Cars

Tesla is planning a next generation Roadster reportedly to be built on the Model 3 platform by the end of the decade. A Tesla executive recently described the vehicle as “different, faster and bigger” than the original Roadster, which was built on a Lotus chassis.

Little is known about the vehicle at this point, but it doesn’t stop rendering artists to try to help envision the possible design of the car. And these latest renderings are pretty impressive.
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The limits of the Autopilot under its current suite of sensors have been debated for a while, especially since Tesla has been discussing an upcoming second-generation hardware for the program to allow fully autonomous driving.

But last night, Elon Musk announced that “certainly moderate and maybe big advances” are possible with Tesla’s current sensors.
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Earlier this year, we reported on the PSA group, which includes the French automotive brands Peugeot, Citroën and DS, announcing its plan for the electrification of its brands starting with two new electric vehicle platforms on which the company will build 4 new all-electric vehicles and 7 new plug-in hybrids by 2021.

One of the first vehicle to come to market under this new plan, although in limited-production will be the DS E-Tense all-electric supercar, which was spotted in the wild for the first time this week.
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The success of the Model 3’s production plan is highly important not only to Tesla, but to the ~400,000 people who by pre-ordering the vehicle are now planning their next car purchase around the release of the Model 3. If Tesla starts volume production in late 2017 and manages to manufacture 500,000 vehicles (Model 3, S and X) in 2018 as planned, the automaker will work through its backlog fairly quickly and everything should work out fine.

But if god forbid Tesla misses some deadlines, it will create headaches for a lot of people, including the automaker. The next important deadline is pencil down on the design of the Model 3, which should be this week based on Elon Musk’s most recent timeline.
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a statement last week confirming that it will investigate the recent Tesla Model X rollover accident in Pennsylvania after the driver claimed that the Autopilot was activated during the crash.

Last week, Tesla said that they couldn’t access the data logs remotely because of the damage on the vehicle, but a spokesperson also said that they “have no reason to believe that Autopilot had anything to do with this accident”.
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Earlier this week, Germany’s Federal Office for Motor Vehicles (KBA) made Tesla owners nervous in Europe after it said that it wouldn’t approve a feature on the roads if it is described as ‘Beta’ following the debate over the use of the word to describe Tesla’s Autopilot features.

But Tesla gained European approval for the Autopilot system in the Netherlands, not in Germany, and the authority in the country is now saying that “no safety concerns” were found in the system, but they will be following the NHTSA evaluation in the US.
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In the now all too familiar and tragic event that occurred on May 7th, 2016, involving one of Ohio’s biggest ‘Teslavangelist’, we now have the official letter (via Reddit) sent to Tesla last Friday, the 8th, from the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). You can read it in full below.
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It looks like the Tesla Model X, the first all-electric SUV, is a popular vehicle to benchmark or reserve-engineer. Ford paid a ~$55,000 premium to own and likely reverse-engineer the vehicle, while Audi was among the firsts to import the vehicle in Europe, which caused a problem when the German automaker realized it couldn’t charge the vehicle with the European standard.

Now it looks like another competitor is using the vehicle, but this time right in Tesla’s backyard.
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After the Consumer Watchdog calling for the Tesla to disable the Autopilot following the recent fatal Model S crash while the system was activated, now the respected Consumer Reports magazine is weighing in and also asking Tesla to walk back some of the Autopilot features.

Tesla already responded to the publication saying that they are taking decisions based on “real-world data, not speculation by media”.
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Tesla is reportedly being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over a potential securities law breach regarding the disclosure of the fatal Model S crash in Florida while the driver was using the Autopilot. The investigation is believed to be aiming to determine if the news of the fatal crash was a material information during the $2.3 billion secondary offering announced on May 18, just a week after Tesla learned of the crash.

The company confirmed the accident on June 30, when the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it will probe the Autopilot system over the accident.

Former SEC chairman Harvey Pitt commented on the situation earlier this week and gave some insights into what the SEC could be looking to investigate and what could be the consequences for Tesla.
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Atieva, a well-funded electric car startup led on the engineering side by Peter Rawlinson, former Tesla VP and Model S Chief Engineer, introduced today its first prototype, Edna, an all-electric van with supercar-like performance.

The vehicle is used to showcase the company’s all-electric platform, which will be first commercialized in a luxury sedan and not a van, but in the meantime, Atieva benchmarked the van against a Ferrari and a Tesla Model S.
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As we’ve often discussed before, the Chevy Bolt EV is often presented at the first real competitor to the Tesla Model 3 simply because they have a similar range – over 200 miles – and similar sticker prices – starting at $37,500 for the Bolt and $35,000 for the Model 3, but it’s really not that simple.

While priced like one, the Bolt EV is not a mid-sized luxury vehicle. If it wasn’t electric, it would be similar to Chevrolet’s Sonic, which is priced $15,000 cheaper. On the other hand, Tesla’s Model 3 is being marketed as a mid-sized sport/luxury vehicle and certainly looks more like one than the Bolt – which is more of a utility hatchback. Prior to its unveiling, Tesla CEO Elon Musk often talked about the BMW 3 Series as a reference for competition to the Model 3. That recently switched to the Audi A3.

Now it looks like the Model 3 will actually have to compete with an all-electric version of the BMW 3 Series. The vehicle could be introduced with the next generation 2018 models, but the all-electric version is expected later.
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Tesla confirmed today that it has discontinued its ‘Resale Value Guarantee’ (RVG) program as of July 1st – first reported by The Verge. When purchasing through the company’s financing program, RVG allowed Model S and X owners to sell their car to Tesla during the period between 36 months to 39 months of the ownership for 50% of the base price of the vehicle at the time of the purchase, plus 43% of the original purchase price for all options.
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Sterling Anderson, Tesla’s Director of Autopilot Programs, made a rare comment on the recent and evolving situation around his project at the automaker. He said that it’s been “a dark couple of months” for his team after the death of Joshua Brown, the Model S owner involved in an accident in Florida while driving on Autopilot, and the subsequent media coverage of the tragic event.
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Some Tesla owners are reporting that insurance companies are not listing the proper trim level of their Model S, which can result in a higher premium depending on the situation. The issue was first brought up yesterday by Youtuber KmanAuto, but other Tesla owners have since reported similar problems.
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Today, Tesla reduced the entry price for its all-electric SUV, the Model X, by $9,000 with a new option for a 75 kWh battery pack software-limited to 60 kWh. The news follows the introduction of the same concept in the Model S lineup last month when Tesla announced the Model S 60 starting at $66,000.

As for the Model X, the base version still retains its dual motor platform and therefore, it will have a Model X 60D badge. Owners will have the option to unlock the remaining 15 kWh of energy capacity in the battery pack after the purchase for a $9,000 fee or order the vehicle as a Model X 75D for $83,000, as it was the case before today.
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Earlier this week, we reported on an accident involving a Tesla Model X on Autopilot over the weekend. The vehicle reportedly veered off road and hit a guardrail made of large wooden posts. The impact destroyed the passenger side of the Model X and detached the front wheel, but fortunately, both occupants were not injured.

Following the accident, the driver claimed that the Autopilot veered off road on its own, but Tesla has now issued a statement regarding the accident and claims that the data log shows that the driver didn’t respond to an alert to hold the steering wheel, which they say led to the accident.
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Following the news of the fatal crash in a Model S in May, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) implied that Tesla could be planning to disable the Autopilot when drivers are not using it properly, but now Elon Musk gave a quick interview to the publication (Paywall) and says that the company has no plan to disable the Autopilot.
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Earlier this year, Germany announced its first electric vehicle incentive program to spur adoption of green vehicles in the country. Financed by both the state and the local auto industry, the program offers a €4,000 discount at the purchase of an all-electric vehicle and €3,000 for a plug-in hybrid.

The program is capped to electric vehicles with a starting price of less than €60,000, which prompt Tesla to respond and claim that it was purposely left out by the auto industry since its vehicles start at over €60,000. While the program is not helping Tesla, it is certainly helping BMW as reports are coming out claiming that sales of the BMW i3 are somewhat unsurprisingly significantly rising in Germany since the launch of the program earlier this month.
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Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley’s analyst covering Tesla, has been predicting a new “on-demand mobility service” program for the automaker ever since he had a very one-sided conversation with Elon Musk in which the CEO said a lot by refusing to answer a question about whether the company plans on offering a service like Uber or maybe partnering with the startup.
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