Tesla Under Scrutiny Over Employment Opportunities

Tesla has not been able to live up to its promise

Tesla Motors Inc. has been in the limelight since quite some time now due to its Gigafactory. The company had initially vowed to create employment opportunities and bolstering income for the residents of Nevada. However, the automotive giant has failed to achieve its goal as of yet.

Before the company initiated the construction of the massive battery manufacturing plant, Mr. Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer of Tesla claimed that this new venture would assist in generating more than 700 jobs and will contribute to more than $40 million in the wages of workers by the end of the fiscal year of 2015. Ironically, the claims made by the executive were merely rhetoric. As per CNET, less than 100 people have been hired by the company and the payment made by them in terms of salary is only $3 million.

Tesla’s Gigafactory is said to be the largest production facility that is known for manufacturing batteries particularly for the upcoming EV models. The electric car giant has collaborated with Panasonic that has promised to invest $1.6 billion in the factory. The platform has already started to manufacture stationary storage battery packs. The company will soon initiate the battery production process that will be used in the upcoming EV models of TSLA.

It now needs to be noted that the automotive giant has got tax concessions that accumulate to $1.3 billion for its Gigafactory venture. The government in Nevada has approved massive tax incentives since the company made a commitment to bolster the state economy. As per the initial promise, the company will contribute $100 billion in a time span of 20 years claims Bloomberg.

So if Tesla cannot push its revenue stream and does not comply to its promise of creating employment opportunities in its Gigafactory then they will be liable to pay all the tax concessions they have enjoyed to date. This will certainly not support the company’s dream of becoming the largest EV players in the market.

The company is likely to come up with the initial phase of the Gigafactory this annum, but at present the hiring rate is very slow thus the launch can be delayed similar to the scenario that aroused during the launch of Model 3.

Tesla stock is currently trading at $193 which has gone down by 5.70% due to the slide in the global market along with crude oil sink that occurred in United States that has become the lowest since May FY03.

Tesla Teams Up With Luxe For Valet Service

Tesla collaborates with Luxe to offer valet services in New York and San Francisco

Luxe has joined hands with Tesla Motors Inc. to offer charging facilities and valet parking related services to all those who own an electric car. Basically, Luxe is a valet parking app on demand that has succeeded in raising $25.5 million from various investors so that they can expand its business. The company has partnered with Tesla, thus they have no succeeded in banging a top position in the automotive world.

The collaboration between Luxe and Tesla will enable the electric car owners to log their parking request via a smartphone application. This will entitle them to get access to a series of services like overnight parking, car wash and also getting their cars charged completely from the local Destination Chargers. The electric car giant also has plans to pre install the application in its Model 3.

The collaboration will result in the offering of Luxe services to owners of Tesla in New York and San Francisco with an agenda to take this service to other cities in the times to come.

The process to book Luxe is very easy and smooth. Tesla users just need to install the app on their cellular phones. So before they leave the departure point or are almost 100 miles away from their point of arrival, then it is essential for the driver to ask for parking via the app. The request will then be forwarded to the company’ valet who will meet the driver at the point of arrival and then take the car and park it later. At this point, consumers can ask for other value added services that have additional costs like tire checking, car washing and charging.

As per the website of Luxe, to avail the valet service drivers need to pay $15 which will not encompass the parking charges. The owners of Tesla can also subscribe to the service if they are residing in New York or San Francisco. Six ins and outs and be availed by EV users in San Francisco for a month, moreover, they also offer overnight parking along with unlimited charging for $399. On the other hand, unlimited overnight parking with unlimited ins and out were of $449. The packages are available on the website and can be chosen as per liking.

Tesla stock are currently trading at  $199.56, which are up by 0.43% since yesterday. The decline of 2.94% can be associated to the recent rout that took place in global equities.

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Denmark Loves Tesla Model S

Denmark has observed record sales of Model S in December

Tesla Motors Inc. has achieved another major milestone where the company has reported to be the main grossing auto maker in the European region for December, 2015. As per the regional media platform, EnergiWatch.dk, in the month of December, the company was successful in selling 1,248 units of its luxury Model S sedan in Denmark. Since the company is not that popular in the European market, this has undoubtedly turned out to be a Danish record.

This is said to be the first time in the history of automotive in the European market that an electric car has succeeded in banging the position of the best-selling passenger car. The sales governed in December were far more than the sales the company bagged in November by more than one and a half time. Tesla was successful in beating the record in November but in December it again superseded its own record which shows that the car is extremely popular.

Apart from that, the Tesla Model S also succeeded in dwarfing the sales of automobiles with diesel and petrol engine both. This was never done prior to this in the history of Denmark.

The second spot was lured by the French auto maker; Peugeot’s where Peugeot 206 was the second popular car. The company sold almost 903 vehicles last month. As per the Danish Car Importers Association, a total of 1573 units of electric cars were sold accumulatively back in December which is a record on its own. This is more than all the electric cars sold in 12 month back in 2014.Back in 2014, Demark was successful in selling under 4,327 electric cars during the period.

As per the news source, “Model S’ high performance can be attributed to the political agreement reached by majority in parliament during last October to phase out tax exemption for electric vehicles. The tax exemption was scheduled to end by the end of 2015, which would now make a Tesla car relatively more expensive.” This might be the reason why the sales of Tesla have risen substantially over the past month. However, this is a speculation and no evidence has been obtained regarding the reason behind the price hike as of yet.

Over the past four trimesters, the company has also recorded a substantial 75% increase in terms of Model S deliveries. The company was successful in delivering 17,193 Model S units in total along with 208 units of the Model X car.

Tesla Motors To Roll Out Model 3 Sedan In 2017

The CEO plans to roll out the new electric vehicle in 2017 - as its major competitor General Motors shows off the new Chevrolet Bolt.

At the Consumer Electronic Show, General Motors showed off its high technology electric vehicle, ‘Chevrolet Bolt’. Comparatively it is putting a lot into this new automobile while will start production sometime next year. The idea behind the latest Bolt is to compete with Tesla Motor’s Model 3 Sedan, which is also expected to roll out sometime in 2017.

According to GM, the new Bolt will be offered for $30,000 with a 200 mile range (after income tax reduction). The chairman of GM, Mary Barra talked about Tesla’s ‘limited retail network’ however she emphasized of the novelty of the auto maker along with the value that is created by the company for its customers.

In the United States, automobiles are mostly sold with the help of auto dealerships while the largest automotive and energy storage company has its exclusive stores. The independent auto-dealer revealed the Model 3 Sedan’s prototype earlier in March which according to the company will cost about $35,000. In the past the automobile organization has had no trouble in working and manufacturing cars that can be driven by drivers but making an entirely electrical car will mainly highlight the areas where the motor giant has always struggled.

One of the areas where the auto maker mainly struggles is with its production capability. Earlier last year, during the third quarter’s earnings call, Elon Musk, the CEO stated that the novel vehicle will be made available in a time span of two years. That being said, only about 507 vehicles of the Model X were produced by the fourth quarter whose idea/concept was unveiled three years prior to the production. For the Model 3, Tesla will need to increase its pace in terms of production since increased competition is on its way. On the other hand, it will have to sell its Model3 for a profitable and competitive price, since it only sells luxury cars.

Additionally, Tesla Stock has been trading up by as much as 1.50% at $218.88. During the session on January 8, 2016, the stock was seen hit a high of $286.65 and a low of $181.40; and kept fluctuating between the two throughout the day. The earnings per share was reported to be at $-5.32. Currently the market capitalization is at $28.24 billion.

Subsequently, it has planned to roll out over 500,000 cars per year by the end of 2020 and the sole thing that will be helping the company maintain its position in the EV market will be the Gigafactory is building in Nevada. Along with providing batteries to the automobile maker, it will help with the economies of scale that will ultimately lead to increased profits.

Tesla Model S Burnout Makes Buyers Skeptical

Tesla Model S reduced to ashes while being charged

As per the recent news, Tesla Motors Inc.’s Model S reduced to ashes whilst charging at a Supercharger station situated in Kristiansand, Norway. According to the news, the owner of the car was waiting inside the vehicle to be charged; meanwhile he got off board to visit a nearby store for a few minutes. On his return he found the car was on fire.

Since the passenger was off, no casualties were reported in the accident. On the other hand, a police officer was present at site and registered his comments to the VG News stating, “We came out with the fire brigade and police, but it turned out that this car was burned out when the emergency services arrived at the scene.”

It is not easy to extinguish a fire of this nature since the fire fighters need to make use of particular foam that can diminish the burning of the lithium-ion batteries. The chemicals present in the battery can become toxic if they are mixed with water. Thus, special precautionary measures need to be taken in such situations.

The electric car giant told Jalopnik, an automotive news online platform, that the company will not leave this matter unheard and will conduct a complete investigation. Moreover, the findings of the investigation will then be shared with the masses.

This incident has created a havoc in the mind of Tesla owners who are now scared of driving their cars. The man luckily got off the car; otherwise his like could have also been at stake due to the mishap. Moreover, another thing has come to the knowledge of consumers that these electric cars can burn to ashes and the fire fighters cannot really do much to prevent or stop it from happening.

The Model S is the company’s extremely prominent asset that has churned in substantial sales for the company. However, the image of the company is at stake since nobody would want to invest a hefty amount in a car that is unsafe. The competition is quite tough in the market and a little dent to the image can result in a chaotic future. The Tesla stocks were also affected since a dip was observed after the news surfaced amongst the masses. The company needs to carry out an investigation at the earliest and come up with a compensation for the victim to prove that it takes such incidents quite seriously.

Google And Ford Will Work Beyond Autonomous Cars

Fords and Google's collaboration to span beyond autonomous cars.

It is assumed that last minute obstacles have hindered a formal announcement; however, Alphabet Inc. and Ford Motor Co. are all set to come up with a bigger partnership that will be unveiled during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) scheduled this week in Las Vegas.

The alliance between the two companies will allow Ford to have access to the search engine giant’s top notch autonomous car technology. Some sources that are part of the venture have acknowledged the TheDetroitBureau.com that the collaboration will cater to more than self driving cars and will also explore the possibilities of connected cars to come come up with other mobility solutions. This is said to be the “pet project” of Mark Field the Chief Executive Officer of Fords Motor.

Other high end providers are likely to get on board with the alliance along with other thing. The company has plans to experiment with its recent technology at a 1000 acre space that is in North Carolina reports the source.

According to Yahoo Autos, “Self-driving vehicles have become one of the hottest topics in the auto industry, and the first semi-autonomous vehicles are just now getting out on the road. Tesla Motors recently introduced its AutoPilot system which allows hand-free operation on limited-access highways.” Other automotive companies like Cadillac brand, Nissan and General Motors are all set to come up with similar offerings. The Japanese marquee has also vowed to come up with a fully functional autonomous car by FY20.

According to a study published by the Britain’s Juniper Research, the last month has claimed that GOOG has the top notch self driving tech as of yet. However, the company does not plans to manufacture its own autonomous cars. So what it will do is license its software to other companies that are interested in the production of autonomous cars.

According to sources close to the company, the collaboration with Ford is a non-exclusive deal and is one of a kind. This will be a major incentive for the automotive giant. As per sources, Mr. Allan Mulally, the former Ford Chief Executive Officer was initially quite skeptical about autonomous cars however, Mr. Fields is all set to experiment and offer the world what it demands.

Ford and Google have been in the limelight for quite some time now. Both the companies have something brilliant to offer making them the stars of their field. It is high time that an official announcement is made in this regard.

Mercedes To Give A Tough Time To Tesla

Mercedes to come up with four electric cars igniting competition for Tesla Motors

Recently there was a diesel emission scandal that involved Volkswagen so now the automakers in Germany are quite serious about the future if electric cars (EVs). So now the Silicon Valley automotive giant, Tesla Motor Inc. needs to be concerned about its future.

As per the motoring.com.au, the subsidiary of Ag “Mercedes” is planning secretly to give a tough time to the electric car giant by coming up with electric vehicles. The company is geared up to come up with four electric cars. As per the source, these cars will hit the market in 2018- a year before its launch is actually scheduled as mentioned by the UK Car Magazine.

The German automotive company has been keeping a secret regarding a electrification venture that worth’s $3 billion. The company is likely to amuse the fans by coming up with a top notch an electric SUV or an electric limousine. Things are now getting quite complex in the automotive market. TSLA which was initially considered to be the 'auto industry disruptor', will now have to deal with some serious competition in the times to come.

As per The Motoring, the first vehicle that will go head to head with Tesla is a sedan which will directly ignite competition for Tesla Model S. this car is likely to be present in the C- Class and E-Class product category of Mercedes. The car that is going to compete with Tesla is a mid sized SUV that is going to be a competitor for Model X. as claimed the SUV by Mercedes will be placed “between GLC and GLE.”

As per the UK Car Magazine, Mercedes is also devoted to coming up with a large sized SUV along with a S-Class model to give a tough time to the remaining automotive industry particularly in the electric car domain. All the upcoming four models will boast of Electric Vehicle Architecture (EVA), and will also be featuring a four or rear wheel car.  It is assumed that the reason behind coming up with a four wheel EV is to comply with Tesla’s forte of “dual-motor performance versions”.  A four electric cars will feature a flat battery pack along with another secret technology that is being used by Tesla as of yet.

Tesla Motors needs to come up with its A- game to sustain in the industry. This is not it but German based automotive company “Volkswagen” is also coming up with it EV which further ignites the competition.

Tesla, Spotify Team Up To Introduce Music System In Cars

Tesla and Spotify will collaborate to come up with an in-car music system for vehicle owners.

Tesla Motors Inc. has collaborated with Spotify – a music streaming enterprise service – where now both companies will bring the music platform to electric cars. As a Tesla owner is driving his car, he/she will now have access to voice control that will be integrated with the vast library of music tracks that can be streamed on the go.

The collaboration between both the companies will result in the integration of the music streaming service. This will be applicable for both – the present electric cars that have hit the road such as Model (the SUV crossover), along with Model S sedan. Spotify will act as a replacement for Rdio which was the music partner for Tesla earlier. This deal ended when the collaboration with Rdio turned kaput.

Spotify is basically a music service originated from Sweden, thus the operations are more directed towards European consumers along with other neighbor countries.

Thus, Spotify Premium service will only be available to all the car owners that are being driven in the European countries along with Hong Kong and Australia. Tesla drivers in the United States are not being catered yet.

One of the limitations when it comes to Spotify integration is that the account will only work when the user is present in the car. This actually means the owner will have to login to his Spotify account to enjoy this feature. Those who do not have a Spotify account will now have to make one. A software upgrade will soon be launched where Model S drivers will be able to enjoy the feature starting from Monday.

Apart from this, those users that already have a Spotify Premium account can easily link it to their own cars so that they get to enjoy their favorite music while on a roll. Premium subscribers have the advantage of access to the massive catalogue of 30 million songs at their convenience without any monthly fee.

Top level executives have also confirmed that the music giant’s present deal with Uber – the ride hailing service will remain intact even after joining hands with Tesla Motors. He also notified that the company would be coming up with a futuristic car system that will smooth out the integration phase with car partnerships. He hinted by saying, “This is a very important focus for us and a key strategy and you can expect many more exciting announcements from us in this sphere.”

Alphabet's Autonomous Dreams Shattered

State of California makes it tough for autonomous cars to hit the roads

Alphabet Inc. is likely to be very upset since the state of California has come up with safety regulations for the very first time in history targeting driverless cars. The new regulations were drafted by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), where they have set certain barriers while driving the autonomous cars. Google Car venture is one of the aspiring projects of the company that is now prone to vulnerabilities now.

DMV at this point of time is extremely concerned about safety. According to them, autonomous car manufacturers need to conduct more tests and experiences before they are ready to offer these cars to the masses. In compliance with the present precautionary measures, the state has now put a ban on driverless cars to be driven on roads. In case anyone wants to ride in these cars then they need to have a human driver that possesses a valid driving license.

According to the proposal, the autonomous cars will be required to pass a test that will be administered by a third party before being retailed. The companies cannot really conduct any outright sales thus the automotive giants can actually lease the cars but not sell them outright. Moreover, the automotive manufacturers will be required to submit a safety report on monthly bases. They will be also required to reveal any collected information so that they can counter any present cyber attacks.

The cars produced need to have a steering that is visible with pedals and wheels. The driver in such cars also needs to get his hand on a state produced “autonomous vehicle operator certificate,” so in case its required, the driver will take charge of the wheels as per need. The driver will also be liable to comply to the traffic legislation even if the car is autonomous.

The requirements prescribed are a major area of concern for the search engine giant. The company after immense efforts and hardware has finally come up with a car prototype however this seems like a crucial start filled with a lot of miseries. The state of California laws are quite complex that will be tough for Google to comply to.

Johnny Luu, a spokesperson from Alphabet published a written statement according to which, In a written statement, “Safety is our highest priority and primary motivator as we do this. We’re gravely disappointed that California is already writing a ceiling on the potential for fully self-driving cars to help all of us who live here.”

Alphabet To Give A Tough Time To Rivals With Ford Motor Driverless Car Partnership

Alphabet to partner with Fords in the times to come for its driverless cars.

Alphabet Inc., along with Ford Motor Company, is reportedly collaborating with one another to come up with a joint venture where they will manufacture driverless cars together. According to sources close to the company, the Chief Executive Officer of Fords, Mr. Mark Fields is likely to officially announce the partnership in January during the International Consumer Electronics Show.

This collaboration is expected to be extremely lucrative for both the firms. Ford has been experimenting with autonomous cars since a long time and is devoted to conduct test drives of its cars on Californian streets soon. The complex software developed by Google will assist in bolstering the autonomous vehicle program in the times to come.

The search engine giant has already conducted tests on 53 cars that took place on the Texan and Californian streets. It has covered almost 1.3 million miles that have been logged to date. Through this initiative, massive data regarding autonomous driving has been collected.

The good thing for Alphabet with this collaboration is that it can now save billions of dollars that would be required to come up with an automotive plant. Moreover, it also does not have much expertise in assembly and car production. Ford at this point has automotive assembly plants that are ready for manufacturing driverless cars.

Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Alphabet, had claimed during this year that the tech giant is looking for options regarding manufacturing plants that are reliable. The reason is that it wants a partner to make use of their software for autonomous cars. It now seems that Fords is the best possible option to pace up the production of Google cars once they become popular in the consumer automotive market.

No official verdict has been observed from both the organizations as of yet, Alphabet has a history of offering its own software to other companies to assist them in the development of products. This can be governed via the acquisition of Motorola to come up with smartphones running on Google Android.

The previous week, Google made an announcement where it has plans to separate the Google Car segment where it will now function as an independent commodity where Alphabet will be its holding company. This initiative is part of competing with Uber in the times to come in terms of ride hailing.

The company is on the right track provided all the rumors associated to it are proved true. 

Danish Government Accuses Tesla For Defrauding Tax Law In Europe

The electric car maker could be defrauding the Danish government in order to avoid payment of tax on the sales of its electric cars in the country.

Tesla Motors has found itself in some serious trouble with the European government over delivery of electric cars and news suggests that it has allegedly been carrying out by breaking the laws in Denmark. According to the reports, the electric car maker is currently being accused of breaking the law in the region, as it has applied for registration of around 2,000 smart cars right before the expiration of the tax break that is to take place within the country soon. This act of the giant is being considered as a huge violation of the rules set by the Danish government, as the officials believe that the giant is working in a way that might be defraud authorities on many different levels.

The massive number of cars that have been put in line for the purpose of registration is being considered as an act to get a majority of its luxury cars through the government without having to face the tax break and this has greatly offended the authorities. Minister of Taxation of Denmark, Karsten Lauritzen, has stated in a recent press release that the idea of attaining a huge number of cars in bulk and to have intentions of selling them again is against the law.

Even though there is a possibility of the same number of orders to be received by Tesla business from the Danish region in the same time period, the officials believe that this is highly metaphorical and could possibly not be true. Also, Lauritzen’s statements also suggested that the electric vehicle maker might simply be working to turn the law around and to break the rules in a way that might not get the authorities’ attention.

Tesla cars being delivered in the region in such a huge number are basically believed to avoiding paying the tax duty in the European country and this suspicion has been backed up by the actions of the auto giant, which it has been carrying out lately.  However, its efforts to dodge the tax might not come to work any time soon, as the Danish government made an official announcement to the market that all the new tax rules which will be made for other auto luxury car makers, will also be needed to followed by the American company without any change or bend in the rules.

This implementation of the new tax law will see the registration fee being paid by the smart car maker over each car that it sells in the country. This will also be the first time that the company pays tax over its cars in such a big amount.

Apple Claims It Is Not Violating Any Agreement

Apple has to face two lawsuits where BYD accused the smartphone maker of using its antenna technology.

Apple is once again the center of attention in the tech sector. The company has been named fighting against a lawsuit in its name. Reportedly, the iPhone maker also filed a petition against BYD Company Limited’s and BYD Precision Manufacturing Co. Ltd lawsuits for using their technology in one of their products. According to sources, Apple is said to be using the antenna technology of BYD in its famous iPad mini, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6S Plus. BYD has urged the Chinese government to take strict actions at its earliest as Apple breaches its patents.

BYD Company Limited wants the Chinese courts to issue a warrant which would see Apple Inc. stopping the production of the above mentioned products. BYD is not satisfied with Apple infringing its patents and using technologies in almost three products whereas the company is trying all to stop such order from the court. Apple is all set to race against the time because if the court issues orders to stop the production then it will result in a very big loss for the company.

At this point, the iPhone maker cannot afford such mistakes that would result in major downfall. If such hindrances in its supply chains as well as production come in between in the coming times, then Apple will see losing significant amount of market share as well as major decline in its revenues stream. Slowly, the brand name would lose its reputation.

Therefore, the uncrowned king of smartphone industry has been asked to file a petition for ‘Order Compelling Arbitration and for Injunctive Relief Pending Arbitration’. This is because the company is sure that it is not breaching any of the patents of BYD Company. Furthermore Apple believes that back in June 2014, it signed an agreement with BYD which was named Master Development and Supply Agreement (MDSA). Under this agreement, both parties agreed that the smartphone giant will be allowed to use the antenna technology in its products.

According to a source, “Under the agreement, BYD will adhere to the condition where it will not assert any patent infringement claims against Apple, its distributors, suppliers and any other related entities.” But it has turned out the other way. BYD filed the lawsuits back in April 2015 in the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court where it clearly mentioned that Apple has violated the pact both parties signed hence it had to take a step forward to stop it.

Tesla Breathes In New Life In Incentive Program

Tesla offering innovative incentives to Tesla owners through Referral Program.

Tesla Motors Inc, the electric vehicle manufacturer has taken its referral program to a whole new dimension as the company has made up its mind to reposition its incentive program for all those who own their Model X, Model S and Roadster. Since the decision has been made, there have been disputes in a few states but overall the results are positive. Tesla Motors official website initially depicted that the referral program by the firm ill end on October 31 but it now says that the offer is extended till the end of 2015. Despite the basic $1,000 benefit has now been removed for the electric car owners but there are other interesting discounts for the Tesla lovers. All those TSLA owners who will make the most referrals in the Asia Pacific, North America and Europe will now be entitled to Model S P90D. Along with that, these people will get the exclusive VIP passes for the launch od Model 3 that will include traveling and accommodation expense. Apart from that, fanatics, who make ten referrals in the regions highlighted, will be entitled to getting Powerwall with Installation – the Tesla battery for domestic use. All those who give more than 10 referrals will directly qualify to win the invitation for the Model 3 event. They will also get the same benefits like mentioned earlier but the only difference will be that accommodation and travel allowance won’t be included. Moreover, those who make the last five referral will get invites to the launch of the company’s Gigafactory. All these incentives will be offered to the car owners once the referrals they’ve made to accept the car’s delivery. The incentive for buyers through referrals is that they get a $1000 discount on the purchase. The company has taken a very smart decision that will certainly engage the Tesla car owners. Word of mouth is a great way to market any product and if people are incentivized for this type of marketing then what can be better for them. Moreover, the incentive the company is offering is actually very attractive. Just imagine who wouldn’t want to attend the launch of the much hyped Model 3. The event will be a top notch event along with all the facilities free of cost. So if you own a Tesla car then try your best to lure people and then wait to experience the magic. Tesla stock closed at $225.33 on Monday.