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Nissan’s EV push accelerates as ARIYA crossover opens reservations

(Credit: Nissan)

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Nissan USA opened reservations for its all-electric crossover, the 2023 Nissan ARIYA. The reservation fee for the ARIYA is $500. 

A few eligible customers who meet specific requirements can get two years of free EVgo membership plus $500 in charging credits with EVgo with their reservation. The Japanese automaker is expected to start ARIYA deliveries in the United States and Canada by Fall 2022. 

Nissan ARIYA Price

Nissan is offering four versions of the electric ARIYA. The base ARIYA Venture+ has a listed MSRP of $45,950 before federal credits. The base ARIYA’s price is competitive in the market and might interest some car buyers, especially considering that after federal credits, it would cost around $38,450.  

For comparison, the base Volkswagen ID.4’s MSRP is $39,995 before federal tax credits, after which, the German vehicle would cost about $32,495. Meanwhile, the Tesla Model Y Long Range has a starting price of $58,990 before options. 

The other variants of the ARIYA are the Evolve+, which is priced at $48,950, the Premiere, which sells for $53,450. The ARIYA Platinum+ costs $58,950.

(Credit: Nissan)

Nissan ARIYA Specs and Driver Assist System

Nissan claims the ARIYA Venture+ gets up 300 miles of range from an 87kWh battery and a 238 hp (178 kW) AC Synchronous Motor. The base ARIYA has Four Wheel Drive, Nissan’s ProPILOT Assist, and a CCS quick-change port. 

The Platinum+ variant boasts a range of up to 265 miles while running on a 389 (178 KW) AC synchronous motor and reportedly the same 87KWh battery pack. Nissan’s e-4ORCE All-Wheel Drive drivetrain is only available with the ARIYA Platinum+. The top-tier ARIYA variant also has a motion-activated hands-free liftgate, and Nappa leather appointed seating. 

Nissan’s ProPILOT Assist 2.0 includes guided freeway driving and lane change assistance. The ProPILOT Assist 2.0 has a hands-off driving feature that helps drivers navigate a single-lane highway with their hands off the wheel and their feet off the pedals. In addition, Nissan offers ProPILOT Assist with Navi-link, which links with mapping data to recognize off-ramps and gentle curves, helping drivers navigate around them when necessary.

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Nissan pushed back the release of its flagship ARIYA electric vehicle earlier this year, citing the semiconductor shortage as the main reason for the delay. 

“One year ago, we made our announcement we were targeting the middle of this year, but after that, Covid-19 has lingered longer than we expected, and there is the issue of semiconductor shortages,” Nissan Executive Vice President Asako Hoshino said during a briefing.

Nissan opening the ARIYA up for reservations suggests some stabilization in the semiconductor supply chain, but not its definitive end. Tesla has been open about the supply chain challenges it faced this year. The leading EV automaker doesn’t seem to think supply chain challenges will end soon, although it remains hopeful for a positive outlook in the coming quarters.

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

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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Elon Musk

SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites

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SpaceX just picked up another $1.6 billion from the Pentagon, with the U.S. Space Force awarding two task orders worth $1.6 billion to fly 18 Falcon 9 missions from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California through the end of 2027. The launches will carry satellites for the Space Based Sensing and Targeting portfolio, a set of programs meant to help the military detect and track airborne threats and relay that information across forces in near real time.

The award falls under National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1, the Space Force’s faster, commercial style procurement track for missions that do not require the military’s most demanding certification process. It is also the largest single order publicly disclosed under that program so far, and the first task order issued since the Space Force nearly tripled Lane 1’s contract ceiling from $5.6 billion to $17 billion on July 17.

SpaceX to become America’s Military data backbone for missiles, drones, and warfighters

Eric Zarybnisky, the Space Force’s acting portfolio acquisition executive for space access, said the entire process, from identifying the requirement to signing the contract, took about two months, including a month set aside for companies to prepare proposals.

SpaceX is not just launching these satellites. It already holds the contracts to build two of the programs within the same portfolio, $4.16 billion for the Space Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator system and $2.29 billion for the Space Data Network Backbone, which Teslarati covered in May. That means SpaceX is now responsible for both building key pieces of the military’s next generation sensing network and getting them into orbit.

With this latest award, SpaceX’s Pentagon contract total for 2026 alone tops $8 billion, adding to a defense portfolio that already includes the Golden Dome missile defense software group SpaceX joined in April and a string of GPS launches it inherited after ULA’s Vulcan rocket ran into a booster anomaly, which we detailed in March.

Lane 1’s vendor pool technically includes seven companies: SpaceX, ULA, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Stoke Space, Impulse Space, and Relativity Space. In practice, SpaceX remains the only provider with the combination of launch cadence, flight proven Falcon 9 hardware, and West Coast infrastructure to support a campaign requiring roughly one Vandenberg launch a month for the next year and a half.

Some lawmakers have flagged the growing concentration of national security launches with one company as a risk worth watching. For now, the Space Force keeps backing SpaceX, with it being the company that shows up ready to launch.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk sheds two new bits of detail on Starship after 13th test launch

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Credit: SpaceX

Elon Musk shed two new bits of detail on Starship following its 13th test launch, which was an overwhelming success.

SpaceX launched Starship for the 13th time last Friday after two delays: one on Monday when several Raptor engines did not ignite, and another on Thursday due to unfavorable weather conditions in Starbase, Texas.

The launch was overwhelmingly successful. SpaceX was able to complete a necessary test of the heat shield tiles by increasing the acceleration of Starship from launch throughout the flight; 20 Starlink v3 satellites were released with no issue; the Super Heavy Booster landed safely in the Gulf of America, Ship successfully reignited engines while in space; and it also splashed down without incident in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before

Nevertheless, more details are coming out about Starship, and Musk is doing the talking.

Starship Will Be Retrieved in the Ocean

Musk revealed on Tuesday night that Starship would be recovered by a ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX routinely tries to recover Starship after splashdown in an effort to find out more about the flight by examining the spacecraft afterward.

This helps engineers find out more about why things might have happened, allows them to examine any potential damage or anomalies that might have occurred, and increases the chances of an even more successful flight next time thanks to the additional information recovered.

Ship Could Have Been Caught by Tower Arms, Musk claims

Musk has already indicated that SpaceX will plan to attempt a catch of Starship with the 14th test flight. While this would be a major accomplishment, it would be an expected next step, considering the fact that the Super Heavy Booster has already been caught by the chopsticks on numerous occasions.

A ship catch would be a great indication of where SpaceX stands in terms of reusability and launch cadence. A successful catch with relatively no incidents would be a good sign that SpaceX is nearing a more frequent launch of Starship, but also that the reusability of the massive rocket would be something many would expect in the near future.

It is a necessity to make life multiplanetary.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk updates the SpaceX timeline for Mars

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Rendering of a colonized Mars by way of SpaceX
Rendering of a colonized Mars by way of SpaceX

Elon Musk has updated his timeline for when humans will walk on Mars and for when ships will simply get there.

The objective of getting to Mars has been one of Musk’s biggest goals since becoming a serial entrepreneur and realizing that time on Earth is limited. Musk has said several times he hopes to die on Mars, and not by impact.

Musk now believes that people will be on Mars in “roughly 5 to 7 years.” He said that a Mars lander will get there “a few years sooner.”

The response from Musk comes after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that SpaceX’s biggest priority is the Moon and not Mars. Because of this, Isaacman conceded that he believes nuclear power and propulsion investments will provide “potentially the pathway with the fewest miracles required to put four people on Mars in the next 10 to 15 years.”

Of course, this is what NASA can do through taxpayer funding and nuclear investments, he added.

Musk’s grand ambitions are much more optimistic than most, and it is certainly a double-edged sword. This is not the first time timelines for Mars have been somewhat lofty, especially to those normal thinkers like you and me, not super geniuses like Musk.

SpaceX Board has set a Mars bonus for Elon Musk

In fact, the SpaceX and Tesla frontman has said on at least a dozen occasions that we could be on Mars in the coming years. Musk said 2020 would be the big year as early as 2009. In 2020, he was “highly confident” of a landing in 2026, and had even said 2024 in a best-case scenario.

The point is, the range has varied, and it’s anyone’s guess when we’ll get there. This latest adjustment to the timeline is typical of Musk, and while the Moon has seemingly taken priority over Mars, it is still worth mentioning that the ultimate goal is to make life multiplanetary, and it starts potentially with the Red Planet.

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