGear that its much-hyped battery stations will finally arrive in California by December. Elon Musk and crew first flaunted the system to a large crowd over a year ago, showing how the Model S's battery can be changed in half the time it takes to gas up a regular car. Since then, Tesla has missed several of its own deadlines to install the fully automatic, robotic systems. Musk said his company has been "preoccupied with a few other issues," which no doubt include gearing up its battery-producing Gigafactory in Nevada and installing a network of supercharger stations.
Nissan looking to give an inductive charge to its upcoming Zero Emissions Vehicle
It won't be quite the same as putting a Palm Touchstone under your tire -- although that's quite the mental image -- but Nissan's thinking big and planning to apply that same inductive charging technology for its upcoming five-seat Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV). As envisioned by the company, the ideal scenario would be to drive into a compatible charging bay and power up without the need to haul around a plug like current EV owners do -- Nissan Europe's Larry Haddad estimates a 25 minute shopping trip could be enough to refill the battery back up to 80 percent. In an admittedly more far-fetched case, the company said it's scientifically feasible to have charging plates buried just under the surface of the road for on-the-go charging. With realities like money and practicality in the way, we can't imagine that example to fruition anytime soon. In the meantime, we've still gotta wait until August to even gather a glimpse of the ZEV -- maybe by then we'll get a better idea of Nissan's plans for the technology.[Via Autoblog Green]
500 electric Minis to go on sale in California
It's not quite official yet, but Automotive News is reporting that BMW is planning on offering some 500 all-electric Minis for sale in California. The main assembly of the silver hatchbacks with yellow roofs (apart from the drivetrain) will be completed in Oxford, England, with the batteries and motor installed in Munich. After arriving in the US, just 490 lucky Golden Staters will be able to pick one up -- the other 10 will be show cars. Since BMW hasn't formally announced the plan yet, there's no word on pricing or availability, but something tells us there's not going to be any shortage of buyers when these things hit the streets.[Via Autoblog Green]
