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Tesla Model X Was Set On Fire In Germany (But Don’t Jump To Conclusions)

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Published on November 11th, 2019 |

by Johnna Crider

Tesla Model X Was Set On Fire In Germany (But Don’t Jump To Conclusions)

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November 11th, 2019 by Johnna Crider

A Tesla Model X was set on fire in Germany last week.

Imagine driving out of town — or in the case of this Tesla owner, out of the country — for business, and while you’re out of your hometown, someone sets fire to your vehicle just outside your rented home while you are sleeping. Not only did you just lose your car, but you have to plan a way to get home as well.

This is exactly what happened to the owner of a Tesla Model X whose car was set on fire in Germany last week. The Model X was charging overnight at a station a few meters away from the owner’s rented apartment. Well, technically, Den Dal’s fiancee is the owner of the Model X. He used her car since it’s a lot cheaper than gasoline or diesel cars on long-distance trips.

Imagine, your car or your partner’s car being set on fire as you sleep nearby. The fact that we have people out there cruel and bold enough to commit such a heinous crime just shows how heartless some people can be.

Police confirmed that this was a criminally created fire. There’s been a lot of speculation about whether or not this was to start rumors about battery fires, but others in the area have mentioned that there have been vandals and delinquents starting fires in the same area. The Model X was just one of a few fires.

Dal said the Model X was 14 months old. This means his family doesn’t get full purchase price coverage and they will lose the Dutch tax benefits if they purchase another one.

Usually, when a bad thing is done to people, many randomly accuse others while not knowing the facts. Some put the blame on immigrants, others far-right Nazis, while others speculate about TSLAQ. The truth is, at this moment, we don’t know who set these fires or why.

Other interesting matters come up with someone buying a new Tesla after an incident like this. Den Dal told me that he thinks it is fair that if someone pays for Full Self Driving (FSD) in advance and their car is destroyed, then that FSD should be transferable. (He had Enhanced Autopilot, not FSD.) In his case, he does also have hope that his insurance will cover everything.

“We love the car. But not sure if we can afford a new one due to changed tax laws. So it depends on the insurance company. Also not sure if it is a total loss,” he tells me.

One thing we should all keep in mind with this, whether we are curious about connections to TSLAQ or targeted Tesla vandalism, is that this is a family that lost their car and are dealing with a lot. I truly hope that the insurance company does the right thing, and I also hope that Elon Musk considers the option to make services such as FSD transferable for those whose cars are destroyed and may have to buy a new one. Elon has been known to listen to the needs of his customers — it’s one thing that makes him a great leader.
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Johnna Crider Johnna Crider is a Baton Rouge artist, gem and mineral collector, and Tesla shareholder who believes in Elon Musk and Tesla. Elon Musk advised her in 2018 to “Believe in Good.”

Tesla is one of many good things to believe in. You can find Johnna on Twitter

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3 Banks Funding Fossil Fuels The Most Keep Telling You To Sell Tesla Stock [TSLA]

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Published on November 12th, 2019 |

by Zachary Shahan

3 Banks Funding Fossil Fuels The Most Keep Telling You To Sell Tesla Stock [TSLA]

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November 12th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

A few weeks ago, thanks to a friendly Tesla fan on Twitter, The Guardian, and Rainforest Action Network, I shared the news that the top 3 banks funding fossil fuel development also — through a different arm — are providing bearish forecasts for Tesla [TSLA] and recommending traders sell the stock rather than buy it. The update this week: despite a surprise profit in quarter 3 and much of the market swinging in the other direction, the Tesla analysts at these top 3 fossil fuel funders are holding steady on their bearish stance and recommendation to sell. [Full disclosure: I’m long Tesla.]

I don’t think there’s much more to say about that right now. As I’ve said before, there’s no indication that there are illegal or immoral doors and windows between the arms of these giant financing companies that are 1) financing fossil fuel development to such an enormous tune and 2) telling you to sell Tesla stock.

Nonetheless, I’m curious if there are certain facets of company culture that are so pessimistic and dirty, if there happen to be some hidden corruption at these banks (gasp), and how it is that some people can willingly choose short-term money over the long-term health and livability of planet Earth. Is humanity so bad at long-term thinking and action?

Also, note that the Tesla analysts for these top financial firms all show losses on their recommendations for Tesla stock. Recommendations from JP Morgan’s Ryan Brinkman have a -14.6% return, Citigroup’s Itay Michaeli is worse at -19%, and John Murphy of Merrill Lynch is a tad better at -12.7%.

Tesla Buy/Sell Graph for Ryan Brinkman of JP Morgan, via Tip Ranks

Tesla Buy/Sell Graph for Itay Michaeli of Citigroup, via Tip Ranks

Tesla Buy/Sell Graph for John Murphy of Merrill Lynch, via Tip Ranks

Any other thoughts on this topic? All just bad luck at these three banks? Or is there a corporate culture matter at play? Or are you ready to jump to conclusions and say that there’s more than simple correlation here? (My pick is #2, but I’m open to other arguments.)
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Zachary Shahan is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor. He's also the CEO of Important Media. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao.

Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA] — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in this company and feels like it is a good cleantech company to invest in. But he offers no investment advice and does not recommend investing in Tesla or any other company.

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Rolling Coal Is A Stupid Stunt — And Dangerous

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Published on November 11th, 2019 |

by Johnna Crider

Rolling Coal Is A Stupid Stunt — And Dangerous

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November 11th, 2019 by Johnna Crider

Doing stupid stunts while driving can endanger not only yourself but others around you. I am talking about the wanna-be bad boy (or girl, even) who was driving the pickup truck in a video posted by Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley.

The driver of this truck was driving very aggressively and intentionally coal rolling the owner of a Tesla while on a highway traveling at high speeds. The owner of the Tesla tries to get away, but the truck driver just cuts in front of the Tesla to do it again.

The Tesla’s cameras captured video of the incident, but you can’t really get the plate numbers from that.

In the video, the truck cuts in front of the Tesla and rolls the coal. What this term means is that the driver of the truck intentionally makes the smoke belch from the exhaust into the “face” of the driver behind him. This is considered not only an insult but can also be seen as a direct attack upon the driver behind them.

This is dangerous. As you can see in the video, for a moment, the smoke actually fills up the view and you can’t see anything. Do I need to emphasize how dangerous this could be, especially driving on a highway? Choosing to intentionally do stupid things like this could get you or others killed.

To those who feel the need to coal roll or show off your hatred for a total stranger, perhaps you should think twice. Ask yourself if it’s legal or at least ethical? What’s the point you’re trying to make here? Do you hate Tesla? Why do you hate Tesla? What did this Tesla driver to you to warrant your attack on them? Yes, visually impairing someone while they are driving is an attack. Driving recklessly and spewing smoke in the faces of others intentionally so they can not see is akin to someone attacking you on the streets. How would you feel if you caused an accident that actually took the lives of innocent people?

In an article published by Bicycling, a cyclist shares his experience of someone coal rolling him. “You pretty much get a blast of heat and a blast of black smoke in your face. Unfortunately, you just have to ride through it. It’s frustrating,” Conti told Bicycling.

To be honest, I have been coal rolled on also. I just didn’t know what it was at the time. I don’t think the attack was aimed at me, because the vehicles were honking at one another. I don’t have a car, so I walk, take the bus, or take Uber. Sometimes, these trucks will drive by and the next thing I know I am surrounded in this stuff. I have asthma, so I literally have to hold my breath and not breathe as I walk through it.
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Johnna Crider Johnna Crider is a Baton Rouge artist, gem and mineral collector, and Tesla shareholder who believes in Elon Musk and Tesla. Elon Musk advised her in 2018 to “Believe in Good.”

Tesla is one of many good things to believe in. You can find Johnna on Twitter

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Ford Mustang GT Burned By Tesla Model 3 SR+ (Video)

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Published on November 12th, 2019 |

by Cynthia Shahan

Ford Mustang GT Burned By Tesla Model 3 SR+ (Video)

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November 12th, 2019 by Cynthia Shahan

Image courtesy Tesla.

Due to instant torque, the ease of moving in front of another driver for a needed lane change is one of the strengths of an electric car. I’ve left many gas cars far behind simply to ensure I move over to the next lane safely ahead of a stream of traffic.

Others take it a step further. A street challenge between cars is an example of that. In the following clip, a Ford Mustang GT owner challenged a Tesla Model 3 owner to a straight-line run. Looking at the specs, comparisons, one could easily think GT Mustang would be the winner. Looking at the paper specs does not tell the story here, though. Via X Auto, here’s a specs comparison:

Perhaps the most surprising thing when watching the video is that it’s a Model 3 Standard Range Plus (the base version on Tesla’s website), not the Model 3 Performance. X Auto model comparisons lead one to believe the Mustang GT would be the easy winner. The specs of the Mustang GT show a top speed of 155 mph (249 km/h) compared to Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus’s 140 mph (225 km/h). More importantly, the Model 3 Standard Range Plus shows a 0–60 mph time of 5.3 secs compared to the Mustang GT’s 4.2 secs (according to a Motor Trend test).

No doubt, the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus triumphs against the Ford Mustang GT Coupe due to its instant torque. Other model details may be at play, too — we don’t have enough information to know.

The starting price (MSRP) of the Model 3 Standard Range Plus ($ 39,490) is nearly the same as the Ford Mustang GT Coupe’s ($40,450). Both are rear-wheel drive cars.

Iqtidar Ali rightly notes, “the other major difference? CO2 Emissions! The Mustang GT emits an estimated 9.8 tons of CO2 / year per car, that’s freaking horrible.”

Yes, as Iqtidarpoints out in his article, there are many ways people come to choose Tesla. The races can be a factor in bringing Tesla awareness to those who are gearheads and not environmentalists. Others may be researching the USA’s safest car, the car with the best autonomous driving tech, or the car with the most Easter eggs. Choosing electric vehicles due to their indisputable driving performance and pleasure is certainly a top reason for Tesla’s market success, though.

Featured image: Tesla Model 3 by JRR | CleanTechnica

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Cynthia Shahan Cynthia Shahan started writing by doing research as a social cultural and sometimes medical anthropology thinker. She studied and practiced both Waldorf education, and Montessori education. Eventually becoming an organic farmer, licensed AP, and mother of four unconditionally loving spirits, teachers, and environmentally conscious beings born with spiritual insights and ethics beyond this world. (She was able to advance more in this way led by her children.)

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Tesla Is Hiring In Israel

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Published on November 11th, 2019 |

by Johnna Crider

Tesla Is Hiring In Israel

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November 11th, 2019 by Johnna Crider

The Jerusalem Post has announced that Tesla is hiring in Israel. Tesla is looking for a country manager to take charge of the local market. It’s a full-time position based in Tel Aviv and will include the responsibility for “driving the Service, Sales, and Delivery strategy and operations in Israel.”

Other duties will also include hiring local employees, working with the Israeli government when needed, and engaging suppliers to help set up the market. The point is clear: Tesla wants to dive into and develop the local market. Part of that, as always, is Superchargers. The winning candidate will participate in the “strategic design of our charging infrastructure footprint in the market to enable sales and engage customers.”

When I clicked on the link to the job, it redirected back to the Tesla careers page, which leads one to think that Tesla may have found its country manager by now (or no longer wants the opening public). Hopefully we will see other jobs listed for Tesla in Israel soon. The fact that Tesla is looking to expand to Israel shows (again) that Tesla is indeed financially sound and is progressing as it continues to meet its goals, the primary of which is to hasten the transition to sustainable energy.

In April 2018, an article by Haaretz highlighted that many seemed to blame the Israeli government for lagging behind in regulations and infrastructure for adopting electric vehicles. Tesla having a presence in Israel could (and most probably will) change that.

In 2009, Israel legislated a Clean Air Law that aimed to address issues of emissions, but years later, officials have just gotten started planning the electrical grid that would power EVs. Tax breaks for buying EVs are being prepared, but the article highlights concerns that the finance ministry officials would cause a mass movement to EVs and deprive the government of billions of dollars as a result.

The article by Haaretz shows that Israel, in 2018 at least, was worried about losing money for its budget. Perhaps being in Israel Tesla could inspire the government to come to a solution that will balance its books and empower its citizens to drive electric. People everywhere seem to enjoy that.

Also in 2018, CleanTechnica reported that Israel plans to go 100% electric by 2030, and one major way the government plans to do this is by banning the sales of cars fueled by petrol or diesel from 2030 forward. Buses and trucks will have the option to run on natural compressed gas. There will also be a ban on imports of diesel and gasoline cars to Israel.

“From 2030 we won’t allow anymore the import of diesel or gasoline cars to Israel,” Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz says.

Think about it for a minute — while many countries are trying to phase out and encourage drivers to buy electric, Israel is giving its citizens an ultimatum: go electric now or soon.

2030 is only 10 years away (okay, so, 10 years, 1 month, and 19 days away). That isn’t very far off, especially in the auto world. By then, not only will Tesla be in Israel, but it will probably be more dominant in the worldwide markets.

We have seen Tesla’s success in China, but Tesla’s broader expansion into smaller markets is important, and this just shows that Tesla continues to pursue its goals at a fast pace. Progress is winning.
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Johnna Crider Johnna Crider is a Baton Rouge artist, gem and mineral collector, and Tesla shareholder who believes in Elon Musk and Tesla. Elon Musk advised her in 2018 to “Believe in Good.”

Tesla is one of many good things to believe in. You can find Johnna on Twitter

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3 Tesla Powerwalls + SunPower Solar = 33 Days “Off Grid” — CleanTechnica Interview

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Batteries

Published on November 10th, 2019 |

by Jake Richardson

3 Tesla Powerwalls + SunPower Solar = 33 Days “Off Grid” — CleanTechnica Interview

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November 10th, 2019 by Jake Richardson

Image Credit: Anthony Sicari

New York state resident Anthony Sicari has a home solar power and energy storage system that he used to power his home “off- grid” for 33 days. That’s a bit more than one month of electricity self-generation, Tesla Powerwall battery storage, and consumption. To be extra clear, the home only used electricity from the solar panel & battery combination during that period, none from the utility.

Anthony made quite a few YouTube videos documenting his solar self-consumption and energy storage experiences, sharing many details about how the batteries were performing, how much electricity the solar was generating, and what concerns arose along the way.

Videos like these explain aspects of the technology and how they work together from a homeowner’s perspective, not using overly technical jargon. Sicari provided some more details in this interview for CleanTechnica.

What inspired you to get a home solar power system?

I started New York State Solar Farm (NYSSF) 10 years ago, serving the Hudson Valley in NY. Our niche was helping homeowners that were thrown to the side or disqualified by other companies because of shading, metal roofs, structural issues, credit, or whatever other limiting factors they had. We spent a lot of time trying to understand what customers’ needs really were, and figuring out how to develop custom solar solutions for every homeowner, even those with the least ideal circumstances.

With every conversation the customer always assumed: “So when the power goes out the system will still power my home, right?” And then we had to do the usual let down: “No, this is a grid-tied system, it only works when the grid works.” That really frustrated me, and as soon as Tesla batteries became a viable option, I wanted to install them in conjunction with solar at my new home to determine for myself if we could truly solve this eternal issue for our customers.

Where is your solar system located, why did you choose SunPower panels, and which panels did you get?

My system is located on my home in Newburgh, NY, and I went with the 360-watt X Series SunPower panels.

To be 100% transparent, we sell SunPower panels at my company. Being in the industry, I could have used any product available on the market. But I put SunPower on my home for the same reason I sell it at NYSSF. SunPower truly is the best of the best in terms of power, efficiency, technology, warranty, aesthetics, etc., and that is why I choose it for my home that I plan to stay in for a long time, and for my family.

SunPower panels are also ideal for integration with the Tesla Powerwall 2.

When I first started to dip my toe into the energy storage market, I looked to Hawaii’s Eco Solar for help, as they have installed more battery systems than any other small company I know, but they also did so without ever wavering on quality, and, like us, they always put their customers first.

When net metering ended in Hawaii and customers could no longer “roll over” their extra solar production, they had no choice but to find the best storage solution for their market. Ben and Mike at Eco Solar stated that Elon Musk and the generation 1 and 2 Powerwalls single-handedly saved the Hawaii solar market. So, I looked to them for support on system configurations. I learned that when going with storage you need a very high efficiency panel to support the batteries in grid outage situations.

A good example of this is the Solar Impulse, the solar plane flown around the world. The panels used on the wings of this plane were SunPower panels because of their record-breaking efficiency. As I’m sure you can imagine, every little bit of power was needed for that trip around the world. Similar to your home in a blackout situation, this becomes very important. I witnessed this first hand one night when the energy stored in my system almost depleted, but because of the SunPower panels still having produced kWh in the terrible weather that day, I was able to complete the 30-day Living Off the Grid Challenge I had set forth on. Without SunPower panels I could not have done so.

What is the capacity of your home solar system?

We have 36 X-360-watt SunPower panels on our roof, for a total system size of 12.96 kW. Our panels will produce about 13,500 kWh/year.

Did you get the Tesla Powerwalls at the same time, or after the solar?

Yes, this system was all installed at the same time. We documented the process in some of the video links below. We designed the solar system and the storage system to work seamlessly together. I am sure everyone says that, though. We design our systems differently than most, because we have a focus on when the power goes out, we want you to sustain as long as possible to the point of not even knowing the grid is down. This is not something that is possible on every home, and it takes careful design and coordination by our electrical engineers. Even where this is not possible, in designing our systems we ensure all of the critical loads of the home are at least backed up.

What is the capacity of your energy storage system and why did you choose Tesla?

My system has a capacity of 40.5 kWh of storage — that’s 3 Powerwalls x 13.5 kWh each. As I mentioned above, I chose Tesla because I knew Eco Solar had already done the grunt work to find the best of the best battery solution. I knew there was no other company who would know this better than they would.

In your videos, you mention you wanted to maintain normal electricity consumption, instead of going into conservation mode.

Yes, my goal was to use everything in the home that we would normally use without changing our daily routines. Washer, dryer, fridge, TVs, air conditioning, and heating with heat pumps and mini splits. Some days my wife would ask me, “Are we still off the grid?” It was pretty amazing to do this with all the modern amenities.

Why did you choose that approach?

I used this approach to prove how amazing the technology that we have is, and I feel this is the beginning of something really special. Similar to when everyone went from landlines to cell phones, I think we have finally come to a point where this will become the norm without people having to make great sacrifices, and I believe in the coming years all new homes will be built this way.

How many days and nights were you able to operate your home using solar and the Powerwalls?

My total duration on only solar and Powerwalls was 33 days and 4 minutes. I have not seen anyone go longer yet but I know this has sparked a lot of interest. In the comments in my videos people wanted to try this test out on their systems.

How much more energy conscious are you now having used the power generation and energy storage analytics with your system, compared to before you got your system?

The beautiful part about this process is that it does make you look at the numbers and make much smarter energy decisions. But the flip side of that is I know through this testing that I did a great job designing the system I have built to take care of all my energy needs. I will likely never need to buy power from the utility again, and in the event they have an outage it does not affect us.

On peak days, with full sunshine, about how much electricity does your solar system produce? Same question for the overcast and gloomy days.

On peak sunny days we produced over 40 kWh, and on gloomy days as little as 4 kWh.

Do you also have an EV or will you consider getting one?

That’s a funny story, I owned a Tesla for a short time (24 hours) but in the end I had to send it back because it didn’t have the Supercharging capability that we thought it had. I made a video on this story — it was quite the experience. I do plan on getting an EV soon. I am excited to see the release of the Tesla truck later this month. Most likely I will get the Model 3.
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Jake Richardson Hello, I have been writing online for some time, and enjoy the outdoors. If you like, you can follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JakeRsol

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Teslas = 77.7% of US Electric Vehicle Sales

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Published on November 10th, 2019 |

by Zachary Shahan

Teslas = 77.7% of US Electric Vehicle Sales

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November 10th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

The US electric vehicle market is … not the most interesting. Unfortunately, we have only one mass-market electric vehicle on the market, and there are very few models available across the nation. Actually, aside from Tesla’s offerings, I think there are only two fully electric models available at dealers in all 50 states — the Chevy Bolt and Nissan LEAF. I’ll discuss them a bit more later in this article in order to try to explain why their sales are so dismal despite that wide availability. A note on data first, though:

Deciding whether or not to run these monthly US EV sales reports is a frequent conundrum, since the official data is limited (many automakers don’t publish monthly numbers, if at all) but the reports can also be quite popular and do help to put the US EV market into perspective on an ongoing basis. I decided not that long ago to discontinue the monthly reports and only publish quarterly reports, but our friends at EV Volumes just offered to provide us with their US Tesla estimates to help out with these reports and I decided that was enough to get back into the game. I track official numbers from other automakers on a monthly basis anyway.

That said, we don’t have official monthly data for the following models, so the data I use for them are estimated guesses based on historical sales data: Chevy Bolt, Fiat 500e, Honda Clarity EV, Hyundai Ioniq EV, Hyundai Kona EV, Kia Niro EV, and Jaguar I-PACE. Also, note that this report does not include plug-in hybrids, in part because we cannot get sales numbers for most plug-in hybrids and in part because we think it’s time (the technology is ripe) to evolve past “electrified” models to fully electric models.

With all of that out of the way, on to the numbers. Based on all of our number crunching, the Tesla Model 3 accounted for 59% of US electric vehicle sales in October and 62% in the year through October.

Tesla as a whole accounted for 75% of US EV sales in October and 78% (77.7%) in January–October.

That doesn’t leave many sales highlights from other models. The Chevy Bolt comes in with 10% of sales, the Nissan LEAF 6%, the Volkswagen e-Golf 4%, and the Audi e-tron 3% in October. For the first 10 months of the year, the Bolt accounted for about 7% of sales, the LEAF 5%, and the e-Golf and e-tron 2% each.

The Bolt and LEAF both have long range, good tech, and are available across the country. They are solid electric cars that I think do outcompete other cars available for under $30,000. However, they suffer from several challenges:

They are close in price to the base Tesla Model 3, and many EV buyers heavily prefer the Model 3.
The MSRP of these cars is often notably higher than the MSRP of similarly styled gasoline cars from those companies. (Consumers may not think to do a total cost of ownership analysis, or may not have the ability to get financing for this price of car at all.)
Auto dealers generally don’t want to sells EVs, and often just have a show model or two tucked away in the shadows somewhere.
Nissan and Chevy have been marketing their goods, but they don’t have nearly the customers enthusiasm or fan base that Tesla vehicles have, and the marketing has been minimal compared to other models in their fleets.
Limited availability might be a problem from time to time.

If more consumers find out about the total cost of ownership benefits of a Bolt of LEAF, and notice attractive local-dealer discounts while remembering these models still benefit from the US federal tax credit, you could see a consumer sprint to get more of these models before year-end. Or not.

On the top of the market, since the Tesla Model 3, objectively, is a better vehicle in many key ways than other gasoline vehicles in the $35,000–67,000 price range, we expect sales to continue to be sky high indefinitely. We don’t even see a genuine competitor anywhere on the horizon, unless you count the Model 3’s coming crossover sibling, the Model Y.

If you’d like to buy a Tesla Model 3, Model S, or Model X and want 1,000 miles of free Supercharging, feel free to use my referral code: https://ts.la/zachary63404 — or use someone else’s if you have a friend or family member with a Tesla who has helped you more. The referral code can also be used for a $100 discount on Tesla solar.

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Live Tesla Inside Out Podcast — November 24 in Sarasota, Florida

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Autonomous Vehicles

Published on November 10th, 2019 |

by Zachary Shahan

Live Tesla Inside Out Podcast — November 24 in Sarasota, Florida

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November 10th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

You might have seen my first two or three articles and videos/podcasts from our new Tesla Inside Out series. If you haven’t, I highly recommend at least a perusal:

Tesla Inside Out — Tesla History From 7-Year Insider
Tesla Inside Out, Part Deux — Tesla Stores, Early Deliveries, & Seeing Elon
Tesla Smart Summon Bonanza — 7 Races (Tesla Inside Out interview in the middle)

Several more conversations are already recorded and in development for future articles, but before getting to those, we have a fun live event to announce.

The Florida Tesla Enthusiasts club has invited David and me to be the entertainment at a coming club event in Sarasota, Florida. We will be on stage recording a live podcast while dozens of Tesla enthusiasts digest their lunch and think up questions for the Q&A session.

I will perhaps reveal a couple of exclusive, fun Tesla stories for the first time during this event (maybe), but I think most of the conversation will be focused on peppering David with questions and then laughing at the stories that pop out of his mouth, eyes, and arms.

(Remember, the man has a background on Broadway!)

If you have specific questions for David, especially if you won’t be able to make it to Sarasota, this is a great place to drop them (down in the comments). After hours upon hours of conversation with David, in the coming two weeks I’ll be picking out my favorite topics and most burning questions for him in order to try to make this show as sizzling, exciting, and interesting as possible.

Oh yeah, and if you’ve been too lazy to click through to the Florida Tesla Enthusiasts page announcing this event, here’s a short bio of David:

“David was born and raised in Michigan, the youngest son of a ‘Big Three’ auto executive and a teacher, his childhood was immersed in Detroit’s rich auto culture. Being both a performance car enthusiast and environmentalist, he had long felt the need to reconcile his love for cars with their negative effect on the environment. Before Tesla came along, there was a direct correlation between how fun a car was to drive and how bad it was for the environment. David was a member of the Tesla team for almost seven years and served in a number of roles while helping develop Tesla’s sales/delivery presence in the Northeast and Florida.”

Of course, I recommend watching our Tesla Inside Out videos — or at least listening to the podcasts (but then you don’t get all of David’s fun animation) — before coming to the event or coming up with questions.

You can listen to this podcast (and other CleanTech Talk podcasts) on: Anchor, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket, Podbean, Radio Public, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or via the embedded SoundCloud players below.

If you will be coming to the luncheon from far away, let me know if you’d like to organize a special event on the side with CleanTechnica.

More information on logistics if you will be attending the Florida luncheon and live podcast:

The luncheon will start at approximately noon. There will be a cash bar with individual checks for your bar bill. The lunch is a sit-down meal. Dress is business casual.

The podcast will begin at approximately 1:30 pm and will be about 30 minutes in duration. It will be followed by questions from the audience.

Charging

The Sarasota Supercharger, with 20 120 kW charging terminals, is less than 10 miles from the Country Club.

Overnight Stays

For attendees wishing to stay overnight, the Courtyard by Marriott Sarasota University Park/Lakewood is across the street from the Superchargers.

Comfort Suites Sarasota — Siesta Key is about 6 miles from the Country Club and has two Tesla destination chargers.

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Tesla Autopilot & Smart Summon Handle Construction Zone & Traffic Cones Like A Boss

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Autonomous Vehicles

Published on November 10th, 2019 |

by Iqtidar Ali

Tesla Autopilot & Smart Summon Handle Construction Zone & Traffic Cones Like A Boss

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November 10th, 2019 by Iqtidar Ali

Originally posted on X Auto.

Elon Musk and the Tesla software team are aiming to roll out all of the features of its Full Self-Driving package by the year-end, a tough goal but one that should be achievable with a little margin here and there. The latest version of the Tesla firmware update (not yet available to every owner) shows that the cars can now detect traffic cones.

Tesla owner and hacker knowns as “green the only” recently took his Tesla Model 3 to a construction zone where both sides of the road had traffic cones set up. Interestingly, the car took the cones as guides for the route instead of the lane markings — this is crucial in handling a construction zone.

Green is able to show us how Autopilot detects objects by hacking into the Autopilot/FSD footage rather than the plain video footage that is recorded on the USB via cameras. These immensely technical videos show how the Tesla Supercomputer takes camera input for the car’s vision and neural net.

Just about a year ago Tesla upgraded the neural net vision that enables object detection with the 3D bounding boxes, which previously was 2D. This has certainly improved the performance of the Autopilot driver’s assistance package and is a major enabler towards the full self-driving goal.

This year’s biggest Autopilot feature release yet was Smart Summon, which enables the owner to call the car to the owner’s location from its parking spot. The feature has faced mixed emotions from mainstream media, but most Tesla owners rejoiced.

Some owners did reportedly damage their Teslas by using Smart Summon in an unrecommended manner but mostly the feature has been both fun and useful. According to Elon Musk’s statement from the Tesla Q3 2019 Earnings Call, Smart Summon has already been used more than 1 million times.

That means Tesla has started stacking huge amounts of useful data on how Tesla owners are using the feature and in which conditions. This data (from 8 cameras, 12 sensors, and the front radar) is monumental in improving the self-driving features.

One such Tesla owner took his ride to a bit messy parking lot which had construction work going on and traffic cones also in place. The following videos show how Smart Summon on a Tesla Model 3 handled the situation, pretty well indeed.

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Tesla Inside Out, Part Deux — Tesla Stores, Early Deliveries, & Seeing Elon

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Cars

Published on November 9th, 2019 |

by Zachary Shahan

Tesla Inside Out, Part Deux — Tesla Stores, Early Deliveries, & Seeing Elon

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November 9th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

Continuing our discussion of Tesla and David Havasi’s long history at Tesla, we took up where we left off, talking about early Model S days at Tesla. At the time that, Tesla had a gigantic factory in Fremont with almost nothing in it other than big, wild dreams and post-apocalyptic images of Blade Runner and The Highlander flashing through their heads as they looked across the expansive space. (No, it wasn’t the 1980s, but many of the Tesla staff in 2012 had probably come of age in the ’80s, and it seems the atmosphere in the nearly empty factory stirred up those images again.)

If you prefer audio podcasts over watching YouTube videos, you can listen on your favorite podcasting platform instead. You can subscribe and listen to this podcast and other CleanTech Talk podcasts on: Anchor, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket, Podbean, Radio Public, SoundCloud, Spotify, or Stitcher.

David was brought onboard by George Blankenship, who was the architect behind Apple stores and The Gap before jumping into his VP of Design & Store Development role at Tesla. We are so used to Tesla stores now that they may seem like nothing special, but they shattered the auto industry mold by following that Apple model. The goal was basically to be the opposite of an auto dealership — welcoming, warm, cool, and a place you just enjoyed visiting. (Side note: David completely matches those characteristics, except that he’s a human, not a place.)

As David describes them, Apple stores were themselves revolutionary, something like “an art gallery and a petting zoo combined,” and Tesla replicated that feeling of premium, artistic, beautiful products being put on display but also, magically, available for touching and feeling and playing with. The atmosphere in a Tesla store is still something I love to experience. I’ll just go into my local store to see the eyes of wonder and excited tickling of inspiration that you can witness there. You can practically see into people’s brains as they let themselves genuinely consider buying a Tesla.

(At this point, we also had a bit of a chat about kids in Tesla stores, how much kids love Teslas, and how that relates to Tesla’s overall aim with the stores and the atmosphere therein. Then there was some discussion about people comparing Teslas to other vehicles in their class, about the different stages of tech adoption, and about Tesla’s leadership. To separate all of that out from the core of the interview, it will be in a separate video coming later.)

Coming to David’s first time seeing Elon Musk, we had to go back to a time when there were about a dozen small delivery teams around the country. David explained that those teams were made up of people with diverse backgrounds who sometimes had to operate and solve problems in situations they were completely unfamiliar with. He noted that, for example, back then the company was so small and bootstrapping it so much that the delivery teams had to build the trailers for the cars (“build” as in “put together,” sort of like IKEA furniture). Finding people on the team with the right skills for each part of the process was like a game of, “What’s your background? What can you do?” They had to pull together skills and experience and combine them into something like a real-world, come-to-life scrapbook. David shared a funny story about doing that one long day and night.

Getting back to the post-apocalyptic Fremont factory, David talked a bit about watching early Tesla engineers work right on the floor there and develop Tesla vehicles, the manufacturing system, and more. That’s also where he spotted Elon Musk for the first time. It’s not a story of Elon doing anything crazy — or even anything at all — but it’s a fun little story that certainly made me laugh.

The best part of this portion of our interview series, though, related to the head of manufacturing at the time and the final product his delivery team created one night. You just have to watch the video or listen to the podcast for the ending of this episode of “Tesla Inside Out.”

Related: “Tesla Inside Out — Tesla History From 7-Year Insider“

Side note: David and I will be the featured entertainment at a coming Tesla Florida Enthusiasts event on November 24 in Sarasota, Florida. Join us if you can!
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