Tesla News
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Toyota quietly unloaded the rest of its Tesla shares near the end of last year. In the process, the Japanese automaker confirmed its partnership to develop electric vehicles and related technologies had been canceled. Toyota has by far shown the most restraint in developing battery electric vehicles—an intriguing move from the company that introduced the Prius hybrid to the world. DON'T MISS: Toyota hints it may be more friendly toward electric cars: report The automaker has long blamed its hesitance on lithium-ion battery technology, something the automaker as recently as last year...
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AAA raises Tesla insurance rates 30 percent; company disputes analysisIt's never a good day to learn one's insurance rates are rising, but AAA has decided the Tesla Model S and Model X warrant 30 percent increases. AAA combed through its own data and found Model S and Model X owners had abnormally high claim rates. The claim rates were also much costlier than...
Sean Szymkowski -
So what happened to Tesla Model X electric SUV sales, anyway?A few years ago, before the Tesla Model X electric SUV went into production, company CEO Elon Musk said he thought it could outsell the older Model S hatchback luxury sedan. That hasn't happened. In the first three months of this year, Tesla said it delivered 11,550 Model Xes—but 13,450 Model...
John Voelcker -
Will VW Group's electric cars "leapfrog" Tesla by 2025? Poll resultsLooking back from the 2020s or 2030s, it's entirely likely that the unexpected arrival of Tesla Motors was a major force—along with legislation, perhaps the major force—in getting legacy automakers to produce electric cars. Competition has always spurred innovation, and German makers in...
John Voelcker -
Tesla solar roofs can now be preordered; CA installations start in JuneElon 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 -
South's good ol' boy drag racers whupped by Tesla, not happy about itFor as long as there have been automobiles, drivers have had the itch to go faster than the guy in the next car. Throughout decades we've seen horsepower wars waged between giant, large displacement V-8 engines and even 4-cylinder engines with plenty of forced induction. The rise of the electric...
Sean Szymkowski -
Last week, I was in a bit of a Tesla funk. That’s not normal; my four-plus years of Tesla Model S ownership have been a mostly giddy ride, with the few bumps minor and temporary. But last week I was facing the prospect of two long-term permanent downgrades to my personal Tesla World, both related to Supercharging. DON'T MISS: Life with Tesla Model S: out with the old, in with the new First, the new 100D I had ordered last month (for delivery in late June or July) would not have the free Supercharging I’d become accustomed to with my current 2013 Model S-85. To me, free-for-life...
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Consumer Reports restores some points to Tesla electric cars for automatic brakingTesla had long been a darling of Consumer Reports magazine since the time the Model S electric car was first revealed, and it consistently scored well in the magazine's tests. However, when Tesla pulled its automatic emergency braking feature when it switched to all-new vehicle sensors and...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla Model 3 acceleration found in chart on Model S advantagesElectric-car maker Tesla doesn't announce models in the usual fashion. It trickles out bits and pieces of information, often in the form of tweets from CEO Elon Musk, punctuated by occasional large flashy debut events for owners and investors at which a vehicle is revealed. That's the pattern...
John Voelcker -
Mercedes launches home energy-storage battery, echoing TeslaAs Tesla regularly points out, the lithium-ion battery cells used in electric cars can also serve in home energy-storage units. Now, a Daimler company will go up against Tesla in that field under the branding of its most famous luxury-car make. Mercedes-Benz Energy announced yesterday that it is...
Zach Bowman -
Tesla moans about media as it fights workers' union effortsTesla's position is clear: the California electric-car maker doesn't feel a union is needed to protect its factory workers from what it claims are only anecdotal stories about worker safety and wage levels. Last weekend, Tesla continued to punch back at United Auto Workers organizating efforts at...
Sean Szymkowski -
Musk fires head of automation firm key to Tesla Model 3 factoryTesla 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 -
Every automaker is now working on one or many electric cars, but some are at the head of the pack and others lag behind. General Motors already sells the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV, and Volkswagen has firm plans for multiple electric cars by 2020 and as many as 30 by 2025. That leaves Toyota, the third of the world's three largest carmakers and by far the most profitable, lagging behind. DON'T MISS: Why Toyota's 'agonizing' U-turn toward electric cars? Because China says so While CEO and namesake Akio Toyoda is now heading a special project team to build an all-electric car by 2020, he still...
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Tesla faces battle over direct sales to buyers in ConnecticutAnother month, another Tesla battle with auto-dealer lobbyists in another state—or so it seems in the company's ongoing battle to sell electric cars online directly to buyers. This time, the action is in Connecticut, where on Monday the legislature's finance committee approved a bill letting...
John Voelcker -
VW to Tesla: 'Anything you can do, we can do better'With a new book imminent that gives new details on its diesel-emission cheating scandal, Volkswagen Group continues to struggle for positive corporate PR. Yet the company publicly appears to be confident that it has weathered the worst of that storm. Moreover, while its first high-volume electric...
John Voelcker -
Solar panels, EV chargers required in new homes in Fremont, CAHalf a century ago, the General Motors assembly plant was the largest employer in Fremont, California, and the town was known for its dragstrip. Today, that plant makes Tesla electric cars and Fremont is a part of the San Francisco Bay Area's Silicon Valley, creating advanced technology for the...
Green Car Reports -
Life with Tesla Model S: out with the old, in with the newOver the first three years of driving my 2013 Tesla Model S, there wasn't a single time when I looked at another car and said, “You know, I’d really rather be driving that car than this one.” Not once. The Tesla’s combination of performance, style, economy, technology, plus...
David Noland -
Why BMW uses Tesla electric cars to scare its staff into the futureWhen Tesla arrived on the scene 10 years ago, no major automaker took it very seriously—let alone thought it would cause the disruption it has in the market for luxury cars. At the same time, BMW, once the harbinger of performance and luxury, worries that it may be falling behind when it...
Sean Szymkowski -
Six months ago, Tesla abruptly announced that it had upgraded its electric cars with a new package of sensors for the Autopilot driver-assist system, known as "Hardware 2." The equipment was being fitted to all new Tesla Model S and Model X electric cars then in production—but there was a catch. Initially, those cars would have fewer features than earlier models with the hardware suite built into all Teslas since late 2015, retroactively known as "Hardware 1." DON'T MISS: Tesla Model S battery life: what the data show so far What followed was six months of increasing irritation on the...
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Elon Musk teased Tesla's electric semi truck at a TED talkIt'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 -
Manufacturing expert says Tesla Model 3 plan to skip beta testing is riskyTesla is taking a major gamble regarding the production of its upcoming Model 3 sedan in skipping prototype tooling and jumping straight to permanent production tooling, says a noted auto-manufacturing expert. "He's pushing the envelope to see how much time and cost he can take out of the process,"...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla Model S battery life: what the data show so farPerhaps the biggest question in buyers' minds over electric cars is how long the batteries will last. Most new-car buyers have mobile phones whose batteries have only lasted a couple of years, perhaps less. Even as electric-car battery packs are warranted against outright failure for eight or 10...
John Voelcker -
Tesla to double global Supercharger fast-charging network this year, it saysTesla continues to make sweeping changes as it prepares for the launch of the Model 3, its first mass-market electric car. The company has announced a significant expansion of its global network of Supercharger DC fast-charging stations. Executives believe, it said, that charging should be...
John Voelcker -
Used Tesla Model S values stay higher than expectedA new report from Autolist says the Tesla Model S is faring well as a used car when compared to other luxury models. On average, the electric car sells in around 87 days, which is about 5 percent faster than competitors. The report compared the Model S to the Audi A7, Porsche Panamera, BMW 6...
Zach Bowman