Tesla

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How Apple Thrived After Not Buying Tesla

Charlotte Henry ·

A while back, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that he had “reached out to Tim Cook” about buying his company. Obviously, that never happened. A missed opportunity for Apple? Liam Denning, writing for Bloomberg News, doesn’t think so.

Is Cook kicking himself for not buying Tesla when he had the chance? I suspect that, in some well-appointed office deep inside the Apple Park donut, the soft thud of self-kicking is not to be heard. Musk may well have “reached out.” On the other hand, the gossamer-veiled dig at Cook’s apparent short-sightedness contained in the Tesla CEO’s tweet suggests this may be more about taking the shine off Apple’s rumored vehicle ambitions. Musk has been known to lash out on Twitter. There is also some history here, given Musk once dissed Apple as a “graveyard” for defecting Tesla employees. That was a few years before he apparently reached out to the chief gravedigger.

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Do You Own a Tesla? It’s Vulnerable to Hacking

Andrew Orr ·

Security experts found that Teslas are vulnerable to certain kinds of hacks. One expert, Brian DeMuth, said there are no easy ways to prevent it, but you can take some measures.

There are a few things that can reduce the risk if you are willing to accept diminished functionality in the car. For example, the telematics unit can be removed from the vehicle to eliminate attacks over the cellular network, but this also will prevent mobile apps and other remote functionality from working. Removing the telematics unit could also trigger warnings and other errors to appear in the instrument cluster or infotainment system.

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New Tesla Model Y Unveiled

Charlotte Henry ·

Tesla unveiled its latest vehicle Friday, the Model Y. The Verge reported that CEO Elon Musk bragged that despite being SUV-like, the vehicle “will ride like a sports car.” It will be available in the fall of 2020, with prices starting at $47,000.

“It has the functionality of an SUV, but it will ride like a sports car,” Musk said. “So this thing will be really tight on corners.” The $47,000 long range Model Y will come first in the fall of 2020, and will have a range of 300 miles, Musk said. Tesla will also sell an all-wheel-drive dual motor version for $51,000, and a performance version for $60,000— both of which will also be available in fall 2020. The cheaper, standard range version with a range of 230 miles won’t be available until 2021, Musk said, and will sell for $39,000.

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Tesla Granted Permission to Sell Model 3 in Europe

Charlotte Henry ·

LONDON – Tesla received permission to start selling the Model 3 in Europe. Bloomberg News reported Monday that the Dutch vehicle authority, RDW, gave the firm the go-ahead. It could start delivering the Long Range Battery version of the vehicle in February. The news came just days after CEO Elon Musk announced that the company was going to lay off 7% of its full-time staff to reduce the price of the Model 3.

The European launch is crucial for Tesla as it navigates what Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk called a “very difficult” road ahead. The company is cutting jobs so it can profitably deliver lower-priced versions of the Model 3, Tesla’s first car targeted for the mass market. Musk has pointed to sales of the sedan in Europe and China as a main reason he isn’t concerned about any potential setback caused by a halving of the U.S. federal tax credit, to $3,750, on Tesla purchases as of Jan. 1.