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Tesla displays Solar Roof durability while slashing prices

Credit: Tesla

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Tesla has made some updates to the Solar Roof page on its website, displaying the durability of the material compared to traditional roofing structures. The company has also reduced the price of the Solar Roof by between 6 and 8 percent, making it more affordable for those who want their homes powered by sustainable energy without losing the traditional “roofing” appearance.

According to the company’s website, the 10 kW Solar Roof now costs $31,133. The price is broken down into two categories: roof cost and solar cost. The roof costs $16,260, and the solar costs $14,873.

A screengrab from April 8th, 2020, shows that the price for those two systems was originally $33,950, resulting in an over $2,800 discount.

Additionally, the 12.3 kW Solar Roof used to cost $48,128 after Federal Tax Credits. Now, the price has been adjusted to $45,093, which is a 6% decrease in the previous cost.

Tesla also included a new video that shows the strength and durability of the Solar Roof. According to the website, “Solar Roof tiles are more than three times stronger than standard roofing tiles and are engineered for all-weather protection.”

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Tesla has been pushing its solar program aggressively in 2020, and demand has increased according to company Earnings Updates.

“Solar Roof installations roughly tripled in Q2 compared to Q1. We continue to expand our installation team to increase the deployment rate,” Tesla wrote in its Q2 2020 Earnings Update Letter.

Tesla also listed around 100 job openings on its website in mid-August, all of which were geared toward Solar Roof deployments in various U.S. States.

Tesla rolled out its V3 Solar Roof Tiles last year. Known as Solarglass, Tesla was able to decrease pricing and use faster installation tactics to increase output.

CEO Elon Musk has said in the past that Tesla’s Energy division has the capability to be as large as, or even surpass, the company’s automotive sector. “I think long term, Tesla Energy will be roughly the same size as Tesla automotive. The energy business collectively is bigger than the automotive business,” he said.

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Ultimately, for Tesla’s mission to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy, solar deployment has to be strong. “And in order to achieve a sustainable energy future, we have to have sustainable energy generation, which I think is going to be primarily solar and — followed by wind. And those are intermittent, so you need to have a lot of batteries to store the energy because wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine,” he added.

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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Tesla Model Y L’s impressive specs surface in China’s recent MIIT filing

The Tesla Model Y L is expected to launch later this year.

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Credit: Tesla

The specs of the upcoming Tesla Model Y L has appeared in new Chinese regulatory filings, revealing key specifications including a six-seat layout and an extended range of up to 751 kilometers. The variant is expected to launch later this year alongside a new long-range Model 3 variant rated at 830 kilometers.

The updates were listed on the China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s (MIIT) latest batch of new energy vehicle models that are eligible for vehicle purchase tax exemptions.

Model Y L to debut with larger battery, six-seat layout

Listed under the model code TSL6500BEVBA0, the Model Y L will feature dual motors producing 142 kW at the front and 198 kW at the rear. It will be powered by a 465-kilogram 82.0-kWh lithium-ion battery from LG Energy Solution, with a pack energy density of 176 Wh/kg, as noted in a CNEV Post report. The long-range crossover achieves 751 km on the lenient CLTC cycle, making it Tesla’s highest-range Model Y to date in China despite its curb weight of 2,088 kg.

The “L” designation is believed to refer to the vehicle’s larger size and seating configuration, as the new variant is listed with six seats. It builds on Tesla’s strategy to diversify offerings in the Model Y lineup, which currently includes both RWD and AWD five-seat versions.

Model 3+ breaks record with 830 km CLTC range

Alongside the Model Y L, Tesla China also registered a new rear-wheel-drive Model 3, which was designated with the model code TSL7000BEVBR1. The vehicle boasts either 800 or 830 km of range on the CLTC cycle, depending on its trim. This marks the highest range yet for any Tesla vehicle in China.

The variant will use a 448-kilogram, 78.4-kWh LG-supplied battery with an energy density of 175 Wh/kg and a peak motor output of 225 kW. The vehicle’s curb weight is listed at 1,760 kg. The model was previously identified in filings as “Model 3+,” hinting at a possible tier above the existing long-range variant, which tops out at 753 km CLTC.

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Elon Musk explains why Tesla stepped back from Project Dojo

The update was initially reported by Bloomberg News, which cited people reportedly familiar with the matter.

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(Credit: Tesla)

Elon Musk has confirmed that Tesla is stepping back from its Dojo supercomputer initiative and focusing instead on the company’s in-house AI5 and AI6 chips. 

The update was initially reported by Bloomberg News, which cited people reportedly familiar with the matter.

Project Dojo Ends

As per Bloomberg, Peter Bannon, who led Project Dojo, will be departing Tesla following Elon Musk’s decision to shut down the initiative. The publication claimed that Tesla’s Project Dojo team has lost about 20 members recently, and the remaining members of the initiative would be reassigned to other data center and compute projects within Tesla. 

Dojo was expected to help Tesla train its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems. With this change, Tesla will reportedly be increasing its reliance on external partners for its training hardware. These partners reportedly include Nvidia, AMD, and Samsung, among other companies.

Credit: Elon Musk/X

Musk Explains Dojo Shutdown

In a series of posts on X, Elon Musk explained that it doesn’t make much sense for Tesla to divide its resources to scale two different chip designs. And since the company is putting in a lot of effort in its AI5 and AI6 chips–which would be used not for training but in actual products like Optimus and the Cybercab–it was time for Project Dojo to take a bow.

“It doesn’t make sense for Tesla to divide its resources and scale two quite different AI chip designs. The Tesla AI5, AI6 and subsequent chips will be excellent for inference and at least pretty good for training. All effort is focused on that.

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“In a supercomputer cluster, it would make sense to put many AI5/AI6 chips on a board, whether for inference or training, simply to reduce network cabling complexity & cost by a few orders of magnitude. One could call that Dojo 3, I suppose. The difference in real-world performance between AI4 and AI5 is far more than any chip version I’ve ever heard of by a lot. It’s real good,” Musk wrote in his post.

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Tesla creates clever solution to simplify and improve its Service

Raj Jegannathan, a Vice President of IT/AI-Infra, Apps, Infosec, and Vehicle Service Operations, revealed that Tesla has started a small pilot program at a few service locations to combat this issue.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has created a clever solution to simplify and improve its Service. Tesla performs most of the services that are needed on its vehicles at its company-owned Service Centers.

However, service has been a weak point of the company, as some regions have fewer Service Centers than others. This can cause long wait times for Tesla owners in some parts of the country.

There are also instances where customers do not agree with what Tesla is saying about their vehicle. In fact, one instance that revealed this new change Tesla is making to its Service was precisely that.

One owner posted on X that his vehicle’s battery seal had failed after a recall was issued. Tesla insurance and Tesla Service both did not assist, and it took CEO Elon Musk stepping in to get the issue resolved:

Another owner suggested there should be a more streamlined communications process between the customer and the Service Center, a solution that has been missing.

Raj Jegannathan, a Vice President of IT/AI-Infra, Apps, Infosec, and Vehicle Service Operations, revealed that Tesla has started a small pilot program at a few service locations to combat this issue.

Elon Musk wants Tesla Service to fix two-thirds of cars in the same day

Jegannathan said that Tesla has started to share local and regional leader contact information so customers have the ability to reach out when they have complaints or disagree with warranty claims, changes in estimates, or initial diagnostics.

It is available in a handful of locations already, and Jegannathan said that once abuse guardrails are built, this will expand to all locations:

This would be a major improvement in the Service portion of Tesla’s business. There are common disagreements between Service and customers, specifically when Service’s suggestions don’t align with the customer’s beliefs.

When it comes to things like a warranty claim, these issues are not really up for interpretation. Instead, the repairs should be made. If there is a misunderstanding on Service’s side, a simple message from the customer could have resolved the issue. That’s basically what happened here.

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