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Next-gen Tesla Roadster makes rare appearance at Hawthorne, CA delivery site

[Credit: Christopher Alan Stanley/Twitter]

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Reservation holders who were taking deliveries of their electric cars in Hawthorne, CA were treated to a rare sight on Sunday, as Tesla brought over its upcoming halo car — the next-generation Roadster — to its delivery site.

All hands were on deck this past weekend as Tesla conducted a massive rush to deliver as many vehicles as it can to reservation holders. Employees from different departments, including some executives, reportedly helped handover electric cars. In Hawthorne, CA, Tesla’s Design Center close to SpaceX HQ seemed to have been used as a temporary delivery center. Elon Musk was on site, seemingly delivering cars himself. A SpaceX employee who received his Model 3 on the Hawthorne, CA site even shared images on Twitter depicting Elon Musk doing the handover for his car.

The next-generation Tesla Roadster attracted a lot of attention, both from those who were waiting to receive their electric cars and even SpaceX employees, whose headquarters was located nearby. The Roadster that made an appearance was the red, operational prototype that the company used for test drives during the vehicle’s unveiling, as well as in a recent segment of Jay Leno’s Garage, where the veteran host’s inner child was unleashed when Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen launched the all-electric supercar from a dead stop.

The next-generation Tesla Roadster on display at Hawthorne, CA. [Credit: Christopher Alan Stanley and The Tesla Life/Twitter]

The United States is not the only country that was recently graced by the next-generation Tesla Roadster. Last month, Tesla brought the vehicle — albeit a non-operational 1:1 model — to the Grand Basel Auto Show in Switzerland. The Swiss auto show is traditionally populated by the industry’s most remarkable vehicles, and the next-gen Roadster, painted in a stunning white, fit right in with the event’s other premium automobiles.

While the next-generation Tesla Roadster would not be produced in mass quantities like the Model 3 sedan, the vehicle still has the potential to cause a small “disruption” of its own in the European market. The region, after all, is home to some of the world’s most prestigious supercar makers, including Ferrari, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Pagani, and Koenigsegg. These carmakers are known for their pedigree in creating cars that are stunning in design and insanely fast — two adjectives that can also be applied to the next-gen Roadster.

The next-generation Tesla Roadster at the Grand Basel Auto Show.

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In a way, Tesla’s upcoming halo car could prove to be the most bang-for-your-buck supercar in the market when it gets released. During the vehicle’s unveiling, Elon Musk announced that the next-gen Roadster would start at $200,000. That’s more affordable than mid-level supercars like the McLaren 720S and the Ferrari 812 Superfast (which are priced in the ~$300,000 range), despite having performance figures that rival (or even exceed) million-dollar halo cars like the McLaren P1 and the Ferrari LaFerrari. With this in mind, it would not be surprising if the vehicle ends up finding a strong following among supercar enthusiasts in Europe and its surrounding regions.

During its unveiling, Elon Musk stated that the whole point of the vehicle is to deliver a “hardcore smackdown” to gasoline-powered cars. Looking at the car’s specs, this definitely seems to be the case. Thanks to its three electric motors, the vehicle has a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, a 0-100 mph time of 4.2 seconds, and a top speed of more than 250 mph. Its 200 kWh battery pack also gives it an industry-leading 620 miles per charge.

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.

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Tesla opens Cybercab first public ride sweepstakes: how to enter

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has opened a new sweepstakes to allow the public to be one of the first to take one of the initial rides in a Cybercab, the all-electric, steering wheel-less and pedal-less vehicle that is the company’s centerpiece of its autonomous ride-hailing platform called Robotaxi.

There are two ways Tesla fans can get to Austin to take part in the first public rides of the Cybercab: by riding on the Robotaxi platform by August 23, or by mailing a very specific entry to their Headquarters at Gigafactory Texas.

Tesla announced the latter portion of the sweepstakes last night:

Tesla will give one entry into the sweepstakes if you mail a 3″ by 5″ piece of paper with your full name, mailing address, telephone number, email address, and date of birth to their address:

Tesla, Robotaxi Sweeps Event

1 Tesla Road,

Austin, TX 78725

There is a limit of one entry per stamped envelope. You can send as many as you’d like, but they must be in separate envelopes.

The company’s unique strategy to give people the opportunity to ride in a Cybercab before pretty much anyone else outside of the company is a hilarious but spot-on representation of how Tesla operates. In classic fashion, they had the perfect response to the event:

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Cybercab will launch later this month, it appears, especially as it plans to announce the winners of the sweepstakes on August 25. The car has already been operating internally, as employees have been able to utilize the Cybercab for rides in some capacity, something it announced earlier this month.

Tesla weirdly confirms Cybercab employee rides, a huge milestone

Moving forward, the big goal is to get Cybercab out on the roads and integrated into the public Robotaxi fleet, one that will pick up real-world ride-hailers and give them a ride from Point A to Point B.

No matter which way you cut it, it appears Tesla is close to putting a vehicle with no steering wheel and no pedals on the road to help people travel autonomously.

You can ride along with us in our first Cybercab ride from the We, Robot event in October 2024. The video is embedded below:

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Tesla reveals plans for Robotaxi charging hub in Austin

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Credit: Grok Imagine

Tesla has revealed plans through permit submissions for a massive Robotaxi charging hub in Austin, Texas.

Tesla plans to build the Supercharger hub in multiple phases, with the second phase potentially introducing wireless induction charging, something the company has been developing for the Robotaxi fleet.

Initially, 48 Tesla Robotaxi-geared Superchargers will be built on a lot just across from the St. Elmo, Texas, Service Center. There are about 80 additional spots that will not be impacted by phase 1 of the construction process.

Filings show that the second phase of the project will turn those 80 additional spots into wireless charging for Robotaxi, but it might be an error. The Key Notes state that item 3 is listed as “V4 Charging Cabinet to Support 80 Wireless Chargers in Phase 2. However, the drawings point to V3 Cabinets that are already tied to Superchargers:

There are roughly 128 total spots in the lot, but it is unclear if they will all be used for charging based on what appears to be some sort of typo in the blueprint.

This is among the first Robotaxi charging hubs Tesla has started to develop, as it currently has four others planned throughout various areas: one in Phoenix, one in San Antonio, another in Irving, which will serve the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and another in Las Vegas.

These projects are necessary as Tesla expands its Robotaxi program. Now that preparations have started for the public launch of Cybercab, Robotaxi will likely be expanding aggressively, especially over the next two to three years.

Last night, The Information reported that Tesla was planning to launch Cybercab as soon as the end of August. Hours later, Tesla then announced it was launching a competition for fans to potentially ride in Cybercab during its first public rides.

Tesla Cybercab launch preparations have begun

Tesla’s plan to expand its charging infrastructure in the regions where Robotaxi will initially operate is great preparation for the expanding service. There is still a lot to do, including launching the Cybercab on time.

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Tesla Semi gets its largest order yet

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Credit: Einride

Tesla got its largest order for the all-electric Class 8 Semi yet, a 500-unit order from Einride AB, a Swedish trucking company.

Einride made the announcement this morning following its second-quarter earnings call. The company said it plans to use 500 Tesla Semi units on its fleet intelligence platform, called Saga AI. The deployments will serve large companies like Amazon and will extend Einride’s electric freight network across logistics routes in California, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, and Georgia.

The deployment is being carried out in several phases over the next two years as Tesla ramps production of the Semi at its dedicated production facility in Sparks, Nevada. Einride will receive its first Semi units in September.

Saga AI

Saga AI is Einride’s dedicated fleet intelligence platform. It enables scaled adoption of electric trucks for freight use and allows shippers to integrate electric capacity without the operational burden or capital risks of managing a fleet. This helps integrate cost-efficient logistics and makes budgeting and forecasting much more accurate.

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Tesla Semi’s Adoption

The Tesla Semi is now gathering large-scale clients past those who have helped the company operate a Pilot Program to gain initial information and feedback from real-world drivers.

Perhaps the biggest and most notable is that of Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., who have worked with Tesla for the past several years to dial in the finer details of the truck, including its efficiency and operation-related components.

Tesla Semi gets strange-but-understandable comparison from Jay Leno

There has been tremendous progress in that time, and it even catalyzed Tesla to make some design changes, which were unveiled earlier this year.

But Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli says his company’s partnership with Tesla will continue to push those things forward:

“This deployment is yet another proof point that we can execute at the scale our customers demand. Working closely with Tesla to bring next-generation Semis into active operations quickly and at scale is a testament to the strength of that partnership, and how quickly this technology is maturing from promise to daily operations.”

Tesla Semi is already winning over truck drivers

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Additionally, Dan Priestley, the Director of the Semi Program at Tesla, said the partnership is ideal due to Einride’s focus on sustainable transport:

“Einride is at the forefront of sustainable freight, and we are thrilled to deepen our relationship with them through this order of 500 Semis. EV heavy trucks provide lower costs per mile from fuel savings, reduced maintenance, and better uptime over diesel trucks. These savings increase further through operational efficiency when deploying EV trucks at scale, and we are excited that Einride recognizes this and look forward to supporting their deployments.” 

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