Humanoid Robots will Transform Manufacturing

The global workforce is on the brink of transformation, driven by a new wave of humanoid robots that bring human-like adaptability and intelligence to warehouses, restaurants, homes and even factory floors. The surge of innovation isn’t just confined to a single company; it spans a diverse group of leading robotics firms, each contributing uniquely to this exciting evolution. 

Argon Mechatronics, Boston Dynamics, Apptronik, Figure.AI, Unitree, Agility Robotics, and Tesla are reshaping what’s possible for the next wave of intelligent automation. This is the story of how these advanced humanoid systems are transforming the workforce.

Boston Dynamics, well-known for the viral videos of its dancing, jumping and parkour-savvy robotic creations like Atlas, is now extending its influence to industry. Spot, their quadruped robot, is already being used for industrial inspections, construction site monitoring, and safety operations, showcasing the versatility of robots in challenging environments. 

Spot can be equipped with a variety of accessories, such as the Spot CAM+ for panoramic views and Spot Core for integrating custom applications, making it a useful tool for inspection and automation. The humanoid Atlas, meanwhile, can take these abilities to the next level, extending them to search and rescue and plant and equipment operations.    READ MORE...

Optimus Robots Will be Selling Next Year

Elon Musk announced that Tesla may start selling its Optimus humanoid robot next year. The automaker plans to use the robot in its own factory by the end of the year.

A few months ago, Tesla unveiled “Optimus Gen 2”, a new generation of its humanoid robot that should be able to take over repetitive tasks from humans.

The new prototype showed a lot of improvements compared to previously underwhelming versions of the robot, and it gave some credibility to the project, which was laughed off by many when first announced with a dancer disguised as a robot for visual aid a few years ago.

Tesla believed it to be possible by leveraging its AI work on its self-driving vehicle program and expertise in batteries and electric motors. It argued that its vehicles are already robots on wheels. Now, it just needs to make them in humanoid forms to be able to replace humans in some tasks – primarily repetitive and dangerous tasks.     READ MORE...

The Race to Humanoid Robots

The race to perfect the humanoid form factor will be one of 2024’s defining tech stories. Last year saw the category heat up, as companies like Tesla, Apptronik and Figure debuted their systems, while Agility inched closer to the finish lining, announcing a warehouse pilot with Amazon.

1X is a name (well, a number and letter) that surprisingly doesn’t get as much column space as most of the above. I say “surprising” because the Norwegian firm entered the conversation with a splash back in April, announcing a $23.5 million round. This is one of those fundraising cases where the who arguable matters more than the how much.  READ MORE...

Optimus Gen Two

Tesla has unveiled “Optimus Gen 2”, a new generation of its humanoid robot that should be able to take over repetitive tasks from humans.

Optimus, also known as Tesla Bot, has not been taken seriously by many outside of the more hardcore Tesla fans, and for good reason.

When it was first announced, it seemed to be a half-baked idea from CEO Elon Musk with a dancer disguised as a robot for visual aid. It also didn’t help that the demo at Tesla AI Day last year was less than impressive.

At the time, Tesla had a very early prototype that didn’t look like much. It was barely able to walk around and wave at the crowd. That was about it.  READ MORE...

Tesla's Bot Video

In the wake of Agility Robotics announcing their intention to scale production to 10,000 bipedal humanoid robots every year, Fourier Intelligence, a technology-driven company specializing in exoskeleton and rehabilitation robots, released a new video showcasing its GR-1 humanoid robot and production facilities.

Set in Salem, Oregon, “RoboFab”, Agility Robotics’ 70,000-square-foot robot factory is slated to open later this year and manufacture the company’s bipedal robot Digit.

“When you’re building new technology to improve society, the most important milestone is when you’re able to mass produce that technology at a scale where it can have a real, widespread impact,” Agility Robotics’ co-founder and CEO Damion Shelton said.

With recent developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics engineering, the prospects for a human-esque robot capable of performing the actions of real people have been better than ever before.

Fourier Intelligence’s GR-1— first unveiled at the 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai— is equipped to assist patients from their beds to wheelchairs and pick up objects, boosted by the ability to carry loads of up to 110lb (50kg).

The newly released video flaunts Fourier Intelligence’s production prowess, custom-built actuators, and body parts that are being 3D printed.

And it isn't just Fourier Intelligence seemingly interested in reminding the public of their existence.

Optimus not-at-its-prime.
Tesla issued an update on its take on a humanoid robot, Optimus, with a video that eerily looks CGI-like.

What seemed like a half-baked idea from Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk when first announced was not helped by an underwhelming demo organized by the company at Tesla AI Day last year.

Optimus, barely able to walk about and wave wearily at the crowds, has since gained strength and credibility, reported Electrek.

The new video released by Tesla depicts the bot autonomously sorting objects by color amidst human interruption and self-calibrating its arms and legs.

The humanoid leverages vision and joint position encoders to locate its limbs in space, which allows for precise calibration and efficient learning of tasks. Optimus now trains using a neural network that runs entirely on-board.

The company claims Optimus' capabilities to include learning new tasks such as un-sorting and ended the video with the bot flaunting its dexterity. “Time to stretch after a long day of work,” the company captioned.   READ MORE...

China's EVs Going Global

If you bought an electric vehicle in the UK this year, there’s a good chance it was an MG4. The fully electric hatchback, which launched in 2022, sold 5,200 units in the first three months of this year, the second-best selling EV behind Tesla’s Model Y.


With prices starting at about £27,000, it is also substantially cheaper than the Tesla at £45,000. And while MG is one of Britain’s most famous car brands – with a century of carmaking in Birmingham until MG Rover’s 2005 collapse – the secret to its newfound success comes from China. Since 2007, the company has been owned, and the cars made, by SAIC, China’s largest carmaker.


In the past few years, China has been churning out EVs of a quality and price that is making western marques nervous. More than a quarter of new cars sold in China last year were EVs or hybrids, compared with 13% globally. And of the 850,000 electric passenger cars imported to Europe in 2022, more than half came from China.

Xi Jinping, China’s president, has pledged to take the country to net zero emissions by 2060. In the EU, the target is 2050. For both, decarbonising the streets with EVs will be crucial, and China is racing ahead. By 2025, 13% of China’s fleet is predicted to be fully electric or hybrid, compared with 6% globally.


After an astonishing rise, some analysts are wondering if China’s EV industry can continue to accelerate, as the government winds down state support and geopolitical tensions threaten to dampen global demand for its cars.  READ MORE...

EVs are Piling Up

The auto industry is beginning to crank out more electric vehicles (EVs) to challenge Tesla, but there's one big problem: not enough buyers.

Why it matters: The growing mismatch between EV supply and demand is a sign that even though consumers are showing more interest in EVs, they're still wary about purchasing one because of price or charging concerns.

It's a "Field of Dreams" moment for automakers making big bets on electrification — they've built the cars, and now they're waiting for buyers to come, says Jonathan Gregory, senior manager of economic and industry insights at Cox Automotive.

Driving the news: 

• Cox Automotive experts highlighted the swelling EV inventories during a recent midyear industry review for journalists and industry stakeholders.
• EV sales, which account for about 6.5% of the U.S. auto market so far this year, are expected to surpass 1 million units for the first time in 2023, Cox forecasts.
• A Cox survey found that 51% of consumers are now considering either a new or used EV, up from 38% in 2021.
• Tesla’s rapid expansion, plus new EVs from other brands, are fueling the interest — 33 new models are arriving this year, and more than 50 new or updated models are coming in 2024, Cox estimates.

Yes, but: Sales aren't keeping up with that increased output. 
READ MORE...

Bring Burned Tesla In

An owner was driving his Model Y down the road when the car began shaking. A few minutes after he pulled over to check for a flat tire, the whole car burst into flames.

The only advice Tesla's customer service team offered was to bring the burnt vehicle to their service center.

What Happened: After Bishal Malla's Tesla went up in smoke on the side of the road, he called Tesla looking for help. Instead of answers, he was met with ridiculous requests, per a Business Insider report.

Although the company made note of the report, no one offered any real guidance. He followed up with the company several times, but again received much of the same.

"One agent I talked to had an audacity to tell me to take my fully burned Tesla to the Tesla recommended servicing center," Malla wrote in a post on Reddit.

"How in the world am I going to do that?"

"The Best Report Benzinga Has Ever Produced"

The Tesla owner reportedly told Business Insider that the customer service representative didn't even recommend a way of transporting the burned vehicle.

He acknowledged on Reddit that the incident would be covered by insurance, but Malla was more concerned about his safety and the safety of others.

He still hasn't been able to get answers from the EV maker, which is surprising, he said, adding he was shocked when he pulled over to find the car on fire and noted that he felt lucky to be alive.

"If this had happened 30 minutes later, my whole family would be in there," Malla said.  READ MORE...

Polution Caused From Manufacturing EV Batteries

As the world grapples with climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the transition to renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and hydropower is gaining momentum.

Tesla has been the front-runner in the race for environmentally friendly EVs. However, this shift to cleaner energy will require vast amounts of minerals, to produce batteries. Many of these are currently obtained through mining, which can have significant environmental and social impacts.

These minerals will need to be extracted, processed, and manufactured into batteries and magnets to power electric vehicles, among other applications. With the amount of mining and manufacturing involved in producing these components, there is a growing debate over whether Tesla electric vehicles are truly cleaner than their gas-powered counterparts.

This post will examine this issue in-depth and explore the research done in the field in terms of Tesla battery production and carbon footprints. Read on!

How Tesla Battery Production Is Causing Pollution?

It is a widely discussed topic that the production of electric car batteries, such as those used in Tesla vehicles, can have a significant carbon footprint. In fact, it has been reported that the production of an electric car battery can release as much CO2 emissions as driving a gasoline-powered car for 8 years.

This is largely due to the fact that the production of electric car batteries requires the mining and processing of materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. These materials are often extracted through energy-intensive processes, and the manufacturing process itself requires significant amounts of energy.  READ MORE...

Tesla Charging Speeds

Tesla’s new V4 Supercharger has started its initial rollout in Europe, and details are still continuing to spill out ahead of the first installations in the United States.

The V4 Supercharger is Tesla’s latest iteration of its industry-leading EV charging network, and with the recent introduction of non-Tesla vehicle charging in the U.S. to qualify for government incentives, the automaker is going forward with some monumental changes.

After the first piles were installed in the Netherlands in March, there were several distinct changes. We reported that the charging cables were now extended so that non-Tesla vehicles could charge with ease. This was a commonly reported problem in the U.S. as non-Tesla vehicles started to use the Superchargers.

Along with the longer cables, Tesla’s main focus was to increase charging speed so that people spent less time charging and more time on the roads. It was confirmed that the V4 Superchargers were capable of more power, but the vehicles’ architecture only allows for certain speeds. However, we are learning more information about what Tesla plans to do with these piles moving forward.

Thanks to Supercharger tracker MarcoRP, new details regarding the V4 Supercharger are available.

Tesla will make the CCS adapter built into the frame of the V4 Supercharger, which will allow non-Tesla vehicles to charge without an adapter. With the introduction of the Magic Dock, Tesla has made it possible for non-Tesla EVs to utilize the Supercharger network. With the V4 Supercharger, this will be standard.

Future Shock

From an anonymous Wisconsin State Trooper

Electric vehicles have too many variables affecting battery consumption. Definitely not suited for cold climates. The following experience just cements my distaste for EV’s, especially Teslas.

I get sent to a motorist assist the other day, at the start of our snowstorm. Tesla on the side of the interstate, dead battery. So, I arrive on scene and the occupants have the right-front door open. They tell me that they can’t open any other doors, because the battery is dead. 

Sure enough. Can’t open the doors from inside or outside. The driver also can’t get her license out of the glove box where she put it during their trip. Because the glovebox opens electronically… and the battery is dead. 

You actually have to use the computer in the center of the dash to open the glovebox.

They said they had 10% battery left, should’ve been plenty to get from that location to the charging station nearby. Then all of a sudden, the whole car shut off and they coasted to the shoulder.

So now I have to find them a tow. No one wants to tow EV’s. Finally found one company to do it. 8-mile trip to the charging station in Tomah. $1,000! Normal vehicle on the flatbed would’ve been $150.

So now we’re at the Tesla superchargers. Guess what. Can’t open the f’n charging port because the battery is dead!!! The ports open, you guessed it, electronically!!! . And we also can’t open the doors now (had to close the one open door when it was loaded onto the wrecker). The owner's manual is in the on-board computer, but the battery is dead.

I got the occupants to a store where they’d be warm while calling the rental company to figure out how to charge this POS, so I’m not sure of the outcome. I had to leave for a crash report.

EV’s may be the way, someday, but certainly not today!! I’ll stick with my dinosaur burner.

Tesla Turns Up The Heat

Jan 13 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has slashed prices globally on its electric vehicles by as much as 20%, extending an aggressive discounting effort and challenging rivals after missing Wall Street delivery estimates for 2022.

The move marks a reversal from the automaker's strategy over the last two years when new vehicle orders exceeded supply. It comes after CEO Elon Musk warned that the prospect of recession and higher interest rates meant it could lower prices to sustain growth at the expense of profit.

Musk acknowledged last year that prices had become "embarrassingly high" and could hurt demand. Shares were down 2.6% on Friday, following the stock's worst year since its inception due to delivery issues and growing competition.

Tesla lowered prices across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, following a series of cuts last week in Asia, in what analysts saw as a clear shot at both smaller rivals that have been bleeding cash and legacy automakers aggressively ramping up electric vehicle production.  READ MORE...

Apple & Telsa Suffer

Apple and Tesla stocks have tumbled over growing concerns about delays in their production lines in China.

Apple shares hit their lowest point since June 2021. Tesla's stock has dropped 73% from a record high in November 2021.

Companies have struggled to keep production going in China due to Covid restrictions and weeks of lockdowns.

Now they are facing a staffing crunch as China battles a Covid wave after lifting years of restrictions.

China announced that it will lift its strict quarantine rules for travellers on 8 January, a positive sign for many investors who are seeing an ease in supply chain movement in 2023.

But global investors are also being cautious ahead of additional interest rate hikes, a global economic slowdown and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Given the spike in Covid cases in key manufacturing hubs, analysts say production will take time to ramp up once again.

"Factories are going to experience labour shortages for at least 4-6 weeks as the wave passes through their production regions, and of course most migrant workers will go back to their home villages for the Lunar New Year at the end of January," says Simon Baptist, chief economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit.

"Production looks unlikely to be back to normal in China until late February."

Production delays hit Apple supplier Foxconn earlier this year following unrest at its Zhangzhou plant known as "iPhone City." The company said its revenue in November was down 11% compared with the same month in 2021.

This week, media reports said Tesla's Shanghai manufacturing plant had cut production as Covid infections rose in China. The company declined to comment.  READ MORE...

Logistical Challenges for Tesla

Model Y cars are pictured during the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric 

cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. Patrick Pleul/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Oct 2 - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) on Sunday announced lower-than-expected electric vehicle deliveries in the third quarter, as logistical challenges overshadowed its record deliveries.

The top electric car maker said "it is becoming increasingly challenging to secure vehicle transportation capacity and at a reasonable cost," but some analysts were also concerned about demand for high-ticket items due to the weakening global economy.  READ MORE...

Tesla's Supercharger Network

After recently expanding its Supercharger pilot program for non-Tesla EV owners, the Supercharger network became the ‘largest 150 kW+ public fast-charging network’ in Europe overnight. It’s quite impressive that Tesla did that basically by just flipping a switch.

Tesla was early in investing in charging infrastructure, which led to the Supercharger becoming the largest global fast-charging network.

The company has been criticized for only providing charging for its own customers when most other networks are for all electric vehicles, but there basically wasn’t any other electric vehicle when Tesla started working on the Supercharger network.

Only lately has the automaker started to work on opening up the network to other EVs.

In November 2021, we saw Tesla take its first step with a pilot program running at 10 Supercharger stations in the Netherlands where non-Tesla EV owners can charge using the Tesla app.

When announcing the new pilot program, Tesla said that it planned to slowly expand it as it tests the user experience for both new non-Tesla EV owners being onboarded on the network and current Tesla owners who are going to see more traffic at those charging stations.

In January, the automaker announced that the program was expanding to more stations in Norway and France, and a month later, the program was expanded to all Supercharger stations in the Netherlands.

Finally, Tesla made its biggest expansion of the pilot program last week by opening many more Supercharger stations in the UK, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, and Austria to all EV owners.

Jeroen van Tilburg, Tesla’s Head of Supercharging in EMEA, had an interesting note about the pilot program. Following the latest expansion, he said that the network of Supercharger stations opened to non-Tesla EV owners in Europe has become the largest network of 150 kW+ public fast-charging stations.  READ MORE...

EVs No Longer A Viable Alternative

One of the key reasons why people made the switch to an electric vehicle was the more favorable cost of ownership. Not only did a battery charge cost a lot less than filling up the tank of a similar car, but the maintenance was also cheaper. But then the world went crazy and now people started questioning the economics of owning an electric vehicle.

When the gas prices started to rise a couple of months ago, a lot of ICE car owners considered switching to an electric vehicle. In fact, both statistics and carmakers indicated an increase in EV orders specifically because of the high gas prices. But things have changed, not least because the increased demand has put pressure on the market. Soon, not only did EV prices increase significantly, but the operating costs also went up.

Tesla, the company that sells the most EVs in the U.S., has aggressively raised prices in the past months. The main reason was raw materials scarcity and price spikes, but the high demand also played a role. This allowed Tesla to post the biggest profit in history in the first quarter of the year and will most likely repeat the claim for the second quarter too. This proved skeptics saying it’s impossible to make a profit from EVs were all wrong. Tesla is one of the most profitable car companies in the world.

Apart from becoming more expensive, the EVs have also lost their cheap operating costs appeal. Electricity prices have spiked and Supercharging costs often shocked Tesla owners. Tesla historically said it does not make a profit from selling electricity to its customers, but Tesla owners faced increased prices nevertheless.  READ MORE...

The Electric Vehicle

A (Costly) Political Scam?

Dr. Jay Lehr and Tom Harris | Jan 15, 2022

The utility companies have thus far had little to say about the alarming cost projections to operate electric vehicles (EVs) or the increased rates that they will be required to charge their customers. It is not just the total amount of electricity required, but the transmission lines and fast charging capacity that must be built at existing filling stations. Neither wind nor solar can support any of it. Electric vehicles will never become the mainstream of transportation!

In part 1 of our exposé on the problems with electric vehicles (EVs), we showed that they were too expensive, too unreliable, rely on materials mined in China and other unfriendly countries, and require more electricity than the nation can afford. In this second part, we address other factors that will make any sensible reader avoid EVs like the plague.

EV Charging Insanity.
In order to match the 2,000 cars that a typical filling station can service in a busy 12 hours, an EV charging station would require 600, 50-watt chargers at an estimated cost of $24 million and a supply of 30 megawatts of power from the grid. That is enough to power 20,000 homes. No one likely thinks about the fact that it can take 30 minutes to 8 hours to recharge a vehicle between empty or just topping off. What are the drivers doing during that time?

ICSC-Canada board member New Zealand-based consulting engineer Bryan Leyland describes why installing electric car charging stations in a city is impractical:

“If you’ve got cars coming into a petrol station, they would stay for an average of five minutes. If you’ve got cars coming into an electric charging station, they would be at least 30 minutes, possibly an hour, but let’s say its 30 minutes. So that’s six times the surface area to park the cars while they’re being charged. So, multiply every petrol station in a city by six. Where are you going to find the place to put them?”

The government of the United Kingdom is already starting to plan for power shortages caused by the charging of thousands of EVs. Starting in June 2022, the government will restrict the time of day you can charge your EV battery. To do this, they will employ smart meters that are programmed to automatically switch off EV charging in peak times to avoid potential blackouts.

In particular, the latest UK chargers will be pre-set to not function during 9-hours of peak loads, from 8 am to 11 am (3-hours), and 4 pm to 10 pm (6-hours). Unbelievably, the UK technology decides when and if an EV can be charged, and even allows EV batteries to be drained into the UK grid if required. Imagine charging your car all night only to discover in the morning that your battery is flat since the state took the power back. Better keep your gas-powered car as a reliable and immediately available backup! While EV charging will be an attractive source of revenue generation for the government, American citizens will be up in arms.

The Used Car Market.
The average used EV will need a new battery before an owner can sell it, pricing them well above used internal combustion cars. The average age of an American car on the road is 12 years. A 12-year-old EV will be on its third battery. A Tesla battery typically costs $10,000 so there will not be many 12-year-old EVs on the road. Good luck trying to sell your used green fairy tale electric car!

Tuomas Katainen, an enterprising Finish Tesla owner, had an imaginative solution to the battery replacement problem—he blew up his car! New York City-based Insider magazine reported (December 27, 2021):

“The shop told him the faulty battery needed to be replaced, at a cost of about $22,000. In addition to the hefty fee, the work would need to be authorized by Tesla…Rather than shell out half the cost of a new Tesla to fix an old one, Katainen decided to do something different… The demolition experts from the YouTube channel Pommijätkät (Bomb Dudes) strapped 66 pounds of high explosives to the car and surrounded the area with slow-motion cameras…the 14 hotdog-shaped charges erupt into a blinding ball of fire, sending a massive shockwave rippling out from the car…The videos of the explosion have a combined 5 million views.

"We understand that the standard Tesla warranty does not cover “damage resulting from intentional actions,” like blowing the car up for a YouTube video.

EVs Per Block In Your Neighborhood.
A home charging system for a Tesla requires a 75-amp service. The average house is equipped with 100-amp service. On most suburban streets the electrical infrastructure would be unable to carry more than three houses with a single Tesla. For half the homes on your block to have electric vehicles, the system would be wildly overloaded.

LONG LIVE THE V-8!
Batteries.
Although the modern lithium-ion battery is four times better than the old lead-acid battery, gasoline holds 80 times the energy density. The great lithium battery in your cell phone weighs less than an ounce while the Tesla battery weighs 1,000 pounds. And what do we get for this huge cost and weight? We get a car that is far less convenient and less useful than cars powered by internal combustion engines. Bryan Leyland explained why:
“When the Model T came out, it was a dramatic improvement on the horse and cart. The electric car is a step backward into the equivalence of an ordinary car with a tiny petrol tank that takes half an hour to fill. It offers nothing in the way of convenience or extra facilities.”

Our Conclusion.
The electric automobile will always be around in a niche market likely never exceeding 10% of the cars on the road. All automobile manufacturers are investing in their output and all will be disappointed in their sales. Perhaps they know this and will manufacture just what they know they can sell. This is certainly not what President Biden or California Governor Newsom are planning. However, for as long as the present government is in power, they will be pushing the electric car as another means to run our lives. We have a chance to tell them exactly what we think of their expensive and dangerous plans when we go to the polls in November of 2022.

Drs. Jay Lehr and Tom Harris
Dr. Jay Lehr is a Senior Policy Analyst with the International Climate Science Coalition and former Science Director of The Heartland Institute. He is an internationally renowned scientist, author, and speaker who has testified before Congress on dozens of occasions on environmental issues and consulted with nearly every agency of the national government and many foreign countries. After graduating from Princeton University at the age of 20 with a degree in Geological Engineering, he received the nation’s first Ph.D. in Groundwater Hydrology from the University of Arizona. He later became executive director of the National Association of Groundwater Scientists and Engineers.

Tom Harris is Executive Director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition, and a policy advisor to The Heartland Institute. He has 40 years of experience as a mechanical engineer/project manager, science and technology communications professional, technical trainer, and S&T advisor to a former Opposition Senior Environment Critic in Canada’s Parliament.

Severe Racism at Tesla

California’s civil rights regulator said it’s suing Tesla Inc. for racial discrimination after finding widespread harassment of Black workers at the electric carmaker's factory near San Francisco.

The state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing received complaints from hundreds of workers and “found evidence that Tesla’s Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace where Black workers are subjected to racial slurs and discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay and promotion creating a hostile work environment,” Kevin Kish, the agency’s director, said in a statement late Wednesday.

The complaint in Alameda County Superior Court wasn’t immediately available on the court’s website.  Tesla said in a Feb. 8 blog post — before the suit was filed — that the company “will be asking the court to pause the case and take other steps to ensure that facts and evidence will be heard.”

The DFEH said one Black worker told of hearing racial slurs as often as 50 to 100 times a day. Some who complained about the offensive language said supervisors and managers were active participants in the abuse or witnesses to it. On a daily basis, Black workers saw racist graffiti on restroom walls, lockers, benches, work stations, lunch tables and the break room, according to the agency’s emailed statement, which provided a detailed summary of its findings.Am
The agency is the state-level equivalent of the better-known U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, with a mission to protect Californians from unlawful discrimination in employment, housing and accommodations. The DFEH informed Tesla on Jan. 3 that it had grounds to file a complaint. Tesla warned investors of the agency’s investigation in the annual report it filed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week.

The automaker’s shares fell 2% at 9:32 a.m. Thursday in New York.

Numerous Complaints
Tesla has more than 99,000 employees globally, and the factory in Fremont employs in excess of 10,000 people. The car company headed by billionaire Elon Musk moved its corporate headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, Texas, last year.  READ MORE...

Just a Few More Thoughts

What I don't understand is why we want to spend money buying petroleum crude oil from other countries when we can provide all the oil and gasoline that we need right here at home...

Now...  while I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer...  I am smart enough to realize that this is plain stupid and the people who this hurts the most are the general public who basically live from one paycheck to another...

I also understand that 50% of the American population has the relentless desire to go GREEN and while that is a noble quest, it would seem more reasonable to me to go GREEN gradually rather than all at once.

• I think smoking should stop all at once
• I think wars should stop all at once
• I think child abuse should stop all at once
• I think racism should stop all at once

But, I think our energy consumption should stop gradually...  but it should stop.

And, I am all for going green and buying an electric car to stop my dependence on fossil fuels.  

An electric car has a price tag of anywhere from $60,000 to $80,000 and higher...  the distance that an electric car can travel on a charge averages around 400 miles...  but, the recharging time is HIGH...

From Kelly Blue Book
Use these approximate calculations based on a 240V Level 2 power source and charging capacity, according to the manufacturers’ websites for the following 2021 cars:

• Chevrolet Volt EV: 10 hours
• Nissan Leaf: Up to 11 hours
• Tesla Model S: 12 hours
• Karma GS-6: 4 hours
• Tesla Model 3: 12 hours
• Porsche Taycan: Up to 10.5 hours
• Mini SE Hardtop: 4 hours
• Audi E-Tron: 10 hours
• Polestar 2: 8 hours
• BMW i3: 7 hours

Personally, I think I would be rather pissed off if I had to wait 4-12 hours for my car to charge while I was on vacation unless I was at a motel sleeping at night while the car was charging.  However, my wife and I like to go to Myrtle Beach, SC, and the last time we were down there (2021) the motels did not offer charging stations on their property.

So, an electric car with a driving range of 300-400 miles would be good to drive around the area where you live, so that you can charge it at night while you are doing things around the house...  but, then there is the cost of that vehicle...

I just cannot imagine how the general public is going to respond to being forced to go ELECTRIC...  especially when the power company cannot sustain the increased energy drain on their capabilities...  

THEN WHAT???

Replacing Gas Turbines

Tesla has now deployed and unveiled a big 37-Megapack project in Alaska that will help replace gas turbines with a more sustainable solution.

Homer Electric, a member-owned electric utility cooperative based in Alaska, announced the project based in Kenai Peninsula back in 2019 – shortly after Tesla first unveiled the Megapack.

The Megapack is Tesla’s latest and biggest energy storage product, following the Powerpack and the Powerwall. It is meant as an even bigger option targeting electric utility projects.

According to Tesla, a single Megapack has up to 3 MWh of storage capacity and a 1.5 MW inverter.

With a capacity of 93 MWh, the project in Kenai Peninsula was one of the biggest announced at the time, but Tesla has since delivered bigger 1 GWh Megapack systems.

Homer Electric said that the project would replace gas turbines and enable better deployment of renewable energy:

The BESS also provides a great side benefit of opening the door to renewable intermittent energy projects that would have otherwise stretched current thermal generation assets.

The project has now been deployed, and Tesla wrote about it:

Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula has historically relied on gas turbines to distribute power to the community up to four months out of the year. To reduce the community’s reliance on fossil fuels to power the turbines, Homer Electric installed 37 Tesla Megapacks, providing grid stability even in freezing temperatures.

Tesla also released a new video about the project:

Tesla has now deployed and unveiled a big 37-Megapack project in Alaska that will help replace gas turbines with a more sustainable solution.  READ MORE...