Tesla – Page 2788 – I wish I had more to offer

Statement from Independent Members of Tesla’s Board of Directors (Brad Buss, Robyn Denholm, Ira Ehrenpreis, Antonio Gracias, Linda Johnson Rice, and James Murdoch):

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Over the past several weeks, we put in place a process led by a Special Committee of the Board to evaluate a proposal Elon was considering to take Tesla private. Yesterday, we held a Board meeting, during which Elon reported on the work he and his… Continue reading Statement from Independent Members of Tesla’s Board of Directors (Brad Buss, Robyn Denholm, Ira Ehrenpreis, Antonio Gracias, Linda Johnson Rice, and James Murdoch):

Tesla removes Full Self Driving option from website for all models

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2018 Tesla Model 3
Friday marked exactly two years since Tesla announced that every one of its cars was being produced with the hardware needed for Full Self-Driving.

Friday was also the first full day that Tesla removed the option from its configurator—at the same time that it introduced a new $45k Model 3 Mid Range, effectively splitting the difference between the much-anticipated Model 3 Standard Range and the discontinued rear-wheel-drive Long Range.

DON’T MISS: Teslas to get new self-driving, Autopilot chip in spring 2019

CEO Elon Musk quickly confirmed the change Thursday, via Twitter, describing the Full Self-Driving feature as “available off menu for a week,” and describing it as “causing too much confusion.”

@elonmusk confirmation of Full Self Driving removal from configurator

Full Self-Driving has been a $3,000 option in addition to the Enhanced Autopilot option that costs $5,000 at the time of purchase or $6,000 later. The company declined to comment to Green Car Reports when asked for a tally of how many vehicles it has sold with the Full Self-Driving option.

All Tesla models currently come with the hardware needed for Full Self-Driving capability, with the exception of a new, faster Autopilot chip that is due in spring 2019 and is required to activate the capability. When the functionality is available it can be provided via an over-the-air update.

CHECK OUT: Tesla to roll out new version of Autopilot

The hardware suite includes 8 surround cameras that can see 820 feet, 12 updated ultrasonic sensors, forward-facing radar with enhanced processing, and an onboard computer with 40 times the processing power of the previous one. It does not include the lidar hardware that some other automakers deem essential for autonomous-vehicle features.

Tesla Autopilot sensor system

Tesla commented that the option was removed from its configurator simply to streamline the purchase process, and clarified that the removal doesn’t reflect any change in plans to enable it.

The feature itself may have been scaled back a bit from earlier ambition, though. “All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go,” said a description of the feature on Tesla’s site, which remains up today. “Your Tesla will figure out the optimal route, navigate urban streets (even without lane markings), manage complex intersections with traffic lights, stop signs and roundabouts, and handle densely packed freeways with cars moving at high speed.”

READ MORE: Consumer Reports ranks Tesla Autopilot second among self-driving systems

Don’t expect quite that level with the launch of the feature. In the meantime, “on-ramp to off-ramp” enhancements, among others, are being made part of Autopilot. And earlier in the week, Musk confirmed that a future version of the Summon feature, which allows the vehicle to park at low speed automatically, would use Autopilot’s cameras.

If the expanded capabilities of Full Self-Driving Mode are never fully approved by regulators, owners may have to be happy with a few added features. Tesla clearly lays out that risk: “Please note that Self-Driving functionality is dependent upon extensive software validation and regulatory approval, which may vary widely by jurisdiction.” In other words, make your investment in the future, but you might not see your return.

UPDATE: This represents a clarification of “on-ramp to off-ramp” functionality as part of Autopilot, not Full Self-Driving.

Australian government invests AU$6m in EV charging network

The Australian government has announced a AU$6 million investment in an “ultra-rapid” electric vehicle (EV) charging network powered by renewable energy across the nation under the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). According to the federal government, the EV charging network will be deployed around Sydney and Melbourne; between Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, and Adelaide; and… Continue reading Australian government invests AU$6m in EV charging network

Can Bryan Cranston Fix Ford’s Image Issues?

Can Bryan Cranston Fix Ford’s Image Issues? BloombergFord Takes Shot at Silicon Valley (and Tesla) in New Bryan Cranston Ad Campaign JalopnikFull coverage Go to Source

Tesla Just Dropped “Full Self-Driving” Mode From the Model 3

Hands Up Can Tesla cars drive themselves? The flagship electric car company’s answer to that question has been confusing — which has ended in disaster on a number of occasions. But now we have clarity. The order page for the new Tesla Model 3 doesn’t feature the much-hyped “Full Self-Driving Capability” that promised customers “all you will need to do… Continue reading Tesla Just Dropped “Full Self-Driving” Mode From the Model 3

BMW sets up end-to-end battery recycling in Europe

Prototype production of battery modules for BMW Group’s fifth-generation electric powertrain
Teaming with a new Norwegian battery supplier and a Belgian recycling company, BMW is aiming to build a fully sustainable future battery supply chain.

The company announced on Monday that it formed a partnership with Northvolt, which is building Europe's largest battery factory for electric cars in Sweden.

At the same time BMW is working with Belgian materials processing company Umicore to develop battery reuse and recycling systems. Then end goal is to dismantle battery packs down to their cells and recycle the cell materials into new cells to be built by Northvolt.

DON'T MISS: BMW Vision iNext electric concept redefines German luxury flagship

In between, the spent battery packs may be used as grid or home storage until they have no useful life left, according of a report in Automotive News Europe (subscription required.) .

Besides its environmental advantages, the system could have several other advantages for BMW. It could bring down the price of new battery materials which have seen a dramatic increase since 2015. Automakers in Europe and other parts of the world are also responsible for ensuring the batteries they install are properly disposed at the end of their life. Reusing the harvested material could lower the company's bill for such disposal.

READ THIS: BMW will have 25 electric cars, plug-in hybrid models by 2025

The new agreement could also indicate that BMW will turn to Northvolt to supply batteries for its future electric cars, in place of the Samsung batteries it uses now.

Northvolt is planning to invest $4.6 billion to build a battery factory to rival Tesla's Gigafactory, capable of eventually producing up to 32 gigawatt-hours of batteries per year.

No timeline was given to develop BMW's end-to-end battery recycling system. Northvolt plans to begin producing as much as 8 gigawatt-hours worth of batteries in 2020 and to have its plant fully operational by about 2025.

Secret tech of the Tesla Model 3

Tesla says tyres for a high-performance electric vehicle are challenged in a way that those on a car powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE) are not. A two-wheel-drive Model 3 with a long-range battery weighs just over 1700kg, so tyres have to cope with high loads as well as a 155mph top speed (for… Continue reading Secret tech of the Tesla Model 3

Tearing Apart Teslas to Find Elon Musk’s Best and Worst Decisions

Tearing Apart Teslas to Find Elon Musk’s Best and Worst Decisions BloombergFull coverage Go to Source

Building a great startup requires more than genius and a great invention

Shahin Farshchi Contributor More posts by this contributor The dos and don’ts of crafting frontier-tech companies Five billion-dollar businesses for the driverless future Many entrepreneurs assume that an invention carries intrinsic value, but that assumption is a fallacy. Here, the examples of the 19th and 20th century inventors Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla are instructive.… Continue reading Building a great startup requires more than genius and a great invention

Tesla Pushes To Improve Service Center Coverage Density As Model 3 Deliveries Climb #ElonTweets

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Published on October 17th, 2018 |

by Kyle Field

Tesla Pushes To Improve Service Center Coverage Density As Model 3 Deliveries Climb #ElonTweets

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October 17th, 2018 by Kyle Field

Tesla CEO @ElonMusk took to Twitter to admit that Tesla had found some gaps in its global service center coverage and is now hard at work to improve its coverage over the next 3–6 months.

Specifically, Elon shared that Tesla would push to ensure full coverage of North America with its service centers over the next 3–6 months. Looking ahead, he shared that Tesla would be working to ensure similar levels of coverage in all countries where Tesla has operations by the end of 2019.

The news comes on the heels of Tesla’s successful ramp up of production and deliveries of the Model 3 which saw tens of thousands of Teslas sent out into geographies that hadn’t seen much action in the past. The latest wave of woes for Tesla started when its Model 3 went into production in June of 2017 and was followed by a full year of production hell.

Tesla and Elon pulled out all the stops to reach the target production rate of 5,000 Model 3s per week — and they did. The herculean effort required flying in new production lines from Germany, building a new general assembly line in a “tent” in the back lot of Tesla’s Fremont factory, and calling all hands on deck to put the hurt on the production lines and force them to comply with the will of Elon.

Emerging from the darkness, Tesla’s production troubles quickly morphed into birthing pains as Tesla’s delivery teams across the US choked on the 3× increase in deliveries. Deliveries of the Model 3 are spread across a distributed network of stores spanning the United States, making it difficult to quickly deploy improvements and standards.

Just the same, Tesla calmed the storm over the course of a couple of weeks as minor production issues and the overblown panel gap issues were tuned out on the production lines. In parallel, delivery teams improved their pre-delivery check processes and squeezed out most of the delivery issues.

The look at service centers is a look at the inevitable flow of Tesla’s vehicles that will either be forced in for service after an accident or require service for something that’s just not quite right in the car. That can be something as small as replacing a door handle all the way on up to the replacement of a full drive unit.

The flow of Model 3s out into the wild will result in a similar spike in requests for service at Tesla’s service centers, though the tail of requests will lag behind deliveries, as accidents and some other service requests don’t happen on a schedule.

Elon Musk and the team at Tesla started working on service center service times a few weeks back, as soon as Model 3 customers started voicing complaints of lengthy service times, with waits of several months for repairs being the norm. As part of the push, Tesla brought body shop work in-house at a few key locations in an attempt to streamline the repair process for its vehicles.

Early reports on the new service were positive, with some customers getting their repaired vehicles back in just a few hours. Same day turnaround is still far from the norm, but it showed that Tesla was working towards solutions and had some results to show for its early efforts.

Today’s tweets from Elon confirm that there is still work to do just to achieve the critical mass of service centers that would be required to get Tesla’s cars serviced. Beyond the base coverage, there is still work to do to ensure that all of its service center personnel are sufficiently trained and that the centers have the parts needed to get its vehicles repaired in a reasonable amount of time.

Tesla has pushed the envelope in just about every piece of its business, and service is no exception, as it has historically utilized its service teams to come pick up vehicles for service, leaving a loaner vehicle with the owner. Doing this drastically reduces the amount of effort required from the owner and from personal experience, it makes service all but a non-issue.

That wasn’t good enough so Tesla kept on innovating, deploying a roaming network of repair personnel, which it calls Rangers, that were trained and equipped to fix just about any issue on a Tesla that didn’t require a lift. That was estimated to be around 80% of all repairs and Tesla delivered in spades.

I utilized Tesla’s Ranger service to have the door handles on our Model S replaced. The service went off without a hitch and was actually a great experience. Tesla had already committed to doubling its mobile service fleet by the end of this year and the renewed focus on service center coverage is surely a part of its efforts to ensure timely and efficient service for all of its customers.

With every new day, there comes a new challenge. Today, it’s service center coverage; tomorrow, the moon!! Okay, so maybe Mars is the target, but the moon sounded better.

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About the Author

Kyle Field I'm a tech geek passionately in search of actionable ways to reduce the negative impact my life has on the planet, save money and reduce stress. Live intentionally, make conscious decisions, love more, act responsibly, play. The more you know, the less you need. TSLA investor.

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