Items tagged with Tesla
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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The EV wars are heating up, with both the Tesla Model S and the Porsche Taycan duking it out in the center ring. It all started late last month when the new Porsche Taycan set a Nürburgring lap record for a 4-door electric vehicle with a time of 7:42. Tesla CEO Elon Musk got a bit chippy at the Taycan record and declared that he would be sending a Model S to the Nürburgring to set a new EV record. Since that time, Tesla has captured a new course record for a four-door EV at Laguna Seca and has been seen zipping around the Nürburgring at a furious pace. According to people who were at the famed circuit and timed the vehicle (by hand), the new Model S with its...
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Tesla took to the track at Laguna Seca Raceway (or WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, if you prefer) and set new lap record (unofficial) for a four-door sedan, with a pre-production Model S built around a new "Plaid" powertrain. The prototype vehicle is even faster goes even faster than what current Model S vehicles can achieve in "Ludicrous" mode. "Some personal news. We lapped Laguna Seca in 1:36.555 during advanced R&D testing our Model S Plaid powertrain and chassis prototype. That's a second faster than the record for a four-door sedan," Tesla stated on Twitter. Electric vehicles (EVs) have grown up fast in the past several years. Earlier this month, for example, Porsche debuted its Taycan...
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After months of teasers, Porsche has finally unveiled the production version of its first fully-electric vehicle: the Taycan. The sleek, 4-door sports car will be positioned against the Tesla Model S in the high-end segment of the EV market, and its performance/endurance will leave its primary competitor in its dust on the race track. Starting with performance, the flagship trim will be the Taycan Turbo S. Let's get this out of the way, the "Turbo" name makes absolutely no sense on the Taycan. The Taycan doesn't have an internal combustion engine, and hence it doesn't have a turbocharger. But we digress... the Taycan Turbo S generates an incredible 750 horsepower from two permanent magnetic...
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At this point, Porsche is going a bit overboard with the teasers for its upcoming Taycan electric vehicle. The Taycan is being billed as the first credible competitor to the Tesla Model S from a legacy automaker, and Porsche is pulling out all the stops to ensure that it offers a winning combination of performance, usable range, and styling. Last week we got a small glimpse of the Taycan's interior along with confirmation that it would be the first vehicle with dedicated support for Apple Music streaming. Porsche has now fully revealed the Taycan's interior, and it is a tech enthusiast's dream come true. We count no less than four display screens in this particular example. The primary display...
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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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