Category Archives: Tesla

‘Watershed moment’ for Tesla as Elon Musk’s visit to China reaps quick reward

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Deal to use mapping data from web search giant Baidu is a big step towards launching driver assistance tech in world’s biggest car market

Elon Musk’s visit to China has reportedly reaped immediate rewards with a deal for Tesla to use mapping data provided by web search company Baidu, a big step in introducing driver assistance technology in the world’s largest car market.

Musk made an unannounced visit to China over the weekend. The billionaire posted a picture of his meeting with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, on X, the social network he took over in 2022.

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Elon Musk makes unannounced visit to China

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Tesla boss reportedly meets Premier Li Qiang in visit aimed at sealing rollout of Autopilot software and transferring data overseas

The Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, arrived on an unannounced visit to Beijing on Sunday where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of full self-driving software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Chinese state media reported that he held talks with the country’s premier, Li Qiang, during which Li told Musk that Tesla’s development in China could be seen as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation.

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Tesla Autopilot feature was involved in 13 fatal crashes, US regulator says

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Federal transportation agency finds Tesla’s claims about feature don’t match their findings and opens second investigation

US auto-safety regulators said on Friday that their investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot had identified at least 13 fatal crashes in which the feature had been involved. The investigation also found the electric carmaker’s claims did not match up with reality.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) disclosed on Friday that during its three-year Autopilot safety investigation, which it launched in August 2021, it identified at least 13 Tesla crashes involving one or more death, and many more involving serious injuries, in which “foreseeable driver misuse of the system played an apparent role”.

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Elon Musk postpones India trip, citing ‘heavy obligations’ at Tesla

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CEO was due to meet Narendra Modi but carmaker is likely to report worst performance in seven years

Elon Musk has postponed a trip to India, including a planned meeting with the prime minister, Narendra Modi, after citing “very heavy obligations” at Tesla.

The Tesla chief executive was due to visit on 21 April and 22 April, where he was expected to announce an investment of $2-3bn in the country, according to Reuters, with the spending plans focused on building a new plant in India.

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Tesla settles lawsuit over 2018 fatal Autopilot crash of Apple engineer

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Walter Huang was killed when his car steered in to a highway barrier and Tesla will avoid questions into its technology in a trial

Tesla has settled a lawsuit over a car crash which killed an Apple engineer in 2018 after his car veered off a highway near San Francisco, court documents showed on Monday.

The settlement was made as the trial was about to start over the high-profile accident involving Tesla’s driver assistant technology, ending a five-year legal battle over the case.

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Tesla accuses Australian car lobby group of making ‘false claims’ about Labor’s vehicle emissions plan

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Exclusive: Electric car company says Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries is running a ‘concerted public campaign’ by suggesting plan would push up price of popular cars

Tesla has launched a scathing attack on Australia’s main auto industry lobby group, accusing it of attempting to delay climate action by repeatedly making “plainly false” claims to the public about an Albanese government clean car policy.

In a submission to the government about the design of a vehicle efficiency standard, Tesla sharply criticised the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), an organisation in which it holds a board seat and is an active member.

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Elon Musk makes ‘things good’ with California bakery after $2,000 pie fiasco

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Tesla had ditched an order for 4,000 mini pies, but the X owner paid the debt after the incident received attention

A California bakery that claimed Tesla did not pay an order worth thousands of dollars said the outstanding bill has been settled, after billionaire Elon Musk promised to “make things good” following press coverage of the incident.

Musk’s company Tesla had ditched an order for 4,000 mini pies from Giving Pies, a Black-owned bakery in San Jose, in central California, bakery owner Voahangy Rasetarinera said on the cafe’s Instagram account five days ago.

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Tesla delivers underwhelming earnings despite Cybertruck launch and high vehicle deliveries

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Electric vehicle manufacturer’s earnings in the fourth quarter of 2023 missed analyst expectations

Despite putting a new vehicle on the market, announcing another for 2025 and beating Wall Street’s expectations for vehicle deliveries, Tesla was not able to shake off its disappointing third quarter.

The electric vehicle manufacturer brought in $25.1bn in revenue and posted $.71 in earnings a share in the fourth quarter of 2023, missing analyst expectations of 25.76bn in revenue and $0.74 earnings a share. The company’s fourth quarter revenue increased 3% year over year from $24.3bn in 2022.

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Tesla pauses German production after Red Sea shipping attacks

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Delays in delivery of parts result in suspension of manufacturing at factory near Berlin for two weeks

The electric car manufacturer Tesla is to halt most production at its factory near Berlin for two weeks because of delays in deliveries of parts because of attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Shipping delays in the Red Sea, caused by attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi militants, has caused Tesla to suspend most production at its German factory from 29 January to 11 February.

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China’s BYD overtakes Tesla as top-selling electric car seller

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Build Your Dreams outsells rival in final quarter of 2023 figures for battery-only vehicles

Elon Musk’s Tesla has been overtaken by its Chinese rival, BYD, as the world’s top selling electric carmaker.

BYD, which has been backed by the US investment billionaire Warren Buffett since 2008, has beaten Tesla’s production for a second consecutive year.

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Tesla loses legal action in Sweden as dispute with Nordic unions escalates

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Court decides postal service does not have to deliver licence plates, for now, in latest twist in row over collective bargaining

Tesla has lost a legal action against Sweden’s postal service as a dispute with Nordic trade unions escalates.

A Swedish court said on Thursday that PostNord did not, for the time being, need to deliver licence plates to the electric carmaker that were being blocked by the postal service’s workers, in the latest twist in a battle over collective bargaining agreements.

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UAW launches push to organize at Tesla and other non-union car makers

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Union drive will cover nearly 150,000 workers at factories largely in US south

Less than two weeks after ratifying new contracts with Detroit automakers, the United Auto Workers union announced plans on Wednesday to try to organize workers simultaneously at more than a dozen non-union auto factories.

The UAW says the drive will cover nearly 150,000 workers at factories largely in the south, where the union has had little success in recruiting new members.

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Tesla sues Sweden’s transport agency in escalation of strike row

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US carmaker claims ‘discriminatory attack’ after industrial action stops new cars receiving Swedish plates

Tesla is suing the Swedish transport agency, accusing it of a “discriminatory attack” on the US electric carmaker, after strike action prevented its new vehicles from getting licence plates in Sweden.

The lawsuit is an escalation in a row that started between the car company and the union representing Swedish Telsa workers, who are calling for collective bargaining rights and have been on strike for five weeks.

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Toyota sales chief says EVs ‘impractical’ for Australian drivers as Tesla retaliates against ‘cynical’ attack

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Sean Hanley says hybrid vehicles are ‘better fit’ in Australia but Electric Vehicle Council says brand’s comments could undermine lithium industry

Australia’s most popular car brand, Toyota, has launched a stinging attack on electric vehicles claiming they are not ready for our roads, not as green as they seem and remain “impractical for the vast majority of Australian motorists”.

But Australia’s most popular electric car brand and industry groups claim the argument is a “cynical” attack by a company “too slow off the mark” and at risk of losing the future automotive race.

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Tesla trial begins over whether ‘experimental’ autopilot caused driver’s death

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Lawsuit claims company knowingly sold defective car that led to Micah Lee’s 2019 death while Tesla blames ‘classic human error’

The lawyer representing victims of a fatal Tesla crash blamed the company’s autopilot driver assistant system, saying that “a car company should never sell consumers experimental vehicles,” in the opening statement of a California trial on Thursday.

The case stems from a civil lawsuit alleging that the autopilot system caused the owner of a Tesla Model 3 car, Micah Lee, to suddenly veer off a highway east of Los Angeles at 65 mph (105 kph), where his car struck a palm tree and burst into flames.

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Tesla investigated over funds ‘used to build secret Austin house for Elon Musk’

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Reports suggest plans for ‘Project 42’ included a glass structure that contained a residential element for the chief executive

US prosecutors are investigating Tesla over alleged use of company funds for a secret project described internally as a house for Elon Musk, the electric carmaker’s chief executive.

Information sought from Tesla by the US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York includes personal benefits paid to Musk, how much was spent on the project and its purpose, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Tesla beats Wall Street expectations to produce record number of vehicles

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Report comes amid concerns Elon Musk, who owns SpaceX, Neuralink and Twitter, is spread too thin

Tesla narrowly beat Wall Street expectations in the second quarter of 2023, but shares began to fall in after hours trading following an earnings call that offered shareholders little reassurance surrounding Tesla’s promised Cybertruck release and other production concerns.

Revenue for the quarter topped $24.97bn compared to analyst predictions of $24.7 bn.

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Tesla directors agree to return $735m to settle claims they were grossly overpaid

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Shareholders sued the directors over stock option awards in 2017, accusing them of unfair and excessive compensation

Tesla Inc’s directors will return $735m to the company to settle claims they grossly overpaid themselves in one of the largest shareholder settlements of its kind, according to a Monday filing in a Delaware court.

The settlement resolves a 2020 lawsuit by a retirement fund which holds Tesla stock and challenged stock options that were granted to Tesla directors starting in June 2017.

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Fast-growing BYD launches Dolphin EV, Australia’s cheapest electric car. Here’s how it compares

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Latest vehicle from Build Your Dreams, which in less than a year has become the counry’s second-biggest electric vehicle seller, has a starting price of $38,890

Many Australians haven’t heard of BYD, the Chinese brand now selling the country’s cheapest new electric car.

BYD, or Build Your Dreams, is the biggest threat to Tesla globally and has garnered a cult-like following that’s translating to sales success locally.

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Mercedes-Benz beats Tesla for approval of automated driving tech in California

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German carmaker becomes first to gain permit for offering self-driving cars in California, but with strict conditions

The California department of motor vehicles has approved Mercedes-Benz’s automated driving system on designated highways under certain conditions without the active control of a driver.

California is one of Tesla’s largest markets, accounting for 16% of the carmaker’s global deliveries last year, according to Reuters calculations.

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