Tesla will be looking to raise around $1.5 billion through a new bond offering, with the funds to be used to support the ramp-up of Model 3 production, the company revealed this morning. The new debt/bond offering follows pretty closely on the final reveal of the Tesla Model 3 and the official start of deliveries.
Now that we have several official specs for the Tesla Model 3, I wanted to do a thorough update of how the Model 3 competes against comparably priced offerings from BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Toyota, Acura, and Jaguar. Last week, I commented at length about subjective features of the Model 3 that I think will make it a much more attractive offer for drivers and passengers — openness, torque, serenity, and 21st century controls. I honestly think these are the core factors (along with the convenience of home charging) that will lead to the Model 3 dominating its market segment. However, I know many people just want to see the numbers and I am sometimes in search of specific numbers for various comparisons, so this article is primarily aimed at providing several key specs across a few variations of the Model 3, the Tesla Model S, and 22 gas-powered competitors.
Highly regarded battery storage firm sonnen was one of the big winners of the 2017 Zayed Future Energy Prize, winning in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) category. I interviewed sonnen CEO and co-founder Christoph Ostermann in January just after the company won the prize. It was a fun interview because of how futuristic sonnen’s vision is and also because of Mr Ostermann’s clear propensity for fun.
Street racing is a subculture with a rich history, as well as its own etiquette and language. Back in the 1800s, young swells were racing horse-drawn carriages on Woodward Avenue in Detroit. In the 1960s, their grandkids were facing off in Pontiac GTOs. Nowadays, Generation Z is getting used to the idea that the future of racing might be electric.
Tesla has published a new “commercial.” Perhaps some people wouldn’t like to call it that, but in today’s world of YouTube-obsessed viewers, it’s clear that this is the place for cutting-edge companies to put their marketing dollars. Of course, with Tesla’s big brand appeal, it can get hundreds of thousands of views on a new YouTube video/commercial for relatively low cost, landing a much better ROI than paying for a TV commercial, but not every company is so lucky.
As many of you know, we’re trying to get an electric shuttle startup (Tesla Shuttle) off the ground in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). We recently held a test ride event to attract customers, perhaps attract investors, and just generally EVangelize. To organize the event, we partnered with a fleet industry magazine, Menadżer Floty. I was surprised to find out that they actually had a Toyota Prius Prime to bring to the event.
The first Tesla Solar Roof installations have been completed. The cost is estimated at $42 per square foot, which is less than any other new roof with a conventional solar system mounted on top of it.
Elon Musk announced in the Tesla Q2 2017 earnings call that he was walked back from the edge of the cliff on Model Y by his executive team. That team convinced him that building Tesla’s next-generation CUV (Compact Utility Vehicle) on the Model 3 platform was the best decision. This maximizes reuse of design work, investments in R&D, supply chain partnerships and flexibility, and potentially more.
“The Model Y will, in fact, be using substantial carryover from Model 3 in order to bring it to market faster,” Elon said.
Progress, change, transition, well-being — from plastic to automation, the world keeps evolving, shifting through good and bad choices, including some grey areas. Remember when you took glass milk bottles and glass coke bottles back to a store for 5 cents. No one had to call it green in those days. It just made sense. Maybe you don’t remember. Now we call ourselves green because we are trying to make the plastic waste in our oceans go away and stop killing life on multidimensional levels. Not all changes are plastic or negative, though. A positive advance of modern time is the integration of autonomous features on the road.
It’s here. It’s official. The Tesla Model 3 has arrived. In style. Elon Musk took the stage last week to introduce the world to the next wave of automotive disruption. This car is going to make waves. Make no mistake, Tesla has delivered something that will shake the auto industry to its core. ArsTechnica asked Musk about the reservation count and reports: “The CEO then went on to say the net reservation number was currently ‘over half a million.'”
