This week in Tesla news. If you're planning on purchasing a new Model S/X, save $1000 with my referral code, http://ts.la/david7556.
Tesla Energy
Addressing Peak Energy Demand with the Tesla Powerpack
Last week, through a competitive process, Tesla was selected to provide a 20 MW/80 MWh Powerpack system at the Southern California Edison Mira Loma substation. Tesla was the only bidder awarded a utility-owned storage project out of the solicitation. Upon completion, this system will be the largest lithium ion battery storage project in the world. When fully charged, this system will hold enough energy to power more than 2,500 households for a day or charge 1,000 Tesla vehicles.
Model S
Tesla Camera Records Footage
The ever-increasing amount of technology in our cars makes it relatively simple for computer-savvy owners to find new and hidden features. A hacker from North Carolina did just that when he discovered that the camera used by Tesla’s Autopilot system automatically records footage in the event of an accident.
Model 3
Tesla Model 3: Japanese supplier explains how Tesla is pushing them to develop tools for mass production
Fuji Technica & Miyazu, a Japanese supplier of dies (custom tools to shape materials), explains how the company is working closely with Tesla since the early stages of development in order to design the tools that will make the Model 3 possible. While speaking with Nikkei Asian Review, a Fuji Technica representative said: “Tesla is a demanding customer, insisting, for example, on retaining a smooth curve on an outer panel regardless of the difficulty it might give the die-maker.”
Elon Musk confident that Tesla can attain staggering 20-fold increase in production speed in Fremont
Sam Altman of Y Combinator recently had the opportunity to have a 1-on-1 sit down with Elon Musk. During the interview, they conversed about various subjects including whether or not he [Musk] thought people getting their PhDs is generally useful, the colonization of mars, and artificial intelligence. But one statement, in particular, that Musk revealed in his talks with Altman stood out like a sore thumb: he believes that the team at Tesla can increase the speed on the production line by, a staggering, 20-fold. In recent months, Musk started comparing Tesla’s future factory to an “alien dreadnought”, adding “the point at which that’s what the factory looks like, that’s when you know you’ve won.”
Autopilot
Tesla Autopilot 8.0 uses radar to prevent accidents like the fatal Model S crash
They found they could combine that with their real-time fleet learning system and almost entirely eliminate false positives. That means radar alone can initiate a braking event, rather than requiring the camera component to also provide a positive image recognition result of a potential object. Musk said that the new system should detect “any thing that’s metallic, anything that’s large and dense,” and then brake the vehicle, “as long as it’s not large and fluffy.” If Autopilot is active, the system will be better able to predict the car’s path and then produce a gradual brake that Musk said should be “much more comfortable” and able to “brake entirely” in most cases, but even if Autosteer is not engaged, it should also result in a emergency brake that will “mitigate” rather than completely avoid collisions in most cases.
Upgrading Autopilot: Seeing the World in Radar
While there are dozens of small refinements with Version 8 of our software, described in addendum below, the most significant upgrade to Autopilot will be the use of more advanced signal processing to create a picture of the world using the onboard radar. The radar was added to all Tesla vehicles in October 2014 as part of the Autopilot hardware suite, but was only meant to be a supplementary sensor to the primary camera and image processing system. After careful consideration, we now believe it can be used as a primary control sensor without requiring the camera to confirm visual image recognition.
Tesla responds to Mobileye’s comments on Autopilot, confirms new in-house ‘Tesla Vision’ product
According to a Tesla spokesperson in a statement sent to Electrek today, Mobileye tried to convince Tesla to keep using its system for future generations of the Autopilot, but when it became apparent that Tesla was sticking to its new in-house system, which the company confirmed today is called ‘Tesla Vision’, they threaten to discontinue supply of the EyeQ3 chip to cripple the current version of the Autopilot.
Another fatal Tesla crash reportedly on Autopilot emerges, Model S hits a streetsweeper truck
A video of the accident was captured by the dashcam of the Tesla Model S driver, a 23-year man borrowing his dad’s car according to a report (Chinese). He was driving on the highway reportedly in the Hong Kong and Macao jurisdiction when his car hit a streetsweeper truck on the side of the road at highway speed, killing the driver. The police found no sign that the vehicle applied the brakes before hitting the truck and the reports claims that the Autopilot was engaged at the time of the accident.
Elon Musk
Tesla Accuses Executive in Lawsuit of Impersonating Musk
Through the deceptive e-mail, Katz sought to acquire “highly confidential and proprietary Tesla business information," according to a copy of the complaint provided by Tesla’s lawyer. Tesla said the e-mail received by Wheeler was signed “em.” It read, “Why you so cautious w Q3/4 guidance on call. What is ur best guess as to where we actually come in on q3/4 deliverables. Honest best guess. no bs.”
Other News
Comma.ai will ship a $999 autonomous driving add-on by the end of this year
The Comma One is a $999 add-on shipping before the end of the year, with a $24 monthly subscription for its software, which Hotz says will be able to drive your car from Mountain View to San Francisco without requiring a driver to touch the wheel, the brake or the gas.
How I Drove 238 Miles in the Chevy Bolt EV
GM is thus rightly proud of its new Bolt EV and its 238-mile EPA-rated driving range. No matter how you look at it, that’s a big step forward for electric cars. To quell any skepticism about the accuracy of this number, Chevy sent me and a few other journalists on a good-old American road trip in preproduction Bolt EVs.