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Tesla Model Y first deliveries set for March: 315 miles EPA-range estimated

Credit: Tesla

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Tesla Model Y first deliveries will begin in March of this year. The all-electric carmaker noted in its Q4 2019 Update Letter that the production ramp for the crossover began as early as January 2020. The company also stated that the Environmental Protection Agency has increased the Model Y’s Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive range to 315 miles, from its original 280-mile rating.

Tesla noted that the pace of its producing vehicles has improved significantly. Crediting the improvements the company has made in its production of the Model 3 in the United States, the Fremont factory has started producing the Model Y and expects to produce 500,000 combined units of the crossover and Model 3 each year. The vehicle is planned to enter production at Giga Shanghai in 2021.

RELATED: Tesla (TSLA) crushes Q4 2019 results: Maintains profit, beats Wall St. revenue estimates

Tesla expects to begin delivering the Model Y crossover by the end of Q1 2020. “The ramp of Model Y will be gradual as we will be adding additional machinery in various production shops. After such expansions are done by mid-2020, installed combined Model 3 and Model Y capacity should reach 500,000 units per year,” Tesla wrote.

Credit: Tesla

On top of the news that production and deliveries for the Model Y will happen ahead of schedule, Tesla also announced that the EPA formally increased its AWD variant from 280 to 315 miles.

“Due to continued engineering progress of the Model Y all-wheel drive (AWD), we have been able to increase its maximum EPA range to 315 miles, compared to our previous estimate of 280 miles. This extends Model Y’s lead as the most energy-efficient electric SUV in the world,” the company stated.

Initially, the Model Y’s first deliveries were anticipated for the end of 2020. However, Tesla announced during its 2019 Q3 earnings call that the vehicle’s production availability was ahead of schedule and the company formally moved its anticipated delivery dates forward to Summer 2020.

As Tesla enthusiasts have shared numerous sightings of the Model Y over the past months, the company has worked intensively to perfect its first crossover vehicle. It appears that Tesla’s diligent work toward perfecting the production quality of the Model Y has paid off as its production ramp has started ahead of schedule and the company will begin delivering the vehicle by the end of March 2020.

The Model Y is available in two variants, thus far. The Long Range Dual Motor and Performance configuration will both have 315 miles of range and cost $52,990, and $60,990 respectively

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Other Tesla Q4 and Full Year 2019 Highlights

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Cybertruck

Tesla reveals its Cybertruck light bar installation fix

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u/Kruzat, see page for license, via Wikimedia Commons

Tesla has revealed its Cybertruck light bar installation fix after a recall exposed a serious issue with the accessory.

Tesla and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) initiated a recall of 6,197 Cybertrucks back in October to resolve an issue with the Cybertruck light bar accessory. It was an issue with the adhesive that was provided by a Romanian company called Hella Romania S.R.L.

Tesla recalls 6,197 Cybertrucks for light bar adhesive issue

The issue was with the primer quality, as the recall report from the NHTSA had stated the light bar had “inadvertently attached to the windshield using the incorrect surface primer.”

Instead of trying to adhere the light bar to the Cybertruck with an adhesive, Tesla is now going to attach it with a bracketing system, which will physically mount it to the vehicle instead of relying on adhesive strips or glue.

Tesla outlines this in its new Service Bulletin, labeled SB-25-90-001, (spotted by Not a Tesla App) where it shows the light bar will be remounted more securely:

The entire process will take a few hours, but it can be completed by the Mobile Service techs, so if you have a Cybertruck that needs a light bar adjustment, it can be done without taking the vehicle to the Service Center for repair.

However, the repair will only happen if there is no delamination or damage present; then Tesla could “retrofit the service-installed optional off-road light bar accessory with a positive mechanical attachment.”

The company said it would repair the light bar at no charge to customers. The light bar issue was one that did not result in any accidents or injuries, according to the NHTSA’s report.

This was the third recall on Cybertruck this year, as one was highlighted in March for exterior trim panels detaching during operation. Another had to do with front parking lights being too bright, which was fixed with an Over-the-Air update last month.

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Tesla is already expanding its Rental program aggressively

The program has already launched in a handful of locations, specifically, it has been confined to California for now. However, it does not seem like Tesla has any interest in keeping it restricted to the Golden State.

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Credit: Grok

Tesla is looking to expand its Rental Program aggressively, just weeks after the program was first spotted on its Careers website.

Earlier this month, we reported on Tesla’s intention to launch a crazy new Rental program with cheap daily rates, which would give people in various locations the opportunity to borrow a vehicle in the company’s lineup with some outrageous perks.

Along with the cheap rates that start at about $60 per day, Tesla also provides free Full Self-Driving operation and free Supercharging for the duration of the rental. There are also no limits on mileage or charging, but the terms do not allow the renter to leave the state from which they are renting.

The program has already launched in a handful of locations, specifically, it has been confined to California for now. However, it does not seem like Tesla has any interest in keeping it restricted to the Golden State.

Job postings from Tesla now show it is planning to launch the Rental program in at least three new states: Texas, Tennessee, and Massachusetts.

The jobs specifically are listed as a Rental Readiness Specialist, which lists the following job description:

“The Tesla Rental Program is looking for a Rental Readiness Specialist to work on one of the most progressive vehicle brands in the world. The Rental Readiness Specialist is a key contributor to the Tesla experience by coordinating the receipt of incoming new and used vehicle inventory. This position is responsible for fleet/lot management, movement of vehicles, vehicle readiness, rental invoicing, and customer hand-off. Candidates must have a high level of accountability, and personal satisfaction in doing a great job.”

It also says that those who take the position will have to charge and clean the cars, work with clients on scheduling pickups and drop-offs, and prepare the paperwork necessary to initiate the rental.

The establishment of a Rental program is big for Tesla because it not only gives people the opportunity to experience the vehicles, but it is also a new way to rent a car.

Just as the Tesla purchasing process is more streamlined and more efficient than the traditional car-buying experience, it seems this could be less painful and a new way to borrow a car for a trip instead of using your own.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s xAI gains first access to Saudi supercluster with 600k Nvidia GPUs

The facility will deploy roughly 600,000 Nvidia GPUs, making it one of the world’s most notable superclusters.

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A Saudi-backed developer is moving forward with one of the world’s largest AI data centers, and Elon Musk’s xAI will be its first customer. The project, unveiled at the U.S.–Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, D.C., is being built by Humain, a company supported by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. 

The facility will deploy roughly 600,000 Nvidia GPUs, making it one of the world’s most notable superclusters.

xAI secures priority access

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that the planned data center marks a major leap not just for the region but for the global AI ecosystem as a whole. Huang joked about the sheer capacity of the build, emphasizing how unusual it is for a startup to receive infrastructure of such magnitude. The facility is designed to deliver 500 megawatts of Nvidia GPU power, placing it among the world’s largest AI-focused installations, as noted in a Benzinga report.

“We worked together to get this company started and off the ground and just got an incredible customer with Elon. Could you imagine a startup company, approximately $0 billion in revenues, now going to build a data center for Elon? 500 megawatts is gigantic. This company is off the charts right away,” Huang said.

Global Chipmakers Join Multi-Vendor Buildout To Enhance Compute Diversity

While Nvidia GPUs serve as the backbone of the first phase, Humain is preparing a diversified hardware stack. AMD will supply its Instinct MI450 accelerators, which could draw up to 1 gigawatt of power by 2030 as deployments ramp. Qualcomm will also contribute AI200 and AI250 data center processors, accounting for an additional 200 megawatts of compute capacity. Cisco will support the networking and infrastructure layer, helping knit the multi-chip architecture together.

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Apart from confirming that xAI will be the upcoming supercluster’s first customer, Musk also joked about the rapid scaling needed to train increasingly large AI models. He joked that a theoretical expansion one thousand times larger of the upcoming supercluster “would be 8 bazillion, trillion dollars,” highlighting the playful exaggeration he often brings to discussions around extreme compute demand.

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