You know how cups have this built-in feature where you can set them down on any flat surface? Well, what if they didn’t?
TIL Tesla sells a set of drinking glasses that are “designed with angular contours” and only sit upright in a matching stand. For just $75, you too can look like an utter doofus while you sip your añejo.
We here at The Verge are heavily invested in the greatest debate of our time: what kind of windshield wiper Tesla will eventually install on its hilariously impractical Cybertruck. Previous versions include comically large and comically undersized. Now, according to Electrek, it appears Tesla is toying with the idea of no wiper at all. Just naked and free. The EV version of Drew Barrymore joyfully dancing in the rain.
Tucked away in this Bloomberg report about growing concerns in Biden-land about Elon Musk’s status as an “untouchable” rich guy with lots of foreign entanglements in this absolute gem (emphasis mine):
One US official described Tesla as a Chinese company with an American subsidiary. The company’s factory in Shanghai accounted for more than half of its global production last year. Biden himself has said that the entrepreneur’s foreign ties are “worthy of being looked at.”
10/10. No notes.
This story starts with Elon Musk’s decision to take radar sensors off Tesla cars, but is ultimately about what happens when an inconsistent, hard-driving management style runs into unexpectedly hard problems. And then what happens when a bunch of your best people disappear to try and fix a flailing social network. It’s a good read!
[Washington Post]
New EV owners may not know: batteries don’t perform great in the cold. So, Tesla is making it easier to visualize.
Not A Tesla App found Tesla’s app update (4.19.0) now shows a blue line in the charge meter, indicating how much battery energy is unavailable until it warms up.
Additionally, there’s a new menu for Tesla owners to manage a SuperCharger membership for their other, non-Tesla EV.
Saw this thanks to Electrek. Here’s what the new chargers may be able to do, Electrek says:
The new charger is expected to feature the potential for a higher charge rate (which is currently capped at 250 kW for the Supercharger V3) and a solution to allow CCS charging for non-Tesla electric vehicles.
Some non-Tesla EVs can already use Superchargers at “select sites” in the US and in a handful of other countries.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had this to say about Tesla’s driver assist system:
I wouldn’t call something ‘Autopilot’ if the manual explicitly says that you have to have your hands on the wheel and the eyes on the road all the time.
The branding of Autopilot is obviously problematic, but Buttigieg wouldn’t comment on the status of the various federal investigations into Tesla’s misleading claims around self-driving. Meanwhile the company can just rollout software updates to address any possible recalls. So while Buttigieg has issues with Autopilot, it’s not clear whether he knows what to do about a car that’s also a constantly updating computer.
When Tesla revealed the Model S Plaid Elon Musk said it was capable of 200 mph “with the right tires,” but as Electrek points out, the cars that people got were limited to 163.
According to the blog, the issue wasn’t the tires as much as it was the brakes, but Tesla Belgium loaned this driver a model fitted with a $20,000 ceramic brake kit option and the limiter removed. He says he got it up to 217 mph.
Considering recent reports, perhaps a focus group would be a good idea. Someone call Ruben Rabasa.
