We spoke to Liu Yang, who has one of the strangest jobs around: to sit in the passenger seat and monitor how self-driving cars cope with Beijing’s streets.
A Tesla software hacker has found an ‘Elon Mode’ driving feature that seems to allow Tesla vehicles with Full Self-Driving to operate without any driver monitoring.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk might have his very own supersecret driver mode that enables hands-free driving in Tesla vehicles.
The hidden feature, aptly named “Elon Mode,” was discovered by a Tesla software hacker known online as @greentheonly. The anonymous hacker has dug deep into the vehicle code for years and uncovered things like how Tesla can lock you out of using your power seats or the center camera in the Model 3 before it was officially activated.
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A fascinating eVTOL project is about to come out of stealth, showcasing a “breakthrough HyperDrive propulsion technology” that MagLev Aero claims is “dramatically more quiet, efficient, safe, sustainable and emotionally appealing to the mass market.”
Representatives from the Boston-based company have made their way to the Paris Air Show, where they’re preparing to reveal a very different approach to electric vertical lift aircraft, drawing on the magnetic levitation technology used in high-speed trains.
What we appear to have here is an annular lift fan arrangement. The aircraft’s cabin appears to be surrounded by a huge ring-shaped duct, into which at least one large-diameter, many-bladed fan is mounted.
Tesla is an interested buyer of a small Germany-based wireless charging startup following the automaker’s indications that it might launch its own EV wireless charger.
Several companies have been working on wireless charging for electric vehicles in recent years, but the technology has never taken off.
There are several issues with it. For example, it’s not as efficient as charging with a cable – though the technology has been closing the gap in recent years. It’s also more expensive, as you generally have to embed a charging pad securely in the ground instead of just mounting a charger on the wall.
Tesla Inc. has something new to boast about. The electric vehicle maker swept the top four spots on Cars.com’s annual ranking of most made-in-America vehicles.
The four Tesla models — in order of how they rank, Tesla Model Y, Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model X and Tesla Model S — are all made at the company’s gigafactory in Fremont. Tesla, which is based in Austin, Texas but has its engineering headquarters in Palo Alto, also manufacturers the models at factories in Texas and Nevada.
Tesla announced it produced 10 million 4,680 battery cells at Gigafactory Texas. It is a good sign for the automaker’s production ramp-up, which relies heavily on the new cell.
The 4,680 battery cell format has taken the industry by storm since Tesla unveiled its own cell strategy at Battery Day in 2020.
The automaker claimed the potential to reduce battery cost by over 50% with the new design; it has been trying to bring it to volume production since, but it has run into some bottlenecks.
Self-driving efforts today focus on particular niches, such as the urban robotaxi, delivery, trucking or freeeway driving. Other than Tesla, most major players don’t have a focus on the general personal robocar — a car which consumers will buy, which will drive them door to door on city streets and most other roads. Tesla is very far behind other teams, and barely counts in the minds of many in the industry, thought it gets the most press. A few startups pursue the full robocar dream, but thinking has changed.
In spite of that perceived dream, that is not what the industry is building, or what it is going to release for some time. It may be some time before you can buy a car for yourself with this ability, not just because it’s hard, but because it’s not where the money is. This has led some people to think that robocars are still very far away, and also to a common perception that the technology is many years behind what people expected. Indeed, some people expected, or at least hoped for, faster timelines, but others did not.
The public has a different perception, in part because of Tesla, but also because of a document written over a decade ago by NHTSA (the federal road safety agency) and now manged by the Society of Automotive Engineers known as “the levels.” This document filled the need for a taxonomy of self-driving, but it was written by non-developers when the technology was immature. As such it’s largely useless and even counterproductive, but people are so hungry for a taxonomy that it still is often referred to. The leading teams (mostly tech companies not auto OEMs) do not use these level or attempt to adhere to them. They are mostly a way to talk about the dwindling role of the human in the operation of a self-driving car, a bit like a document about the role of the horse in the horseless carriage.
Generative AI in supply chains will be able to forecast demand, predict when trucks need maintenance and work out optimal shipping routes, according to analysts.“AI may be able to totally (or nearly) remove all human touchpoints in the supply chain including ‘back office’ tasks,” said Morgan Stanley analysts.
Artificial intelligence is likely… More.
Tesla has released a rare and interesting look at its latest Supercharger monitoring system, which will become an important tool for managing an increasingly valuable asset.
Older Tesla owners will remember the days when the automaker was operating Supercharger monitoring systems on screens at a select few stations.
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