Development of new vehicles, especially if they're on underpinnings that haven't been used in previous models, follows a very predictable schedule. First, a concept car is revealed. Often, it's a thinly disguised version of the future production car with some added design flourishes that won't make it onto the assembly lines. Then spy shots of... Tesla Model 3: beta phase to be skipped, will go straight to production?
Development of new vehicles, especially if they're on underpinnings that haven't been used in previous models, follows a very predictable schedule. First, a concept car is revealed. Often, it's a thinly disguised version of the future production car with some added design flourishes that won't make it onto the assembly lines. Then spy shots of...
Lots of people like horse races, win-or-lose competitions, and rankings. They're easy to understand, and definitive. They may also lose the forest for the trees, which is what we're tempted to suggest about a new article that addresses the launch of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car. GM's 238-mile battery-electric hatchback is rolling out...
Tesla says it will put its mass-priced Model 3 electric car into production by July, and ramp up production extremely quickly from there. CEO Elon Musk hopes to be building 5,000 cars each week by the end of the year; he previously set a goal of producing 500,000 cars across all model lines by the end of 2018. The Model 3 is the vital linchpin of...
Is there no middle ground in discussing electric-car maker Tesla Motors? The challenge of reading large volumes of Tesla coverage is that it tends to be either rabidly positive or sharply negative. And the company's stock is so obsessively analyzed both by supporters and detractors that sober analysis is often hard to come by. DON'T MISS: Tesla...
Since more than 350,000 people around the world put down $1,000 deposits to reserve a place in line, the Tesla Model 3 electric car has assumed larger-than-life status. Its maker, Silicon Valley-based Tesla Motors, recently reaffirmed that series production will start in June and that Model 3 deliveries will begin in the second half of the year...
The lithium-ion battery pack is at the heart of any electric car. Its cost, energy density, and safety features do as much as any other feature of an electric car to determine its success. And battery packs from Tesla Motors differ from those built by virtually any other electric-car maker in at least one key aspect. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model 3...
Tesla Motors has spent more than 10 years beating the odds for startup automakers. Most new, independent makers barely survive long enough to produce a handful of vehicles, let alone sell more than 100,000 and garner praise from both customers and the media—as the electric-car startup has done. Now the Silicon Valley automaker can claim...
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded vigorously to an employee's claims of low wages and commonplace on-the-job injuries. In an email to employees and statements to media outlets, Musk denied the claims and accused the employee who made them of being a paid union agitator. Earlier this month, Jose Moran said Tesla employees, "routinely work well over...
If you wanted to start a green taxi service—and had ample funds to do so—Tesla electric cars would seem to be a good choice. The Model S and Model X offer plenty of interior space and range, and their popularity would like raise the profile of any taxi service using them. So perhaps it's not surprising that the Dubai Taxi Corporation...
Tesla Motors confirmed today that it expected to start production of its crucial Model 3 electric car in July, and claims that it will boost production to 5,000 cars a week by the end of this year. The new was contained in Tesla's latest letter to its shareholders, and it started with the third sentence. The company's statements restate some of...
The Tesla Model S, now into its sixth model year, just keeps getting quicker. When Tesla introduced the current P100D version, it quoted a 0-to-60-mph time of 2.5 seconds. But then it released a "Ludicrous Plus" software upgrade, cutting that time to 2.4 seconds. DON'T MISS: Tesla P100D 'Ludicrous Plus' mode makes electric car even faster Then...
Unlike most automakers, Tesla doesn't schedule redesigns, updates, and new features for its cars to coincide with traditional model years. Aided by the fact that most of its new features are software-related, Tesla takes a more flexible approach. Many new features are pushed to its electric cars whenever they're ready, in the form of over-the-air...
As an auto company that exclusively produces electric cars, Tesla Motors has a very appropriate name. It is, of course, named after Nikola Tesla, a famed engineer who pioneered technologies related to electricity. So what might Nikola Tesla think of his namesake? DON'T MISS: Pilot production of Tesla Model 3 to start Feb 20: report That's the...
Tesla said yesterday it would shut down its production lines for one week this month to prepare for the launch of its upcoming Model 3 electric sedan. The Silicon Valley carmaker said the "brief, planned pause" was to add paint-shop capacity and do general maintenance at its assembly plant in Fremont, California. An exclusive Reuters news service...
An automaker's logo can and perhaps should be as recognizable as its cars, if not more. That makes logo design a very important task. Tesla's logo is certainly not anonymous, but it turns out there's more to it than may be immediately apparent. DON'T MISS: Why Faraday Future's luxury electric car is named FF 91 What looks like simply a stylized...
Last year, after Tesla updated the radar, camera, and ultrasonic sensors on its electric cars, CEO Elon Musk said the new hardware’s capabilities would lag behind the cars on the street already. Now, Musk has projected that the “Hardware 2.0” cars may surpass the older generation of “Hardware 1.0” vehicles and be “fully self-driving” in 3 to 6…