Electric vehicles are here to stay, there’s very little doubt about that at this point, but which automakers are making sure that EVs are not a fad, but a trend? A new report from EV-Sales, a website tracking electric vehicle sales through car registration data, compiled the top automotive groups selling EVs in volume. Expand Expanding Close
According to the Times of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is planning a visit at Tesla’s headquarters during a tour in California next month. Tesla isn’t currently operating in India, but the visit might be a step toward changing that.
In the past, company executives have been on record saying that they plan on starting a dialogue with the Indian government to rationalise import duty on electric cars, which are ridiculously high in the country. Expand Expanding Close
Tesla Motors released more information about the Roadster battery upgrade in an email sent to owners today. The new battery pack will have 40% more energy than the previous version, but it will be heavier therefore allowing a 35% increase in range. The pack will be hand-built at low volume and Tesla doesn’t aim at making a profit on the upgrade, which will cost $29,000 including labor. Expand Expanding Close
Earlier this year after reducing the responsibilities of Jerome Guillen, Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Service, Tesla decided to hire chiefs of sales for each region they operate in: North America, Europe and Asia. According to Europe Auto News, Tesla appointed its current head in Switzerland, Jochen Rudat, to lead sales in Germany. Expand Expanding Close
Tesla opened the Model X’s design studio to a select few reservation holders. There are two levels of reservation for the Model X: reservation for the production version which requires a $5,000 deposit and the signature version which requires a $40,000 deposit.
According to users on Tesla’s Norwegian forum, signature Model X reservation holders can access the design studio to configure their Model X and place their order. Expand Expanding Close
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. Expand Expanding Close
Elon Musk teases the Model X nearing production in a picture posted to Instagram Saturday night. Tesla’s CEO says the company is still “bringing up” the second production line, which is expected to increase Tesla’s production capacity at the Fremont factory and allow the company to start production of the long awaited Model X.
The CEO also confirmed that the production line is equipped with 542 robots including 15 operating simultaneously at the central assembly point. Expand Expanding Close
Consumer Reports published its detailed review of the Tesla Model S P85D this morning and the product review magazine says that their ratings system had to be modified because the P85D scored 103 out of 100. After changing the system, Tesla’s all-wheel drive performance vehicle achieved a perfect score of 100.
Consumer Reports tested previous versions of the Model S in the past few years and they always had great things to say about the vehicle, even calling it the best car they ever tested, and this time is no exception. Expand Expanding Close
Over the past few months, we have seen our fair share of spy-shots of Model X test vehicles, like the one above. These vehicles were always black or white and heavily camouflaged, but in the past few days, 3 Model X pictures published on Instagram show the Model X in blue and in red – with only little camouflage. Expand Expanding Close
Tesla Motors sent out a press release this morning to announce a $500 million public stock offering. During the conference call discussing their second quarter financial results earlier this month, Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, let analysts know that the company didn’t need to raise money, but it could be a good idea to do it anyway in order to mitigate risk as the company increases its capital expenditure, which they think could reach $1.5 billion this year.
The company intends to use the money from the offering for “the growth of its stores, service centers, Supercharger network and the Tesla Energy business, and for the development and production of Model 3, the development of the Tesla Gigafactory, and other general corporate purposes.”
In Tesla’s recently published 10Q SEC filing, the company confirmed that Jerome Guillen, Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Service, will be taking a leave of absence until December 31, 2015. Guillen has seen his responsibilities reduced earlier this year when Tesla decided to hire chiefs of sales for each region they operate in: North America, Europe and Asia. Expand Expanding Close
It’s no secret the Tesla Model X, which is expected to start delivering this Fall, will come with eye-catching falcon-wing doors. They’re hard to miss, and have gathered most of the new SUV’s press, including taking the blame for some of the vehicle’s delays. But, flying under the radar has been another engineering challenge: a special set of second row seats.
During the February earnings call, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, had this to say about the seats:
“And then the second row on the Model X… is a sculptural beauty. They’re amazing. They are the nicest second row seats you’ve ever seen in any car ever. That actually might have been harder than the door.”
Musk mentioned the seats again in each of the following two earnings calls. In May, he mentioned them alongside the falcon wing doors as challenges. This week, he mentioned that the seats will be a possible hang-up with some of Tesla’s suppliers.
“I don’t want to sort of name specific suppliers, but our biggest challenges are with the second row seat, which is, it’s an amazing seat, like a sculptural work of art, but a very tricky thing to get right. The falcon-wing door actually seems to probably not be a critical path item.” – Elon Musk, August 5, 2015.
Given these comments from Musk, it should be no surprise that there will be something special about the second row in the Model X. What’s perplexing, though, is why would Tesla be going through so much trouble to design a seat the driver will never sit in? After all, in most parts of the world, it’s the driver who purchases the car, not the passenger. Also, why would a seat be so difficult to design and manufacture to begin with? Expand Expanding Close
Those who updated their Tesla Model S app today are seeing a new red button in the upper right hand side called “From Elon”.
Clicking that button brings up the text of the announcement of the affiliate program which we covered last month (full text). From there you can “choose friends” from your contacts list to send invites to set up a Model S and soon a Model X with including your unique affiliate code.
What’s even cooler is that the leaders globally (currently leader is Bjorn from Norway) and local leaders (I’m tied for 1st with 1 in my area!) are also listed, see below.
Tomorrow, Tesla will release their financial results for the second quarter of 2015. Due to their recent policy change of disclosing Model S deliveries right after the end of quarter, the company already confirmed record deliveries of 11,502 cars. The Model S being by far the main source of revenue for Tesla, there shouldn’t be too much of a surprise on the revenue side, but let’s take a look at what to expect: Expand Expanding Close
Tesla is having perception issues in regard to charging their cars in Asia. Today, to further develop their charging networks in the region, they announced a partnership with Hang Lung Properties, a Hong Kong based real estate developer, in order to install destination chargers at six shopping malls in mainland China. Expand Expanding Close
According to a series of tweets from Tesla CEO Elon Musk at 5am ET this morning, the Model S vehicles released since the D event will soon gain the ability to steer on the highway and parallel auto park.
This is a pretty big deal when combined with the current traffic aware cruise control. It means you can essentially put on “autopilot” when you get on the highway and don’t have to turn it off until it is time to recharge or get off the highway. While I wouldn’t (and Tesla certainly doesn’t) recommend sleeping or getting out of your seat, one could theoretically pick up a newspaper, tablet or smartphone during this time (Oh, that’s against the law in most states currently).
At the very least, it is a great safety feature.
The parallel auto park will also be a very nice selling point for those who fear parallel parking. I’m sadly unfamiliar with this phobia as I can parallel park perfectly into any spot *crash*.
Tesla announced a new program for its owners today. People who refer new buyers will receive $1000 for every sale of a Tesla vehicle they can initiate.
Owners who make five referral orders will receive an invitation for them and a guest to attend the Gigafactory grand opening party.
Those who make ten referral orders will get the right to purchase a Founder Series Model X, which is not available at any price, for the cost of a base Model X, an approximately $20,000 difference.
The first owner in each region, North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, to make ten referral orders will get a fully loaded Model X for free.
“At this point we can only speculate about what could be Tesla’s “secret weapon”, but here’s an idea: a reward program for Model S owners who are generating leads and offering test drives. SolarCity, which could be considered Tesla’s sister company, found success with their “Solar Ambassador Program“. People can sign up to an app and submit leads to SolarCity. If a lead turns into a sale, the “solar ambassador” receives $250. Tesla could implement a similar program with their current Model S owners. Tesla is known to have a very enthusiast and knowledgeable customer base. Owners in regions where Tesla is not allowed to sell directly could offer test drives to potential customers, talk about their experience with the car and then maybe submit a lead to Tesla in a similar manner as SolarCity does with their program.”
Some more details:
Anyone who orders a new Model S before September 30 using the referral link of a current owner will get $1,000 off the purchase price. In return, the current owner will get a $1,000 discount that can be applied to a new car, service center visit or accessories.
Referral discounts are limited to ten and are awarded on a first to purchase basis. New orders must be placed prior to September 30, 2015.
This really should spur both sales and salesmanship amongst current owners. It will also spur debate on whether Tesla owners really love their cars or they just want to make a quick $1000 (both!).
Car-shopping website Edmunds studied the registration data of all 1600+ Tesla Model S vehicles sold in the pre-owned market in the U.S and published an interesting report today about the differences between Tesla’s used car market and new car market. Expand Expanding Close
According to a report from the San Diego Union-Tribune, Tesla inked a deal to install battery packs at 3 Escondido high schools in the San Diego County school districts. The 3 projects are approved to start installation in a few weeks and be completed by the end of the year – making the deal one of the biggest to date for Tesla’s new energy storage products. Expand Expanding Close
Last week, Elon Musk, CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, announced new options and trims for Tesla’s award winning electric sedan, the Model S. One of the new option is a battery pack electronics upgrade, the Ludicrous Speed Upgrade, which enables faster acceleration for the existing Model S P85D and the new P90D. On this new driving mode, the Model S can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 2.8 second, making the 5,000 lb 4-door sedan faster than a McLaren F1.
Earlier this year, we wrote about SpaceX transferring some technology and welding equipment to Tesla. Now it seems like the new “Ludicrous” upgrade might have been made possible due to knowledge acquired through rocket engine manufacturing at SpaceX. Expand Expanding Close
This is a great listen if you want to know the history behind the NUMMI plant in Fremont California where Tesla currently builds its cars. But this is about its past life, the only mention of Tesla is literally the last word.
Even though Tesla Motors sold just over 3,000 cars in Texas since it introduced its all-electric sedan in 2012, the lone star state still maintains its ban on the direct sale method of the Silicon Valley carmaker. Yesterday on Bloomberg Radio, Texas Governor Greg Abbott reiterated his preference for the statu quo on the ban of direct car sales. Expand Expanding Close
Electric vehicles are here to stay, there’s very little doubt about that at this point, but which automakers are making sure that EVs are not a fad, but a trend? A new report from EV-Sales, a website tracking electric vehicle sales through car registration data, compiled the top automotive groups selling EVs in volume. 
