Tesla set to unveil an ‘unexpected’ product next week

Apparently the October 28 event for the Tesla and SolarCity collaboration isn’t the only big thing the company is announcing this month. Tesla founder Elon Musk recently tweeted that there is an “unexpected” product launch set for October 17. Recode is speculating the launch might revolve around new versions of Tesla’s at-home energy storage devices: the Powerwall and the Powerpack. It could also be Autopilot 2.0, a hardware upgrade that will bring in additional cameras and radars around the car to help the system better recognize objects.

Tesla product unveiling on the 17th (unexpected by most), followed by Tesla/SolarCity on the 28th

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2016

Elon Musk says Tesla minibus and semi truck to be unveiled next year

Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk gave a more specific timetable for the company’s recently announced plans to create an electric semi truck and minibus.  Musk said during the investor call for the release of its second quarter earnings, the new vehicles will be unveiled in early to mid-2017. “We expect to unveil those for the middle of next year, maybe the next six to nine months type of thing. And then [we’d] have a better, more fleshed-out plan for when those would enter production,” Musk said.

It seems to be so sudden for these vehicles to come out but Musk has said the bus will be built using the Model X’s architecture. They could already have working prototypes to build on for this. The semi truck is something new though so we’re curious to see how they plan to do that. After revealing said vehicles, Musk said both vehicles “would enter production within low-single digit years.”

Source: The Verge

SpaceX plans to reach Mars by 2018

Elon Musk’s SpaceX isn’t dilly-dallying on its space exploration plans. Its founder has previously said he wanted to bring humans to Mars in 10 years. And it seems the first step is being taken. Musk announced on Twitter that he plans to send Dragon, the vehicle designed to fly people and cargo to Mars, by 2018. “Planning to send Dragon to Mars as soon as 2018. Red Dragons will inform overall Mars architecture, details to come,” the tweet said.

There isn’t much information on it yet but another tweet from Musk says, “Dragon 2 is designed to be able to land anywhere in the solar system. Red Dragon Mars mission is the first test flight.” However, no plans of sending a human to Mars just yet. “But wouldn’t recommend transporting astronauts beyond Earth-moon region. Wouldn’t be fun for longer journeys. Internal volume ~size of SUV.” According to SpaceX, the Dragon’s first manned test flight is about two or three years away.

Source: CNET

Tesla's Autopilot feature gets approved for international use

We’re inching closer and closer to driverless cars. Tesla’s keeping ahead of that curve with its Autopilot feature. Tesla was planning to release the feature around the world once it got regulatory approval. The day has arrived as Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter they got international release approval for all countries except for Japan, which is still under review.

Now, if you want your Tesla to do the driving for you can do so. A new Autopilot 1.01 update is coming out soon with better fleet learning, improved lane tracking on poor roads, curved speed adoption, and controller smoothness. The company’s semi-autonomous driving feature, Autosteer, is in beta. Drivers are still encouraged to keep their hands on the wheel as the car navigates because in case the system detects a section it can’t navigate, it will prompt you to take over the wheel.

Source: Engadget