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Tesla has launched a new Model Y configuration with just 2 seats – leaving a ton of room in the back for transport or a custom solution.

It is aimed at businesses.

The new vehicle was unveiled in France today.

Clément Maguet, Senior Account Manager at Tesla, announced the new vehicle on LinkedIn:

“Tesla has developed a 2-seater Model Y with a storage capacity of 2,158 liters and offering a range of up to 565 km (WLTP cycle). This model is eligible for commercial vehicle taxation.”

The new version of the Model Y offers a lot more storage in the rear and more range.

565 km (351 miles) is about 30 more kilometers than the highest rated consumer version of the Model Y.

Tesla hasn’t released the price of the new version of the Model Y as interested buyers need to contact Tesla’s fleet unit.

It’s also currently only available in France, and it’s not clear if or when Tesla plans to expand the program.

In France, vehicles with 2 or 3 seats used for commercial purposes are exempt from the TVA tax.

The country currently has a fleet of around 6.3 million commercial vehicles, mostly powered by diesel as Maguet points out, and Tesla is going after that market with this new version of the Model Y.

Tesla is taking the Model Y with 2 seats on a tour of Tesla stores around France.

Electrek’s Take

I like this. More space, more range, and hopefully cheaper. You could easily use this for transport if your business regularly transport things that can fit in the back of the Model Y.

Some businesses could also use the space to custom fit a setup related to their business – like Tesla has been doing for its mobile service units:

I know that France has specific incentives for this type of vehicle, but I hope that Tesla expands this to other markets. It’s a cool idea.

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Elon Musk says that Tesla ‘unsupervised self-driving begins’, but don’t get too excited

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Elon Musk says that Tesla 'unsupervised self-driving begins', but don't get too excited

Elon Musk says that Tesla’s “unsupervised self-driving begins,” but as usual with the CEO’s statements about self-driving, it’s just “corporate puffery.”

Tesla has released a video showcasing that its vehicles coming out of Fremont factory can now drive themselves to the loading docks for transportation:

https://twitter.com/Tesla_AI/status/1884457749226090590

I’m not gonna lie. I don’t want to hate on this because I think it is pretty cool. It’s just not what was promised for years.

Literally, Elon Musk said that Tesla would do a driverless cross-country drive by the end of 2018. It never happened. Then he said that by the end of every year since 2020, Tesla would enable unsupervised self-driving in Tesla vehicles. That also never happened.

And now, he retweeted the above video, claiming that “unsupervised self-driving begins.”

The Tesla vehicles in this video drive 1.2 miles on private roads at low speeds around the factory. This is nothing more than what Tesla demonstrated on the private roads of the Warner Bros studio with the Robotaxi last year.

This is clearly not the “beginning of unsupervised self-driving” or at least, not in the way that Musk has promised Tesla FSD owners for years.

Musk’s latest timeline is “unsupervised self-driving in California and Texas around Q2 2025.”

Electrek’s Take

Again, I think this is cool. It is a fun and efficient way to transport vehicles to the loading docks, but that’s about it.

Anyone who has used FSD should know that this is not more impressive than FSD, and FSD is still years away from being ready to be unsupervised.

I strongly believe that if FSD was developed in a vacuum without Elon’s comments and Tesla selling it as a package with future upgrades, people would celebrate FSD has a great program. Instead, it’s becoming a joke.

You have Elon claiming that this is the “beginning of unsupervised self-driving” and Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s head of FSD, added: “just a matter of time before it’s rolling on public roads.”

Yes, a matter of time. A long time while you sell this package to people promising it will happen by the end of the year.

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China urges citizens to trade in ‘old lithium e-bikes’ for newer lead acid electric bikes

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China urges citizens to trade in 'old lithium e-bikes' for newer lead acid electric bikes

In what might seem like a headscratcher, China is now urging its citizens to trade in their lithium-ion battery-based electric bikes for newer models with sealed lead-acid batteries (SLAs).

Electric bicycles are an incredibly popular form of travel in urban areas in China. An estimated 350 million electric two-wheelers of various forms travel the roads and bike paths in China.

Most e-bikes in China look more like what we would call scooters or mopeds, and many families as well as young adults rely on these e-bikes for daily transportation. While they technically require pedals and a maximum speed of 25 km/h (15.5 mph) to qualify as e-bikes in China, most users remove the pedals and effectively operate them as scooters.

SLA batteries, usually in the form of Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) SLAs, have been commonly used in electric bicycles in China for decades. In fact, the technology for lead-acid batteries is over 100 years old, and early electric cars sold at the start of the 1900s were powered by lead-acid batteries.

Over the last decade or so, China has seen a shift from older AGM batteries, which are heavy and bulky, toward lighter and longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries.

However, safety concerns regarding rare yet dangerous lithium-ion battery fires have put a pause on that proliferation. The government instituted new safety standards for lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes last year, but there’s also been a major pushback toward AGM batteries for the domestic market. Even major technological leaders in the industry, such as Yadea and NIU, produce many AGM-based e-bikes for the domestic market while exporting primarily lithium-ion battery e-bikes abroad.

Now we’re seeing China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announcing new policies to further promote trade-ins of lithium-ion battery e-bikes for AGM models. The new MOC policy includes subsidies to help individuals buy eligible new models.

Traded-in e-bikes will be sent for dismantling and recycling, a move the MOC says is intended to help phase out older electric bikes with safety risks.

While sealed lead acid-based batteries do have higher safety margins, they have significantly lower energy density and lifespans. To help solve this issue, some companies, such as Yadea, are pushing for sodium-ion batteries to replace both lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries as the next big e-bike battery chemistry.

Sodium-ion batteries have the safety advantages of lead-acid batteries, yet offer better energy density and lifespans that are beginning to approach that of lithium-ion batteries. The cost remains relatively high for the newer sodium-ion battery technology, but significant investments in the development of sodium-ion battery manufacturing are expected to help reduce the cost in the next few years.

Image credits: 1, 2, 3

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Vessev’s VS–9 electric hydrofoiling boat begins passenger operations [Video]

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Vessev's VS–9 electric hydrofoiling boat begins passenger operations [Video]

Nascent electric hydrofoil boat builder Vessev shared another key milestone this week, putting its first electric hydrofoiling boat into commercial operations. Ferry transport company Fullers360 is now operating the ultra-efficient VS–9 vessel to transport tourists and other passengers.

Vessev is a young, eco-friendly boat builder founded in Auckland, New Zealand a few years ago. The company currently operates there and has been conducting sea trials of its flagship vessel, an electric hydrofoiling boat called the VS–9, since coming out of stealth mode in May 2024.

We have been following the marine startup as it moved closer to reaching commercial operations and tourism with its unique electric hydrofoiling boat that “flies” above the water. Last year, we learned that Vessev has lined up its first customer in NetZero Maritime – the green technology team at Fullers360 – New Zealand’s largest ferry operator, who signed on to help commercialize the hydrofoil technology.

This past September, Vessev shared images and footage of its first completed VS–9 electric hydrofoiling boat build alongside news that it would begin transporting passengers in New Zealand as soon as certification was complete.

Last we heard, the VS–9 had entered the last phase of sea trails before beginning commercial operations and had even started selling ride tickets to the public. Today, Vessev confirmed that electric hydrofoil rides are operational in New Zealand and shared some video footage of the experience.

  • Hydrofoiling boat
  • Hydrofoiling boat
  • Hydrofoiling boat

Vessev’s first hydrofoiling boat transports tourists in NZ

As promised, Vessev’s first electric hydrofoiling boat has begun commercial ferry operations in Auckland, New Zealand, with Fullers360. The quiet, sustainable vessel has been dubbed “Kermadec” and is now transporting passengers on tourism trips across Auckland’s waterways.

According to Vessev, this is the first time in the world that a certified electric hydrofoiling boat has entered a commercial fleet for transport services. Vessev CEO Eric Laakmann elaborated:

We are incredibly proud to see the Vessev VS–9 enter service with Fullers360. The VS—9 is the first electric vessel to enter the Fullers360 fleet and represents an enormous step on their path to being net zero by 2040. For the public, we’re thrilled that they can now also share in what we’ve been experiencing since the launch of the VS—9 in May.

Traditionally, larger vessels are required to deliver a comfortable passenger experience as they can handle the impact of waves and wake. By flying above the waves, the Vessev VS–9 delivers a large vessel experience on an agile platform that can be berthed and charged in nearly any marina. In the future, we are going to see many different use cases made viable by technology like this.

The VS–9 will transport its passengers at speeds up to 25 knots (~29 mph) and can travel up to 50 nautical miles (57 miles/92.6km) on a single charge. With its first electric hydrofoiling boat in operation, Vessev will look to deploy additional sustainable vessels, but that’s not all.

The company has shared plans to continue its collaboration with Fullers360 and eventually introduce a new vessel into service called VS–18 – a 100-seater electric hydrofoiling commuter ferry. While we await that model, here is some footage of the VS–9 in action:

Source: Vessev

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