#Tesla

This will come as no surprise to anyone, but Tesla is yet again changing its prices, though this time it’s on a less-than-week-old vehicle. The Model 3 Performance, which only went on sale last week, has already received a $1,000 price bump, making it $53,990 to start.

Late last year, Tesla recalled two million vehicles to add more driver monitoring safeguards to its Autopilot feature, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is worried it might not have done enough. The NHTSA recently announced that it was opening an investigation into the recall after crashes involving “fixed” vehicles and its early testing on the issue.

Ford hasn’t had the best luck with profitability on its electric vehicle business, but the automaker is not shying away from aiming at the cheaper end of the EV spectrum. CEO Jim Farley recently confirmed that the company would purse sub-$30,000 electric models with its next-generation product line, and said that its existing models would become better in the meantime.

Following Tesla has always been a whiplash-inducing experience. The will they, won’t they themes continue in 2024, as the automaker recently reversed its reported decision to nix affordable EV plans, though the flip appears related to less-than-stellar first-quarter performance.

Electric-only automakers are going through it right now. Tesla recently laid off 10,000 workers after posting disappointing first-quarter sales numbers, and now Rivian is slashing another one percent of its workforce after layoffs earlier this year.

Remember the Toyota stuck accelerator fiasco? Pepperidge Farm remembers. It’s now Tesla’s turn, as the automaker recently issued a stop-sale for an issue with the Cybertruck’s accelerator pedal. Though unconfirmed, the move could be related to a recent TikTok video from an owner, in which the Cybertruck owner demonstrated that his Tesla’s accelerator pedal cover could come loose and cause it to stick in the open position.

Following a nine-week hold on F-150 Lightning allocations to dealers, Ford has announced it will be resuming shipments. Meanwhile, Tesla reportedly delayed Cybertruck deliveries. The rumor is that it needed to address some quality concerns. But the reasons assumed vary and the company hasn’t said anything about the issue, and likely won’t since it disbanded its PR department years ago. However, this may not be the victory for Blue Oval that it appears.

Things are getting a little bumpy at Tesla. The automaker’s first-quarter delivery numbers raised eyebrows, undercutting even the most critical expectations by a notable margin. Now, rumors are swirling about Tesla’s employee base, with some telling Electrek that the automaker plans to cut as much as 10 percent of its workforce in what would amount to thousands of layoffs.

Last week, reports surfaced that Tesla had canceled its affordable car project as CEO Elon Musk pivoted to focus on autonomous taxis. Though he called the reports fake news, Musk is pressing ahead with his plan to develop Robotaxis, but said the company would reveal the taxi project on August 8.

Affordable EVs seem to be a nut that no automaker can crack, as every promise of a “sub-$30,000” model or similar has fallen through in favor of higher prices. It now seems that Tesla is following suit, despite repeated promises that it would develop a mass-market EV at a reasonable price. Earlier today, Reuters reported that the automaker had ditched its efforts to develop the car and would look instead at developing autonomous taxis on the platform that would have underpinned it.

Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) tech might be under scrutiny from several angles, but the automaker is pushing forward with a plan to bring the system out of beta and into the mainstream. The latest FSD release, version 12, included a name change for the feature, from Full Self-Driving Beta to Full Self-Driving (Supervised), but Tesla’s lack of a public relations department means we don’t have much to go on outside of the name.

Tesla has long faced questions about the driver monitoring systems it employs to keep people in line when using its advanced assistance systems. Despite that, CEO Elon Musk has mandated that all new Tesla models come with a Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta demo, seemingly ignoring the scrutiny in favor of selling more services to customers.

The world does not need another way for Tesla superfans to show their love for the company. Beyond the endless legions of people (or bots) willing to spring into action online anytime someone speaks ill of the company, it has released novelty products, like liquor, to adoring fans. The company is now offering another way to show Tesla love. Head designer Franz von Holzhausen recently tweeted images of the CyberHammer, an actual sledgehammer available through Tesla’s referral program as a reward.

Almost all of us have made a boneheaded purchase or three in our lives. But few are notable as the debacle at Hertz, a company which most gearheads know decided to buy tens of thousands of electric vehicles only to bin them at severely subvented prices. Now, the CEO is stepping down from his role.