LNG: TESLARATI

Tesla has begun preparations for the first set of Model Y deliveries that are scheduled to take place as early as March 15. Car carriers loaded with Tesla’s all-electric crossover were spotted over the weekend alongside a stockpile of Model Y at the company’s factory lot in Fremont, California.

The new sighting of Model Y en masse at the Fremont factory parking lot comes on the heels of Tesla’s email notification to US and Canadian customers, informing them of final steps needed prior to their delivery.

Tesla enthusiast Wilson Lam shared photos of a fleet of Model Y being loaded onto car carriers over the weekend, a signal that the electric carmaker is in the final stages of delivery preparation.

Tesla Model Y’s on a transport truck heading up 880 pic.twitter.com/rB3iRFaOaN

— Sean Kormilo (@sckormilo) March 2, 2020

Tesla Model Y at Fremont factory parking lot (Credit: Wilson Lam via Twitter)

Tesla Model Y being loaded onto car carriers at the Fremont factory (Credit: Wilson Lam via Twitter)

Tesla Model Y Transport Mode (Credit: CAR HAULER HUSTLER via YouTube)

While it’s unclear it the Model Y vehicles spotted in car haulers are display vehicles for showrooms or customer cars, the fleet of Tesla crossovers in Deep Blue Metallic, Pearl White Multi-Coat, and Red Multi-Coat joins dozens of other Model Y sightings taking place in California.

Tesla began a limited production run of the Model Y from its Fremont factory in January or roughly ten months after building its first prototype. Now, roughly one year since its unveiling, a stockpile of Model Y are starting to appear at the factory site as the company gears up to make first deliveries of its electric crossover.

The Model Y initially had a fall 2020 production timeline which was later moved up to the summer of 2020. Tesla would later confirm the change in production timeline in its Q4 Update Letter, noting that the first deliveries of the Model Y will happen before the end of Q1.

Tesla is expected to deliver the first Model Y to customers on March 15.

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Tesla will be rolling out Track Mode V2 as a free over-the-air (OTA) update to all Model 3 Performance owners who purchase the company’s race-focused Track Package.

Track Mode V2 introduces a deeper level of customizations and settings for Model 3’s Handling Balance, Stability Assist, and Regenerative Braking. Also included in Tesla’s second-generation Track Mode are features geared for Post-Driving Cooling, Compressor Overclock, and even one that acts as an onboard lap recorder.

The electric carmaker invited select Tesla owners and vloggers to a secret event last month at the Thunderhill Raceway in Willow, a town about eight hours away from Los Angeles, California, to showcase what drivers can do with the Model 3 Track Package and Track Mode V2. YouTuber Salomondrin was one of the fortunate guests to try the new hardware package in combo with the improved Track Mode. The Track Mode V2, according to Alejandro of the Salamondrin YouTube channel, is a huge upgrade from the previous iteration. The new Tesla Track Mode allows you to personalize the settings so drivers can squeeze more performance out of the car while feeling safer as well.

“Tesla wants to show that these cars are not just meant to go on road trips. These cars are not just meant to be your daily. These cars are fun like crazy,” said Alejandro.

Tesla Model 3 Track Mode V2 (Source: Salomondrin | YouTube)

Tesla Model 3 Track Mode V2 (Source: Salomondrin | YouTube)

Tesla Model 3 Track Mode V2 (Source: Salomondrin | YouTube)

Tesla Model 3 Track Mode V2 (Source: Salomondrin | YouTube)

Tesla Track Mode V2 comes as a welcomed addition to any Tesla race car driver and veteran performance tuner like California-based Unplugged Performance. CEO Ben Schaffer, whose company’s race-tuned Tesla Model 3 Ascension-R has continued to set lap records with, tells Teslarati that Track Mode has empowered amateur racers to compete with some of the industry’s most notable performance cars.

“Software is so deeply rooted into the driving experience when racing any Tesla. Software is absolutely a key advantage of the Tesla platform, especially when more control is given to drivers to adjust settings to their liking. There is no question that V2 will instantly unlock faster lap times and allow more fun for all Tesla drivers of every level of skill and modification,” says Schaffer.

Tesla Track Mode V2

To access Tesla Track Mode, one can click the car icon on the touchscreen, then go to Driving, and then click Track Mode. A disclaimer would pop up reminding drivers that the Track Mode disables or restricts certain Driver Assistance features and vehicle functions and that it should not be used in public roads.

Track Mode V2 will provide vehicle statuses, including data for the powertrain, tire temperature, and G-Force.

“… fine-tuning control to get the rear bias, front bias however you like, and then stability and regen. Track Mode 2 was created for enthusiasts that just needed more control and Tesla went above and beyond here,” said YouTuber YouTuber EverythingApplePro who was also invited to test drive a Model 3 Performance with Track Mode Package and Track Mode V2 software.

“It’s well worth it. The amount of control you are given in the software is amazing. No manufacturer really gives you that amount of control where you can actually change a hundred percent to the rear and take away all the safety features. Beautiful experience.”

Tesla has not disclosed when the OTA update for the Track Mode V2 will roll out but the $5,500-Model 3 Track Package— which includes Zero-G Performance wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, high-performance brake pads, track-focused brake fluid, center cups,  pressure sensors, and lug nut covers– shipment is expected to begin in April.

Check out the Tesla Model 3 Track Mode V2 videos from Salomondrin and EverythingApplePro below:

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SpaceX has shrugged off the catastrophic implosion of its first serial Starship prototype (SN01) and begun stacking sections of the next ship (SN02) while CEO Elon Musk talks next steps for the next-generation rocket program.

By now, it’s reasonably clear that the demise of Starship SN01’s tank and engine section came as a bit of surprise to SpaceX itself, while it assuredly shocked non-employees and local residents who happened to be watching on eve of the anomaly. CEO Elon Musk himself appears to have expected different results, noting that – thankfully – the likely source of the Starship’s unforeseen failure had already been determined.

Despite the apparent setback, it appears that SpaceX won’t have to wait long at all to continue its uniquely ‘hardware-rich’ Starship test campaign. With a workforce now several hundred strong and a great deal of hands-on and strategic experience gained from building Starships Mk1 and SN01, SpaceX is now practically churning out parts for future Starship SNxx prototypes. Most notably, Starship SN01’s predecessor is potentially just a few days away from being stacked into a finished tank section, hinting at the almost unfathomably speed that SpaceX is able to build full-scale vehicles even in early days of the program.

Three days after Starship SN01’s spectacular implosion and unintentional ‘launch’, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to share a video captured by local Boca Chica Village resident ‘bocachicagal’ and posted by NASASpaceflight.com. Attached above, Mary’s video offers an incredibly vivid view of the rocket’s violent demise while further revealing the apparent location where the failure started – Starship SN01’s engine section and thrust structure.

Confirming suspicions, Musk quickly implied that the Starship’s failure originated in or around its thrust structure (‘thrust puck’), further noting that Starship SN02 – already in the middle of production – would be “stripp[ed]…to [the] bare minimum to test the thrust puck to dome weld.” In essence, it sounds like Starship SN02 will become SpaceX’s third intentional “test tank”, following in the footsteps of two small Starship tanks built and pressurized to failure to verify the quality of Starship manufacturing.

Starship SN02’s thrust structure design already appears to be a departure from SN01’s apparently unsuccessful iteration. Given that it was already partially completed before Starship SN01 failed during testing, it’s possible that SpaceX will attempt to reinforce the SN02 thrust structure, but the company may have already implemented upgrades before its engineers had the benefit of hindsight from February 28th’s test.

Regardless of what happens to Starship SN02, the fact that SpaceX is apparently building full-scale, (mostly) functional Starship tank sections from raw materials to the launch pad in a matter of a few weeks is incredibly encouraging for the next-generation rocket development program. As an external observer, it’s certainly disappointing to see an impressive piece of rocket hardware shredded in an evening after weeks of work, but that speed – and SpaceX’s willingness to accept failures at the scale of SN01 – suggests that each prototype is almost unfathomably cheap. Unofficial estimates peg the cost of SN01-like Starship prototypes at just several million dollars apiece, while the cost of the raw steel itself is so low that it might as well be negligible.

Even if it takes SpaceX 5-10 SN01-class failures to mature its South Texas rocket factory into a reliable machine and get to a point of stability and confidence with suborbital Starship flights, the total cost of that trial and error is comically insignificant relative to almost any other rocket development program in history. To be clear, SpaceX might benefit from going a little slower and refining Starship’s prototype design, but it’s impossible to know from an armchair. For now, the best available advice is to simply enjoy the show and view each potential test failure as just another small step along the path to Mars.

Check out Teslarati’s newsletters for prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket launch and recovery processes.

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SpaceX’s newest Starship spacecraft prototype unintentionally lifted off during a critical test at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas facilities – a development that was almost certainly unplanned.

On February 26th, under the cover of an incredibly thick fog bank, SpaceX carefully transported its second full-scale Starship prototype – measuring some 30m (100 ft) tall and 9m (30 ft) wide – to its Boca Chica, Texas launch and test pad, situated just a mile or so down the road from an ever-growing rocket factory. After just two days of last-second work spent outfitting the giant rocket tank with a few additional sensors and fully connecting it to ground systems (electricity, communications, and fluids), SpaceX kicked off the second cryogenic ‘proof’ test of an integrated Starship tank section.

An opaque layer of frost quickly developed on the ship’s mirror-smooth hull, effectively serving as a giant gauge for the liquid nitrogen pooling inside it. About an hour after faux-propellant (liquid nitrogen) loading began, Starship SN01’s liquid oxygen tank violently burst, causing the entirety of the vehicle’s 30-40 metric ton (65,000-90,000 lb) bulk to launch several dozen feet into the air. Stacked atop the oxygen tank, SN01’s methane tank – likely pressurized with nitrogen or oxygen gas – shot off like a house-sized bullet when the rest of the tank section impacted the ground, flying some 150-300+ meters (500-1000 ft) from the pad.

Long-time Boca Chica resident, photographer, and videographer Mary (also known as “bocachicagal” on forums) captured the seemingly unintentional Starship failure in spectacular detail on February 28th. Given how high the heavy vehicle jumped after its aft tank dome failed, as well as how fast the house-sized methane tank flew after it breached, it’s safe to say that both were significantly pressurized before the anomaly.

What’s unclear is what exactly went wrong with Starship SN01 and whether SpaceX expected it to fail during the test. Known as a cryogenic proof test, SpaceX pressurized the ship’s tanks with liquid nitrogen and a gas of some kind in an effort to verify its structural integrity and determine if it was safe to proceed to more risky tests. According to CEO Elon Musk, Starship SN01 was actually meant to support a full wet dress rehearsal (WDR) with liquid oxygen and methane, followed by a Raptor engine static fire test shortly thereafter.

That plan is clearly moot, now, and also seems to indicate that SpaceX is likely somewhat surprised about the outcome of SN01’s first proof test. Thankfully, this particular Starship was built quickly (and thus likely cheaply), coming together in an unfathomable four weeks. Additionally, SpaceX’s second serial Starship prototype (SN02) is already well on its way to the launch pad, with multiple sections of stacked steel rings in work. Based on the four or so weeks SN01 took to go from first weld to pressure test, SN02 could be just two or three weeks away from its own proof test debut.

Check out Teslarati’s newsletters for prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket launch and recovery processes.

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A new photo of a Tesla Model Y with a person standing beside it is the best look yet at how the all-electric crossover stacks up in height, and all-around size when compared to the Model 3 sedan and Model X SUV.

Jason Yu snapped a photo of himself standing directly next to a gorgeous Deep Blue Metallic Model Y that he spotted at the Westlake Center in Daly City, California. Standing just over 5 foot 7 inches tall (170 cm) plus an additional .75 inch from the height of his shoes, according to Yu, the Model Y looked closer in size to Tesla’s Model X than its sibling Model 3.

Tesla has not published the dimensions for the Model Y, only noting that it is approximately 10% larger than the Model 3. However, a recent sighting revealed that Model Y has a height of 62.5 inches (158.8 cm). By comparison, Tesla Model 3 has a height of 57 inches (144.8 cm) and appears notably smaller when compared against Yu’s stature.

Yu notes that he was standing 1 inch away from the vehicle and wearing identical shoes in both instances of the photo.

While Yu appears significantly taller than the height of the Model 3, another selfie taken with a Model X tells a different story.

Tesla’s flagship Model X is the company’s largest vehicle to date that’s in production. Standing at 66.3 inches in height (168.4 cm), Model X isn’t much taller than the Model Y with 20″ induction wheels that was captured by Yu. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering both Model X and Model Y are available in a 7-seat configuration with three rows of seating. In both vehicles, the third row of seats can be folded down to create an expansive rear trunk space. A recent sighting of a Model Y reveals a rather large rear cargo space.

Alright, here is a comparison of me standing next to a Model Y vs a Model X. If you want to see me stand next to another vehicle with my yang gang hat, let me know. #ModelY #ModelX #YangGang @Tesla https://t.co/nfQOVjJqaH pic.twitter.com/7NqDxowVKD

— Jay Yu (@jayzilla711) February 29, 2020

Tesla is set to begin first Model Y deliveries to customers as early as March 15. Available in both a Long Range configuration that’s capable of 315 miles per single charge and a 280-mile Performance variant, Tesla’s all-electric crossover is expected to be the company’s biggest seller to date, besting Model 3 in popularity.

The Elon Musk-led electric car company is projecting over 500,000 vehicles delivered in 2020, helped by increasingly better production efficiencies, streamlined vehicle design, and plans to continue Gigafactory deployments across the world.

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SpaceX has been awarded a $117 million launch contract for NASA’s Psyche mission that will study a unique metal asteroid between Mars and Jupiter.

The NASA mission to loft a 5,750-lb. (2,608-kg) spacecraft atop of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket will study a mineral-rich asteroid named 16 Psyche. The mission is expected to take place sometime in 2022 and launch from NASA’s historic Launch Pad 39A in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Falcon Heavy will launch @NASAPsyche! The mission, for which @NASA requires the highest level of launch vehicle reliability, will study a metal asteroid between Mars and Jupiter to help humanity better understand the formation of our solar system’s planets https://t.co/mvrgx6dvaW pic.twitter.com/FqMaRKscQ4

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 28, 2020

Psyche is an intriguing, metallic world orbiting in the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. Most asteroids are made of rock and ice, but not Psyche — it’s composed of iron and nickel. That’s what makes it an interesting target. 

Scientists want to study it because they believe Psyche could provide insight into how planets form. Terrestrial bodies, like the Earth, have metallic cores deep in their interior, below the outer layers like the mantle and crust. Psyche could be one of these metallic cores: the remnant of a violent collision with another planetary body billions of years ago.

We’re unable to study the Earth’s core directly, so Psyche could provide a lot of insight into our own planet as well as how other rocky planets form.

The Psyche mission was selected in 2017 as part of NASA’s Discovery Program, which also includes historic missions like the Kepler Space Telescope, and the InSight Mars lander.

This mission is one of true exploration because scientists aren’t exactly sure of what we will find. Ground-based measurements indicate that Psyche could be as large as Mars, and is probably shaped like a potato. But is this hunk of metal the dead, exposed heart of an ancient protoplanet or could it be a weird iron-rich alien world?

The spacecraft is packing a suite of four instruments that will enable the science team to determine what happened to 16 Psyche over its lifetime. Right now the team postulates that Psyche is the metallic core of a planetary body that was destroyed billions of years ago through an incredibly violent collision with another world. There’s evidence to indicate that Psyche was once molten, and cooled after having its crust stripped away. 

Planetary impacts, such as a meteor slamming into the Earth, have been studied for as long as scientists have been studying planets. Understanding these events are a fundamental aspect of planetary science. They can tell us the age of a planetary surface, and much more. Historically, impact studies have focused on rocky worlds, and recently icy bodies. But what happens on a metal world? No one knows. 

If Psyche was once a molten world, as the science team believes, it could join the list of volcanic worlds in the solar system. We’re all familiar with the volcanoes that we see here on Earth. Mars had similar ones in its past, like Olympus Mons. But these are not the only types of volcanoes we see in our cosmic backyard. Icy worlds like Pluto and Ceres have evidence of cryovolcanoes.

These are different than what we see on Earth because they spew icy materials instead of lava. Psyche could be even more strange, with evidence of molten metals such as iron and nickel on its surface.

Psyche will test an experimental laser technology that will aim to improve communications with spacecraft over vast distances. It will also launch with two secondary payloads: Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE), which will study Mars’ atmosphere and the process by which it’s being lost to space; and Janus, which will focus on binary asteroids and how they form.

This is SpaceX’s 8th contract from NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) and the first for Falcon Heavy. SpaceX’s workhorse, the Falcon 9 has several science missions under its belt, having launched NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and will launch the upcoming PACE mission, which is designed to study the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere.

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February 29, “leap day”,  is an oddity on the calendar that occurs every four years in an attempt to sync up the Gregorian calendar (the calendar most of the world uses to keep time) with Earth’s rotation around the sun.

One calendar year on Earth is 365 days long; however, the Earth actually takes 365.2422 days to lap the sun. That puts the planet roughly a quarter of a day behind at the end of each year.

To maintain consistency and ensure the seasons line up each year, an extra day was added to the already short month of February — a modification that happens every four years. But even this doesn’t fully solve the problem; additional tweaks are needed.

For instance, if a year is divisible by 100, there’s no extra day — unless the year is divisible by 400. That means that 1700, 1800 and 1900 did not have a leap day, but 2000 did. This adjustment ensures that Earth is as close as possible to the same point in its orbit in consecutive calendar years and keeps our seasons inline.

Unsurprisingly, Earth is not the only planet that needs leap days. The phenomenon could occur on other planets in our solar system as well as those around other stars. That’s because you can’t fit an exact number of spins into one trip around the sun for any planet. There’s usually going to be something left over. Leap days on other worlds, such as Mars,  could be more complicated than those here on Earth.

One year on Mars lasts for approximately 668.6 Martian days. (A Martian day is called a sols and equals 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds.) Future inhabitants might decide that a year on the red planet will be described as 668 days. How do we adjust?

Over the decades, many different ideas for the Martian calendar have been proposed. The most popular one, called the Darian calendar, was created in 1985 by Tomas Gangale.

According to Gangale, the Martian calendar would feature 24 months, each named for the Latin and Sanskrit words for the constellation of the zodiac, like Sagittarius and Dhanus, and so forth. The first five months in each quarter would have 28 Martian days (or sols), with the sixth having only 27. Even-numbered years would total 668 days and odd-numbered years would have 669. The exception to that rule: even-numbered years that were divisible by 10.

Another option was proposed by Michael Allison, a retired NASA scientist. In his version, the Martian calendar would have 668-days divided into 22 months, each totaling 30 or 31 days, similar in fashion to Earth. To make sure the seasons lined up, all years divisible by five will have three leap days, bringing the total to 671.

So which of these calendars do scientists use to keep track of time on Mars? Currently, none.

Instead, they use two systems to keep track of time: one counts the number of Martian days since the start of a mission, and the other keeps track of where Mars was in its orbit at that time.

Right now scientists don’t care if the seasons line up perfectly with the calendar, but that may change when you add humans into the mix. NASA and other space agencies around the world have their sights set on Mars. Once humans land on the red planet and spend significant time there, we are going to need a common calendar to keep track of seasons.

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A Tesla Model S Performance recently crushed a modified Acura NSX on a heads-up drag race in Miami, with the former edging the latter in two of three races.

DragTimes pitted the two potent vehicles against each other in a straight-line race. According to Tesla owner and YouTuber Brooks Weisblat, the NSX comes with a hybrid system featuring a 3.5L Turbocharged V6 working in tandem with three electric motors.

The Acura is a $180K modified speed machine with a full Fabspeed exhaust setup that adds roughly 30 HP and Hydra Motor Works Tune that boosts its power by around 40 to 50HP more.  The stock Acura NSX hybrid already boasts 573HP but the one the Miami dragstrip was a potent 700HP beast.

The Tesla Model S Performance, on the other hand, weighs about 4,900 lbs. and the vehicle’s Dual Motor setup produces about 920 lb-ft torque. It retails for about $100K before incentives.

During the first race, the Tesla Model S Performance Raven proved quicker than the modified Acura NSX registering an ET of 10.61 versus the latter’s 10.96 seconds. Tesla’s torque management was evident with the Model S edging the NSX on the 60-foot line and one-eight mile marks.

The NSX beat Tesla’s reaction time on the second race. The Acura was first to reach the one-fourth mile mark after 10.71 seconds while the Tesla Model S Performance Raven came in a blink late at 10.939 seconds.

For the final bout, the Model S Performance Raven dominated the modified NSX hybrid with a quicker launch, crossing the end of the quarter-mile mark with a time of 10.748 against the Acura’s 11.172 seconds.

Acura claims that the NSX engine power combined with the direct electric torque is an absolute game-changer that offers a new kind of dynamic performance not only in terms of acceleration but in steering and braking as well. Despite this, the Model S Performance clearly outclassed its competition. Even before the Raven update that gave the electric vehicle better range, efficiency, Fully Adaptive Suspension, and other optimizations, the Model S already had a potent 0-60mph time at 2.28 seconds on Ludicrous mode.

Perhaps it is not a surprise that the Tesla Model S Raven beat the Acura NSX hybrid on the NSX but it is still very exhilarating to see how it leaves a formidable competition a few cars behind.

Check out the video footage of the Tesla Model S Performance Raven going against the modified Acura NSX hybrid below:

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As it turns out, it only takes one sharp-witted Twitter user to get Toyota to admit that its well-promoted “self-charging hybrid” cars are actually powered by none other than petrol. The exchange was posted on the social media platform, following the Japanese automaker’s ad featuring a hybrid SUV from its Lexus marque.

Toyota has been pushing its “self-charging hybrid” campaign for a while now, which ranged from questionable ads to even more questionable videos showing pure electric cars in a bad light. Yet, the Japanese carmaker has been quite silent about a significant detail on its “self-charging” vehicles: they run on gas, just like any other internal combustion vehicle out there.

What is rather amazing is that Toyota has actually been doubling down on its “self-charging” campaign, despite being called out online and having countries such as Norway outright banning the marketing effort for being misleading. Yet, despite these, Toyota has stood firm. “The vehicle automatically charges as you drive, there’s no need to wait whilst it charges through a plug in point,” the Japanese carmaker wrote.

This same strategy was adopted when Toyota posted an ad for its Lexus UX hybrid SUV on Twitter. The advertisement was typical of the carmaker’s campaign, with the video promoting the fact that the vehicle does not need to be plugged into an electrical outlet to charge its batteries. This, unsurprisingly, caught the attention of several car enthusiasts, some of whom were curious about what a self-charging hybrid car really is.

Through interactions with users of the social media platform, Lexus UK, Toyota’s luxury marque, eventually admitted that its “self-charging cars” are simply gas-powered automobiles. When asked by Twitter user Gary Hook if petrol charges the Lexus UX hybrid SUV, the marque responded with a direct “It is fueled by petrol, yes.”

Toyota remains as the largest automaker in the industry by market cap today, though electric car maker Tesla continues to make headway in its second place. What is somewhat surprising is that despite other veteran automakers such as Volkswagen announcing that they are committing fully to electric mobility, Toyota has stubbornly stood by its hybrid and hydrogen solutions.

Instead of transitioning fully to electric, the Japanese carmaker has instead been pushing its “self-charging” marketing campaign for its hybrid vehicles and hyping the release of its new Mirai, which will, just like its predecessor, be powered exclusively by hydrogen. With this in mind, and with electrification being more and more mainstream with the arrival of vehicles like the Model 3 and Model Y, Toyota’s steadfast dedication to hybrid technology may end up being a costly miscalculation.

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