Items tagged with Tesla
Move over Tesla Roadster; there is a new hypercar on the horizon that is aiming to take the world by storm. And rather than coming from some no-name company with grand [and unobtainable] ambitions, this new vehicle comes from legendary British carmaker Lotus. Witness the Evija, which is said to be Britain's first ever all-electric hypercar. It will feature a lightweight carbon fiber monocoque chassis with total vehicle weight of just 3,700 lbs with its battery pack installed. Speaking of the lithium-ion battery pack, it has a total capacity of 70 kWh according to Lotus (for reference, the upcoming Tesla Roadster has a 200-kWh battery pack). Lotus says that the Evija has two in-line axial electric...
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When we think of electric vehicles, BMW isn't exactly the first company to come to mine; that distinction is usually reserved for Tesla. However, the German automaker is looking to move beyond low-volume exercises like the i3 and the i8 as it further integrates mainstream electric vehicles into its lineup. That brings us to the Power BEV, which is a development mule for a high-performance electric powertrain that could find its way into future BMWs. The Power BEV was created from an M550i xDrive donor vehicle which is already setup for all-wheel drive (we'll talk more about this later). BMW then ripped out all of the internal combustion engine (ICE) components to make way for a battery pack and...
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Automakers are taking the first steps to autonomous autos with systems like Tesla Autopilot and Cadillac's Super Cruise. Tesla is always inching closer to full automation with Autopilot recently gaining the ability to change lanes without human input. Cadillac has announced that it is adding a huge number of new miles of Super Cruise compatible highways to its network. The automaker says that an additional 70,000 miles will be available for hands-free driving by Q4 2019. The additional 70,000 miles of highways include new roadways in the U.S. and Canada. Currently, Super Cruise is available on 130,000 miles of limited-access freeways. Caddy says that the expansion builds on Super Cruise's...
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Tesla is famous for its immensely powerful electric cars and their ever-increasing range thanks to advances in battery chemistry, motor design, and software updates. The company is also famous -- for better or worse -- for its Autopilot software, which allows the vehicle to take over the task of driving, and even changing lanes in certain instances. However, new analysis out from Consumer Reports suggests that one subset of Autopilot -- Navigate on Autopilot -- is somewhat half-baked in its current iteration and needs a lot more work. As we've previously reported, Navigate on Autopilot is the latest step towards full autonomy for Tesla vehicles. The feature allows a Model 3, Model...
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Following an investigation into a fatal crash involving a Tesla Model 3 and a semi-truck, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that the autopilot feature in the Model 3 was in fact engaged at the time of the accident. Interestingly, the Model 3 was traveling 68 miles per hour in a 55 MPH zone on US 441 in Delray Beach, Florida. The southbound highway where the accident happened consists of two lanes, with two more lanes going northbound, separated by a grass median. There is also a turn lane that heads into a private driveway where the accident occurred. "As the Tesla approached the private driveway, the combination vehicle pulled from the driveway and traveled east...
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Tesla has been betting big on autonomous driving and recently held an Autonomy Day where it rolled out its new, next-generation full self-driving computer claiming that it was the most powerful in the world. For a long time now Elon Musk has been proclaiming that Tesla cars with Autopilot would be able to travel across the country autonomously. Musk has now bragged that later this year Tesla cars with the Full Self-Driving software will be able to drive autonomously across the country from LA to New York. This is the first time that Musk We could have gamed an LA/NY Autopilot journey last year, but when we do it this year, everyone with Tesla Full Self-Driving will be able to do it too —...
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When it comes to electric cars, Tesla had a big head start versus traditional automakers when it introduced its first [ground up design] Model S in 2012. It then followed up with the Model X crossover and the Model 3 entry-level sedan. Automakers like Mercedes-Benz have watched as Tesla has increased EV mindshare with the public and is looking to take its own steps into this “green” market with the EQC. Mercedes-Benz first announced the EQC back in September 2018, but the company today announced that the first production models are now rolling off the assembly line in Bremen, Germany. In fact, rather than getting its own bespoke factory, the EQC is being produced at the...
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Range anxiety? What range anxiety? Just as traditional ICE (internal combustion engine) auto manufacturers are attempting to field their own entries into the luxury electric vehicle market, Tesla is moving the goal posts again. The company's EVs already have greater range their new competitors (by a fair margin), and now drivetrain updates are widening the gap even further. Tesla announced this week that it is using a new permanent magnet synchronous reluctance motor -- which has previously seen duty in the Model 3 -- on its Model S sedan and Model X crossover. This could with improvements to its bearings, gear design, lubrication and cooling allow the company to achieve a stunning...
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The automotive world is inching towards fully autonomous rides that can take us where we want to go without driver intervention. Tesla seems to be reaching towards full autonomy faster than competing brands; earlier this month the automaker announced that its Autopilot system could change lanes without driver input. Tesla has now announced that its latest self-driving hardware is available and it's called the Full Self-Driving Computer or FSD. The hardware was formerly known as Autopilot Hardware 3.0. Tesla also clarified that the new FSD is already installed in all new Model S and Model X cars that were built starting around March 20th. The new hardware is also inside many Model 3 vehicles that...
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Tesla’s wild few months of price changes, new trim introductions/deletions, and a new Model Y crossover is coming to a head this week with another round of changes. In a blog post that went up late last night, Tesla announced that it is in effect killing the $35,000 Model 3 Standard Range that it just recently announced in February. Tesla’s end goal with the Model 3 was always to get to the mythical $35,000 price point, and everyone thought that the time had come for the vehicle when it was made available to purchase in late February. However, customers never received the vehicles which were to have a cloth interior, a lower 220-mile range, and lack features like...
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Tesla is moving one step closer to fully autonomous driving with the latest update to its Autopilot software; more specifically, the optional Navigate on Autopilot feature. With Navigate On Autopilot, you can punch in a destination and while on the highway, the vehicle will autonomously take you to your destination with prompts to commit to lane changes along the way. The way it currently works, if your Tesla wants to make a lane change, the driver must confirm the action before the vehicle proceeds to take the necessary action. The new update allows the car to decide for itself if and when to change lanes automatically – all without driver intervention. Tesla writes: Once enabled,...
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Apple has lost one of its key engineers that was instrumental in the development of the A-series chips that are used in the iPhone and iPad going back to the A7. The engineer is Gerard Williams III, and he was a senior director in platform architecture for Apple. His departure has been kept quiet but was confirmed by a person familiar with the matter according to reports. Williams wasn't well known outside of the company, but Apple device users have relied on his work for years. Williams led the development of every one of Apple's chips since the A7, which was the first 64-bit processor for mobile devices, up to the 12X chip that is the brain of the latest iPad Pro. Late in Williams' tenure at...
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If there’s one that you can expect with Tesla pricing; it’s the unexpected. The company ruffled more than a few feathers over the past month when it reduced prices across the board on the Autopilot feature and its existing EV lineup: the Model S, Model X, Model 3. The company then reversed course by raising prices after complaints from customers. Now, the company is again raising eyebrows by increasing prices on its all-new Model Y, which was just revealed a little less than two weeks ago. At the unveiling of the crossover EV, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that pricing for the Standard Range, Long Range, Dual Motors AWD and Performance models would come in...
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Tesla builds one of the most tech-infused cars on the roads today. Not only are Tesla vehicles packed with features but they also offer over-the-air updates with new features, fixes and optimizations. Tesla was able to get the price of the Model 3 down to the long-anticipated $35,000 late last month, but a team of security researchers have taken advantage of the open nature of the Tesla Model 3 and were able to hack the car on the last day of the Pwn2Own 2019 hacking contest that was held in Vancouver, Canada. The team that successfully hacked the Model 3 was called Fluoroacetate and includes two members, Amat Cama, and Richard Zhu. The duo was able to hack the Tesla via its integrated browser...
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