Elon Musk

On Monday morning Tesla Motors sent out invites for the Model X launch event, which will take place at the Tesla Fremont Factory on September 29th (7PM PT ). The picture on the invite gives us a first look at Tesla’s new headlights which have been camouflaged on prototypes until now.
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Last month we wrote a first look at Tesla’s much-anticipated v7.0 software update with new ‘Autopilot’ features expected to be released later this year. Today we learn that Tesla released the second version of its beta v7.0 update to early access testers.

For previous releases, Tesla was able to update the beta fairly quickly for a wide-release just weeks after the original release to testers, but v7.0 being highly sensitive safety-wise, the beta testing process is taking longer than usual.
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Tesla Motors confirmed to Electrek that the company is now installing the Powerwall, a new home energy storage system, for “pilot customers”:

“We are currently in production and have started installing Powerwalls with pilot customers. Over the next few weeks we will continue to ramp up volume production,” Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson said.
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In a new note issued today, Jefferies analyst Dan Dolev increased his price target on Tesla Motors to $365 following a new analysis on the company’s battery business. When Tesla first announced its “Gigafactory“, it forecasted a ~30% reduction in battery cost through economy of scale and improved chemistry, but since then Tesla executives revealed that 30% might have been conservative and Jefferies seems to agree.
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Instagram user missortegon posted a quick video yesterday demonstrating an Easter Egg in the new Tesla Model S’s equipped with Ludicrous Mode.

The Easter Egg can be accessed through the setting controls in the “driving section”…
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Earlier this year we wrote about the impressive growth of Tesla’s Superchargers, a network of DC fast charging stations for the company’s electric vehicles, now Tesla says its network has seen a 5 times increase in used for road trips over last summer.

Electric vehicles have long been thought to be impractical for long distance driving due to their generally short-range capacity, but Tesla installs its stations at strategic intervals along popular routes and combined with the Model S’ 200+ miles range, Tesla owners can have interesting road-trip experiences. 
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During a visit in Berlin at the end of the month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is scheduled to meet Sigmar Gabriel, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, for a public conversation titled “Economy for Tomorrow”.  The CEO’s visit in Germany coincides with the popular Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA), which runs from the 17th to 27th of September.

Tesla is not expected to bring anything new to the Frankfurt Motor Show considering the company’s predilection for unveiling products at their own events instead of at industry shows…
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On Tuesday, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas issued a new note on Tesla Motors reiterating an “overweight” rating and a price target of $465. Tesla’s stock closed at $248 per share Tuesday – representing a 86% potential upside. In the note, Jonas doubled down on his prediction disclosed in a previous note saying that Tesla will launch a “Uber-like” service to compete in the ride-sharing/taxi market, which he refers to as “Tesla Mobility”.

He said he would be “surprised” if the company didn’t explain their plan for such a service before the unveiling of the Model 3, which is expected in March 2016.
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In an email to Model S owners today, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed the company’s new referral program “seems to be working” and they are removing the 10-referral limit. More than 9 Model S owners have already referred 10 or more leads which turned into sales.

The company is also adding one more reward to the program. Now not only the first owners to get to 10 referrals in each region (North America, Asia and Europe) will get a free Model X, but the customer who makes the most referrals by the end of the program in October will be able to trade their current Model S for a brand new fully loaded Ludicrous P90D Model S for free.
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The long-awaited Tesla Model X, which will launch on September 29th, could become a very popular vehicle with American business owners, not just because of its signature ‘Falcon Wing’ doors or the ‘sculptural beauty‘ of its second row seats, but because it could actually be a great bargain despite of its $80,000 starting price.

Beyond the $7,500 federal tax credit offer at the purchase of electric vehicles and other tax incentives at the state level, the Model X’s weight and capacity could make it eligible to the $25,000 tax deduction for heavy vehicles under Section 179, also known as the ‘Hummer Tax Loophole’…
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Image with 2013 Tesla Model X open

Tesla’s all-electric SUV, the Model X, made the headlines yesterday when the company opened its online design studio for early reservation holders to configure their car, but reservations were for the “Signature Model X” which comes already loaded with options bringing the price to $132,000.

The expensive price-tag raised a lot of eyebrows, but today Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to clarify the situation and confirmed the Model X has a $5,000 price difference with the Model S for the same options.
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Last month Tesla announced a new referral program for Model S owners that will run as an experiment through October. If you refer the Model S to a friend, your friend will get $1,000 off the price of his new car and Tesla will credit you $1,000 for your referral, which you can apply to any purchase with the company, like a new car, service center visit or accessories.

Now dealership are pushing back against Tesla’s program. California’s main dealership lobbying group sent a letter to the director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Jean Shiomoto, to ask his agency to crackdown on the referral program.
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The global stock market had a horrible day. Even Wall Street darlings like Google and Apple saw billions of dollars trimmed off their market capitalizations. A surprising exception, SolarCity, the largest residential solar installer in the US, managed to go against the grain and closed the day with an impressive 7% gain thanks to its Chairman and major shareholder Elon Musk who bought another $5 million worth of shares during the stock’s price fall to add to his holding in the company now worth over $900 million of SolarCity’s total market cap of just over $4 billion.
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CBS today announced a full lineup of guests for the upcoming kick off of The Late Show hosted by Stephen Colbert, and scheduled for the second show is none other than Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

With the upcoming Model X release, that will surely be one topic of conversation among the two, but it’s possible something bigger is planned given this will the second show of the new Late Show with Colbert. Musk has appeared with Colbert on his old program several times over the years, but we’ll have to see what Colbert’s new format at The Late Show adds to the mix.
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Sources familiar with Tesla’s new firmware update explained that version 7.0, which is currently being tested and should be released later this year, will include auto-steering, lane change activated by the turn signal, auto-parking (in parallel spaces) and an updated UI (see picture above).

A few months ago, I wrote an in-depth article about Tesla’s Autopilot, its hardware and its limitations. I based the article on information Tesla released when first unveiling the Dual motor version of the Model S in October last year. The company has since been advertising the Model S with the autopilot features, but owners have only been enjoying a fraction of what was promised during the unveiling.

Now, based on what we are learning about the upcoming software update, Tesla appears to be set to deliver on these promises, or at least most of them…

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