TESLARATITesla news, rumors and reviews. SpaceX, Elon Musk, batteries, energy, premium EV market.2024-12-24T15:15:49Zhttps://www.teslarati.com/feed/atom/WordPresshttps://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/cropped-Teslarati-iOS-White-Leaf-Icon-512x512-32x32.pngSimon Alvarezhttps://www.teslarati.com<![CDATA[Tesla China is already starting its Q1 2025 push]]>https://www.teslarati.com/?p=2799282024-12-24T15:15:49Z2024-12-24T15:15:45ZTesla China has updated its promotions, offering a final payment discount for the Model Y and extending a zero-interest finance deal for qualified Model Y and Model 3 buyers in China. Tesla China announced the new program in a post on its official Weibo account. Discount details: With the recently announced discount in place, Tesla […]
]]>Tesla China has updated its promotions, offering a final payment discount for the Model Y and extending a zero-interest finance deal for qualified Model Y and Model 3 buyers in China.
Tesla China announced the new program in a post on its official Weibo account.
Discount details:
With the recently announced discount in place, Tesla China has implemented an RMB 10,000 reduction on the final payment for existing Model Y vehicles.
The discount is effective from 8 am Beijing time on December 24, 2024.
Eligible modelsare the Model Y Rear Wheel Drive and Model Y Long Range All Wheel Drive.
Inventory and showroom cars are included in the promotion.
Customized vehicles, test drive units, or official second-hand cars are not included in the program.
Financing deal extension:
Tesla China’s 5-year, zero-interest financing has been extended to January 31, 2025 as well.
The financing deal is available for the Model Y RWD, Model Y Long Range AWD, Model 3 RWD, and Model 3 Long Range AWD.
Customers who wish to take advantage of the 5-year, zero-interest financing are required to place a down payment of at least RMB 79,900.
Context:
Tesla China’s recent sales push is an update from a similar offer announced in November, which was due to end by December 31, 2024.
The previous offer also included orders for customized vehicles, though the program had a strict delivery deadline of December 31, 2024.
Why it matters:
These adjustments come amid reports that Tesla would be ramping up the initial production of an updated Model Y at its Shanghai factory in January 2025.
The promotions may then be a way for the company to clear inventory before the updated Model Y hits the market.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
]]>Simon Alvarezhttps://www.teslarati.com<![CDATA[Tesla China registrations hit 17,600 in Q4’s second to the last week]]>https://www.teslarati.com/?p=2799192024-12-24T13:22:22Z2024-12-24T13:22:19ZTesla China seems determined to cap off December 2024 on a high note, with new vehicle registrations hitting an impressive 17,600 vehicles in the week of December 16 to 22, 2024. BY THE NUMBERS: During the week ending December 22, Tesla China saw 17,600 new vehicle registrations, down 4.86% from the previous week’s 18,500. Tesla’s registrations in China […]
]]>Tesla China seems determined to cap off December 2024 on a high note, with new vehicle registrations hitting an impressive 17,600 vehicles in the week of December 16 to 22, 2024.
BY THE NUMBERS:
During the week ending December 22, Tesla China saw 17,600 new vehicle registrations, down 4.86% from the previous week’s 18,500.
Tesla’s registrations in China are so far up 7.5% year-to-date compared to 2023.
Tesla doesn’t report its weekly sales figures, but the company’s general performance can be inferred through new vehicle registration data.
Thankfully, China’s vehicle registration data is closely tracked by industry watchers. Some automakers, such as Li Auto, have also made it a point to share vehicle registration data on platforms such as Weibo.
China reports 17.6k Tesla registrations for the week of December 16-22.
With just over one week left in December, Tesla China will likely engage in a strong vehicle delivery push in the month’s final days as it attempts to help the company achieve CEO Elon Musk’s delivery targets for 2024.
Elon Musk has set an ambitious goal of matching Tesla’s global vehicle delivery results from 2023. To achieve this, Tesla would have to deliver about 515,000 vehicles this Q4 2024.
China is one of Tesla’s most important markets, though the country is also home to the world’s most competitive EV segment. So far, however, the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 are performing quite well in the domestic Chinese market.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
]]>Zachary Viscontihttps://zacharyvisconti.com<![CDATA[Tesla reveals Q4 Supercharger winners, opens next voting round]]>https://www.teslarati.com/?p=2799152024-12-23T23:11:32Z2024-12-23T23:11:32ZTesla has revealed the latest locations to win its Supercharger voting round for the final quarter of the year, along with opening votes for the voting round. The company’s charging account posted about the news on X, noting that its winners for the Q4 Supercharger voting round had been named and added to the company’s […]
]]>Tesla has revealed the latest locations to win its Supercharger voting round for the final quarter of the year, along with opening votes for the voting round.
The company’s charging account posted about the news on X, noting that its winners for the Q4 Supercharger voting round had been named and added to the company’s website. Tesla has also opened its latest three-month round of voting, and you can cast your vote on previously proposed sites on the company’s website here.
Tesla Supercharger voting winners in the U.S. for Q4 2024
Hot Springs, Arkansas, U.S.
Clermont, Florida, U.S.
Taos, New Mexico, U.S.
Johnson City, Tennessee, U.S.
Cody, Wyoming, U.S.
Tesla Supercharger voting winners in Canada for Q4 2024
Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada
Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada
Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada
Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada
Tesla Supercharger voting winners in Europe for Q4 2024
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Liberec, Czech Republic
Taranto, Italy
Warsaw South, Poland
Tesla Supercharger voting winners in Asia-Pacific for Q4 2024
Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia
Hakuba Village, Japan
Gwacheon, Seoul, South Korea
Tesla’s Supercharger improvements rolling out, NACS access
Tesla has been rolling out improvements to the Supercharger network throughout this year, and North American Charging Director Max de Zegher recently outlined some of the company’s specific goals in doing so as access rolls out to non-Tesla electric vehicles (EVs). These include making stall availability even more accurate, boosting the number of long Supercharging cables, modifying stations to help non-Tesla EVs avoid blocking stalls, and encouraging manufacturers to put their charging ports on the rear left or front right of their upcoming vehicles.
On Monday, Tesla and Hyundai also announced that the 2025 Ioniq 5 will become the first EV to be able to charge at the Superchargers with a native NACS charging port, while the company’s existing vehicles with the CCS charger are set to get an adapter in early 2025. Owners of Nissan’s Ariya EV also gained access to the charging network earlier this month, as Tesla slowly opens its chargers to automakers across the industry.
]]>Zachary Viscontihttps://zacharyvisconti.com<![CDATA[Tesla, Trump and the state of self-driving vehicles going into 2025]]>https://www.teslarati.com/?p=2799112024-12-23T19:50:53Z2024-12-23T19:50:53ZTesla and other companies are actively developing self-driving technologies and driverless ride-hailing platforms, and with President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team already focused on autonomous vehicles, the tech is highly expected to be a major theme in 2025. According to a Reuters Breakingviews prediction report on Monday, Trump’s moves to minimize regulations surrounding autonomous vehicles and create […]
]]>Tesla and other companies are actively developing self-driving technologies and driverless ride-hailing platforms, and with President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team already focused on autonomous vehicles, the tech is highly expected to be a major theme in 2025.
According to a Reuters Breakingviewsprediction report on Monday, Trump’s moves to minimize regulations surrounding autonomous vehicles and create a federal framework for the technology are expected to supercharge the industry—as increased competition emerges in the U.S. and beyond.
With Tesla CEO Elon Musk also set to play a large role in Trump’s administration, heading up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the company’s own developments in the sector could also stand to benefit substantially. Reuters also predicts that self-driving pilots could expand under the administration, especially as developers aim to increase the amount of data used to train their systems.
Internationally, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) categorizes vehicle automation into five automation levels, which are generally adopted in conversations about robotaxis in the U.S. market as well. You can see these categories below, with Level 3 and above generally considered to be full automation, at least at times, while Level 2 and below are considered partial automation.
Credit: SAE International
According to the data firm Canalys, just 5.5 percent of vehicles sold this year have included Level 2 or more assistance features, such as cruise control and automated lane changes. By 2025, however, Citi research has suggested that models in China below 200,000 yuan (about $28,000) will have these features, playing a major role in consumer demand.
In China, at least 19 companies are currently testing fully autonomous vehicles, and Goldman Sachs expects the country to see as many as 90 percent of consumer sales to have features of Level 3 autonomy or greaterby 2040, compared to just 65 percent in the U.S.
While these technologies are emerging, McKinsey predicts that self-driving could become a $400 billion industry by 2035. Google parent company Alphabet runs Waymo, a Level 4 driverless ride-hailing service that already offers paid rides, while others, including Pony AI and Baidu also offer rentable self-driving vehicles in select areas.
BYD has invested $14 billion into self-driving, Toyota has around 1.7 trillion yen ($11.3 billion) going toward software, while Volkswagen has invested $700 million into China’s Xpeng Motors. Li Auto and Xiami are also considered potential competitors in these spaces, and 2025 could prove a big year for commercial self-driving hopefuls.
Tesla’s Supervised FSD program, Cybercab unveiled
Meanwhile, Tesla isn’t yet operating a paid ride-hailing service, though it gathers data through owner use of its Supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. Tesla has touted the potential scalability of its Supervised FSD in the past, given that it’s available at least in some form in all of the company’s vehicles.
Musk has also regularly talked about a future in which owners of its vehicles could use an Unsupervised FSD to generate money by giving robotaxi rides while not normally in use.
On that theme, Tesla unveiled the Cybercab in October, a fully autonomous, two-seat vehicle with no pedals, set to eventually make it to the market as a driverless ride-hailing vehicle. It’s also set to be equipped with wireless charging and make use of an automated cleaning robot, offering top-to-bottom autonomy for owners.
Tesla skeptics, Waymo’s driverless ride-hails, GM’s Cruise drives into the sunset
Despite the unveiling, some have shared skepticism around how long the vehicles could take to reach the market, especially given that production isn’t set to begin until 2026 with commercial deliveries aiming for “before 2027,” according to Musk during the October 10 “We, Robot” unveiling event.
]]>Simon Alvarezhttps://www.teslarati.com<![CDATA[More Tesla Model Y “Juniper” prototypes sighted amid reports of upcoming production]]>https://www.teslarati.com/?p=2799002024-12-23T15:09:36Z2024-12-23T15:09:32ZMore sightings of the Tesla Model Y “Juniper” were recently reported on social media. The sightings come amidst reports that Tesla China is preparing for the initial production of an updated version of the all-electric crossover. The sighting: The recent Model Y “Juniper” prototype sighting was reported in California. Similar to past sightings, the vehicle […]
]]>More sightings of the Tesla Model Y “Juniper” were recently reported on social media. The sightings come amidst reports that Tesla China is preparing for the initial production of an updated version of the all-electric crossover.
LatePost’s report suggested that the Model Y’s upcoming upgrade will be quite similar to the Model 3 Highland, which included updates to the all-electric sedan’s exterior, interior, battery, and powertrain.
The report also claimed that Tesla China will start producing a six-seat version of the updated Model Y in Q4 2025.
Previous leaked images of the alleged Model Y “Juniper” hinted at a red light bar in the vehicle’s rear.
Other rumored features for the Model Y “Juniper” include a grille-less front, a 15.4-inch tilting infotainment system, and newly developed fourth-generation drive units.
The Model Y in context:
The Model Y is Tesla’s best-selling vehicle, and in 2023, it became the world’s best-selling car by volume.
An upgrade to the Model Y will likely prove popular among consumers considering that the vehicle is still selling well today. This is despite the Model Y still sporting an older design compared to its sedan sibling, the Model 3.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
]]>Maria Merano<![CDATA[Tesla analyst shares pessimistic view of robotaxi fleet]]>https://www.teslarati.com/?p=2799022024-12-23T14:25:34Z2024-12-23T14:25:30ZTesla analyst Gary Black shared a pessimistic view of the robotaxi fleet’s future over the weekend. Black posted on X, wondering what percentage of Tesla owners would enroll their vehicles into the company’s robotaxi fleet. Black predicts that less than 50% of Tesla owners will join the company’s robotaxi fleet. The main argument against including […]
]]>Tesla analyst Gary Black shared a pessimistic view of the robotaxi fleet’s future over the weekend. Black posted on X, wondering what percentage of Tesla owners would enroll their vehicles into the company’s robotaxi fleet.
Black predicts that less than 50% of Tesla owners will join the company’s robotaxi fleet. The main argument against including a personal vehicle in Tesla’s robotaxi fleet is that owners will be uncomfortable lending their cars to strangers.
What % of Tesla owners would accept a stream of payouts from Tesla for deploying their cars in a TSLA robotaxi network to move people/luggage around every day? At 25 trips/day x 6 miles/trip x $1/mile x 75% payout, let’s assume a TSLA owner could make $40K per year by renting…
Elon Musk has compared Tesla’s robotaxi fleet to a combination of Uber and AirBnB. While Black’s point could be valid, it might not be a major concern for Tesla. Musk has also stated that Tesla will independently add vehicles to the robotaxi fleet, separate from individual car owners.
So, there should be enough vehicles in the robotaxi fleet to accommodate customers, even if less than 50% of Tesla owners join the robotaxi fleet initially. Plus, some Tesla owners have argued that they would not enroll their personal vehicles into the robotaxi fleet, but a secondary car instead.
]]>Zachary Viscontihttps://zacharyvisconti.com<![CDATA[Tesla launches unique charging solution for increased holiday travel]]>https://www.teslarati.com/?p=2798772024-12-22T19:48:12Z2024-12-22T19:48:09ZTesla has started deploying a unique charging solution for heavily driven U.S. highway corridors, utilizing its grid-scale energy storage units to boost the number of stations available ahead of an expected bump in travel for the holidays. In order to accommodate the increase in travel, Tesla has launched four Megapack Chargers in heavily traveled areas […]
]]>Tesla has started deploying a unique charging solution for heavily driven U.S. highway corridors, utilizing its grid-scale energy storage units to boost the number of stations available ahead of an expected bump in travel for the holidays.
In order to accommodate the increase in travel, Tesla has launched four Megapack Chargers in heavily traveled areas of the U.S., offering a mobile Megapack unit along with pre-fabricated Supercharger units. These mobile chargers have been deployed in Bakersfield, California, Primm, Nevada, El Centro, California, and Cambridge, Ohio, and can now be seen on Tesla’s Supercharger map.
While the Bakersfield and Primm mobile charger locations appear to have been added to existing Superchargers, the El Centro and Cambridge sites seem to be standalone sites with eight and 10 stalls, respectively, according to Tesla’s website. The mobile units also seem to offer up to 150kW charging speeds, as detailed on the listings for the latter two chargers.
You can see a diagram of the pre-fab Superchargers below, as shared in recent weeks by Tesla’s North America Director of Charging Max de Zegher. On the left, you can see all the materials needed to build a traditional Supercharging station with four stalls, including the stalls themselves, the charging cabinet, and all the structural items needed. On the right, you’ll see Tesla’s pre-fabricated units, which streamline the installation process and feature a built-in cabinet, stalls, and structure.
Credit: Max de Zegher | X
Tesla reached 60,000 Supercharger stalls worldwide in October, and the company is also readying its rollout of the V4 Supercharging cabinet in 2025, which will enable charging speeds of up to 500 kW for the Cybertruck and up to 1.2 MW for the electric Semi.
The company has also been aiming to make improvements to the existing Supercharger network, with goals to build more stations with pull-through, towing-friendly stalls, and to increase the length of charging cables to help accommodate wider access to the chargers for non-Tesla electric vehicles (EVs).
]]>Zachary Viscontihttps://zacharyvisconti.com<![CDATA[Tesla’s latest FSD Supervised version rolls out to AI4 with holiday update]]>https://www.teslarati.com/?p=2798712024-12-22T18:18:00Z2024-12-22T18:14:12ZTesla started rolling out its highly-anticipated holiday update over the weekend, along with its latest version of the Supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD). On Saturday evening, users began reporting that Tesla’s software update version 2024.45.25.5 had started rolling out, and it’s expected to make its way to those with FSD Supervised first before rolling out more […]
]]>Tesla started rolling out its highly-anticipated holiday update over the weekend, along with its latest version of the Supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD).
On Saturday evening, users began reporting that Tesla’s software update version 2024.45.25.5 had started rolling out, and it’s expected to make its way to those with FSD Supervised first before rolling out more widely throughout this week. The update also includes FSD Supervised v13.2.2 for those with Tesla’s AI4 computer, while those with AI3 (HW3) are expected to receive a “much-updated” FSD Supervised v12.6 before the end of the year, according to a statement last week from Vice President of AI Ashok Elluswamy.
You can see a couple of early experiences with Tesla’s FSD v13.2.2 below, courtesy of Whole Mars Catalog and Chuck Cook.
Tesla posts a large holiday update every year, typically featuring a combination of improvements and fun features that are either holiday-themed or just plain funny.
This year’s Tesla holiday update is no different, bringing with it a handful of features, both with improvements and with items that are simply fun. For example, Tesla has added the Cybertruck Santa Mode for those with the unique electric pickup, letting you change your in-vehicle avatar to Santa’s sleigh, complete with reindeer, elves, and other decorations.
Other features geared toward functionality include the addition of a Tesla Apple Watch app, the ability to set a preferred battery charge level for arrival, the ability to search along a navigation route and receive estimated detour times, precipitation map and destination weather, and a handful of other useful features.
Other updates launched with the massive suite of features include the fart on contact setting, TuneIn radio and SiriusXM streaming, alerts to rear cross traffic, the ability to save dashcam and Sentry Mode clips to your phone, lightshow scheduling, and still other features.
]]>Zachary Viscontihttps://zacharyvisconti.com<![CDATA[Illinois granted nearly $20 million to electrify its school bus fleet]]>https://www.teslarati.com/?p=2798692024-12-22T17:27:29Z2024-12-21T21:32:20ZThe U.S. state of Illinois has been granted almost $20 million to help several areas transition to electric school buses, as part of a program within President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced on Friday that it has been awarded $19.9 million to purchase and deploy 70 […]
]]>The U.S. state of Illinois has been granted almost $20 million to help several areas transition to electric school buses, as part of a program within President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced on Friday that it has been awarded $19.9 million to purchase and deploy 70 electric school buses and to construct additional electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, as detailed in a press release. The funding comes from the IRA’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program, allowing the state to deploy replace retired internal combustion engine (ICE) buses with electric versions across nine Illinois school districts.
In addition to deploying the electric buses under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant, the state plans to use the funding to help build charging stations for the electric vehicles (EVs), along with providing workforce training to help service and support the tech as it rolls out. Additionally, the ISBE will be able to hire two full-time staff members to help support the implementation of the grant and to work with school districts on additional clean energy programming.
“With this funding, we’re building on our progress toward a more sustainable future by providing nine school districts with the resources to advance our clean energy goals,” says Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. “Through the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Duty Grant program, these districts will receive electric school buses, charging infrastructure, and workforce training — reducing harmful emissions and improving air quality. Thanks to our federal and local partners, we’re creating healthier and cleaner environments for students and communities across the state.”
The release also details that the EPA reports as many as 3 million Class 6 and Class 7 vehicles are currently being used in the U.S., many of which emit high levels of a combination of greenhouse gases, fine particulates, nitrogen oxides, and other harmful gases.
“Clean transportation solutions not only create healthier living and learning environments for our students but also save money for our school districts and taxpayers,” writes Dr. Tony Sanders, State Superintendent of Education. “I am proud of our staff here at the Illinois State Board of Education for winning this competitive grant and securing this valuable investment in Illinois’ clean energy future.”
The first Illinois school districts to get electric buses
Forest Park School District 91: 5 school buses
Franklin Park School District 84: 3 school buses
Hazel Crest School District 152.5: 1 school bus
Joliet Township High School District 204: 10 school buses
Lincolnshire-Prairie View District 103: 4 school buses
Marengo Union Elementary CSD 165: 2 school buses
Township High School District 113 (Highland Park): 3 school buses
Troy Community Consolidated School District 30-C: 32 school buses
Zion-Benton Township High School District 126: 10 school buses
Along with the nine districts getting funding through the ISBE grant, three other Illinois school districts were awarded direct funding through the EPA’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program, according to the release. These include Grayslake Community Consolidated School District 46, North Chicago CUSD 187, and Zion Elementary School District 6.
]]>Zachary Viscontihttps://zacharyvisconti.com<![CDATA[U.S. agency proposes rules for self-driving vehicle incident reporting]]>https://www.teslarati.com/?p=2798612024-12-21T20:59:39Z2024-12-21T20:00:09ZThe top U.S. automotive agency has detailed a proposal to create rules around reporting and transparency for vehicles with self-driving features, coming at a crucial moment as companies race to deploy commercial robotaxis. On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a press release detailing a proposal for rules on a voluntary national […]
]]>The top U.S. automotive agency has detailed a proposal to create rules around reporting and transparency for vehicles with self-driving features, coming at a crucial moment as companies race to deploy commercial robotaxis.
On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a press release detailing a proposal for rules on a voluntary national framework for automated driving systems (ADS), coming as the first such program to be proposed. The rules would also effectively accelerate the process of gaining exemptions from current limitations to allow companies to deploy ADS-equipped vehicles more quickly and at a greater volume.
Dubbed the ADS-equipped Vehicle Safety, Transparency, and Evaluation Program (AV STEP), the program would be open to any companies that operate or plan to operate compliant self-driving automobiles on public roads, and aiming to increase transparency into self-driving vehicles.
“AV STEP would provide a valuable national framework at a pivotal time in the development of ADS technology. Safe, transparent, and responsible development is critical for this technology to be trusted by the public and reach its full potential. This proposal lays the foundation for those goals and supports NHTSA’s safety mission,” NHTSA Chief Counsel Adam Raviv said. “We encourage everyone to comment on our proposed program.”
The agency formally issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for such a framework. If passed, the regulations would both increase the amount of publicly available info for self-driving vehicles in the U.S., and it would focus on offering vehicle manufacturers, operators, and municipalities more data on public awareness of the technology and incidents related to vehicles equipped with ADS systems.
AV STEP would also create two new exemption processes for ADS systems to be deployed, offering increased regulatory flexibility for companies aiming to launch commercial services. The agency also says that it will provide a period for public comment upon the publication of the rules, under docket No. NHTSA-2024-0100.
You can see one version of the full NHTSA proposal below, which the agency says is not the official version but has been prepared for internet circulation.
President-elect Donald Trump plans for self-driving vehicles
