Editor's Opinion
Uber vs Tesla: the battle heats up
It’s becoming increasingly important for TSLA investors to understand and acknowledge Uber as a competitor. Both companies are betting their future on autonomous driving and both companies are focused on disrupting transportation, not just personal transportation but also trucking. Further, both companies have sharp and ambitious CEOs driving their companies to bold goals.
This past week Uber announced a pilot program of 100 semi self-driving taxis in Pittsburgh. Part of me wonders if Uber is feeling threatened by Tesla’s aggressive push toward self-driving cars, and as a result is responding by taking bold risks in deploying their own driver-assist technology. Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, acknowledged last week that building an autonomous car “is basically existential for us.” In other words, Uber needs the best autonomous tech in order to stay the leader in not just the ride-hailing market but also the other markets that they are entering (ie., delivering of goods and services).
Uber also announced that they acquired Otto, a SF-based company trying to enable self-driving trucks. Coincidentally (or not), the timing is around when Elon Musk shared in his updated master plan how Tesla is developing a truck trailer prototype. Both companies are, in my view, eyeing the global transportation and logistics market totaling almost $5 trillion. The market is so large, the company that successfully disrupts global logistics and takes a dominant market share has the opportunity to become the world’s most valuable company.
As the Uber vs Tesla battle heats up, keep your eyes out on Uber trying to catch up to Tesla with autonomous driving technology. And look out for Tesla to start laying the foundation to move people and goods from point A to B with the combination of autonomous electric vehicles, supercharging and/or swap stations, trucks and minibuses, and ride-sharing.
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Model S
Tesla Camper Mode: I Went Camping in the Trunk of a Model S
After a meal of brats and beans, roasted marshmallows, and a few nips of bourbon before bed, it was time for me to put camping mode to the real test. The campground was still noisy with late arrivers and late-night revelers, but when I closed the doors, all was silenced. I stretched out on my Tesla bed and realized for the first time that I was in a room of windows, with a panoramic view of the mountains and trees and the stars beyond.
0-60 MPH in 2.6 Seconds in the Tesla Model S P90D Ludicrous Refresh
We test out the refreshed Tesla Model S P90D Ludicrous running 0-60 MPH just 2.6 seconds, watch the car blast to 60 MPH quicker than just about any other production car under $1M.
Model 3
Tesla snags Apple’s Reliability Director to scale up production with iPhone-like dependability
Now the latest Apple alumni to join Tesla is David Erhart. He joined the automaker’s executive team as Senior Director of Reliability and Test earlier this week. Sources familiar with Tesla’s reliability effort say that the company increased the staff from a few engineers to over 40 full-time employees over the last year. Tesla added data scientists on the team and focused on reliability down to the design – not unlike how Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that the Model 3 is designed for manufacturing. Erhart, who has over 20 years of experience in reliability engineering, is joining the team as senior director.
Autopilot
Tesla Autopilot 2.0: retrofit to next gen sensors likely to be available for some owners
Tesla’s Autopilot 1.0 rely in part on the Media Control Unit (MCU) to relay information from the Autopilot to powertrain controls, but we are told that Tesla wants a dedicated computing channel for the new system, which the automaker seems to have taken into account when shipping the Model X, like it did for the front-facing camera setup. A swap or adding a computing channel would be relatively painless on the Model X and presumably on the new Model S. The real difficulty would be to retrofit the additional radar antennas. They are installed in the bumpers, which means you’d have to take the front and back bumpers out to install them and then readjust everything for a good fit.
TSLA
SolarCity laying off workers, restructuring
Facing mounting losses, SolarCity on Wednesday announced a corporate restructuring, including layoffs and slashed executive pay.
Solarcity had previously issued guidance that they would be cash-flow positive in Q4 of this year, but in last week's earnings report and conference call there was no mention of that goal anymore. It appears Solarcity needs to be more to become cash-flow positive, and this includes layoffs (although the number of pending layoffs was not disclosed by Solarcity).
Other News
Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month
Uber’s Pittsburgh fleet, which will be supervised by humans in the driver’s seat for the time being, consists of specially modified Volvo XC90 sport-utility vehicles outfitted with dozens of sensors that use cameras, lasers, radar, and GPS receivers. Volvo Cars has so far delivered a handful of vehicles out of a total of 100 due by the end of the year. The two companies signed a pact earlier this year to spend $300 million to develop a fully autonomous car that will be ready for the road by 2021.
The battle for autonomous driving is heating up.
Uber acquires autonomous truck startup Otto, co-founder to lead self-driving efforts
Uber is acquiring Otto, a startup that’s been working on developing self-driving trucks for an undisclosed sum. The company’s co-founder, Anthony Levandowski, is a former Googler who has been working on autonomous driving for years. He’ll head up Uber’s entire self-driving division — both Otto’s self-driving truck efforts and Uber’s own fast-growing autonomous division — reporting directly to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.
Uber has significantly improved their autonomous driving efforts with this acquisition. And they also enter a new field of competition with Tesla, namely the trucking industry.
Ford Model E due in 2019
The Model E, available as a crossover as well as a car, will follow a strategy similar to that of the Hyundai Ioniq, which is to be offered as a hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicle. The EV version is expected to have a range of about 200 miles per charge, a target CEO Mark Fields confirmed Ford is shooting for to challenge Tesla and the Chevrolet Bolt. Production is planned for the spring of 2019 in Mexico.
Model 3 and Model E look and sound very similar. Hope it doesn't confuse people. #ShameOnFord
Ford says it will mass-produce a driverless car by 2021
In five years, you’ll be able to hail a driverless Ford on the streets of major cities, the company said Tuesday. “We’re announcing today our intent to have a high-volume, fully autonomous vehicle in commercial operation by 2021,” Ford Motor Company CEO Mark Fields said in a telephone interview. That vehicle will have “no steering wheel, no brake pedals, no gas pedals.” You’ll just hop in, tell it where to go, and sit back while it takes you there. The shift to driverless cars will have “just as significant an impact on society as Ford’s moving assembly line did more than 100 years ago,” Fields predicted.