Musk aims to transform Tesla into self-driving robo-taxi company

2017 Tesla Model S testing at Consumer ReportsAt an investor presentation on Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk laid out plans essentially to transition the company from a traditional car manufacturer to an operator of self-driving “robo-taxis.” Musk reiterated a statement he made in January that all Tesla cars built since last month will have “feature complete” full...

Tesla Model 3 updates: Leasing, Autopilot standard, base model limited

Tesla Model 3 bought [Photo by reader AH]Tesla announced major changes to its model lineup Thursday, especially the Model 3, in an effort to shore up sales. After the federal tax credit available on its cars halved Jan. 1, Tesla has dropped prices, added features, streamlined its model lineup, and introduced new lower-priced options for the Model 3, including the long-promised $35,000...

Tesla unleashes driver warnings from Navigate on Autopilot

Tesla Model 3 dashboard in Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]In a blog post on Thursday, Tesla announced that drivers will no longer have to approve lane changes when the car's Navigate on Autopilot system is engaged. It's a small step, but also a pretty big leap toward self-driving cars. Navigate on Autopilot is Tesla's "on-ramp to off-ramp" self-driving system, which allows its cars that have the feature...

Volkswagen ID Roomzz full-size electric SUV to bow in Shanghai

Volkswagen ID Roomz concept for Shanghai auto show 2019Last month, Volkswagen announced that it will expand its upcoming electric-car lineup from 50 new models by 2023 to 70 new models by 2028. But it gave no indication what many of those new models will be. On Tuesday, the brand revealed the sixth new member of its upcoming ID electric family: The VW ID Roomzz, a full-sized SUV will make its debut in...

Tesla starts Hardware 3 rollout: Enhanced Summon, red-light warnings

Tesla Model 3 Enhanced Summon video still [by YouTuber  Nagaraj Kelageri]Like Teslas rolling through parking lots on their own, the self-driving future is inching closer. This week, Tesla owners began to experience new features of the company's long-promised next update to its self-driving system, including Enhanced Summon, which is one of the first features of Tesla's planned Full Self-Driving capability to be...

Tesla Autopilot ranks next-to-last in study of self-driving systems

Tesla Model 3 dashboard in Autopilot testing with IIHS [CREDIT: IIHS]Tesla, its owners and fans, and its CEO Elon Musk crow a lot about the capabilities of its Autopilot self-driving system. In independent comparisons, though, other autonomous driving systems keep coming out ahead. The latest is from Navigant Research, an automotive consulting firm, and the results aren't rosy for Tesla's Autopilot. It rated second...

2019 CES: Quiet year for green-car and self-driving news

2019 Nissan Leaf PlusAs always, the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show held this week in Las Vegas was massive. Hundreds of thousands of attendees, workers, and support staff converged at multiple venues to show off their latest wares, meet with clients, partners, and the media and try to break through the news clutter. For automotive news, however, this year’s CES...