The holidays are a beautiful time for getting together with family and traveling, and the cold weather can be challenging. In this article, I’ll share suggestions that will help make traveling a pleasure and safer. Should you encounter a winter storm, these tips will be helpful.
Preparing for cold weather driving
Day of trip
On the road (one added suggestion for Tesla)
Upon arrival to your destination
Preparing for Cold Weather Driving
Install winter tires and keep them inflated to specifications and consider Tesla aero wheel covers for your vehicle, they help maximize range. You can change the wheel configuration in the service section of the Tesla touchscreen.
Top off windshield washer fluid using fluid rated for cold weather. Tesla says, “In temperatures below 4° C (39.2 °F), use a washer fluid with antifreeze. In cold weather, using a washer fluid without antifreeze can impair visibility through the windshield.” Tesla reminds us to be cautious, “Windshield washer fluid can irritate eyes and skin.” Model Y Owner’s Manual Courtesy Tesla
Your phone is the key to your car so make sure your phone is well-charged. always carry your Tesla key card with you.
Tesla message “Tap key card and press brake to drive” credit the author
I’m sharing this small list of items to store in your frunk for snow and emergencies: Flashlight, water, blankets, extra jackets, snacks, portable shovel, snow, brush for cleaning snow off the car, and gloves. I also recommend a tire air pump, roadside hazard kit, your 110-car charger, and adapters in the front trunk.
The Nurse in me suggests creating a first aid kit for your glove box which should be a small ziplock bag with a few Tylenol capsules, gauze pads, medical tape, and medium and large band-aids. If you are traveling through unpopulated areas, consider learning basic lifesaving CPR and the Heimlich maneuver. Watching this 2-minute CPR youtube video could save your loved one’s life.
Day of Trip
Tesla recommends you pre-condition your vehicle and schedule your departure in the Tesla App. Tesla created a pleasant experience so that if you know what time you plan to depart, your vehicle (and the battery pack) will be warm and ready to go. If your vehicle is outside in the cold or ice, the good thing about this is that preconditioning will melt the ice off the car, and then you can brush the ice off by hand.
Below are Tesla’s best practices for what to do before your cold-weather trip. In the rare event, your door handle is frozen, try tapping the center of the door handle with the side of your closed fist to break the ice free.
Winter Driving Tips Courtesy Tesla
An easier way to open the door to your Tesla (if it is frozen) is the open it using the Tesla App. Tesla created this feature in November 2022 just in time for the cold weather.
Recent Tesla App Update, credit the author
I recommend customizing the controls on your app for your trip’s needs. Here I’ve customized Model Y controls on the App to show Defrost Car, Trunk, Unlatch Door, and Front in preparation for a trip.
Customize controls on the Tesla App. credit the author
On The Road
Tesla recommends driving in “Chill Mode” to conserve energy on the road.
Using seat heaters can also save energy, “Heating the cabin takes a significant amount of energy that can then no longer be used for driving range. If possible, lower the cabin temperature setting and use seat heaters for added warmth.” Winter Driving Tips Courtesy Tesla
A small blue snowflake icon will appear on your car‘s touchscreen if the battery is too cold to access all of its stored energy. This is just a reminder that you temporarily have limited regenerative braking and limited battery power. The snowflake will melt when your battery warms.
Cold weather best practices. Model 3 Owners’ Guide Courtesy Tesla.
Tesla advises, “Vehicle deceleration due to regenerative braking may vary depending on the current state of the Battery. For example, regenerative braking may be limited if the Battery is cold or is already fully charged.
To experience the same amount of deceleration whenever you release the accelerator pedal, regardless of the state of the Battery, you can choose to have the regular braking system automatically engage whenever regenerative braking is limited. Touch Controls > Pedals & Steering > Apply Brakes When Regenerative Braking is Limited. Tesla owner Dan Burkland explains, “this feature is a great way for people to drive the vehicle the same even when it’s super cold and regenerative braking is limited.”
On the freeway, you may use Autopilot, and be prepared to take over if there is reduced visibility. I always recommend that people get familiar with Autopilot and its features. When your car has a software update, it often means an improvement in Autopilot is on the way. The image below from Model Y explains the importance of always being 100% alert when you use Autosteer (Beta).
Tesla Autosteer (Beta) Mode, credit the author
I’m sharing a safety suggestion here for Tesla, made by numerous Tesla owners and summed up nicely by an owner in Dallas, Texas, “Will be cool when they update the navigation with real-time weather data. Avoid or react to dangerous freezes, blizzards, and cold. (And hail, tornadoes, etc).”
EMERGENCIES ON THE ROAD: Be prepared are ready to triage your emergency and either call 911, request help from Tesla using the App, or call Tesla Roadside Assistance at Toll Free: 877 798 3752. Tesla Roadside Assistance is committed to providing you with immediate roadside services, 24/7 365 days a year. See https://www.tesla.com/support/roadside-assistance
Upon Arrival
Park in reverse so that it will be much easier for you to drive onto a snow-covered road.
If you’re expecting snow or ice buildup, turn on Wiper Service Mode.
One Tesla owner explains Wiper Service Mode, “Tesla’s (wipers) don’t flip up, but I have put them in “Wiper Service Mode” which brings them above the baseline and outs them where the defroster can heat them. There are wiper heating elements down below on cold weather package Teslas, but it’s not that effect I find in severe cold, especially once you’re moving and the wind chill keeps them frozen.” Teslavangelist
Tesla Wiper Service Mode credit the author
Keep your Tesla plugged in as often as possible. Tesla says that this will help your battery stay warm by drawing a very small amount of power from the wall. Winter Driving Tips Courtesy Tesla
What should you do if you get a warning that your charge port is not latched in the App due to the cold? Keep it latched. Tesla owner Gary Mark, shares that, according to Tesla support, this feature was a recent software change to prevent the latch freezing closed inside port on some models. Once the charger head is warm, the latch will engage itself.
Charge your Tesla overnight up to 100% instead of the usual 80-90%. Your Tesla will use more energy to combat the cold weather and the battery will discharge faster.
CONCLUSION
I hope you have a wonderful holiday trip! Here’s a brief overview of my recommendations, many based on what Tesla also recommends.
Preparing for a cold weather trip is done some days prior to traveling and I recommend winter tires, antifreeze washer fluid, packing emergency supplies, and being familiar with lifesaving CPR.
Day of the trip: Pre-condition and schedule your departure in the Tesla App. Also, customize the App to make use of its many features.
On the road: Try Autopilot with Chill mode! Increase range by lowering cabin temp, using snuggly blankets and seat heaters. (I love the heated steering wheel too!) Emergencies can happen, so 911 or activate Tesla Roadside Service ASAP.
Upon arrival at destination: Ideally you’ll back into your designated spot, plug in your Tesla, and set your wipers in service position.
Do you love What’s Up Tesla? Here’s 2 other great reads…
Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas. Photo courtesy CVSherman.
Article by Gail Alfar, creator of What’s Up Tesla. Yes, I am a Registered Nurse. My passion is to spread enthusiasm for the transition to sustainable energy. All Rights Reserved. November 20, 2022. Updated on November 22, 2022. Special thanks to Gary Mark and Dan Burkland for consultation on this article. Header image of Romance Mode is courtesy of Tesla, Inc. Tesla Asia.
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Thanks for coming back to “What’s Up Tesla.” I love experiencing life in Austin because there are so many exciting changes happening here, and the original flavor of the city is also prevalent. For example, I drove around the city in my Tesla using FSD beta software to a restaurant that is still in operation since 1954! El Patio Mexican Food is one of many great places to eat in Austin and if you come here, I recommend it!
This article is about Elon Musk, Boomtown Austin, and Giga Texas. Elon Musk moved to Texas in 2020, and since then there has been fast growth in Austin. The night skyline is impressive, so I wanted to find out details about high-rise construction, as well as population and job market growth. Finally, I wanted to know how many cars are being made at Giga Texas each week, how many people currently work there, and what are Giga Texas’ plans for increasing production?
ELON MUSK
Engineering, design, and production are how Elon Musk spends 80% of his waking hours, and he sleeps about 6 hours a night.
Elon spends much of his time in Austin at Giga Texas involved directly with his team to accelerate gigafactory progress.
“But I think what a lot of people don’t realize, is what I do 80% of the time in engineering. You know it’s actually quite rare for me to give a talk. My day-to-day work at SpaceX and Tesla is almost entirely engineering and design and also production. Production is key, although I consider that to be part of engineering.” – Elon Musk, Baron Conference ‘22
“Whether it’s Tesla, Neuralink, or SpaceX, these companies were all founded with the ultimate goal of enhancing the future of human life and creating as much practical value for the world as possible—Tesla to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, Neuralink for medical rehabilitation, SpaceX for making interstellar connections possible.” – Elon Musk
While working with his team at Tesla, Elon also plans to launch Starship this year for its first-ever orbital flight. As Owner/Chief Twit of Twitter, he is orchestrating major changes to protect free speech by creating an all-inclusive platform. His net worth on paper changes daily, but in reality, this is just a number, the contributions Elon Musk is making to humanity will benefit our world forever. Society has put a $ value on that by investing in Tesla and SpaceX.
BOOMTOWN AUSTIN PROGRESS
The population and job market of Austin has grown since Elon Musk moved to Austin in 2020. Other American metro areas have experienced population decline. High-rise construction projects are a visual indicator of Austin’s Boomtown progress. Increases in job postings and a high GDP (gross domestic product) growth are two others.
Austin held the title of 2nd fastest growing city in the USA for 2022 by the American Growth Project based on the 2nd highest GDP growth of 4.3% (and other factors). This was close to the top-ranking San Francisco of 4.8%.
Every time I drive around downtown Austin at night, the skyline looks magnificent!
I created this chart of Austin’s skyscrapers and those under construction (greater than 200 meters tall). There are 6 buildings in Austin over 150 meters tall currently and there are 9 more under construction. I added Giga Texas on its side for fun!
From observing Giga Texas flyover videos, it is apparent Giga Texas is running one Model Y general assembly line 6 days a week. This line produces approximately 2000 Model Y per week. That number should grow soon because observations point to the development of two more general assembly lines.
I spoke with Joe Tegtmeyer about Giga Texas, and he explained that “General assembly #2 and #3 are being built on the Southwest portion of the general assembly structure (from around the main entrance south) and on floors 1 and 2.” Joe also told me that one of the general assembly lines is for the Cybertruck.
How many people work at Giga Texas? I could not find out this information directly, and there are two shifts working 6 days a week. My guess is there are over 9000 people working at Giga Texas. Elon Musk estimates that an astounding 20K people will work at Giga Texas over time!
“Giga Texas is a $10B+ investment over time, generating at least 20k direct & 100k indirect jobs” – Elon Musk on Twitter
Tesla gives opportunities to Texas military veterans in the Texas Veterans Leadership Program (TLVP)
In the Report on the Transition from Military Service to Employment 2022 from the Texas Workforce Commission, Tesla was thanked for hiring 14 Transitioning Service Members (TSMs). This highlights Tesla’s extraordinary efforts at reaching out to Veterans to offer them exceptional opportunities as they transition from military life into civilian life. Tesla is known for their Veterans Program.
“The presence of TVLP staff on Fort Hood Army installation has been instrumental in showcasing employment opportunities. In March 2022, Tesla hiring managers from across the country spoke with 93 TSMs and military spouses. As a result, Tesla hired 14 TSMs.”
CONCLUSION
Elon Musk calls Texas home and spends time directly with his teams in Austin at Giga Texas to accelerate Model Y production and build Cybertruck production. Although his net worth is massive, this is not important as it is just a number on paper, what matters is how Elon is contributing to making life better for humanity.
Boomtown Austin is an accurate term to describe the rapid changes I see living in Austin. Alongside the rapid changes, local traditions are thriving, and one example is El Patio Mexican restaurant, in business since 1954.
Nine buildings over 200 meters tall are under construction!
The population of the Austin metro area has grown to over 2 million
There are over 94,000 active job postings
Giga Texas is making progress: building two more general assembly lines for the Cybertruck and the Y, and there are two shifts working 12 hours 6 days a week
Article by Gail Alfar. Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – All Rights Reserved. November 12, 2022. Header image of Giga Texas is courtesy of Tesla, Inc. To learn more about Gail Alfar, click here.
UPDATED on January 25, 2023 to include information about Tesla hiring Veterans.
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In a rare appearance, Elon Musk talked at the 29th Annual Baron Investment Conference, on November 4, 2022 in NYC. For this article, I am sharing the parts of his talk that were about Tesla. Thanks to Ron Baron for this opportunity to hear Elon talk. Highlights,
Why he works so many hours
Why Tesla patents are free
Why autonomy matters
Elon’s First Principles Algorithm, 2 examples
Finding out the “Dilbert Ratio” of a company
On being all-in with his teams
Extreme Engineering Challenge
Tesla needs to get into the mining business
Investing in TSLA and the value of Autonomy and Optimus
Self-Sustaining Tesla Superchargers for the Zombie Apocalypse!
Tesla and SpaceX
“I think what I’m working on has an important effect on the future, in the case of Tesla, I think it’s fair to say that Tesla has significantly accelerated the advent of sustainable energy. Before Tesla, no one was doing electric cars, and now as a result of Tesla, I think, almost every major car company in the world is building electric cars and I think that’s a pretty big deal. But there’s still a long way to go to transition the world to a sustainable energy economy and so we still have a lot of work ahead of us at Tesla, but that’s our goal there.”
“For SpaceX, I think it’s important for the future to be exciting and for humanity‘s existence to be assured of in the long term, I think we must become a multi-planet species and a space-faring civilization. We’re here like 4 1/2 billion years after earth got started, 13.8 billion years into the age of the universe. It’s only now recently the last 5000 years that we even invented writing. I would say, date the first civilization by when there was the first writing, which was in ancient Samaria around five or 6000 years ago. So, we’ve basically just been here for a very brief instant. All of human civilization is a blink of an eye, if there was an eye, on an evolutionary time scale. So, I think its important we take the actions to ensure that the light of consciousness continues because we should really view consciousness as a small candle in a vast darkness that could easily go out.”
Elon Musk explains why Tesla’s Patents are 100% Free
“I think there is a role for patents. I would say if somebody’s spent a lot of money developing a particular medicine and has to go through expensive stage three medical trials and then they finally get some medicine that is approved but where the drug itself is cheap to manufacture, then I think a patent, in that case, makes sense, otherwise, no one would go to the trouble of doing stage three medical trials.”
“There are definitely roles for patents. In the case of Tesla, our goal is to advance sustainable energy and we can’t just do it by ourselves, we need the whole industry to go that way, so we gave them our patents for free in order to help them accelerate electric vehicles.”
The Importance of Autonomy
“We’ve not formally announced our next car program, so I can’t talk too much about our vehicle program or programs that have not been announced, but we do expect to make cars that are more affordable than the current Model 3 or Model Y (big applause by the audience here). I think by far the biggest factor is autonomy, in terms of the value of the car because right now, cars get driven for about 10 or 12 hours a week maybe 1 1/2 hours a day, but there are 168 hours a week and so if they were autonomous the cars could drive for 50 or 60 hours to see a five-fold increase in the utility of the car that could do autonomy. This is a really gigantic thing. It would also mean that we wouldn’t need anywhere near as many parking lots and this would also be helpful for the environment because you would need far fewer cars.”
Elon explains his First Principles Algorithm
Best part is no part! Interior Tesla Model Y. Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
“Well, I think the full explanation or at least an accurate explanation would take a long time. because the first approximation of a car is made of 10,000 unique parts and process steps. Tesla is, at this point, probably the best at manufacturing in the auto industry, which I think nobody was expecting.”
“Well, I’ve got this first principles algorithm that I find to be very helpful in the design and manufacturing of anything. People here may find it helpful. The first thing that you should do is make the requirements that you’ve been given less dumb. Whatever constraints and requirements you were given, they were to some degree, dumb, and you want to make them less dumb. If you don’t start with this, then you get the right answer to the wrong question. And the requirements must be given from a person who can explain the requirements, not from a department, because then you don’t know who to talk to. Then step two is to delete the part or delete the process step. This sounds extremely obvious, and yet, over and over again, we have found that parts are not needed, they were put in there, just in case, or by mistake. Or there was a step that someone thought was needed but was not actually needed. This sounds insanely obvious, but we have deleted so many parts from the car that did nothing.”
Two Examples of First Principles Algorithm
“There are so many examples, one example is there were three fiberglass mats on top of the battery pack. They partially covered the battery pack. I was on the battery pack production line, and the number one thing choking battery pack production was gluing these fiberglass mats on top of the battery pack. So the reason I repeat this algorithm myself is I try to first do things backwards. First, I try to automate it, then I try to accelerate it, just go faster, then I try to simplify it, and only then did I delete it. Because it turns out that the team at Tesla that does noise and vibration minimization, sort of making the car quiet, thought that the fiberglass mats were there because of the battery safety team for battery fire protection. Then I asked the battery fire prevention team what they were needed for and they said noise and vibration (laughter here)! So then we had two cars drive, with the microphone in each car and you could not tell the difference. So, we went to all that trouble for a part that should not exist.”
First Principle Algorithm: “So the reason I repeat this algorithm myself is I try to first do things backwards. First, I try to automate it, then I try to accelerate it, just go faster, then I try to simplify it, and only then did I delete it.” – Elon Musk
“Another example: And these were examples of chokepoints in the entire production system, I was running around the production line, just trying to fix the production line, just like a maniac, like a Tasmanian devil, just running around the factory, like a lunatic. The body production line for Model 3 was stuck because we had a laser welding cell to weld a small crossbar beam in the passenger footwell of the front seats. I’m looking at this beam, and I’m like “what the heck does that do?“ because the entire factory is stopped trying to get this laser weld cell to work. And I can’t imagine what this thing could do, and the production team said it was for crash safety. So then I called the crash safety team and I said ‘Is this for crash safety?’ and they said ‘Oh no this didn’t do anything we should delete it!’ It turned out to be totally useless, they forgot to tell the production team!”
What’s Your Dilbert Ratio!?
“Honestly, a bunch of these things just feel like you’re living in a Dilbert cartoon. I’m like, ‘Oh no what’s that one?’ Like any given company should have a question, ‘What’s your Dilbert ratio? It’s not zero! Dilbert quotient? Try to keep it low!”
Elon is All-In with his Teams
Around the time Elon Musk was living / working in Tesla Femont Factory, he gave a tour to Marques Brownlee on August 20, 2018. See https://youtu.be/mr9kK0_7x08
Ron Baron asked Elon Musk if this was him or somebody else who found these production problems. Elon responded,
“It’s literally me, it’s not someone else who did this, I was living in the factory in Fremont and Nevada for three years straight. It was my primary residence. I’m not kidding, literally. I actually slept on a couch in a tent on the roof at one point. And for a while there I was just sleeping under my desk, which is out in the open in the factory for an important reason. And it was damn uncomfortable on that floor, and when I woke up, I would smell like metal dust.” Ron Baron mentioned that he went to visit and they bought Elon a couch. Elon responded that “I stopped using the couch, which was in a conference room, and I just slept on the floor under my desk so, during shift change, the entire shift could see me, and that’s important because, the team, if they think their leader is sort of off somewhere having a good time, or drinking mai tais on a tropical island, which I could definitely have been doing and I would have much have preferred to do, I’m not actually a masochist, I think! (Elon raises one eyebrow and smiles) But the thing is, since the team could see me sleeping on the floor during shift change, just with nothing, they knew I was there. and that made a huge difference. and they gave it their all!” (lots of applause)
Ron asked Elon how he retains his best employees, wondering how Elon prevents them from leaving when they don’t really need the money. Elon said,
“Well, we do have that problem a little bit, so as a company has prosperity, and then people become wealthy, then for a lot of people, once they become independently wealthy, they just can’t bring themselves to work, or they just don’t want to work, and that’s totally understandable. No judgment! And so you know, I have a lot of friends who are extremely talented, they had some success earlier in life, and they just decided that was enough trauma, a good friend of mine said “Starting a company is like eating glass and staring into the abyss.” So when people say to me, “What can you do to encourage entrepreneurs to start companies?” I say if you need encouragement, don’t start a company!”
Extreme Engineering Challenge
“Well, my memory for technical matters is very good. But I think what a lot of people don’t realize, is what I do 80% of the time is engineering. You know it’s actually quite rare for me to give a talk. My day-to-day work at SpaceX and Tesla is almost entirely engineering and design and also production. Production is key, although I consider that to be part of engineering. Starship is something special. The holy grail, like the critical thing needed to make life multi-planetary and for humanity to be a spacefaring civilization, is a fully and rapidly reusable rocket!”
On Starship: “It’s a very difficult engineering challenge! If this was a video game, the setting would be at extreme difficulty. Not impossible, but extreme difficulty!” – Elon Musk
“We’ve gone most of the way there with Falcon 9, you’ve seen the rocket booster come back and land. And we also recover the nosecone or faring. But we do not recover the upper stage. So we’ve gotten to the point where we are about 70 to 80% reusable with the Falcon 9. With Starship, we are going for 100% reusable. iI’s difficult to see how profound a change this will be. A fully rapidly reusable orbital rocket has the potential to drop the cost of access to space by a factor of 1000. (applause) And I should say also, Starship is a very big rocket. It’s more than twice the thrust of a Saturn 5 and about twice the mass. The entire ship is designed to land propulsively. So it can land on any solid surface in the solar system. If we can make Starship work, then it enables us to over time, to get anywhere in the solar system! It’s a very difficult engineering challenge! If this was a video game, the setting would be at extreme difficulty. Not impossible, but extreme difficulty!”
Tesla Delivery Logistics and Tesla Mining
Tesla vehicles ready for transport at South Lot Tesla Fremont, picture credit Gail Alfar, author, 9/30/22Model Y await transport at Giga Texas near Austin, credit Joe Tegtmeyer.
“I believe I’ve said in the past publicly that our aspiration is to reach 40,000 cars a week by the end of the year. We had a bit of criticism for our Q3 (2022) results because we had a lot of cars in transit and the reason why is we got too big for our cars to be transported in the final few weeks. There just weren’t enough car carriers, and there weren’t enough shifts. But it’s actually good in the long run to smooth out deliveries and actually have cars in transit at the end of the quarter because then you’re not rushing to get everything delivered by the end of the quarter and paying all the expedite fees.” When asked if cars could be autonomously delivered, Elon replied, “We can also, if you’re in the area, we can have the car just drive it to you!”
On Tesla Mining: “But it is looking increasingly like for some of the critical elements of batteries that Tesla will need to get into the mining business: Mining and refining.” – Elon Musk
“The scaling constraints change as time goes by. At the beginning, we were very vertically integrated, because suppliers did not take us seriously. The best suppliers would not talk to us because a car start-up had not been successful in the United States since Chrysler in the 1920s when I believe they started up. So it’s been a century since a car start-up was successful in the U.S., that was not a foreign car company coming in that was already successful in their own market. For an American car start-up, Tesla is the first success in 100 years!
So, you can imagine, if you are an auto supplier, that does not sound like a smart, financial decision. So we had to build a lot of the stuff ourselves and be vertically integrated to create the car. And then that ended up being an asset. Because now we understood so much about the supply chain and what it took to build a car. So we were able to design an integrated vehicle that actually needed far fewer parts, and cost less and weighs less and has higher performance. But it is looking increasingly like for some of the critical elements of batteries that Tesla will need to get into the mining business: Mining and refining. We’ve never contemplated investing in Glencore, I’m talking about Tesla doing it ourselves.” (response to Ron’s comment)
Investing in TSLA and the value of Autonomy and Optimus
Tesla Optimus humanoid robot prototype at 5th China Expo. is compact and efficient. More photos here.
“I actually rarely try to convince anyone to invest in Tesla, and many times I’ve said to people, ‘Don’t invest in Tesla,’ and ‘Our stock is too high!’ But then people just ignore me, and keep buying the stock for some reason.”
“I think at a very high level I’d say autonomy is insanely a fundamental breakthrough. And no one is even close to Tesla for solving generalized autonomy or generalized self-driving vehicles. No one’s even close. And with the self-driving, as I talked about earlier, the car becomes roughly 5 times more useful. But it costs the same for both. Now can you imagine what would happen if the company was doing like 25 to 30% gross margins but suddenly that same thing was five times more valuable? What would that do to the value of Tesla and the value of that car? It boggles the mind, actually. So if you think of net present value and future cash flows, if you actually do the math on that, it’s insane. Then there’s also the Optimist program, which is our humanoid robot. We will leverage our manufacturing expertise and the intelligence we’ve developed for self-driving to have a useful humanoid robot. Now, the economy is fundamentally GDP per capita times capita. If you no longer have a constraint on capita because of the useful humanoid robot, it is not clear that there is any limit to the size of the economy!”
Self-Sustaining Tesla Superchargers for the Zombie Apocalypse!
Finally, in response to a question about if Tesla would use street lamp posts for charging cars, Elon Musk emphasized Tesla’s goal for Supercharging, “I think they are already doing that in London, and the long-term goal for our supercharger stations is that they will have Tesla Solar and Batteries at them so that as many as possible are self-sustaining. That the supercharger stations generate energy during the day, and then also have a localized battery pack so that people can charge at night. The Tesla supercharging stations would continue to function even in a Zombie Apocalypse! You just never know! That’s coming one day, we know it is, it’s just a matter of time!”
CONCLUSION
Elon Musk and Ron Baron at the Baron Investment Conference 2022
Elon works so many hours 16-18 hrs/day because the mission of Tesla and SpaceX is so important for humanity.
Tesla patents are free for all carmakers in order to accelerate the transition to all-electric.
Autonomy is a huge deal: Elon says, “…right now, cars get driven for about 10 or 12 hours a week maybe 1 1/2 hours a day, but there are 168 hours a week and so if they were autonomous the cars could drive for 50 or 60 hours to see a five-fold increase in the utility of the car that could do autonomy. This is a really gigantic thing.”
Elon’s First Principles Algorithm is very helpful in the design and manufacturing of anything.
Every company has a “Dilbert Ratio” and it’s not ZERO!
Elon is all-in with his teams, especially when there are challenges facing the teams.
Extreme Engineering Challenge: Starship is the biggest to date!
Tesla needs to get into the mining business, Elon said, “But it is looking increasingly like for some of the critical elements of batteries that Tesla will need to get into the mining business: Mining and refining.”
We are going to enter an Age of Abundance! Elon said, “We will leverage our manufacturing expertise and the intelligence we’ve developed for self-driving to have a useful humanoid robot. Now, the economy is fundamentally GDP per capita times capita. If you no longer have a constraint on capita because of the useful humanoid robot, it is not clear that there is any limit to the size of the economy!”
Self-Sustaining Tesla Superchargers with solar & batteries will function in the Zombie Apocalypse!
Author’s Note: Elon Musk also spoke about Twitter and X .com, you may listen to the full talk here. I write about Tesla and sustainable energy, so did not include those aspects.
Today, over a cup of hot Texas Pecan coffee, I began thinking about how great my Tesla is running on FSD beta, and I was wondering just how far away we all are from a Tesla Robotaxi.
My Tesla seems almost fully autonomous, so I wanted to find out about other peoples’ experiences. I did a little searching and came to find out there are many people all over the USA driving in many conditions with zero disengagements when they use FSD beta. I found out Tesla’s first concern is safety and that no other vehicle companies are doing it like Tesla. Let’s look further into these details, and come up with a smart estimate of how far away we are from full Tesla autonomy.
Three Tesla drivers (including me) experience near-autonomous driving on busy challenging roads
On a typical street in the suburbs in front of a typical Austin house, I got ready to do errands I put the Tesla in FSD beta mode –always remember that when you use FSD beta, your eyes must be constantly on the road and your hands on the steering wheel– and sat back and monitored the car’s driving as it began to wind around Austin streets, up and down hills and to a busy intersection where it made a right on red and merged quickly onto the 183. After a smooth change onto busy Mopac, the car exited onto a two-lane access road and a half mile down it slowed and turned onto a private drive and took us past parked cars, and stopped at the front doors of a medical clinic.
Several hours later, I was back in the Tesla. Tesla maps have a tab that says “hungry.” I used this to find a new place to get food and then pressed FSD beta and the car was off. We came to a 4 lane unprotected left turn –kinda an anxiety provoker for me– and the software found a break in the traffic and moved to the middle divider. After several cars, it made the left turn, moved over 2 more lanes, and then made a quick right. Taking a street I had never been on before, the car turned into a parking lot and stopped in front of the restaurant. We had a GREAT meal and talked about, you guessed it, Tesla!
People across the country, from California to Texas to New York, are essentially already experiencing supervised and safe autonomy on complex unmarked roads with turns, construction, and more.
Around the same time, in San Francisco, Omar Qazi of Whole Mars Blog, was testing FSD beta in his Tesla, he explains, “If you went and gave a few Uber rides using FSD Beta, the vast majority of the passengers would not notice that the car is being driven by software. Some people didn’t believe me so I ran an experiment… “ The first passenger had no clue at all that the car was driving itself, and when she found out she laughed with delight and called it cool!
The second passenger didn’t notice at first but then later noticed the car was stopping when Omar did not have his feet on the brakes, He said, “so this is like a driverless car?” He was clearly delighted and also thought it was awesome.
Meanwhile, in New York state, a similar scenario was playing out. Corey Aronson wrote, “Just did three Uber rides in a row. All zero takeover. All passengers on all rides had zero clue the car was driving itself. I can’t drive better than FSD Beta anymore, almost ever. Everyone is just on their phone getting driven by the robot.” Corey told me the most common things people ask first about FSD beta are if it “Works without the yellow road lines?” and “Will it put the blinker on?” Of course, the answer is YES to both!
What more is needed for full Tesla autonomy?
To try to answer this, I listened carefully to what Elon Musk said during the Tesla, Q3 2022 earnings call,
“The safety that we are seeing, when the car is in FSD mode is actually significantly greater than the safety that we are seeing when it is not, which a key threshold for going to wide beta.” – Elon Musk
Elon Musk explained that in Q4 2022, we should expect Tesla will release FSD beta to every single person that has purchased FSD.
This means that before we see full autonomy, more people need to use FSD beta, in order to contribute valuable data to Tesla’s AI team. The more use cases there are, the better!
Why is Tesla leading in this area and what’s the difference between what Tesla does and what other vehicle companies are doing for autonomy?
Tesla AI team has some of the best artificial intelligence researchers in the world, so the software evolves into sharper accuracy and greater safety over a short time. Elon Musk spoke about the great interest in Tesla AI at the Q3 2022 earnings call,
“Our goal with that AI Day was to push recruiting, and we’ve seen a massive influx of world class artificial intelligence engineers and scientists. It generated a tremendous amount of interest from some of the best AI researchers in the world.
I can’t emphasize the importance of this enough. Because I think, finally, it has become clear to the smartest AI technologists in the world, that Tesla is among the very best!” – Elon Musk
No other companies that aim to produce vehicles are like Tesla because they are relying on outdated, overpriced, and unreliable technology like Lidar and radar.
Elon Musk has stated before that Tesla will offer their autonomous capabilities to others. Thus far, I have not found any other vehicle manufacturer outside of China to be seriously mass-manufacturing electric vehicles.
No other carmaker in the world has scaled the production of EVs like Tesla has. Tesla aims to mass-produce autonomous-capable cars. Other manufacturers appear to be content with creating cars based on assembly techniques better suited to combustion cars and to employ “driverless systems” that are expensive, limited in speed, limited to where they are used, and cannot be scaled.
CONCLUSION
As shown in this article, Tesla vehicles are already capable of a high degree of autonomy in challenging situations including where there are no lane markings. If you define autonomy in the high-quality way that Tesla does, Tesla is so far ahead of any other company, and when they offer Robotaxi, it’s going to apply to every situation, and it will not be limited.
It’s hard to say if autonomy will be solved for Tesla in 2023 or beyond, but I do think that the larger the fleet of vehicles are, the closer we are to it.
As a Registered Nurse, I always advocate for maximum safety for humans, and this coincides with Tesla’s mission!
Currently, there has to be a driver in the seat supervising because the system still needs to be safer. When the driver detects an unsafe situation, that driver takes over and that data can be sent to Tesla
Tesla’s AI Team, the best of its kind in the world, strives to increase safety all the time. The smartest AI technologists in the world like to work for Tesla!
As safety reaches a point where it is above or equal to what the best human driver could do, we will start to see local regulatory agencies open the door to allowing Tesla to test Robotaxis on complex roads.
Who Will Benefit Once Tesla Autonomy is Solved? I believe a world where autonomy is the norm is closer than we realize. This article attempts to answer the question, who will benefit once Tesla autonomy is solved?
You can use Autopilot on your daily drives and disable it anytime during a drive
Images in this article of the Model Y Midnight Cherry Red are Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
Article Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – October 29, 2022. All Rights Reserved. “My goal as an author is to support Tesla and Elon Musk in both making lives better on earth for humans and becoming a space-faring civilization.” – Gail Alfar
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Elon Musk installed a giant 30ft fork in the road created by Burning Man artist Hunter Leggitt outside the Autopilot office in Palo Alto, will this be a permanent art installation? Tesla’s Optimus robot is already working at the Fremont factory, and exactly how many robots are in Tesla’s fleet?
This article asks these questions and covers:
The giant fork in the road
What Optimus can do, jobs, other fun stuff
Optimus will be safe
GIANT FORK IN THE ROAD
Fork in the Road at AI Day 2022, credit Chuck Cook
Hunter Leggitt studios created “MetaFork in the Road,” a whimsical 30-foot tall and 4,500 lbs steel installation representing the classic metaphor for a deciding moment in life when a choice between presented options is required. The artwork may be planned for permanent installation at Tesla Bay Area Autopilot / A.I. Division in Palo Alto. You can learn more about the art here.
“I love the inverse poetry of making metaphors literal There is a giant 30ft (literal) fork in the road outside the Autopilot office in Palo Alto” Elon Musk
UPDATE: On October 10, Elon Musk tweeted that he commissioned the art piece, “It was built & paid for at my request. Hunter & team did great work.” This article was cited in Teslarati.
You and I are living in an age of transition, at the time of the giant fork in the road. Most people today did not grow up with smartphones, but now we use smartphones every day. We did not grow up with robotaxis, and in the future, they will be commonplace. The same goes for Optimus, none of us consider daily life normal with the robot yet, but one day we may, if we choose that path.
What amazed me about AI Day 2022 was that Tesla’s Optimus prototype has a brain and is working in the Fremont factory. It is significant that Optimus was shown doing jobs. This included watering plants, delivering packages, and at a Fremont factory workstation moving parts.
In the live demo at Tesla Palo Alto, Optimus sees the audience and just knows that he is supposed to walk out to the middle of the stage and when he sees a crowd of people he knows that he should wave. When the music was playing, Optimus just knew it was okay to dance.
One day this good-humored Optimus will help us inside our houses cleaning, and in the meantime, priority will go to having the robots work in Tesla’s Fremont factory.
“Our goal with Optimus is to have a robot that is maximumly useful as quickly as possible. So there’s a lot of ways to solve the various problems of a humanoid robot.
We want to pick something that’s going to allow us to produce the robot as quickly as possible, to be useful as quickly as possible, we’re trying to follow the goal of fastest path to a useful robot that can be made at volume and we’re going to test the robot internally at Tesla in our factory and just see, like how useful is it?
Because you’re going to close the loop on reality to confirm that the robot is in fact useful.” – Elon Musk
If Tesla bots are indeed useful in the factory, then will they eventually work in other Tesla factories? Giga Texas, Giga Shanghai, and Giga Berlin could benefit from employing Tesla bots. Tesla also operates ~13 production facilities around the world including Gigafactory Nevada.
Optimus’ prototype was built in ~ 6 months. The aesthetic design of Optimus that Tesla will mass produce has design undertones from Tesla’s Cybertruck. One of the features I appreciate is that the pieces do not look intimidating, rather they look beautiful and artistic. The robot above that is shown with Elon Musk wears a Giga Texas Tesla belt buckle. This led me to write an article titled “Don’t Mess with Tesla Bot” for Scentwedge creator Arash Malek.
Elon Musk describes a futuristic scenario that includes different types of Optimus,
“I think we want to have really fun versions of Optimus, so that Optimus can both be utilitarian and do tasks but can also be kind of like a friend and a buddy and hang out with you.
I’m sure people will think of all sorts of creative uses for this robot. Once you have the core intelligence and actuators figured out, then you can put all sorts of costumes on the robot.
I mean you can make the robot many different ways and I’m sure people will find many interesting ways.” – Elon Musk
I’m excited to see Tesla develop Optimus to do many roles within the factory. I think Tesla could modify the robot to work in different situations in the factory. For example, the greenskeeper Optimus that goes around and waters the plants should look different from the foundrybot Optimus that works placing ingots into the melting furnace.
A humorous quote was written into the design of the wristband at AI Day, which said,
“IF YOU CAN RUN FASTER THAN 5MPH, YOU’RE FINE.”
The term owning and Optimus does not sound quite right to Elon Musk, and I agree. We wouldn’t want a society where Optimus is thought of as our property or slave, that is too reminiscent of the dystopian, science-fiction movies where slaves are oppressed and treated horribly. Rather there should be a concept of kindness towards Optimus because it is not something that humans program, it’s something that will have its own brain, and in a limited way.
For people who drive their Tesla on Autopilot, you just know that at any moment you can completely take over control of the car. You do this by pressing on the brakes, tugging on the steering wheel or tapping on the stalk in your car. You might not want a robot that just stops functioning only because someone taps on it. Optimus will have a deactivation receiving signal and Tesla is developing this for our safety, in the rare situation that Optimus is found doing something that would be harmful to himself or humans.
There are a few unanswered questions. How many Optimus is already produced and working? Or, how big is the current Optimus fleet? Where and when will manufacturing at scale start? Elon Musk explained that Optimus could help humans move into an age of abundance. So although we are facing a crisis of underpopulation, the lucky people that will be alive into the future will be enjoying an incredible life. That means, if you have children, their children, and grandchildren, will be living in an age of abundance.
“The potential really boggles the mind, because you have to say what is an economy?
An economy is sort of productive entities times their productivity.
Capita times output, productivity per capita. But the point at which there’s not a limitation on capita, it’s not clear what an economy even means at that point!
Economy becomes quasi-infinite. So, taken to fruition, in the hopefully benign scenario, this means a future of abundance.
A future where there is no poverty. Where people, you can have whatever you want in terms of products and services.
It really is a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it.” - Elon Musk
CONCLUSION
Optimus is already working in the Tesla Fremont factory, it is unknown how large the fleet of robots are there, and it is significant that the robot can do jobs such as water plants, deliver packages and function at a workstation
Optimus’ prototype design wears a “Don’t Mess with Tesla” belt buckle and has design undertones from Tesla’s Cybertruck
All Tesla’s products are built with safety in mind and Optimus is no different! The robot will have many safety measures and one humorous one is that, “If you can run faster than 5 mph, you’re fine!”
A giant 30-foot fork in the road stands as a monumental symbol at Autopilot office in Palo Alto and is planned for permanent installation, according to Hunter Leggitt Studio website
Read Elon Musk’s essay on technology for a better future Elon Musk is optimistic, lives with a sense of urgency, and takes action to make the future good. His essay is an inspiration to all people, and here he talks about exciting uses for the Optimus humanoid robot!
Who will Benefit once Tesla Autonomy is Solved? I believe a world where autonomy is the norm is closer than we realize. This article attempts to answer the question, who will benefit once Tesla autonomy is solved?
Credit Hunter Leggitt Studio for the header image of this article of Metafork in the Road.
Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – October 10, 2022 (Article updated on October 27, 2022 to say Metafork is possibly planned as a permanent art installation. It was noted that the MetaFork is not currently on display at Tesla Palo Alto as of 10/27/22). All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support Tesla and Elon Musk in both making life better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization.
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Optimus robot wears the Giga Texas “Don’t Mess with Tesla” belt buckle. Photo Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
Elon Musk is leading Tesla towards a bright future where the company is just as much an artificial intelligence company as it is a vehicle and energy company.
Elon spoke Friday evening on September 30 at Tesla AI Day 2022 in Palo Alto, California and he introduced the world to an Optimus robot wearing a Giga Texas “Don’t Mess with Tesla” belt buckle. The belt buckle was first seen at the October 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders in which it was used to announce the moving of the Tesla HQ from California to Austin, Texas.
Elon’s unveiling of the new Optimus is also worth a big celebration, so it is appropriate the robot wears the belt buckle. This article highlights,
Optimus is designed to be useful, affordable, and made at scale
Optimus has great potential to transform civilization into a future of abundance
Tesla is structured so the public can ensure a safe future in regards to Optimus
A technical presentation followed by a Q & A reveals more about Optimus
Optimus: Useful, affordable, and made at scale
Elon Musk explains,
“Our goal is to make a useful humanoid robot as quickly as possible and we’ve also designed it using the same discipline that we used in designing the car, which is to design it for manufacturing such that it’s possible to make the robot at high volume at low cost, with high reliability.
That’s incredibly important, I mean, you’ve all seen very impressive humanoid robot demonstrations and that’s great but what are they missing?
They’re missing a brain and they don’t have the intelligence to navigate the world by themselves and they’re also very expensive and made in low volume, whereas Optimus is designed to be an extremely capable robot but made in very high volume, probably ultimately millions of units and it is expected to cost much less than a car.
I would say, probably less than $20,000, would be my guess.
The potential for Optimus is appreciated by very few people.” – Elon Musk
Optimus has great potential to transform civilization into a future of abundance
One day our civilization may be one of great abundance, as Elon Musk explains,
“The potential really boggles the mind, because you have to say what is an economy?
An economy is sort of productive entities times their productivity.
Capita times output, productivity per capita. But the point at which there’s not a limitation on capita, it’s not clear what an economy even means at that point!
Economy becomes quasi-infinite. So, taken to fruition, in the hopefully benign scenario, this means a future of abundance.
A future where there is no poverty, where you can have whatever you want in terms of products and services.
It really is a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it.” – Elon Musk
Tesla is structured so the public can ensure a safe future in regards to Optimus
This important issue was emphasized by Elon Musk,
“Obviously, we want to make sure that transformation is a positive one, and safe.
But that’s also why I think Tesla, as an entity doing this, being a single class of stock publicly traded owned by the public is very important and should not be overlooked.
I think this is essential, because then, if the public doesn’t like what Tesla is doing, the public can buy shares in Tesla, and vote differently.
This is a big deal, like, it’s very important that I can’t just do what I want. It’s very important that the corporate entity that makes this happen, is something that the public can properly influence.
So I think the Tesla structure is ideal for that. Like I said, self-driving cars will certainly have a tremendous impact on the world.
I think they will improve the productivity of transport by at least a half order of magnitude, perhaps an order of magnitude, perhaps more.
Optimus has maybe a two order of magnitude potential improvement in economic output. It’s not clear what the limit actually even is. But we need to do this in the right way. We need to do it carefully, and safely and ensure that the outcome is one that is beneficial to civilization and one that humanity wants.
This is extremely important, obviously.” – Elon Musk
Elon Musk also explained to the audience that,
“At Tesla, we really care about doing the right thing or are inspired to do the right thing, and really not pave the road to hell with good intentions and I think the road to hell is mostly paved with bad intentions, but every now and again, there’s a good intention in there.
We want to do the right thing.” – Elon Musk
Tesla Optimus humanoid robot. Photo Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
A technical presentation followed by a Q & A reveals more about Optimus
You can watch the presentation on Tesla YouTube, and it may be best watched in parts as it is
technical.
Prior to questions and answers from the audience, Elon explained,
“We really wanted to show the depth and breadth of Tesla and artificial intelligence, compute hardware, robotics actuators, and try to really shift the perception of the company away from … you know a lot of people think we’re just a car company, or we make cool cars, or whatever.
Most people have no idea that Tesla is arguably the leader in AI hardware and software and that we are building what is arguably the first, the most radical computer architecture since the Cray-1 supercomputer.
I think if you’re interested in developing some of the most advanced technology in the world that’s going to affect the world in a positive way, Tesla is the place to be.” – Elon Musk
Many interesting points were made during the 40-minute Q & A session, including,
There will be endless possibilities for Optimus, many different versions are planned
You will be able to have a conversation with Optimus
As a safety precaution, Optimus will not have over-the-air updates. Optimus will have a safety off-switch
Optimus should be ready for customers in 3-5 years
Tesla may begin a monthly podcast to explain what is going on behind the scenes
Tesla Optimus humanoid robot. Photo Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
It has great potential to transform civilization into a future of abundance.
To ensure this is done right, Elon Musk explained that, “Obviously, we want to make sure that transformation is a positive one, and safe. But that’s also why I think Tesla, as an entity doing this, being a single class of stock publicly traded owned by the public is very important and should not be overlooked. I think this is essential, because then, if the public doesn’t like what Tesla is doing, the public can buy shares in Tesla, and vote differently. This is a big deal, like, it’s very important that I can’t just do what I want. It’s very important that the corporate entity that makes this happen, is something that the public can properly influence. So I think the Tesla structure is ideal for that.”
How do you think an Optimus Robot could make your life more abundant?
Giant fork in the road leads to Tesla’s Optimus AI Tesla’s Optimus robot is already working at the Fremont factory, and exactly how many robots are in Tesla’s fleet? Elon Musk installed a giant 30ft fork in the road created by Burning Man artist Hunter Leggitt outside the Autopilot office in Palo Alto, will this be a permanent art installation?
Read Elon Musk’s essay on technology for a better future Elon Musk is optimistic, lives with a sense of urgency, and takes action to make the future good. His essay is an inspiration to all people, and here he talks about exciting uses for the Optimus humanoid robot!
Who will Benefit once Tesla Autonomy is Solved? I believe a world where autonomy is the norm is closer than we realize. This article attempts to answer the question, who will benefit once Tesla autonomy is solved?
Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – October 2, 2022. All Rights Reserved.
My goal as an author is to support Tesla and Elon Musk in both making life better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization.
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Last week, my commute to work across Austin using Tesla Full Self Driving Beta version 10.69.2 was flawless! I continue to experience this daily.
I believe a world where autonomy is the norm is closer than we realize. This article attempts to answer the question, who will benefit once Tesla autonomy is solved?
Anyone who is unable or does not want to own a car
The Elderly and other People in need
Commercial Industry
Mars building team
Millions of people will avoid fatalities and injuries
Tesla Humanoid Robot
Anyone who is unable or does not want to own a car
Tesla S Interior, credit, Tesla Gallery
“Self-driving electric cars will be all that matters. Gas car without autonomy will be like riding a horse & using a flip phone. That still happens, but it’s niche.” July 2022 – Elon Musk
Three of my kids use Uber to get to work and school instead of owning a car, but the cost is high for this service. Going to work daily in a shared autonomous vehicle (a dedicated Robotaxi) will cost much less than today’s Uber or Lyft because an autonomous vehicle will not have to have a person at the wheel.
When costs to commute in dedicated Robotaxis become low enough, it can follow that many people will decide not to buy a vehicle.
The commute as we know it can be transformed when autonomy is solved.
Tim Urban tweeted, “The big story is hard to see when you’re inside of it. We’re all this wrong about something right now.” Tim quoted a newspaper clip from December 2000 from the Daily Mail which read “Internet may be just a passing fad as millions give up on it.” The article cited ‘experts’ from the Virtual Society project, which published a report saying that “predictions that the Internet would revolutionize the way society works have proved wildly inaccurate.”
So, as weird as it may sound, it may become niche to own a car at all in the future. Can we imagine a future where the majority of vehicles are autonomous?
“When the car is FSD without supervision, ie Robotaxi, you’ll be able to earn far more than monthly lease/loan cost by allowing others to use it. Managing a small fleet of Robotaxis will be a career for many & much better than driving a single car. “ October 2019 – Elon Musk
The Elderly and Other People in Need
I reached out to several Tesla owners and others for ideas, and many agree that when Tesla autonomy is solved, it can benefit the elderly and the disabled.
“I am completely blind, and would love to walk you through an average day, and how many times an autonomous vehicle would be of assistance.” rlloken
“It will give the elderly greater independence for longer. Also opens doors for the physically disabled folks who might not be able to drive currently.” Wanda Hudson
“People with physical disabilities and medical conditions such as seizure disorders & visual impairment would greatly benefit from such incredible technology. And those who depend on others to get places. For many, it will be independence they never experienced before.” IheartTesla
Tesla autonomy has to be able to work on roads that the car hasn’t been on before and in situations where there is no connectivity. This will help many people who live in rural areas to gain independence if they cannot own a car.
War situations put people in great danger and autonomous vehicles could help bring supplies and rescue people. Tesla autonomy has to be able to work in millions of unpredictable situations and that will include places with unrest.
Commercial Industry
Tesla Semi, credit, Tesla Gallery
Autonomous Tesla Semi will be a huge benefit to businesses and allow the trucker to perform other valuable tasks instead of tedious driving.
Autonomy will lead to lower costs for production and delivery of all goods and food throughout the entire supply chain. Delivering these essentials will be less expensive.
Mars Building Team
Credit Arash Malik Cybertruck is like a Mars Rover for Earth.
Elon Musk tweeted right after the official Cybertruck unveiling in Nov 2019,
“Tesla Cybertruck (pressurized edition) will be official truck of Mars.”
I believe that in our lifetime, humans will travel to Mars. When the Mars building team gets there they can all benefit from autonomous Cybertrucks that will help deliver and haul in extreme conditions. In this sense, these heavy-duty vehicles can protect human lives and help build the first outpost on Mars.
Just as there is a small window of opportunity for humans to make it to Mars, there is also a similar small window of time where full autonomy can be solved. Now is that time.
Millions of People will Avoid Fatalities and Injuries
Every day Tesla gets closer to solving autonomy, and we see vehicle safety improvements. Tesla does not intend to create autonomy that is specific to keeping a car in its lane or even lane changes. Autonomy for Tesla is a generalized solution.
"I definitely want talented people who are working on AI to consider working at Tesla because I think we’re solving an important part of AI, and one that can ultimately save millions of lives and prevent tens of millions of serious injuries by driving an order of magnitude safer than people.”
Elon Musk (at 2022 Sharholder's Meeting)
If you have ever taken care of kids you know how frightening it is when a child runs into a busy street. It is heartbreaking to hear about a life ending in a car crash.
There were 35,766 fatalities and 1,593,390 injuries from crashes in 2020 (source data NHTSA) There were a total of 5,982 pedestrian fatalities from being struck by a car (source data NHTSA). Distracted driving led to 3,142 deaths in 2020, NHTSA reported, “The number of fatalities in distraction-affected crashes, i.e., a crash involving at least one driver who was distracted, was 3,142 or 8.1 percent of all fatalities in 2020. This represents a 0.7-percent increase from 3,119 in 2019.” – Overview of Motor Vehicle Crashes 2020
Tesla expects the safety level of autonomous cars to be 10 times safer than non-autonomous cars.
Safety is emphasized in this excerpt from Tesla’s blog,
“In the US, there is one automotive fatality every 86 million miles across all vehicles from all manufacturers.
For Tesla, there is one fatality, including known pedestrian fatalities, every 320 million miles in vehicles equipped with Autopilot hardware.
If you are driving a Tesla equipped with Autopilot hardware, you are 3.7 times less likely to be involved in a fatal accident.
Tesla Autopilot does not prevent all accidents – such a standard would be impossible – but it makes them much less likely to occur.
It unequivocally makes the world safer for the vehicle occupants, pedestrians and cyclists.
No one knows about the accidents that didn’t happen, only the ones that did.
The consequences of the public not using Autopilot, because of an inaccurate belief that it is less safe, would be extremely severe.
There are about 1.25 million automotive deaths worldwide.
If the current safety level of a Tesla vehicle were to be applied, it would mean about 900,000 lives saved per year.
We expect the safety level of autonomous cars to be 10 times safer than non-autonomous cars.”
When Elon Musk spoke at the ONS 2022 conference in Norway, he emphasized the importance of having Tesla cars being able to do self-driving when he answered the question, “what keeps you up at night?” he stated,
“But I am fundamentally an engineer or a technologist and so the two technologies I am focused on to ideally, get done before the end of the year are getting our Starship to orbit, which I think is important for expanding consciousness beyond earth and life beyond Earth. And then, having the Tesla cars being able to do self driving. So have self driving and wide release at least In the USA, and hopefully, potentially in Europe, depending on regulatory approval.” – Elon Musk
Tesla is developing a helpful humanoid robot that will rely on the same technology that is available in every vehicle. At Tesla AI Day 2021, Elon Musk said,
It's around 5’ 8”, has sort of a screen where the head is for useful information, it’s otherwise basically got an autopilot system in it so its got cameras, about eight cameras, full self-driving computer, and makes use of all of the same tools that we use in the car.
Things that I think are really hard about having a useful humanoid robot is, can it navigate through the world without being explicitly trained? I mean without explicit line-by-line instructions?
Tesla AI Day Part 2 on September 30 will be very interesting as it will reveal the incredible progress as well as the challenges of building a humanoid robot whose purpose is to help humans in a world built by humans.
CONCLUSION
This quote from Tim Urban invites us all to imagine the future. “The big story is hard to see when you’re inside of it. We’re all this wrong about something right now.”
When Tesla Autonomy is solved, people of all ages can benefit. This article highlights these 6 ways:
The elderly and also the many talented people with disabilities that make it so they cannot drive
People who live in areas of unrest or war and even in rural areas
All of us because we depend on the commercial industry and its supply chain. When this becomes driven by autonomy, it will usher in a new era
We will go to Mars one day, and having an autonomous fleet of pressurized Cybertrucks there will help get the hard work done
Fatalities and injuries will be reduced by a large margin, saving millions of lives. Tesla expects the safety level of autonomous cars to be 10 times safer than non-autonomous cars
People will benefit from a high-functioning Telsa bot fleet, which relies on the same tools as Tesla cars
This article is part one of a series. It is written before “Tesla AI Day II.” We’ll look at this question again after the September 30 event. Tesla and SpaceX remain the top two most desirable places to work for engineers and hire some of the smartest people in the world to work on their AI Team.
Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – This article was created by Gail Alfar with the goal to inspire you to support the important advancement of generalized autonomy as a force for good. The header photo is by @BLKMDL3 with permission. All Rights Reserved. September 18, 2022
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Elon Musk with reporters, Stavenger, Norway. credit video image from TV 2 Norway.
You may notice that it is rare for Elon Musk to talk with reporters. In a gesture of love for Norway and it’s people, he stopped and had an informal conversation with reporters outside under the beautiful trees on his way into the ONS 2022 Conference (on August 29, in Stavanger). Here is the conversation and major highlights. I also share my informal outlook at the end of the article.
Gratitude from Elon Musk to Tesla owners in Norway
Why we need to maintain oil and gas production
Is it possible for Norway to produce more wind and hydropower?
Norway possibly storing wind power from North Sea in large battery packs
World’s Biggest Challenges: Underpopulation and transition to sustainable energy
Underpopulation is at a crisis level
Elon Musk visits Norway to show appreciation for the support of the Norwegian people for electric vehicles
Elon Musk: Hello everyone, I look forward to speaking today.
Reporter: Why did you come to Stavanger?
Elon Musk: Actually I came in appreciation for the support of the Norwegian people for electric vehicles. I wanted to say thank you to the people of Norway for their tremendous support for sustainable transport over the many years.
Reporter: What’s your message for today?
Elon Musk: Actually I came in appreciation for the support of the Norwegian people for electric vehicles. I think I’m going to maybe answer some questions and provide some ideas for the transition to a sustainable energy world, But, like I said, the reason that I’m here is in appreciation for the support that the people of Norway have provided for electric vehicles, so once again, thank you very much for that!
Civilization depends on energy and would crumble without it
Reporter: What do you think about the oil and gas now? Should we use it?
Elon Musk: I think, realistically, we do need to use oil and gas in the short term, because otherwise, civilization would crumble. So, in order for civilization to continue to function, we do need oil and gas. And I think actually, especially these days, with the Russia sanctions, we do need to provide oil and gas to keep civilization running. I think any reasonable person would conclude that. While at the same time accelerating the advent of sustainable energy.
Winters in Norway may benefit from stationary battery packs storing wind, hydropower
Reporter: So, Norway should explore more?
Elon Musk: I think some additional exploration is warranted at this time, and also continue to support the transition to electric vehicles.
I was sort of wondering if it’s possible for Norway to produce more perhaps hydropower, and wind power as well? And potentially export that to Southern Europe?
But overall, I’m very glad to be here and I’m looking forward to a lovely day, and I always have a great time here in Norway.
Reporter: Would you consider yourself endorsing oil and gas?
Elon Musk: No, ha ha, I’ve got to focus on sustainable energy, electric vehicles, stationary battery packs, and solar.
But, one of the things I was wondering, is if there might be sort of the North Sea, places where it’s very windy, there might be a potential for a tremendous amount of wind power. And then, when combined with stationary battery packs, this could be a very strong sustainable energy source in the winter. So, that seems like something that would be worth exploring as well.
Reporter: You were here in 2014, what is the biggest difference now?
Elon Musk: I don’t know, Norway looks great, ha ha! I mean I just got here, so… I don’t know, I love Norway, it’s a great place!
World’s Biggest Challenges: Underpopulation crisis and transition to sustainable energy
Elon Musk also met with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on the sidelines of the ONS 2022 Conference. credit The Brussels Times
Reporter: What is the biggest challenge for the world right now?
Elon Musk: Definitely, one of the biggest challenges that civilization has ever faced, is the transition to sustainable energy. And having a sustainable energy economy, so obviously, we’ve got that. But that will take some decades to complete.
And then one of my sort of less obvious things to be concerned about, is the birth rate. You know, I think it’s important that people have enough babies to support civilization. and we don’t sort of dwindle away. Because they say like, civilization may end with a bang or a whimper. and if we don’t have enough kids, then we will die with a whimper in adult diapers. and that will be depressing, and…
Reporter: So make more babies?
Elon Musk: Yes, make more babies! At least make enough babies to sustain the population. you know, we don’t want the population to drive so low that we just eventually die, you know? haha
Sorry, I’ve got to go inside guys.
Reporter: Energy crisis, climate crisis, and also the war crisis?
Elon Musk: And the baby crisis! Let’s not forget the baby crisis.
Reporter: More babies means more demand for energy.
Elon Musk: Trust me, the baby crisis is a big deal.
Elon Musk at ONS 2022 Conference. credit Twitter user @kapsarc
Norway is a leader in the support of EVs. On his way to the ONS 2022 Conference, Elon Musk expressed gratitude for this, saying “I came in appreciation for the support of the Norwegian people for electric vehicles.” Norway has promoted EVs by giving certain benefits at different times to EV owners. (These have included lowering taxes on EVs, some free parking and toll road access for EV owners.) About 75% of NEW cars sold in Norway are electric and most are Teslas. Tesla vehicles are also known to perform well in cold weather.
I agree that keeping civilization running smoothly depends on energy, and today that has to include gas and oil. Norway currently supplies about 22% of the EU’s natural gas demand using subsea pipelines. Elon Musk said he does not specifically endorse this, and said more exploration is warranted due to the Russian sanctions. He did emphasize that he wonders if Norway could produce more hydropower and windpower and export that to Southern Europe. He also said that stationary battery packs could store wind power from the North Sea and that could provide Norway with power in the winter.
When asked what is the biggest challenge for the world right now, Elon spoke about both the transition to sustainable energy and underpopulation. He said, “Definitely, one of the biggest challenges that civilization has ever faced, is the transition to sustainable energy.”
For the last 70 years, fertility rates have significantly decreased worldwide, with a total 50% decline, according to numbers from Our World in Data. Elon spoke with conviction about the low birth rate, saying “I think it’s important that people have enough babies to support civilization. and we don’t sort of dwindle away.” He later called it a baby crisis and urged people not to forget that the baby crisis is a big deal. I agree with Elon Musk and hope to offer my personal encouragement in a future article, written from the viewpoint of a mom with 5 kids.
Watch the video of Elon Musk talking to reporters here. (credit, Tesla Hype)
Tesla Model 3 | Norway by Minimal Duck.Boats in the harbor of Stavenger, Norway on the day of ONS 2022 and Elon Musk’s arrival, credit Juliet Dunlop.
Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – This article was created by Gail Alfar with the goal to preserve this interview in text or written form for the purpose of 1. education and 2. preserving the brilliant insight and words of Elon Musk. All Rights Reserved. September 11, 2022
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Arriving to Norway: Elon Musk on way to ONS 2022 Conference. cr. Jarle Aasland / Stavanger Aftenblad
Elon Musk spoke at the ONS 2022 Conference in Norway in a less than 25-minute interview with Xenia Wickett. I hope you will enjoy this as much as I have, its packed with so much important information. Elon got to the main points quickly, making this a fabulous interview.
Main Points in Interview
Thoughts About Trust (Twitter)
Taking The Set Of Actions That Are Most Likely To Lead To A Better Future
3 Pillars Of A Sustainable Energy Future: Sustainable Energy Generation, Stationary Battery Packs, Electric Vehicles
Sustainable Rocket Propellant
Looking Years Ahead At The Auto Industry
What Are The Limiting Factors Governing The Rate At Which We Can Transition To Sustainable Energy?
Update On Master Plan Part 3
Is There A Limiting Function To The Transition To Sustainable Energy?
China, Gigafactory Expansion, The Fundamental Good Of Tesla
Approach To Risk, The Riskiest Thing Is No Action
Ukraine
Caution in Developing Artificial Intelligence
Two Goals: Starship To Orbit And Self-Driving Cars
August 29, 2022 Elon Musk speaks at ONS Conference, Stavanger, Norway in an Interview with Xenia Wickett.
Of course, Elon started out warmly thanking the Norwegian people,
“Thank you for inviting me and it’s an incredible honor to be here. I love Norway. And I just want to thank the leaders and the people of Norway for their long-standing support of electric vehicles and sustainable energy. I just want the people of Norway to know, that hey you have really made a difference. So thank you!”
Thoughts About Trust (Twitter)
In response to “what do you think about trust?“ Elon said,
“That’s really quite a philosophical question, and one could wax on at length about that. (laughter asking if talking about Twitter?) I do think, with respect to information, generally, people want to know that the information they are receiving is accurate, that it is representative of the full picture, and they want to be able to believe what they read and not feel that it’s overly biased or at least understand the nature of the bias.
I think one of the key things to trust is transparency, and for people to really know or understand, if it’s a social media company, what the algorithm is. We should open-source the algorithm so people can know it and critique it, and so it’s not a black box. And then if there are any modifications done by people who are at that social media company, it should be clear and transparent, so it’s not hidden.
I believe in the free flow of ideas, and just generally erring on the side of free speech, within the boundaries of the law. You can’t go beyond that without being arrested I think.”
Set Of Actions That Are Most Likely To Lead To A Better Future
Elon Musk and Prime Minister (Jonas Gahr Støre) have lunch together at ONS. cr. Bjørn Shaogon / VG
“I don’t aim to disrupt for the sake of disrupting. It’s more like, what set of actions are more likely to lead to a better future? In order for humanity to have a compelling future for civilization, we must have a clear path to a sustainable energy future. That’s one of the things that I think everyone would agree with. I am not someone who would tend to demonize oil and gas, to be clear. This is necessary right now or civilization could not function. So I do think at this time, we actually need more oil and gas and not less. But simultaneously, moving as fast as we can to a sustainable energy economy. I thought the words of the Prime Minister were spot on. I am glad to hear that there is a large effort for ocean wind. That’s a massive untapped potential. I would say go even more than what the Prime Minister said frankly, I mean if you did a 100 x 100 array, of 10 MW systems, you would have 100-gigawatt capability. And then, you do need to combine that with stationary storage battery packs to buffer the energy, because sometimes the wind blows and sometimes it doesn’t blow, or it just blows hard. So you need to buffer it with stationary battery packs. Tesla and other companies are also making that.”
3 Pillars of Sustainable Energy Future: Sustainable Energy Generation, Stationary Battery Packs, Electric Vehicles
“The three pillars of a sustainable energy future are sustainable energy generation, which is hydro, geothermal, wind, and solar. I’m also pro-nuclear. I think we should really keep going with the nuclear plants. I know it’s an unpopular view in some quarters, and I think if you have a well-designed nuclear power plant, you should not shut it down. Especially right now.
But I try to say what I think is scientifically cogent, even if it is not popular. So the pillars are sustainable energy generation, but then you must also store the energy. The two main sources of sustainable energy, wind and solar, are intermittent, the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine. So you must buffer the energy in stationary battery packs. And then the third element obviously is electric vehicles. Electric cars, trucks, aircraft, boats. with the ironic exception of rockets.”
Sustainable Rocket Propellant
“We do have a plan for sustainably producing the rocket propellant, which is actually, almost 80% liquid oxygen. So liquid oxygen you can get obviously from the atmosphere. And then we are going with Methane fuel, which is 20% of the propellant, but that you can make also sustainably long term from CO2 and water, H2O which produces CH₄ and O₂ so that’s the sustainable long-term path for rocket propellant generation and that’s how it would have to be done on Mars, for example.
We do actually have some sustainable power generation for some of our propellant generation already, but it’s a small percentage now but will be a big percentage in the future.”
Car Industry Moving Rapidly Towards Electric
“I think we’ll see tremendous change over the next 5, 10, or 15 years. By 2030, I would say probably about half of all new cars will be electric. By 2035, it might be 80% or something like that. It could be even higher than those numbers, but the car industry is moving rapidly towards electric.
One country after another, and one state after another is making zero-emission mandates. California recently passed, I think, by 2035 all new cars can only be zero emission. So, clearly, the people of the earth, decided this is the way to go.
So we’ll see quite a tremendous change in that regard and if you look at Norway you will see kind of an advanced version of that because Norway has some of the highest, I believe Norway has gone to the majority are electric vehicles of new cars sold, which is great. Again, thank you! So, it’s pretty cool! (applause)”
What Are The Limiting Factors Governing Rate At Which We Can Transition To Sustainable Energy?
“What are the limiting factors governing the rate at which the world can transition to sustainable energy? I think it’s the rate at which one can grow battery production. So then, if you say, what are the constituents in the battery, in lithium-ion batteries? You’ve obviously got lithium, you’ve got the cathode, which is the main cathode materials are going to be metal, and that’s nickel, manganese, and iron. And on the anode side, it’s primarily carbon and graphite. So, in a sense, you’re sequestering a little bit of carbon in the battery, with some silicone added for energy density on the anode side. And then there’s the electrolytes and whatnot.
The main limitations are not that these metals are exceptionally rare, but that there’s a tremendous amount of processing equipment to take the ore and turn it into battery-grade materials. Because the battery grade anode and cathode have to be extremely pure in order for the battery to last for a long time. So, it’s sort of processing of those elements.”
Update on Master Plan Part 3
“I’m sort of writing this master plan part three, which is, what are the steps needed to scale sustainable energy, again, what are the limiting factors? And how can we potentially accelerate these? So hopefully, I’ll finish that in a month or two.”
In response to Xenis’s question, Can you give us a preview, what are the big steps, what are the gating functions? Elon said,
“Well, the materials that I mentioned are really essential. There’s not a raw material constraint, there’s actually a tremendous amount of Lithium. Lithium is almost everywhere, it’s one of the most common elements on earth, so is Iron, and so is Carbon. On the Iron you usually combine Phosphorus, so it’s Iron Phosphate (FePO4). So that will probably be the biggest chemistry that’s used. It’s not so much the raw materials as it is converting the raw materials into the highly purified form used in batteries. There’s a tremendous amount of processing that needs to happen for that at the sort of scale that is currently, you know, comparable to the oil and gas industry. The scale is just tremendous. So this is all happening, it’s happening fast. It’s just a question of what we could do to accelerate that, to go even faster. So this is happening, it’s just a question of when.”
Is There A Limiting Function To The Transition To Sustainable Energy?
Elon explains that he does not see a limiting function to the transition to sustainable energy, he explains it this way,
“I don’t see a limiting function, it’s really just, what actions can we take to have it be faster? And it’s going to be, increasing the rate at which we can convert the ore into battery-grade materials. hat will set the rate at which we can build electric vehicles and stationary battery packs to capture solar and wind.
What I’m saying, is this is an optimistic and positive message. I’m not suggesting at all, complacency. But just saying that things are moving in a good direction, and but obviously if we can make them go even faster that’s better.”
China, Gigafactory Expansion, The Fundamental Good Of Tesla
“Tesla is actually investing in production in China. so we have a large factory in Shanghai that we are continuing to expand outward and invest in the factory. We’re also investing in Europe with our factory just outside of Berlin. and in the US, with our factory just outside of Austin. [note: pictures of Austin factories appear at bottom of this article] We hope to announce a location for another Gigafactory perhaps later this year. So we’re going as fast as we can.
I’ve always said that the, I would say when you look at Tesla, the fundamental good that Tesla does, I think, sometimes it’s by profit, but rather by how many years will Tesla have accelerated the transition to sustainable energy? This is how I think one should look at it.
I think we have accelerated it to some degree already. You know, I think if it wasn’t for Tesla, the car industry would have transitioned to EVs much later.
It is an exponential curve, yes. Most people don’t know what an exponential curve means, but it’s a (moves hand in the upward direction). I think things are improving exponentially with respect to sustainable energy. but if we can make it go faster, all the better.
What will actually happen is, the transition from, it’s following an S curve. So you have an exponential increase, then linear, then logarithmic. (points hand into the air) that’s basically how any large industrial transition happens.”
Approach To Risk, The Riskiest Thing Is No Action
“I don’t sort of like, just arbitrarily seek risk. I think some things are risky, but if the stakes are important enough then you take the risk. (applause). The stakes are extremely important. Very fundamental to the future.
I think there are probably a lot of people in this room that do take a lot of risks. I literally just try to use the scientific method, frankly. What is the importance of the outcome? What is one risking, in order to achieve that outcome? Like I said, if the outcome is important enough, even if the probability of success is low, I think, still do it, in my view, some things are very important, and in order to have a good future, if we don’t do them then we are in big trouble, and so how much of a risk really is it? Because if we don’t take those actions we won’t have a good future. I think the riskiest thing would be no action.”
Ukraine
“We did have some guess that maybe there would be something happening in Ukraine, and so we did pre-position some STARLINK terminals there, just in case. And so that was helpful for the initial part of the invasion. And then we accelerated delivery of a lot of terminals within a few days of the invasion taking place and then the Ukrainian government tells me it’s been very helpful.
I do hope some peace can be achieved in Ukraine and Russia. I do think some thought should be given to, what’s the endgame there. I think the endgame will require some compromise on the part of both parties.”
Caution in Developing Artificial Intelligence
“Tesla‘s goal, from when we started it, has always been to accelerate sustainability, so that is still our primary goal by far. Our secondary goal is to solve at least real-world intelligence as it applies to self-driving cars, and then potentially with humanoid robots, so Tesla is in part an AI company and increasingly an AI company but it’s still primarily a sustainable energy company. I don’t think we need AI to solve sustainability. If that is happening, it might help us accelerate it.
I think we should also be cautious about AI, and just make sure that as we develop AI, that it does not get out of control, and that AI helps make the future better for humanity.
I think we should be more worried about AI‘s safety than we currently are. Especially, the future wars are going to be (and we’re seeing a taste of that with Ukraine), very much, drone wars. So if your drones are better than their drones, then you win, basically, it’s what will happen.”
Two Goals: Starship To Orbit And Self-Driving Cars
In response to the closing question, “what keeps you up at night?” Elon stated,
“I’m fundamentally a technologist, it’s kind of important, or an engineer, so, yes sometimes people call me a businessman, I have to do business, I have to have a group of people because I can’t just do this in a garage by myself.
But, I am fundamentally an engineer or a technologist and so the two technologies I am focused on trying to ideally, get done before the end of the year are getting our Starship to orbit, which I think is important for expanding consciousness beyond Earth and life beyond Earth. And then, having the Tesla cars be able to do self-driving. So have self-driving in wide release at least In the USA, and hopefully, potentially in Europe, depending on regulatory approval.”
CONCLUSION
Some of the main points made by Elon Musk in the Norway interview that really caught my attention:
Twitter algorithm should be open-source, and Elon believes in the free flow of ideas and free speech.
Elon explains that in order for humanity to have a compelling future for civilization, we must have a clear path to a sustainable energy future.
When asked what are the limiting factors governing the rate at which we can transition to sustainable energy? Elon explains that Lithium, Iron and Carbon are plentiful. He says, “The main limitations are not that these metals are exceptionally rare, but that there’s a tremendous amount of processing equipment to take the ore and turn it into battery-grade materials. Because the battery grade anode and cathode have to be extremely pure in order for the battery to last for a long time. So, it’s sort of processing of those elements.”
Similarly, Elon was asked again if there is a limiting function to the transition to sustainable energy, and he explains, “I don’t see a limiting function, it’s really just, what actions can we take to have it be faster? And it’s going to be, increasing the rate at which we can convert the ore into battery-grade materials. That will set the rate at which we can build electric vehicles and stationary battery packs to capture solar and wind.”
We are moved to action by Elon’s explanation of risk: He says, “Like I said, if the outcome is important enough, even if the probability of success is low, I think, still do it, in my view. some things are very important, and in order to have a good future, if we don’t do them then we are in big trouble, and so how much of a risk really is it? Because if we don’t take those actions we won’t have a good future. I think the riskiest thing would be no action.”
If you know Elon, he has warned us all about the dangers of AI many times before. Here is expresses great concern over developing artificial intelligence in the context of war. He cautions, “I think we should be more worried about AI’s safety than we currently are. Especially, the future wars are going to be (and we’re seeing a taste of that with the Ukraine), very much, drone wars. So if your drones are better than their drones, then you win, basically, it’s what will happen.”
As the world’s Technoking, Elon explains he is most driven to get Starship to orbit this year and have Tesla cars be able to do self-driving. “But, I am fundamentally an engineer or a technologist and so the two technologies I am focused on trying to ideally, get done before the end of the year are getting our Starship to orbit, which I think is important for expanding consciousness beyond Earth and life beyond Earth. And then, having the Tesla cars be able to do self-driving.”
Tesla Gigafactory near Austin, cathode plant seen in the distance at 12 o’clock. September 3, 2022. cr. Joe TegtmeyerTesla builds massive battery cathode plant next to Gigafactory Texas near Austin, Sept 3 cr. Tegtmeyer
Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – This article was created by Gail Alfar with the goal to preserve this interview in text or written form for the purpose of 1. education and 2. preserving the brilliant insight and words of Elon Musk. All Rights Reserved. September 4, 2022
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Texas made Model Y at the Tesla 2021 Shareholder’s meeting. credit: the author
When it comes to asking questions about buying a Tesla, word-of-mouth is the best! Here are the most common questions I get asked, from fires to how to drive a Tesla:
I heard they catch on fire, tell me about that.
How do you charge a Tesla, do you plug it into a regular outlet?
How long does it take to charge?
How far does it go on a single charge?
How much does a Tesla raise your electric bill?
Can you still own a Tesla if you live in an apartment?
I heard they are too expensive, aren’t they?
How do you drive one?
I heard they catch on fire, tell me about that
The media used to exaggerate any report of a Tesla on fire in order to generate more revenue (clicks). It was never about Teslas being more fire-prone than combustion engine cars. The number of fires in a gasoline car is vastly higher.
“Now that the big automotive advertisers are making EVs, you will see far fewer articles about EVs catching on fire. It is not surprising that internal combustion engine cars have a tendency to combust externally too.” Elon Musk
Fire incidents are ~11x lower for Tesla vehicles than the average vehicle in the U.S.
From 2012 – 2021, there has been approximately 5 Tesla vehicle fires for every billion miles traveled.
By comparison, data from the National Fire Protection Association and U.S. Department of Transportation show that in the U.S. there are 53 vehicle fires for every billion miles travelled.
How do you charge a Tesla, can you plug into a regular outlet?
Tesla Home Charging. credit, Tesla
This is a great question and I love it when people ask me this. My answer is that you’ll likely want to plug your Tesla into an outlet that’s the same as your dryer outlet, and a regular wall outlet (110V) can work, especially if your daily commute is not very long. Many owners install a Tesla Wall Connector in their garage. Tesla recommends the Wall Connector on their website,
“Tesla Wall Connector is an efficient and convenient home charging solution that lets you plug your vehicle in overnight and start your day charged.”
How long does it take to charge a Tesla?
I plug the Tesla in at home at night so that its all charged up by morning. If you go to a Supercharger it will only take 15 minutes to recharge up to 200 miles.
How far does it go on a single charge?
The most popular Tesla, Model Y, has a range of 330 miles. Almost everyone asks me about traveling, so I wrote about that in my article “Tesla Summer Travel Trip.” Tesla provides an automatic navigation route that works very well. Tesla Superchargers are plentiful, and you can travel anywhere in the USA. There are over 35,000 Tesla Superchargers in the world today and more are being built every day.
How much does a Tesla raise your electric bill?
The quick answer is that our bill raised from anywhere to $30 – $50 a month. Of course, this will vary due to daily miles driven. Tesla has a Charging Calculator and in the above example, a Model 3 driving 49 miles a day would cost $1.69 a day to charge on a wall connector.
“The most convenient place to charge your Tesla is at home, overnight. Plug in when you get home and let your car charge while you sleep. You no longer need to take trips to the pump with a gas-powered vehicle, and you can utilize low overnight utility pricing during off-peak hours, saving both time and money.” Tesla
Can you still own a Tesla if you live in an apartment?
Tesla Destination Charging, Apartments & Condos may install these. credit, Tesla
Yes. Many apartment complexes, workplaces and even schools have or are planning to install chargers.
“Increasingly, condos and apartment buildings are required by law to allow EV charging. Installing charging makes business sense, and the case will only get stronger as more people buy electric vehicles.
Additionally, incentives may be available to you or your building property manager to alleviate cost, at the federal, state, county, municipal and utility levels.”
Model Y at Tesla Gigafactory Texas, Austin on 8/24/22 credit, Joe Tegtmeyer
This is a great question! I have driven so many cars both stick shift and automatic, there is no easier car to simply drive than a Tesla. You will enjoy that the car is always on. You get in, there’s nothing to start, the car is silently on and ready to go. It has the basic brake pedal and accelerator pedal, which I still call the gas pedal by mistake.
Two things make the Tesla feel very roadworthy, that’s the fact it has a low center of gravity as the heavy battery power pack forms the base of the car. And the other is the fact the drive train is all electric and there’s no transmission. This leads to better safety and also a heightened experience when driving. The car is a total pleasure to drive, it’s like happiness on wheels.
“Driving a Tesla is an exhilarating experience. While the basic driving principles remain the same as in a gas-powered car, the available torque, technology and braking methods are driving features which distinguish Tesla and other EVs. Learn more about how to operate your Tesla before you get behind the wheel of this sleek vehicle.”
Hertz has a dedicated EV Customer Support Team that is there to answer any questions. The best experience is to test drive one after watching the videos on how to drive one.
CONCLUSION
Fire incidents are ~11x lower for Tesla vehicles than the average vehicle in the U.S.
Tesla Wall Connector installed at your house is the easiest way to charge every night
If you go to a Supercharger it will only take 15 minutes to recharge up to 200 miles
Model Y, has a range of 330 miles. With over 35,000 Superchargers in the world, you can travel anywhere
Expect your electric bill to go up anywhere from $30 – $50 a month. Tesla’s Charging Calculator will customize this figure to your needs
Apartment Living: Many condos and apartments have EV charging or are planning installation
As of today, Model Y costs $58,190 (including potential incentives and gas savings of $7,800) Model 3 is the best purchase I have ever made in my life, worth every penny
There is no easier car to drive than a Tesla. Many cities have Tesla stores where you can test drive one https://www.tesla.com/drive
My Model 3 is the best purchase I have ever made in my life, it’s pure happiness to drive it, and it just gets better with the over-the-air software updates.
Tesla Gigafactory Texas, Austin on 8/24/22 credit, Joe Tegtmeyer
Like this article? You can read more like this
Is a Tesla Worth it? Does Tesla Insurance and Maintenance Cost Less? If you absolutely have to own a vehicle, then there is no better choice right now than a Tesla. I base this statement on the low cost of Tesla insurance, the ease of charging the battery, and zero maintenance.
American Innovation: Tesla owners share their favorite features I share the enthusiasm of Tesla owners by telling their unique stories, as well as putting a spotlight on some of their favorite features in their Tesla! Hope you’ll relax and enjoy these positive vibes!
Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – August 28, 2022. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support Tesla (the most American vehicle manufacturer) and Elon Musk in both making life better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization.
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