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The Engadget Interview: Tesla's Elon Musk promises more Superchargers, better service, cheaper EVs that don't suck
"It doesn't help to have a car that's cheap, but that sucks." This isn't the sort of direct language that you typically hear from a CEO these days, but this is exactly the kind of material you can expect from Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk. Over the course of our conversation, Musk (who earlier co-founded PayPal and who also heads up SpaceX) went on the record calling journalists who didn't understand the benefits of leases "dumbasses" and pledged that use of the company's Supercharger stations will always, forever and ever, be free. Candid responses such as these are not new for Mr. Musk, having certainly caused some turmoil in the past, and they do make for quite an interesting interview. Join us as we explore why the cheapest Model S was scrapped and we ask just when we can expect the fabled, and truly affordable, third-generation Tesla.
SpaceX's Merlin 1D engine gets flight qualified, Musk expects launch this year (update)
It's been quite the eventful year for the team at SpaceX. A few weeks after sending a Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, Elon Musk's company announced that its Merlin 1D engine managed to snag flight qualification, thanks to 1,970 seconds of testing time at its McGregor, Texas facility. That adds up to more than 10 full mission durations. The engine scored a ratio of 4:1 for critical engine life parameters, well above the industry's 2:1 standard. SpaceX will waste little time in getting it off the ground -- Musk said the engine will be taking off this year, as part of a Falcon 9 flight. Update: Now with more video.
We're live at Elon Musk's SXSW keynote
Electric cars and commercial space flight -- what more could a person want? The Tesla / SpaceX founder is bringing all of that to his keynote on this, this second day of South By Southwest Interactive. The exec has never been on to mince words, so this ought to be an interesting one. Join us after the break, won't you?
UK appeals court dismisses Tesla libel suit against Top Gear
Have a knack for getting wrapped up in libel lawsuits? You best avoid crossing Elon Musk -- as the Tesla CEO has regularly proven, he won't be keeping quiet if you call foul on his company's electric car range predictions, especially if your forum of choice happens to be the New York Times, or BBC's Top Gear. That latter program was the target of a UK libel suit, following the airing of an episode which referenced a Tesla Roadster running out of power after driving just 55 miles -- a far cry from the projected 200-mile range. The company claimed that Top Gear "faked" the scene in question, ultimately resulting in $171,000 of lost sales. Of course, that's chump change for billionaire Musk, but no matter -- a lawsuit ensued. Now, some five years after the failed test in question, a UK appeals court dismissed the suit, ruling that the segment was not misleading. Hit up the pair of source links for a bit more detail from London.
Watch live: SpaceX's Dragon capsule will rendezvous with the ISS today, coverage begins at 3:30AM ET (update: success!)
We told you about it late yesterday, but now it's about time for the livestream of SpaceX's Dragon capsule reaching the International Space Station. If all's going as planned, the craft would've begun some preliminary maneuvers toward the ISS roughly an hour ago. According to the company, astronauts aboard the ISS will attempt to grapple it with a robotic arm at 6:36AM ET. If that's successful, the actual berthing of the capsule is set to begin at 8AM. Don't take our word for it, catch the NASA TV live feed (coverage starts at 3:30AM) at embedded after the break! Here's to wishing that all continues to go well overall on this resupply effort! Update 8:21AM: Dragon was captured at 5:31AM and the berthing process is currently taking place. The capsule should be fully in place by roughly 9:40AM! We've also updated the feed past the break, as it was originally pulling from NASA TV's public feed, rather than the ISS feed -- apologies for any inconvenience. Update 9:03 AM: Dragon was successfully berthed the space station at 8:56AM, ahead of scheduele like much of the event. And with that, NASA has ended coverage of the event. Now those onboard the station will be focused on unloading the supplies it's carrying. Dragon will return to Earth for a splashdown on March 25th. As always, hit the NASA source link for more detailed info. Catch a picture of Dragon attached to the ISS's Harmony node just past the break.
Elon Musk says Tesla will repay Department of Energy loan well before 2022 due date
Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, has been the focus of many headlines lately due to a certain, well-documented kerfuffle with The New York Times. Today, however, the automotive company's chief isn't questioning any reviews. Instead, he's taken to the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy summit to share his belief that Tesla Motors will pay off that $465 million loan from the US Department of Energy well ahead of when it's expected to -- in five years, rather than ten, to be precise. Musk's comments shouldn't come as a surprise, however, given that the Model S maker has been paying its DOE-borrowed cash on time and before the deadlines -- something it's been able to accomplish despite being far from a money-making machine at the moment. For the Department of Energy, meanwhile, this all sounds like music to the ears, especially since it knows that not all EVs always work out as planned.
Fleet of Tesla Model S owners set out to refute NYT report, coin slang for human error
Between data logs, rebuttals and general drama, it's easy to get confused: can a Tesla Model S make the trek from Washington DC to Connecticut? A small group of Tesla fans decided to see for themselves. Meeting in DC over the weekend, seven drivers from the Tesla Motors Club forums banded together to recreate the reporter's infamous trip to Tesla's Milford Connecticut Supercharger, minus the Manhattan detour. The long and short? The team made the trip successfully, albeit with some minor hiccups. Most of the drivers had no trouble topping off their Tesla's at max range, ensuring they had enough charge to complete each leg of the trip -- but one car stubbornly refused to top off at a Delaware Supercharger. After about an hour of troubleshooting, Tesla pushed a firmware update to the vehicle, found and diagnosed another bug and got the car back on the road. The lesson? A carefully planned electric road trip can lead to success, but technical errors do happen. Even so, the team had no qualms teasing the NYT reporter for his troubles, referring to "Brodering" as the act of running out of power due to human error. All in all, it seems good times were had -- what else could you ask of a weekend excursion? Check out the team's Twitter feed at the adjacent source link for additional driver updates, or check out straßenversion for a passenger account of the trip's first leg. [Thanks, Aravind]
NYT reporter responds to Tesla Model S data logs, impropriety accusations
Data logs of the Model S that left New York Times reporter John Broder stranded revealed a "violation of common sense" according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, but Broder is now offering his side of the story to help make sense of the information. According to the journalist, he wasn't provided with "detailed instructions on maximizing the driving range" before his trip, and he placed roughly a dozen calls to the folks at Tesla about how he could address the car's declining range and make it to his destination. Apparently, some of the doubt-instilling data was caused by following the advice of Tesla representatives on how to maximize the vehicle's charge. For example, Broder says the auto lost a drastic amount of juice while parked in the cold over night, and a low-power one-hour charge was recommended by Tesla reps in conjunction with driving at a moderate speed to "restore" the lost power. Broder also mentions that he didn't drive around a parking lot to run down the battery, but did so since he couldn't find the poorly-lit and unmarked Supercharger at night. New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan called Musk several times throughout the day and couldn't get ahold of him, but plans to ask the company's founder to open source the logs and other information. Come Friday, Sullivan expects to have some conclusions on the matter. Click the bordering source link to see Broder's entire point-by-point response to the logs for yourself.
Elon Musk produces Model S data logs to disprove New York Times' Tesla review
We liked Tesla's Model S, but some of the other outlets didn't feel the same way. The New York Times' John Broder, for one, described being stranded 25 miles away from the nearest supercharger station. However, after Tesla's litigious run-in with Top Gear, the company keeps detailed vehicle data logs to ensure it gets a fair deal in reviews. Now, Tesla (and SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk has posted the data that, he says, proves Broder wasn't being fair. Musk accuses Broder of pulling the plug on a recharge with just 32 miles range in the tank, despite planning a route of 61 miles "in obvious violation of common sense." He also says the reviewer drove past a public charge station, despite repeated warnings that it was running low, drove the car around at 81mph and "deliberately stopped charging" after shorter and shorter times. Musk finishes by saying that the company was wrong to offer Broder access to the vehicle, as it was "unaware of his outright disdain for electric cars" and asks the New York Times to investigate the review. We suspect this one's going to run-and-run, but we'd better warn the NYT that their opponent does have access to rockets.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk calls NY Times article criticizing Model S a 'fake'
We recently had a chance to put a Tesla Model S through its paces and we had no problem getting where we were going -- and back again -- despite our testing happening in Upstate New York in the middle of a rather chilly January. The New York Times, however, had a bit of a harder time of it. Over the weekend, Times reporter John M. Broder published what can only be called a negative report on a failed trip to one of Tesla's fabled Superchargers. After a series of short charges and a series of drives in a Model S (the very same car we tested, we would add), Broder ultimately ran out of juice and was left stranded, having to tow the car from Branford, CT to the nearest Supercharger, this one in Milford -- about 25 miles away. Broder blamed the temperature and, ultimately, the car for causing the disappointment -- something Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to rebut, saying: NYTimes article about Tesla range in cold is fake. Vehicle logs tell true story that he didn't actually charge to max & took a long detour. The Times responded (via CNBC) that the report was "completely factual" and that "Any suggestion that the account was 'fake' is, of course, flatly untrue." Musk then took to CNBC himself to talk about a "lengthy detour" Broder took through Manhattan -- something not mentioned in his post. In our own experiences, we definitely did notice a decreased indicated range immediately after turning on the car, but it quickly rose as they gradually rose to operating temperature. That said, we were never able to eke out the "indicated" range in the cold on either of our lengthy trips -- even those that didn't involve trips through Manhattan.
SpaceX Grasshopper reusable rocket improves leap to 131 feet (video)
Not to mix Aesop's Fables or anything, but when it comes to the world of commercial space race, sometimes slow and steady is the thing. A couple months back, we watched SpaceX's reusable vertical takeoff, vertical landing rocket, the Grasshopper, nudge its way off the ground. And while this current test isn't exactly the "few hundred feet to two miles" that we were promised, it's quite literally a step in the right direction, at 131 feet, plus some quality hover time. All in all, the test, conducted December 17th in McGregor, Texas, took around 29 seconds to unfold. Relive it in the video after the break.
CE-Oh no he didn't!: SpaceX creator Elon Musk says Ariane 5 rocket has 'no chance'
Entrepreneur Elon Musk is well-known for talking trash about the vehicular competition... just not when it involves rockets instead of four wheels. Still, that's what we're facing in the wake of a BBC interview. He tells the broadcaster that the Ariane 5 rocket stands "no chance" in the face of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy systems from his own SpaceX outfit, as it's more expensive to use -- and the contrast will only get worse when a cheaper, next-generation Falcon 9 arrives, he says. Musk echoes France's position that Ariane should skip a mid-life upgrade to its vehicle and jump directly to a less expensive Ariane 6. The executive has a point when there's more than 40 booked SpaceX flights so early into the Falcon program's history, although there's something left to prove when the first scheduled Dragon capsule launch ran into a non-critical engine failure. We'll know that Musk can walk the walk if there's still a long line of SpaceX customers by the time Ariane 6 hits the launchpad.
Elon Musk says Tesla will be 'cash flow positive' soon, announces early repayment of DOE loan
After Tesla Motors' recent SEC filing painted a picture of production delays, revenue shortfalls and stock sales to raise cash, CEO Elon Musk has gone on the record to say everything's a-okay. The omnipresent executive said that "if the calendar were simply shifted a few weeks to the right" Tesla would have actually exceeded its vehicle delivery targets for the quarter, and said that the share release was merely held to mitigate risk from suppliers. He also claimed that the Department of Energy's request for early repayment was not a poor reflection of the EV maker's financial state, but actually a hearty endorsement -- the government branch expects Tesla to make loads of cash, and wants it to repay the loan early rather than hoarding it. As such, Musk announced the Model S builder had initiated its first early payment today and would pay off the principal loan prior to its March 2013 due date. We'll have to see if that's enough to keep the automaker's name out of any future presidential debates. [Image credit: Tesla Motors]
Tesla behind on Model S production goals, aims for extra cash with stock sale
Sure, topping off a Model S in 30 minutes with a Supercharger is awfully handy, but production delays of the sedan will keep some future owners away from quick charge times -- and most importantly -- their cars for a little while longer. In a freshly published filing with the US Securities Exchange and Commission, Tesla revealed that it hasn't reached its goal of producing 400 Model S vehicles a week, which places them four to five weeks behind their 2012 delivery expectations. To date, just 255 of the autos have rolled off the assembly line, 132 of which have made their way to new homes. According to the Palo Alto-based outfit, ramping up production has been slower than expected for a number of reasons, including supplier delays and taking a deliberately measured pace for quality assurance purposes. Before the year draws to a close, Musk and Co. anticipate meeting their goal of churning out 400 cars each week, and a total of 20,000 by the end of 2013. Currently, the automaker has racked up around 13,000 reservations and thinks it'll be working to fulfill even more throughout 2013. As a result of the manufacturing lag, the firm has slashed its revenue forecast by as much as $200 million, estimating it'll rake in anywhere from $400 million to $440 million this year. In an effort to add cash to its coffers, the company is putting up roughly 5 million shares of stock for sale. Who's buying, you say? Tesla mentioned its CEO Elon Musk is interested in putting down a cool million bucks.
Tesla reveals Supercharger network it says will cover the US in two years; Model S fills up for free, always
At Tesla's event, CEO Elon Musk has finally taken the wraps off of its Superchargers which it has already set up at six locations in California, pictured in the map after the break. The company plans installations on "high traffic corridors across the US" over the next year, with units heading to Europe and Asia in the second half of 2013. According to Musk, the solar powered systems will put more power back into the grid than the cars use while driving. Oh, and for you Model S owners? You will always be able to charge at any of the stations for free. According to Musk, the economies of scale developed while building the Model S have helped it get costs down on the chargers, although he did not offer specifics. During the event we also saw video of drivers charging their vehicles at stations today that Tesla apparently constructed in secret. They're using solar technology from (also owned by Musk) SolarCity, and can charge a Model S with 100 kilowatts good for three hours of driving at 60mph in about 30 minutes. Currently pushing 90kW, they could go as high as 120 in the future for even faster charging. Check the press release embedded after the break or Tesla's website for more details. Update: The video replay of the event itself is live, and embedded after the break.
Watch Tesla's 'Supercharger Network' unveiling tonight at 11PM ET
What is Tesla Motors' Elon Musk hiding up his sleeve? "Alien spaceships landed at highway rest stops," we're told, but all will be unveiled tonight at Tesla's Supercharger Network debut stream. All we know about Tesla's Supercharger Network thus far is it'll offer charging and battery swaps for the company's electric cars -- presumably "at highway rest stops" -- but tonight promises far more information. Will the stations be solar-powered, as some speculate? Will they introduce us to actual aliens in actual spaceships? Tune in to the company's stream to find out! Update: It's alive! We've embedded the video steam for your convenience. You'll find all the action right after the break.
SpaceX's 'Grasshopper' vertical takeoff / vertical landing rocket takes its first small leap (video)
This test-firing may not match the flame of earlier demonstrations, but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted out a brief eight-second video of another setup it's testing, the "Grasshopper" reusable vertical takeoff, vertical landing rocket. While the first hop would've been shamed in any interstellar dunk contest, future tests will range in height from a few hundred feet to two miles. The goal is to eventually create a reusable first stage for its Falcon 9 rocket, able to land safely instead of crashing into the sea and being damaged beyond repair. Hit the more coverage links for a few more details on the project as well as pictures of it at the Texas test site, or check after the break to see the video.
Tesla's 'Supercharger Network' of electric vehicle power stations will be revealed September 24th
For Tesla owners looking at taking their electric vehicles out for some long haul driving, a plan to line the highways and/or byways with fast chargers should be welcome news. After mentioning the Supercharger Network as early as January, company founder Elon Musk tweeted tonight that it would officially be unveiled September 24th. So, what will it actually look like? Musk claims it will "feel like alien spaceships landed at highway rest stops," where owners may be able to enjoy amenities like charging that takes their batteries from ten to 90 percent in just 45 minutes or fast battery swaps. We've marked our calendars, check out AutoblogGreen for more speculation on just what Supercharging may entail, including the potential that the stations themselves will be solar powered.
Tesla CEO teases crossover and sports car EVs for 2016
Tesla founder Elon Musk would like to remind you that the Model X isn't the terminus of his company's electric car ambitions. Far from it: Musk tells Wired that Tesla's 2016 plans include both a crossover SUV akin to the BMW X3 as well as a pure sports car that goes beyond just a Roadster redux. The racier vehicle will have speed, but "not supercar pricing," the CEO says. He also elaborated on already-known plans for an 'entry' sedan in 2015, which should resemble a 20 to 25 percent smaller Model S and cost about $30,000 if all goes well. There's a wide gap between promises and reality in all those statements, but Musk has a reputation for largely delivering on target -- which gives us hope that there will finally be Tesla EVs within range of everyday budgets.
CE-Oh no he didn't!: Tesla's Elon Musk calls the Fisker Karma a 'mediocre product at a high price'
"I don't think very highly of Henrik Fisker," Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, told Automobile magazine in a recent interview. Musk was recalling events leading up to a 2008 lawsuit in which Tesla accused Fisker of pilfering its hybrid technology to build the Fisker Karma. Musk isn't a fan of the automobile, and suggests its creators put form over function. "It's a mediocre product at a high price," he says. "[Fisker] thinks the most important thing in the world -- or the only important thing in the world -- is design, so he outsourced the engineering and manufacturing." Still, Musk concedes that Fisker's eye for aesthetics paid off in some respects. "It looks good," he said. "Particularly from the side it looks good." The magazine gave Henrik Fisker a chance to respond, who said that he was "delighted that Elon thinks the Karma is a good-looking car," and stressed that Tesla and Fisker are targeting different customers with two "totally different technologies." He was quick to address the firms' previous legal squabbles too, "to set the record straight, Fisker won in court... a judge threw out the case and awarded costs to Fisker." True enough, but in light of recent events, we can think of at least one Karma owner who might agree with Musk.
