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Tesla Model 3, Model X take top honors in Euro NCAP Best in Class Cars 2019 List

Tesla Model 3 Euro NCAP Best Large Family Car 2019 (Source: Euro NCAP | YouTube)

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The European New Car Assessment Programme or more popularly known as Euro NCAP published its “Best of the Best of 2019” list and the Tesla Model X and Model 3 are among the Best In Class for 2019.

The Tesla Model 3 was named the best vehicle in the Large Family Car category and shared the spotlight with the BMW 3 Series, despite edging out the Bavarian sedan in Safety Assist by receiving a score of 94 versus BMW’s 76. Euro NCAP also awarded the Tesla Model X all-electric SUV as the best Large Off-Road vehicle, beating out the SEAT Tarraco which took home second place.

The awards come with prestige as Euro NCAP is one of the most respected car safety watchdogs, providing consumers with an independent and realistic safety assessment of some of Europe’s most popular vehicles. Established in 1997 and modeled after the car assessment program of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the program has since served as a catalyst when it comes to improving vehicle safety. The Euro NCAP overall safety rating was introduced in 2009 and evaluates the safety of the vehicle based on four areas: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Pedestrian Protection, and Safety Assist.

The Euro NCAP safety tests simulate possible real-life accidents that may cause serious injuries or even death of vehicle occupants. For example, the frontal impact test simulates accidents such as head-on collisions where the vehicle’s structure, how its parts safely absorb different crash forces, and whether the vehicle’s design leaves enough space in the passenger compartment during big collisions are looked into because these factors can spell the difference between life and death. Euro NCAP also tests vehicles to see if their child restraint systems are properly designed and can keep the child safe during vehicular accidents.

The category on Vulnerable Road User tests how other users such as pedestrians and cyclists are at risk of injuries when they are hit by the vehicles undergoing testing. The safety watchdog also scores driver-assist technologies that help lower the risk of accidents on the road and also mitigate injuries.

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As the Model 3 and Model X rule their respective categories in the Best In Class of 2019 list just helps prove that Tesla is on the right path in building safe vehicles from the ground up, plus developing technologies such as its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features that push vehicle safety to the next level.

To be included in Euro NCAP Best in Class Cars Of 2019 list is a feather in any automotive manufacturer’s cap. It means the vehicles are among the safest on the road today.

In mid-2019, the car safety watchdog awarded the Tesla Model 3 sedan 5 stars in all of its safety categories, which set the bar higher for vehicles in its class.

“Tesla has done a great job of playing the structural benefits of an electric vehicle to its advantage. The Tesla Model 3 achieved one of the highest Safety Assist scores we have seen to date,” said Thatcham Research head of research Matthew Avery.

The Model 3 has shown off its safety features in the real world, most recently protecting a driver after an SUV landed on top of a Model 3 during a multi-car pile-up in China.

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The Model 3’s bigger sibling, the Model X, is also considered a champ by Euro NCAP as it awarded Tesla’s flagship SUV a 5-Star Safety Rating in December.

Other Best In Class for 2019 winners include Mercedes-Benz CLA for the Small Family Car category with Mazda 3 as its runner-up. The Subaru Forester ruled the Small Off-Road/MPV category with the Volkswagen T-Cross and the Mazda CX-30 sharing the second spot. The best in the Supermini category was given to the Audi A1 and Renault Clio with the Ford Puma given the runner-up honors.

Check out the video footage below showing Euro NCAP’s Best In Class Cars of 2019:

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A curious soul who keeps wondering how Elon Musk, Tesla, electric cars, and clean energy technologies will shape the future, or do we really need to escape to Mars.

Elon Musk

Tesla board reveals reasoning for CEO Elon Musk’s new $1 trillion pay package

“Yes, you read that correctly: in 2018, Elon had to grow Tesla by billions; in 2025, he has to grow Tesla by trillions — to be exact, he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in value for shareholders for him to receive the full award.”

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla’s Board of Directors has proposed a new pay package for company CEO Elon Musk that would result in $1 trillion in stock offerings if he is able to meet several lofty performance targets.

Musk, who has not been meaningfully compensated since 2017, completed his last pay package by delivering billions in shareholder value through a variety of performance-based “tranches,” which were met and resulted in the award of billions in stock.

Elon Musk’s new pay plan ties trillionaire status to Tesla’s $8.5 trillion valuation

However, Musk was unable to claim this award due to a ruling by the Delaware Chancery Court, which deemed the payout an “unfathomable sum.”

Now, the company is taking steps to ensure Musk gets paid, as the Board feels that it is crucial to retain its CEO, who has been responsible for much of the company’s success.

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This is not a statement to undermine the work of all of Tesla’s terrific employees, but a ship needs to be captained by someone, and Musk has proven he is the right person for the job.

The Board also believes that, based on a statement made by the company in its proxy, various issues will be discussed during the upcoming Shareholder Meeting.

Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson recognized Musk’s contributions in a statement, which encouraged shareholders to vote to approve the payout:

“We’re asking you to approve the 2025 CEO Performance Award. In designing the new performance award, we explored numerous alternatives. Ultimately, the new award aims to build upon the success of the 2018 CEO Performance Award framework, which ensure that Elon was only paid for the performance delivered and incentivized to guide Tesla through a period of meteoric growth. The 2025 CEO Performance Award similarly challegnes Elon to again meet a series of even more aspirational goals, including operational milestones focused on reaching Adjusted EBITDA targets (thresholds that are up to 28 times higher than the 2108 CEO Performance Award’s top Adjusted EBITDA milestone) and rolling out new or expanded product offerings (including 1 million Robotaxis in commercial operation and delivery of 1 million AI Bots), all while growing the company’s market capitalization by trillions of dollars.

Yes, you read that correctly: in 2018, Elon had to grow Tesla by billions; in 2025, he has to grow Tesla by trillions — to be exact, he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in value for shareholders for him to receive the full award.

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In addition to these unprecedented performance milestones, the 2025 CEO Performance Award also includes innovative structural features, born out of the special committee’s considered analysis and extensive shareholder feedback. These features include supercharged retention (at least seven and a half years and up to 10 years to vest in the full award), structural protections to minimize stock price volatility due to administration of this award and, thereafter, incentives for Elon to participate in the Board’s continued development of a framework for long-term CEO Succession. If Elon achieves all the performance milestones under this principle-based 2025 CEO Performance Award, his leadership will propel Tesla to become the most valuable company in history.”

Musk will have a lot of things to accomplish to receive the 423,743,904 shares, which are divided into 12 tranches.

However, the Board feels he is the right person for the job, and they want him to remain the CEO. This package should ensure that he stays with Tesla, as long as shareholders feel the same way.

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Tesla Robotaxi app download rate demolishes Uber, Waymo all-time highs

After two and a half months of testing with a group of hand-picked Tesla influencers and some media, the company has officially launched Robotaxi rides in both Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area to the public.

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Credit: @BLKMDL3 | X

Tesla launched its Robotaxi app to the general public yesterday, and the number of downloads is a testament to the platform’s high demand for testing.

After two and a half months of testing with a group of hand-picked Tesla influencers and some media, the company has officially launched Robotaxi rides in both Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area to the public.

Tesla Robotaxi makes major expansion with official public app launch

Downloading the app is available to iOS users, so if you have an iPhone, you can get it and join the waitlist. Tesla has not yet launched the Robotaxi app for the Android platform, but did hint that it would be coming soon.

The testing phase with the group Tesla selected has gone well. In Austin, the City has only listed one “Safety Concern” with Robotaxi during the testing phase. For the most part, things have gone extremely well, and riders have had good things to say.

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Tesla is still operating with some safeguards in place, such as Safety Monitors and Safety Drivers, but these are precautionary and temporary; CEO Elon Musk has said they should be removed by the end of the year.

Elon Musk says Tesla will take Safety Drivers out of Robotaxi: here’s when

Even still, Tesla Robotaxi is something that many people want to experience, and the app downloads prove it.

The Tesla Robotaxi app was downloaded at a rate that exceeded all rolling 30-day periods of both Uber and Waymo, according to Brett Winton of ARK Invest. Tesla’s Robotaxi’s first day on the App Store exceeded Uber’s by 40 percent and Waymo’s best download day ever by six times:

The surge in downloads is a good indication of how in demand the Robotaxi suite was, as many people within the community had vocalized their requests to try the platform, but Tesla was not ready to expand it beyond its handpicked group.

The expansion of the program will result in more rides, provided Tesla continues to expand its fleet of vehicles. It has already admitted many of those who were initially placed on the waitlist.

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Elon Musk’s xAI expands to Seattle with salaries up to $440,000

The move was announced by the artificial intelligence startup and Elon Musk on social media platform X.

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(Credit: xAI)

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is opening a new office in Seattle as it accelerates its global expansion. 

The move was announced by the artificial intelligence startup and Elon Musk on social media platform X. xAI is also hiring for its first positions in the new site.

New Seattle office

As could be seen on xAI’s Careers webpage, the Seattle office is currently hiring for three engineering roles. Each of the three technical roles tied to the new site carry salaries ranging from $180,000 to $440,000. 

The new office adds to xAI’s growing presence, which now spans San Francisco, Austin, London, Dublin, New York, and Memphis. The Seattle-based roles focus on video and image generation systems, signaling Musk’s intent to challenge rivals like OpenAI and Meta in generative AI.

Pressures and challenges

Seattle also places xAI within reach of Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond. Microsoft has emerged as a central player in the AI race through its multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI, making xAI’s move into the region notable. The competition for AI specialists has pushed salaries higher across the industry, with filings showing OpenAI staff earning up to $530,000 and Anthropic engineers as much as $690,000 annually, as noted by Insider.

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The startup has also seen some high-profile departures in recent months, including cofounder Igor Babuschkin and general counsel Robert Keele. Still, xAI continues to grow aggressively, and its Grok large language model has been gaining momentum among mainstream users. Work also continues to be underway to further build out the company’s Colossus supercomputer cluster. Reports have also suggested that xAI has moved into San Francisco offices in the Mission District, a site Musk initially leased during OpenAI’s early years.

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