"For the first time, the fastest accelerating production car in the world is an electric car."
Elon Musk News
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ISSUE 38 🚀🚗🌇 August 26th 2016
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Featured Quote
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"For the first time, the fastest accelerating production car in the world is an electric car. I think this sends a great message to the public about the future of transportation."
— Elon Musk
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Sponsored Link
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The pedestal supports the 2nd generation Tesla Wall Connector as well as ClipperCreek charging stations. The dual pedestal is popular with businesses that want to offer charging for all electric cars; a Tesla EVSE can be mounted on one side and a ClipperCreek universal EVSE can be mounted on the other. Click here to learn more |
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SpaceX
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SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft detached from the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, having successfully delivered nearly 5,000 pounds worth of supplies. Among the cargo was an international docking adapter (IDA), a new part that signals the birth of a new chapter in the ISS' history.
SpaceX's ninth commercial resupply mission launched off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on July 18, carrying a DNA sequencer to test whether analysis could be undertaken in space. Perhaps most important was the IDA the Dragon delivered and attached during a spacewalk on August 19. The IDA enables private companies like SpaceX and Boeing to visit the ISS on manned missions without governmental assistance.
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Port Canaveral, the adjacent property of legendary Cape Canaveral, will see a renaissance, thanks to SpaceX's investment in the property. The company will now lease the currently vacant building that used to house Spacehab, in addition to constructing a new second building once a formal lease is signed. SpaceX's contract to build should be approved as early as next month. SpaceX will launch its next rocket from the Cape location on September 3rd.
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Elon Musk is unveiling his humans-to-Mars plan at next month's 67th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico. The world space meeting runs from Sept. 26-30.
On the second day of the IAC, during a special keynote entitled "Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species," Musk will discuss the long-term technical challenges that need to be solved to support the creation of a permanent, self-sustaining human presence on Mars. The technical presentation will focus on potential architectures for colonizing the Red Planet that industry, government and the scientific community can collaborate on in the years ahead.
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Tesla
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The Model S P100D with Ludicrous mode is the third fastest accelerating production car ever produced, with a 0-60 mph time of 2.5 seconds. However, both the LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder were limited run, million dollar vehicles and cannot be bought new. While those cars are small two seaters with very little luggage space, the pure electric, all-wheel drive Model S P100D has four doors, seats up to 5 adults plus 2 children and has exceptional cargo capacity.
The 100 kWh battery also increases range substantially to an estimated 315 miles on the EPA cycle and 613 km on the NEDC cycle, making it the first to go beyond 300 miles and the longest range production electric vehicle by far.
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JB Straubel (Tesla CTO) confirmed that some of the improvements in the new P100D battery pack will make it to the Model 3: "Some of the key improvements that enabled the new pack are directly on the roadmap for the technologies that make Model 3 possible." Musk then made a direct link with the Model 3 and the new P100D version of the Model S and X: "Yes, it is an expensive car, but that is what is paying for the Model 3 – both in terms of free cash flow and learning more about its core technology."
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During the press conference for the release of the new P100D battery pack, Musk refused to answer any question regarding Tesla's Autopilot program, but he did briefly mention the upcoming v8.0 update:
"One thing I should say though is that with version 8 of the software, which is hopefully going to final review right now, there will be material improvements in the autonomy of the car. I think the amount of work that has been going into version 8.0 will be very noticeable. The improvements will be on several dimensions, but that's only a software update so it will be applicable to all cars."
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Tesla is kicking into overdrive, with big new plans for revolutionizing the world's roads. Although it hasn't been announced, one team published a rendering on Monday of what it may look like if Tesla decides to reinvent the minivan in 2019.
Musk wants his Tesla buses to be powered autonomously, meaning the technology will need some refinement before the company will be able to reinvent that market. TopSpeed, the team behind the rendering, also considered tech advancements in their design: the doors would have an advanced hidden support track, activated electronically when pushed.
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Hyperloop
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HTT has attracted slightly less media attention than Hyperloop One, partly because the company has not yet raised any external funding or conducted large-scale test runs. It has, however, announced two transportation projects—one between LA and San Francisco, and the other connecting Bratislava, Vienna, and Budapest. In addition to these, it has also intrigued journalists with boasts of a new material called "vibranium," of which its capsules will be made.
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SolarCity
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Since SolarCity's board of directors accepted Tesla's $2.6 billion acquisition offer earlier this month, the companies have been in a 45-day 'go shop' period ending on September 14, 2016. The deal is still contingent on regulatory approvals and a shareholders vote. Tesla received one of the first necessary approval for the deal. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) gave antitrust approval to Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity.
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When SolarCity first launched its Solar Bond Program, it was presented as an interesting way for people to invest in solar with minimum cost requirements and without having to install panels on their roof. It ended up looking more like SpaceX's private investment platform after Elon Musk's rocket company bought most of the bonds over the last year – about $255 million worth.
Now Elon Musk is also personally investing in the Solar Bonds, along with SolarCity co-founders Lyndon and Peter Rive, ahead of SolarCity's merger with Tesla. In a SEC filing released yesterday, Musk disclosed that he is personally buying $65 million of bonds, and Lyndon Rive, SolarCity's CEO and co-founder, and Peter Rive, CTO and co-founder, are each buying $17.5 million.
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This Is The End
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Did you enjoy this issue? Yes / No
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