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Tesla holds amid Model 3 leasing rollout, Standard+ availability in Europe and China

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on April 12, 2019


Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) appears to be showing some stability this Friday amidst the release of new updates about the Model 3, including details about leasing options for the best-selling and acclaimed all-electric sedan.

The Model 3’s leasing options are a bit different from conventional leasing practices since customers will not be given the option to purchase the vehicle after the lease period is over. Instead, Tesla noted that cars coming off their leases will be used for the Tesla Network, a full self-driving ride-sharing service that is expected to compete against companies like Uber and Lyft.

Tesla’s announcement also heralded the use of Autopilot as a standard feature in every electric car the company produces. The update will increase the prices of vehicles save for the now-off-menu Standard Model 3, but it does ensure that all Tesla customers moving forward will get to enjoy Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer, two features that were previously reserved for owners who paid extra for Autopilot.

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Together with Tesla’s new updates to its vehicle lineup is the company’s release of the affordable Standard Plus Model 3 to Europe and China. This could result in a good number of orders for the electric sedan in the two regions, considering that the Standard Plus variant is a true bang-for-your-buck vehicle, being priced competitively while still retaining many of the higher-priced Model 3 versions’ premium features.

You can now order the Model 3 SR+ in Europe! from teslamotors

Following an unsourced report from the Nikkei Asian Review on Thursday which alleged that Panasonic is freezing investments in Gigafactory 1, Tesla has released a response, clarifying that demand for battery cells continue to outpace supply. Tesla noted that it is working with Panasonic to improve output in Gigafactory 1 by optimizing the facility’s existing production equipment.

“Both Tesla and Panasonic continue to invest substantial funds into Gigafactory. That said, we believe there is far more output to be gained from improving existing production equipment than was previously estimated. We are seeing significant gains from upgrading existing lines to increase output, which allows Tesla and Panasonic to achieve the same output with less spent on new equipment purchases. However, we will, of course, continue to make new investments in Gigafactory 1, as needed. Most importantly, contrary to what is implied in this report, our demand for cells continues to outpace supply. It remains the fundamental constraint on Tesla vehicle and Powerwall/Powerpack production,” Tesla said.

Tesla is scheduled to release its first quarter financial report and earnings call this coming April 24 at  2:30 p.m. Pacific Time (5:30 p.m. Eastern Time). Elon Musk has proven to be quite conservative with Tesla’s finances in Q1, stating back in March that he does not expect Tesla to be profitable. Nevertheless, the earlier-than-expected date of the Q1 earnings call invokes some sense of optimism, considering that the company has shown a tendency to release its financial reports early in quarters where its results are better than expected.

As of writing, Tesla stock is trading -0.21% at $267.92 per share.

Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.

Tesla holds amid Model 3 leasing rollout, Standard+ availability in Europe and China


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Tesla’s inclusion of Autopilot on every car unravels a long-term Full Self-Driving strategy

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on April 12, 2019


Starting today, every Tesla that is sold will be delivered with Autopilot as a standard feature. This adjusts the prices of vehicles save for the off-menu Standard Model 3, but it gives all of Tesla’s electric cars moving forward a ready-to-deploy driver-assist system that is among the best available in the market today.

Tesla announced the updates to its vehicle lineup on Thursday, immediately following the successful launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, an event that was tied with the electric car maker’s previous referral program. In a blog post, Tesla explained that its decision to make Autopilot a standard feature for its vehicles is driven by the company’s data, which indicated that using the driver-assist system responsibly reduces the chances of accidents on the road.

“We think including Autopilot is very important because our data strongly indicates that the chance of an accident is much lower when Autopilot is enabled. Autopilot also dramatically improves the quality of the driving experience, especially in heavy traffic, as thousands of our customers frequently describe online,” Tesla wrote.

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A long-term Full Self-Driving play

This recent strategy all but highlights a point that Elon Musk appears to be hinting at over the past few months: 2019 is a year where Tesla is pushing its efforts to bring full self-driving features to market. Together with the release of advanced capabilities like Enhanced Summon and Navigate on Autopilot with unconfirmed lane changes, Tesla is all but positioning itself as a provider of autonomous driving features for the mass market. This also ensures that it can gather more real-world driving data than ever before.

Autopilot’s inclusion as a standard feature has been a long time coming. Over the years, Tesla has focused on refining its driver-assist system to ensure that it operates safely and in a manner that is convenient for electric car owners, as seen in the constant and deliberate improvements to Autopilot that have been released so far. The company even developed its own custom chip, Hardware 3, to ensure that its vehicles will have enough processing power to operate completely on their own without slowing down their systems.

The ride-sharing endgame

A big endgame for Tesla is the deployment of the Tesla Network, which relies on the company’s vehicles attaining full self-driving capabilities. Under the Tesla Network, the company’s electric cars will operate as ride-sharing vehicles that can earn on their own without their owners doing anything. The Tesla Network was highlighted by the electric car maker in its recent blog post, with the company stating that vehicles coming off their leases will be used for the fully autonomous ride-sharing service.

Musk previously noted that the Tesla Network will be competing with popular ride-sharing services in the market today, such as Uber and Lyft. The only difference between Tesla and its popular competitors is that the electric car maker’s vehicles are unmanned, allowing owners and the company itself to earn more for the service. This was something that Elon Musk himself highlighted in the past. “We would charge something comparable to how you’d say the App Store works, or I don’t know, we’d charge 30% or something in order for somebody to add the car to the fleet. I think that’s a pretty sensible way to go,” Musk said.

Another disruption in the making

Apart from the advantages of having an unmanned fleet, the Tesla Network is also backed by the company’s capability to ramp the production of its electric cars. Uber currently has approximately 2 million drivers today, while Lyft has around 1.4 million. Tesla is expected to have around 1 million vehicles on the road by the end of 2020 (particularly with the rollout of the Model Y). If the electric car maker can refine its Full Self-Driving features by then, the Tesla Network could enter the ride-sharing market with a fleet of vehicles that already rivals some of the industry’s biggest players.

Tesla’s proficiency as a company that develops self-driving technology is usually overlooked. Tesla is currently valued at around $46 billion, which is not bad for a carmaker, but it is a valuation that seriously undercuts the worth of Autopilot’s real-world driving data. Tesla quite literally has over a billion miles of data from its ever-growing fleet, which helps the company’s vehicles operate their driver-assist features in non-geofenced areas. Waymo, a leader in self-driving technology, is currently still mastering geofenced driving, but Morgan Stanley already estimates the company to be worth $175 billion, over three times the current valuation of Tesla.

Tesla’s inclusion of Autopilot on every car unravels a long-term Full Self-Driving strategy


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Tesla Model 3 lease program opens door to future ride-hailing network

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Posted on April 11, 2019


Tesla has officially launched its Model 3 leasing program to include any variant of the all-electric midsize sedan.

Unlike traditional agreements, the Model 3 vehicles under lease will not be available for purchase once the lease matures. Tesla intends to use those vehicles as part of its coming autonomous ride-hailing network, a service dubbed as the Tesla Network. The decision to maintain ownership of its leased Model 3 fleet for such future use indicates Tesla’s high level of confidence in the development of its Full Self-Driving program. Any revenue lost from not offering its used cars for purchase is clearly expected to be generated through other profitable means.

Tesla is hosting an Autonomy Investor Day on April 22nd at its headquarters in Palo Alto, California wherein the company’s roadmap for Full Self-Driving features will be discussed and demonstrated. Several autonomous features have been released to Tesla owners recently including Navigate on Autopilot and Summon, and Hardware 3 – the Full Self-Driving computer – is already being included in new production cars. The Autonomy event will also be live-streamed.

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The news of Tesla’s Model 3 leasing program comes on the heels of several other major shakeups for the electric car maker, most of which affect the company’s Model 3 options directly. The once highly anticipated $35k Standard Range variation of the car has been removed from Tesla’s website in favor of the Standard Plus variant only out of the two most affordable options.

Customers can still obtain the Model 3 Standard Range outside of the online process; however, the Plus variation must be purchased first, making the downgrade a software-generated reversion of battery range and computer programs given with a refund.

Tesla’s financial reasoning behind these changes may be clarified further during the upcoming Q1 2019 earnings call scheduled for April 24th. In the company’s announcement regarding the sales retooling, streamlining and simplification of operations were cited as the primary drivers. Additionally, the Model 3 Standard Plus sold at six times the rate of the Standard, according to Tesla, thus offering an opportunity to further simplify the ordering and manufacturing process became apparent.

Tesla Model 3 lease program opens door to future ride-hailing network


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Tesla streamlines Model 3 lineup, removes $35k standard version from online ordering

Simon Alvarez
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Posted on April 11, 2019

Tesla has removed the $35,000 Standard Model 3 from its online configurator, citing the higher range Standard Plus as being a far more popular option among buyers of the all-electric sedan. Tesla’s base Model 3 can still be purchased by phone or by visiting a Tesla store, according to an announcement published onto the company’s blog late Thursday.

The $35,000 Model 3 will be software-limited to 220-miles of range but can be ‘unlocked’ to 240-miles over-the-air. The latest update essentially allows Tesla to streamline its production operations by offering a single rear-wheel drive variant (Standard Plus) Model 3 that has 240 miles of battery range. The Long Range Model 3 in a rear-wheel drive configuration has also been removed from Tesla’s online configurator and like the $35k base version, the vehicle can still be purchased offline through a Tesla salesperson.

“To further simplify our line-up, beginning today customers will also need to call or visit a Tesla store to get Model 3 Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive. We’re making these changes to ensure that our online order process is focused exclusively on the three Model 3 variants customers want most,” note Tesla in its blog post.

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Speculations around a software-limited base Model 3 first emerged in early March after members of the Tesla community noticed that the Standard and the Standard Plus variants of the electric sedan had the exact same weight. A look at Tesla’s order pages for the two Model 3 versions, at the time, revealed that both vehicles shared the same weight, suggesting that they are equipped with battery packs that have an identical number of cells.

Tesla’s latest streamlining of the Model 3 lineup shifts customer focus to a $39,500 version of the electric car as the lowest cost option. The Model 3 that was once branded as Standard Range Plus and priced at $37,000, now comes with Autopilot included along with the costs associated with the driving-assist feature.

It comes with little surprise that Tesla would be reducing the number of base-level Model 3 variants being offered, especially since CEO Elon Musk has said in the past that he believes a 240-mile Model 3 with Autopilot represents the best option for customers. “Best choice for most people is Standard Range Plus with Autopilot,” Musk wrote.

Tesla streamlines Model 3 lineup, removes $35k standard version from online ordering
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This is a free excerpt of our weekly member-only newsletter. Each week, we give you our take on the biggest stories of the week, our favorite photos & videos and much more. Become a member today receive all of Teslarati’s newsletters.

I may have said this before, but the electric revolution is really starting to take shape. But, looking back on the developments over the last few years, “starting to take shape” doesn’t really categorize the massive organizational shifts, intense capital commitments, and technological breakthroughs. I’d now like to claim that the electric revolution has caught its stride and is finally in full swing.

Across the world, from Nevada to Shanghai, Singapore, Croatia, and Sweden, the electric revolution is getting the worlds best minds and intense interest from all parties. In Nevada, Tesla has built the worlds largest battery factory producing 35GWh of lithium-ion batteries. The company is investing so heavily into EVs that investors are constantly concerned about their cash balance. Regardless of investors’ concerns, Tesla is flying forward with another manufacturing plant in Shanghai, China.

At the same time, in another part of eastern China, Chinese startup NIO (Weilai in Chinese) is building hundreds of electric SUVs every day. The company, like Tesla, continues to plow capital into infrastructure (battery swap stations, stores, service centers, and supercharging stations). The company has delivered 15,000+ vehicles since starting production in June last year.

The NIO ES8 in the company’s 2.5M sq. ft. factory in Hefei, China. (NIO)

Just south of China, in Singapore, world-famous vacuum engineer and soon-to-be electric vehicle manufacturer, Sir James Dyson is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into next-generation vehicles. While its too soon to know whether his venture will be successful, Dyson is betting big with 400+ employees and $3.3B allocated to the project.

Another EV startup getting some serious traction is hypercar maker, Rimac. The company now employs over 450 people and has partnered with world-famous design firm Pininfarina and accepted investment from Porsche. Rimac’s latest vehicle has a top speed of 285 mph (460km/h) and goes 0-60 in a mind-numbing 1.85 seconds.

In Sweden, former Tesla supply chain experts Peter Carlsson and Paolo Cerruti are working to build a gigafactory to meet the needs of European automakers. The company employs over 200 people and has begun construction of their large R&D facilities.

Clearly, there is a lot of interest in electric vehicles and how to bring them to market quickly. While these projects mentioned above may be some of the more exciting projects, I haven’t even mentioned the traditional automotive leaders’ plans. VW is earmarking $91B to spend on EV development, GM is looking to launch 10 new EVs between 2021-2023, and the Indonesian government is luring Renault and Volvo to build EV factories to meet EV production goals.

With the EV revolution in full swing, the team here at Teslarati is busy working to cover the biggest stories around the world. Just a few weeks ago, Simon was in Germany to explore Porsche’s upcoming EV production plans. Next week, I’ll be in Shanghai to check out NIO’s strategy and their state-of-the-art factory. At the same time, Dacia will be traveling to Arizona, to see Nikola Motor Company’s newest electric semi-trucks, and then off to New York to see Rivian’s latest products at the New York Auto Show!

Disclaimer: This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Teslarati and its owners. Christian Prenzler does not have a position in Tesla Inc. or any of its competitors and does not have plans to do so in the next 30 days.


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Ford is realizing that the self-driving car market is not as simple as it thought

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on April 10, 2019


Ford Chief Executive Jim Hackett recently admitted that the company has “overestimated” the arrival of full self-driving vehicles. While speaking at the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday, the Ford CEO noted that while the company’s first autonomous car is still coming in 2021, the applications of the vehicle’s self-driving technology will be limited.

“We overestimated the arrival of autonomous vehicles. Its applications will be narrow, what we call geo-fenced, because the problem is so complex,” the Ford executive said.

Hackett is leading Ford in a rather challenging time, with an $11 billion overhaul for the company currently underway. The costly overhaul will result in closed factories, thousands of workers being laid off, and the company’s traditional sedan lineup being retired in favor of sports utility vehicles and trucks. For Hackett, autonomous cars still hold a lot of potential, as it could effectively change the transportation sector when they do get released.

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“When we break through, it will change the way your toothpaste is delivered. Logistics and ride structures and cities all get redesigned. I won’t be in charge of Ford when this is going on, but I see it clearly,” he said.

The comments of the Ford CEO are rather surprising considering the company’s incredibly high rankings in the results of Navigant Research’s automated driving system study for 2018. The research firm listed Ford as 3rd out of 20, only falling behind Waymo and GM Cruise, both of which have been actively developing full self-driving solutions for years. Tesla, which is also in the process of developing full self-driving solutions, was ranked by Navigant as second to last, just above Apple.

Navigant senior analyst Sam Abuelsamid explained Ford’s strategy in the autonomous driving race. “Ford’s not trying to be the first to market. Their goal is to have the right kind of business developed specifically for autonomous service, not an adaptation of an existing vehicle,” he said.

The recent comments of Ford’s CEO highlight the challenges that are involved in the development of self-driving solutions. Waymo and GM Cruise have been testing their vehicles for years, and both companies are only able to use their technology in geo-fenced areas. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite, which was developed through billions of miles of real-world data, is yet to be fully released but is expected to work in most real-world conditions.

If Elon Musk’s plan for Tesla in 2019 pans out, the first features of the company’s Full Self-Driving Suite will be released this year. Tesla is already preparing to showcase some of these later this month at its upcoming Autonomy Investor Day on April 22. During the event, attendees will be able to experience test drives in vehicles equipped with Autopilot and Full Self-Driving capabilities that are yet to be released.

Ford is realizing that the self-driving car market is not as simple as it thought


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Tesla community comes together to witness Falcon Heavy’s first commercial flight

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on April 11, 2019


As Elon Musk’s private space company, SpaceX, prepares to launch the first commercial mission of Falcon Heavy, a number of Tesla community members are preparing for an experience of a lifetime. Tesla’s previous referral program included a number of secret levels that hold special rewards, among them being an invitation for the Falcon Heavy launch today. Owners who qualified for the reward were given the opportunity to witness the gigantic rocket’s flight with a guest of their choosing.

For some Tesla community members, the Falcon Heavy launch today is worth the long trip to Launch Complex 39A of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL. Several electric car owners who sent messages to Teslarati noted that the upcoming flight of SpaceX’s largest operational rocket is something that is not just a lot of fun; it is also something that could be a source of inspiration.

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Tesla Model S owner Jim McPherson noted that he resolved to witness the next Falcon Heavy launch after he watched SpaceX propel Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster to space last year. Bringing his family with him to Florida, the Tesla owner noted that he believes the event is a good way to inspire his daughter to like STEM, and at least, “be excited about the future.” The family drove from Washington D.C., using Tesla’s Supercharger Network along the way. “The supercharger network is so well built out on I95 that you really don’t have to worry much about where you will stop. It’s kind of weird it’s so easy compared to how it used to be,” he said.

Fellow Tesla Model S owner Bruce (last name not given) traveled with his daughter from Atlanta. The father-daughter team drove Monday night until Tuesday to get to Florida, camping in the back of their Model S as needed. Just like McPherson, Bruce noted that he wishes for his daughter to be inspired by the Falcon Heavy launch, particularly as she is already in love with rockets. Tesla Model 3 owner Mark (last name also not given) added that he also decided to come and see the Falcon Heavy’s next launch after last year’s maiden flight. During that time, he did not even have a Tesla. Mark drove his Model 3 all the way to Florida for today’s launch, using Navigate on Autopilot most of the way.

Some Tesla owners mentioned that the Falcon Heavy’s launch is something that can simply bring families closer to each other, particularly since events that are experienced together rarely fade from memory. “This is something that me and my kids will remember for the rest of our lives,” Kim, the host of popular Tesla-themed YouTube channel Like Tesla said.

This is also a motivator for Model 3 owner Sofiaan Fraval, who flew in from California with his wife and child for the event. The Model 3 owner noted that the delays in Falcon Heavy’s launch actually worked in his family’s favor, as the experience turned out to be a mini-vacation. Fraval stated that seeing the Falcon Heavy in person, and interacting with other Tesla enthusiasts, has made the experience amazing — and the rocket hasn’t even launched yet.

For some Tesla owners, Falcon Heavy is simply something that inspires awe and thus must be experienced firsthand. “I am here to feel the power of the worlds largest operational rocket in person,” Will Fealey, President of Tesla Owners Club UK, said. Others, such as Model S owner Eli Burton, see Falcon Heavy’s upcoming commercial flight as a “major milestone” for humanity as a whole. “This is the beginning of a sustainable path for humans to return to space, go to the Moon, and eventually go to Mars. This is now the beginning of private enterprise being the engine that drives humans to becoming a multiplanetary species,” he said.

For now, the Tesla owners at Cape Canaveral remain waiting, hoping that within the next few hours, they can literally witness a moment that will be etched in history. For referring friends to Tesla’s electric cars and energy products, this particular rewards is definitely well worth the journey.

Tesla community comes together to witness Falcon Heavy’s first commercial flight


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Tesla’s ‘Early Access Program’ will reportedly be extended to Full Self-Driving buyers

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Posted on April 11, 2019


It appears that Tesla’s Early Access Program will be automatically extended to buyers who purchased Full Self-Driving (FSD) prior to the end of February 2019, at least according to an email from the all-electric car maker to a Model 3 owner shared via Twitter.

Early purchase of FSD had previously been understood as a qualifier for the Early Access Program, but confusion over access to the program has been widespread thanks to seemingly sporadic rollouts of beta features combined with very little communication from Tesla. A March 1, 2019 announcement posted by Tesla previously confirmed this arrangement; however, that post has since been removed from Tesla’s official news/blog page.

It read as follows:“Customers who previously purchased Full Self-Driving will receive an invitation to Tesla’s Early Access Program (EAP). EAP members are invited to experience and provide feedback on new features and functionality before they are rolled out to other customers.”A Tesla owner and enthusiast well known in the community under the handle Earl of Frunkpuppy (@28delayslater/Twitter) recently received an email from Tesla which appears to clarify the matter:

“In regards to the Early Access program, we are super excited to offer the Early Access Program to our customers who had purchased FSD prior to the end of February! At this time, we are currently working on the process and timeline for this exciting feature. Once we have the appropriate information, we will communicate to our customer base! Invitations will be sent out automatically to all qualifying owners. The good news is that there are no extra steps needed on your part to receive the invitation. Thank you again for your email.”

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Tesla’s Early Access Program provides beta software features for testing by an exclusive pool of owners. Invitations to join the program have been received and accepted by many in the owner community, but details are sparse on how the program is carried out. Given the secrecy mandated by Tesla for its Early Access users, this is not surprising.

What’s known generally about the program, as shared online by a few owners actively involved, is that participants receive an email prior to a beta release requiring acceptance of the software before being the update is sent over the air. At that time, the owner is also reminded of the Early Access Program’s strict rules for participation: No sharing information online and no 3rd party software reporting apps (TeslaFi, notably). Whether or not invitees are even supposed to acknowledge receiving an invite is even debated, with references being made to the first rule of “Fight Club”.

One additional thing worth noting about Tesla’s Early Access Program is that it’s not a priority system, meaning enrollment isn’t tied to receiving mass software updates before other non-participants. The program is strictly for software testing, and some features included in beta releases may never be released in the final system-wide update. The role of the participant is to provide helpful feedback to Tesla so that improvements can be made, not simply to be first in line for new features, although that is a huge benefit to weigh with the risks of using imperfect software that controls your vehicle. As the all-electric car maker moves closer towards launching its Full Self-Driving program, feedback from participants of the Early Access Program will become more essential.

Tesla has begun rolling out the final FSD computer (Hardware 3/HW3) in new production vehicles, and CEO Elon Musk recently confirmed that the company’s mobile service teams would be able to install the upgrade instead of the company’s service centers. Musk detailed the performance difference between HW2.5 and HW3 via Twitter: “The Tesla Full Self-Driving Computer now in production is at about 5% compute load for these [Navigate on Autopilot] tasks or 10% with full fail-over redundancy,” he wrote, later mentioning that the HW2.5 load was 80% with the system’s current features.

The company will be hosting an Autonomy Investor Day on April 22nd where the roadmap for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving features will be discussed and key updates will be provided. Investors will also be given test rides demonstrating FSD and Autopilot improvements, including never-before-seen features. The event will be webcast, though additional details are yet to be announced.

Tesla’s ‘Early Access Program’ will reportedly be extended to Full Self-Driving buyers


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Tesla’s Navigate on Autopilot with unconfirmed lane changes gets torture tested in LA traffic

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on April 11, 2019


Tesla’s Navigate on Autopilot with unconfirmed lane changes takes the electric car maker’s vehicles a step closer to attaining Full Self-Driving capabilities, but it is still a work in progress. This point was emphasized when the newly-updated driver-assist feature was “torture tested” in LA traffic.

LA traffic is notorious for its aggressive drivers and its vehicle density. This makes roads in the area the perfect place to test the automatic lane change capabilities of Tesla’s improved Navigate on Autopilot. Tesla Model 3 owner Joey Gil conducted his test on his trip to and from work, engaging Navigate on Autopilot and putting the feature’s lane change setting to “Mild.” This is a curious choice for the Model 3 owner considering that his previous test of Navigate on Autopilot’s initial iterations back in November involved the more assertive “Mad Max” mode.

The Model 3 owner’s car was loaded with software version 2019.8.5 when the LA traffic torture test was conducted. Footage from the two trips showed that Navigate on Autopilot’s unconfirmed lane changes are very deliberate when they engage, despite the vehicle’s follow distance being set to 1. At several points in the video, the driver-assist system attempted to change lanes, only to seemingly abandon the attempt when surrounding vehicles behaved aggressively.

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Navigate on Autopilot’s capability to read lanes seems to have a notable area for improvement too, since the vehicle attempted to cross a double yellow line at one point in the trip, prompting the Model 3 owner to take over. Nevertheless, Navigate on Autopilot’s unconfirmed lane changes worked very well once the gaps between vehicles became more manageable and once other cars were moving in a relatively more civilized manner.

While Navigate on Autopilot’s unconfirmed lane changes still need more work before it could perfectly handle the cacophony of driving that is LA traffic, it should be noted that the feature at its current iteration already performed fairly well in the torture test. LA traffic is something that Elon Musk himself acknowledges, as shown when he initially hinted at Navigate on Autopilot’s Mad Max Mode. Musk joked that Tesla actually tried coming up with an “LA Traffic Mode,” but the company had to scrap it since it was “too loco.”

Navigate on Autopilot with unconfirmed lane changes is available for Tesla owners who purchased Enhanced Autopilot, as well as those who opted in for both basic Autopilot and Full Self-Driving. Improvements to the driver-assist system are expected to be discussed and showcased later this month, when Tesla holds its Autonomy Investor Day this April 22. During the event, Tesla investors will get an opportunity to test some of the upcoming features that are yet to be released for Autopilot and the company’s Full Self-Driving suite.

Watch Tesla’s Navigate on Autopilot with unconfirmed lane changes get torture tested in LA traffic in the video below.

Tesla has also started rolling out a more recent update for its vehicles. Following is a demo of Navigate on Autopilot in a Model S running 2019.12.

Tesla’s Navigate on Autopilot with unconfirmed lane changes gets torture tested in LA traffic


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Tesla battery partner Panasonic will ‘study investments over 35 GWh’ for Gigafactory 1

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on April 11, 2019


Following reports from the Nikkei Asian Review alleging that Panasonic and Tesla have decided to freeze investments on Gigafactory 1, the Japanese battery provider has stated that it is studying further investments for battery cell production in the Nevada-based facility.

Citing no sources, the Nikkei report claimed that financial problems have forced a rethink of Tesla and Panasonic’s plan to increase Gigafactory 1’s capacity by 50% next year. The facility reportedly has a capacity of 35 GWh today, and plans had intended for this to be raised to 54 GWh by 2020. The Japanese publication did not disclose a specific reason behind the alleged suspension of investments for Giga 1, but the news agency did cite concerns in Wall Street about the alleged weakening demand for Tesla’s electric vehicles.

As a response to the report, Panasonic stated that it is evaluating additional investments for the facility. “Panasonic established a battery production capacity of 35GWh in Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 by the end of March 2019 in line with growing demand. Watching the demand situation, Panasonic will study additional investments over 35GWh in collaboration with Tesla,” the Japanese company said in a statement to Reuters.

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Tesla has not issued a response to the Nikkei report so far, though the electric car maker did provide a statement to the Japanese publication in its report. “We will, of course, continue to make new investments in Gigafactory 1, as needed. However, we think there is far more output to be gained from improving existing production equipment than was previously estimated,” a Tesla spokesperson said.

The claims outlined in the recent Nikkei report stand in contrast to previous statements released by Panasonic six months ago. Back in October, Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga stated that the company is considering “further investment in North America, keeping in step with Tesla.” During that time, Panasonic was reportedly considering investing an additional 100-150 billion yen (~$900 million to ~$1.35 billion) for the Nevada-based facility.

The Nikkei Asian Review is an established Japanese news publication, and the publication has cited insiders from Panasonic in the past. Nevertheless, some aspects of the recent report about Gigafactory 1 are a bit strange. Apart from the lack of sources, the report also notes that Panasonic will suspend its investment for Gigafactory 3 in China. Tesla is yet to announce its battery partner for Gigafactory 3, and speculations have pointed to local battery suppliers being tapped for the upcoming facility. Panasonic’s involvement in Tesla Energy was also not mentioned, despite Tesla indicating that demand for its battery storage products like the Powerwall 2 remains strong.

Panasonic is currently Tesla’s sole battery partner, with the company producing cells for the electric car maker’s vehicles like the Model S, Model 3, and Model X, as well as energy storage products like the Powerwall 2 home battery unit.

The market has reacted strongly to the Nikkei report, with Tesla shares (NASDAQ:TSLA) dropping over 4% on Thursday’s pre-market.

Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.

Tesla battery partner Panasonic will ‘study investments over 35 GWh’ for Gigafactory 1


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var disqus_shortname = «teslarati»;
var disqus_title = «Tesla battery partner Panasonic will ’study investments over 35 GWh› for Gigafactory 1»;
var disqus_url = «https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-panasonic-gigafactory-1-investment-nikkei/»;
var disqus_identifier = «teslarati-100764»;

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