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Tesla Semi spotted by fans ahead of Golden Gate Bridge crossing

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Tesla recently shared a short video clip of the silver Semi stealthily gliding over the Golden Gate Bridge while hauling a trailer on the way to Santa Rosa, CA.

The video clip of the silver Semi, with trailer in tow, was shared on Twitter, where it caused quite a conversation among Tesla’s followers on the platform. Some remarked that the vehicle was unearthly in its silence despite seemingly traveling at near-highway speed. Others jested that the way the Semi glided over the Golden Gate Bridge almost made the vehicle look like a computer-generated image, prompting a lighthearted response from Tesla’s Twitter account assuring that the footage was indeed real

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In a follow-up clip featuring the electric truck heading to the Golden Gate Bridge, the logo of Xtra Lease Trailers was visible on the Semi’s cargo, suggesting that Tesla could be a client of the leasing company. Xtra Lease Trailers, a Berkshire Hathaway Company based on St. Louis, MO, is among the United States’ most prolific trailer lease providers, with a fleet of 85,000 trailers to date. 

A Tesla fan has also shared an image of the Semi on Twitter just as it was about to enter the Golden Gate Bridge. Just like in recent sightings, such as the one near the LA Service Center — a place that holds historical significance to the company. 

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https://twitter.com/beau/status/1009475724191731717

While the Elon Musk-led company did not specify the purpose of the Semi’s trip to Santa Rosa on its Twitter video, Tesla’s VP of Truck Programs Jerome Guillen noted in his LinkedIn profile that the footage was taken last week, and that the trip was conducted to visit “some great local customers.”

Guillen and the team currently testing the Tesla Semi have been spotted in several areas of the United States, especially in the route between the company’s Fremont, CA factory and the Sparks, NV Gigafactory. As stated by Elon Musk earlier this year, Tesla is now using the two electric trucks as part of its fleet tasked with transporting Model 3 battery packs from Gigafactory 1 to Fremont. The two massive electric vehicles have also been spotted in the route between Tesla’s headquarters in Palo Alto, CA and the Fremont.

The Tesla Semi has been well-received by several prolific transport and trucking companies, both in the United States and abroad. During the company’s Q1 2018 earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and CTO JB Straubel noted that there are roughly 2,000 reservations for the electric long-hauler to date. So far, companies that have publicly announced their orders for the vehicle include companies such as PepsiCo, FedEx, and UPS in the United States and Bee’ah from the United Arab Emirates.

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Over the past few months, the Tesla Semi has also been spotted visiting the site of several key reservation holders, such as Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, MO. The electric truck was also demoed for PepsiCo employees in Dallas, TX. The black Tesla Semi, speculated to be the short-range variant of the vehicle, was also spotted being transported at a highway near Des Moines, IA, close to the headquarters of Ruan Transportation Management Systems, another one of the Semi’s reservation holders.

Some companies with reservations for the Tesla Semi are currently working with Tesla to set up a charging network for the massive long-haulers. Dubbed as the Megachargers, the Tesla Semi charging stations will be installed at key locations that are frequently traveled by fleet operators. This would enable truck drivers to travel between facilities without having to recharge each time they load and unload cargo.

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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Lucid denies rumors of bankruptcy after over 40% stock drop

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Credit: Lucid

Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has denied rumors of an imminent bankruptcy after a report from this morning sent the stock on a dramatic drop on Wall Street, seeing losses of more than 40 percent during trading hours.

Lucid’s Director of Communications, Nick Twork, responded to the report from Eletric-Vehicles.com, which stated the company’s restructuring advisor, AlixPartners, was asked to review two decisions: taking Lucid shares private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The report also claims AlixPartners told the Lucid board to “concentrate on Gravity production while improving its quality, and to temporarily hold back the Lucid Air, the sedan that has defined the company since its launch.”

Twork said:

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Shares rebounded after the response to the report, halving its losses as the trading day neared 3 p.m. Eastern.

Lucid has struggled to get its sales off the ground and into more respectable numbers, but the company is in its early years, when things are hard to begin with. It is also backed by several notable investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has nearly limitless money and likely would not ditch an investment of this size so soon.

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Lucid shares were down just 14 percent at the time of publication, a far cry from the 55 percent its losses topped out at during the day.

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Tesla owner attempts resale of Model S Signature Edition for over $260k

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Credit: Tesla

A Tesla owner who purchased a Model S Signature Edition, one of the final 250 units of the all-electric flagship vehicle that the company discontinued earlier this year, is attempting to sell the car despite a no-resale clause that prohibits reselling for the first year.

The car is being sold by J&S Autohaus in Ewing, New Jersey, and is priced at $260,490, well above the $159,420 that Tesla sold it for earlier this year.

To those who do not know, the Model S Signature was a highly exclusive, limited-run farewell variant of the Model S Plaid that was produced this year to mark the end of production of both the Model S and Model X, Tesla’s two flagship vehicles.

Limited to just 250 units with invite-only sales, it serves as a collector’s item celebrating the legacy of the Model S, which helped pioneer Tesla’s electric vehicle success since its 2012 launch.

It bundles top-tier performance with bespoke cosmetic and luxury upgrades, plus Tesla’s Luxe Package. Here’s what the Model S Signature has over the typical Model S Plaid:

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  • Exclusive Exterior – Unique Garnet Red Paint, matching door handles, gold Tesla “T” badges upfront, gold Plaid and Signature badging at the rear.
  • Premium Interior – White Alcantara upholstery with gold piping/accents, gold Plaid seat badges, Signature-marked door sills, individually numbered dashboard plaque, gold puddle lights, special interior lighting sequence, and a custom Signature key fob.
  • Performance Upgrades – Carbon-ceramic brakes with gold calipers
  • Bundled Luxe Package – Full Self-Driving (Supervised), four years of Premium Connectivity, free lifetime Supercharging
  • Performance Metrics – ~1,020 horsepower, sub-2-second 0-60 MPH, ~390-mile range

Tesla quickly introduced a No Resale Agreement for the Signature Editions of the Model S and Model X, which would penalize the seller for “the amount of $50,000 or the value received as consideration for the sale or transfer, whichever is greater.”

The company continues:

“If you sell or otherwise transfer the ownership of your Model S or Model X, the remainder of the Recommended Maintenance, Wheel and Tire Protection Plan, and Windshield Protection Plan will transfer automatically to the buyer. The Full Self-Driving (Supervised), Free Supercharging and Premium Connectivity will not transfer with the vehicle and will terminate once the ownership of the Model S or Model X is transferred.”

Tesla will likely come after the seller, especially as it has been about two months since Tesla launched deliveries.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 Early Impressions: new features and early performance

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Credit: TESLARATI

Tesla rolled out Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.3.5 yesterday, and about fifty miles of driving on the new version has given me enough time to highlight what seems to be strong about the release and what is not.

Additionally, Tesla has added a few new features with this specific update, which we’ll highlight as well.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 Performance

The new update is business as usual. Things seem to be running completely normal and necessary, but there are a few things that we’ve seemed to pick up on based on our own experience with v14.3.5, as well as what other users are seeing.

Initially, it seems to be more aware of its surroundings, making moves that are incredibly courteous to other drives and operating just a tad more reserved than what the suite might have done previously.

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We had two instances where it showed this, the first being FSD needing to pass a Flagger Force vehicle that was placing down signage for the day. Their work truck was right at the front corner of a right-hand turn; typically where most cars travel when they take that turn.

FSD v14.3.5 recognized this, slowed down, and took the turn wide with no issues:

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Additionally, v14.3.5 backed up for a semi truck that was making a wide turn onto a road my car was on. This is not new, but it seemed to be backing up for courtesy; it didn’t seem completely necessary, but it might have put some peace of mind in the truck driver’s head:

X user Mike P, also a Pennsylvania native like myself, shared three clips of his Tesla running v14.3.5 performing similar maneuvers. He said:

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“FSD turns right into a small alley that only fits one car at a time, sees oncoming car, reverses out of alley to make space, realizes oncoming car is actually parking, re-enters alley.”

Check it out here:

It seems like Speed Profiles are still in need of some tweaking; I am adjusting what Speed Profile I’m in frequently, constantly changing it to get it to travel at the correct speed. This was an issue for me on v14.3.4. It seems like they’re just a little inconsistent.

Terrible Parking

Parking attempts on v14.3.5 were not good. There are quite a few people who have said this:

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David Moss, the Tesla owner who has taken multiple coast-to-coast drives without any interventions, also has had some issues with parking early on with v14.3.5:

New Features

Tesla has added the ability to open Camera Preview at any time. Previously, it was only available in Park. Here’s what that feature looks like in action:

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Check back later this week for a longer review of what we’ve noticed on Full Self-Driving v14.3.5.

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