Tesla's long-term vision: Superchargers with Solar and Powerwalls

September 16, 2022

By Kevin Armstrong

Tesla's long-term vision for Superchargers includes solar and batteries

Tesla

As details of Tesla's first V4 supercharger emerge, so too has its long-term plan of Tesla. It’s been reported that the first V4 Supercharger to be constructed in Arizona will have solar panels and megapack batteries. When a Twitter user posted a story about this project, Elon Musk responded: Supercharger centers with solar & batteries are the long-term vision.

Tesla’s CEO may be penning his latest master plan while tweeting. In August, he was asked about the latest master plan that’s been teased since the beginning of 2022. He said it will be coming out soon and gave a short preview (video below), “It’s going to be looking at the big picture. What does it take to make Earth fully self-sustaining from an energy standpoint? Just map it out and say this is what needs to be done. Tesla will try to be as useful as possible in this regard….”

With plans for larger charging centers, it appears that Tesla will use the additional ground space to produce clean energy while charging up zero-emissions vehicles. Tesla has already made more clean energy than all of its products have consumed. Adding more solar arrays will keep this ratio balanced as the company continues ramping up the production of factories and vehicles.

This is not the first time that Musk has committed to this vision. In 2017 he tweeted, “All Superchargers are being converted to solar/battery power. Over time, almost all will disconnect from the electricity grid.” Later that year, he revealed the Tesla Semi. Musk told the crowd of excited onlookers that the Semi would be charged by Megachargers that are solar and battery powered.

Tesla Semi Reveal

Of course, Tesla knows all about solar. The company bought SolarCity in 2016 and has been building and installing Solar Roofs and Powerwalls for years. At the end of 2021, Tesla installed almost 4.0 Gigawatts of solar systems and cumulatively generated over 25.0 Terawatt-hours (TWhs) of emissions-free electricity. In addition, Tesla increased solar deployment by 25 percent since last year.

All Superchargers are being converted to solar/battery power. Over time, almost all will disconnect from the electricity grid.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2017

Musk is stealing one from nature’s playbooks. Last month he tweeted: Almost all of Earth’s energy comes from the sun already — we would be a dark iceball at near absolute zero if not for the sun. And essentially, the entire ecosystem is solar-powered. And in 2020, a Musk tweet reads: That free fusion reactor in the sky conveniently converts ~4 million tons of mass into energy every second. We just need to catch an extremely tiny amount of it to power all of civilization. So while it might not be powering all of society, Tesla continues to put the sun to work to charge its products.

Tesla Is Now Offering Cybertruck Test Drives [List of Locations]

July 26, 2024

By Karan Singh

@brandonhd

Tesla has begun to reach out to customers in the United States and is offering demo drives of the Cybertruck on an invite-only basis. @brandonhd on X shared the first invite image, and it looks like it's going out quite quickly to multiple locations that have Cybertrucks on display.

Up until now, display vehicles have been for just that – looking, but no touching. Some Tesla delivery centers and showrooms have also allowed viewers to take a seat inside and open it up, but most are still locked away behind the velvet rope.

It’s exciting to see that Tesla has begun to demo them – and it can only be so long until demo drives open up to everyone.

Advisor-led Demo

This Demo Drive is led by a Tesla Advisor – while you’re driving, the advisor will be in the passenger seat, walking you through the experience. They’ll explain steer-by-wire, off-road controls, and will introduce new-to-Tesla buyers to all the features that are currently available.

Once FSD V12.5 comes to the Cybertruck, we’re sure they’ll be demoing its capabilities FSD capabilities as well.

Locations

The list of locations so far for demo drives appears to be fairly limited, but we will hopefully see demo drives roll out throughout the United States, and eventually Canada too. Here is the current list of city/state locations that have seen demo drive invites.

Manhasset, New York
West Covina, California
Los Angeles, California
Houston, Texas
Orlando, Florida
Westmont, Illinois
Tucson, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Delaware

Musk Confirms 'Actually Smart Summon' is Coming in a Revision of FSD V12.5

July 26, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Actually Smart Summon, the successor to Tesla’s Smart Summon feature, has been confirmed to be coming as soon as next month as per Elon Musk. Colloquially known as “ASS”, Actually Smart Summon is supposed to improve on the regular Smart Summon capabilities, which have historically used ultrasonic sensors (USS) to navigate parking lots.

We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon, and we’re quite excited about what other features will be unlocked once it finally shows up at our doorstep.

Vision-based Improvements

ASS is supposed to bring Smart Summon to vehicles that don’t have USS – using Tesla Vision. Most recently, Tesla has brought Autopark to vehicles without USS, and Vision-based Autopark has been a huge success. It is faster, more reliable, and smoother than the older USS-based solution. It can also park and maneuver in tighter locations.

Just recently, Tesla returned the Model X’s self-presenting doors, using Tesla Vision. Vision has seen some fantastic improvements, and many people are waiting for ASS to bring forth these improvements to Smart Summon.

Smart Summon Today

Today, Smart Summon is sometimes useful at best, usually a party trick, or downright dangerous at worst. It’s excellent and best used in straight lines, where you have a clear line of sight of the vehicle, and can stop it if doesn’t see an obstacle.

I used Smart Summon today, just before writing this article – my 2022 Model Y (with USS) – did manage to show up just fine – in a straight-line location from where I was parked, after exiting the parking spot fairly cleanly. However, I’ve previously used Smart Summon and have had the vehicle turn towards obstacles, such as cart returns or curbs. Overall, it’s a sometimes-useful feature that has a lot of drawbacks right now.

Smart Summon is also restricted to a certain distance – and it's pretty small. The max distance is shorter than most parking lots, being only about 215 ft (65m). If you’re lucky enough to park close, it's very useful to bring your car right to you.

Actually Smart Summon

ASS will bring FSD V12-like capabilities to Smart Summon – the vehicle will primarily use Vision to drive toward you (or the location you’ve indicated). ASS has been supposed to be coming since about September 2022 and has seen many delays – we’re almost at the 2-year point today.

We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon being able to bring the vehicle – safely – right to you. ASS is also one of the key steps towards bringing some other cool features that Elon Musk has previously mentioned – Park Seek and Banish Autopark.

We’re also hopeful that Actually Smart Summon will increase the maximum range a vehicle can be summoned, because the current range is fairly small. Alongside Park Seek and Banish Autopark, we’re closing in on a Robotaxi-based future.

Park Seek and Banish Autopark

When the FSD v12.4 showed up, Elon also mentioned that going forward, vehicles would automatically park themselves when arriving in a parking lot – Park Seek – and that if you got out of the car at the entrance to a business, you could get it to automatically park itself in the parking lot – Banish Autopark. These are two features that are needed for Robotaxi to work – which itself is delayed to October 10^th of this year. We’re looking quite forward to them – as in combination with Actually Smart Summon, Tesla has reached the cusp of vehicle autonomy.

A vehicle that arrives, driverless, at the location you’re at, then drives somewhere, parks itself there, and waits for you – is the definition of a Robotaxi.

While we’re likely to have to wait for Banish Autopark and Park Seek just a bit longer, Actually Smart Summon being around the corner is exciting! Gone will be the days of having to run out to your car when you forgot your umbrella – your car will just come right to you instead.