Tesla has been removed as a party to the NTSB's investigation into a fatal Model X crash, with the agency taking issue with the automaker's premature public release of Autopilot information. The crash, on March 23, saw a Model X SUV collide with a barrier on the highway in Mountain View, California, killing the driver.
Elon Musk may be sleeping on the Tesla factory floor to get Model 3 production on track, but he's still finding time to think up new entries in his CEO lexicon. It's fair to say that building a new car isn't an easy process, something Tesla has now discovered several times, but Musk remains reluctant to call it a delay.
Tesla will start production for its Model Y crossover SUV next November, according to sources, who say production will take place at the company's Fremont, California plant. The automaker has reportedly started taking preliminary bids from suppliers regarding the model, though details given to those suppliers are described as "scant." The Model Y's China production will start two years later, the sources claim.
Even though Tesla has been unable to produce as many Model 3 EVs as it wanted to, a new model is coming this summer. When July rolls around Tesla will roll out a dual motor version of the Model 3 that has all-wheel drive. That version of the EV was originally set for a mid-2018 launch.
Tesla produced 9,766 Model 3 electric cars in Q1 2018, the automaker confirmed today, gaining a surge in the final days of the quarter though still missing its self-imposed targets. The Californian car company has been under the spotlight over just how quickly it can ramp up production of its most affordable vehicle, the Model 3, after Tesla conceded that its initial goal had been too aggressive.
You can imagine that in California there are lots of Tesla cars cruising the roads. The EVs are popular in many areas, but California happens to be one of the largest markets. Recently a man driving a Model X using Autopilot was involved in a fatal crash on a section of the 101 in Mountain View, California.
Elon Musk has retaken the car production reins as Tesla faces increased pressure to ramp up Model 3 manufacturing, the company has confirmed. The automaker has spent the past three months attempting to reach its self-imposed target of 2,500 Model 3 cars rolling off the production line each week.
Elon Musk's big April Fools' Day joke was that Tesla was going bankrupt, but the chief exec may be struggling to find the funny side today amid stock price slumps and criticism from numerous angles. The automaker is under the magnifying glass again this week over just how many of its more affordable Model 3 electric sedans it managed to pump off the production line as Q1 2018 came to a close.
One of the big complaints among Tesla Model 3 owners is that all the functions of the car were controlled via the large touchscreen on the dash. The problem with that was that to adjust any settings, the driver had to look away from the road. That is not ideal in a time when distracted driving is a major hazard for all on the road.
Tesla has confirmed that Autopilot was enabled on the Model X that crashed, fatally, in California last week, though says the driver ignored multiple warnings before the incident. The crash saw driver Wei Huang collide with a concrete highway lane divider last Friday, March 23. He later died in hospital from his injuries.
Tesla has announced the voluntary recall of 123,000 Model S cars over a potential problem with power steering. The affected vehicles were made before April 2016, according to the auto maker, which says Model 3 and Model X vehicles aren't impacted. At the heart of the issue is a possibly faulty power steering component that could experience "excessive corrosion."
FedEx will add twenty Tesla Semi trucks to its fleet, with the delivery firm planning to trial the all-electric big rigs into its FedEx Freight division. The trucks, which were announced last year by the California electric car company, are expected to go into production in 2019.