Tag: Tesla

Tesla should be able to drive autonomously until the end of the year

Tesla boss Elon Musk believes his vehicles will be able to drive by themselves by the end of the year. Elon Musk is convinced that it will be ready for serial production by the end of 2019. This could work, Musk said, if the authorities would allow it. However, he did not name a degree… Continue reading Tesla should be able to drive autonomously until the end of the year

Interview with Bram Schot: Audi CEO plans radical austerity program: “We have too many executives on board”

Audi boss Bram Schot The new CEO Bram Schot plans a drastic austerity program at Audi. (Photo: AUDI AG) Ingolstadt If the AudiSupervisory Board meets on Thursday, then the management report for 2018 will probably be sobering. In the third year of the diesel crisis, sales are declining, yield in the basement, and the prospects… Continue reading Interview with Bram Schot: Audi CEO plans radical austerity program: “We have too many executives on board”

Elon Musk: Full Self-Driving Teslas This Year, “Unequivocal” Tesla Autopilot Improves Safety

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Autonomous Vehicles Published on February 20th, 2019 | by Steve Hanley
Elon Musk: Full Self-Driving Teslas This Year, “Unequivocal” Tesla Autopilot Improves SafetyTwitterLinkedInFacebookFebruary 20th, 2019 by Steve Hanley

Credit: ARK Invest via Twitter
Elon Musk sat down with Tasha Keeney and Cathie Wood of ARK Invest February 19 for a podcast session that focused primarily on Tesla’s Autopilot technology and when Musk sees it being capable of driving cars with no human interaction.
ARK Invest is a financial management company whose stated mission is identifying “disruptive innovation in the public markets,” according to its website. “We research a global universe that spans sectors and market capitalizations to offer investment solutions with low correlation to traditional index-based strategies, because we believe innovation is key to growth.” Currently, about 8% of ARK’s portfolio is invested in Tesla. The group’s target price for the stock in the long term is a highly aggressive $4,000 per share.
“I think we will be feature complete — full self-driving — this year,” Musk said in the podcast interview. “Meaning the car will be able to find you in a parking lot, pick you up, and take you all the way to your destination without an intervention, this year. I would say I am certain of that. That is not a question mark. However, people sometimes will extrapolate that to mean now it works with 100 percent certainty, requires no observation, perfectly. This is not the case.”

In other words, he is talking about Level 4 autonomy not Level 5, which presupposes that the car can do everything a human driver can do under all conditions. That goal is still a few years away, Musk suggests, and depends on certain factors over which Tesla has no direct control, such as state and federal regulators. “My guess as to when we would think it is safe for somebody to essentially fall asleep and wake up at their destination? Probably towards the end of next year. That is when I think it would be safe enough for that.”
Autonomous cars are the holy grail for most automakers today, as well as Waymo, the self-driving arm of Google (er, Alphabet). What makes Tesla so sure it is able to keep up with all those heavy hitters? “The reason Tesla is making rapid progress is because we have vastly more data, and this is increasing exponentially.” As each new Tesla hits the road, its onboard computer begins sending streams of data back to Tesla, where engineers can use it to verify the functionality of Autopilot and compare upgrades that are in the works with real-world experience.
Musk has stated repeatedly that Autopilot is already safer than a human driver and will only get better over time. “No matter how you slice the data, it is unequivocal at this point that it’s safer to have autopilot on.” Finally, Musk told Tasha and Cathi, “People think sometimes that I’m like a business person or finance person, or something like that. I’m an engineer. I do engineering, always have.” Seems to be working out reasonably well for him so far.

About the AuthorSteve 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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Tesla replaces general counsel Dane Butswinkas after two months

Tesla general counsel leaves after 2 months on the job
11 Hours Ago | 01:12

Tesla is replacing its general counsel, Dane Butswinkas, the company said Wednesday. Jonathan Chang, Tesla's current vice president of legal, will take over Butswinkas' position, effective Wednesday.

It is yet another executive departure for Tesla, which has seen a great deal of turnover in its ranks over the last several years. Most recently, CFO Deepak Ahuja said he will be leaving the company, after serving his second stint with the electric car maker.

This is likely more evidence that Tesla is not a company for everyone and that Elon Musk is a tough boss, said Gene Munster, managing partner at Loup Ventures.

“He's in a one in a billion type of person,” Munster said. “And this is yet further evidence. And I think that is the biggest challenge that the company has — retaining top talent.”

Chang, who is 40 years old, has been with Tesla for eight years. He most recently oversaw legal issues relating to securities, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, compliance, and sales in the U.S. and Europe, Tesla said. He has been involved in Tesla's efforts to overturn state laws prohibiting the direct sale of cars to customers across the United States. He will report directly to CEO Musk.

Tesla shares were down nearly 1 percent midmorning Thursday.

“I'm grateful for the opportunity over the past seven months to have worked with both Elon and Tesla, first as outside counsel and most recently as General Counsel at Tesla. I am returning to my home in Washington, DC and to my trial practice at Williams & Connolly,” Butswinkas said. “I look forward to continuing my work with Tesla in an outside counsel role. I have observed and have tremendous confidence in Jonathan's leadership skills and in the Tesla team. When I joined the company, I said it would be hard to identify a more timely or essential mission than Tesla's—that's as true today as it was then.”

Butswinkas left after just two months on the job. A person familiar with the matter said he was not a good cultural fit with Tesla and wanted to return to his family and law practice in Washington, D.C.

Back from the dead: 2 Long-gone cars will debut at Geneva Motor Show, and their electric makeover could come with $1 million sticker price – CNBC

Over the past century, hundreds of once-familiar brand names have been shipped off to the automotive scrapyard, but two long-dead makes will be vying for a revival next month at the annual Geneva International Motor Show.

Report of a Model 3 leasing program could be a bad sign for Tesla investors

Salwan Georges | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Tesla's Model 3 at the Tesla store in Washington, D.C.

A report saying that Tesla might be starting a leasing program for its Model 3 sedan could be a bad sign for investors in the electric car maker, according to one analyst.

The timing of the report could be a sign that the gradual expiration of federal tax credits for Tesla vehicles is hitting demand for the sedan, said CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson in a note published Wednesday. The reduction in the tax credits began this year.

“While TSLA has meaningfully driven down vehicle unit costs in recent quarters, we have growing concerns regarding top-line results due to combination of moderating sales volume, price reductions and mix,” Nelson said. “Looking past the near term, we expect TSLA to face significantly increased EV competition starting with the 2021 model year.”

Tesla responded to a report from news site Electrek published on Tuesday saying the electric vehicle manufacturer is planning a leasing program, but that it has not finalized the dates when it will begin.

“This is simply an internal document to ensure teams are prepared for when we eventually introduce a leasing option to customers,” said a statement from Tesla send to CNBC, referring to the email referenced in the Electrek report. “No decision has been made about when Model 3 leasing will be available, but it will definitely be after the dates outlined in this document.”

CEO Elon Musk also said on the company's fourth-quarter earnings calls that Tesla might wait until later this year to start a program.

“We've been reluctant to introduce leasing on Model 3 because of its effect on GAAP financials,” Musk said on the call. “It is worth noting that demand to date is with zero leasing. Obviously, leasing is a way to improve demand, but it makes our financials looks worse. So we're not wanting to introduce that right away. We'll introduce it sometime later this year probably.”

Tesla already offers leases on its other models, and it is common for customers to lease vehicles in the premium end of the car market.

Several manufacturers are either already selling electric vehicles or planning to release new models in the next few years. Some are aimed at the higher end of the market, where Tesla's vehicles are priced, especially the full-size Model S sedan and Model X SUV.

Musk billed the Model 3 as a relatively affordable electric car, and initially Tesla intended to sell them at a starting price of $35,000, much lower than the current price. Competitors are eyeing that end of the market as well.

It seems impossible that Tesla will have full self-driving car tech ready in a year, says analyst

Elon Musk tends to be more accurate, says Kelley Blue Book's Brauer
1 Hour Ago | 02:52

At least one auto industry analyst is skeptical about Tesla CEO Elon Musk's bold claim that the electric car maker will have all the features necessary for full autonomy by the end of the year.

In fact Musk may be misleading the public over how capable Tesla's cars are, said Karl Brauer, executive publisher at Cox Automotive, on CNBC's “The Exchange” on Wednesday.

“I think the term 'misled' works here. I mean, there are so many variables out there,” he said. “There are so many different ways that a car has to be able to deal with driving: weather, lighting, traffic, pedestrians, bicyclists. To say you'll have all conditions solved in the next 12 To 18 months, nobody else is making that claim and there are some pretty big companies out there like Google who are doing this and have been doing this for a decade.”

Musk made his claims about Tesla's progress in self-driving cars in an interview with Cathie Wood and Tasha Keeney of ARK Invest, a group of funds that has positions in Tesla. He said he expects Tesla to have all the features necessary for fully self-driving cars by the end of the year, and to be capable of safely transporting a sleeping passenger in an autonomous vehicle within two years.

“Elon's got one of the best systems currently available in terms of semi-autonomous driving,” Brauer added in an email to CNBC. “But the concept of any car handling all the variables that exist on the road is still hard to fathom. Doing it in the next 12-18 months seems impossible.”

On Tuesday's podcast, Musk did say that having all the features necessary did not mean “now it works with 100% certainty, requiring no observation, perfectly.” He added that regulators will play a big role in determining how these technologies are used and how reliable they will have to be.

Tesla has long offered automated driver assistance technology with its cars through a system called Autopilot. Tesla has apparently been trying to pursue fully self-driving cars, albeit in ways that are very different from competitors.

Musk has famously, and controversially, insisted the laser infrared technology lidar so favored by the vast majority of competitors is not necessary for full self autonomy. The company also uses very different methods from most of its rivals for testing the technology.

Musk also has a reputation for making big claims about how far along Tesla is in terms of certain aspects of its business, such as how quickly it is developing a given technology or producing cars. Musk has said some of his predictions are rough estimates.

“Elon Musk's established history of predictions plays into his latest claims,” Brauer said. “He's missed these kind of predictions in the past, so people shouldn't be surprised he's willing to make them again, or that they might be unrealistic. The current AutoPilot technology is among the most advanced available, but it's nowhere near full self-driving under all conditions. Getting there by the end of this year, or even the end of next year, feels out of scope, but I guess we'll see.”

Tesla declined a request for comment.

Elon Musk: Teslas Will Be Fully Self-Driving By Next Year

Tesla/Ramin Talaie/Corbis via Getty Images Full Autonomy According to Elon Musk, Tesla’s cars are nearly ready for fully autonomous driving. “I think we will be feature complete — full self-driving — this year,” Musk told Cathie Wood and Tasha Keeney of ARK Invest in a podcast on Tuesday. “Meaning the car will be able to find you… Continue reading Elon Musk: Teslas Will Be Fully Self-Driving By Next Year

Elon Musk tweeted, then revised, Tesla financial guidance. He probably shouldn’t have.

Bobby Yip | Reuters
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk stands on the podium as he attends a forum on startups in Hong Kong, China.

Elon Musk tweeted — then revised — projections for full-year Tesla manufacturing numbers.

The CEO said late Tuesday that Tesla would make “around” 500,000 vehicles in 2019, later clarifying he “meant to say” the company's annualized production rate at the end of 2019 could be around 500,000 vehicles — or a production rate of 10,000 cars per week. Total deliveries for the year are still estimated at 400,000, Musk said.

The posts seem unoffensive by Musk's standards, given his penchant for inflammatory tweets. But the incident raises questions about the effectiveness of an SEC fraud settlement and attempts to rein in Musk's online antics.

As part of the company's settlement with the SEC in September — which stemmed from a now-infamous Musk tweet about taking the company private — Tesla was supposed to create a system for monitoring Musk's statements to the public about the company, whether on Twitter, blog posts or any other medium.

“It comes back to, the company is still running like a start-up,” Loup Ventures founder Gene Munster told CNBC's “Squawk Box” on Wednesday. “This is a $50-60 billion market cap company. This should not be run like a start-up.”

It's unclear whether there's a system in place to monitor Musk's tweets about the company. Musk told CBS' “60 Minutes” in December that no one was reading his tweets before he published them.

“I have always had this hope that Elon would change, and I think it's reiterated that he is not going to change,” Munster said.

Musk's tweets have proven to move the stock as much as 10 percent in some cases, and invited a defamation lawsuit from a British rescue diver who sparred with Musk online.

Separately Wednesday, Tesla announced its general counsel was leaving the company after only two months on the job. Share prices were down slightly in early trading Wednesday.

Correction: This story was revised to correct the references for the days of the week.

WATCH: Tesla general counsel leaves after 2 months on the job

Tesla general counsel leaves after 2 months on the job
2 Hours Ago | 01:12

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