Connect with us
elon musk speaking elon musk speaking

News

Elon Musk corrects presidential candidate who misunderstood Tesla’s Master Plan Part 3

Credit: TED

Published

on

When Tesla Asia announced the company’s new Megafactory in China, US Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy had some reservations. The candidate noted that the update from Tesla was “concerning” since it would give China an unwarranted advantage. Elon Musk strongly disagreed. 

Tesla’s new Megafactory in China will be built in Shanghai’s Lingang area. The facility is planned to be capable of producing 10,000 Megapacks per year, or nearly 40 GWh of energy storage. Construction of the factory is expected to start in Q3 2023, with Megapack production poised to start in Q2 2024. The facility will be supplying Megapacks to global markets. 

Ramaswamy, who is running for US President under the Republican Party, stated that while he admires what Elon Musk is doing with Twitter, the CEO’s “doubling down with the CCP” is a completely different matter. The candidate also expressed his disdain for electric vehicle subsidies.

“This is concerning. When we’re all forced to drive electric vehicles, the real master won’t be Elon. It’ll be Xi Jinping, and the name ‘Master Plan 3’ is eerily spot-on. I love what Elon Musk is trying to do with Twitter but doubling down with the CCP is another matter. 

“Companies should & will continue to do whatever allows them to be most successful, but it’s the job of US policymakers not to let American companies sell Xi Jinping the rope today that he’ll use to hang us tomorrow. That’s exactly what the climate cult accomplishes, and electric vehicle subsidies are one of many small pawns in that game,” Ramaswamy wrote

Advertisement
-->

The US Presidential candidate’s comments drew quite a bit of criticism and sarcastic comments from users of the social media platform, several of whom noted that Ramaswamy completely misunderstood Tesla’s Master Plan Part 3. Among these was noted investor David Sacks, who joked that he didn’t know Chinese President Xi Jinping had taken over Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas facility. Sacks’ comment drew a follow-up from Musk. 

Musk explained that Ramaswamy’s take on the matter is “wrong on many levels,” particularly since Tesla is growing rapidly in the United States. Plus, Musk highlighted, if Tesla’s competitors are to receive subsidies, there is no reason why Tesla should not be included. That being said, the CEO reiterated his previous point that the EV sector is better off without subsidies at all. 

“Yeah, wrong on many levels. Tesla is increasing production rapidly in Texas, California & Nevada. Our competitors require subsidies, not us. That said, if competitors get subsidies, Tesla should get them too. Tesla’s competitive position would improve if all subsidies ended,” Musk wrote

It should be noted that Musk’s stance against EV subsidies is nothing new. During an interview with The Wall Street Journal at the publication’s CEO Council Summit in late December 2021, Musk actually advised against the Biden administration’s proposed subsidies of up to $12,500 per electric vehicle under the Build Back Better Act. 

“It’s worth noting that the (electric) vehicle purchase tax credit, the $7,500, Tesla stopped getting that two years ago. Whereas everyone else except for GM gets the $7,500 tax credit. So all of our sales this year and last year had nothing to do with the tax credit because we’re no longer eligible because we’ve made so many electric cars. Tesla’s made roughly two-thirds of all the electric cars made in the United States. I’m not sure if most people are aware of that. So Tesla’s made roughly twice as many electric vehicles as everyone else has made. Honestly, I would just can this whole bill. Don’t pass it. That’s my recommendation,” Musk said then. 

Advertisement
-->

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla adjusts crucial feature as winter weather arrives

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Cybertruck Owners Club Forum user CybertruckCovers

Tesla has adjusted the functionality of a crucial climate feature as Winter weather has started to arrive throughout some parts of the United States. The new feature was highly requested by owners.

Tesla has a Cabin Overheat Protection feature that helps keep the temperature regulated if it reaches a certain threshold. Inversely, it can be used in cold weather as well, which will automatically warm the cabin if it sinks to a temperature that is too low for the owner’s comfort.

This is a great way to keep the cabin either warmed up just enough or cooled down just enough so that it never gets too hot or too cold. Extreme temperatures could damage certain parts of the vehicle or damage personal belongings that are kept inside the car.

Overheat protection is a great thing to have in hot climates like Arizona or Texas, especially with the Premium trims of the Model 3 and Model Y, which feature a glass roof.

Many owners appreciate the feature, but they argue that using it at home will utilize too much energy, especially during extreme temperatures. For a while, many Tesla fans have requested an option to disable this feature when the car is parked at home, which the company recently added, according to Not a Tesla App.

The feature is part of Software Version 2025.44.3, and the release notes state:

“You can now choose Exclude Home when Cabin Overheat Protection or No A/C is enabled.”

Tesla has been great at listening to what owners want with new features, and this is one that will reserve some charge and prevent unnecessary utilization of available power, especially as the car is parked at home. If owners want to condition the cabin or get the car ready for operation with a comfortable interior, they can utilize the Tesla app to adjust the climate.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sends rivals dire warning about Full Self-Driving

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed today on the social media platform X that legacy automakers, such as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, do not want to license the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, at least not without a long list of their own terms.

“I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy,” Musk said on X. “When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless.”

Musk made the remark in response to a note we wrote about earlier today from Melius Research, in which analyst Rob Wertheimer said, “Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is,” in terms of autonomy and self-driving development.

Wertheimer believes there are hundreds of billions of dollars in value headed toward Tesla’s way because of its prowess with FSD.

A few years ago, Musk first remarked that Tesla was in early talks with one legacy automaker regarding licensing Full Self-Driving for its vehicles. Tesla never confirmed which company it was, but given Musk’s ongoing talks with Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time, it seemed the Detroit-based automaker was the likely suspect.

Tesla’s Elon Musk reiterates FSD licensing offer for other automakers

Ford has been perhaps the most aggressive legacy automaker in terms of its EV efforts, but it recently scaled back its electric offensive due to profitability issues and weak demand. It simply was not making enough vehicles, nor selling the volume needed to turn a profit.

Musk truly believes that many of the companies that turn their backs on FSD now will suffer in the future, especially considering the increased chance it could be a parallel to what has happened with EV efforts for many of these companies.

Unfortunately, they got started too late and are now playing catch-up with Tesla, XPeng, BYD, and the other dominating forces in EVs across the globe.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla backtracks on strange Nav feature after numerous complaints

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla is backtracking on a strange adjustment it made to its in-car Navigation feature after numerous complaints from owners convinced the company to make a change.

Tesla’s in-car Navigation is catered to its vehicles, as it routes Supercharging stops and preps your vehicle for charging with preconditioning. It is also very intuitive, and features other things like weather radar and a detailed map outlining points of interest.

However, a recent change to the Navigation by Tesla did not go unnoticed, and owners were really upset about it.

Tesla’s Navigation gets huge improvement with simple update

For trips that required multiple Supercharger stops, Tesla decided to implement a naming change, which did not show the city or state of each charging stop. Instead, it just showed the business where the Supercharger was located, giving many owners an unwelcome surprise.

However, Tesla’s Director of Supercharging, Max de Zegher, admitted the update was a “big mistake on our end,” and made a change that rolled out within 24 hours:

The lack of a name for the city where a Supercharging stop would be made caused some confusion for owners in the short term. Some drivers argued that it was more difficult to make stops at some familiar locations that were special to them. Others were not too keen on not knowing where they were going to be along their trip.

Tesla was quick to scramble to resolve this issue, and it did a great job of rolling it out in an expedited manner, as de Zegher said that most in-car touch screens would notice the fix within one day of the change being rolled out.

Additionally, there will be even more improvements in December, as Tesla plans to show the common name/amenity below the site name as well, which will give people a better idea of what to expect when they arrive at a Supercharger.

Continue Reading