Elon Musk
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It wasn't quite a message in a bottle, but Tesla boss Elon Musk tweeted Saturday night some specifications and a ballpark price for his company's long-awaited all-wheel-drive and performance versions of the Model 3. The all-wheel-drive Model 3 will add $5,000 to the base Model 3's price and offer the same 310-mile range as the Long Range Battery Model 3. The dual-motor setup will feature motors on the front and rear axles, and Musk said one motor would be tuned for longevity and the other would be tuned for performance. The AWD Model 3 will run up to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds on the way to a top...
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Tesla Model Y production to start Nov 2019 (also, Musk doesn't have time to shower): reports
Amidst nine months of "production hell" for the Tesla Model 3 electric car, the company's next vehicle has somewhat fallen off the radar. According to a report Wednesday by Reuters, Tesla has now put out requests to suppliers for initial bids on parts for the Tesla Model Y, its high-volume...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 production crossed 2,000 last week; is it sustainable?
Tesla reported Tuesday that it built 34,494 electric cars in the first quarter of 2018, by far its largest quarterly production total ever. But all eyes were on one number: the production of Model 3 sedans, which was 9,766 vehicles out of that total. Of the rest, 11,730 were Model S hatchback...
John Voelcker -
Tesla employees say Model 3 parts need substantial rework after production
Electric-car maker Tesla is known for troubled launches, at least for the four products it's offered since the first Roadster in 2008. But the launch of the Tesla Model 3, its lower-priced electric sedan, may be the most challenging yet—and it may be the Tesla with the highest expectations...
John Voelcker -
Self-driving Tesla to make LA to NYC trip this year, Musk says, without lidar
In June 2013, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced he would drive a Tesla Model S electric car across the U.S. to show off the company's new Supercharger fast-charging network. Indeed, two Tesla Model S sedans successfully completed the run from Los Angeles to New York City in February 2014. Last year...
John Voelcker -
"Overall, I think, while there were challenges associated with Model 3 ramp, we were in a deeper level of hell than we expected, so a few levels deeper than we'd like to be, but swiftly exiting, I think." Those chastened but seemingly optimistic words came from the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, during a conference call discussing the company's full-year 2017 financial results on Wednesday afternoon. Following that call, however, customers who had put down reservations for the Tesla Model 3 noticed their projected delivery dates had changed. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model 3: what parts breakdown says...
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Tesla met promises in first 10-year Master Plan; Musk to stay 10 more years
At this point, a majority of the global auto industry agrees that Tesla and its electric cars have had a remarkable impact in less than 10 years. Founded 15 years ago by two Silicon Valley engineers, Tesla won funding from venture capital, private investment, and government loans that totaled...
John Voelcker -
Tesla builds world's largest lithium-ion battery, for utility use, in Australia
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a bet that he'd build the world's largest lithium-ion battery in Australia in 100 days. If his company failed, Musk would personally pay for the project, but the battery is now ready for its first test ahead of full operation—and on schedule. The massive...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla Semi, new Roadster distract from Model 3 production problems
Never let it be said that Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his event producers are not masters of showmanship. Last night's launch of the Tesla Semi heavy-duty commercial truck tractor came with a surprise: a new Tesla Roadster emerged from the back of the trailer. The wow factor was ... high. DON'T MISS...
John Voelcker -
Odds for auto startups are incredibly high; can Tesla beat them?
Much of the energy and growth in the U.S. economy comes not from large corporations but from small startup companies, as economic data shows. By now, the model of a young, energetic entrepreneur with a bright idea who turns it into a world-changing business is well established. Think Facebook or...
John Voelcker -
Just 260 Tesla Model 3s built in three months, volume production delayed: Q3 results and call
Only one topic really mattered in the Tesla third-quarter financial results call for analysts held Wednesday afternoon: Model 3. In light of far lower September deliveries than promised as late as July by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, all interest focused on the more-affordable, higher-volume electric car...
John Voelcker -
Relatively few auto-company CEOs would publicly mention sleeping on the roof of one of their factory buildings. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not like most other chief executives of auto companies. Most also don't break news via tweet, for instance. A tweet by Musk Thursday evening referred to the eighth circle of Hell and suggested he'd slept on the roof of the Tesla Gigafactory outside Reno, Nevada. DON'T MISS: Tesla: Model 3 production problems prompt electric Semi delay Now comes more concerning news over the pace of rollout of the company's critically important Tesla Model 3, the...
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Tesla: Model 3 production problems prompt electric Semi delay
Tesla’s aggressive goals for Model 3 production have run into a series of setbacks, and the knock-on effect spilling over into the company’s planned electric semi truck debut, which has again been pushed back from its overdue September launch. Elon Musk announced the later, November 16...
Green Car Reports -
Tesla Model Y to be based on Model 3 after all; Musk 'reeled back' from 'insanity'
It's fair to say that Tesla CEO Elon Musk probably raises more eyebrows more often than all other automaker CEOs combined. One case in point came in early May, when he mentioned during a financial-results call that the upcoming Tesla Model Y compact crossover utility would be based on a new...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model 3 net reservations clarified after 16 months: 455,000
Sometimes, if you ask a question often enough for long enough, an answer will eventually be forthcoming. In the case of the net number of $1,000 reservations for the Tesla Model 3 electric car, it took 16 months for the company to cough up the latest data. It came, not surprisingly, from CEO Elon...
John Voelcker -
2017 Tesla Model 3 prices, features, details, specifications from Handover Party
Thirty of the earliest Tesla Model 3 buyers took delivery of their electric cars last night in a gala event for owners, investors, and friends the company had dubbed the Handover Party. The highly anticipated Model 3, the vehicle Tesla hopes will boost its production to hundreds of thousands of...
John Voelcker -
2017 Tesla Model 3 in pilot production: Musk tweets photos of first car (updated with video)
The 2017 Tesla Model 3 has apparently entered pilot production, following a pair of photos tweeted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The caption on the first of the two photos, this one black-and-white, says simply, "First production Model 3." The second photo, tweeted 40 minutes later, is in full color but...
John Voelcker -
As he had promised he would late one evening last week, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has tweeted out some updates on the upcoming Model 3. He expects first production Model 3 electric car, with serial number 001 ("SN1"), to be completed this Friday, July 7. The first 30 customers to buy Model 3s should receive them, he followed up, at a "handover party" on July 28. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model 3 acceleration found in chart on Model S advantages Moreover, Musk offered some estimates for monthly Model 3 production, which he said would grow "exponentially" through the rest of the year. Assuming 30 or...
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Musk shows Tesla Model Y teaser, confirms Model 3 deliveries next month, at annual meeting
Tesla held its shareholder meeting Wednesday night, and lots of news emerged in bits and pieces from CEO Elon Musk and the rest of the event. We now know a little more about the Tesla Model Y, the mass-priced electric SUV or crossover utility vehicle that is scheduled to hit the market in 2019, for...
John Voelcker -
U.S. out of Paris pact, so Elon Musk off Trump business councils
Fulfilling a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump said yesterday that he will set in motion plans to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Pact that it joined last fall. In turn, Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded that he will have to pull out of Trump's business advisory councils of CEOs and...
John Voelcker -
Tesla solar roofs can now be preordered; CA installations start in June
Elon Musk, habitually behind schedule, announced on May 10 that anyone can now preorder a Tesla Solar Roof—a roof made of shingles with built-in solar cells. Musk had previously said preorders would open in April, and promised the product would cost less than a conventional roof if you factor...
VentureBeat's GreenBeat -
Musk fires head of automation firm key to Tesla Model 3 factory
Tesla and Klaus Grohmann have parted ways. Reuters reports Tesla CEO Elon Musk ousted Grohmann over the executives concerns over how his company's legacy clients, including Tesla rivals like Daimler and BMW, would be served in the future. Grohmann's company, Grohmann Engineering, specializes in...
Zach Bowman -
Elon Musk teased Tesla's electric semi truck at a TED talk
It's no secret Tesla CEO Elon Musk is an ambitious man, but he continues to fuel the hype surrounding the company by recently teasing the first Tesla semi truck. In typical Tesla fashion, the semi truck will be all electric. Its goal is to showcase the possibilities of electric range over diesel...
Sean Szymkowski