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Ecoflow announced the Delta Ultra today at CES, its monster 6kWh home LFP battery pack on wheels. Its 240V/30A= 7.2kW output can back up a home the way a whole home generator or Tesla Powerwall can. However, this thing has wheels and can be loaded into a vehicle to be transported to a campsite or a remote location. EcoFlow provided us with one last month and we’ve taken it to an off-grid tiny home which it kept powered, even in the cold of winter, for a whole weekend. Let’s have a deeper look…

This is the biggest battery pack I’ve ever reviewed by a long shot. I’ve tried tons of smaller battery packs (even e-bikes!) with 120V AC inverters that you can plug laptops and sometimes as much as refrigerators into for short periods of time. But the Ultra can back up the whole home. Until now, that was something reserved for Tesla Powerwall-grade equipment (which I have 2 sets) that comes via electricians or smelly, noisy gas generators.

The EcoFlow Delta Ultra spec sheet is super impressive for an off-the-shelf product:

  • 6kWh of LFP power, 3500 cycles, safer for inside usage, 7.2kW peak output
  • Weight: Battery 116 lbs + 70 lbs inverter = 186 lbs or 85 kg with wheels
  • Wifi + Bluetooth enabled plus app for monitoring remotely. Even an optional 4G dongle
  • Outlets galore including a 240V 30A generator plug and 120V 30A RV plug

Whole spec sheet follows:

The EcoFlow Delta Pro works seamlessly with a 60A Smart Home Panel which was too small for my home to try out. This is integrated into the app allowing remote management of circuits and 0ms cutover time in the event of a power outage.

Tiny House power

With, 14kW of Solar, a 200A breaker box with Tesla Powerwalls at my home, The EcoFlow Delta Ultra didn’t make sense as an additional home backup. However, a friend of mine has been using a rotation of batteries to rent an off-grid tiny house as an AirBNB. But these smaller batteries aren’t able to heat the home with a 240V heat pump. He either has to use a gas generator to power the heat pump, rely on a small wood stove, or stop accepting guests when it starts getting cold in the fall.

The Delta Pro with its 240V output and 6kwh of storage would likely be enough to heat the home for a weekend as well as run lights and entertainment for the weekend. The heat pump is quite efficient and while it requires almost 1.5kW to start up and heat the home within about 20 minutes, it only requires about 300W to keep the 200-square-foot tiny home warm throughout the weekend.

In practice, the Ultra worked as advertised in 40-degree weather, keeping the home at about 65 degrees and powering small appliances and entertainment. However, the LFP batteries likely suffered a bit with the lower temperature, still allowing the home to operate for 48 hours but using more of the battery than anticipated by about 5-10%. This could be remedied by moving the battery inside the warmer house.

The Ultra is very quiet, only kicking the fans on at the outset when the heat pump was firing up as well as the tiny refrigerator and load went over 2000W. Under 2000W, the fans turn off and it is completely silent.

The Ultra has a variety of inputs including solar options which may make sense for this tiny house going forward, making it a true off-grid solution. At about 3kWh/day, we figure about 1kW of solar is needed or about 3 economical roof panels. Five panels or about 1.6kW will allow for a bigger buffer and enough to start doing things like electric induction cooking (bye propane), and e-bike charging.

For now, he charges it at home on a 120V outlet which takes about 5 hours from empty. He delivers it ahead of the customers on Friday full and picks it up with a little remaining charge on Sunday evening.

For those people who own off-grid cabins, this could be the perfect product to take with them. And while at home, it can function as whole home backup power.

Electric Vehicle charger?

You can Level 2 charge an EV with this at 7.2kW and add 6kW of battery in about an hour, adding as much as 25 miles of range (depending on the vehicle). You can even do the reverse and charge it on an EV charger(!):

Availability

EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra will be available starting today Jan. 9 on the EcoFlow website and Amazon.com. On the EcoFlow website, users can purchase DELTA Pro Ultra (inverter and battery) for $4999, and the Smart Home Panel 2 is available for purchase at $1599, or as a bundled package with DELTA Pro Ultra for $6399 until February 9. After that period, the prices are $5799 for DELTA Pro Ultra, $1899 for Smart Home Panel 2, and $7499 for the DELTA Pro Ultra bundle.

Electrek’s take

EcoFlow’s Delta Ultra is a new breed of 240V portable batteries that will enable a new level of off-grid comfort where it hasn’t existed before. This is great for off-grid cottages, RVs, tiny homes, camping, and other applications. Adding solar makes this a one-stop shop. The wheels make it easier to move the 180-lb product from place to place.

I’m super impressed with how it performed out of the box quietly and reliably over the past month. The screen is very intuitive and it feels like EcoFlow has thought about everything here.

While I didn’t have an opportunity to try it, the smart breaker box and the stacking capabilities of this battery mean it can work with any sized home as both a battery backup and an off-grid solution. I think there’s a big opportunity here to also charge the battery at low-cost hours and use the batteries to power the home during high-cost times. Stay tuned for more from EcoFlow.

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Electreon and Xos to deploy wireless charging for commercial EV deliveries like UPS in Michigan

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Electreon and Xos to deploy wireless charging for commercial EV deliveries like UPS in Michigan

The State of Michigan has announced a new partnership with wireless EV charging specialist Electreon and Commercial EV manufacturer Xos, Inc. Together, the companies have secured funding from the state to expand wireless charging availability for commercial vehicles, including UPS trucks in Detroit.

It’s been nearly a year since the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the City of Detroit, and Electreon ($ELWS) unveiled the first wireless EV charging roadway in the United States.

Michigan installed Electreon’s wireless inductive-charging coils (seen below) on 14th Street in Detroit between Marantette and Dalzelle streets to charge EVs equipped with Electreon receivers as they drive on the road.

At the time. MDOT and Detroit officials said the road would be used to test and perfect Electreon’s wireless EV charging technology in a real-world environment before “making it available to the public in the next few years.”

While the public will not be able to take advantage of wireless charging just yet, commercial EVs are gaining access thanks to a new partnership between Electreon, Xos ($XOS), and the State of Michigan.

  • Michigan wireless EV charging
  • Michigan wireless EV charging

Michigan progresses as US wireless EV charging leader

When Michigan announced the first wireless EV charging road in the US last year, officials shared hopes that the Great Lakes State and the city of Detroit could become leaders in the innovation and and deployment of such nascent technology.

Following a press release from Electreon, the State of Michigan confirmed details of the new partnership, which now includes commercial EV developer Xos, Inc. as well. The new commercial partnership is supported by $200,000 in funding from the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform (MMFP), building off the state’s “Make it in Michigan: economic strategy, developed by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to invest in the state’s people, places and projects. 

Through the partnership and coinciding state funding, Electreon will extend its wireless EV charging network and use cases in Michigan. Additionally, Electreon’s technology will be integrated into delivery step vans from Xos in order to “demonstrate wireless charging technological value and its potential to lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) in the electrification of commercial truck fleets.” Stefan Tongur, vice president of business development for Electreon, elaborated:

We’re excited to demonstrate how Electreon’s technology can optimize electric fleet usage and showcase the seamless integration of wireless charging into daily fleet operations, minimizing downtime and enabling charging across time and location. We’re proud to do this work in Michigan, a state fostering innovation and sustainable transportation solutions.

In addition to expanding wireless charging on Detroit’s first “electric roadway,” the Michigan project will enable the installation of stationary wireless charging at a UPS facility in Detroit. Xos co-founder and CEO Dakota Semler also spoke:

We are proud to partner with Electreon and support UPS to demonstrate the potential of wireless charging in commercial fleets. This innovative approach will revolutionize how we power our electric vehicles and drive fleet electrification forward.

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Here’s our first look at Jaguar’s new luxury electric 4-door GT [Images]

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Here's our first look at Jaguar's new luxury electric 4-door GT [Images]

The iconic British luxury automaker is undergoing a major brand overhaul. With its official debut around the corner, Jaguar’s electric 4-door GT, the first of its new series, was spotted testing on British roads. The new images give us a closer look at what we can expect from the revamped Jag brand.

Jaguar’s new electric GT makes its first appearance

After building internal combustion-powered sports cars for over 75 years, Jaguar will become an all-electric luxury brand from 2025.

The company announced earlier this year that it will start fresh with an entirely new range of EVs. After killing off the F-Type, E-Pace, XF, and soon the F-Pace SUV, we are finally getting our first look at what the new branding will look like.

Jaguar’s new electric 4-door GT was caught testing on British roads. The camouflaged prototypes reveal a radically different look than the Jag models we are accustomed to.

You can see one of the biggest changes is the low-riding, extended silhouette, as opposed to the crossover SUV and sedan models like the F-Type and I-Pace, Jaguar’s first EV.

The front and rear bumper designs also appear much more aggressive and bold than previous models.

Jaguar's-electric-GT
Jaguar electric 4-door GT prototype (Source: Jaguar Land Rover)

Jaguar’s electric GT is being put through the paces ahead of its debut. It has already completed tens of thousands of testing miles (virtual and real-world) and will soon hit public streets worldwide.

The new model will be built in Solihull, UK, where Jaguar recently ended production of its gas-powered models.

Jaguar's-electric-GT
Jaguar electric 4-door GT prototype (Source: Jaguar Land Rover)

It will be the first to ride on Jaguar’s new JAE (Jaguar Electric Architecture), which will underpin its upcoming lineup of high-end luxury EVs with prices over £100,000 ($130,000). The electric GT will have a range of over 434 miles (700 km) and upwards of 575 hp, making it Jaguar’s most powerful car of all time.

Jaguar will debut its Design Vision Concept at Miami Art Week on December 2, 2024. Next Summer, it’s expected to make its official global debut ahead of deliveries in 2026.

What do you think of Jaguar’s new design based on what’s shown? Are you excited about the brand overhaul? Let us know in the comments below.

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Tesla pushes end-to-end neural networks for highway driving, but only for newer vehicles

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Tesla pushes end-to-end neural networks for highway driving, but only for newer vehicles

Tesla has pushed a new (Supervised) Full Self-Driving update with the promised end-to-end neural networks for highway driving.

However, it’s only for newer vehicles.

“End-to-end” is what Tesla refers to as neural net-powered AI driving the vehicle from vision to controls rather than the controls being explicitly coded. It’s already the case in all widely released versions of (Supervised) Full Self-Driving (FSD) for city driving, but not for highway driving, which uses another software stack.

Tesla originally planned to deliver it for highway driving in October, but it was only delivered to a small number of vehicles.

In its latest AI roadmap, Tesla said that it would come the first week of November instead.

Now, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s head of self-driving and AI, said that the latest release with end-to-end highway driving (v12.5.6.3) has been widely pushed to HW4 vehicle owners:

With the latest release (v12.5.6.3), FSD is using end-to-end neural networks for driving across highways, city streets and parking lots, and has now shipped widely for AI4 vehicles. Highway driving should be smoother, more natural and even safer than the previous explicit control stack. Check out the different driving styles to set speed and lane change preferences. Enjoy and let Tesla AI know if you have any feedback.

However, there’s no word for the millions of HW3 vehicle owners.

In fact, the only thing promised to HW3 vehicles, which Tesla now called AI3, in its last roadmap is this:

Improved v12.5.x models for AI3 city driving

As we have often reported this year, Tesla has reached the limits of the HW3 computer and now needs to optimize the code with every release despite still being far from its promise of unsupervised self-driving.

Electrek’s Take

This is annoying cause I could really use end-to-end on my HW3 car. I am on v12.5.4.2 and it has been a regression from v12.5.4.1 for me, especially on highways.

Yesterday, it almost drove me off-road when taking my highway exit, which is always a bit shaky because it is a short exit and FSD often swings itself into it. It’s a bit awkward, and my girlfriend never likes it, so I disengage FSD before taking the exit when she was with me, but this time, she wasn’t, and I had the new update.

It again swung left before going right into the exit, but this time, it went way too far, and I was in the shoulder by the time I took control.

I took this exit hundreds of times with FSD and it’s the first time it did that.

I am starting to think we won’t see much more improvements to FSD with HW3 cars and there’s no retrofit computer in sight.

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