Items tagged with (NASDAQ: TSLA)
Facebook has been embroiled in an almost obscene amount of controversy this past week, as governments begin to ask the social networking giant how a third-party firm managed to acquire comprehensive details on 50 million of its users. A year ago, the idea that Facebook was abused to steer the US election could have been considered a conspiracy, but now, it's widely believed to be likely. Not long after this story originally broke, there was an immediate uptick in the number of people deciding to close or delete their Facebook account. Before long, #DeleteFacebook became a trending hashtag, and it's growing momentum. For a regular user to delete their Facebook account, it may not seem very dramatic....
Read more...
Tesla has just made it official that its much-anticipated Gigafactory will have its grand opening on July 29th. The company itself hasn't issued a public statement on this event, but invites have already been sent out to Tesla owners and others in Tesla's good graces. To say that those who get invited by Tesla is an exclusive club would be an understatement. To qualify for the invite, a person had to act as a referrer to at least five others who ultimately ended up purchasing a Model S. Think being able to purchase a Model S is a luxury? Imagine being able to convince five (or more) friends to snatch one up, too! Tesla's Gigafactory 1 should help reduce the cost of its vehicle batteries...
Read more...
When it was found earlier this year that Apple had begun plucking good engineering talent from competing companies for its electric vehicle project, it seemed like a typical case of one company offering a more enticing deal than the other. But, could it actually be that those fleeing to Apple simply couldn't cut it at the other companies? That was a question raised just yesterday, after Elon Musk made some rather eyebrow-raising statements. He said, in effect, that if Apple snatches up Tesla's talent, it's because those folks couldn't "make it" at his company. In effect, Apple gets the rejects, to put it bluntly. Well, perhaps not as blunt as how Musk put it: "Important engineers? They have hired...
Read more...
The greatest concern most people have with regards to electric vehicles is no doubt obvious: range. While driving around town and from city to city is possible today, few are willing to consider going on lengthier road trips with their EVs. However, as more and more recharge stations roll out, it will become far easier to do that as time goes on. Still, to have more capability upfront would be ideal. According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the battery situation is only going to get better. In an interview with Danish newspaper Borsen this week, Musk notes that we should be able to see 1,000 KM (~621 miles) range possible in the next year with select models, and by 2020, he believes that 1,200 KM (~745...
Read more...
Tesla Model S owners: some goodies are en route. Via a couple of tweets, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that an update will be rolling out in the near-future that will improve its flagship's highway autosteer and parallel parking capabilities. Parallel parking explains itself, but on the autosteer front, the car would be able to handle highway driving 100%, without the driver having to push a single control. Almost ready to release highway autosteer and parallel autopark software update— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2015 Final corner case is dealing with low contrast lane markings (faded white on grey concrete) while driving into the sun at dusk— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2015...
Read more...
It was the furthest thing from being a secret that Tesla had major ambitions for its battery-producing "Gigafactory", located in Nevada, but as we can now see, we've yet to see the full extent of what the company has in store. According to The Wall Street Journal, Tesla has tripled its land holdings over the past couple of months, giving it about 3,000 acres worth of desert to thrive on. Apparently, the purchase for the additional land was made at a time when the company's finances were strained from retooling a factory in California, but, to the company's favor, it recently secured credit lines of up to $750 million to help things get on track faster. The same report says that Tesla isn't going...
Read more...
We learned some important details about Tesla's upcoming in-home batteries late last week, and now, thanks to analyst Trip Chowdhry, we now have a clearer idea of what it will cost. Backing up what we learned earlier this month, Tesla's battery will cost $13,000 outright. There's also the option to shell out $1,500 for a down payment and then pay $15/month for 10 years, after which point the battery will go back to Elon Musk-backed SolarCity. Tesla Model S battery pack Nothing has changed so far regarding Tesla also getting into supplying batteries to "utilities". As mentioned in last week's post, Walmart has already signed on board, which is without question a major win for Tesla. Why would...
Read more...
Tesla might seem like it's an invincible company lately, but when it comes to software and social media, it shares the same risks us common folk do, something yesterday's events help emphasize. Nowadays, it's not at all surprising to learn that some company's Twitter account had its security breached, and likewise, it's not surprising to learn that it's happened to Tesla. But where this gets a little unique is with the fact that Elon Musk's Twitter was also broken into, and if that wasn't enough, Tesla's website was compromised, as well. It's clear that those who defaced Tesla's website are not talented designers, but I guess it gets their point across. There are a couple of Twitter profiles...
Read more...
Tesla is going to be announcing a brand-new "not a car" product at its Hawthorne Design Studio on April 30, and now the Web is abuzz with speculation of what it could be. What does seem likely at this point, though, is that it could be an in-home battery that's backed by solar energy. Major new Tesla product line -- not a car -- will be unveiled at our Hawthorne Design Studio on Thurs 8pm, April 30— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2015 As Benzinga reports, the amount of information Global Equities analyst Chip Chowdhry provides does lend a great deal of credibility to the in-home battery being Tesla's next big announcement. It's said that currently, about 230 homes in California and 100 in other...
Read more...
Despite certain states trying to block the direct sale of its electric vehicles, Tesla Motors continues to impress the consumers that do manage to get their hands on a Model S. According to a recent Consumer Reports buyer survey, Tesla drivers were more likely to say that they would purchase their cars again than Porsche owners, which came in second, or anyone else for that matter. For a second year in a row, the Tesla Model S luxury electric sedan was at the top of the U.S. survey. The Model S scored 98 out of 100, down from its score of 99 last year, with Porsche coming in second place with a score of 87. Overall, the average satisfaction score of all 280 vehicles surveyed was 70. “Not only...
Read more...
When I first heard that Tesla founder Elon Musk equated artificial intelligence to 'summoning the demon', I had to do a double-take. After all, many consider Musk to be nothing short of a genius; he's accomplished many amazing things to prove it. Yet, he really did say this, so is he just trying to rile people up, and see their reactions? Or does he genuinely believe it? Talking at MIT's Aeronautics and Astronautics Department's Centennial Symposium last week, Musk said, "With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. You know all those stories where there's the guy with the pentagram and the holy water and he's like... yeah, he's sure he can control the demon—it doesn't...
Read more...
When Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk hinted last week at wanting to unveil the "D", along with "something else", it was a little difficult to gauge what either of those things would be. On the D front, it turns out that it refers to Tesla's new dual motor design, something that was actually widely speculated over the past week. This motor will be put into a new Model S called P85D, and with its all-wheel drive, it's able to go - get this - 0 to 60 in 3.2 seconds. As you'd expect, the P85D is going to bump Model S' price up nicely, to $120,000. Come February, two other all-wheel drive models will come out, 60D and 85D, which should satisfy those not wanting to break the $100,000 barrier. Performance...
Read more...
After a couple of months of anticipation, Tesla Motors has chosen Nevada as the state to house its $5 billion "Gigafactory". Final state approval has to go through Nevada's legislature, but it seems unlikely that there will be any roadblocks. This Gigafactory is ultimately going to add about 6,500 jobs to the economy, with each paying an average of $25/hour. Beyond that, it's speculated to boost Nevada's economy by $100 billion in the first 20 years. By 2020, Tesla expects that its Gigafactory will be able to produce enough batteries for a staggering 500,000 Tesla vehicles every single year. Further, this net-zero factory will generate at least as much power as it uses, and Tesla expects that...
Read more...
Think the future of transportation has us all in flying cars like the Jetsons? Think again. That's not something we're likely to see in our lifetime, however we may witness the completion of several "Hyperloop" transport systems designed to get you from point A to point B at breakneck speeds. This is the dream of Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk, who describes Hyperloop as a "cross between a Concorde, a rail gun, and an air hockey table." Alternately, you can think of it as an enclosed tube that's propped way up off the ground. It would use a magnetic levitation system similar to high-speed bullet trains, except passengers would travel in capsules across a surface with almost no friction. A Colorado...
Read more...
