TorqueNews Hot Topics (Page 33)

For some time now, we have known that Tesla is working on a smaller compact vehicle. However, today as part of the white paper release for Master Plan Part 3, Tesla has revealed it's also working on 3 new vehicles. These include a commercial/passenger van, a bus, and a short-range heavy truck (Semi Light).

Tesla's biggest advantage in the race to level 5 autonomy is the hundreds of thousands of Tesla vehicles out on the road collecting real-world data. However, now Elon Musk says Tesla's autopilot has gotten so good that the EV maker has to rely on simulation to train its AI on serious accidents. Musk also added that this is the case despite FSD Beta driving 1 million miles per day.

Tesla China has just posted a record delivery number for the month of March producing and selling 88,869 vehicles. This number is even more impressive when we take into account that Tesla has been dealing with numerous challenges in China.

After adding a third shift at Giga Berlin and reaching a production rate of 5000 vehicles a week, Tesla is now reportedly looking to add a fourth shift. With the addition of the new shift, Tesla plans to grow vehicle production at the plant to 10,000 vehicles a week or 500,000 vehicles a year.

Tesla officially inaugurated Giga Texas less than a year ago. However, today, the EV maker has announced that the plant has reached a Model Y production rate of 4000 vehicles a week. This gives Giga Texas an annualized production rate of 200,000 vehicles per year.

Tesla has posted its Q1 2023 production and delivery numbers and despite the massive price cuts the EV maker instituted at the beginning of the quarter, Tesla has nonetheless posted flat growth. Although disappointing, several factors suggest that Tesla will increase production and deliveries in the coming quarters.

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, today took to Twitter to share his excitement about the upcoming production of the Cybertruck at the company's Gigafactory in Texas. In a tweet, Musk wrote, "Walked whole Cybertruck production line at Giga Texas for several hours earlier today – gonna be awesome!" He added that it "feels like the future."

According to data released by JATO, in the month of February, the Model Y has become the best-selling vehicle in Europe. And even more impressively, the Model Y was able to beat not only battery-electric vehicles but also internal-combustion vehicles with a significantly lower starting price.

Following the success of the Lathrop, Califonia Megafactory, Tesla at the recently held Investor Day said the plant will be replicated all around the world. And today, a new job opening by Tesla China has all but confirmed that the EV maker is planning to build a new Megapack factory in China.

Tesla is in the process of massively expanding vehicle production. And of these expansion projects, the latest one is Tesla's new factory in Mexico. Giga Mexico is expected to produce vehicles built on Tesla's next-generation, much more efficient, Gen-3 platform. And today, Elon Musk has confirmed that Giga Mexico will use less water per vehicle than any other car factory in the world.

Elon Musk says Tesla will start utilizing the inward-facing cabin camera to detect occupants. And if the camera detects passengers, Tesla will keep the car “on” for entertainment & comfort even if the driver has locked the car and walked away.

According to insurance registration data for the Chinese market released today, in the week between March 20 and 26, Tesla insurance registrations totaled 15,886 vehicles. This pushes Tesla’s insured vehicles in Q1 2023 up to March 26 to 126,000 vehicles. This is already higher than the previous quarterly record Tesla set in Q3 2022 delivering over 122,000 vehicles.

The Cybertruck has seen several improvements since it was unveiled back in 2019. One of those improvements targeted at the truck's practicality and maneuverability is 4-wheel steering. And today, in response to a new video of a preproduction beta Cybertruck showing off its agility in Californian streets, Elon Musk has suggested that the Cybertruck will be easier to maneuver than the Model Y.

It has been more than two years since Tesla last delivered the Model S and X to China. This has undoubtedly disappointed a lot of prospective buyers, however, the wait is finally over as a ship has unloaded thousands of refreshed Model S & X vehicles in mainland China.

In recent times, Tesla has been massively increasing vehicle production and in order to keep demand in line with the added capacity, the EV maker has been cutting vehicle prices and offering incentives to entice new buyers. And today, Tesla has added a new incentive for Model S & X buyers in the form of 10,000 free supercharging miles.

Last week Tesla released FSD Beta v11.3 to Tesla owners in the company's Early Access program. This is the last major FSD update and has brought vector spaces and the use of all 8 cameras to highway driving. In addition, V11 also replaced manually written codes with neural nets for highway driving. And today, after bug fixes Tesla has released FSD Beta v11.3.3 to the wider public.

Tesla officially inaugurated Giga Berlin only 11 months ago. However, today, the EV maker has announced that the plant has reached a Model Y production rate of 5000 vehicles a week. This gives Giga Berlin an annualized production rate of 250,000 vehicles per year.

Cathie Wood and her firm ARK Invest are famous for their optimistic Tesla prediction. According to the firm's latest analysis, ARK has a $1,500 price target for the EV maker's shares. However, despite the bullish call, ARK has offloaded a notable proportion of the firm's Tesla holdings from two of its funds.

According to data released by China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), in the month of February, the Model Y has become the best-selling SUV in China. And even more impressively, the Model Y was able to beat not only battery-electric vehicles but also internal-combustion vehicles with a significantly lower starting price.

Elon Musk has received a $1.7 million award from Tesla as part of a company-wide patent incentive program. Tesla awarded this prize to Musk in a form of an option to buy 10,500 Tesla shares at an average price of $4.73.

Tesla, in the last 2 months has announced it will be building 2 new factories - one adjacent to Giga Nevada, and another in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. However, despite the already aggressive expansion plans, an Indonesian official has confirmed talks to build an EV plant are ongoing and that Giga Mexico doesn't change Tesla's plant to build a factory in Asia.

Although by now it might seem that Tesla is issuing a recall for its vehicles every other week, most recalls are benign software issues addressed by an over-the-air software update. However, today, Tesla has issued a rare physical recall for improperly torqued bolts fastening the second-row seat back of the Model Y.

Tesla China has just posted a record delivery number for the month of February producing and selling 74,402 vehicles. This number is even more impressive when we take into account that Tesla has shut down the Giga Shanghai Model 3 production line for half of the month.

Don't head out on the trails without these interior upgrades designed just for the Wrangler and heavy weather!

A Toyota executive who took part in the Model Y teardown spoke with Automotive News in conditions of anonymity and said about the all-electric crossover “taking the skin off the Model Y, it was truly a work of art. It’s unbelievable.”

Tesla officially inaugurated Giga Berlin only 11 months ago. However, today, the EV maker has announced that the plant has reached a Model Y production rate of 4000 vehicles a week. This gives Giga Berlin an annualized production rate of 200,000 vehicles per year.

In response to a tweet by Whole Mars Catalog, who wrote “I can’t wait to see people’s stunned reactions as Cybertruck climbs the sales charts,” Musk responded by tempering expectations saying “ramping production will be the challenge, not demand.”

In a new Tesla patent application, we get our first details regarding Cybertruck’s exoskeleton. In the patent application, Tesla details the superior anticorrosive and strength properties of the 30X cold-rolled stainless steel alloy the Cybertruck will be built out of.

With the incredible rise in Tesla’s stock price, short sellers betting against the EV maker have already lost $7.2 billion since the start of the year.

Current Tesla Model S or Model X owners with active unlimited free Supercharging are now eligible for an additional $5,000 toward their trade-in value.