Tesla has released a new navigation feature to make it easier for people towing trailers to find charging stations that can accommodate them.

Towing trailers with electric vehicles is not yet super popular, but it is rapidly gaining in popularity, with more electric SUVs and pickup trucks having increasingly impressive towing capacity.

Tesla has had the Model Y and Model X with a limited but still useful towing capacity for a few years, but with now the Cybertruck and the opening of its Supercharger network to other EVs, including many pickup trucks, the automaker is starting to see more people arriving at its popular charging stations with trailers.

This can be problematic as if you don’t want to block several chargers, you are going to have to unhook your trailer to go charge your vehicle. That’s less than ideal and something gas-powered vehicles rarely have to do at gas stations.

Tesla’s solution has been to build a few “pull in” charging spots at some Supercharger stations that enable you to park with your trailer while charging (via Tesla Motors club):

Tesla is currently building more of these stations, but they are still far and few in between and hard to find.

The automaker is now making it easier to find with a new software update. Now, you can click on a Supercharger station, and it will tell you if it has trailer stalls.

Furthermore, if you are driving on “trailer mode” and searching for charging stations, those with “trailer friendly” stalls will appear at the top:

However, as usual, when traveling long distances in an electric vehicle, you are better off just doing a bit of planning about where to charge ahead of time, especially if you are going to be towing over long distances.

Now that Tesla can distinguish between trailer-friendly and non-trailer-friendly stations, the automaker can hopefully include it in its API for other automakers to integrate into their own navigation systems as many of them can start using the Supercharger network.

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Corporate America is investing in clean energy at record levels, with tech giants taking the top spots for users of solar.

Meta, Google, and Amazon are leading the charge in solar and battery storage adoption, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA’s) latest “Solar Means Business” report.

Meta continues to hold the title of the top solar user in corporate America, with nearly 5.2 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity installed. Meanwhile, Google leads the way in energy storage, boasting 936 megawatt-hours (MWh) of installed battery capacity. Through the first quarter of 2024, these companies have added the most solar capacity to their electricity portfolios, with major players like General Motors, Toyota, and US Steel also climbing the ranks.

The report reveals that US businesses have installed nearly 40 GW of solar capacity both onsite and offsite through Q1 2024, and corporate storage use now exceeds 1.8 gigawatt-hours (GWh). Even more growth is coming: Companies have over 3 GWh of battery storage under contract that will come online in the next five years.

“Some of the largest industrial and data operations in the world continue turning to solar and storage as a reliable, low-cost way to power their operations,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper.

Technology companies are at the forefront of this shift as data center growth drives skyrocketing electricity demand. Amazon, for example, leads the US with 13.6 GW of solar procurements under contract, while Meta and Google each have nearly 6 GW under contract – pipelines over 10 times larger than the next company in the rankings.

Target remains the US’s leading onsite corporate solar user for the ninth year in a row, with Prologis, Walmart, Amazon, and Blackstone also making the top five. For the first time, the “Solar Means Business” report is also tracking corporate battery energy storage, with Google, Apple, Meta, Target, Walmart, Home Depot, and Kohl’s among the top 10 companies using storage to meet more of their energy needs in real-time.

Looking ahead, both offsite and onsite energy storage are expected to play a bigger role in corporate renewable energy strategies. Medical companies like Kaiser Permanente are already using batteries to power microgrids, making their facilities more resilient to outages.

Carolyn Campbell, Meta’s head of clean and renewable energy, East, highlighted the importance of expanding solar capacity to match the company’s global operations with 100% clean energy: “We’re thrilled to rank number one for corporate solar procurement in SEIA’s report this year, and we continue to find ways to grow the grid to benefit everyone.”

Target’s vice president of property management, Erin Tyler, said of Target’s 20-year-old solar program, “Through our commitment to solar, we’re well on our way to achieving our corporate goal of sourcing 100% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030.”

The “Solar Means Business” report also looks at the policies driving corporate America’s adoption of solar. Many companies are taking advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act’s long-term clean energy incentives. To further accelerate their renewable energy investments, businesses are calling for improvements in interconnection processes, new community solar legislation, and simpler tax credit monetization.

Read more: A 100-MW solar farm just broke ground in Wisconsin

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Volkswagen Group Africa has officially begun production of a modern electric farm tractor at its multifunctional facility in Gashora, Rwanda in a bid to advance modern, low-emission agricultural initiatives in Africa.

Part of a larger Rwandan initiative called the GenFarm Project, the new VW tractor is part of a “holistic ecosystem” of electrified farming machinery set to be used throughout rural Africa – where liquid fossil fuels are often just as difficult to come by as electricity. The goal is to provide machinery that’s both sustainable and reliable.

“We are growing our footprint in Africa and regard Rwanda as a key growth market. This project demonstrates our commitment to sustainable practices and highlights our ability to provide mobility solutions to the rural community in addition to the urban community currently serviced by our Volkswagen Mobility Solutions Rwanda business,” explains Martina Biene, Volkswagen Group Africa Chairperson and Managing Director. “The GenFarm Project fosters technological innovation and aligns with Volkswagen Group’s strategy to generate meaningful value for both society and the environment through sustainable mobility.”

The GenFarm project will eventually provide mobility services for transportation of goods and people. In June 2023, Volkswagen Group Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Rwanda to provide land for the establishment of the GenFarm Project.

The Volkswagen tractors’ electric motor produces 20 kW (about 27 hp), making it about the same size as the Solectrac product (which hasn’t worked out well in the US, it must be said). That motor gets its electrons from a 32 kWh swappable battery. Batteries are swapped/charged at the Empowerment Hub to minimize downtime. DC fast charging isn’t available, but the relatively small, swappable batteries (hopefully) mean that’s not much of a problem.

The GenFarm project hopes the new VW electric tractor will help clean up Rwanda’s agricultural sector, which currently accounts for some 25% of the national Gross Domestic Product.

Electrek’s Take

We’ve talked a lot about the lack of new farmers in America, but the problem is global – especially as western companies, and western ideas about consumerism, continue to spread. Products like this electric tractor from VW will make farming cleaner, quieter, and (hopefully) more attractive to young workers.

SOURCE | IMAGES: VW Group Africa.