The Tesla Owners Club of New York State (TOCNYS) landed a victory during the late hours of October 14th. A Special Use Permit (SUP) was granted at the Tesla Henrietta location, providing ability to become a gallery. This will allow Tesla to show potential customers its products at the location for both test drives and educational purposes.
The first confirmed upgrade to Tesla’s new Full Self Driving hardware version 3 took place today after a customer took his 2018 Tesla Model S P100DL into the Santa Barbara service center to get a new HEPA filter. After the service, Twitterer and longtime Tesla supporter Sofiaan Fraval noticed that a line on his service documents indicated that the new hardware had been installed at the appointment as well (h/t to Vincent for spotting this one).
To recap the second quarter, Tesla issued its shareholder letter and held its quarterly conference call with Wall Street analysts. The news, as always, is a mixed bag. While improving over its $702M loss in Q1, Tesla still missed Wall Street’s expectations, posting a Q2 loss of $408M. Traders can expect a bumpy ride in the short term. That said, there were some highlights worth considering for those long-term TSLA investors.
Tesla’s Vehicles Self-Diagnose Then Self-Medicate When Faults Are Detected
While Tesla’s car production and sales volumes have grown at an unprecedented pace, the company continues to struggle with the challenges of servicing this massive influx of new customers. As the volume of cars delivered has grown, so have the complaints about long waits for scheduled service, extended delays in having even basic service jobs completed, and the inability to get replacement body and mechanical parts in a timely fashion.
All automobiles are supported by an ecosystem of services, which traditionally includes dealerships, repair shops, and fueling stations. One of the ways Tesla has redefined the auto industry is by vertically integrating these services. You can buy a vehicle directly from Tesla, have it serviced at a Tesla service center, and charge it at a Tesla Supercharger. On the whole, most customers seem to be happy with this arrangement, but some believe that there is an unmet need for independent repair shops, and a community of DIY Tesla repair techs has developed. Because Tesla doesn’t support their activities, there’s an underground, hacker vibe to the scene.
