Tesla unveils the Model 3

Would you actually drop $35,000 for something that you know is going to be nice, but have not seen it in the flesh just yet? Not quite likely, unless that amount of money is a drop in the ocean for you, but it seems that plenty of people have faith in the Tesla Model 3, a $35,000 ride that has just been unveiled earlier this evening in what has been deemed to be “Part 1” of the unveiling process.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has mentioned on many occasions that rolling out high-end vehicles is but a gateway to delivering an affordable electric vehicle that everyone can afford. The $35,000 (and this is before federal tax credits kick in which could see it retail for $25,000 then) Model 3 sedan is touted to come with a minimum range of 215 miles of range (quite different from the 300 mile range possibility reported yesterday), hitting 0-60 in less than six seconds, and boasting of Supercharging as a standard feature – which is a nice touch, off course.

So far, prior to the ride’s unveiling, the pre-orders for the Tesla Model 3 have already surpassed the 115,000 mark, now how about that for impressive? Delivery of this ride might only happen in 2018, so it will still take some time before you get to see this bad boy on the roads.



Source: Ubergizmo

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Elon Musk's Tesla Motors Finally Owns Tesla.com

Elon Musk has finally gotten his hands on the Tesla.com domain name that has been owned by a Silicon Valley engineer and virtually unused for 24 years.

The Tesla.com domain was owned by a Stu Grossman since 1992 and Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Musk had to settle for the slightly more cumbersome Teslamotors.com. A Tesla spokeswoman confirmed Friday that the company now has the domain. Punch Tesla.com into a browser and traffic is directed to Teslamotors.com.

The ever-persistent Musk got a domain that he wanted, which would give him the liberty to change the company’s name to Tesla if he chooses to later on. When asked last year at the launch of Tesla Energy if he wanted to change the company’s name to Tesla from Tesla Motors -- to reflect that the company’s gigafactory would soon be building stationary batteries -- Musk said there were domain issues. Not anymore.

The move gives Tesla Motors a more broad handle on the Web just as the company is pushing beyond its electric-car business and is selling battery units for homes and power utilities.

It is not clear if Grossman sold the name to Tesla. He bought the domain years ago because of his affinity for inventor Nikola Tesla and kept it for personal use, said John Berryhill, an attorney in Pennsylvania who represented Grossman in dispute with another company, Tesla Industries Inc., a decade ago. Grossman had been approached by many people about giving up the name, Berryhill said.

“Mr. Grossman is an engineer and a big fan of Nikola Tesla,” Berryhill said. “He’s had it, and now Tesla the auto company got it. I would surmise that this was a voluntary arrangement,”

Grossman could not be immediately reached for comment. Tesla spokeswoman Khobi Brooklyn declined to comment on the domain change beyond confirming that the company has acquired it.



Source: Bloomberg

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Google hires the man in charge of Tesla's Autopilot feature

Google has hired Robert Rose, the man who led the development of Tesla's "Autopilot" project.9to5Google spotted the news on Rose's LinkedIn page.

Rose spent six months helping Tesla launch its Autopilot and Autosteer features, and he also worked at SpaceX for more than five years. There, he was a software engineer on some of the first Falcon 9 flights, and eventually was the director of flight software for all of SpaceX.

Rose spent six months at Tesla, and 5 years at SpaceX

It's unclear exactly what he'll be working on at Google, but he listed his new role as a "software engineer" for Google Robotics, and 9to5Google rightly points out that Google has used similar language in job listings for its self-driving car project. But it could mean anything from the self-driving car program to the various companies that it owns, like Boston Dynamics.

Stealing talent has become the weapon of choice in the autonomous car arms race. Tesla poaches employees from Apple. Apple hires employees that Tesla fires. And secretive startup Faraday Future has poached employees from both.

Google has done some poaching, too. The hiring of Rose comes just a few months after Google named John Krafcik, who worked for Ford and ran Hyundai America, as CEO of the company's self-driving car project. Rose could just be the next one in a long line as the company continues to expand the testing of its tiny self-driving cars.

Source :The Verge 

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Aston Martin all-electric Rapide throws down the gauntlet to Tesla

The company wants to bring an all-electric version of the four door to the market in the next two years and it will feature all-wheel drive, 800hp and a 200 mile range that is all sure to prick up the ears of Elon Musk and the guys over at Tesla.

CEO Andy Palmer, talking to Automotive News, hinted at the price falling somewhere between the $200,000 (£127,623) and $250,000 (£159,528) mark, which considering the petrol powered Rapide starts at $207,820 (£132,613) sounds about right.

Aston Martin is getting the batteries for the car from an “established supplier” like LG or Samsung but not Panasonic, according to Palmer. Production numbers are expected to be in the hundreds per year and none of the components inside the Rapide will make it to Mercedes vehicles, despite it owning 5% of Aston Martin.

Anyone expecting to find a Tesla-esque 'Ludicrous mode' option in the Rapide will be disappointed, Palmer describing the 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds mode as “stupid”.

Aston's electric plans don't end there. Once the Rapide EV is in the shops, an all-electric DBX will roll off the production line at some point in the near future with a plug-in hybrid version in 2019 before the all-electric version arrives at a later date.

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