Items tagged with Elon Musk
Back in early May, Tesla (and SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk got into a bit of a tizzy over the official Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) range figures for its latest variant of the Model S. Musk and Tesla had expected that the vehicle would be rated for 400+ miles of range, but it could only muster 391 miles in the hands of the EPA. That shortfall drew the ire of Musk, who accused the EPA testers of leaving the keys inside the vehicle which drained power overnight. The EPA calmly pushed back against those claims and added, "we are happy to discuss any technical issues with Tesla, as we do routinely with all automakers." Well, the EPA has apparently gotten around to retesting the 2020...
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Elon Musk first unveiled the Tesla Semi way back in November 2017, and plans for the revolutionary vehicle have been in a holding pattern since then. However, Musk revealed in an email that went out to Tesla employees over the weekend that it’s time to kick production into gear to start fulfilling the immense number of preorders that it has received. “It’s time to go all out and bring the Tesla Semi to volume production,” said Musk in the memo that was seen by CNBC. “It’s been in limited production so far, which has allowed us to improve many aspects of the design. Production of the battery and powertrain would take place at Giga Nevada, with most...
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For many months, the most important thing that SpaceX has been working on has been its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Crew Dragon capsule. CEO Elon Musk is now pushing employees by stating that the Starship rocket is now the company's top priority. Musk sent out a company-wide email on Saturday urging employees to accelerate progress on the next-generation launch vehicle. In the email that was seen by CNBC, Musk urged SpaceX employees to "dramatically and immediately" accelerate progress on the massive Starship rocket. However, Musk was clear that anything that could reduce the Dragon return risk would continue to be a top priority. The last few months have been critically important for Elon Musk...
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The dream of electric carmakers has long been to build an EV that has price parity with gasoline models. Tesla plans to introduce a new low-cost, long-life battery version of its Model 3 sedan in China later this year, or early next year, that is claimed to have pricing in line with gasoline models. The batteries used inside the electric vehicle could even find use in the electric power grid once they're no longer viable for an electric car. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been promising to reveal big advances in battery technology during a "Battery Day" in late May. Tesla has long had a goal of designing a low-cost battery that lasts millions of miles and will enable Tesla to earn profits on its vehicles...
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The past few weeks have been somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster for Elon Musk. As the CEO of two high-profile companies -- SpaceX and Tesla -- Musk is under immense pressure to be at the bleeding edge of both the space industry and electric vehicles. And his "rock star" persona in the EV community comes with its ups and downs. Musk's latest escapade includes an escalation in his attacks on Alameda County, California, where's Tesla's headquarters and Fremont manufacturing facility is located. Tesla filed a lawsuit with the US District Court in the Northern District of California targeting Alameda County's current shelter-in-place order. Tesla's Fremont factory in Alameda County,...
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A security researcher that goes by GreenTheOnly on Twitter recently shared some information that impacts some of the most popular Tesla vehicles. According to Green, some Tesla hardware currently being sold on eBay retains a significant amount of personal information from previous owners even after a reset. The parts the security researcher tested include a Tesla Model 3 integrated media control unit (MCU) and Autopilot (HW) units. The MCU and HW units for a Model 3 along with a Model X MCU unit were acquired from eBay. All three of the units had been reset, but the researcher found that a slew of private owner information, including passwords, were still easily recoverable from the units. Among...
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Elon Musk has been on quite a bit of "wild streak" for the past week, starting off with Tesla's Q2 earnings call. While the company announced that it made a profit once again -- despite the shutdown of its Fremont factory because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic -- Musk drew attention for comments he made about EPA testing procedures. But let's back up a bit, shall we? Back in late January, Musk proclaimed that Tesla would soon be releasing a Model S with 400 miles of range thanks to improved core chemistry used in its 18650 battery cells. At the time, the Model S was rated for 373 miles for the "Long Range" variant and 348 miles for the "Performance" variant. However, when the EPA...
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It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a decade since the Space Shuttle was officially retired, effectively putting an end to a 50-year-long streak in which the United States ferried its own astronauts into orbit around the Earth and Moon. Starting with the Mercury program, and then advancing through Gemini, Apollo, and finally the Space Shuttle, NASA was at the forefront of manned spaceflight. However, budgetary considerations and a redirection of resources for the future of NASA’s manned spaceflight program meant that U.S. astronauts had to hitch a ride to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Russian rockets for the past 9 years. That all ends next month, however....
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The Tesla Cybertruck is the most "Bro" electric vehicle that we've seen so far, and it's got the specs to back it up. The vehicle will come with up to three electric motors, travel up to 500 miles per charge, and will accelerate from a standstill to 60 mph in just 2.9 seconds. But for those that don't want to cough up the $39,990 price of entry for the base model -- or simply want to have a scale model to go along with their life-sized purchase -- Mattel has teamed up with Tesla to release a 1:10 scale R/C Hot Wheels version of the Cybertruck. The Hot Wheels Cybertruck is a dead ringer for its full-size counterpart down to its angular shape, ginormous wheels/tires, and all-wheel...
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A company called Space Adventures today announced that it has signed an agreement with SpaceX that will allow it to send private citizens into space aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The agreement will allow up to four individuals the opportunity to break the world altitude record for private citizen space flight and to see the Earth in a way that only an elite few have experienced. Space Adventures says that if it's able to find interested parties, the mission will be the first orbital space tourism experience provided entirely using American technology. The mission will see private citizens fly aboard the fully autonomous Crew Dragon spacecraft that will be put in orbit by the Falcon 9 rocket....
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Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk are well known for using unconventional methods to both hire key employees and improve their electric vehicles. The latest hiring tactic that Musk and company are using to lure in new programmers for AI and Autopilot is to hold a party at Musk's house. Musk tweeted about the event, noting that Tesla is going to hold a Super Fun AI party/hackathon. The "house party" is specifically looking to recruit people for the AI/autopilot team. The tweet says that invites will be going out soon. We assume security will be tight to prevent people from sneaking in or making off with Musk's stuff. Reports indicate that Tesla has been known to frequent AI conferences and throw parties...
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When it comes to electric vehicle range and efficiency, there's Tesla, and then there's everyone else. Tesla first brought the Model S to market nearly a decade ago, and since then has followed up with the Model X, Model 3, and the soon to be released Model Y. Over the years, the company has worked diligently to improve its battery chemistry to improve efficiency, which makes newer rivals like the Porsche Taycan seem almost amateurish in comparison. But Tesla isn't standing still; CEO Elon Musk recently proclaimed that the its flagship Model S will soon be capable of traveling 400 miles per charge. Rather than switching to the newer 2170 format battery cells used in the Model 3 and upcoming...
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Tesla released its Q4 earnings report this afternoon, and needless to say, the company didn’t disappoint. For starters, it was Tesla’s second straight quarter of profit, coming in at $105 million for Q4 2019. This represented earnings of 56 cents per share for the quarter. However, Tesla posted an annual loss of $862 million, though investors seem unfazed by that figure. Two straight quarters in the black along with a steady increase in EV deliveries has investors rubbing their hands together. Tesla reported deliveries of 112,000 vehicles for Q4 2019, and a total of 367,500 deliveries for all of 2019 (a record for the company). Looking ahead, Tesla says that it will deliver...
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Elon Musk is known to make heavy use of Twitter to keep in contact with his flock. The most recent video that he has shared shows a Tesla car playing sound bytes as it pulls up to someone standing nearby. The video appears to show a Tesla event of some sort as two identical maroon Tesla cars are driving in opposite directions. Musk has promised that eventually, Tesla cars will be able to answer drivers like KITT from Knight Rider. The tweet from Musk, who now apparently goes by "Buff Mage" on Twitter, says Teslas will be able to talk to people if you want. In the video, the Tesla car uses an English accent to say, "Don't just stand there staring, hop in." The car says something else after that...
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The world collectively laughed at the Tesla Cybertruck when Elon Musk unveiled it in California nearly a month ago, but it appears that there is still plenty of interest in the odd-looking electric vehicle. The Cybertruck is billed as being the biggest and baddest half-ton pickup around, and Musk repeatedly compared the truck to the best-selling Ford F-150, and even used a sketchy (and disproven) tug-of-war video to show its skills (see the video further down in this article). Musk just revealed that Cybertruck preorders have ballooned, rising from 146,000 over the weekend to 250,000 as of last night. That means that the potential value of those orders -- if all of those customers...
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk definitely turned heads when he unveiled the long-awaited Cybertruck on Thursday evening. And it wasn't the fact that people were turning their heads to do a longing double take in amazement -- many were turning their heads to look for a puke bag. The controversial, angular styling of the Cybertruck looking nothing like mid-size or full-size trucks currently on the market, and many were just left mouth agape wondering if this was some sort of setup for the "real" truck that would be unveiled at a later date. Despite the talk of the Cybertruck's styling -- and the on-stage "fail" with the supposedly armored glass -- Musk is crowing about strong preorders...
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Image from Padre Labs The amount of pressure that SpaceX is under is enough to make anyone blow their top. This is exactly what happened to a Starship prototype. An upper stage for SpaceX’s Starship MK-1 prototype erupted during a pressurization test. The pressurization test occurred on Wednesday in Boca Chica, Texas. The upper portion of the rocket blew its top 500 feet into the air, while smoke from a ruptured tank of cryogenic propellants dissipated. According to a statement from SpaceX, “The purpose of [the] test was to pressurize systems to the max, so the outcome was not completely unexpected.” Footage of the explosion was caught on a webcam situated on South Padre Island....
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Elon Musk has been teasing the release of a Tesla pickup truck for over two years. According to a tweet by Musk this morning, the so-called "Cybertruck" will be first shown to the public on November 21st. According to Musk, this will be a pickup like no one has ever seen before, and it will look like something straight out of the movie Blade Runner. In fact, the November 2019 unveil is even a thinly veiled reference to that cult classic Ridley Scott film starring Harrison Ford. Cybertruck unveil on Nov 21 in LA near SpaceX rocket factory — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2019 As is usually the case for a new Tesla introduction, some lofty claims are being made for the Cybertruck. Musk...
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Is Tesla’s new Autopilot software all it is cracked up to be? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has learned (after many social media posts) that several Teslas with the “Smart Summon” feature have been in accidents. The NHTSA is currently investigating the claims and is in communication with Tesla. Tesla’s latest software update includes the Smart Summon feature. The feature is available to customers who paid an extra $6,000 for the “Full Self Driving” package. Users can “summon” their vehicle with a phone app as long as it is within 200 feet of their location and in their line of site. The vehicles will then navigate to...
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Tesla released V10 of its software recently and with that update came an enhanced Smart Summon feature. The idea behind Smart Summon is that drivers can press a button and have their car come to them rather than having to walk to their vehicle. It's not exactly a feature that we'd call "necessary", but it's definitely a cool trick to impress friends. The feature reportedly uses the smartphone GPS location of the owner as its target location. However, video of some users testing the new feature has surfaced, and it looks as if Smart Summon is not quite ready for the public. One video from David F. Guajardo shows the man hit the button in the Tesla app to summon his car, and shortly after...
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SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk are back at work when it comes to building the next generation rocket to get humans off the third rock from the sun. One of the most grandiose plans that Musk and SpaceX have dreamed up and are working to make a reality is the massive orbital-class Starship that has been under construction for a while. Musk tweeted this week that the two halves of the Starship are being joined for the first time. The halves are seen in a single image that Musk tweeted being connected as a giant crane holds the top section of the Starship in place. There were no details shared in the tweet, but SpaceX will host an update on the latest design of the Starship tonight at 7 pm CDT from...
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OpenAI has been given a big vote of confidence from Microsoft, which today announced a massive investment into the company. OpenAI is a research lab that counts Elon Musk as a co-founder and has a mission to "ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity." Microsoft has agreed to invest $1 billion into OpenAI in exchange for a multi-year partnership that will see a free-flowing exchange of ideas between the two companies. One takeaway from this new deal is that Microsoft will now become the exclusive cloud computing platform provider for AI, which is a big boost for Azure. Microsoft and OpenAI have also agreed to jointly develop new artificial intelligence technologies...
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