Originally published at https://evannex.com on September 16, 2021.

The good news is that electric vehicle sales are soaring, and the battery business is booming. The bad news is that batteries and the raw materials used to make them could soon become a bottleneck that throttles that growth. More bad news: almost all of today’s EV batteries are made by Asian firms, and it will take years for the US and Europe to catch up.

According to Adamas Intelligence, three million new EVs were registered around the world in 2020, representing 134.5 gigawatt-hours’ worth of batteries. That’s a 40-percent increase over…

Originally published at https://evannex.com on September 15, 2021.

Iconic investor Ron Baron says that Elon Musk’s companies are “innovating at the speed of light” in a recent interview with David Rubenstein for Bloomberg Wealth. Baron has high hopes for SpaceX and believes Tesla could return 300% to investors over the next ten years.

Looking back, Baron predicted Tesla would evolve into a massive player in the auto industry. His firm, Baron Capital Management, was among Elon Musk’s largest investors in 2016, with a 1% stake in the Silicon Valley automaker.

And what happened? Baron says, “We invested $380 million between…

Originally published at https://evannex.com on September 14, 2021.

Squares and spoilsports may scoff at the Tesla Cybertruck, but there are more than a few car guys and gals who find its unique design fascinating, and have been itching to drive one since the 2019 unveiling. If you’re one of those folks, we feel for you-the launch has been delayed again and again, and now it appears deliveries won’t begin until sometime in 2022.

No, there’s no way to get one early, but one do-it-yourselfer has found a way to have some fun (and get some media coverage) with a wooden…

Originally published at https://evannex.com on September 13, 2021.

Elon Musk’s companies, including Tesla, are rapidly growing. The ‘Technoking’ of Tesla currently employs about 110,000 people across all his different companies around the globe. That said, he can be pretty tough to work for — he works hard and expects the same from his staff.

So should we be surprised Musk is a demanding boss? According to Douglas Coupland in The Guardian, “people know they’re going to be working with Elon Musk, so they can’t play woe is me if he goes Elon on them… he’s incredibly smart and is used…

Originally published at https://evannex.com on September 9, 2021.

Tesla seems to be on a mission to get into the Indian auto market-the world’s fifth-largest. In January, the company registered Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Limited as a subsidiary, and set up an office and R&D facility in Bangalore.

More recently, India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways tested four Tesla models and certified them to be roadworthy. “The tests ensure the vehicle matches the requirements of the Indian market in terms of emission and safety and road worthiness,” states the ministry. …

Originally published at https://evannex.com on September 8, 2021.

“Money manager” may not sound like the most glamorous of job descriptions, but talking about Tesla often seems to make even the most analytical of financial experts wax poetic. More than a few money managers have earned a measure of stardom delivering colorful opinions-both positive and negative-about the prospects of TSLA stock.

Cathie Wood, the founder and CEO of investment management firm Ark Invest, is not one of the flamboyant shouters often seen on investment shows, but her eloquently-expressed views are heard loud and clear these days. …

Originally published at https://evannex.com on September 7, 2021.

The US government is the single-largest vehicle fleet operator in the country. It operates some 315,000 light-duty vehicles and buses, not including the Postal Service. Electrifying these vehicles would be one of the most cost-effective things the federal government could do to cut air pollution-while saving taxpayers billions of bucks.

A new report from the Electrification Coalition and Atlas Public Policy finds that 97 percent of buses and light-duty vehicles in the US federal fleet could be replaced by EVs by 2030 at a cost savings to taxpayers, and that up to…

Originally published at https://evannex.com on September 3, 2021.

Regular readers of this column are surely familiar with how electric car charging works, and the various flavors of home and public charging that are available. For much of the general public however, charging is terra incognita, and this lack of knowledge is holding back wider EV adoption. For the EV-curious, the number-one question (and maybe numbers two and three as well) is always about charging, and until people understand what their options are, they’re simply not going to buy.

Fortunately, we’re seeing more and more how-to articles about charging in mainstream…