Cars

The story of a Tesla Model S crashing into the back of a trailer while the ‘summon’ feature of the Autopilot was activated has been making the headlines since last week. Tesla placed the blame with the driver, but now the automaker pushes an update to its fleet to add a step to the Summon feature that could potentially have prevented the accident.
Expand
Expanding
Close

According to industry sources talking to the Korea Times, Tesla selected Hankook Tire, South Korea’s first and the world’s seventh tire manufacturer, to supply the stock tires for the Model 3 program. Tesla is creating the most important supply chain program of its short history in order to bring the vehicle to market on time.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Last month we reported on Tesla’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Deputy General Counsel, James Chen, leaving the automaker. At the time, we were told that the executive was joining another company in the field, but we couldn’t confirm the news.

Now today both Chen and Faraday Future confirmed that the top lawyer is joining the electric vehicle startup.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Tesla doesn’t buy advertising space but it doesn’t shy away from creating promotional content. Its latest effort is a commercial for the Chinese market featuring some beautiful scenes from a Tesla road trip.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Tesla is believed to be working on a new Roadster for an expected launch in 2019. In continuation of Tesla referencing the movie ‘Spaceballs’ for its performance modes, like ‘Ludicrous mode’, CEO Elon Musk said that the automaker is reserving the ‘Maximum Plaid’ mode for the next generation Tesla Roadster.

We haven’t heard much about this new version of Tesla’s first vehicle since Musk’s comment, but last week a company representative revealed a few more information, although vague, about the upcoming sports car.
Expand
Expanding
Close

If you are a Tesla enthusiast, you are likely very familiar with the online design studio of the Model S, or more recently the Model X’s. You toggle between the paint jobs, the wheels options and the myriad of other features to configure your dream electric car. Whether you are able to buy it or not doesn’t matter in the online design studio.

Now you can even feed your Tesla Model 3 obsession by configuring, to a certain degree, the vehicle through a third-party website built by a fellow Tesla enthusiast.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Late last year, we reported on comments made by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and CTO JB Straubel while they were in Korea for the Energy Korea Forum 2015. They said Tesla is “committed” to the South Korean market and that he sees a “great potential” there, but they didn’t want to commit to a timeline for an expansion in the country just yet.

Now it looks like the automaker is planning to enter the Korean market as soon as “early 2017” based on talks held with TK, South Korea’s second-biggest telecom company, to provide Tesla’s fleet with telematic services.
Expand
Expanding
Close

During Tesla’s latest conference call for its quarterly financial results, CEO Elon Musk was teasing a new and important hire for the automaker’s manufacturing executive team. Today, the company confirmed the hire of Peter Hochholdinger, Audi’s Senior Director of Production behind the manufacturing programs of the A4, A5 and Q5 vehicles.

Hochholdinger joins Tesla as VP of Vehicle Production and he will be responsible for continuing to “increase and improve Model S and X production”, and for the Model 3 production program.

Expand
Expanding
Close

When Tesla first introduced the Autopilot in October 2014, it announced that every car from now on would be equipped with the Autopilot hardware suite which consists of a forward-looking camera, radar and 360° ultrasonic sensors. Tesla has since been pushing updates to enable new features to the cars equipped with the system.

Of course, existing Tesla owners asked if a retrofit would be available for their vehicles. Tesla was quick to suppress any hope that a retrofit would be made available citing a workload too important to make a retrofit cost-effective versus simply trading up for a Model S equipped with Autopilot hardware.

Now a Tesla hacker proved the automaker’s point by himself retrofitting a classic Model P85 with new and salvaged Autopilot parts and sensors, and actually making it work.
Expand
Expanding
Close

In March, GM announced that the Chevy Bolt EV entered pre-production on the Orion Assembly line. The automaker has since been running tests to tune the production process of the company’s first long-range all-electric vehicle and now we learn that GM plans to start regular production of the 2017 Bolt in October 2016 for deliveries later this year.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Earlier this year, Radio Flyer, the maker of the popular red toy wagon, announced a partnership with Tesla to make a toy Model S called ‘Model S for Kids’. The toy car has some interesting features like ‘swappable’ battery packs and a small frunk (front-trunk) just like the real Model S’.

Now Tesla announced it will offer test drives in the ‘Model S for kids’ at its retail locations in a cross-promotional effort with Radio Flyer.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Tesla first applied for a car dealership and repair license in Michigan over 6 months ago. The automaker reapplied again 3 months ago and the license still hasn’t been approved and the application is at a standstill at the Secretary of State’s Office.

The company appears to be at an impasse, Detroit News reports:

“In the most recent development, the Secretary of State’s Office put the automaker’s applications for dealership and service facilities at a standstill by requesting two weeks ago that the applicant submit proof it is a franchised dealer. If it doesn’t, the state will not rule on Tesla’s applications.”

The word “franchise” is the problem here. The application was made by the company and the state is aware of it. While a new bill that would allow Tesla to own a car dealership in the state has been proposed, the company didn’t have a good experience with the legislative process in Michigan before and it is now considering to bring the matter to the courts.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Earlier this year, we reported on a new proposed bill in California to eliminate the sales tax on new cars manufactured in the state for out-of-state buyers. The bill aims to spur “industrial tourism” and encourage people to come pick up their new Teslas at the automaker’s Fremont factory without having to pay California’s sales tax.

The bill, which was proposed by Tesla and is sponsored by Sen. Bob Wieckowski whose district is home to Tesla’s Fremont factory, is now facing strong opposition as some legislators suggest it only aims at offering tax breaks to rich people able to afford luxury vehicles.
Expand
Expanding
Close

The home energy storage revolution is upon us. SunRun, a national full service solar power installer and financier, announced the first installation of their BrightBox product. BrightBox is a solar energy storage solution, utilizing a Tesla PowerWall, for your home that includes a solar system and solar battery. This is exciting because it adds to the list of big name installers and manufacturers of home battery systems that have begun installations – and continues the evolution of our power grid.

Expand
Expanding
Close

While we’ve had the chance to see the Tesla Model 3 prototype in a few different settings, including in the wild and during a media photoshoot, we can’t move the car around see it in different colors or in under every angle, until now… sort of.

The first 3D model of the Model 3 is out and the result is quite impressive.
Expand
Expanding
Close

While energy efficiency and range calculations are important for all vehicles regardless of the type of fuel it consumes, it is particularly important for electric vehicles if only to help alleviate the range anxiety concerns whether they are warranted or not.

Tesla is working to further improve its own range and energy consumption calculations in order to show more accurate range estimates to Tesla owners, which should be made available in an upcoming over-the-air update, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Don’t be put off by the Tesla Motors spinoff-sounding name (of course inspired by physicist Nikola Tesla) which attracted many headlines this week, Nikola Motor’s recently unveiled electric truck and UTV concepts are very real – well as real as a concept can be.

What many articles about the company missed is the fact that the range is achieved through a natural gas range extender, which is not clear only from the press release. The truck is called ‘Nikola One’ and it is equipped with a 320 kWh battery pack which enables up to 1,200 miles, but again only combined with the natural gas range extender.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Several German automakers held their annual shareholders meeting this week and just like during Daimler’s last month, the subject of competing with Tesla in the luxury segment with long-range electric vehicle came up. German premium automakers like Audi, BMW and Porsche are admittedly about 6 years behind Tesla with the first few 200+ miles range electric vehicles coming to market starting in 2018 – versus Tesla’s Model S which launched in 2012.

BMW took the occasion to clearly lay out its electric vehicle plan under its ‘i’ sub-brand. The company confirmed that it will launch the new electric and autonomous iNext model in 2021. The vehicle is based on the recently unveiled ‘NEXT 100’ concept – picture above.
Expand
Expanding
Close