Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin is uncomfortable with technology, he uses a DOS computer and he is not a fan of cellphones, but he does love his Tesla Model S with a custom purple paint job (see above), and you don’t get much more high-tech than a Tesla.
As it turns out, he is even more of a Tesla fan than we originally thought. This weekend he joined in on a Tesla Motors Club meetup in New Mexico. Expand Expanding Close
Developments in autonomous driving technology are creating tons of opportunities for engineers with expertise in computer vision, machine learning, robotics and other related fields. Almost all car manufacturer and several huge tech companies are scrambling to advance the technology. Some companies are further along than others and besides traditional automakers, Google, Apple, Bosch, Uber and others have been building important teams of engineers and researchers for their own efforts in developing the technology.
Tesla is another leader in the field and it has made it a priority to acquire talent for its own effort in the sector called the ‘Autopilot’ team. Tesla CEO Elon Musk even took to Twitter to encourage engineers to join the team. It’s undoubtedly a good use of his large Twitter following (3.4 million followers), but certainly an unconventional way to ask for resumes.
The automaker managed to assemble an impressive team to develop the next generation Autopilot, which aims to eventually allow fully autonomous driving, but not without a few bumps along the way. Today we take a look at the team and its refresh “exodus” of talent that took place around the release of the v7.0 of the feature. Expand Expanding Close
Electrek has learned that Tesla recently named its Model X program manager and former MIT researcher Sterling Anderson new ‘Director of Autopilot Programs’.
Tesla released over the weekend a new short video of a timelapse of the Model X assembly line titled: “Symphony of robots building Model X“. Expand Expanding Close
Tesla is on-going some restructuring at the upper management level over the past few months, especially since long-time executive and Vice-President of Worldwide Sales & Services Jerome Guillen took a leave of absence last year, followed by Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja’s retirement a few months later.
Today Electrek has learned of the latest addition to Tesla’s upper management team: Karim Bousta, former GE Director and Symantec Vice President, now Tesla’s Vice-President of Global Services. Expand Expanding Close
It’s kind of an “open-secret” in the auto and tech industries that Apple is developing an electric vehicle codenamed “Project Titan”, yet for the most part, the Cupertino-based company has been able to keep details under wraps.
In helping keep any development secret, Apple is believed to be using a shell company called Sixty Eight Research based in Sunnyvale, California. Neighbors have recently been reporting heavy security presence and a lot of noise around the location. Expand Expanding Close
We rarely hear about Rimac Automobili and its all-electric supercar Concept_one anymore, but rest assured, the company is alive and well. The Crotia-based electric automaker grew from 20 to 150 employees during the past 2 years and now plans to go on a hiring spree and double its headcount in 2016.
In order to let more people know about what they are working on, the company has been releasing videos lately and its latest highlights the Concept_one’s all wheel torque vectoring system. Expand Expanding Close
Brace yourself for some misinformation in the coming months.
Gandhi said: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
It looks like electric vehicles are still in the “fighting phase” as we learn today that billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch are planning to back a new group of lobbyists with a focus on “boosting petroleum-based transportation fuels and attacking government subsidies for electric vehicles”, according to refining industry sources talking to the Huffington Post. Expand Expanding Close
Recent pictures of Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada have been scarce lately. We were getting regular updates via drone videos, but those stopped and were even taken down. We can’t say it was the cause, but the videos were taken down not long after two journalists from Gannett’s Reno Gazette Journal (RGJ) were involved in an altercation with two Tesla safety managers on the property, while they were trying to take pictures. Expand Expanding Close
Tesla Motors recently acquired premium domain name ‘Tesla.com’ and it now forwards traffic to ‘Teslamotors.com’. The seller, Stuart Grossman from California, signed a non-disclosure agreement and therefore couldn’t disclose the amount he received to let go of the domain, but estimates range from high 6 figures to low 7 figures. Expand Expanding Close
Plugless has been offering wireless charging retrofits for the Nissan LEAF and the Chevy Volt for a few years now, but the technology wasn’t available to Tesla owners until now.
The company started taking reservations for the Plugless system for the rear-wheel-drive versions of the Tesla Model S this week, for shipping in April, while the startup says that the option compatible with the all-wheel-drive Model S should be available later this year. Expand Expanding Close
National Electric Vehicle Sweden (Nevs), the China-backed firm that bought Saab’s assets out of bankruptcy in 2012, has signed a framework agreement to take a 50% stake in Chinese vehicle manufacturing company New Long Ma (NLM). The company has a factory with production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year in the Fujian province. Expand Expanding Close
Tesla released its latest software update (v7.1 2.12.22) for the Model S and X yesterday. You can read the full release notes here, but the main improvement is the ability to activate the Summon/self-parking feature from inside the vehicle before exiting, and we now have a video demonstrating the improved feature. Expand Expanding Close
SK Innovation, a battery cell maker part of the South Korea-based chemical and energy conglomerate SK, confirmed (via GreenCarCongress) that it has been selected as the supplier of battery cells for Mercedes’ upcoming line of electric vehicles.
While announcing the renaming of its GM Powertrain to GM Global Propulsion Systems this week, the automaker gave us a glimpse at the structure of the division and disclosed that almost half of its engineers are now working on electric and alternative propulsion systems. Expand Expanding Close
Tesla released today its latest software update pushed over-the-air to Model S owners. The new update (v7.1 2.12.22) includes the fix for the small safety concern uncovered by Consumer Reports during testings of the new ‘Summon’ feature last week, as well as new customization options and improved Autopilot features. Expand Expanding Close
Today, the company announced the creation of a partnership with Faraday Future backer LeTV, or LeEco or Leshi (the group goes by many brand names), to develop and manufacture the RapidE. The group says they are now focused on bringing the vehicle to market in 2018. Expand Expanding Close
Only two months ago, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval approved a $335 million incentive package in a deal to secure that Faraday Future will build a $1 billion electric car factory in the state, more specifically in North Las Vegas. Now after the company reportedly broke ground at the site just a few weeks ago, we learn that Nevada Treasurer Dan Schwartzis questioning Faraday’s financial health after inquiries and a visit to China.
It looks like Faraday is subject to its fair share of scrutiny, especially after both Nevada and Tesla were criticized over the size of the incentive package the state agreed to give Tesla to build its Gigafactory near Reno. The package has been widely reported to be worth $1.3 billion and contributed to Tesla’s image as been dependent on government subsidies, but it’s important to understand that the incentives are spread out on 20 years and contingent on Tesla spending close to $100 billion at the factory during the same period. Expand Expanding Close
Tesla quietly announced early this morning its third referral program with a chance to win a Model X P90D and a tour of the SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles. Tesla’s referral program returns after a two-month break and very successful two initial competitions.
The company is trying something new with the latest version of the program, which will not really be a competition this time. Expand Expanding Close
Daimler made an interesting announcement today. The German automaker introduced a new “lead by example” policy to make electric vehicles the standard company cars for its senior management. The vehicle lineup will primarily consist of Mercedes’ plug-in hybrid vehicles, but also some all-electric vehicles will be made available.
The automaker also announced a 30 million euros investment into extending the company’s own charging infrastructure across its facilities in order to facilitate the new program. Expand Expanding Close
Nissan released this week a video of an intelligent “self-parking” chair concept leveraging its own self-driving car technology. The short video is worth a watch. Expand Expanding Close
Tesla released a quick teaser video today to announce a partnership with American luxury specialty department store Neiman Marcus and to bring the Model X to New York Fashion Week. Expand Expanding Close
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