Kez Casey and Scott Collie join Mandy Turner this week. In car news, the 2019 Skoda Kodiaq RS has been confirmed, 2018 Ram 1500 pricing and specs have been released, and the Kia Cerato will get the GT treatment...
Tesla will cut thousands of jobs in search of reduced costs and strong profit margins, as part of a restructure promised by Elon Musk last month. In an internal email to staff, the company's CEO said the cuts were "almost entirely made from [its] salaried population and no production associates were included" which, if the email is to be believed, shouldn't impact Model 3 production numbers...
Elon Musk has taken to Twitter promising some 'full self-driving features' will be rolled out as part of an August update for Tesla's Autopilot driver assist system. At the moment, Autopilot is limited to Level 2 automation. Although stories about Tesla 'drivers' sleeping and sitting in the passenger seat – and, unfortunately, crashing while reliant on the system – abound, Autopilot is only meant to operate under constant driver supervision...
Tesla's profit margins – or rather, its constant losses – have been the subject of countless column inches, but no-one has done the maths on what a Model 3 actually costs to build. That is, no one had until WirtschaftsWoche broke down four Model 3s in what Elon Musk described as the "best analysis of Model 3 to date"...
Two groups, The Center for Auto Safety and Consumer Watchdog, have called on the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the Tesla Autopilot system. The two organisations claim Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, have deliberately misled and deceived "consumers into believing that Autopilot is safer and more capable than it is known to be", and have "made it reasonable for Tesla owners to believe, and act on that belief, that a Tesla with Autopilot is an autonomous vehicle capable of 'self-driving'"...
Elon Musk, outspoken Tesla CEO, has confirmed the company's precarious financial situation is the reason it can't build the entry-level Tesla Model 3 at the moment. Responding to a question posed on Twitter by Ivaylo Ivanov, Musk replied, "Shipping min cost Model 3 right away wd cause Tesla to lose money & die"...
Elon Musk is promising to fix the problems with the Model 3's braking performance, after Consumer Reports – a similar publication to Choice – returned poor results in its braking tests, and dubbed the car 'not good enough to recommend'. During testing, Consumer Reports discovered "flaws – big flaws" with the 'affordable' Model 3's brakes...
Another Tesla Model S has been involved in an accident with Autopilot engaged, raising more questions about how humans interact with semi-autonomous driver assist systems. Police say the car smashed into a stationary firetruck at around 100km/h, leaving the driver with a broken right ankle. The airbags in the car fired, while no-one from the firetruck was injured...
Elon Musk has confirmed the order books will open for dual-motor and performance-oriented Model 3 variants this week, with production to start in July. The news was announced (surprise surprise) on Twitter, and matches an April tweet claiming the expanded line-up would be available from "probably July"...
Tesla has offered a very brief look at a new model, as part of a tightly-produced promo video dubbed 'Tesla 2018'. Along with footage of the Model 3 driving through a warehouse and some shots from the production line, the video shows an unfinished car partially obscured by a sheet...
Elon Musk and Deepak Ahuja, CEO and CFO at Tesla respectively, have told investors the company will be turning a profit during the second half of 2018. In the quarterly letter and call to investors, the two Tesla high-ups reinforced their belief the company won't need additional external funding this year, thanks in part to a comprehensive restructure of contractors...
Tesla has paused Model 3 production for up to five days, as it seeks to improve automation processes in its Fremont, California, factory. According to a report in BuzzFeed, the break in production came as a surprise to employees, who have allegedly been forced to use annual leave or stay home without pay...
The more powerful, dual-motor Tesla Model 3 could enter production as soon as July this year, as the brand continues its production ramp-up. Asked by a Twitter user when the dual-motor model would arrive, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla needs to be building 5000 cars per week before adding another variant to the line...
Tesla has once again missed its production target for the Model 3, but things are improving in the brand's push for mass-market success. The company described Q1, 2018 as "by far the most productive quarter" in its history, with a total 34,494 cars produced. Just 9766 of that figure were the Model 3 – the rest were Model S and Model X...
Tesla has stood by plans to build 2500 Model 3s per week by the end of March, despite having posted its worst-ever quarterly loss in Q4 of 2017. The company lost US$675.4 million ($864.2 million) across October, November and December 2017, compared to a $121 million loss in the same period of 2016. The information was disclosed in its financial results and shareholder letter...
Who saw that coming? Tesla, having announced its semi-trailer to the world, whipped the covers off a successor to its first vehicle last week, the Roadster. Its claimed numbers are seriously impressive: the 'base' car dispatches the 0-96km/h sprint in 1.9 seconds, and will have a top speed around 400km/h. Oh, and range is expected to be around 1000km...
The surprise reveals from Tesla continue, with the company previewing an pickup based on the Semi revealed last week. Shown during the launch of the Tesla Semi and manic Tesla Roadster, the design sketch above shows a fairly large ute with another ute sitting in the tray - CEO Elon Musk describes it as a "pickup that can carry a pickup truck"...
Tesla has pulled an old school 'surprise reveal' today, wheeling out a second iteration of the Roadster that originally made the company's name. We thought we were just going to be watching the web reveal of its new electric truck..
Volkswagen Group CEO, Matthias Müller, has used a panel discussion to take aim at Tesla. Speaking at a forum about the future of the automotive industry, Müller didn’t mince words when talking about the low volumes, regular losses and reported layoffs plaguing Tesla...
Fiat Chrysler CEO, Sergio Marchionne, is still sceptical about the economic viability of Tesla, and the short-term profitability of production electric vehicles. Speaking at an event in New York, Marchionne said he was “unconvinced” as to whether Elon Musk would be able to bring Tesla to profit with his current model...
