New England's Largest Tesla Supercharger Will Have 'CyberCanopy,' Solar and WiFi

July 21, 2023

By Lennon Cihak

Tesla is creating the largest Supercharger in New England

MarcoRP/Twitter

As Tesla’s Supercharger expansion continues, the company is opening the largest Supercharger in New England in the city of Canton, Massachusetts later this year, and it will have a Cybertruck-inspired design called “CyberCanopy.”

The Supercharger will be located at the Trillium Brewing Company off of I-93. The plans for the 20-stall charging station were presented by Tesla during the city of Canton’s planning board meeting last week.

This will be the largest the largest Supercharger station in New England, boasting 20 stalls with lights underneath the canopy. What’s more interesting is the mention of a “canopy low side,” a point that along with having the name "CyberCanopy," suggests it’s inspired by the Cybertruck design. The design choice could also help market the vehicle. There will also be Wi-Fi access that’s likely to be powered by SpaceX’s Starlink.

Solar For Supercharging

Six years ago, CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that Supercharging stations are being “converted to solar/battery power” and will disconnect from the grid over time. Musk also said that solar is already installed at some of the Superchargers, but the full rollout needed Supercharger V3, Powerpack V2, and SolarCity, which Tesla acquired in 2016.

Supercharger V3 and Powerpack V2 have been out for some time now, and the company is even beginning to open its V4 Superchargers, but there are still very few solar canopies atop the chargers.

When Tesla unveiled plans for the first V4 Supercharger in Yuma County, Arizona, they included two 4,500-square-foot solar arrays and a Megapack. This suggested that Tesla was beginning to implement these technologies at select new stations. This further confirms suspicions with the solar arrays being installed at the Canton, Massachusetts location.

45,000 Superchargers—and Counting

Back in April, Tesla’s official “Tesla Charging” Twitter account announced they’ve activated their 45,000th Supercharger. The expansion of Tesla’s innovative charging stations is imperative as the company begins to open the charging stations to non-Tesla vehicles.

Supercharger Network Heads Towards $100 Billion Valuation

We recently reported that Tesla’s Supercharger network was on a path toward a $100 billion valuation, according to industry analysts. A major part of the valuation is due in part to the adaptation of Tesla’s NACS connector by other EV manufacturers, such as GM, Ford, Polestar, Nissan, and more.

Tesla has secured a comfortable spot in the EV charging infrastructure market. With more companies beginning to adopt Tesla’s NACS connector, the company is simplifing the charging process and making EVs more attractive to the masses.

Tesla Stock Surges on Delivery Numbers and Record Energy Deployment in Q2 2024

July 2, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Tesla has provided information on its delivery and production numbers for Q2 2024 today.

One of the biggest things of note is the 9.4GWh of energy storage products - Megapacks and Powerwalls - deployed in Q2, which is the highest deployment in a single quarter. Tesla deployed 4.05GWh last quarter, so this more than doubles their deployments compared to Q1.

Vehicle Numbers

Tesla produced approximately 411,000 vehicles and delivered 444,000 in the second quarter of 2024, with the vast majority being the Model 3 and Model Y, as expected. This largely beat analyst expectations and TSLA was up 10.20% on the day.

There was a slowdown in production, seen in China, and during the tooling-up phases for Cybertruck and the Model 3 Performance. With Semi also entering High-Volume Production, and work ongoing for a new supercomputer cluster, Tesla has been making quite a few capital expenditures that have impacted vehicle productivity.

See the chart below for specifics on vehicle production and deliveries.

Tesla's production and deliveries breakdown.

Not a Tesla App

With the general cooling of the EV Market, Tesla has managed to have one of their best quarters ever. Q2 of 2024 ranks as Tesla’s third-best quarter. Only in Q2 of 2023 (466k vehicles) and Q4 of 2023 (485k vehicles) has Tesla delivered more vehicles. The stock has surged, passing the $230 mark for the first time since early January.

Investors are taking the news well, and Tesla expects to continue its growth as the leading EV manufacturer based on Elon Musk’s words during the 2024 Shareholder Meeting, with a big focus on autonomy.

Tesla Patents Robotaxi Sanitization System - Reveals How It Will Work

July 2, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

A new patent claimed by Tesla has revealed some additional details on the upcoming Robotaxi’s Sanitization System – which will automatically sanitize enclosed spaces. It discusses how Tesla expects to use this system, including some hints on the upcoming Robotaxi app. Rimac also recently announced their upcoming robotaxi, which looks a lot like what we may see in Tesla’s Cybercab.

Most interesting is that this patent isn’t strictly based on some specific systems in the Robotaxi itself but is rather based upon an overall routine and process for sanitizing enclosed spaces that are shared among multiple people, particularly around vehicle interiors. This means it is likely applicable to all of Tesla’s vehicles.

You can view the entire patent here, although we went through it all so you wouldn’t have to.

Sanitization

The sanitization patent is focused on observing and analyzing the conditions of the closed space and then generating a sanitization routine based on the conditions, and then finally executing it. This essentially means that the system will scan a vehicle, determine what kind of cleaning is required, and then conduct that cleaning.

Analysis - Interior & Exterior

Let’s take a look at the analysis portion first. There are a few key detection parameters – ambient temperature, humidity, the presence of pathogens or unclean air, and the presence or absence of certain conditions in the enclosed environment. Using a multitude of sensor data, including some from the vehicle itself, the system will create a sanitization plan.

The robotaxi's interior

Not a Tesla App

The sanitization plan doesn’t just include the interior of the vehicle – but can also consider external parameters like weather and vehicle usage history. Rain, snow, and mud could be some pretty big factors for a Robotaxi cleanup, and taking these into account is essential.

How It’ll Clean

Once the plan is generated, the system will utilize various sanitization routines, based on the plan that was generated. This can include using the HVAC systems, using UV lighting, using steam generators, and a few other processes. The system can also take into account whether the sanitization process can be accomplished by the resources available – e.g. if there is a human or humanoid robot available to accomplish some of the tasks.

There are a few basic methods described in the patent on how Tesla expects to sanitize vehicles, including blowing warm air toward the steering wheel, doors and windows, and the central display to sanitize. It also has a method to expose various parts of the vehicle, including the seats and seatbelts, to a sanitizing UV light.

There are some interesting and unique methods – using active or passive elements to create heat and sanitizing surfaces like the central touchscreen. That’s not all – the patent also talks about tilting the vehicle’s central display to reflect the sanitizing UV light around the vehicle. Tesla has some unique ideas on how to implement its automated sanitization process.

If there’s additional sanitization needed, the system can cooperate with external service robots (possibly Tesla’s Optimus), to sanitize the interior and exterior of the vehicle. It can also direct the Full Self Driving system to adjust the vehicle’s orientation, exposing certain parts of the interior to sunlight.

When and Where to Sanitize

Tesla expects this sanitization routine to begin running immediately after a passenger exits the vehicle, reducing downtime as much as possible between potential passengers. If the sanitization system identifies that deeper cleaning is needed, the system will redirect the vehicle in need of cleaning to a cleaning location, while another vehicle will be directed to the next potential passenger.

There are some Robotaxi-unique features, such as a disinfecting spray system and special disinfecting UV light that are not present in any of Tesla’s current vehicles. Whether these current vehicles will receive a refit or a refresh to include these features remains up in the air at this time, however, the patent did notably use the Model Y as the figure vehicle.

Some other features, such as using humidity, temperature, seatbelt retractors, seat adjustment motors, and motorized vents – are already in every Tesla vehicle.

Killing Germs

One of the most unique things about this patent is Tesla has looked at various airborne pathogens – such as SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), amongst others, and identified what temperatures and humidities will kill these off. It will use this information to change the ambient environment in the vehicle to one unsuitable for pathogens to survive, helping to prevent illnesses from transferring from one passenger to the next.

We’re going to see some unique things at Tesla’s Robotaxi unveiling on 8/8, and some more details of how this system functions will probably come up then. Sanitization of Robotaxis is absolutely one of the key steps that will help to build Tesla’s ambitious Robotaxi fleet – and we’re hoping to see more on how they expect to charge Robotaxis in the upcoming weeks.