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Tesla shares old footage of Model S with Falcon wing prototype doors [Feature]

(Credit: Tesla)

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Tesla shared old footage of a Model S with Falcon wing prototype doors, representing the state of the company now versus when it started. 

While seeing a Model S with Falcon wing doors is pretty awesome, Tesla won’t release its premium sedan with the Model X’s signature doors. The footage provided a glimpse of Tesla’s past when it was developing the Falcon wing doors for the Model X. Above the footage, Tesla wrote: “How it started vs how it’s going.” 

Based on the caption, the video shares more about Tesla than it seems. The footage reveals the conditions Tesla had to work in during its early days. Back then, Tesla was a smaller name, so it had to be scrappy, innovative, and work harder than legacy automakers to get the same recognition. 

Some things have changed since those days when Tesla was testing the Falcon wing doors for the Model X, but some things have not. Tesla is still scrappy, still innovative, and still works hard, albeit a little smoother. The EV manufacturer now has some of the recognition it deserves—specifically from customers and EV advocates. 

Where Tesla is Going

Now, Tesla has the S3XY lineup well underway, plus Semi production. Cybertruck production is expected to start this year as well. The only other car Tesla has technically unveiled that hasn’t made it to production yet is the Roadster, but that might still be a long way away. 

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The new Roadster may start production after Tesla refines the production of its next lineup of vehicles using its next-generation platform. Tesla began to talk more about its next-generation platform during its last earnings call after dropping tidbits about it here and there last year. At Investor Day 2023, Tesla department heads talked a lot about their work and sometimes eluded to how it would contribute to the next-gen platform. On the same day, Tesla announced that Gigafactory Mexico would be producing its next-gen vehicle.

The only other car that Tesla has mentioned but not yet unveiled is the $25,000 electric vehicle, known as the Model 2—or Model Q to some. During his interview at the Morgan Stanley Conference, Elon Musk talked a little bit about Tesla’s $25,000 car

“So we’re confident that long-term we can design and manufacture a compelling $25,000 electric vehicle. This has always been our dream from the beginning of the company. I even wrote a blog piece about it because our first car was an expensive sports car, then it was a slightly less expensive sedan, and then finally sort of a, I don’t know, mass market premium, the Model 3 and Model Y. But it was always our goal to try to make an affordable electric car. And I think probably, like I said, about three years from now, we’re confident we can make a very compelling $25,000 electric vehicle that’s also fully autonomous,” said Elon Musk.

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via Twitter @Writer_01001101

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Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Tesla pushes crazy ‘Luxe’ incentive package on flagship Model S and X

Tesla is pushing more customers to the Model S and Model X with a new incentive package.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has pushed a crazy new incentive package, known as the “Luxe Package,” on the flagship Model S and Model X, along with a $10,000 price increase on each trim level.

The move aims to likely bolster margins for the company on the two cars while also giving those who choose to buy the Tesla lineup mainstays a variety of awesome advantages, including Free Supercharging, Full Self-Driving, and other add-ons.

Tesla is offering a crazy Supercharging incentive on its two ‘sentimental’ vehicles

Last night, Tesla launched the “Luxe Package” for the Model S and Model X, which includes the following four add-ons:

  • Full Self-Driving (Supervised) – Your car will be able to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal driver intervention
  • Four-Year Premium Service – Wheel and Tire Protection, Windshield Protection, and Recommended Maintenance
  • Supercharging – Charge for free at 70,000+ Superchargers worldwide
  • Premium Connectivity – Listen to music, stream movies, monitor live traffic, and more – no Wi-Fi needed

Full Self-Driving is priced at $8,000. Free Supercharging for the life of the car is between $10,000 and $15,000 over the life of the vehicle, although Tesla has valued it at $5,000 in recent promotions.

Free Premium Connectivity is roughly $1,000, and the four-year tire, wheel, windshield, and maintenance plan is about $3,200.

In all, the value is over $25,000, but this is loosely based on usage.

The Model S and Model X are low contributors to Tesla’s overall sales figures, as they make up less than five percent of sales from a quarterly perspective and have for some time.

As they are certainly the luxury choices in Tesla’s lineup, the Model 3 and Model Y are the bigger focus for the company, as a significantly larger portion of the company’s sales is made up of those vehicles.

The Luxe Package is an especially good idea for those who drive high-mileage and plan to use the Model S or Model X for commuting or long drives. The free Supercharging makes the deal worth it on its own.

As for the price bumps, each of the vehicles are now priced as follows:

  • Model S All-Wheel-Drive: $94,990
  • Model S Plaid: $109,990
  • Model X All-Wheel-Drive: $99,990
  • Model X Plaid: $114,990
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Tesla takes first step in sunsetting Model S and X with drastic move

Tesla won’t be taking custom orders of the Model S or Model X in Europe any longer.

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Credit: @supergeek18 | X

Tesla has seemingly taken the first step in sunsetting two of its older vehicles, the Model S and Model X, by ending international orders.

The flagship sedan and SUV from Tesla are the two oldest cars in the company’s lineup. They account for a very small portion of overall sales, and several years ago, CEO Elon Musk admitted that Tesla only continues to build and sell them due to “sentimental reasons.”

Earlier this year, there were calls for Tesla to end the production of the two cars, but Lars Moravy said that the Model S and Model X were due to get some love later in 2025. That happened, but the changes were extremely minor.

Tesla launches new Model S and Model X, and the changes are slim

Some took this as an indication that Tesla has kind of moved on from the Model S and Model X. A handful of people seemed to think Tesla would overhaul the vehicles substantially, but the changes were extremely minor and included only a few real adjustments.

In Europe, customers are unable to even put a new order in on a Model S or Model X.

We noticed earlier today that Tesla pressing the ‘Order’ button on either of the flagship vehicles takes you to local inventory, and not the Design Studio where you’d configure your custom build:

Tesla simply does not make enough Model S or Model X units to justify the expensive logistics process of shipping custom orders overseas. It almost seems as if they’re that they will essentially build a bunch of random configurations, send them overseas every few months, and let them sell before replenishing inventory.

Inversely, it could also mean Tesla is truly gearing up to sunset the vehicle altogether. It seems unlikely that the company will fade them out altogether in the next couple of years, but it could absolutely think about ending international orders because volume is so low.

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Tesla confirms massive hardware change for autonomy improvement

Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.

Tesla first introduced a front-facing camera on the front bumper with the Cybertruck.

Then, the Model Y “Juniper” received the hardware update. The Model S and Model X both received the front-facing camera with its latest update, which was officially revealed last week.

Tesla used new language with the release of the front-facing cameras on the Model S and Model X, confirming they will assist with several things, including “using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities”:

“Enhanced visibility when parking or using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities.”

This tiny feature on the new Tesla Model Y is perhaps its biggest addition

This is the first time Tesla has used this sort of language, as it was a completely different description with the launch of the new Model Y in January.

When Tesla launched this vehicle, it said the front bumper camera “provides a wider field of view for automatic assisted driving and advanced Smart Summon.”

Tesla switched from using cameras and sensors to only cameras with the launch of Tesla Vision several years ago. The company’s utilization of cameras comes from Tesla’s belief that Ultrasonic Sensors (USS) are not needed for self-driving efforts:

“Along with the removal of USS, we simultaneously launched our vision-based occupancy network – currently used in Full Self-Driving (FSD) (Supervised) – to replace the inputs generated by USS. With today’s software, this approach gives Autopilot high-definition spatial positioning, longer range visibility and the ability to identify and differentiate between objects. As with many Tesla features, our occupancy network will continue to improve rapidly over time.”

CEO Elon Musk has said that sensors were only a crutch and that self-driving would be solved through the use of cameras:

“When your vision works, it works better than the best human because it’s like having eight cameras, it’s like having eyes in the back of your head, beside your head, and has three eyes of different focal distances looking forward. This is — and processing it at a speed that is superhuman. There’s no question in my mind that with a pure vision solution, we can make a car that is dramatically safer than the average person.”

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