Jameson Dow

Tesla plans to release more features to expand its full self-driving capabilities later this month, according to CEO Elon Musk.

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Ford’s Mustang Mach-E reservations are moving along nicely, with the car’s release coming at the end of this year.  We learned today that, if reservation numbers are sequential (and they seem to be), the car now has approximately 41,400 reservations (globally) according to forum posts.

Also, according to Ford, there have been Mach-E reservations in all 50 US states so far.

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We haven’t seen much of the Model Y interior, and have assumed it would mostly look like the Model 3, just a bit bigger. But we have seen that the third-row seats aren’t very large, at least in prototype form.

But now that cars are shipping from the factory, we’re starting to see photos and video of the Model Y interior, including more charging options for devices than on the Model 3.

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The Model Y will be in customer hands later this month (hey, first time we can say that), yet there are still questions over just how big it is.  We’ve seen a lot of photos and videos of the Model Y next to other vehicles, but still don’t have official specs from Tesla. One fan resorted to using his water bottle to measure ground clearance.

And now we’ve got another new method of height comparison — using the “Jayscale” by Twitter user jayzilla711.

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After about two total weeks of work, the forest of planted trees on Tesla’s Giga Berlin site is now gone. Tesla finished “phase 1” of their forest clearance project this week, just before their early March deadline.

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The Tesla Model Y is shipping in just about two weeks, and it looks like Tesla has a lot of cars ready to sell. Early customers have been getting emails asking them to confirm deliveries, and the cars should be in customers’ hands soon. But we still don’t know how big it is.

So, in the absence of specs, what are we to do?  Well, an enterprising fan and friend of the site saw a Model Y in public, didn’t have a measuring tape on hand, and got creative — with his water bottle.

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A new Kickstarter project has just been launched to crowdfund a redesigned aero wheel cover for the base 18-inch Tesla Model 3 wheels. The Kickstarter claims improved curb rash resistance, aerodynamics, and aesthetics compared to the base wheel covers.

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We talk a lot about electric cars here, Tesla chief among them. But since Tesla is different than other manufacturers in the way they market, sell, and deliver their cars, we thought it would be useful to answer the question of how to buy a Tesla in the first place, starting with how to test drive one.

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The launch of the Model Y is imminent, but there’s still a lot we don’t know about the car. We’re still trying to figure out just how big it is, and we’ve got little information on what options will be available.

One of those questions is around additional storage space for hauling large items, like roof racks and tow hitches. We’ve seen a Model Y with a tow hitch, and now it looks like Tesla has a Model Y prototype driving around the Bay Area with a roof rack as well.

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The Tesla Model 3 extended its dominance over the California auto market last year, selling more cars than all other EVs combined in 2019, according to the California New Car Dealers Association. In addition, when removing other Tesla models from the count, the Model 3 sold more than twice as many cars as all other manufacturers’ EVs combined.

This made the Tesla Model 3 the third best-selling car overall in the state behind the Civic and Camry. This result is a move up from fifth place last year.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is on a roll with more announcements about the Cybertruck today.  He described a “towing calculator” which will show all kinds of real-time stats to help drivers know more about what their vehicle can handle while pulling a big load.

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Tesla rose eight spots in Consumer Reports‘ new car brand rankings, the largest rise of any brand, to become the top US brand at 11th place out of 33. This is largely due to improved reliability with the Model 3 and Model S.

The Tesla Model 3 also gained Consumer Reports‘ “Top Pick” designation as the best electric car, according to the publication.

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The Berlin Higher Administrative Court (OVG Berlin-Brandenburg) has dismissed complaints against Tesla’s European Gigafactory construction project, Giga Berlin.  This means work can resume in clearing the tree farm currently on the property.

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A ballot initiative has been proposed in San Diego that would serve to ban the sale of new gas vehicles costing over $50,000 starting next year. The initiative would also add a 2.5% tax on any gas vehicles over $50k that are purchased outside of the city and registered within city limits.

A new organization called Breathe Free America has been formed to circulate the petition for the ballot initiative, which they’ve dubbed the “Clean Vehicle Initiative.”  They are looking to gather 76,000 signatures from San Diegans in order to get it on the ballot.

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The Tesla Model Y starts shipping next month, but much still isn’t known. Tesla hasn’t released size specs yet, so we’re left with estimates based on dashcam video, product photos, or supercharger parking.

Now we have another estimate based on a more even perspective that seems to show some new information about ride and seating height. It shows that the Model Y should ride higher and be much easier to get into than the Model 3.

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Plug in America, a group that advocates for electric vehicles in the US, has announced a nationwide campaign to train car dealers how to sell electric cars. Any interested dealer can sign up for the course on Plug In America’s website and start getting training on how to better sell electric cars.

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A new bill, SB 167, has been introduced in Colorado which would allow electric vehicle manufacturers to bypass the state’s direct-sales ban.

The ban was first passed in 2010, which means Tesla’s store in the state is “grandfathered in,” though Tesla is not allowed to open other stores.  It still has several locations in the state, but these are technically “galleries”

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Tesla has updated their Model S and X offerings with ever-higher range numbers. The cars now have a listed 390- and 351-mile range, up from the previous 373 and 328 miles.

In addition, the Model S Long Range Plus now comes standard with the new 19-inch tempest wheels. The Model X retains the same 20-inch/22-inch wheel selections as before the update.

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Volvo Trucks launched their electric heavy duty truck program in California this week, nicknamed “Volvo LIGHTS.”  Its centerpiece is the new Volvo VNR Electric heavy duty truck, which enables local and regional heavy duty cargo hauls.  It will be used in a pilot program to haul cargo from the ports of Los Angeles to regional distribution hubs in Southern California’s Inland Empire.

As part of the launch, Volvo invited us out to Fontana speedway for a quick drive of the VNR electric, which handled better than it has any right to given its huge size.

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Volvo Trucks has launched a pilot program in California that brings several of their new all-electric VNR class 8 heavy duty trucks to the road.

The company invited us out to Fontana speedway yesterday for some more insight into their program.

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Jaguar is shutting down their I-Pace line due to a shortage of batteries from LG Chem, The Times reports.

The shutdown of their production line in Graz, Austria will last a week starting next Monday.

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Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory has been closed since January 29 due to China’s coronavirus outbreak, which has shut down many factories around the country.

We now have news that the factory will reopen on February 10 after the shutdown, and that the Shanghai government has offered “help” to companies to get production back up to speed after the shutdown (via Reuters).

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