#Tesla

Ever since Tesla boss Elon Musk took over Twitter, he's found himself mired in controversy, often of his own making.

I've been following the Elon Musk Twitter drama relatively closely. In part because I use Twitter on a personal level, in part because TTAC has an official account, in part because of Musk's connection to this industry, and in part because I care about misinformation/disinformation.

Tesla has introduced its Holiday Update which adds a bevy of features to newer versions of the Model S and X – including fresh light show features, Apple Music, an in-cabin camera view (extremely invasive and creepy), and video games from Steam. Though you may want to pull back on any fantasies you might have had about gaming on the go, even if you’re a passenger, because Tesla already got into hot water with the NHTSA for adding similar features in the past and ultimately had to remove some of them.

Many, including the federal government, are concerned that Tesla’s claims of working with Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology aren’t entirely accurate. The automaker’s semi-autonomous feature is still in the beta testing stage, but it uses customers as test subjects, which doesn’t sit well with regulators. Customers are beginning to lose interest, too, especially when they’re told to pay more for features they thought already came with their car. One man sued Tesla in small claims court and won, but the most interesting part of the story is the precedent this could set for other owners. 

Elon Musk, now running Twitter on top of a handful of other companies, may be overloaded but at least recognizes the need for help. Automotive News reported that the Tesla CEO brought a veteran exec from the company’s Shanghai Gigafactory to Austin, where the automaker plans to ramp up Model Y and Cybertruck production.

The transition to EVs is a big deal, not just for automakers but for their dealers. Training, product marketing, and service are all enormous obstacles for dealers to overcome to sell and support electric vehicles effectively. General Motors offered to buy out Buick dealers that weren’t willing to put in the time and, more importantly, money. Ford laid out similar requirements to its dealers, asking for a financial investment of more than $1 million in some cases, and CEO Jim Farley recently touted the program’s success.

A new study shows that a lot of Tesla buyers are coming to the brand from Honda and Toyota.

Elon Musk may have his hands full with whatever he’s doing to Twitter at the moment, but his car company is still developing new (not you, Cybertruck) models. Automotive News reported that Tesla is working on an updated Model 3 sedan, which it hopes will reduce its production costs and give it new charm against newer and less controversial rivals.

Startup electric automakers are facing a series of crises that could cripple them financially and make it hard to grow in any meaningful way in the future. Inflation and incredible jumps in raw materials costs have led companies like Rivian and Lucid to lose staggering sums of money over the last year. 

Tesla said yesterday that it will work with Chinese law enforcement to investigate why a Model Y went out of control in that country earlier this month, killing two people and injuring three more.

Many of us are living in a remote work world now, which means we now sit through endless video meetings instead of piling into boardrooms. Tesla hopes to turn your car into another meeting space, announcing that Zoom would soon come to its EVs’ infotainment systems. 

Tesla boss Elon Musk has sold 19.5 million Tesla shares worth almost $4 billion since he took over Twitter, according to regulatory filings.

We've covered two stories today in which the dealership model comes into play.

Electric-vehicle startup Lucid has sued the state of Texas, saying that the rules around selling cars in the Lone Star state are so restrictive they amount to "economic protectionism."

Tesla is once again claiming a delivery date for the Cybertruck. We're once again rolling our eyes.