Tesla has been facing a slump in sales of its high-end models, the Model S and Model X. Year-over-year numbers reveal a 14% drop in global deliveries during Q3, with a total of 45,905 units sold in the first nine months of 2023, down 7% from last year. A stark contrast to its glory days when Tesla was able to sell approximately 100,000 units annually.

The company is also making all optional paint colors free

To combat this downward spiral, Tesla is going colorful. Previously, the automaker introduced an Ultra Red paint option, initially priced at $3,000. But as of September, Tesla decided to give its customers more bang for their buck by making all optional paint colors free. Additionally, substantial price reductions were applied to both models, ranging from $13,500 to $18,500.

This month, Tesla announced another strategy: the introduction of a Stealth Grey color option, replacing the existing Midnight Gray. Interestingly, this color is available only in North America and Asia, sidestepping the European market despite all vehicles coming from the same factory. The new hue made its debut on the Model 3 Highland version produced in Tesla’s Giga Shanghai factory, and it seems to be a hit.

Why is Tesla banking on color changes to drive sales? While price cuts might make the financial aspect more appealing, color options can offer an emotional connection or make a style statement. Though the success of the new Stealth Grey color remains to be seen, Tesla seems to believe that sometimes, beauty isn’t just skin deep—it’s paint deep.

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Tesla Model X and Model S have been spotted with new cameras. Social media influencer ‘The Kilowatts’ who regularly spies on upcoming Electric Vehicles including Tesla Models, has captured images of the Models S and X with the latest upgrades. 

He found the new cameras and upgraded hardware on Fremont, California-made Tesla Model S, and Model X units. The new Hardware 4 is speculated to come with a total of 11 cameras. This is way higher than the current 8 cameras carried by Model S and X. Though they have not confirmed the total number of cameras yet, the images show that there are several new cameras added to the vehicle with some of the old ones being changed or updated in some way. 

Design-wise, people are expecting an update to the vehicle’s rear badging and as per the spotted images, we can see that the steering wheel has also been changed. The images show a new round steering wheel instead of the standard yoke available in the previous models.

Last week Tesla got the European certificate for its latest Hardware 4.0 which apparently will make Tesla cars the most technologically advanced vehicles in the world. To date, Tesla has not made any official announcement regarding Hardware 4.0. The details of the new hardware have been speculated based on the changes and permissions, that the company applied for with the regulators.

Experts are speculating that the Hardware 4.0 upgrades may include a generation 4 complex vehicle control system (Autopilot), a new computer that is going to be 4 times more powerful than the one available in FSD 3, and a new GNSS antenna for navigation. Speculations are also being made on the speed limit, which may be increased to 174 MPH (280 km/h). 

Tesla was supposed to launch the new Hardware 4.0 with its most awaited vehicle, the Cybertruck. However, the images of Models S and X confirm that these EVs are getting the upgrades even before the launch of the Cybertruck. 

Though Tesla has not officially made any announcements for Hardware 4.0, people are expecting the official announcement with details on March 1, 2023, Investor Day when the company has promised to unveil its Master Plan for the future. 

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Electric cars are continuously gaining popularity, leading to increased production capacities and reduced costs. Major manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Ford have taken advantage of this and have produced relatively affordable models. When this occurs, attention turns to Tesla, the first name that comes to mind when thinking about electric vehicles. So, will we see an affordable Tesla model in the near future? Here are the details…

As you know, Tesla is a publicly traded company and holds meetings with its shareholders at certain times of the year. The upcoming event is the “Tesla Investor Day” scheduled for March 1. Tesla may unveil a new low-cost EV platform at this event. During Tesla’s Q3 earnings call in October last year, CEO Elon Musk revealed that the new platform will be smaller in size than the Model 3/Model Y platform.

He also indicated that the company will work to reduce costs. This will be the third vehicle platform for Tesla, following the trajectory of its “Master Plan,” which aims to shift the company from high-cost/low-volume designs to low-cost/high-volume designs. The first platform was for the Model S and X, and the second platform is used for the Model 3 and Y. Unfortunately, there is no information about the expected affordable Tesla models. However, some analysts claim that these cars will start at $25,000.

So, if Tesla is indeed working on a low-cost car, why hasn’t any information been leaked yet? The answer is simple: the new model is likely still in the design and planning stage and there may still be a long time before it goes into production. As a comparison, Elon Musk introduced the CyberTruck in 2019 and started pre-orders, but the car has not yet been released. A similar situation may occur with these affordable models. We will see on March 1 whether all these gossips are true or not.

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Tesla owners in China have been protesting the company’s decision to cut prices on its electric vehicles (EVs) for the second time in three months. The protesters, who are recent buyers of Tesla cars, are demanding refunds for the vehicles they purchased prior to the announcement of the price cuts on Friday. Here are the details…

Tesla owners in China protest price cuts as delivery times extend on higher demand

According to the latest reports, the new price cuts saw the Chinese-made Model 3 fall by 13.5%, which now starts at $33,515, and the Model Y cut by 10%, which now starts at $37,899. The protesters reportedly purchased the cars just before the end of 2022 in order to take advantage of expiring government subsidies for EVs.

The demonstrations took place at Tesla showrooms in locations such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengdu. In Chengdu, the protesters reportedly shouted “Return the money, refund our cars.” A Tesla China spokesperson told the press that the company is not planning to compensate new buyers who took delivery before Friday’s price cut.

The price cuts, which were also implemented in Australia, Japan, and South Korea, are reportedly driving new demand for Tesla vehicles in China. The company’s China website shows that the waiting times for both the rear-wheel drive and long-range versions of the Model Y are a week longer after the price cuts, with delivery wait time for these versions pushed to two to five weeks.

However, the wait time for all Model 3 versions and the Model Y performance edition remains at one to four weeks. The extended wait times in China are seen as a bullish sign on the street, but Wedbush analyst Dan Ives predicted that more price cuts would be needed in China in order to boost demand.

“The major worry now overhead for Tesla is that the demand story especially out of China is showing heavy cracks in the armor at a time that EV competition is steadily increasing domestically with NIO, BYD, Xpeng, and others fighting for a smaller pie with the Chinese consumer weakening,” Ives wrote on January 4th. “With China representing 40%+ of the global growth story for Tesla this is a heavy concern for the Street which will likely result in more significant price cuts over the coming months to spur demand as a potential pricing war takes place to gain market share in a darker macro backdrop.”

With the Chinese market being one of the most important markets for Tesla, this recent development is something to be watched closely. As production for the Chinese New year is approaching (January 22) and Tesla has an extended break for Giga Shanghai, the company needs to make sure they can strike the right balance to keep the demand high but also to keep customers satisfaction intact.

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The challenges of providing sufficient insurance cover and maintaining electric vehicles were again brought to the fore by an incident that happened in Finland. It is reported that the owner of a 2013 Tesla Model S opted for the destruction of the EV when told that repairs of the vehicle could cost up to €20,000 ($22,668).

The incident happened in Jaala in the south of Finland. The owner of the vehicle did not have insurance cover for repairs of the vehicle and could not afford the huge repair cost, hence he opted for a controlled explosion of the vehicle using 30kg of dynamite. A YouTube video has surfaced online detailing the explosion process of the Model S, although it is unclear when this incident happened. The vehicle was blown up at an abandoned factory in the idyllic and ice-covered Jaala village. The well-scripted video had a voice narrating how the Model S got to be demolished.

According to the owner of the Tesla Model S, when he bought the vehicle, the first 1,500 km were nice and enjoyable. However, he started to encounter one problem after the other thereafter. The first issue he had to grapple with was the different error codes that were being displayed. This led to the car being towed to the service station where it spent about a month without a resolution of the problems. The service station determined that the only option available for the owner was to change the entire battery cell at a cost of about €20,000 ($22,668).

The owner then opted to destroy the vehicle instead as he could not fork out the huge sum for the battery in the absence of a guarantee or insurance for such repairs. It is unclear whether Tesla was aware of the possible malfunction of the vehicle, but the well-choreographed video included the dropping of an Elon Musk effigy into the vehicle before it was exploded. Check out the video from above.

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A driver from China has managed to successfully sue Tesla for fraud. The person filed a lawsuit against the company over a purchase he made for a second hand Model S electric car.

According to Aljazeera, a Beijing court has found the American EV maker of misrepresenting the condition of the car purchased by Han Chao on the carmaker’s official used car platform. Han Chao had bought the vehicle for 379,700 Yuan (roughly 58,700 US Dollars). However, he found that the car had undergone various major repairs due to an earlier accident. This, in turn, led to the court dismissing Tesla’s defense that signs of welding indicated no “structural change.”

Notably, this marks another negative publicity that Tesla has received in the Chinese market. Earlier, it had faced issues such as security concerns over the cameras its cars housed and the 300,000 units being recalled due the issue of users activating autopilot, among other user complaints and more. Now, the company has been ordered to refund the cost of the car and pay damages of three times the purchase price.

Zhang Xiaoling, a partner at Beijing based Haodong Law Firm “The verdict can be regarded as a milestone in consumer rights protections against big companies. The case may boost the confidence of consumers facing a similar situation and probably will bring more followers.” On the other hand the automaker’s legal team shared that “We look forward to and believe that the court will finally adjudicate in accordance with the law,” but refused to comment any further on the matter.

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Tesla in recent times has come under pressure when accidents involving its electric vehicles occur. The Autopilot has most times been fingered as the proximate cause of several crashes. However, the recent story from Norway gives a more rounded perspective on the importance of this technological and safety feature in EVs.

A Tesla driver in Norway who decided to drive while under the influence of alcohol has been saved from a possibly fatal crash. The driver fell asleep while behind the wheels of his Model S EV, but the Autopilot which was operational at the time carefully navigated the vehicle to a halt.

The Autopilot provides a safety net while driving as it uses a slew of technologies to provide navigational guidance to the driver. The incident happened in Norway’s eastern district last weekend.

Some part of the incident is believed to have been filmed, as other motorists watched the 24-year old man sleeping on the wheels while the Model S was in motion. The car then successfully parked by the roadside while the man remained unconscious, as onlookers tried to wake him up from his sleep.

The local police later arrived at the scene and established that the driver was drunk. The name of the man has not been mentioned. The police also released a public statement on the incident. The man had denied he was driving the vehicle at the time he was picked.

The Autopilot is often misunderstood and misused by drivers of Tesla’s EVs leading to sometimes deadly crashes. It is a driver-assist system and not a self-driving one. When activated, it regularly sends signals to the driver to hold the steering wheel. When these signals are repeatedly ignored, the car will navigate to a stop in a safe position.

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(via)

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Elon Musk-led electric carmaker Tesla has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit that claims that the company used a software update to reduce the maximum battery voltage in 1,743 Tesla Model S sedans, reports Reuters.

As a part of this settlement, owners of the vehicle will get getting $625 each which is touted to be “many times the prorated value of the temporarily reduced maximum voltage.” This is based on the proposed settlement documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Do note that the proposed settlement is subject to approval by a judge. A U.S. judge set a Dec. 9 hearing on the proposed settlement for the lawsuit that was filed in August 2019.

Lawyers, who filed the lawsuit for the car owners said that the “voltage limitation was temporary, with a 10% reduction lasting about 3 months, and a smaller 7% reduction lasting another 7 months before the corrective update was released in March 2020.”

A subsequent update restored about 3 percent of the battery voltage in these vehicles, and a third update released in March 2020 was designed to fully restore the batteries’ voltage over time as the vehicles are driven, the settlement documents said.

The documents further add that the company data shows 1,552 vehicles with the maximum battery voltage fully restored and 57 have had battery replacements. As for the other vehicles, the maximum voltage should continue to be restored over time.

Tesla recently announced that its revenue stood at $11.9 billion in Q2 2021, beating analyst expectations and showing a 98 percent increase compared to the same period of last year. GAAP earnings per share soared by 920 percent year-on-year to $1.02.

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In recent times, the safety of electric cars has been called to question after a few electric vehicles went up in flames in separate incidence. Just last Sunday, a Tesla Model S was reported to have caught fire in a parking lot in Hong Kong. It took firefighters over 45minutes to battle the raging inferno before they were able to put out the blaze.

Bloomberg reports that the cause of the fire is yet to be revealed and Tesla is even yet to make a formal statement about the incident.  However, the fire incident bears a similar pattern with previous cases. Less than a month ago, a Model S spontaneously caught fire in a Shanghai parking garage. The fire resulted in the destruction of several adjourning cars. A few days after this, an electric car manufactured by Chinese start-up Nio was reported to have caught fire while undergoing repairs in the central Chinese city of Xi’an.

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Concerns about the safety of electric vehicles(EVs) continues to grow. A report by the State Administration for Market Regulation shows that last year at least 40 new energy vehicles, which include electrics and hybrids, caught fire in China. Apart from China, there have been a few reported cases of Tesla EVs going up in flames in the US. But Tesla has previously claimed that its vehicles are 10 times less likely to go up in flames than gas-driven cars.

(source)

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Over the past few months, the world has continued to watch as the US/China trade ties continue to deteriorate. China has always been on the receiving end but we expect Beijing to react in its own way. China made have commenced its own clampdown on US companies. A recent report in the media has shown that China’s auto import port customs have suspended the release of Tesla Model 3 even after several units have left the ports already. The Chinese customs says it will notify dealers who have already cleared their shipment not to sell or use the electric car.

The reasons given for the decision to withhold issuance of clearance for the Tesla Model 3 makes this all look like retaliation as the relationship between the US and China approaches its lowest level. Authorities say the logo on the car is out of specification. The Commodity Inspection Department of the General Administration of Customs issued a warning notice on March 1st, referring to the above requirements. According to the Commodity Inspection Department, Shanghai Customs found in the inspection of imported vehicles that four batches of 1600 Tesla Model 3 logos were not in compliance. In addition, the automotive brake fluid tanks on the 1600 models were said to have English warning signs without a corresponding Chinese translation. Ironically, most products from China that ship overseas most times come with Chinese texts on the user manual.

Read Also: Electric Car maker Tesla launches iPhone cases on its Amazon merchandise store

The reasons that were given for withholding customs clearance for the 1600 Model 3 also include such infractions like the absence of a vehicle nameplate or the vehicle model. The motor power indicator also didn’t match the actual power. This may very well be routine safety checks and may be unconnected to the simmering US/China trade dispute.

(source)

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