Zero 60, an EV charge point operator on the ChargePoint network, is bringing fast charging to a Culver’s in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. The company, founded by Faith Technologies Incorporated (FTI), will install a renewable-powered charging station in Rhinelander.

The new site sits along a state-designated Alternative Fuel Corridor at Culver’s on 620 W. Kemp St. It will feature four 160-kilowatt charging ports, giving EV drivers in northern Wisconsin reliable fast charging well beyond the state’s urban hubs.

The project is backed by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s first round of funding from the Wisconsin Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (WEVI) program. Wisconsin wants to ensure EV drivers can confidently travel north, knowing they won’t be stranded without chargers.

“Partnering with a well-known brand like Culver’s gives us a unique opportunity to combine Midwest hospitality with clean, convenient charging,” said Wade Leipold, executive vice president of FTI. “We’re proud to support Wisconsin’s efforts to build a robust, future-ready charging network that serves communities and travelers alike.”

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Zero6 Energy is financing, owning, and operating the station, while FTI is handling the engineering, design, installation, and ongoing maintenance. Zero 60 already operates nine charging sites and has plans for many more across the US, with the first wave of stations installed in New York, California, Colorado, and Wisconsin, and more currently being developed in other states.

Read more: GM, EVgo, and Pilot hit 200+ charging sites across 40 states

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Tesla is attempting to conceal the details of three separate accidents involving its Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, despite having only two months of service with a small fleet.

Due to the Standing General Order 2021-01 (the “SGO”), automakers are required to report to NHTSA crashes involving their autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance systems within five days of being notified of them.

We have previously reported on Tesla leading crashes for level 2 driver assistance systems by thousands of reported crashes, but the automaker never reported any automated driving crashes because it never had any system that would qualify as a level 3-5 SAE automated driving system, despite the name of its “Full Self-Driving” software package.

This has changed with the launch of Tesla’s limited Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.

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Now, Tesla has reported its first three accidents involving an “automated driving system” through its new Robotaxi effort:

All the accidents happened in July, during Tesla’s first month of operating its Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.

There was at least one injury reported for one of the crashes, but Tesla lists it as “minor”. None of the accidents is being investigated by authorities based on the information Tesla has released.

Tesla hasn’t released many details about its Robotaxi effort, but the automaker is estimated to have only about 12 vehicles in its Robotaxi fleet in Austin as of July, and it was offering rides to only a limited group of users, mostly Tesla influencers and shareholders who are disincentivized from criticizing the company.

As it does with its ADAS crash reporting, Tesla is hiding most details about the crashes. Unlike its competitors, which openly release narrative information about the incidents, Tesla is redacting all the narrative for all its crash reporting to NHTSA:

It makes it hard to get any context about the accident and assess the level of responsibility for the automated driving system.

Unlike competitors, such as Waymo, Tesla’s Robotaxi still uses a “safety monitor” who sits in the front seat with a finger on a kill switch ready to stop the vehicle. Despite this added level of safety, Tesla is evidently still experiencing crashes.

CEO Elon Musk has claimed that Tesla would remove the safety monitor by the end of the year and deliver on its “full self-driving” promises to customers, but he has never shared any data proving that Tesla’s automated driving system is reliable enough to achieve that.

NTHSA is also investigating Tesla for misreporting its crash data.

Electrek’s Take

The facts are that Tesla has never released any significant data to prove that its system is reliable. Never.

The only data Tesla has shared is the cumulative mileage driven by the fleet on Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, but that’s with a human driver at the wheel at all times.

Tesla never shared disengagement data despite publicly claiming multiple factors of improvement in miles between disengagements.

How can you trust a company that operates like that?

Furthermore, it redacts the most critical details of crashes involving its driver-assist and automated driving systems.

That’s not the type of opacity I want to see from a company deploying potentially dangerous, yet also potentially lifesaving, technology.

Unfortunately, I’ve lost hope of regulators doing anything about this any time soon. It will likely take more tragic accidents for them to act.

Toyota introduced a new “science-backed” app that rewards EV and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) drivers for charging their vehicles. Why? Because, according to Toyota’s own research, PHEV drivers don’t plug in often enough.

Toyota develops an app to reward EV drivers for charging

Hybrid vehicles and Toyota are nearly synonymous at this point. Toyota launched the Prius, the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, back in 1997.

Just under three decades later, the Prius is now in its fifth generation, and Toyota offers over 16 hybrid vehicles, two PHEVs, and one all-electric model in the US (two, if you include the Lexus RZ).

Although Toyota is committed to offering vehicles across all powertrain options (EV, PHEV, and hybrid), the company believes it has found another way to cut emissions.

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The Toyota Research Institute’s Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HCAI) division developed an app, Charge Minder, that “applies behavioral science to EV charging.” It basically turns the charging experience into a game with rewards for charging streaks and “encouraging messages.”

The app also includes education quizzes to teach you more about your vehicle and when the best time is to charge up for maximum cost savings.

Toyota’s research found that, in the US, “behavioral interventions increased charging by 10% for plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) drivers.” Satisfaction among the PHEV drivers rose 16 percentage points, bringing it to 100%

In Japan, PHEV and EV drivers shifted to charge during peak renewable charge times by 59%, which Toyota said added nearly 30 hours of daytime charging per vehicle, per day.

“This research and development shows how science-based behavioral interventions can both help us reduce carbon emissions as much as possible, as soon as possible, and increase customer satisfaction,” Dr Gill Pratt, chief scientist and CEO of the Toyota Research Institute, said.

Toyota’s app (ChargeMinder) integrates over a dozen science-backed “interventions” that are designed to promote better charging habits.

Electrek’s Take

It’s no secret that Toyota is sticking to its roots and will continue to offer PHEVs and hybrids, alongside all-electric vehicles, for the foreseeable future.

Most PHEVs nowadays offer between 20 and 50 miles of electric driving range, which is plenty for most daily commutes. However, there’s one issue. PHEV drivers are not plugging in as they should and are primarily using them as traditional gas-powered vehicles.

A report from the European Commission last year found that PHEVs pollute more than they are promoted, largely because drivers are not plugging them in.

New findings from earlier this month revealed that carmakers are misleading buyers about PHEVs, with real-world emissions that are multiple times higher than what they are documented to be.

Can Toyota’s app really help cut emissions? Maybe a little, but battery electric vehicles EVs are still the most effective way to truly make a difference and pave the way for sustainable transportation.