Model 3
Tesla's Opening Its Own Body Repair Shops
“To significantly improve the customer experience with out-of-warranty body repairs, we intend to open the first Tesla-owned body repair shops later this year and expand the existing network of third-party Tesla certified body shops,” the company said in a letter to investors today on its Q1 2017 earnings.
Tesla Model 3: new 4k video gives us best look at Model 3 release candidate testing
The new video of the release candidate was sent to Electrek last night by a friend of the site who prefers to stay anonymous. We can see that some panels appear misaligned around the back fender and trunk. Though again, the Model 3 release candidates are at difference stages of readiness and therefore, it’s not necessarily representative of the production version. It shows the vehicle driving on the highway with angles from the front, side and back of the car.
Tesla Semi
Tesla Semi is using ‘a bunch’ of Model 3 electric motors, says Elon Musk
Musk said that there are “a bunch” of Model 3 electric motors in the Tesla Semi truck and by sharing parts with the vehicle, he expects high gross margins on the truck. CTO JB Straubel said that the truck wasn’t exactly complicated as a technical program while Musk said that it’s all about bringing the cost per mile down and show the industry that electric powertrains can work at any level of ground transport. He added that he is confident that the cost of operation will be ahead of the diesel truck competition – making it attractive to freight companies.
Model Y
Elon Musk reveals more details about the Model Y crossover
Tesla is stepping up the game and planning to build the Model Y on an entirely new platform:
Tesla is building a new vehicle platform for its upcoming crossover vehicle. Instead of repurposing the underpinnings of the Model 3 or Model S, Tesla is building something completely new for the Model Y. This comes from Elon Musk speaking on the company’s investor call. Building a new platform takes time; Musk said the Model Y is expected to hit assembly lines in 2020, but could be as early as 2019.
TSLA
Tesla Q1 Shareholder letter
Vehicle production in Q1 increased by 64% compared to a year ago, which enabled us to set new quarterly records of 25,051 deliveries and $2.7 billion in GAAP revenue. Model 3 activities related to vehicle development, manufacturing equipment installation and supplier readiness remain on plan to start production in July. Over the past several months, we have been deploying our internally-developed software into the vehicle fleet, to provide additional safety and convenience features for vehicles with the newest generation of Autopilot hardware. Finally, we have started expanding the number of stores displaying our comprehensive product portfolio of energy generation and storage products for home use.
Tesla is the next Apple
Gene Munster writing about Tesla's integrated hardware and software advantage:
Other automakers will likely bring in software partners like Google and Microsoft (Ford has already). Apple may even become an automotive software partner depending on the direction of Project Titan. While partners like these will be able to deliver software experiences better than automakers have in the past, both the software providers and automakers will face natural limitations that come from designing the two product elements separately. Looking at product categories beyond transportation, Tesla’s proven ability to integrate hardware and software will continue to set it apart from competitors looking to introduce real innovation. Their ability to control the product experience from end-to-end is an innovator’s advantage over the incumbents in industries that Tesla will address in the future.
And this is how he describes Tesla as a company:
Tesla is not a car company. It's an operating system for sustainable energy that combines a powerful brand, a visionary founder, integrated hardware and software, and a halo effect all with the purpose of transforming a combination of large markets. TSLA might be the next AAPL, but Tesla will forge its own path and the world will be better for it.
Tesla Gets Mixed Reviews From Analysts After Earnings Report
Tesla (TSLA) stock fell Thursday after the company reported first-quarter earnings late Wednesday, showing a larger loss than expected but strong revenue growth. Tesla reported revenue of $2.7 billion, beating the Wall Street estimate of $2.6 billion. Yet the luxury electric-car maker reported an adjusted loss of $1.33 a share, exceeding the 81-cent-per-share loss that Wall Street expected, a drop of more than 39%.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk: The mind behind Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity
A must-watch interview of Elon Musk at TED:
Entrepreneur Elon Musk is a man with many plans. The founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX sits down with TED curator Chris Anderson to share details about his visionary projects, which include a mass-marketed electric car, a solar energy leasing company and a fully reusable rocket.
SpaceX outlines plans to deliver broadband via satellite by 2019
Elon Musk’s SpaceX appeared before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology yesterday to explain its plans for a constellation of satellites that could beam high-speed, low-latency internet access across the globe starting in the next two years. The company’s vice president of satellite government affairs, Patricia Cooper, said that SpaceX plans to launch 4,425 satellites in 83 orbital planes to provide connectivity; it requested permission from the Federal Communications Commission to run a test project back in June 2015.