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Tesla launches first V3 Superchargers in Singapore ahead of initial deliveries

Credit: Christopher Bousigues | LinkedIn

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Tesla has launched its first V3 Superchargers in Singapore as the automaker prepares for initial deliveries in the country.

As Tesla has expanded its vehicle deliveries and production to other regions outside of the United States, the company has also increased its footprint for its charging infrastructure. Fitting for the world’s largest electric car company, Tesla also has the largest EV charging infrastructure with over 25,000 locations worldwide.

Now, Tesla has opened its first V3 Supercharger in Singapore, preparing for the first deliveries of its vehicles in the country.

Tesla Supercharger in Singapore. (Credit: Christopher Bousigues | LinkedIn)

The announcement was made by Christopher Bousigues, Tesla’s Country Manager for Singapore. Bousigues made the announcement on his LinkedIn.

“Delighted to announce that ahead of deliveries beginning soon in Singapore, we have launched the first Tesla V3 Supercharger in South East Asia today,” Bousigues said. “We want to thank LTA and Minister S Iswaran for their support in launching the Sandbox program as part of the mission of accelerating the world, and Singapore’s, transition to sustainable energy.”

The Supercharger is located at Orchard Central, a massive shopping mall in Singapore. The charging points are located on the ninth level of the facility.

According to a report from Singapore media outlet The Straits Times, Tesla has three V3 Superchargers installed at the location. More will be installed in the coming months, the report added.

Singapore Transport Minister S. Iswaran commented on the installation of the V3 Superchargers from Tesla, indicating that a regulatory process approved the EV chargers from the Land Transport Authority (LTA). Additionally, the Transport Minister added that the LTA is attempting to have companies submit applications for EV charger installations through the Electric Vehicle Common Charger Grant (ECCG). The applications are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

“As non-landed private residences (NLPRs) form a significant proportion of residences in Singapore, improving charger provision is an important step towards improving the coverage of Singapore’s national EV charging network,” the LTA said in a statement. “Earlier this year at the 2021 Committee of Supply debates, the Government had announced a target to deploy 60,000 EV charging points over the next decade, of which 20,000 will be in private premises such as NLPRs, and 40,000 in public car parks.”

Tesla’s V3 Superchargers are the company’s fastest EV charging stations. When initially launched, the Superchargers had an output of 250 kW, allowing up to 1,000 miles of range to be added to a vehicle in an hour. However, CEO Elon Musk recently announced that Tesla would be increasing the output to 300 kW, increasing the charging speed even more. This rate significantly decreases the typical amount of time spent at a Supercharger.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with tips! Email us at tips@teslarati.com, or you can email me directly at joey@teslarati.com.

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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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Tesla starts removing outright Full Self-Driving purchase option at time of order

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla has chosen to axe the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright from a select group of cars just days after CEO Elon Musk announced the company had plans to eliminate that option in February.

The company is making a clear-cut stand that it will fully transition away from the ability to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, a move that has brought differing opinions throughout the Tesla community.

Earlier this week, the company also announced that it will no longer allow buyers to purchase Full Self-Driving outright when ordering a pre-owned vehicle from inventory. Instead, that will be available for $99 per month, the same price that it costs for everyone else.

The ability to buy the suite for $8,000 for a one-time fee at the time of order has been removed:

This is a major move because it is the first time Tesla is eliminating the ability to purchase FSD outright for one flat fee to any of its vehicles, at least at the time of purchase.

It is trying to phase out the outright purchase option as much as it can, preparing people for the subscription-based service it will exclusively offer starting on February 14.

In less than a month, it won’t be available on any vehicle, which has truly driven some serious conversation from Tesla owners throughout the community.

There’s a conflict, because many believe that they will now lose the ability to buy FSD and not pay for it monthly, which is an attractive offer. However, others believe, despite paying $8,000 for FSD, that they will have to pay more money on top of that cost to get the unsupervised suite.

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Additionally, CEO Elon Musk said that the FSD suite’s subscription price would increase over time as capabilities increase, which is understandable, but is also quite a conflict for those who spent thousands to have what was once promised to them, and now they may have to pay even more money.

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Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature not available on typical Model Ys

These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.

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Credit: David Moss | X

Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature that is not available on typical Model Ys that people like you and me bring home after we buy them. The feature is something that many have been wanting for years, especially after the company adopted a vision-only approach to self-driving.

After Tesla launched driverless Robotaxi rides to the public earlier this week in Austin, people have been traveling to the Lone Star State in an effort to hopefully snag a ride from one of the few vehicles in the fleet that are now no longer required to have Safety Monitors present.

BREAKING: Tesla launches public Robotaxi rides in Austin with no Safety Monitor

Although only a few of those completely driverless rides are available, there have been some new things seen on these cars that are additions from regular Model Ys, including the presence of one new feature: camera washers.

With the Model Y, there has been a front camera washer, but the other exterior “eyes” have been void of any solution for this. For now, owners are required to clean them manually.

In Austin, Tesla is doing things differently. It is now utilizing camera washers on the side repeater and rear bumper cameras, which will keep the cameras clean and keep operation as smooth and as uninterrupted as possible:

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These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.

This is the first time we are seeing them, so it seems as if Safety Monitors might have been responsible for keeping the lenses clean and unobstructed previously.

However, as Tesla transitions to a fully autonomous self-driving suite and Robotaxi expands to more vehicles in the Robotaxi fleet, it needed to find a way to clean the cameras without any manual intervention, at least for a short period, until they can return for interior and exterior washing.

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Tesla makes big Full Self-Driving change to reflect future plans

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tesla interior operating on full self driving
Credit: TESLARATI

Tesla made a dramatic change to the Online Design Studio to show its plans for Full Self-Driving, a major part of the company’s plans moving forward, as CEO Elon Musk has been extremely clear on the direction moving forward.

With Tesla taking a stand and removing the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright next month, it is already taking steps to initiate that with owners and potential buyers.

On Thursday night, the company updated its Online Design Studio to reflect that in a new move that now lists the three purchase options that are currently available: Monthly Subscription, One-Time Purchase, or Add Later:

This change replaces the former option for purchasing Full Self-Driving at the time of purchase, which was a simple and single box to purchase the suite outright. Subscriptions were activated through the vehicle exclusively.

However, with Musk announcing that Tesla would soon remove the outright purchase option, it is clearer than ever that the Subscription plan is where the company is headed.

The removal of the outright purchase option has been a polarizing topic among the Tesla community, especially considering that there are many people who are concerned about potential price increases or have been saving to purchase it for $8,000.

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This would bring an end to the ability to pay for it once and never have to pay for it again. With the Subscription strategy, things are definitely going to change, and if people are paying for their cars monthly, it will essentially add $100 per month to their payment, pricing some people out. The price will increase as well, as Musk said on Thursday, as it improves in functionality.

Those skeptics have grown concerned that this will actually lower the take rate of Full Self-Driving. While it is understandable that FSD would increase in price as the capabilities improve, there are arguments for a tiered system that would allow owners to pay for features that they appreciate and can afford, which would help with data accumulation for the company.

Musk’s new compensation package also would require Tesla to have 10 million active FSD subscriptions, but people are not sure if this will move the needle in the correct direction. If Tesla can potentially offer a cheaper alternative that is not quite unsupervised, things could improve in terms of the number of owners who pay for it.

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