The Tesla Cybertruck - the electric car company's pickup truck - will make its official debut later this month, with CEO Elon Musk confirming the date of the unveil. The unusual name was revealed back on Tesla's Q3 2019 earnings call, Musk referring to the pickup as the "Cybertruck" though not confirming whether that would be the utility's production name.
It may be called Autopilot but Tesla's semi-automated driver assistance feature isn't as self-driving as many, including Tesla owners, presume it to be. It can't even detect traffic cones, which is essential to keeping away from dangerous road construction. That is slowly changing now that Tesla is rolling out pylon detection to its Autopilot feature but drivers should still keep their eyes on the road anyway.
Tesla has begun to roll out an update for its EVs that adds more power to the vehicles at no charge. Tesla says that the update will give the vehicles approximately 5% more power for improved acceleration and performance. The power bump is thanks to Tesla learning how to optimize motor control via software.
Tesla's V3 Solar Roof is finally ready for primetime, solar panels that look like regular roofing tiles and the latest step in Elon Musk's war on fossil fuels. The long-anticipated solar tiles take a different approach to most solar panel installations, being a true roof in themselves rather than requiring separate panels being mounted on an existing roof.
Tesla has announced its Q3 2019 financial results, revealing $6.3 billion in revenue for the most recent quarter, as well as a $383 million increase in cash and cash equivalents to $5.3 billion. The automaker also revealed that trial production is already underway at its Gigafactory Shanghai, which joins the Model Y in being ahead of schedule.
Tesla has increased the price of its Model 3 Standard Range Plus, adding ten miles to its range in the process, while the Model 3 Performance also bumped up its cost. The shuffle was quietly made to Tesla's website configurator, with the most affordable Model 3 available for online ordering now priced at $39,490 before incentives.
Back in July, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the auto company would be increasing the price of its 'Full' Self-Driving option by $1,000 on August 16, something that would happen as part of the regular price increases the option will experience 'every few months.' Once August arrived, however, Musk said Tesla would postpone the price increase -- and now the time has come to roll it out.
Futurists and car makers envision a day when cars would drive themselves while humans sit back and relax or chat on the way to their destinations. that future is still far away given innumerable considerations but one can always start with baby steps, like getting out of the parking space on its own. That's what Tesla newly released Smart Summon was supposed to deliver but, confirming increasing reports from owners, Consumer Reports' review found it to be severely lacking, even dangerous.
Tesla is rolling out its big software version 10.0 update, adding new entertainment options beyond what one might expect for a vehicle, including Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and more. In addition to being able to watch videos (when it's safe to do so, of course), the latest update also brings 'Car-aoke' for singing along with a library of songs, Smart Summon for certain customers, and more.
The Tesla Model S certainly isn't the only electric car on the market, but when it comes to the 2020 Porsche Taycan it's the obvious competition. That makes for an interesting showdown: on the one hand, Tesla has had years to refine and improve its flagship electric sedan, but Porsche brings no small legacy of crafting performance vehicles to the table.
It feels like the Porsche Taycan has been a long time coming. Four years after the German automaker revealed its Mission E concept, the first all-electric sedan from the company better known for the 911 is about to make its public debut, and with it drop a huge bombshell in the EV segment.
Tesla has launched its own insurance product, promising more affordable rates of coverage for drivers of its EVs, though initially only in California. The product - called, unsurprisingly, Tesla Insurance - was first confirmed as being in the pipeline back in April, with CEO Elon Musk claiming at the time that it would be "much more compelling" than rival coverage.