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Tesla top 5: Week in review, February 4

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Tesla Model S real-world safety demonstrated after violent rear-end collision

Model S rear end collision

A Reddit user recently posted photos of a Tesla Model S that had a rear-end collision with a Volvo truck. The post concurred with an Insurance Institute of Highway Safety crash test result for the Tesla Model S in which it earned only an “acceptable” rating on its rear crash test. To look at the Reddit photo, one might think that the Tesla Model S does quite well. With a curb weight of 4,647 pounds, the Model S has mass that helped it stand up to a 10-ton truck. The 1,200-lb. flat battery pack strapped to the frame likely was a positive factor, as it reinforces the structural integrity of the vehicle. The Reddit post’s author reported that the driver of the Model S walked away from the collision safe and believes the Tesla saved his life.

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Welcome to Tesla, Inc.: We’re more than just electric cars

Tesla announced a corporate name change this week from “Tesla Motors” to “Tesla.” At the time of the company’s founding, the company was positioned as an alternative automobile company. Now, over a decade later, much has changed. With the revised moniker, Tesla confers a broader range of products and services, so that its market reach is much more extensive. Whether it is solar roof tiles, residential and commercial battery systems, or future endeavors such as semi-trucks, electric buses, ride sharing, and tunnel boring, the name Tesla speaks to the company’s overarching goals of clean energy efforts. Musk has repeated how his company will “create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage, expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments, develop a self-driving capability that is 10X safer than manual via massive fleet learning, [and] enable your car to make money for you when you aren’t using it.” The name change now represents that social justice sustainability mission.

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Tesla will release 4Q and ’16 full year financial result on February 22

Tesla has announced that on February 22, 2017, it will release Q4 2016 and full year 2016 financial results. First, Tesla will issue a brief advisory, which will include a link to the Q4 as well as a full year 2016 update letter. Each will be posted on the Tesla IR website. To accompany those data releases, the Tesla management will hold a live question and answer webcast that day, scheduled at this writing for 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time (5:30pm Eastern Time). Topics will include the company’s 2016 financial and business results and 2017+ outlook.

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Tesla Model S crash test result misses top safety rating by IIHS

The Tesla Model S large luxury sedan earned good ratings in all Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) “crashworthiness evaluations” except one: the challenging small overlap front crash test. In that evaluation, it earned just an acceptable rating. Even through Tesla had lengthened the side curtain airbags to improve small Model S overlap protection, it confronted testing issues when the safety belt allowed the dummy’s torso to move too far forward. The results indicated that duplicated real-world injuries would be “possible.” The ratings for the Model S apply to 2016 and 2017 cars built after October 2016. Tesla did make a production change on Jan. 23, 2017 to address the head-contact problem, so IIHS has said they will test the updated vehicle for small overlap protection.

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Tesla Gigafactory in Lithuania reimagined within Minecraft game

Tesla’s mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy requires production of lithium ion batteries to power their electric vehicles. The Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada began construction on November 4, 2014 and is expected to begin battery cell production by the end of this year. Even before that target production goal, however, Tesla is surveying European locations for a second Gigafactory. Lithuania would like to be chosen as that illustrious manufacturing site, so, to persuade Tesla it is the right fit, a team of Minecraft designers spent two days building a virtual model of Tesla’s Gigafactory. They envisioned Kruonis, Lithuania as the ideal spot for construction due to its “free economic zone, close to two international airports, within close radius of 1.3 million inhabitants.” Sustainable energy sources such as wind power were noted as a perk. Teams from several other European nations are also pitching their concepts to Tesla in the hopes that the next Gigafactory, with its associated job creation, will be in their neighborhoods.

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Carolyn Fortuna is a writer and researcher with a Ph.D. in education from the University of Rhode Island. She brings a social justice perspective to environmental issues. Please follow me on Twitter and Facebook and Google+

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Tesla adjusts Robotaxi safety monitor strategy in Austin with new service area

The positioning of the driver, as well as the driver’s hands being closer to the steering wheel, is more similar to what Tesla is doing in the Bay Area Robotaxi program than it is to what it has done in Austin.

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Credit: @AdanGuajardo/X

Tesla has adjusted its Robotaxi safety monitor strategy in Austin after it expanded its service area in the city last week for the third time.

Tesla has been operating its Robotaxi platform in Austin since June 22. The vehicles have been operated without a driver, but Tesla has placed safety monitors in the passenger’s seat as a precaution.

The safety monitors are responsible for performing any necessary interventions and maintaining a safe and comfortable cabin for riders as they experience Tesla’s first venture into the driverless ride-sharing space.

Last week, Tesla expanded its service area in Austin for the third time, expanding it from about 90 square miles to 170 square miles. The expansion included new territory, including the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas, and several freeways.

Tesla Robotaxi geofence expansion enters Plaid Mode and includes a surprise

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The freeway is an area that is uncharted territory for the Tesla Robotaxi program, and this fact alone encouraged Tesla to switch up its safety monitor positioning for the time being.

For now, they will be riding in the driver’s seat when routes require freeway travel:

The positioning of the driver, as well as the driver’s hands being closer to the steering wheel, is more similar to what Tesla is doing in the Bay Area Robotaxi program than it is to what it has done in Austin.

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This is sure to draw criticism from skeptics, but it is simply a step to keep things controlled and safe while the first Robotaxi drives take passengers on the highway with this version of the Full Self-Driving software.

This FSD version differs from the one that customers have in their own vehicles, but CEO Elon Musk has indicated something big is coming soon. FSD v14 is coming to vehicles in the near future, and Musk has said its performance is pretty incredible.

Tesla’s Elon Musk shares optimistic teaser about FSD V14: “Feels sentient”

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Tesla has best month ever in Turkey with drastic spike in sales

Tesla managed to sell 8,730 Model Y vehicles in Turkey, outpacing almost every competitor by a substantial margin. Only one brand sold better than Tesla in August in Turkey, and it was Renault.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla had its best monthly performance ever in Turkey in August, thanks to a drastic spike in sales.

Tesla saw an 86 percent bump in sales of the new Model Y in Turkey in August compared to July, dominating the market.

The performance was one of Tesla’s best in the market, and the company’s sales for the month accounted for half of all EV sales in Turkey for August, as it dominated and led BYD, which was the second-best-selling brand with just 1,639 units sold.

Tesla managed to sell 8,730 Model Y vehicles in Turkey, outpacing almost every competitor by a substantial margin. Only one brand sold better than Tesla in August in Turkey, and it was Renault.

Electric vehicles are, in some ways, more desirable than their gas counterparts in Turkey for several reasons. Most of the reasoning is financial.

First, EVs are subject to a lower Special Consumption Tax in Turkey. EVs can range from 25 percent to up to 170 percent, but this is less than the 70 to 220 percent rate that gas-powered vehicles can face. The tax is dependent on engine size.

Elon Musk courted to build a Tesla factory in Turkey

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Additionally, EVs are exempt from the annual Motor Vehicle Tax for the first ten years, providing consumers with a long-term ownership advantage. There are also credits that can amount to $30,000 in breaks, which makes them more accessible and brings down the cost of ownership.

Let’s not forget the other advantages that are felt regardless of country: cheaper fuel costs, reduced maintenance, and improved performance.

The base Model Y is the only configuration available in Turkey currently.

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Tesla is upgrading airbag safety through a crazy software update

“This upgrade builds upon your vehicle’s superior crash protection by now using Tesla Vision to help offer some of the most cutting-edge airbag performance in the event of a frontal crash.”

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla is upgrading airbag safety through a crazy software update, which will utilize the company’s vision-first approach to enable better protection in the event of an accident.

Over the years, Tesla has gained an incredible reputation for prioritizing safety in its vehicles, with crash test ratings at the forefront of its engineers’ minds.

This has led to Tesla gaining numerous five-star safety ratings and awards related to safety. It is not just a statistical thing, either. In the real world, we’ve seen Teslas demonstrate some impressive examples of crash safety.

Everything from that glass roof not caving in when a tree falls on it to a Model Y surviving a drive off a cliff has been recorded.

However, Tesla is always looking to improve safety, and unlike most companies, it does not need a physical hardware update to do so. It can enhance features such as crash response and airbag performance through Over-the-Air software updates, which download automatically to the vehicle.

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In Tesla’s 2025.32 Software Update, the company is rolling out a Frontal Airbag System Enhancement, which aims to use Tesla Vision, the company’s camera-based approach to self-driving, to keep occupants safe.

The release notes state (via NotaTeslaApp):

“This upgrade builds upon your vehicle’s superior crash protection by now using Tesla Vision to help offer some of the most cutting-edge airbag performance in the event of a frontal crash. Building on top of regulatory and industry crash testing, this release enables front airbags to begin to inflate and restrain occupants earlier, in a way that only Tesla’s integrated systems are capable of doing, making your car safer over time.”

The use of cameras to predict a better time to restrain occupants with seatbelts and inflate airbags prior to a collision is a fantastic way to prevent injuries and limit harm done to those in the vehicle.

The feature is currently limited to the Model Y.

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