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What to expect from Faraday Future’s Reveal Event on Jan. 3 at CES 2017

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Details for Faraday Future’s upcoming Reveal Event slated for January 3, on press day ahead of the public opening of CES 2017, are being made available by the company. The event will be held at The Pavilions located at the World Market Center: a semi-open convention space in Las Vegas that’s frequently used for trade shows and special events.

The Reveal Event will be live streamed from Faraday’s website beginning promptly at 6:00pm PST, but event attendees will be allowed entrance into the venue beginning at 5:00pm. Invited guests are asked to arrive early and provide sufficient time for parking and event registration. Self-parking is available in the lot between the main World Market Center building and The Pavilions, however Valet service will also be provided at the main entrance to the event.

Here’s a map of the venue.

We know that cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served before the event, but no additional details have been provided by Faraday Future. Based on past event photos obtained from the organizer assisting Faraday with their much anticipated Jan. 3 unveiling, it’s presumed that a stage will be set up along the tented space where the company will showcase a video presentation of its vision for the future, consisting of a subscription-based model for a range of vehicle types. A main center bar will also be made available within the covered space.

Guests of the event were asked to dress in business attire.

 

Faraday Future’s Reveal Event will also have an outdoor area where the company will demonstrate the capabilities of its fleet of vehicles on a closed course. Sources have told us that Faraday will present multiple vehicles that demonstrates the versatility of the company’s Variable Platform Architecture (VPA) which includes a long range and high performance version – the same vehicle seen beating Tesla’s flagship Model S P100D in a drag race – and a self-driving prototype that can be hailed via a mobile app.

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A teaser video released by Faraday Future on social media reveals that there is, in fact, several vehicle variations under wraps. All vehicles appear to have a Tesla-like dual camera set up mounted on the upper portion of the front windshield further validating that the vehicles will have some form of vision capability commonly used for autonomous driving. The lead vehicle in the photo below is seen with a LiDAR mounted on top, while the trailing vehicle replaces the traditional side mirror with a camera.

Here’s the teaser video provided by Faraday Future showing quick glimpses of its fleet of vehicles from the company’s Southern California-based headquarters. Faraday has not confirmed that all vehicles seen within the video will be unveiled at CES 2017, but we think it’s likely that the company will showcase the entire fleet on January 3.

We’ll be providing exclusive photos and a behind the scenes look from Faraday Future’s Reveal Event on our Facebook page. Be sure to Like us to see a first-person perspective on what might be taking place at this mysterious electric vehicle startup, directly on your feed.

 
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Gene has been obsessed with cars since before he could legally sit in the front seat. Writer, researcher, unofficial CS support, accountant, native suit guy when needed, and overall stick poker. He approaches every story the way he approaches a road trip: with too much enthusiasm, not enough planning, and a surprisingly good outcome. gene@teslarati.com

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Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has launched a new Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y vehicles in the United States, meaning you can now power devices like laptops or light strings with your vehicle’s battery.

It appears the capability will be available for any Model Y Premium trim, including those that were purchased prior to the Adapter being launched. It will also only impact Juniper Model Y vehicles, so the first-gen owners will unfortunately not have access to this capability.

If your Model Y was purchased before Tesla renamed the trim levels to “Premium” and “Standard,” it does not seem to be compatible. My Model Y is technically a Premium build, as it is the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive. However, Tesla says it is not compatible with my vehicle.

For $80, you can now utilize your car as a portable charger for small appliances or devices. This is perfect for things like tailgates, concerts, or camping, as you can now plug in devices that you might use. Those string lights for camping? That laptop for the other games that are on at the tailgate?

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They’ll both utilize energy from your Tesla’s battery to be powered. This is the first time Tesla has expanded the capability to vehicles outside of the Model Y Performance and Cybertruck. However, this feature has been highly requested by owners for an extended period of time.

Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter in China last year:

Tesla China rolls out Model Y L V2L adapter, and it’s free for early owners

You will need the Mobile Connector to operate the Outlet Adapter: the Outlet Adapter will plug into the main housing of the Mobile Connector, where the appropriate adapter to charge your vehicle will plug in.

It is rated for 120 volts and 20 amps, and has a max power rating of 2.4kW.

You can buy it here from Tesla for $80.

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Tesla Roadster unveiling nears, and it will fly: The Information

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(Credit: Dami Kolz/Twitter)

Tesla is nearing its long-awaited unveiling of the all-electric Tesla Roadster, a new report from The Information claims, as the company has said several times this year that the event would take place “soon.”

Now, it appears there is movement on Tesla’s end regarding when it will happen.

The report says that Tesla will unveil the Roadster as soon as this month with a SpaceX version that will utilize cold-gas thrusters to help the vehicle float for a short period of time. This is something CEO Elon Musk has talked about with the Roadster for years.

Additionally, due to the delays, Tesla explored “a variety of designs” for the Roadster, potentially planning to abandon the design it showed off for the first time in 2017 and adopting an entirely new aesthetic.

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According to The Information, Tesla considered utilizing a repurposed Model S Plaid and even wanted to upgrade the look to something like a Lamborghini Countach.

Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again

We’ve heard all of these things before, including teases about the date and how “soon” the Roadster will finally be ready to be shown off to the world (for the second time). Musk said that the event would occur in April, then May, then Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen continued to say it would be coming “soon.”

We do expect to see the Roadster by the end of the year, and now with this new report swirling, it appears it could be sooner rather than later.

The wait has been incredibly long, but there is likely a good reason for it. Tesla’s desire to make the Roadster the craziest vehicle on the road was non-negotiable, and it likely took a lot of time and resources to develop and perfect into something that was safe and suitable for a vehicle like this.

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Tesla finally got its Nevada Robotaxi Permit but with a few catches hard to miss

Nevada granted Tesla’s robotaxi permit, but capped the fleet at just ten vehicles for now.

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Concept art of a Tesla Cybercab in Las Vegas Strip as rendered via Grok

Tesla has received its robotaxi permit in Nevada, more than two months after regulators closed the public comment period on the company’s application. News of the approval surfaced Wednesday night when Tesla investor and longtime company watcher Sawyer Merritt posted a copy of the interim order, and the Nevada Transportation Authority’s own carrier registry now lists the permit, AVNC Permit 002 under Docket 26-05015, as active for Tesla Robotaxi, LLC.

Tesla asked Nevada in June for authority to run up to 5,000 vehicles in Clark County within a year, however the permit the NTA issued is initially capping Tesla at ten fully autonomous vehicles and confines them to a defined geofence along the Las Vegas Strip corridor. Any expansion of that operating area, or any increase to the fleet size, requires the NTA’s approval first.

The order also sets rules that look more restrictive than what Tesla runs in Austin. Rides are barred on roads with posted speed limits above 45 miles per hour, pickups are off limits within a quarter mile of Harry Reid International Airport without separate authorization, and every vehicle has to carry visible “Robotaxi” markings while notifying riders before each trip that no one is driving. The order also requires “appropriate human supervision”, language that suggests Nevada isn’t ready to let Tesla offer the rides without a safety monitor that it has run in parts of Austin since January. As with standard protocol with robotaxi services, Tesla must report any accident, system failure, or vehicle that becomes stranded on a Nevada road within five business days.

Tesla is entering a market Nevada already knows well. Zoox, the Amazon owned robotaxi company, has run its own autonomous vehicle permit in the state since last year, building up to roughly 100 vehicles and 350,000 rides along the Strip. That history likely explains why the NTA started Tesla at ten cars rather than the fleet size the company asked for. The agency has a template for scaling a permit up once a company proves out its safety record.

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Tesla’s Nevada application first surfaced in June, when the company filed for the permit alongside plans for a maintenance hub in southwest Las Vegas. The company has said it won’t meaningfully scale its robotaxi fleet anywhere until FSD v15 ships, expected in late 2026 or early 2027, which makes the ten vehicle cap less of a constraint today than it might look on paper. For now, Tesla has the legal right to start Nevada rides. Whether it starts before FSD v15 arrives is a separate question the permit doesn’t answer.

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