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Tesla might charge you up $25,000 if you use its latest feature

Tesla says its new “Emergency Drive Away” feature can do up to $25,000 in damage to a Supercharger every time someone uses it, and the car needs a mandatory service visit too.

Tesla has since released more details about the feature in response to owner questions. But Tesla hasn’t said who gets that bill.

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Tesla launches capability to drive away while plugged in after deadly Supercharger shooting

Tesla launched a new feature called “Emergency Drive Away” that lets drivers shift into Drive and leave while still plugged into a Supercharger.

The update comes two months after a gunman shot three people in Teslas at a Supercharger station in Twin Falls, Idaho. And Tesla is limiting it to the US.

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Geely’s AI fast charging ‘heals’ EV batteries for 20% more cycle life

Geely says its new AI-powered fast charging system can reverse some of the battery damage caused by fast charging, using micro-pulse currents to add up to 20% more cycle life.

Charging a car in under 5 minutes is great, but not if it wears the battery out years early. Geely claims that its ‘Smart Charging’ addresses that and it is using something that sounds like sorcery.

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Tesla to run public Megachargers at 3 Forum Mobility Semi depots

Tesla is going to operate public Megacharger sites at three electric truck depots it doesn’t own. Forum Mobility, one of the largest heavy-duty charging operators in the US, says Tesla will run public Megacharging at three of four new California depots it’s about to break ground on.

The move comes as Forum brings another 30 MW of heavy-duty charging online and sits on reservations for more than 330 Tesla Semis. It’s the clearest sign yet that Tesla’s Semi charging network is getting built through partners, not just Tesla-owned stations.

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Tesla’s new ‘Accordion’ Supercharger could speed up its slow buildout

Tesla deployed its first “Accordion” Supercharger, a pre-assembled charging unit that ships 16 stalls on a single truck and installs 20% cheaper than a conventional site.

Tesla’s charging team says the goal is now to pre-assemble every Supercharger in a factory. It’s a smart move, and one the company badly needs after two years of slower deployment.

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Data centers become "killer application" for new power transformer tech

Data centers have become the largest driver of a surging electricity demand that is straining US power grids. But the AI data center boom has also accelerated investment in a technology that could provide a silver lining for everyone—solid-state power transformers that replace industrial-age technology with modern power electronics.

Power grids currently rely on conventional transformer technology that is painstakingly assembled by hand and has a fundamental design dating back to the 1880s. Two copper wire coils manually wound around a steel core create electromagnetic fields that help step up voltage levels of alternating current electricity for long-distance transmission or step down voltage levels for the electricity use of homes and businesses. The largest power transformers cannot be mass-manufactured but are instead custom-built for each utility company’s electrical substations.

Manufacturing constraints, coupled with the scramble to upgrade US power infrastructure, have meant utility companies and other customers must wait up to several years for delivery of new power transformers. That not only hinders power grid infrastructure expansion needed to support growing electricity demand, but also delays the process of replacing aging power transformers.

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Tesla Supercharger shooting sparks EV charging safety debate

After a gunman opened fire at a Twin Falls, Idaho, In-N-Out with an attached Tesla Supercharger last week, EV owners flooded social media with the same suggestion: buy an EVject.

The breakaway charging connector lets you drive off while still plugged in. It sounds like an obvious fix for a horrifying scenario — but it’s a controversial device that doesn’t actually solve the problem, and it points to something Tesla and every other automaker should be building instead.

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Telo confirms 400 kW sustained charging for its tiny electric truck

Telo confirmed that its Mini-sized MT1 electric truck will charge at 400 kW sustained — a charging rate that puts it in the company of luxury EVs costing two to three times as much.

The startup also revealed a dual 800V/400V split-pack battery architecture designed to maximize performance on any fast charger, not just the latest high-voltage stations.

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BYD is bringing its 5-min ‘Flash’ electric car charging to Canada

BYD is preparing to bring its megawatt “Flash Charging” network, which can add about 250 miles (400 km) of range in 5 minutes, to Canada – the first confirmed deployment in North America.

The plan was revealed through a new BYD job posting in Toronto for a manager tasked with executing “BYD’s flash charging network expansion strategy and business growth across Canada.”

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BYD is deploying 2.4x more charging power per month than Tesla

BYD is building a charging network that makes Tesla’s Supercharger look slow — and it’s deploying it at a pace that could see it surpass Tesla’s global network within two to three years.

The Chinese automaker has already deployed over 5,700 Flash Charging stations in China in just a few months and just opened its first overseas stations in Europe. The chargers deliver up to 1,500 kW of power — three times what Tesla’s latest V4 Superchargers can do.

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