Cars

It’s a good day for Tesla. Earlier this morning, we reported on the company knocking VW out of the top 10 car brands in the BrandZ annual report. Now we learn that the automaker also won the AutoPacific award for the highest satisfaction rating of any premium brand – building on its Consumer Report survey score of 97%.
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Tesla’s brand has significantly increased in value over the past year, especially since the Model 3 unveiling and the more than 373,000 reservations it received. On the other hand, Volkswagen’s brand took a big hit following the ‘Dieselgaste’ scandal, so much so that Tesla has now surpassed the company’s VW brand in “brand value”.

BrandZ published its annual report of the 100 most valuable brands and Tesla knocked VW out of the top 10 in the car category.
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Last week, we reported on Tesla starting to take delivery of important quantities of battery cells from a new supplier: Samsung SDI. At the time, we contacted Tesla to know what the cells will be used for, the company declined to comment, but we speculated that it could be used for ‘Tesla Energy’ products.

Now prompted by a Reuters report yesterday citing Samsung SDI sources claiming that they are in negotiation with Tesla to supply batteries for its cars, Elon Musk has confirmed that Panasonic will be exclusively supplying cells for the Model 3, S and X.
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While Mercedes has introduced several plug-in hybrid powertrains in its lineup, the German automaker has not been pushing very hard on the all-electric front. The company never built an electric car from the ground up and its only battery-powered vehicles were built on existing model platforms (A Class and B Class) with drivetrains developed in partnership with Tesla.

But earlier this year, the company announced a change in direction and greenlighted 4 new all-electric cars for production. Now we learn that the company is set to unveil the first of 4 models later this year at the Paris Motor Show.
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Inspired by the success of Portugal’s plea for a store and service center in the country which has been answered by CEO Elon Musk (sort of), Tesla owners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are now sending a message to the automaker and Elon to get service for their vehicles in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
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Ron Baron, the billionaire founder of Baron Capital, was on CNBC this morning to discuss his latest favorite investment: Tesla Motors (TSLA). The mutual fund manager said that he sees Tesla becoming one of the largest companies in the world and he sees his fund holding it stock for the next 10 to 20 years.
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In the past, I have complained about mainstream media consistently putting all electric vehicles in the same melting-pot with no or very little regard for vehicle segments, or anything else than the powertrain really. I think EV enthusiasts are already very aware of this problem, but I still want to highlight this latest example because it’s simply a great one.

A Chinese startup backed by Beijing CH-Auto, Qiantu Motor, announced a new factory to build its first vehicle, the Qiantu K50 (pictured above), an all-electric roadster, which the media are presenting as a direct competitor to the Tesla Model S, a sedan.
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Tesla confirmed having received over 400,000 Model 3 reservations since its unveiling in March 2016, but after adjusting for a few cancellations and a bunch of pre-orders removed under suspicions that they were duplicates, the automaker updated the number last month to 373,000 Model 3 reservations.

The interest is higher than Tesla or almost anyone else expected, which is why the company updated its production ramp up plans to 500,000 vehicles in 2018 (Model S, X and 3 combined) instead of in 2020, but even then, CEO Elon Musk said that someone would need to place a reservation soon in order to get a Model 3 by the end of 2018 – implying that it is virtually sold out from its expected launch in Q4 2017 to the end of 2018.

Also, in the US, people hoping to reap the full benefit of the $7500 Federal tax credit will want to get theirs early because the credit drops in half once Tesla sells 200,000 cars of any type.

It makes your place in the Model 3 reservation queue especially important. So far Tesla has been only issuing non-sequential reservation numbers which don’t mean anything as to where you are in line and the company said that the Model 3 will ship (or more precisely will be available for configuration) based on when you pre-ordered it, but now we might have a way for you to have a better idea of where you stand in the queue.
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Earlier this morning, we reported on a strange Model X accident that ended with the SUV crashing into a building in Irvine, California. Fortunately, no one was severely injured in the accident, but the Model X owner claims that the vehicle accelerated on its own while entering a parking space and the driver was unable to decelerate before it ‘autonomously’ crashed into the building.

We contacted Tesla and the company reviewed the logs around the time of the accident.  A representative is now assuring us that the Autopilot was not at fault and that the vehicle operated in a way consistent with the driver’s actions.
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‘Lithium’ battery capacity degradation is one of the main concerns of electric vehicle buyers and potential buyers. Since the resurgence of electric cars is relatively recent, meaningful long-term data on large battery packs is fairly rare. Only Tesla has battery packs with a capacity higher than 30 kWh on the road in any significant number and they only have been in operation for a few years (Roadster aside).

But a few Tesla owners have accumulated impressive mileage on their vehicles and the data provides an interesting look into potential battery capacity degradation.
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Update: Tesla has reviewed the logs around the time of the accident and it shows that the Model X driver hit the accelerator, Autopilot didn’t crash in building on its own

Following a recent few accidents involving Tesla’s Autopilot, mainly one with the ‘Summon’ feature and another one involving ‘TACC’ (two features of the Autopilot systems), the automaker’s semi-autonomous system has been under scrutiny, and it looks like this latest accident is not going to help its cause.

A Model X owner claims that his week old SUV accelerated on its own in a parking lot and autonomously crashed into a building at high-speed in Irvine, California.
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A parked Model X at the Newark, Delaware Tesla Supercharger prompted a lot of reactions from the Tesla community over the weekend. The Model X in question decided to block 3 Supercharger stalls instead of removing its bike rack, which is seen as a breach of the unofficial Supercharger etiquette.
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Earlier this year, we revealed that electric car startup Faraday Future (FF) hired Bosch engineering director and leading automated driving expert, Jan Becker, to lead its own self-driving effort. The company has been building an impressive team of automated driving experts under Becker, including experts from Ford and more recently, the startup hired computer vision expert, Sangmin Oh, from Nvidia.

Now we learn that just months after starting the project, Faraday Future is about to start testing self-driving car prototypes in Michigan.
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Much has been made about the coming SmartHome – it started with the Jetsons and their robots, however the reality has been a bit slow coming. Last week, EnergySage+WiseAir+Schneider launched an offer of $300 cash back if you install solar power and a smart thermostat. Back in February, SolarCity+Nest+Tesla introduced the “Smart Energy Home” that combines solar panels, battery storage, smart electric water heaters and the Nest Learning Thermostat. Vermont utilities are renting PowerWalls. It has become clear the home energy generation & management is on the path into powering the SmartHome.

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After Tesla introduced its Autopilot update (7.0) with the ‘Autosteer’ and ‘Auto Lane Change’ features for Model S in October last year, the automaker had to quickly rollback and disable the features for owners in Hong Kong after a formal request from regulators at the Transport Department.

It took about 5 months for Tesla and the regulators to sort it out and reintroduce the features to Model S owners in Hong Kong. Now the Transport Department is at it again and in a very strange move, it forced Tesla to rollback its Calendar app in its vehicles.
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Norway’s four main political parties have been discussing a possible ban on new gasoline-powered car sales (diesel or petrol) for quite some time, but they were not able to come to an understanding until now, according to a new report from Dagens Næringsliv (Paywall), an important newspaper in Norway.

The four main political parties, both from the right and the left, have agreed on a new energy policy that will include a ban on new gasoline-powered car sales as soon as 2025 – making it one of the most aggressive timeline of its kind for such a policy. What’s probably most remarkable here is that Norway is currently one of the world’s largest Oil exporters. 
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The MIT AgeLab, which is part of the Center for Transportation and Logistics at MIT, is looking for Tesla drivers to participate in a new research initiative that “analyzes advanced vehicle technology use in real-world scenarios.”

Tesla owners can earn up to $1,000 for participating in the study over a 12-month period, but it sounds like it is pretty intrusive.
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From 9to5Toys.com:

When Ninebot and Segway first partnered last year, we caught wind of a potential mini transporter that was coming to market in Europe. Details were slim at the time but we expected to see this people mover make its way to the United States. Fast forward to today, Segway of North America has officially announced the miniPRO, a smart self-balancing two-wheeled transporter that is stacked with technology.

Coming in at less than $1,000, the latest Segway has some serious potential thanks to an impressive 800W motor that provides enough electric-powered range to get to work and back. Head below to see the hands-free transporter in action.

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Back in April, we reported on Electra Meccanica CEO Jerry Kroll announcing that the company plans to start low-volume production of its all-electric three-wheeler, the Solo, in June 2016. We are now in June and the company is pushing the start of production to July, but this week, Electra Meccanica announced that it successfully completed the first round of track tests on its production chassis.
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Update: Tesla President comments on a forum to save Model X owner $1,400 on windshield quote

Tesla Model X’s panoramic windshield was one of the biggest ‘surpise feature’ unveiled at the production launch in September last year. In previously unveiled prototypes, the Model X was featuring a normal windshield, but the production version is equipped with a panoramic windshield extending all the way above the driver and front passenger seats.

The feature, combined with the structure of the Falcon Wing doors, makes the Model X’s passenger compartment truly unique, but some are worried about the replacement cost since the windshield is one of the most at risk part of any vehicle – and rightfully so it seems…
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After a long wait and some confusion with pricing, Tesla finally started to deliver the Tesla Model X Signature series in Canada this week. The first few vehicles were delivered in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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