Cars

Just as Tesla enthusiasts are waiting for the Model X online design studio to become available to non-reservation holders today, Tesla announced that it is recalling the Model X over a weakness in the third-row seat. The automaker says that all vehicles produced before March 26th are affected or about 2,700 units.
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We’ve covered how Tesla’s approach to self-driving cars differs from Google’s. The former is incrementally introducing more advanced autonomous features to eventually get to full autonomy, while the latter thinks it is safer to make the jump to completely autonomous driving once the technology is at maturity.

The two companies also have different approaches to hardware. Google relies on LiDAR, while Tesla thinks it’s unnecessary and that a combination of cameras and radars should do the job. Only time will tell which strategy will turn out to be the most successful, but in the meantime, Tesla shared a rare data point that gives us some perspective on the two programs.
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We first reported that the Model S was expected to get a facelift at the end of last year.  Since then, we’ve received information from sources on exactly what that would look like. The TL;DR is that the front end will look more like a Model X, minor appearance changes will happen to the rear lights, seats will be vented like the Model X. But there’s more…
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After a slow start in Germany for the past 3 years, Tesla is starting to make progress in this difficult market dominated by local manufacturers. Last year, Model S sales increased by 94% according to registration data, and although it still lags behind comparatively smaller countries like the Netherlands and Switzerland, things are looking up for Tesla in Germany.
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Costa Mesa-based Big Limos claims it is building the “first stretched Tesla Model S limousine”. A reader sent us a video time-lapse of the Model S being cut in half (see below). Warning: it’s cringe-worthy for Tesla enthusiast.
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Porsche last year unveiled what it said will be its first all-electric vehicle: the Mission E. The German automaker green-lighted the vehicle for production in December and announced a €1 billion investment to retrofit its factories in order to manufacture electric vehicles. The press was quick to call the Mission E a “Tesla Killer” despite the fact that it will not hit the market until the end of the decade.

The car might not be a “Tesla Killer” but it is already generating a lot of attention and recently won the prestigious ‘Concept Car Design of the year’ at Car Design Night at the 2016 Geneva International Motor Show, and rightfully so, I might add. The design is simply stunning. Now Electrek has learned that Tesla hired Porsche’s lead designer for the Mission E’s interior.

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Tesla pushed a new update to its fleet this weekend (7.1.2.16.17). There’s no new release notes since the latest ‘Summon’ update and we have yet to see a report showing any significant improvement or new features. Although, the update appears to contain a new Easter Egg.
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Last week we reported on Tesla announcing that it will open Model X orders online and in-store in “a couple of weeks”. Now we learn through a deleted tweet from CEO Elon Musk that it could start as soon as tomorrow.

In the same tweet, Musk also made a peculiar comment about the price of the Model X.
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We’ve seen some close calls saved by the Model S’ active safety features powered by the Autopilot, like auto emergency braking preventing a 45mph head-on collision here, but today we take a look at a great example of Tesla’s auto emergency steering at work.
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BMW announced an updated version of its car-sharing program today. The new service called ‘ReachNow’ is officially launched in Seattle with an initial fleet of 370 vehicles,  including the electric BMW i3, the BMW 3 Series and the MINI Cooper. The German automaker confirmed that it has plans to launch the program in 10 cities, including 3 more by the end of the year. 
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After Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the Model 3 last week and went through a few of the car’s features, it would have been difficult to find an EV enthusiast disappointed by the event. But now a week later, the automaker has been altering the language around the Model 3’s features and it has raised a few eyebrows.

Tesla changed the wording around the Model 3’s safety rating, Autopilot and Supercharging capabilities, which are arguably Tesla’s three best-selling points.
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The Tesla Model X is the first all-electric vehicle with a significant towing capacity. When configured with 22″ wheels, the Model X can tow 3,500 pounds and when configured with 20″ wheels, the towing capacity of the SUV increases to 5,000 pounds, according to Tesla.

A 5,000 pounds capacity can enable the use of a variety of different trailers, including the Bowlus Road Chief trailer.
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Volvo announced this week that it will deploy up to 100 self-driving cars on China’s public roads. The automaker claims that the project will be “China’s most advanced autonomous driving experiment in which local drivers will test autonomous driving cars on public roads in everyday driving conditions.”
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Tesla unveiled the Model 3 last week and displayed a several prototypes in a select few custom colors. The company also released some promo shots with different paint jobs, and there’s a bunch of interesting options, but if you want to get an idea of what Tesla’s new vehicle would look like in other colors, here’s your chance.
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During a media briefing at GM’s Alternative Energy Center this week, GM’s General Director of Electrification, Tim Grewe, said that Bolt prototypes have pushed past the 200 miles range that they were previously advertising. Coincidentally (or likely not), the news come just a week after Tesla unveiled its Model 3 and said that it is expected to have an EPA-rated range of 215 miles on a single charge.

Prior to its unveiling last week, Tesla was referring to the Model 3’s range as having a “minimum of 200 miles” on single charge, but at the event, CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla was expecting the vehicle to achieve 215 miles based on an EPA cycle.
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While the focus is on Tesla’s recently unveiled first mass-market car, the Model 3, its flagship sedan, the Model S, is now expected to take center stage with some updates this month. We reported on Tesla confirming that “price changes” are coming in “early April” and hinting that it would add new features.

One of the rumored upgrade is a refreshed front-end that would look more like the Model X’s, and now it reportedly has been spotted at Tesla’s Fremont factory.
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Tesla confirmed having received more than 325,000 Model 3 reservations a week after opening the process to the public. The automaker claims that it corresponds to about $14 billion in implied future sales.

The company is calculating “implied future sales” on an estimated average sale price of $42,000 after options and by assuming that everyone who placed a deposit will convert it to an order, which adds up to $13.6 billion.

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In an email sent out last night (see below), Tesla confirmed that following the overwhelming number of Model 3 reservations it received, the company is currently “increasing its production plans to minimize the wait for Model 3” – something Elon Musk hinted Tesla was looking into after witnessing the long lines of people waiting at Tesla’s stores to reserve the $35,000 long-range all-electric vehicle.
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Tesla has yet to deliver a single Model 3 and probably won’t for another 18 months, but the fact that close to 300,000 people already signed up to pre-order the vehicle is already disrupting the industry. During Daimler’s annual shareholders meeting in Berlin on Wednesday, several shareholders have expressed concerns over Silicon Valley-based companies – especially Tesla – leading the electric vehicle market. 
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