Nov 11, 2022Updated: Nov 11, 2022 8:52 am

Photo of crashed Tesla

SFFD

Three people were seriously injured and transported to a trauma center after two cars crashed into a home in San Francisco on Thursday night, officials said.

Two people were rescued from a Tesla and one from a Prius, the San Francisco Fire Department said in a statement. All three were taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. “The three injured are recovering,” Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesperson for the fire department, told SFGATE.

Photo of garage at 3217 San Bruno

SFFD

The cars plowed into the residence at 3217 San Bruno Ave. in Visitacion Valley, police said. The property, which is located close to Highway 101, is a duplex, according to city property records.

The Tesla struck gas and water lines, Firefighters secured them both after arrival. The crash also damaged utility lines, Baxter said.

The incident displaced 22 people, 18 adults and 4 children; they are receiving services from the Red Cross, police said.

This is a breaking news story and has been updated.

Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. She was born and raised in the Bay Area and got her start in news at the Daily Californian newspaper at UC Berkeley where she majored in English literature. She has been with SFGATE for more than 10 years. You can email her at agraff@sfgate.com.

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July 20, 2022

By Gabe Rodriguez Morrison

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the company is interested in making its own HVAC system for homes. “It’s on the future product list,” says Elon.

Tesla is known for having remarkable air quality inside their electric vehicles. They went as far as integrating large HEPA filters into most of their models, which Tesla calls Bioweapon Defense Mode.

The HEPA filter removes 99.97% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and any airborne particles with a size of 0.3 microns (µm). The filter is adapted into an efficient HVAC system to prevent decreasing the vehicle’s range.

Last year, when Tesla announced a software update to make the Model S HVAC system quieter, Elon was asked about Tesla making a home HVAC system, to which he replied:

“Oh man, home HVAC that is super energy efficient, quiet & purifies the air would be great. We developed it for the car, but it can be scaled up for home use.”

Residential HVAC is a product that Elon has been talking about for years and really wants Tesla to manufacture in the future. More recently Elon said that it is on Tesla’s list of future products.

It’s on the future product list. Especially important in places like Austin, which has next-level amounts of pollen in the air.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2022

Back in 2020, Elon Musk spoke about his desire to create a “super efficient” HVAC system for homes.

HVAC and AI seem to be two areas that interest Elon. Last year Elon said that Tesla would look into adding an AI-based HVAC system into their vehicles (and now possibly into homes).

The system could take environmental readings into account such as the air quality in the area, whether the car is in stop-and-go traffic, and automatically control car features that would improve the air quality inside the car.

The car could automatically enable air circulation or even turn on Bioweapon Defense Mode.

Tesla is working on many other projects right now and the HVAC is not in an advanced stage of development yet. It is unknown when Tesla will officially unveil an HVAC system but this news confirms that the HVAC system is in fact on a “list of products” and can be expected in the distant future.

I’m dying to do super efficient, quiet home HVAC with HEPA & water distillation. It’s weird, but I really want to do it.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 23, 2020

November 4, 2022

By Lennon Cihak

Tesla’s bringing its collection of revolutionary electric vehicles to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

The exhibit, dubbed “Inside Tesla: Supercharging the Electric Revolution,” will offer an in-depth look at the past, present, and future of the electric vehicle revolution. It will also showcase Tesla’s history, from its early and rough beginnings to the present global leader in EVs.

The exhibit will feature the most comprehensive collection of Tesla’s products to date. From early prototypes of the Model 3 from 2016 to the 2012 Model X prototype, as well as Tesla’s 1 millionth vehicle ever produced, these rare vehicles will be on display.

In addition to the vehicles, there will be information about the products and software that powers each car. Information about Tesla’s energy ecosystem, manufacturing automation, autopilot, and full self-driving expertise will be on full display. Attendees will also get an inside look at projects from SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Hyperloop.

“Tesla has revolutionized the automotive, EV, technology, and manufacturing spaces within a relatively short time span, begetting the question, ‘How did they do that?’” Terry L. Karges, Petersen Automotive Museum’s Executive Director, says in a press release shared with Not a Tesla App. “This exhibit strives to be a holistic walk-through of how the brand became a global phenomenon and further details what lies ahead.”

“Inside Tesla: Supercharging the Electric Revolution” will be open to the public on November 20 in the Mullin Family Grand Salon and Phillip Sarofim Porte Cochere on the museum’s first floor. The exhibit will be open until October 22, 2023.

For more information and how to purchase tickets, visit the Petersen Automotive Museum’s website.

November 4, 2022

By Gabe Rodriguez Morrison

The Financial Times recently reported that Tesla had talks with Glencore about taking a stake in the Swiss mining giant. It seems that Tesla and Glencore held some sort of discussions starting as early as last year. Discussions apparently continued until March this year when Glencore’s chief executive Gary Eagle visited Tesla’s Fremont Factory.

According to the FT, Tesla supposedly planned to buy a minority equity stake of 10% to 20% in Glencore but both parties were unable to reach an agreement. Tesla had concerns about Glencore’s coal mining business which conflicted with the EV manufacturer’s environmental goals.

However, at an investor’s conference today in New York, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla “never contemplated investing in Glencore.” It’s not clear what led the FT to think that Tesla was considering investing in Glencore, but there may have been conversations between Tesla and Glencore as Tesla tries to secure mining materials.

Glencore does plan to align itself with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and shrinking its coal portfolio over time.

Glencore is the world’s largest trading house and producer of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Australia, and Canada. A few years ago, Tesla secured a cobalt offtake agreement with the Swiss mining giant for Giga Shanghai and Giga Berlin.

Will Tesla invest in mining?

Although talks between Tesla and Glencore did not lead to Tesla considering an investment in the mining giant, the discussions hint that Tesla is interested in what’s happening in the mining industry.

Elon has said in the past that he prefers not to enter the mining industry, although Tesla will if they have to. Mining could become more of a constraint as Tesla increases vehicle production and scales the 4680 battery assembly line.

At the Q3 2022 earnings call, Elon was asked about vertically integrating into mining, and he responded:

“We’ll do whatever we have to. Whatever the limiting factor is, we’ll do. We do not artificially constrain ourselves. We don’t vertically integrate just for the hell of vertically integrating,” Elon Musk replied to Jonas.

“Like if there was a great supplier who’s better than us or we think is at least very good, or even where the economics of comparative advantage suggests that we should use that supplier, even if we could beat them, but we could use our resources to do something else that will be more productive, then we would in source in that case. But if we have to go mine, we will mine,” Musk explained.

The rise of EVs has caused many carmakers to become more involved in the mining industry to secure raw materials such as cobalt, lithium and nickel that are needed to manufacture batteries.

These types of discussions will likely continue as the need for such raw materials increases. It is possible that Tesla’s Master Plan Part 3 will involve the acquisition of a mining company so that Tesla can “scale to extreme size to shift humanity away from fossil fuels.”

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September 21, 2022

By Kevin Armstrong

Tesla may be ramping up how it uses simulation to train its Autopilot system. A report by Electrek asserts that it has sources claiming that the company is concentrating on a reproduction of San Francisco. The article includes an image of the recreation and states that Tesla is working with Real Engine on its simulation.

According to Electrek, the image below is part of Tesla’s simulation of San Francisco.

Tesla gave the world a look at how it uses simulation to advance the Autopilot program during the first AI Day in August of 2021 (recap).

AI Day

At the first AI Day Tesla talked about the use of using simulations to help train Autopilot. The video below is cued up to where they discuss a simulation.

Ashok Elluswamy, the Director of the Autopilot Program, showed a video that, at first glance, looked real other than an appearance by a Cybertruck. “I may say so myself. It looks very pretty,” said Elluswamy. He explained that the company is investing heavily in using simulation. “It helps when data is difficult to source. As large as our fleet is (FSD Beta users), it can still be hard to get some crazy scenes,” the director explained while showing a rendering of two people and a dog running in the middle of a busy highway. “This is a rare scene, but it can happen, and Autopilot still needs to handle it when it happens,” said Elluswamy.

It appears that Tesla has jumped on Fortnite’s Battle Bus by teaming up with Epic Games and its development platform — Unreal Engine. Fortnite is one of the most popular games of all time, with 80 million subscribers and 4 million daily users, and it was created with Unreal Engine. Epic flexed its creative muscles when it gathered experts to create The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience. The goal was to “blur the boundaries between cinematic and game, inviting us to ask — what is real?” The project spotlight on Unreal Engine shows just how incredibly realistic a simulation can be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU0gvPcc3

After Elluswamy explained that the company is investing in simulation, it makes sense that Tesla would be hiring several positions with simulation in the job description. Electrek pointed out one posting for Autopilot Rendering Engineer. The posting states the successful candidate “will contribute to the development of Autopilot simulation by enabling and supporting the creation of photo-realistic 3D scenes that can accurately model the driving experience in a wide range of locales and conditions.” Tesla prefers the candidates to have experience working with Unreal Engine.

While not new, this does show that Tesla is doubling down on efforts to improve Autopilot. It has recently rolled out Full Self Driving to 60,000 more users, bringing the FSD Beta program to 160,000 in North America.

We can only guess how many thousands of simulations the Autopilot team is conducting to add to the data the Beta testers are collecting. It seems unlikely that Tesla has only created the City by the Bay in its simulations. Perhaps Elluswamy will show more renderings at the second AI Day on September 30th.

November 3, 2022

By Kevin Armstrong

Shiny new Model 3s started appearing last month, missing the small, round polka dots on their bumpers. The circles were gone after the company announced it was removing the ultrasonic sensors (USS) to move to strictly Vision. However, after a few weeks in the wild, evidence suggests the company will mimic what USS used to perform and display.

Twitter user @EZebroni tweeted a helpful video demonstrating the difference between a Tesla with and without USS. It’s noticeably different then what Tesla drivers are used to seeing. The distance lines are gone, and even the images of what is beside the non-USS Tesla are not there, just a lot of white screen.

As seen in the video, a vehicle without USS will not display any information to the driver regarding nearby objects. The distance to nearby objects is not displayed on the screen nor are the colored arcs that usually display when an object is nearby.

However, update 2022.40.4 appears to reintroduce some functionality to owners of these vehicles, at least in shadow mode.

Twitter user @greentheonly, a well-known Tesla hacker, tweeted: 2022.40.4 merges no-ultrasonics code into “mainline,” now receives parking distances from Autopilot (where not equipped with proper ultrasonics).

From Green’s findings, it looks like Tesla is preparing to mimic ultrasonic sensors with Tesla Vision, which essentially means that the vehicle is likely to display not only the arcs when an object is nearby, but also the distance to the given object.

Greentheonly was asked several questions after tweeting this information. Someone wanted to know if the Tesla no-ultrasonics code was working in shadow mode, a blend or pure AutoPilot. Green said that it is not a blend, but he needed to figure out what is displayed on USS-less cars, encourage someone with a new Model 3 or Model Y to try 2022.40.4.

Although the code is available in 2022.40.4, it’s not clear yet whether Tesla is running this code in shadow mode, meaning that the code is run in the background without notifying the user, or if distances are now being shown on vehicles without USS.

Blind spot

One of the biggest questions that remains is how Tesla will solve the roughly 3 foot blind spot in front of the vehicle where cameras can’t see.

Some speculate that Tesla will fill in this gap by taking the information the cameras saw before the vehicle got closer to the object, but this may not work in all circumstances.

Others think that Tesla may be able to have the car back up in the rare situations where objects in front of the vehicle may have changed, such as when summong a parked vehicle. As these USS-less vehicles make it into more hands and update to 2022.40.4 we should have answers to some of these questions, however Autopark, Summon and Smart Summon remain unavailable on these vehicles, even with the latest update.

Will Tesla stop utilizing ultrasonic sensors like they did radar?

Another Twitter user asked if this would make the USS on the existing vehicles “ornaments?” This has been a widespread concern since the non-USS cars started showing up. Tesla addressed this matter when it announced it was removing USS. It states on the company website: At this time, we do not plan to remove the functionality of ultrasonic sensors in our existing fleet.

At this time USS have only been removed from the Model 3 and Model Y, but they will also be removed from the Model S and Model X in 2023. Green also believes the existing USS will remain operational, tweeting: not any time soon, I imagine. Also, the front ones still cover an area where the cameras don’t see.

Another user questioned, does it only take information from the moving/static object networks, or is it able to use the occupancy, and road edge networks as well? To which Green responded that he had not looked into that kind of detail yet.

The new world of non-USS is upon us, and there will be many questions. This revelation is likely the first of a long line of updates to assist vision in making up what was lost with ultrasonic sensors.

November 2, 2022

By Gabe Rodriguez Morrison

Since the Cybertruck unveiling in 2019, Tesla has pushed production dates back numerous times: from late 2021 to late 2022, to early 2023, and most recently to the mid-2023 target for initial low-volume production.

Tesla is reportedly planning to begin Cybertruck high-volume production at the end of next year. The company is preparing to set production dates according to a report from Reuters, indicating mass manufacturing of the Cybertruck to begin at the end of 2023.

It still seems that Tesla is on track to start low-volume production in mid-2023, with mass production beginning at the end of the year.

During the Q3 2022 earnings call, Tesla stated that it was working on preparing the Austin, Texas plan to build the Cybertruck, with “early production” set to begin mid-2023. During the call, Elon Musk said that Tesla is “in the final lap for Cybertruck.” The Q3 2022 Shareholder Deck also listed Cybertruck’s production status as in the “tooling” phase which means it’s preparing for production.

This aligns with timelines from IDRA Group, the die-casting company making the 9,000-ton Giga Press that will be used for the Cybertruck. The Giga Press has reportedly arrived in Houston, Texas and can be expected to reach the Gigafactory in Austin, Texas soon.

Reuters points out that gradually ramping up Cybertruck production starting mid-2023, reaching high volume production by late 2023 would mean that some of the roughly 1 million reservation holders may have to wait more than a year before their truck is delivered.

Elon stated that the company had more orders “than we could possibly fulfill for three years after the start of production.” For these reasons, Tesla stopped taking orders for the Cybertruck outside North America in May 2022.

The post Tesla is creating San Francisco in a simulation to assist practice Autopilot/FSD appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

September 21, 2022

By Kevin Armstrong

Tesla may be ramping up how it uses simulation to train its Autopilot system. A report by Electrek asserts that it has sources claiming that the company is concentrating on a reproduction of San Francisco. The article includes an image of the recreation and states that Tesla is working with Real Engine on its simulation.

According to Electrek, the image below is part of Tesla’s simulation of San Francisco.

Tesla gave the world a look at how it uses simulation to advance the Autopilot program during the first AI Day in August of 2021 (recap).

AI Day

At the first AI Day Tesla talked about the use of using simulations to help train Autopilot. The video below is cued up to where they discuss a simulation.

Ashok Elluswamy, the Director of the Autopilot Program, showed a video that, at first glance, looked real other than an appearance by a Cybertruck. “I may say so myself. It looks very pretty,” said Elluswamy. He explained that the company is investing heavily in using simulation. “It helps when data is difficult to source. As large as our fleet is (FSD Beta users), it can still be hard to get some crazy scenes,” the director explained while showing a rendering of two people and a dog running in the middle of a busy highway. “This is a rare scene, but it can happen, and Autopilot still needs to handle it when it happens,” said Elluswamy.

It appears that Tesla has jumped on Fortnite’s Battle Bus by teaming up with Epic Games and its development platform — Unreal Engine. Fortnite is one of the most popular games of all time, with 80 million subscribers and 4 million daily users, and it was created with Unreal Engine. Epic flexed its creative muscles when it gathered experts to create The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience. The goal was to “blur the boundaries between cinematic and game, inviting us to ask — what is real?” The project spotlight on Unreal Engine shows just how incredibly realistic a simulation can be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU0gvPcc3

After Elluswamy explained that the company is investing in simulation, it makes sense that Tesla would be hiring several positions with simulation in the job description. Electrek pointed out one posting for Autopilot Rendering Engineer. The posting states the successful candidate “will contribute to the development of Autopilot simulation by enabling and supporting the creation of photo-realistic 3D scenes that can accurately model the driving experience in a wide range of locales and conditions.” Tesla prefers the candidates to have experience working with Unreal Engine.

While not new, this does show that Tesla is doubling down on efforts to improve Autopilot. It has recently rolled out Full Self Driving to 60,000 more users, bringing the FSD Beta program to 160,000 in North America.

We can only guess how many thousands of simulations the Autopilot team is conducting to add to the data the Beta testers are collecting. It seems unlikely that Tesla has only created the City by the Bay in its simulations. Perhaps Elluswamy will show more renderings at the second AI Day on September 30th.

October 3, 2022

By Kevin Armstrong

Elon Musk started Tesla’s AI Day 2022 by saying, “I want to set some expectations with respect to our Optimus Robot,” just before the doors opened behind him. A robot walked out, waved at the audience, and did a little dance. Admittedly a humble beginning, he explained, “the Robot can actually do a lot more than what we just showed you. We just didn’t want it to fall on its face.” Musk’s vision for the Tesla Robot, “Optimus is going to be incredible in five years, ten years mind-blowing.” The CEO said other technologies that have changed the world have plateaued; the Robot is just starting.

Tesla’s CEO envisions Optimus eventually being like Commander Data, the android from Star Trek the Next Generation, except it “would be programmed to be less robot-like and more friendly.” Undoubtedly there is a long way to go to achieve what Doctor Noonien Soong created in Star Trek TNG. What was demonstrated onstage wasn’t at that level, but several videos throughout the presentation highlighted what the Robot is capable of at its very early stage in development. The audience watched the robot pick up boxes, deliver packages, water plants and work at a station at the Tesla factory in Fremont.

Development over 8 months

The first Robot to take the stage at AI Day was not Optimus, but Bumble C, another acknowledgment to The Transformers, as Bumble Bee played a significant role in that franchise. However, Bumble C is far less advanced than Optimus, who did appear later but was on a cart.

Several Tesla engineers took turns on the microphone describing some of the most complex elements of the project that was first announced one year ago. Perhaps the best description of the project was the company moving from building a robot on wheels to a robot on legs. However, that may be oversimplifying. For example, the car has two motors, and the robot has 28 actuators.

Overall design and battery life

Tesla’s brightest demonstrated how the production has come to life over the past eight months. It seems this group of computer masterminds had to become anatomist experts as Tesla took hints from the human body to create a humanoid robot. That is an essential factor in creating Optimus. Everything people interact with is made usable by a human, with two legs, two arms, ten fingers etc. If the robot differed from what the world is already designed for, everything would have to change. However, recreating the human body and its countless movements would take far too long, so Tesla has stripped it down to less than 30 core movements, not including the hand.

Like the human torso contains the heart, the robot’s chest holds the battery. It’s projected that a single charge would provide enough for a full day’s work with a 2.3-kilowatt-hour battery. All the battery electronics are integrated into a single printed circuit board within the pack. That technology keeps charge management and power distribution all in one place. Tesla used lessons learned from vehicle and energy production to create the battery allowing for streamlined manufacturing and simple and effective cooling methods.

Autopilot technology

Tesla showed what the Robot sees, and it looked very familiar. That’s because the neural networks are pulling directly from Autopilot. Training data had to be collected to show indoor settings and other products not used with the car. Engineers have trained neural networks to identify high-frequency features and key points within the robot’s camera streams, such as a charging station. Tesla has also been using the Autopilot simulator but has integrated it for use with the Robot programming.

The torso also contains the centralized computer that Tesla says will do everything a human brain does, such as processing vision data, making split-second decisions based on multi-sensory inputs and supporting communications. In addition, the robot is equipped with wireless connectivity and audio support. Yes, the robot is going to have conversations, “we really want to have fun, be utilitarian and also be a friend and hang out with you,” said Musk.

Motors Mimic Joints

The 28 actuators throughout the Robot’s frame are placed where many joints are in the human body. Just one of those actuators was shown lifting a half-tonne nine-foot concert grand piano. There have been thousands of test models run to show how each motor works with the other and how to effectively operate the most relevant actuators for a task. Even the act of walking takes several calculations that the robot must make in real-time, not only to perform but also appear natural. The robots will be programmed with a locomotion code; the desired path goes to the locomotion planner, which uses trajectories to state estimations, very similar to the human vestibular system.

Human hands can move 300 degrees per second and have tens of thousands of tactile sensors. Hands can manipulate anything in our daily lives, from bulky, heavy items to something delicate. Now Tesla is recreating that with Optimus. Six actuators and 11 degrees of freedom are incorporated into the robot hand. It has an in-hand controller that drives the fingers and receives sensory feedback. The fingers have metallic tendons to allow for flexibility and strength. The hands are being created to allow for a precision grip of small parts and tools.

Responsible Robot Safety

Musk wanted to start AI day with the epic opening scene from Terminator when a robot crushed a skull. He has heard the fears and people warning, “don’t go down the terminator path,” but the CEO said safety is a top priority. There are safeguards in place, including designs for a localized control ROM that would not be connected to the internet that can turn the robot off. He sees this as a stop button or remote control.

Musk said the development of Optimus may broaden Tesla’s mission statement to include “making the future awesome.” He believes the potential is not recognized by most, and it “really boggles the mind.” Musk said, “This means a future of abundance. There is no poverty. You can have whatever you want in terms of products and services. It really is a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it.” All of this at a price predicted to be less than $20,000 USD.

Tesla Shows Off its First Robot at AI Day 2

September 30, 2022

By Nuno Christovao

Tesla is hosting its recruiting event, AI Day 2 tonight in Palo Alto, California.

Elon Musk said to expect a lot of technical detail and “cool” hardware demos. We don’t know which demos exactly, although Elon did say the event will be focused on AI and robotics.

Elon also talked about how these events are specifically aimed at showing off the exciting things Tesla is working on to attract more talent.

We can expect Tesla to show off its new Tesla bot, Optimus, talk about FSD and AI and possibly share some details on FSD hardware 4.0 and its upcoming Steam integration.

Pretty much. AI/robotics engineers who understand what problems need to be solved will like what they see.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 29, 2022

start time

The event took place in Palo Alto, CA on September 30th at 6:15 pm PT.

Watch on Demand

You can watch the event on demand below:

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357 days since announcement

October 4, 2021

By Nuno Christovao

Elon has said various times that Tesla is not a car company, but rather an AI company. Tesla is using AI to solve problems such as auto high beams, auto wipers and of course FSD. Tesla’s tango with AI explains its recent move into robotics.

Solving FSD is just the beginning. We’re likely to see Tesla enter additional fields that rely heavily on AI. Tesla will be able to take everything they’ve learned in the world of artificial intelligence and apply it to a completely new product or even a new field, similar to what they’re doing with NeuraLink.

Elon has previously talked about how he would love for Tesla to develop air conditioning systems. Elon believes Tesla can make them much more efficient than they are today, but Tesla just doesn’t have the resources to enter another field right now. The use of air conditioning around the world currently accounts for 10% of global electricity usage, according to IEA.

Tesla may now be looking to introduce AI to Tesla HVAC systems. Twitter user @coffeetabletsla asked Elon if Tesla could develop a neural network similar to Deep Rain that’s used for windshield wipers, but instead use it to improve air conditioning. It could monitor when to turn the AC on/off, when to circulate air versus bringing in fresh outside air and take into account various factors such as current air quality, traffic and dirt roads.

In response, Elon gave his typical “Ok” answer, which has usually meant that Tesla is already working on a similar feature or that Elon is genuinely intrigued by the idea and will have Tesla engineers evaluate its feasibility.

Given Elon’s fascination with air conditioning and wanting to reduce the world’s energy footprint, this could be Tesla’s first entry into the HVAC industry.

This conversation started on Twitter when the official Tesla account tweeted “can we all just agree that pumping out carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide from cars on all the streets around the world is maybe a bad idea”.

OK

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 26, 2021

Elon replied to the Tesla account with “in close traffic, poisonous gas spewing from the car in front of you goes straight into your AC intake.” A fair point. We’re just hurting ourselves. He then snarkily added that “Good thing gas /diesel carmakers didn’t cheat on their emissions or we’d be in real trouble.”

Air quality is also something Elon has shown interest in before. In fact, Teslas in China show the Air Quality Index right next to the temperature near the top portion of the car’s screen.

In close traffic, poisonous gas spewing from the car in front of you goes straight into your AC intake. Good thing gas/diesel carmakers didn’t cheat on their emissions or we’d be in real trouble ?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2019

Teslas currently have an Auto AC button that determines when to activate the air conditioning system, although it’s likely to be similar to other manufacturers where it compares the indoor and outdoor temperatures along with the relative humidity of each environment.

By adding AI to air conditioning not only Tesla can reduce its energy usage, resulting in longer range for your Tesla, but it could also give you cleaner air to breathe. Your Tesla can give you fresh air when you’re driving alone on the road, and automatically switch to recirculated air when you’re close to other cars.

This is just another example of how Tesla is redefining cars and improving the world we live in.

September 26, 2022

By Kevin Armstrong

In addition to a new energy app, Tesla’s newest update 2022.36 includes a redesigned Supercharger map popup.

As Tesla continues to expand its Supercharger network, which stands at 35,000 and counting, more people are relying on this technology as part of their road trips, commutes, and daily lives.

In addition to the Supercharger map showing the distance to the sites and how many stalls are available, Tesla has added historical site occupancy and the charging fees. Similar to the feature when searching businesses on Google, Tesla now shows how busy the chargers are at any given time in the day.

Since Tesla is switching to charging rates that vary depending on the time of day in many areas, this change also makes it easier to see the price per kW.

This update provides a significant piece of information for those planning road trips. Now, you can determine the best times to arrive at a Supercharger station.

Users can still see the maximum power at Supercharger stations, another valuable piece of information for those wanting to hit the higher output stations and have less time off the road. Also, additional information is displayed for services in the area by simply tapping on the location of the Supercharger station. For example, users can find restaurants, rest stops, Wi-Fi and other amenities. This type of extra information is helpful for users and provides some increased customer traffic for surrounding businesses.

Tap the amenity icons in any Supercharger pop-up to find nearby restaurants, stores, and coffee shops. pic.twitter.com/4usUn8gGqG

— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) August 29, 2022

Tesla’s long-term vision for Superchargers is to leverage Powerwalls and solar energy to make charging efficient, while also making it comfortable and convenient through the use of Starlink-equipped Superchargers and providing nearby amenities.

Tesla’s first v4 Supercharger is expected to open in Arizona soon with improved charging rates and a newly redesigned Supercharger cabinet.

The new Supercharger popup is one of several new features. You can view additional features in the 2022.36 release notes.

September 24, 2022

By Kevin Armstrong

Tesla will soon send an over-the-air update to address the Automatic Window Reversal System. During product testing in mid-August, the company’s technicians detected the system varied in response to obstructions in the window path. After more testing, Tesla concluded that it would notify the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a voluntary recall to address the issue.

The majority of Tesla’s recalls are much different than traditional automotive recalls. Tesla owners don’t have to schedule an appointment and bring the vehicle to a service department. Instead, the company will update nearly 1.1 million Teslas using an over-the-air update. However, several news organizations picked up the recall, some linking it to the lower stock price when the market closed. Elon Musk tweeted: The terminology is outdated & inaccurate. This is a tiny over-the-air software update. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no injuries.

The recall and Musk’s tweet generated a lot of discussions on social media and in comments below articles on news websites. What Tesla is doing is not a recall in traditional terms. However, it is the only course of action available to the company in the current system to notify the government and owners of required changes.

With more of the automotive industry following Tesla’s lead, the recall term will be misleading as most fixes to electric vehicles should be conducted through updates, not physically bringing the car to a service center to change parts. A more fitting term that should replace recall in this new EV world should be: update. The headlines would read, Tesla is Updating its Automatic Window Reversal System. That is much more accurate to what is happening. It should surprise no one that Tesla does not fit the archaic terminology used by the industry.

In a report filed with the NHTSA, Tesla states that it “is not aware of any warranty claims, field reports, crashed, injuries or deaths related to this condition.” However, starting September 13, the company started updating vehicles’ firmware in pre-delivery and one production line. This change came one day after notifying the federal authorities about the voluntary recall. The over-the-air update will go to Model Xs, and Model Ss built between 2021 and 2022; Model Ys produced from 2020 to 2022 and Model 3s dating back to when the car first hit the market in 2017.

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Tesla may soon be bringing an HVAC with a HEPA filter on its systems in the future, which Elon Musk recently talked about online with a fan asking for the technology. The tech CEO said that this device is already on the “future product list” of the company’s future ventures, which is highly applicable in Austin, Texas.

Tesla HVAC with HEPA Filter for Better Air Quality

(Photo : Michael Fortsch on Unsplash )

Tesla may have something other than clean energy in its future ventures, especially with an upcoming focus on a product that is somehow different from its current releases. A Twitter user asked the tech CEO regarding the possibility of having an HVAC with a HEPA filter that would help him with his allergies, and it is something that the fan asks from Tesla.

HVAC is heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in one system, primarily for ducts in public places like malls, restaurants, gyms, coliseums, stadiums, and more. The user asked if it could be applicable as a device, something that Tesla or Elon Musk would make available from its devices that debut to the public.

The focus is to improve air quality, which would help avoid allergies to the air.

Read So: Tesla FSD Beta v11 Update Offers Single Software Stack for Highway, City Driving! Elon Musk Not Hyping the Upgrade?

Tesla HVAC: Musk Says it’s on the Future List

It’s on the future product list. Especially important in places like Austin, which has next-level amounts of pollen in the air.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2022

The tech CEO replied to the tweet and said it is already on the future product list, which the company is already working on alongside the top executive. Musk said that it is “especially important” for Austin and other places that suffer from the same situation, particularly with “next-level” pollen in the air.

It may be a device that the company would work on, as its electric vehicles have already adapted HEPA filters for its HVAC system.

Tesla and its Many Ventures on Tech

There are many technological advancements to Tesla’s releases, and it does not end with its electric vehicle ventures that bring the world clean energy transportation for mobility. One of the top focuses of the company is its power delivery for all. It includes a Virtual Power Plant that the company will answer with Powerwalls that will send electricity to the grid.

Another of Tesla’s focus is to bring more features to its electric vehicle that the drivers or passengers may use along the drive, and it would help them with entertainment and access to the many possibilities with it. Its latest addition to its infotainment system is the Steam Integration, which would allow the platform to run and bring its games to the car’s radios.

Now, there would be a different focus for Tesla and Elon Musk as it aims to enter something that would border on health technology which will be integrated into its innovations. However, Musk did not clarify whether this venture would be for the house as an appliance or in addition to its electric vehicles and HVAC system.

Related Article: Tesla Model Y, Model X Arrive at the Mount Everest Base Camp After Four Days

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41 days since announcement

July 20, 2022

By Gabe Rodriguez Morrison

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the company is interested in making its own HVAC system for homes. “It’s on the future product list,” says Elon.

Tesla is known for having remarkable air quality inside their electric vehicles. They went as far as integrating large HEPA filters into most of their models, which Tesla calls Bioweapon Defense Mode.

The HEPA filter removes 99.97% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and any airborne particles with a size of 0.3 microns (µm). The filter is adapted into an efficient HVAC system to prevent decreasing the vehicle’s range.

Last year, when Tesla announced a software update to make the Model S HVAC system quieter, Elon was asked about Tesla making a home HVAC system, to which he replied:

“Oh man, home HVAC that is super energy efficient, quiet & purifies the air would be great. We developed it for the car, but it can be scaled up for home use.”

Residential HVAC is a product that Elon has been talking about for years and really wants Tesla to manufacture in the future. More recently Elon said that it is on Tesla’s list of future products.

It’s on the future product list. Especially important in places like Austin, which has next-level amounts of pollen in the air.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2022

Back in 2020, Elon Musk spoke about his desire to create a “super efficient” HVAC system for homes.

HVAC and AI seem to be two areas that interest Elon. Last year Elon said that Tesla would look into adding an AI-based HVAC system into their vehicles (and now possibly into homes).

The system could take environmental readings into account such as the air quality in the area, whether the car is in stop-and-go traffic, and automatically control car features that would improve the air quality inside the car.

The car could automatically enable air circulation or even turn on Bioweapon Defense Mode.

Tesla is working on many other projects right now and the HVAC is not in an advanced stage of development yet. It is unknown when Tesla will officially unveil an HVAC system but this news confirms that the HVAC system is in fact on a “list of products” and can be expected in the distant future.

I’m dying to do super efficient, quiet home HVAC with HEPA & water distillation. It’s weird, but I really want to do it.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 23, 2020

August 29, 2022

By Nuno Christovao

According to Twitter user @ChrisZheng001, who has ties with the Tesla supply chain in China, the Model 3 and Model Y will be receiving a new steering wheel for the 2023 model year.

The new steering wheel will supposedly follow what has already been done with the new Model S; replacing the steering wheel stalks with touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel.

In a Model 3 or Model Y, the left stalk is mainly used for the vehicle’s turn signals, but it can also be used to activate or flash the car’s high beams. The button at the end of the stalk brings up the windshield wiper controls and wipes the windshield a single time.

As for the right stalk, it’s used to shift gears, enable autopilot and put the vehicle into park. The button can also be used to enable the vehicle’s emergency brake by holding it down.

In the Model S, which the Model 3 and Model Y are likely to mimic, these functions are moved to the steering wheel and the touch screen.

The steering wheel will likely be similar to the one in the Model S. However, it’ll likely be round since a major advantage of having a yoke steering wheel is to have a better view of the instrument cluster.

The upcoming steering wheel may be the one that’s featured in the new Tesla Semi photos.

Like the Model S, the touch-sensitive buttons wrap around the outside of the scroll wheels on the steering wheel.

On the left side you have the turn signals and high beam buttons, while on the right you have buttons for the windshield wipers and voice commands. On the Model 3, clicking the right scroll wheel starts a voice command, but in the Model S that’s used to engage Autopilot.

There is also a button for the horn, however, earlier versions of the Model S, unlike the center of the steering wheel also functions as a horn.

Other functions that were previously available on the steering wheel stalks, such as shifting gears are moved to the center touch screen.

Since the buttons and their designs are fixed, you can’t customize these buttons nor can Tesla change them through software updates.

I’d love to have seen tiny OLED screens for these buttons, similar to the Optimus keyboard that has a tiny screen for each key. That would leave room for customization or change down the road, although it would come at a cost and introduce additional complexity. Two things Tesla is trying hard to reduce.

In the summer of 2021, Elon Musk said that auto shift was coming to all Tesla models, so Tesla may have been planning this change for a while now.

It’s not clear whether existing vehicles with steering wheel stalks will also gain the ability to swipe to shift, but it’s possible since Tesla could use the existing steering wheel stalks as a backup solution if the touch screen isn’t working.

The backup solution in the Model S and likely future Model 3s and Model Ys are touch-sensitive gear buttons that appear underneath the wireless phone charger if the touch screen becomes unresponsive.

This upcoming change may be unexpected, but it’s not surprising, as Tesla often tries to reduce costs by simplifying designs and processes. Tesla also tries to reuse as many parts throughout their models as possible. While the Model S and Model X use a different steering wheel, it looks like the Semi may utilize the same steering wheel as the Model 3 and Model Y.

August 29, 2022

By Nuno Christovao

Tesla is set to release FSD Beta 10.69.1 tonight. Beta 10.69.1 is expected to be largely bug fixes, but it looks like it will go out to a wider pool than 10.69.

Tesla released the much-anticipated beta, version 10.69 to 1,000 beta testers late on August 20th.

Since then we’ve seen numerous videos of the beta in action. With so many changes in a release, some regressions are expected as well, which is why Tesla is being a little more cautious with this release.

Last night Elon Musk revealed some additional details on the next release. He spoke about who will receive the next update, which appears to indicate that the beta is still on track for tonight. In his tweet, he said that 10.69.1 will only be available to the existing testers on version 10.69, at least initially.

If there are no major issues found with the release, then Tesla will release it to another 10,000 testers, or roughly 10% of Tesla’s current FSD Beta pool after a few days.

If you were one of the first 10,000 beta testers in the US, then there’s a possibility you’ll get the latest beta this week, however, there’s no way of knowing whether Tesla will go out to testers in order.

Most beta testers in the US and Canada will not receive 10.69.1 and instead receive the next version, beta 10.69.2

That beta is expected to be a more stable build and go into “wide release,” which is expected to include all current FSD Beta testers.

Elon mentioned that 10.69.2 will “hopefully” go out next week.

FSD Beta 10.69 videos

More testers

If you’re currently enrolled in Tesla’s Safety Score in hopes of getting into the FSD Beta program, there may be a chance Tesla increases the beta pool after 10.69.2 is rolled out, but I wouldn’t expect that to happen before all current testers have received the latest beta and Tesla feels that the beta is performing well.

The last time Tesla added additional beta testers, they include owners with a Safety Score of 95 or higher, however, there were also reports of some users receiving it with lower scores.

If you haven’t been following the FSD Beta 10.69 release, you can view the release notes.

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California Lt. gov. Eleni Kounalakis made national news on Thursday by becoming the first woman in history to sign a state measure into law. The bill she ratified, Assembly Bill 2179, extends statewide eviction protections through June for renters who have applied for a state relief program – protections that would have expired this past Thursday had action not been taken.

Feel good story? Unfortunately, no.

Seemingly lost (arguably by design) in the national fanfare over Kounalakis’ historic first is the fact that the bill she signed contained a poison pill. Embedded in its text is a preemption clause that prevents jurisdictions like San Francisco from enforcing their own local eviction moratoriums, while allowing moratoriums in some places – like Los Angeles — to survive.

“There is no policy rationale for overriding local eviction protections in San Francisco, etc., while allowing other cities to protect their renters,” State Sen. Scott Wiener D-San Francisco and Assembly Member Phil Ting D-San Francisco, both of whom voted against the bill, said in a joint statement this week. “We shouldn’t be playing favorites by allowing some cities to protect their renters while prohibiting other cities from doing so. Cities must have the ability to protect their residents from eviction and homelessness.”

San Francisco is a city known for its political excesses. Trying to help its residents from being tossed into the street amid a deadly pandemic that continues to cause chaos in the global economy, however, isn’t one of them. And arbitrarily stripping the city of its ability to do so reeks of an ugly backroom deal.

Data compiled by The Chronicle show that nearly 21,500 households in San Francisco County were behind on rent as of February. Collectively, these households owe nearly $199 million.

More than $5 billion in federal funds has been made available to make the households whose back rent stems from COVID — and the landlords they owe — whole. But the state rental relief program charged with distributing most of these funds has been clouded by bureaucratic failures. Upwards of a year after California began accepting applications, not even half of the more than 507,000 households who have applied for the program have received aid. Those numbers don’t include more recent applications sitting on desks, waiting for the machinery behind this program to process them.

This is why flexible local eviction moratoriums remain so essential. And yet California didn’t just eliminate the ability of places like San Francisco to protect its residents, it cut off new relief applications as of March 31 – even as it actively pursues funding sources to expand the program’s pot. The state requested an additional $1.9 billion in federal funds last November, money that it is still seeking. And legislators recently passed a law to streamline the relief process to make it easier to quality.

It still wasn’t easy enough. In the wake of the bill’s signing, many lawmakers expressed concern that non-English speakers and some other groups had struggled to navigate the process and had been left behind.

We urge these and other lawmakers to take stock of the system’s failures and aggressively move to remedy them — before a wave of evictions swells the ranks of the state’s homeless population.

It’s not as if California lacks the capability to put money in people’s pockets in a hurry. gov. Newsom is lobbying for an $11 billion rebate that would give $400 debit cards to car owners — including electric vehicle owners — to combat the rising costs of gas. Payments could conceivably go out as soon as July. That Tesla owners could see direct relief from a momentary gas price hike, as thousands of struggling renters are thrown out of their homes due to bureaucratic bungling, is an injustice that can’t be allowed to occur.

Landlords are right to insist that tenants can’t be allowed to forgo rent payments in perpetuity. Blanket eviction moratoriums have to end eventually. The quickest and most ethical way to get to this place, however, is for California to more efficiently use the massive pot of funds at its disposal to make those with COVID debt whole. If we’re prepared to clear the way to put cash in the pockets of Tesla owners, we can do the same for those at risk of eviction and homelessness.

This commentary is from The Chronicle’s editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.

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The lawsuit also contradicts many of the accusations Tesla made against the DFEH. The EV maker said that, “at a time when manufacturing jobs are leaving California, the DFEH has decided to sue Tesla instead of constructively working with us.” Tesla said that was “both unfair and counterproductive, especially because the allegations focus on events from years ago.” The Californian agency has a very different story to tell.

According to the lawsuit, DFEH “attempted to resolve this matter without litigation.” The Californian agency said it “invited Tesla to participate in a mediation session with the department’s internal dispute resolution division on January 12 and 20, 2022, but Tesla refused to attend until February 8, 2022.”

On February 7, 2022, “Tesla announced the DFEH investigation for the first time during the three-year investigation in its Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K.” On February 8, “the parties were unable to resolve the administrative complaints at the mediation.”

On February 9, Tesla published a blog post complaining about the Californian agency, implying it could leave the state for good due to that. The DFEH lawsuit was filed on the same day. It states it happened on February 9, 2021, which was clearly a typo.

The way DFEH puts it, it seems Tesla did everything it could to have a legal battle while pretending it did not want it. Considering the DFEH would not lie about a mediation session, the behavior Tesla presented in this case looks not only elusive, but also incredibly unwise to put it in political terms.

Owen Diaz won a lawsuit against Tesla for racial harassment and discrimination. A San Francisco jury ruled he should receive $6.9 million for emotional distress and $130 million for punitive damages. Tesla is now fighting to reduce the punitive damages award in courts. Confronted with the Californian agency’s lawsuit, the court may decide it was a fair value. And Tesla may have to pay even more if the Superior Court of California decides the DFEH’s allegations are correct.

The cases would also not be from years ago, as Tesla said. The company stated the DFEH “has been asked on almost 50 occasions by individuals who believe they were discriminated against or harassed to investigate Tesla.” According to the EV maker, it would have concluded all investigations “without a finding of misconduct against Tesla.” The DFEH denies that.

In its lawsuit, it said that “after approximately three years of investigation, receiving hundreds of complaints from workers and serving many to Tesla, DFEH issued a cause finding on January 3, 2022.” In other words, the investigation started around 2019 and ended very recently.

Summing up, we’re talking about hundreds of complaints, of which only some may have been served to Tesla. That’s probably why the company concluded that they were only “almost 50” instead of way more than that.

It is not clear why DFEH served only a few to Tesla nor why it issued only one cause finding to deal with hundreds of complaints. Perhaps a single, more general one was all it took, but we’d need to confirm that with the DFEH. We have sent a few questions to the Californian agency. All we received back was a copy of the lawsuit.

It shows the DFEH seems to have had enough with Tesla’s behavior. It states that “Mr. Musk is infamous for taking positions that run counters to those of other car companies, technology companies, billionaires and workers.” It also notes that “Tesla’s brand, purportedly highlighting a socially conscious future, masks the reality of a company that profits from an army of production workers, many of whom are people of color, working under egregious conditions.”

A little further ahead, the lawsuit shows a pretty grim working environment in Fremont. The DFEH did not expose the identity of the workers that complained about racism there or identified the people that perpetrated the multiple racial insults. They are only identified as “DOES ONE through FIFTY,” meaning that the DFEH “will amend this complaint to allege their true names and capacities when the same are ascertained.”

The DFEH does not spare the details of what African American workers go through “throughout the day, every day” at Fremont. Some of them claim to hear racial insults 50 to 100 times a day.

They include “the n-word, ‘porch monkey,’ ‘monkey toes,’ ‘boy,’ ‘hood rats,’ and ‘horse hair.’” African American workers also heard insults in Spanish, such as “mayate” (equivalent to the n-word or to calling someone gay, depending on the context) and “negrita” (little black woman).

They also hear racist jokes such as “n-word out of the hood,” “from the ghetto,” “Tesla [was] hiring lazy coons,” and “go back to Africa.” DFEH also says that the factory is racially segregated, which allegedly causes areas with a majority of African American workers to be referred to as “porch monkey station,” “slaveship,” or “the plantation,” where the management would “crack the whip .”

The environment in Fremont is described as threatening to African Americans. They see “swastikas, ‘KKK,’ the n-word, and other racist writing” onto “walls of restrooms, restroom stalls, lunch tables, and even factory machinery.” “One Black worker observed ‘hang N[ ]’ penned next to a drawing of a noose in the breakroom restroom. This worker also saw ‘all monkeys work outside’ and ‘f[ ] N[ ]’ on the breakroom walls.”

Workers with Confederate flag tattoos allegedly exhibit them proudly to try to start a fight with African Americans. If any altercation emerges, the latter are punished more severely, which can include even terminations. The same would not happen to the employees provoking the African American workers.

The DFEH also accuses Tesla of employing African American people in “more physically demanding posts and the lowest-level contract roles.” Tesla would also pay them less and prevent them from “advancement opportunities.” There are reports of “only Black and/or African American workers cleaning the factory floor on their hands and knees,” something no other group of employees allegedly had to endure.

The Californian agency even traced a racial profile of Tesla workers. According to it, “Black and/or African American workers make up 0% of executives and about 3% of professionals at the Fremont plant.” On the other hand, “about 20% of the factory operatives, such as engine and other machine assemblers, are Black and/or African American.”

The issue is that the DFEH did not do its homework as it should. It also states in the lawsuit that “segregation at the Fremont factory, along with the absence of Black and/or African Americans in leadership roles, has left many complaints of rampant racism unchecked for years.” The Californian agency either completely forgot about Valerie Capers Workman, Tesla’s former vice president of people, or tried to exempt her from responsibility to reinforce the narrative that an African American executive could have prevented racism.

Workman is African American and she worked for Tesla for four years. She became the company’s vice president of people in July 2020. If she did not do anything about the “systematic racial discrimination and harassment” in her one year and seven months as the main human resources executive at the company, there are only two possible explanations for that: either Workman did not think there was anything wrong, or she could not do anything about it.

When Diaz won his lawsuit against Tesla on October 4, 2021, Workman’s email to employees ended up as a Tesla blog post as well. It is still online and states that she “strongly” believed that “these facts don’t justify the verdict reached by the jury in San Francisco.” Workman also said Diaz was not a Tesla employee – as if what happened to him inside Fremont was less severe due to being a contract worker – and that “he didn’t make any complaints about the n-word until after he was not hired full -time by Tesla – and after he hired an attorney.”

The DFEH lawsuit presents 13 causes of action against Tesla. Summing them up, they have to do with racial harassment, racial discrimination in the work environment (leading to worse employment conditions for African Americans), retaliation against those who complained, and fail to keep records of complaints.

The DFEH is asking Tesla to be judged by a jury. If convicted, the Californian agency wants the EV maker to pay:

1. Compensatory and punitive damages;
2. Economic damages and equitable relief (…);
3. Liquidated damages and penalties as required by law;
4. Injunctive relief;
5. Declaratory relief;
6. Prejudgment interest, as required by law;
7. Attorneys’ fees and costs to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing; other
8. Other relief the Court deems to be just and proper

That can represent a significant financial blow to Tesla, even worse than that caused by the Owen Diaz case. After all, we are now talking about “hundreds” of complaints with really serious reports of racial harassment and discrimination. That’s something Tesla and its investors have to worry about.

For us, what is more shocking is having to imagine anyone working every day in a hostile environment such as the one described by the DFEH lawsuit. If that is really how things are there, the quality problems Tesla vehicles suffer finally have a convincing – and pretty sad – explanation.

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