Let's See If They Can Get The Kinks Worked Out

Here’s What Happened With The Tesla Model S Race Car That Got Too Hot After Five Miles On An F1 Track

While the production Model S is a great track car for about a lap before it needs to cool off, too, the series spokesperson told Jalopnik there was more to it than routine overheating. The spokesperson said this was the first full day of testing at race speeds, and the car had been out all day in the heat before Needell got in.

The engineers also later found sensor issues that let the battery get hotter than it should have, the spokesperson told Jalopnik.

“The team spotted an accidental disconnection of one of the outdoor temperature sensors from the air conditioning system, which caused the air conditioning system to not send cold air to the battery and other systems when needed,” the spokesperson said. “There is always a limit if the power is used indiscriminately, but the resistance threshold is much higher if the air conditioning system had worked correctly. The team has now fixed that.”

The spokesperson also said the technical team confirmed that the car will be able to run the race distances, but at a more manageable pace—around 470 HP will be what the cars can maintain throughout the race, with the full 778 HP available for things like overtaking. The spokesperson said each driver will have “full control” over when they decide to use the car’s full power, and that it’ll be “part of the strategy and part of the show.”

We’ll get to see how that show plays out soon enough, since the first 10-race season for the international series is scheduled to start in November.

(Jalopnik.com)

So Does That Make Them Frenemies?

Hacker And Nerd God, Apple's Steve Wozniak Slams Tesla's Elon Musk — And There's A BONUS Surprise . . . . .

Although Steve Jobs gets the lion's share of the credit for Apple's success — and he should given how he turned the company around then released several game changing products — there's also a more unsung hero. To the hacking community and computing nerds like myself, Steve Wozniak is a god. 

That's because he has the hacker's ethos and is the real deal behind Apple's start.

So, when Wozniak speaks it doesn't hurt to listen now and again. And, boy, he recently let it rip when asked about Tesla and, more specifically, the company's leader, Elon Musk. 

See the excerpt below from Business Insider:

. . . . . Wozniak's trust was dented.

"I believed that stuff," he said. "Now I don't believe anything Elon Musk or Tesla says, but I still love the car..."

. . . . ."All Tesla says is, 'It's beta, so we're not responsible — you have to be in control,'" Wozniak said. "So that's kind of a cheap way out of it. Everything I've read told me that every other car manufacturer in the world — Audi and BMW — are actually ahead of Tesla for self-driving cars . . . . ."

 

So, here comes the bonus to this story. According to Woz, while he says he still loves the Tesla he owns, he admits that he typically chooses to use his Chevrolet Bolt unless he's going on a longer drive to Kansas or Yellowstone. 

(AutoSpies.com)

$40 For A Car Wash But No Detail? F* That!

Tesla may offer $40 car washes at Superchargers 

Bay Area car-wash company says its products can clean a car with just one cup of water.

If any Tesla Model S owners raise an eyebrow over paying $40 for a car wash at a Supercharger station, they shouldn't fret: Model X owners may have to pay $45 for the same service. The pricey clean could come from Eco Green Auto Clean which, like Tesla, is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and is pushes environmental sustainability. The company might have a pilot program in the works to wash Teslas at a Supercharger station in the electric vehicle maker's home city of Fremont, California, according to Electrek.

(AutoBlog.com)

As The Song Goes, "With My Business Please Don't Mess."

Samsung shares take $580M dive after one Elon Musk Tweet 

Samsung will supply cells for Tesla Energy, not EVs.

As we noted yesterday, Samsung is focusing on batteries for electric vehicles. There were even rumors that Samsung was going to be making batteries for Tesla. Turns out, this wasn't true, as one devastating Tweet from Elon Musk made clear.

Why was this devastating? Well, Samsung shares dropped eight percent - or $580 million in total value - after the Tweet went out. Tesla has long used Panasonic cells in its electric vehicles (but the Panasonic partnership was not exclusive), and is partnering with the battery company on the upcoming Gigafactory. As you might suspect, the value of Panasonic shares went up about three percent after the Tweet.

So, what prompted the rumors that Samsung would be making cells for Tesla EVs? Mostly, the stories that Tesla and Samsung are working together. The stories are true, it seems, but it appears that the cells are for Tesla's home energy business, according to Automotive News.

(AutoBlog.com)

Note: Your Car's ECU Is A Data Recorder

Tesla rejects driver's claim of unintended acceleration in Model X 

Remember, Tesla vehicles track what happens.

Recently, a Tesla Model X owner who goes by Puzant posted to the Tesla Motors Forum that his 5-day-old Model X accelerated on its own and crashed into a building. The incident happened while the "car was being driven and slowly being parked" before it just accelerated into the wall. There were some minor injuries to passengers, as well as damage to the car and the building.

But the bigger story, as is so often the case, is what happened online after Puzant shared the story and pictures. Some in the Tesla Motors Forum were skeptical that things played out the way Puzant said it did. And today, Tesla issued the following statement to Electrek about the crash: 

We analyzed the vehicle logs which confirm that this Model X was operating correctly under manual control and was never in Autopilot or cruise control at the time of the incident or in the minutes before. Data shows that the vehicle was traveling at 6 mph when the accelerator pedal was abruptly increased to 100%. Consistent with the driver's actions, the vehicle applied torque and accelerated as instructed. Safety is the top priority at Tesla and we engineer and build our cars with this foremost in mind. We are pleased that the driver is ok and ask our customers to exercise safe behavior when using our vehicles.

(AutoBlog.com)

Why L.A.P.D. Even Needs An EV Fleet Is Beyond Me

LAPD not impressed by ludicrous Tesla Model S police cruisers 

Los Angeles Police Department isn't sold yet on EVs after an initial trial.

After almost a year testing the all-electric Model S, the Los Angeles Police Department isn't quite ready to put in an order. It's not just the cost of the vehicles, but also the fear of being unable to use them in case of a massive power outage that is making the city hesitant to go ahead and have the coolest-looking force in the country. That said, one of the reasons the LAPD is interested in an S in the first place is in the, "high-pursuit-rated vehicle arena," according to CNBC.

(AutoBlog.com)

Hey Tesla, Gull Wing Doors Are Aren't A Functional Feature

Tesla Model X owners finding car doors won't shut, windows won't close 

Tesla Model X owners are suffering from "a series of first-world issues," according to one owner.

But owners of the $138,000 sport utility vehicle – whose many features include falcon-wing doors, a 200-plus-mile battery range and proximity sensors that prevent it from coming into contact with other cars – are being confronted with more immediately irksome issues, including car doors that suddenly won't shut and windows that won't close.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the issue yesterday, spotlighting several Model X owners who've been taken aback by unexpected malfunctions, including one customer whose falcon-wing doors wouldn't open as she prepared to drive her children's carpool to school. "It's a bummer," she told the outlet. "You spent all this money...and the doors won't open."

Consumer Reports also published a lengthy piece yesterday about unhappy customers, including Michael Karpf, a 75-year-old retiree who picked up his Model X from Tesla's Fremont, CA, factory earlier this month, only to be faced with a string of problems with the car. Among them: falcon wing doors that wouldn't close and proximity sensors that failed to sense an overhang, allowing the doors to bang into it. Karpf also said that the huge infotainment screen in his Model X has repeatedly frozen.

(AutoBlog.com)

Does The 'Green' Even Factor Into Purchasing?

SHOCKER? Tesla's Vehicles ARE NOT As Green As You May Think . . . . .

According to a Wired piece that launched before yesterday's Model 3 unveil, Tesla's vehicles aren't as green as the general public may think. This is hardly a surprise to anyone with a brain that's been doing some thinking since electric vehicles became real.

Essentially, the research conducted by Devonshire Research Group shows that the manufacturing process as well as the batteries are not particularly green. No kidding, boys and girls. What it does conclude, however, is while Teslas EVs may not be the end all, be all answer for environmentalists, they are less damaging to the environment that its gasoline-powered competition.

Basically, EVs aren't there yet but they're heading in the right direction.

(AutoSpies.com)

An Interesting Choice For The Lead Character

Yes, there's a children's book starring a mouse and her Tesla Some

Drivers May Have Problems Reaching The Pedals

Get this. There's a book called My Tesla: A Love Story of a Mouse and Her Car, about a mouse who loves an electric car. The book's Amazon page notes that its pages feature a mouse named Maxine who falls in love with a red Tesla Model S after taking it for a test drive. The mouse dreams about the car, and considers it as "magical as a unicorn."

The book's author is Joan C. Gratz, whose entertainment experience (thank you, IMDB) includes work as a longtime animator and director of film shorts such as 2010's Kubla Khan and 1992's Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase. Apparently, Gratz made her own impulse purchase of a Tesla (we should all be so lucky), and was inspired to write a book about the vehicle. It sells on Kindle for $2.99 and in paperback form for $8.10.

(AutoBlog.com)