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What We Think We Know About The Tesla Cybertruck

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Published on November 7th, 2019 |

by Johnna Crider

What We Think We Know About The Tesla Cybertruck

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November 7th, 2019 by Johnna Crider

In his new blog, Whole Mars, Omar Qazi (aka @Tesla_Truth) gives us some of his thoughts on what we already know — or at least, think we know — about the Tesla Cybertruck. I have some catching up to do, as I have never seen Blade Runner, which seems to be the theme of Tesla’s hottest new product.

I am sure, as is Omar, that there are going to be a lot of new features and surprises when we do see the truck in just a couple of weeks. So, besides some of those interesting Cybertruck renders (thanks, Earl and Eva!), Omar put together some of his thoughts to help us stay patient while Tesla builds up the suspense and momentum.

“Tesla will unveil its ‘Cybertruck’ electric pickup on November 21. Elon Musk has called the supposedly Blade Runner design ‘heart-stopping’, with better utility than a Ford F-150 and superior performance to a basic Porsche 911.” —Sean O’Kane, The Verge

What We Know
The Verge highlights that the Cybertruck will seat six people and the price will start at around $50,000. It will offer 400 to 500 miles of range in the highest-priced version and could be powered by a dual-motor setup. Also, something to look forward to is the ludicrous towing capacity of 300,000 pounds. 300,000 pounds is a lot.

The above is a great question. What are some items that weigh 300,000 pounds? Well, the Space Shuttle weighs 165,000 pounds, so, yes, the Cybertruck can tow a rocket and anything that weighs 300,000 pounds or less. It won’t be able to tow a Falcon 9, though. At just over 3 million pounds, perhaps the Tesla Semi would be a more suitable truck for towing the Falcon 9 rocket.

The truck can also tow, if China ever needed Tesla to do so for some reason, the Bell of Good Luck. Weighing 254,000 pounds, this 17-year-old bell is the heaviest bell in the world and is located in Henan, China. It’s 24 feet in height and more than 15 feet wide. The truck can also tow a railroad locomotive engine weighing 250,000 pounds or a 240,000 pound radio tower. We can definitely agree that these are some insane towing skills.

It will be interesting to see the Cybertruck compared to the Truckla, which used to be a Tesla Model 3. As we’ve written before, its owner, Simone Giertz, transformed her Model 3 into a pickup truck. In a 31 minute video, Simona, her mechanic, Marcos Ramirez, designer Laura Kampf, and car refurbisher Rich Benoit teamed up to completely transform the Model 3 into Tesla’s first-ever pickup truck, named the Truckla.

When Simone asked Elon if she and Truckla were invited, he said, “Of course.”

It would be fun to see both the Cybertruck and the Truckla on stage together, and perhaps Simone could inspire Elon to make a second pickup truck made from the Model 3 as she did with hers? One thing for sure is that, with Tesla, creativity is always abounding.

Aside from humongous towing capacity and tremendous torque, we also expect ports for electric power tools and compressed air tools to plug in, a suspension that dynamically adjusts for load, and perhaps a solar tonneau. See: “Elon Musk Solicits Input For The Tesla Truck As It Gets Serious About Electric Pickup #ElonTweets.”

For more, see our Tesla trucks and Tesla pickup truck archives.
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About the Author

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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Walmart Is Re-Energizing Tesla Solar Systems After Settling Lawsuit With Tesla

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Published on November 6th, 2019 |

by Johnna Crider

Walmart Is Re-Energizing Tesla Solar Systems After Settling Lawsuit With Tesla

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November 6th, 2019 by Johnna Crider

Reuters has reported that Walmart and Tesla have settled their lawsuit. The lawsuit Walmart filed back in July claimed that Tesla solar panels caught fire on the roof of 7 stores in the United States. On Monday, November 4th, 2019, a court filing showed that Walmart voluntarily discontinued without prejudice. In other words, Walmart dropped the lawsuit.

“Walmart and Tesla are pleased to have resolved the issues raised by Walmart concerning the Tesla solar installations at Walmart stores. Safety is a top priority for each company and with the concerns being addressed, we both look forward to a safe re-energization of our sustainable energy systems.” —Joint statement from Walmart and Tesla.

I’m sure that having Walmart withdraw its lawsuit against Tesla won’t stop some of those who march with the flag of TSLAQ from using other disasters to claim Tesla is going bankrupt, but this does show how their focus on Tesla and Elon Musk has become a bit of obsession. Some collect dockets of every one of Tesla’s court cases in the hopes that Tesla will go bankrupt, only to be disappointed by a simple and logical matter like a settlement. And when they are not collecting dockets, they spend their time online harassing Tesla owners.

The news of Walmart dropping the lawsuit and both companies settling will add some more free publicity for Tesla (and Walmart). Every time Tesla gets free airtime on channels such as CNN, Fox, and even local stations, it just means that Tesla doesn’t have to pay for anchors to talk about it. The fact that Walmart and Tesla are working to resolve their issues is a great thing. Walmart Canada has already ordered a total of 40 Tesla Semi trucks as well as having solar panels installed.

Not only has Tesla’s stock price begun to climb up following the news, but this just shows that no matter how hard some of the short sellers try to dissuade people from supporting Tesla, not everyone listens to them and the doom they predict is yet to arrive.

Walmart and Tesla plan to re-energize the solar systems on Walmart’s roofs, by the way.

What Does This Mean For Tesla?
Tesla will continue to make its vehicles and solar products, and people will continue to buy them. Right now, Tesla is focusing its solar priorities on the victims of the California wildfires in the hope of helping those without electricity.

In fact, Tesla isn’t even making much money on its energy storage products after recently lowering prices for those in the area affected by the fires.

Speaking of solar, on Halloween, Elon Musk posted a video of someone dropping a pumpkin from the roof onto the ground. However, it wasn’t the ground. What was on the ground that the pumpkin smashed into was Tesla’s latest version of the Solar Roof, now known as “Solarglass,” which I think is a really cool product name.

Elon also joked about walking on a Tesla Solarglass in stilettos (you couldn’t pay me to walk anywhere — not even to the bathroom — in those toe and heel torture devices) and it made think of the song “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina & The Waves.

“I’m walking on sunshine (wow!)
And don’t it feel good
Hey, alright now
And don’t it feel good, hey.” —Walking On Sunshine

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About the Author

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

Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.

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90% Of Tesla Model 3 Owners Tell Bloomberg Tesla Autopilot Makes Them Safer

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Published on November 6th, 2019 |

by Steve Hanley

90% Of Tesla Model 3 Owners Tell Bloomberg Tesla Autopilot Makes Them Safer

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November 6th, 2019 by Steve Hanley

Recently, Bloomberg conducted a survey of 5,000 Tesla Model 3 owners to find out what they like and don’t like about their cars. Part 1 dealt with quality issues while part 2 focused on service and charging. Part 3 hones in on the experiences those Tesla owners have had with Autopilot, both the basic system and the Full Self Driving package that now includes the Smart Summon feature. Not everyone has had positive experiences, with some drivers reporting instances when their cars slowed unexpectedly, but overall, 90% of respondents said they feel safer with Autopilot available.

Here’s an example: A driver from Florida (not one of the yahoos above) reported he felt something had gone wrong with his car when it suddenly slowed while driving on the highway. He didn’t understand at first that his car had detected a stopped vehicle in front of the car he was following. When the car ahead swerved out of the way, his Tesla had already reduced his speed enough that he could easily avoid slamming into the stopped vehicle. [Editor’s note: I’ve experienced this type of thing a few times, but not to such an extreme degree.] Others report sudden braking for no apparent reason — what is known as a false positive — that put them in danger of being rear ended by cars behind them. But even those drivers said, overall, Autopilot makes them safer while driving.

Overall, 13% of drivers say Autopilot has put them in a dangerous situation, while 28% say Autopilot has saved them from being in harm’s way. Based on the responses to the survey, Bloomberg says, “These Autopilot stories illustrate the messy middle ground in which the automotive world now finds itself. Ever-vigilant vehicles running automated-driving technology can perform superhuman maneuvers to keep drivers safe—and can also fail in decidedly sub-human ways. Close supervision is needed at all times (emphasis added), which is easy to forget when Autopilot is able to drive for long stretches without intervention.”

Six Tesla owners claimed that Autopilot contributed to a collision, while nine credited Autopilot with saving their lives. Even though hundreds of owners experienced glitches such as phantom braking, unexpected steering maneuvers, or failing to stop for a road hazard, the overwhelming majority of people in that group still gave Autopilot high marks overall.

Here is a sampling of some of the comments from people who responded to the survey:

“The car detected a pile-up in fog and applied the brakes/alerted driver and began a lane change to avoid it before I took over. I believe it saved my life.”
“Whiteout conditions. Lake effect snow in Cleveland. Streets were extremely icy. A crossing car ran a red light going 45 mph at a blind intersection obscured by trees and the Model 3 automatically stopped before I could react. I missed a driver side collision, potentially fatal, by less than a car length.”
“It seemed to make risky choices whenever an unusual situation arises, like a missing lane line or a truck merging suddenly into your lane.”
“Car entered my lane and I did not notice. Autopilot took over and alerted me quickly. It maneuvered out of the way and saved us from a wreck going 80 mph.”
“Didn’t recognize lanes properly on a two way road and put me in into oncoming traffic.”

There are hundreds of similar comments on the Bloomberg website you may want to read. The lesson, if there is one, is that people cannot take their hands off the wheel and their eyes off the road while Autopilot is in use. Many would like to think they can, but Autopilot is a driver assistant. Although it gets better with every new software update, it is not yet capable of fully independent driving, which means drivers must remain vigilant at all times. Many don’t want to hear that, but the results of the Bloomberg survey suggest true self driving is simply not here — at least not yet. [Editor’s note: As someone with Tesla Full Self Driving, I fully agree with Steve’s statements here.]

Smart Summon

Owners who have ponied up the extra money for what Tesla calls its Full Self Driving package now have access to Smart Summon, a protocol that allows a car to travel at slow speeds from where it is parked to where the owner is, using a smartphone app. Introduced just a short while ago, it has already been used over a million times, sometimes with less than desirable results. One person wrote, “On my first attempt (in front of a bunch of work people) the car decided to drive over a red curb and into a median. The rim got some red curb rash & the rocker panel was damaged.”

Then there is this comment: “My wife and I are different levels of mobility impaired. Summon was one reason we purchased Tesla. Having the car come get us in a slippery or icy parking lot reduces our chance for falling. We’ve tried it in several lots and while it could be more graceful, it has met expectations.”

Bloomberg sent out a supplementary survey to 1,762 owners with Full Self Driving installed. 70% say it is a useful feature, but only 41% rated it reliable enough for average drivers to use. One owner described the summon feature as driving like “nervous teenager with a learner’s permit.” Another had this to say: “Smart Summon is a great step towards the eventual self-driving future, but it is very ‘beta’ at this point. It is not safe for use yet if you’re not a very experienced user.”

Just as Autopilot has improved with time since it was first introduced several years ago — Tesla now has more than 2 billion miles worth of data from cars using Autopilot — Smart Summon will improve based on feedback from real-world driving situations. Right now, it is mostly a novelty, but in time it may become an indispensable feature many new car buyers will demand.

Here are longer “uncut” versions of the two Smart Summon videos above:

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About the Author

Steve Hanley Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Rhode Island and anywhere else the Singularity may lead him. His motto is, “Life is not measured by how many breaths we take but by the number of moments that take our breath away!” You can follow him on Google + and on Twitter.

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