Model S
Tesla Autopilot now available as a free, one-month trial
While every car Tesla makes – and has made since late 2014 – is equipped with the hardware to take advantage of limited self-driving technology, some customers either don't think they'll use Autopilot, or don't really want to plop down an extra $2,500 when they're already spending thousands of hard-earned dollars on a brand new electric car. For owners unexcited about Autopilot (this woman, for example), and for whom a fear of missing out didn't get them to pull the trigger on it the first time around, Tesla is offering an opportunity to try the autonomous features for free. In a post on Reddit, a Tesla owner took a picture of a notification on their center touchscreen offering a one-month trial of Autopilot at no cost.
Model X
Early-Build Tesla Model X SUVs Face Quality Issues
Karpf is not alone. Tesla message boards are already swelling with complaints from Model X owners regarding balky doors, interior trim-piece tolerances, paint-spray quality, malfunctioning second-row seats, sheet-metal panel gaps, and climate control issues. The Model X is still very early in production, with only a few thousand vehicles produced to date.
Makes sense that a car as complex as the Model X (which Elon Musk claims is the most complex car ever manufactured) has it's share of reliability problems with early models. Hopefully Tesla can square all this away as they ramp production.
Ford Spent $200,000 to Dissect a Limited-Edition Tesla Model X
Ford Motor Co. paid $199,950 -- $55,000 more than the sticker price -- to buy one of the first sport utility vehicles made by Tesla Motors Inc. so it could test and examine the electric SUV. Ford bought the 64th Model X -- a white Founders Series version -- last month. Spied recently in the Detroit area with Michigan manufacturers’ plates, it originally belonged to a California coin dealer who bought it as part of Tesla’s customer-referral promotion.
Tesla Energy
A Rare Look Inside The 'Gigafactory' Tesla Hopes Will Revolutionize Energy Use
Tesla is known for pricey electric cars, and batteries are a big part of the sticker price. And that, Straubel says, is why this factory is all about scale. Scaling up could drive down the cost of batteries 30 percent or more, he says. Battery packs in most electric cars are estimated to cost more than $10,000 today. "Our vehicles can be more affordable. More people can have access to them," Straubel says.
TSLA
Tesla Announces Release Date for First Quarter 2016 Financial Results
Tesla will post its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016, after market close on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. At that time, Tesla will issue a brief advisory release containing a link to the Q1 2016 Shareholder Letter, available on the Tesla IR website. Tesla management will hold a live question & answer webcast that day at 2:30pm Pacific Time (5:30pm Eastern Time) to discuss the Company's financial and business results and outlook.
Apple hires former Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering Chris Porritt for ‘special [car] project’
Electrek, in collaboration with our sister-site 9to5Mac, has exclusively discovered and confirmed respectively that Apple hired former Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering and former Aston Martin Chief Engineer, Chris Porritt, to work on “special projects”, and we know that “special projects” is where Apple’s Titan car project lives. If Zadesky indeed left the company, it would make newly hired Porritt Apple’s most senior “car guy” and a likely candidate to lead the Cupertino company’s electric car initiative. While his expertise could be useful in plenty of hardware engineering roles, he had a focus on vehicle dynamics, vehicle architecture and vehicle packaging throughout his long career.
Giving some weight to Musk’s half-jokingly ‘Tesla Graveyard’ claim, we can confirm that Porritt didn’t make a direct transition from Tesla to Apple, but there was a few months between him leaving the electric automaker and joining the Cupertino company. Update: A Tesla spokesperson clarified the timeline and confirmed to us that Porritt left the automaker in “September 2015”.
Model 3 is Tesla's Defining Moment
Right now, we're in a sort of limbo... the Model 3 has been revealed but deliveries haven't started. And Tesla hasn't been clear and specific how they're going to meet the current demand. But sooner or later, Tesla will reveal production increase plans which will impact every part of Tesla and it's growth and eventually deliveries will start. So, we're going to enter post-Model 3 Tesla soon. And it could be sooner than when Model 3 deliveries start, if investors/market start believing Tesla can actually execute, ramp production, and make money off the Model 3. It's tough to say when we're going to really enter the "post-Model 3 Tesla", but I think when we do the stock price will reflect it. There's going to be a lot of people who try to guess when this transition takes place, but I think it could really happen anytime. It could happen within a month (ie., Elon shares specific production increase plans). Or it could take months after deliveries start. I don't know. All I know is that I think it's a good time to be a TSLA shareholder as we make this transition from a pre-Model 3 Tesla to a post-Model 3 Tesla.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk teases a new autonomous ‘Tesla Mobility’ service
When talking about trying to avoid overcrowding cities with personal vehicles, the Minister of Transport asked a question that got Musk talking: “Can we expect Tesla to revolutionize mass transit when it comes to buses?” Musk answered: “We have an idea for something which is not exactly a bus, but would solve the density problem in intercity situations. I think we need to rethink the whole concept of public transport and create something that people are actually gonna like a lot more. I don’t want to talk too much about it.”
Video: Elon Musk Interview in Netherlands
Skip to the 20 minute mark to watch Elon Musk's interview this past week in the Netherlands.
Other News
Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne Just Challenged Tesla's Elon Musk
If (Musk) “can show me that the car will be profitable at that price, I will copy the formula, add the Italian design flair and get it to the market within 12 months,” Marchionne told an Automotive News Europe reporter on the sidelines on FCA’s annual meeting in Amsterdam on Friday.
Another auto CEO grossly underestimating what it takes to build something great.
The Race to Produce China's Tesla
William Li isn’t your typical, boundlessly optimistic Chinese tech entrepreneur. Yes, the founder of startup NextEV Inc. has big plans to disrupt China’s electric car market, the financial backing of venture capital powerhouses Sequoia Capital and Hillhouse Capital and considers Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk an inspiration.