Connect with us

News

Our Top 10 Most Popular Stories in 2014

Published

on

As we prepare to bring in the new year with more fun and exciting developments for Tesla owners and enthusiasts, we decided to take a look back at our top 10 most popular stories in 2014.

10. What happens when you completely run out of battery in your Tesla Model S?

Yes, we got stranded on the side of the road with no battery range left following a race in our Teslarati 48, but how does one possibly run out of power in an 85 kWh Model S rated for 260 miles of range? Read more

9. Every New Tesla Owner’s Dilemma: Dual Chargers vs High Power Wall Connector (HPWC)

This is a question often asked by new Model S owners. What’s the purpose of the dual chargers, do I need it and how does this relate to the HPWC (now known as the “Wall Connector”)? Read more

8. Tesla Model S Caught Off Guard at Traffic Light Drag Race

Akin to the popularity of cat videos on YouTube, videos of Tesla’s drag racing have become everyone’s guilty addiction. Who doesn’t like watching an all electric Tesla lay the smackdown on it’s unsuspecting opponent? Read more

7. Tesla Model S Center Console Insert (CCI) Review

Of all the reviews we’ve done at Teslarati, the center console insert also known as the “CCI” remains as top dog for the most searched and viewed product. We took an in-depth look at the CCI and put it to the test. Read more

6. Leaked Tesla Firmware 6.0 Pictures Reveals Keyless Driving

Firmware 6.0 was by far the most talked about and most anticipated update to date, and for good reason. It brought on an entirely new set of features that continues to make the Model S the only car that truly keeps on getting better with age. Read more

Advertisement
-

5. How to Build a Tesla Supercharger Station

The pace in which the Tesla Supercharger network is growing has really propelled adoption of electric vehicle mobility in a Model S, and paving the way for the upcoming Model X, across much of the globe. But what really goes into building a Tesla Supercharger station? Read more

4. Saleen Tesla Model S Revealed at Track Test & Tune Session
Read more at http://www.teslarati.com/saleen-tesla-model-s-race-track-spy-shots/#6dmKE4OrVpP5vglF.99

3. A First-hand Account of the Tesla D Event (2 Part Series)

This needs no description. #ElonsD – enough said. Read more

Tesla-Cross-Country-Rally-Event-23

2. Revealing the Most Popular Tesla Model S Configurations

The decision of purchasing a Tesla Model S comes with excitement but when it comes down to configuring the car, what options should you really get? Will knowing the options of what other Tesla owners have purchased influence your decision? Read more

Quick-Tesla-App-PARZ

1. Tesla Model S new colors coming soon

And the #1 story of the year, which comes with a little surprise, is our report of BASF testing a new range of colors at Tesla’s Design Studio in Hawthorne, CA. The company laid out color disks on the front lawn, leading us to believe it is looking to add more tones to the Model S and the upcoming Model X. Read more

Tesla-New-Colors-Palette-2

 

Advertisement
-

Gene has been obsessed with cars since before he could legally sit in the front seat. Writer, researcher, unofficial CS support, accountant, native suit guy when needed, and overall stick poker. He approaches every story the way he approaches a road trip: with too much enthusiasm, not enough planning, and a surprisingly good outcome. gene@teslarati.com

Advertisement
Comments

Cybertruck

Tesla is ending Cybertruck production

Published

on

Credit: diagnosticdennis/Instagram and @smile__no via Tesla Owners of Santa Clarita Valley/X

Tesla is ending Cybertruck production sometime in mid-2027, according to CEO Elon Musk.

Musk made the announcement on X last night, which came as a shock to many. He said that the Cybertruck will end production “to make room for increased Cybercab production” at Gigafactory Texas.

It is a huge blow to the fans of Tesla who have come to love the Cybertruck and identify with it as a symbol of their fandom. It has been the best-selling electric pickup, but it has had an underwhelming sales performance in terms of what was expected. This is mostly due to Tesla not meeting the prices it planned to offer the Cybertruck, as its unveiling and actual release were four years apart.

Overall, the responses were mixed. Some fans understood the move toward Cybercab production, especially as Tesla is truly pushing the autonomous future through its Robotaxi platform. However, others did not understand it.

Advertisement
-

“Damn, how many Cybercabs do you guys need?” one response read. Another said it was “Sad but understandable.”Even analyst Gary Black had responded to the news, stating he hoped Tesla planned to replace it with a traditional pickup design.

It doesn’t seem like that will be the case.

Tesla is so hell-bent on delivering autonomy and eventually providing a driverless service that owning a car seems like an arbitrary idea, according to their thesis. Instead, Cybercabs will be available to pick you up and drop you off on demand, safely, without any human help.

As a result, Tesla has thinned its lineup considerably, and one can only ask where the vehicle lineup goes from here. Eventually, it seems like Cybercab could be the only vehicle that Tesla will sell.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

SpaceX’s next Starship flight set to make history on Friday the 13th

SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15 and its first ship catch.

Published

on

By

SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15, the mission the company plans to use for its first attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower.

SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev shared the date on stage at the UP.Summit on Thursday, according to Ars Technica’s Eric Berger, who was in attendance. It is the first launch target to come directly from a SpaceX executive. Until now, the public schedule had relied on FAA air traffic planning slides, which listed Flight 15 for no earlier than November 8 and later November 12. SpaceX has not posted an official mission page yet, and no launch time has been shared.

The date lands inside the window Elon Musk sketched out last month. Speaking at Giga Texas on October 10, Musk said the flight would “probably launch a little bit before Thanksgiving,” as Teslarati reported. On SpaceX’s third quarter earnings call ten days later, he confirmed that Flight 15 would try to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the ship, and put the odds of a successful ship catch at “more likely than not.” SpaceX also aired an animation of the maneuver during that webcast, showing the ship swinging vertical over Starbase before dropping into the tower’s chopsticks.

The hardware is ready. Booster 22 fired all 33 of its Raptor engines for a full duration static fire at Pad 2 on October 25. Ship 42 followed with a single engine burn simulating a deorbit maneuver on October 26 and a 60 second firing of all six engines the next day, according to NASASpaceflight. Ship 42 had already rehearsed the catch in September, when the Pad 2 arms lifted it into position and crews connected the quick disconnect arm while the vehicle hung from the tower.

The remaining hurdle is regulatory. The FAA’s Starship page does not yet list a Flight 15 license. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in October that, after “significant constructive engagement with the FAA,” she expects the license to cover a return to the launch site and a tower catch for both stages. Bringing the ship home means a reentry path that heads toward land, rather than ending over open ocean as every Starship flight so far has.

Advertisement
-

SpaceX has caught Super Heavy three times, on Flights 5, 7 and 8, but the ship comes back from orbital velocity and has never been caught. Flight 14 on September 28 was the first Starship to reach orbit, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites before splashing down despite an early engine shutdown that Musk blamed on engine computer software.

Musk has called a successful ship catch “the first time that there’s been full recovery of an orbital class rocket,” and he has already named the step after it: a Flight 16 where both the booster and the ship fly again. NASASpaceflight reports that Ship 43, the next vehicle in line, is set for static fire testing in December.

Continue Reading

News

EVgo taps Tesla Superchargers for mass charging expansion

Published

on

Credit: EVgo

EVgo has tapped Tesla Superchargers for its most recent efforts to expand its charging presence in the United States, a move that seems logical based on the effectiveness of the automaker’s own infrastructure.

EVgo opened its first Supercharger site in Illinois, a 12-stall station near downtown Chicago at 3145 South Ashland Avenue in the Riverside Square & River’s Edge center, right beside a grocery store. This marks the start of the company’s plan to deploy hundreds of Supercharger stalls across the United States, primarily at grocery-anchored Regency Centers properties where drivers can shop, eat, or run errands while they charge.

The new location uses Tesla’s Magic Dock technology so both NACS and CCS vehicles can plug in natively without drivers needing to carry their own adapters. Peak power reaches 325 kW at this site, with pricing set between $0.25 and $0.35 per kWh depending on the hour—the same rate for Tesla and non-Tesla drivers.

The stalls also appear in Tesla’s in-car navigation and Trip Planner, making them easy for Tesla owners to find and route to. Illinois has seen EV registrations rise nearly 60 percent over the past two years, and EVgo’s broader network has experienced more than 700 percent growth in charging demand over three years, so the timing fits the market’s trajectory.

Choosing Tesla hardware through the Supercharger for Business program turns out to have been a smart, practical move.

Tesla’s V4 stalls and cabinets deliver high, reliable power with a proven track record of strong uptime, while Magic Dock delivers true dual-standard compatibility in one package. Because the sites show up in Tesla’s navigation tools, EVgo instantly gains visibility among millions of existing Tesla drivers, which should raise utilization and help the company double its addressable market as more vehicles adopt NACS. EVgo still owns the stations and sets pricing, yet benefits from Tesla’s established hardware, longer cables, and operational support.

The result is faster, lower-risk infrastructure expansion that serves every EV driver—Tesla or otherwise—with convenient, high-power charging at everyday retail locations. For drivers, that means fewer adapters, more predictable stops, and a denser network just as electric vehicles become everyday transportation.

Continue Reading