Elon Musk News - Issue 94

Elon Musk News - Issue 94 Like Elon Musk? Get two ad-free issues per week with high quality images, discounted apparel, and access to our secret Facebook group by going premium.

Note From The Curator

The top three stories in this issue of Elon Musk News are: Elon Musk Previews Tesla Model 3 Launch Event, and It Looks Huge SpaceX Is Now One of the World's Most Valuable Privately Held Companies First look at The Boring Company's car elevator – Tesla lowered into the ground If you woke up this morning with a feeling of excitement and electricity in the air, you're definitely not alone! Tonight Elon Musk & Tesla will host the Model 3 delivery event. Keys will be given to 30 reservation holders, and all the long awaited details will be officially revealed. The webcast starts at 8:45 pm PT, and you will be able to watch it on Tesla's website. To get you juiced up for tonight, I've filled this issue with Model 3 related news. Thanks so much for joining me on this journey, and enjoy issue 94! Sincerely, Zachary

Featured Quote

"Twenty years? It will be like having a horse. People have horses, which is cool. There will be people who have non-autonomous cars, like people have horses. It would just be unusual to use that as a mode of transport."

— Elon Musk From Inverse

Sponsored Link

Save On Your Electric Bill By Going Solar Interested in going solar? Electricity from solar is often less expensive than from utility companies. Click the link below to get one or more estimates from top rated solar installers in your area. Go Solar

SpaceX

SpaceX Is Now One of the World's Most Valuable Privately Held Companies SpaceX has raised up to $350 million in new financing and is now valued at around $21 billion, making it one of the most valuable privately held companies in the world. SpaceX's new financing was disclosed in public filings that were obtained by Equidate, a marketplace for private company stock. With the latest funding round, SpaceX joins an elite club of seven venture-backed companies valued at $20 billion or more around the world, according to research firm CB Insights. SpaceX's latest funding nearly doubles the valuation of the company, which was pegged at around $11 billion when it raised $1 billion from Fidelity and Google in 2015. Previous investors in SpaceX include venture capital firms Founders Fund and DFJ.

Elon Musk names yet another launch date for SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket Late Thursday night, Elon Musk tweeted that SpaceX's next big rocket — the Falcon Heavy — will make its inaugural flight this November. It's a new launch date for a vehicle that has had many tentative launch dates before, none of which have actually panned out just yet. But perhaps this time, the vehicle will fly when Musk says it will.

Elon Musk's Mars rocket may be about to lose half of its engines In response to a question on Twitter, Musk wrote, "A 9m diameter vehicle fits in our existing factories ..." This is actually quite a substantial hint, because the original "Interplanetary Transport System" had a massive 12-meter diameter. By scaling back to 9 meters, this suggests that Musk plans to remove the outer ring of 21 Raptor engines, leaving a vehicle with 21 engines instead of the original 42. While still complicated to manage during launch and flight, 21 engines seems more reasonable. Such a vehicle would also have about 50 percent less mass. A 9-meter rocket means that it could be produced in SpaceX's existing facilities, saving the company the expense of building a much larger factory. (Pragmatically, it could also be produced in NASA's rocket factory in Michoud, La., without major renovations). A smaller, but still powerful rocket also opens the door to commercial opportunities and military contracts.

SpaceX to reuse Cargo Dragons on all missions after CRS-12 launch in August Meetings on Monday and Tuesday offered more detailed information on SpaceX's Dragon programs. In Monday's NASA advisory meeting, Sam Scimemi (Director of the ISS) discussed ISS operations between now and the end of the year, and went on to discuss SpaceX's upcoming CRS-12 mission. Currently slated for no earlier than August 14th, CRS-12 will mark the final "new" Dragon capsule to visit the ISS, with all future CRS-1 launches from SpaceX to be conducted with reused capsules. Including CRS-12, SpaceX has nine more contracted cargo missions through the first CRS program.

NASA and companies express growing confidence in commercial crew schedules NASA published July 20 what it called "the most recent publicly-releasable dates" of the test flights of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehicles. Each company, under terms of Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts awarded in September 2014, are required to first fly an uncrewed test flight of their spacecraft, followed by one with astronauts on board. The latest SpaceX schedule calls for an uncrewed test flight in February 2018, followed by a crewed test flight in June 2018. Those scheduled have slipped considerably from the original CCtCap announcement. A leading NASA official, though, sounded more confident about the companies' efforts towards those 2018 test flights. "Commercial crew is making great progress. By the next ISS R&D Conference, I expect to have flown the first Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon flight" said Kirk Shireman, ISS program manager.

Tesla

Elon Musk Previews Tesla Model 3 Launch Event, And It Looks Huge Elon Musk shared a preview of Tesla's Model 3 launch event on Friday, and it looks set to stun. Musk is gearing up to hand over the initial batches of the Model 3 to a select few buyers at a "handover event," set to start at 7 p.m. Pacific time at the Tesla Design Studio in Hawthorne, California.

Tesla accidentally reveals Model 3 efficiency hinting at impressive range Ahead of the Model 3 event today, Tesla has been making several changes to its website and it apparently accidentally resulted in Tesla disclosing the average efficiency of the vehicle. It shows an efficiency of 237 Wh per mile. The company quickly removed the code after it was spotted yesterday ahead of today's event – leaving only the Model S, 344 Wh per mile and the Model X, which is using 369 Wh per mile, according to the same code. It's no surprise that the Model 3 is significantly more efficient than the Model S considering it's much smaller, but that's quite an improvement. Now we have yet to get a confirmation of the Model 3's battery pack options (hopefully later today), but if we were to speculate about a 60 kWh and a 75 kWh options, it would result in ranges of ~253 miles and ~316 miles respectively.

Tesla to discontinue cheapest version of Model S (75 RWD) ahead of Model 3 launch Tesla has been making a lot of changes to the options and configurations of its current flagship vehicles, Model S and Model X, in preparation for the launch of the less expensive Model 3. As part of this strategy, Tesla is now about to discontinue the cheapest version of Model S, the 75 kWh battery pack with the rear-wheel-drive powertrain. The company confirmed that discontinuing the option is in the plans by the end of the year – without any firm date for now. At $69,500, the Model S 75 with a single rear-wheel-drive motor is the cheapest new Tesla vehicle currently available with the Model S 75D with dual motor all-wheel-drive being the second cheapest at $74,500. Unless the vehicle is being replaced by something else, all Tesla vehicles, Model S or X, will be dual motor all-wheel-drive.

Tesla Model S Tops Consumer Reports' Ratings After Getting Key Safety Feature The Tesla Model S is again Consumer Reports' top-rated ultra-luxury sedan after the automaker updated its software to include automatic emergency braking at highway speeds. Earlier this month, CR's Tesla Model S received an over-the-air update that moved the upper limit of the AEB system from 28 mph back to 90 mph, like Teslas built before October 2016. CR's engineers then verified at our test track that the AEB operated at higher speeds by driving the electric Model S at a target that mimics the back of a car. We also verified that Tesla had sent the software update to its other cars by checking online forums and inspecting cars at Tesla dealerships.

Tesla Model 3 spotted testing in the snow in New Zealand The Model 3 is not likely to see tough winter driving conditions by the end of the year since early deliveries are expected to be concentrated in California. Though it's already winter in New Zealand, which makes it ideal to test the Model 3 in winter conditions. It looks like Tesla has been putting the vehicle through the paces since it looks pretty banged-up. Tesla has been putting a lot of emphasis on winter driving performance with the Model S and Model X. The Model X has never been a concern since it's only offered in all-wheel-drive, but even the rear-wheel-drive Model S has proved to be performing well under tough winter conditions. There's no reason to think the Model 3 shouldn't have comparable performance to the Model S & X in winter conditions – though it will only be offered in rear-wheel-drive until the dual motor version is available later this year or early 2018.

Tesla Project Loveday winners will be featured on Model 3 live webcast Tesla has announced that the top 3 Project Loveday fan-made commercials will be picked on Friday ahead of the Model 3 delivery event start time. Among 100s of video submissions, Tesla has narrowed it down to their top 10 favorite videos and will allow fans to vote on them through Twitter. "Got 100s of great Project Loveday videos. Picked our top ten... Top 3 most liked by 5pm PT Fri will run on Model 3 webcast" read the Tweet by Tesla. This is also the first time we're receiving confirmation that Tesla will be live streaming Friday's Model 3 delivery event.

Tesla puts Model 3's new gear selector with Autopilot in Model S/X manuals Just a few days before the launch of the Model 3, Tesla has slipped an interesting update into the onboard instruction manuals of Model S and Model X. After the most recent software update, the new gear selector seen on Model 3 prototypes is now part of the manuals. The Model 3 is also equipped with the latest hardware suite, but interestingly, it also features, at least on the release candidates, a new gear selector. It was first spotted last month on one of the prototypes in Silicon Valley. The interesting thing is that the Autopilot is now featured as a gear, just like drive or reverse, on the new lever. Elon Musk says that the latest Autopilot hardware suite could enable up to level 5 fully autonomous driving with future software updates. And with anything over level 3, which is basically fully autonomous but with the driver acting as a backup, treating the system as a gear could be a better way to approach this than as a cruise control.

Tesla Model 3 engineer gives insights into driving experience without instrument cluster Tesla Model X owners Robbie and Chuck from Colorado ran into a Tesla engineer in a Model 3 at a Supercharger doing some long distance testing from Fremont, California, to Denver, Colorado. Chuck asked him about the lack of an instrument cluster and related the insights to us: 'I asked him if he missed having an instrument cluster in front of him behind the steering wheel. He said you quickly get used to not having one there, only the touchscreen tablet to the right. He noted that it was especially helpful at night not having the glare of the instrument cluster right in front of him, so he could concentrate on the road, and he felt his night vision was better.'

All of Tesla's seat options are now vegan Overnight, Tesla made some changes to their available options, making some options standard, and notably eliminating one thing: leather seats. As of now, Tesla only sells vegan seats. While this lack of leather is not made explicit on the Tesla configuration page, any mention of leather has been removed, and all upgraded interiors are now referred to with Tesla's "premium" designation which they applied to the original rollout of vegan seats made of a new synthetic material. However, not every component in a Tesla is vegan – cars still come with a leather-wrapped steering wheel standard, but Tesla has offered to provide a non-leather steering wheel upon request in the past for customers who make a point of avoiding all leather. For any buyers who are worried about this because they traditionally prefer leather seats, Tesla's vegan interiors have been getting good reviews from owners and seem quite durable and comfortable.

Tesla updates Model S/X options ahead of Model 3 launch: lighting upgrades now standard, "Premium upgrade package" $5/6k The main changes are that Model S and X now come with various upgraded lighting options included (LED fog lights, three-position LED turning headlights, lighted door handles and ambient interior lighting) and all models now include air suspension, which previously wasn't even available on the 75, as standard. Meanwhile the upgraded sound, XM satellite radio (requires sunroof), bioweapon defense mode, and subzero package (heated rear seats, steering wheel and wipers) have all been merged into a single $5,000 option on Model S.  The Model X Premium Upgrades Package includes all of the above, plus self-presenting front doors for $6,000.

A.I.

Elon Musk Slams Mark Zuckerberg's 'Limited' Understanding of A.I. "I've talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited." Musk was responding to Twitter user Darren Cunningham‏, who shared an article with recent comments from Zuckerberg. During a Facebook Live broadcast over the weekend from his house in Palo Alto, Zuckerberg took questions from users about the future of technology. "I watched a recent interview with Elon Musk and his largest fear for future was A.I.," one user asked. "What are your thoughts on A.I. and how it could affect the world?" Zuckerberg responded with "I have pretty strong opinions on this. I am optimistic. And I think people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios — I just, I don't understand it. It's really negative and in some ways I actually think it is pretty irresponsible."

The Boring Company

First look at The Boring Company's car elevator - Tesla lowered into the ground Elon Musk took to Instagram late Tuesday evening to demonstrate The Boring Company's newest car elevator. The video shows what appears to be a driverless Tesla Model S being summoned onto a platform, before being lowered into an underground tunnel. This is the first time we're seeing a working proof of concept by The Boring Company, which comes less than three months after Musk first revealed details about his futuristic tunnel-boring project at TED 2017.

Hyperloop

Elon Musk says Hyperloop route up to Tesla Gigafactory 1 would be 'great' to curb 'gigantic' logistic cost Since he announced a planned hyperloop route from New York to Washington DC, Elon Musk has been talking about other possible routes for his new Boring Company. Now a Hyperloop route all the way up to Tesla Gigafactory 1 in Nevada is apparently being considered for cargo. If Tesla sticks to its production plan, they could be moving as many as 10,000 battery packs from Nevada to California every week by the end of next year. Now Musk is considering covering the route with an underground Hyperloop system built in a tunnel bored by his new startup, The Boring Company.

Apparel

New Tees, New Store Check out our one of a kind tees & posters. All at a cheaper price, in a new shop, with higher quality garments! Shop Now

Elon Musk News Anson Ave Coquitlam, British Columbia V3B 2H6 Canada