Category: Automotive

Driverless cars are ‘a little bit in the distance’ says Ford heiress – ArabianBusiness.com

The era of the driverless cars dominating our roads is still some time away, according to Elena Ford, the heiress to the legendary American carmaker told Arabian Business in an interview. “I think at this point that is a little bit in the distance,” Ford said in a phone interview when asked when she thought… Continue reading Driverless cars are ‘a little bit in the distance’ says Ford heiress – ArabianBusiness.com

SoundHound Inc., partners with Hyundai to bring voice-enabled, smart connected SUV to India, powered by Houndify Voice AI platform

SoundHound Inc., the provider of in voice-enabled AI and conversational intelligence technologies, has announced a partnership with Hyundai Motor Group to bring the first voice-enabled, smart-connected SUV to the Indian market. Powered by SoundHound Inc.’s Houndify voice AI platform, the Hyundai Venue SUV enables drivers to speak queries and control various aspects of the car simply by… Continue reading SoundHound Inc., partners with Hyundai to bring voice-enabled, smart connected SUV to India, powered by Houndify Voice AI platform

Read the email from Elon Musk to Tesla employees, pushing them to hit aggressive goals

Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tesla Motors.Yuriko Nakao | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesElon Musk sent out one of his signature “everybody” emails on Tuesday, which are circulated to tens of thousands of Tesla employees.
In it, the CEO rallied employees to work hard to hit the company's aggressive vehicle production and delivery goals for the second quarter.
It is typical for Tesla execs, and Musk, to push employees to work long hours to hit quarterly goals, with extra production and delivery work piling up toward the end of a quarter.
In its first-quarter 2019 update to shareholders, Tesla said:
“We believe we will deliver between 90,000 and 100,000 vehicles in Q2. Although it is possible to deliver a higher number of vehicles, we believe it is important to begin unwinding the 'wave' approach to vehicle deliveries, where overseas cars have been made in the first half of the quarter and North American cars have been made in the second half. This puts extreme stress on Tesla, negatively affects our working capital needs and adds to our cost structure.”
Earlier this month, Musk was prompting people to buy Tesla vehicles, with a Twitter post reminding them that “US federal tax drops by $1875 for any Tesla delivered after June 30.”
Here's what Musk wrote in the email sent Tuesday, obtained and transcribed by CNBC. Bloomberg first reported on the email.
From: Elon Musk
To: Everybody
Date: June 25, 2019
As you may have noticed, there is a lot of speculation regarding the vehicle deliveries this quarter. The reality is that we are on track to set an all-time record, but it will be very close. However, if we go all out, we can definitely do it!
We already have enough vehicle orders to set a record, but the right cars are not yet all in the right locations. Logistics and final delivery are extremely important, as well as finding demand for vehicle variants that are available locally, but can't reach people who ordered that variant before end of quarter.
I have great faith in you. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
Thanks,
Elon

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Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the Chinese Government Decides to Abolish System for Recommended List of Electric Vehicle Battery Manufacturers

Chinese Government abolished its system for recommended list of electric vehicle battery manufacturers. Although it is uncertain whether decision will lead to subsidy being paid again, this decision is a positive sign for three South Korean battery manufacturers to enter Chinese market again.Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of the Chinese Government stated through… Continue reading Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the Chinese Government Decides to Abolish System for Recommended List of Electric Vehicle Battery Manufacturers

Self-driving startup Drive.ai is closing down

Drive.ai, the autonomous vehicle tech startup once valued at $200 million, is shutting down after four years, according to a state regulatory filing. The closure was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. The company is not responding to media inquiries, a PR rep told TechCrunch. The company’s Mountain View headquarters will close down on Friday,… Continue reading Self-driving startup Drive.ai is closing down

Drive.ai, a self-driving car startup once worth $200 million, is closing – San Francisco Chronicle

Mountain View startup Drive.ai, which made kits to turn regular cars into autonomous ones, will shut its office in June and lay off 90 workers in a permanent closure of its business, according to a filing with a state agency. At the same time, Apple has hired a handful of hardware and software engineers from… Continue reading Drive.ai, a self-driving car startup once worth $200 million, is closing – San Francisco Chronicle

UPDATE 2-Tesla faces delivery bottleneck at close of Q2 -Electrek

FILE PHOTO: A Tesla Model 3 is seen in a showroom in Los Angeles, California U.S. January 12, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (Reuters) – Shares of Tesla Inc fell 1.7% on Tuesday after news website Electrek reported that the electric-car maker has so far delivered 49,000 vehicles in North America during the second quarter, threatening its… Continue reading UPDATE 2-Tesla faces delivery bottleneck at close of Q2 -Electrek

Tesla received a tariff exemption for the Japanese aluminum it uses for batteries

The US Commerce Department has agreed to Tesla‘s request to waive 10% tariffs on imported aluminum from Japan used in the manufacture of battery cells at Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory, government documents show. Read more: Tesla is addressing one of its customers’ biggest complaints by starting to do collision repairs through its service centers and mobile… Continue reading Tesla received a tariff exemption for the Japanese aluminum it uses for batteries