Michelle Obama unseated Hillary Clinton as the most admired woman in the U.S., claiming the title alongside her husband, former President Barack Obama, who has remained the most admired man for 11 straight years, according to Gallup's annual poll.The big picture: Clinton held the title of most admired woman for 17 consecutive years, but this year was surpassed by both Obama and Oprah Winfrey. President Trump came in second place for the fourth year in a row, marking only the 13th time — and Trump's second — that a sitting president didn't top the list since its inception in 1946.Most...

Tesla is working to bring to market its new Autopilot Hardware 3, which consists of a new neural net computer that they claimed will be the ‘world’s most advanced computer for autonomous driving’ . The company is now testing the new hardware in employee vehicles as part of its ‘Full Self-Driving Test Program’. Earlier this year, Tesla sought “hundreds of employees” to test its full self-driving system and offers free Autopilot upgrades with new purchases. The automaker is retrofitting participants’ vehicles with the new computer to test the self-driving system. Despite first starting the program in September, CEO Elon Musk...

It appears that Elon Musk was right to bet the future of Tesla on the Model 3. Since the electric car started getting delivered to its long list of reservation holders, the vehicle has won the hearts of EV enthusiasts and old-school gearheads alike. A member of the latter group is Henry Payne of The Detroit News , who previously noted in an appearance at Autoline TV that he purchased a Long Range RWD Model 3 simply because there is no other vehicle like it on the road. Payne is a true-blooded car enthusiast. Apart from being a 30-year veteran...

High rate of speed suspected. Fire erupted after a Tesla Model X collided with a tree and split in two. Three teenagers were seriously injured in the wreck. One sustained life-threatening injuries. News Times reports: Three teenagers were injured after one drove a 2017 Tesla Model X off the road and into a tree in southern New Hampshire on Wednesday, according to state police. Speed was likely a factor in the accident, according to the accident report , and the car split in two and caught fire after the impact. The driver and one passenger were taken to a community...

T he Tesla Model 3 has already proven itself capable of tearing into asphalt like a track car. Now, Elon Musk ’s electric car company is showing off how much of a beast the EV can be even in snowy conditions. On Tuesday, the company published a video on Instagram and Twitter of a Model 3 making a series of three quick turns in a snow-covered track in New Zealand. The automobile is seen effortlessly gliding around corners similar to what it’s capable of on tarmac. The promotional video was accompanied by an announcement that all Tesla cars will become...

Porsche is expected to start the production of the Taycan, its first all-electric car, sometime in 2019. As the carmaker prepares to dip its feet into the premium EV market, some details about the upcoming vehicle are now starting to emerge. Take, for one, the names of the Taycan’s trim levels, as well as their corresponding price range. Auto journalist Alex Roy recently shared a message he received from a Porsche Global Brand Ambassador as a response to an inquiry about the Taycan. As noted by the journalist, Porsche appears to be adopting a rather unique naming scheme for its...

The automobile as we know it has been fading. An icon of the industry disappearing, some claiming it the end of an era. Ford recently threw in the towel, announcing the end of all car production and sales in the US with the exception of their Mustang. The established industry has been pouring money into the concept of the SUV for decades producing a vast array of vehicles from compact cute Utes to go anywhere off-road machines. Hearts have been won by the visions of the go anywhere, do anything, Sports Utility Vehicle, but is it really the end for...

Porsche is expected to start the production of the Taycan, its first all-electric car, sometime in 2019. As the carmaker prepares to dip its feet into the premium EV market, some details about the upcoming vehicle are now starting to emerge. Take, for one, the names of the Taycan’s trim levels, as well as their corresponding price range. Auto journalist Alex Roy recently shared a message he received from a Porsche Global Brand Ambassador as a response to an inquiry about the Taycan. As noted by the journalist, Porsche appears to be adopting a rather unique naming scheme for its...

Wall Street went through a big test on Thursday, and it generally passed with flying colors. Many had been prepared for a pullback following the huge move higher in major stock indexes on Wednesday, but the 600-plus-point plunge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average at times during the session was more than most had expected. Yet by the end of the day, the market had regained all of its losses and then some, with the Dow finishing up over 1%. Even so, some individual stocks sustained damage. J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP), Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), and Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SPPI) were...

Each day for the rest of December, Inverse is counting down our 19 biggest predictions for 2019, from what we expect out of tech giants like Apple and SpaceX to what we’re expecting from the worldwide rollout of 5G, the next generation of gaming consoles, and the mass adoption of virtual reality.Watch this space for more additions all month long.What did we miss? Email your suggestions.Read More... 19 Technology Predictions for 2019...

Swarm Technologies, Inc., a satellite startup aiming to create the world’s lowest-cost satellite network, has been fined $900,000 by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for illegally launching and deploying four unauthorized satellites into orbit in January 2018 on a commercial Indian satellite launch vehicle. The satellites in question were Swarm’s SpaceBEE vehicles, which measure one quarter the size of a traditional CubeSat, a class of small satellites measuring 10 cm in height, width, and depth. In December 2017, the FCC deemed the SpaceBEE size too small for the U.S. Air Force’s traditional technology to track with routine methods and...

(RTTNews) - Lawyers of Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of luxury electric car maker Tesla Inc. (TSLA), have filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against him related to tweets calling a British rescue diver a "pedo guy." Musk was sued by Vernon Unsworth, the British diver Musk called a "pedo" in July. Unsworth sought $75,000 in compensation and......

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has updated the Tesla Model 3’s safety rating after the automaker made some changes to the headlights to earn the top mark. Earlier this year, the IIHS started releasing its first safety ratings for Model 3 . The agency has yet to release any crash test results, but it did say that Model 3 has a ‘superior rating for front crash prevention’ . The only other test result that they released was about the headlights, which received an ‘acceptable’ rating. Here’s what they had to say about the headlights at the time: Low...

Elon Musk shared pictures on Twitter showing the construction of a prototype of SpaceX's massive Mars-bound spaceship at a launch site in Texas. The 180-foot-tall Starship , previously known as the Big Falcon Spaceship, is being designed to ultimately carry humans to Mars . Musk also said Starship has a 60% chance of launching into orbit by 2020. SpaceX is taking major steps toward CEO Elon Musk's ultimate goal to send humans to Mars . Musk recently posted images on Twitter showing the construction of a prototype spaceship at SpaceX's facility in Boca Chica, Texas. He captioned the photo simply,...

The location and reviewer make this Tesla Model 3 honor one of the most significant to date. We have to say that we saw this coming, but we didn’t really know if he’d follow through with it. If you read InsideEVs on a regular basis or follow Autoline , you’re probably already aware that hardcore gearhead and active race car driver Henry Payne bought a Tesla Model 3 . The crew from Autoline seemed quite surprised, not only that he took the plunge, but also that he actually loves the Model 3 . You can’t buy Tesla vehicles in Michigan....

T he SpaceX Starship, a new launch and orbit system that could carry humans into deep space, could reach orbit as early as 2020, CEO Elon Musk claimed on Thursday. The tech entrepreneur, whose company is currently developing the Starship to support a manned mission to Mars and beyond, ranked the chances of orbit that year as “60 percent and rising rapidly.” The claim is a strong show of support for the ship formerly known as the “BFR.” SpaceX has undergone several design iterations of the ship, but plans to start “hop tests” of a few hundred kilometers at its...

Snow laps in a Model 3 ❄️ Tesla presents on its Twitter a new short video witha Tesla Model 3 doing some snow testing. It probably wouldn’t be worth a news post, but the description sure is: “Visit your Tesla store to check availability for immediate delivery “ Encouraging you to place an order – on December 27 – for immediate delivery. Are there still cars available to get before the end of this year to receive full tax credit? Seems so. Right after delivery hell is completed, Tesla will switch production to European versions in January and capitalize on...

T esla’s supercharger network has grand expansion plans. This week, CEO Elon Musk outlined a number of goals for the coming two years, aimed at expanding the array of high-powered chargers to more roads to enable even more ambitious road trips. It comes as the company plans to bring its Model 3 entry-level vehicle to even more markets, with Musk hopeful for high demand as the car leaves North America. Musk plans to plug the gaps in the company’s supercharger map. In 2019, the firm is aiming for complete coverage in Europe of its network by expanding into new countries...

Speed was a factor in the crash of a Tesla Model X that sent three teenagers to the hospital, police said. The Tesla Model X hit a tree in southern New Hampshire before splitting in two and catching on fire. One passenger sustained life-threatening injuries, according to the accident report, and was transported to a UMass hospital. Despite some headline-making fires, the Tesla Model X has a near-perfect safety rating. Three teenagers were injured after driving a 2017 Tesla Model X off the road and into a tree in southern New Hampshire on Wednesday, according to state police. Speed was...

Tesla has registered a new business leasing company in China today as it attempts to maintain its business in the important market until it can establish local manufacturing capacity. According to a filing with China’s National Enterprise Information Publicity System first reported by Reuters, Tesla registered the business in Shanghai’s free trade zone, as it did for the company it registered to build Gigafactory 3. The company can operate in “leasing and consultancy”, according to the document. Zhu Xiaotong, Tesla’s head of China, is listed as the representative for the company, which has a registered capital of $30 million. It...

WALL STREET JOURNAL: GAS-POWERED CARS COULD SOON BECOME THE EQUIVALENT OF ‘FLIP PHONES’ Pulitzer Prize winning auto columnist, Dan Neil, discusses his next car in the Wall Street Journal — and it’s going to be electric . He writes, “This is above all a pocketbook issue for me. A gas-powered vehicle would be too expensive. I plan to keep my next vehicle 10 years, at least. Over that time the cost of ownership for an EV, including fuel (on the order of a penny a mile for the electricity), repairs and maintenance would be considerably lower than comparable costs of...

Dec 27 (Reuters) - Elon Musk, Tesla Inc’s chief executive, asked a U.S. judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a British diver who helped rescue a boys soccer team trapped in a Thailand cave and said Musk defamed him by calling him a pedophile and child rapist. In a filing on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Musk’s lawyers said their client’s comments about Vernon Unsworth were free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment even if they lacked any factual basis. They also said Musk’s “over-the-top” comments came amid a “schoolyard spat on social media,”...

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has suggested that the company’s newly revamped Starship and Super Heavy (previously known as BFR) rocket could perform its first integrated launches – placing Starship into orbit – as few as 12-24 months from today. Musk indicated that the odds of Starship reaching orbit as early as 2020 are now as high as “60% [and] rising rapidly”, thanks in no small part to the flurry of radical changes the spacecraft and booster have both undergone over the course of 2018. Probability at 60% & rising rapidly due to new architecture — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 27,...

As the year comes to a close, the unexpected positivism surrounding Tesla is refreshing. Is Tesla flawless? Nope. Is Elon Musk perfect? No, and he’s the first to admit that he’s far from it. It’s surely not difficult to poke holes in Tesla’s successes and discount CEO Musk for one reason or another. In fact, over the holidays we’ve received an influx of email tips from short-sellers and haters pointing us toward a slew of unsubstantiated speculation talking about how the electric automaker is destined to fail miserably. Despite this, we are also seeing a flood of positive Tesla press,...

Elon Musk has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought against him in September by a British cave diver who sued for defamation after Musk publicly called him a “pedo guy” and “child rapist.” Musk’s lawyers claim that his “over-the-top insults are not statements of fact.” The crux of their argument is that Twitter–where Musk frequently rage-tweets and fires off petty missives–is a platform tailor-made for spats and hyperbolic statements. (Not untrue.) The cave diver in question, Vernon Unsworth, was part of the team that rescued members of a boys’ soccer team from a cave in Thailand earlier this...

E lon Musk is working to start up a manned Mars base before 2030, but its first permanent resident may not be human at all. The SpaceX CEO claimed on Thursday that there’s a 30 percent chance the first inhabitant of the red planet could be some sort of artificial superintelligence. It’s a bold proclamation from the tech entrepreneur, who has regularly called on legislators to take the development of artificial intelligence more seriously. SpaceX has been working on an ambitious timetable to send two Starships to Mars by 2022, laying the groundwork for a further four ships in 2024,...

Earlier this year, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the number of accidents and injuries on the road, awarded the Tesla Model 3’s headlights with an “Acceptable” rating. While the IIHS’ tests gave a “Superior” rating for the vehicle’s front crash avoidance features then, the safety organization only listed the vehicle’s headlights as “Acceptable,” due to glaring issues from the Model 3’s low beams. In a recent Twitter announcement , though, the IIHS noted that the Tesla Model 3 now earns a “Good” rating for its standard LED reflector headlights. The IIHS stated...

Fingerprint recognition sounds like something out of a spy movie, but it's now available on an everyday family crossover. Hyundai claims to be the first automaker to integrate the tech into production cars, adding the security feature to the 2019 Santa Fe . Hyundai drivers will be able to unlock their doors and start their engine with a fingerprint scan thanks to sensors that are located on the exterior driver's door handle and on the dashboard-mounted engine start button. Fingerprint scans are read by an onboard controller that keeps track of who is authorized to access the vehicle. Hyundai claims...

Tesla Model 3: Do the positives outweigh the negatives? There are good and bad aspects of every car. What’s most important is figuring out your priorities and deciding if the pros are so positive that the cons seem trivial. If the negatives are going to bother you enough to make you second guess your buying decision, perhaps you should have reconsidered. The problem is, with all the mixed reviews out there when it comes to cars — and especially the hugely popular Tesla Model 3 — it’s hard to know for sure what you’re getting into. Moreover, it seems that...

Tesla’s perspectives are good thanks to the Model 3 ramp-up According to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, the demand for Tesla Model 3 “looks very strong into 2019 and beyond.” If the volume will keep growing and margins remain high, which can be done thanks to selling top versions in new markets like Europe and Asia, Tesla will be able to prosper without the risk to raise capital again in the near future. Of course, Tesla could raise some more cash, but not because it has to (being finally profitable), but to accelerate the expansion and launch of new products....

100% of European coverage in 2019? According to the latest Elon Musk announcement on Twitter, Tesla is going to greatly expand its European Supercharging network. The goal is to cover all countries from west to east, and from north to south. Currently, a high density of Superchargers was achieved only in major markets, while smaller markets have yet to receive stations, or have just a few on major highways. “Supercharger coverage will extend to 100% of Europe next year. From Ireland to Kiev, from Norway to Turkey.” Tesla Supercharging network in Europe – December 27, 2018 The number of Tesla...

The legal back-and-forth drags Musk's antics back into the spotlight, after a tumultuous year for the CEO and Tesla....

FILE PHOTO: People walk past a showroom outside Tesla China headquarters at China Central Mall in Beijing, China July 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee BEIJING (Reuters) - Tesla Inc has registered a financial leasing company in China, a local business registration filing shows, in the latest sign the U.S. electric car maker is attempting to speed up its push into China. The California-based carmaker, led by billionaire Chief Executive Elon Musk, has opened a wholly-owned financial leasing unit in Shanghai’s free trade zone with registered capital of $30 million, according to China’s National Enterprise Information Publicity System. Its scope includes leasing...

Many new Tesla owners are currently experiencing their first winter with their new vehicles and it is coming with some issues. Tesla has been trying to address them with a few software updates – the latest one is being released this week and it is attempting to help unfreeze the charge port. Last month, we reported on the Model 3 having some issues in cold weather and Tesla said they were investigating the situation. Several owners in cold weather regions where experiencing difficulties entering their vehicles because the door handles wouldn’t open, the windows would jam, and even the charge...

T esla’s solar roof is glowing, and it could hit a new stride in 2018. While the roof for Elon Musk’s house of the future has shipped in small quantities, the future looks bright for its coming year. Inverse predicts that the company will make good on its previous promise and found out the range of solar roof styles with two more styles. The roof started shipping earlier this year, and reviews from first adopters have been positive. Amanda Tobler told Inverse in April that “it has definitely been a worthy endeavor,” adding that “if you have the finances to...

How does Tesla Model 3 Autopilot handle the Golden Gate Bridge? What about that toll booth? As Tesla continues to improve and update its Autopilot system, we’re getting an influx of new videos. Of course, while most of the videos are meant to show off the technology’s prowess, there are still quirks. This particular video, however, focuses on the Tesla Model 3 using Autopilot to successfully cross the Golden Gate Bridge and navigate the toll both at the end. For many Tesla owners, footage of the San Francisco areas and its famous bridge may not be very compelling. On the...

Future Tesla customers in the United States have just four days to take delivery of a new car before the $7,500 electric car tax credit is cut in half. CEO Elon Musk told prospective buyers on Twiter that the automaker would "cover the tax credit difference" if their vehicles were not able to be delivered by the end of the year, so as long as certain conditions were met. In order for the automaker to cover the difference, Musk says that Tesla must have committed delivery of the vehicle no later than December 31st and the customer must make a...

Elon Musk has filed a motion to dismiss the defamation allegation brought by British cave diver Vern Unsworth. Unsworth is suing Musk after the Tesla CEO baselessly called him a pedophile. Musk's lawyers argue that his "over-the-top insults" were opinion, not factual statements, and should be protected by free speech laws. Elon Musk would really like everyone to just forget about that whole 'pedo' thing. Lawyers for the Tesla CEO have filed a motion to dismiss the defamation claim brought by Vern Unsworth, the British cave diver baselessly described by Musk as a "pedo guy." We first heard of the...

Elon Musk took to Twitter on the day after Christmas to remind everyone how important driving an electric car is for the environment and to let them know that the Supercharger network will cover all of Europe, North America, Mexico, and China by the end of 2019....

Each failed “Tesla Killer” makes Tesla even stronger. Until any legacy carmaker comes up with a vehicle capable of hitting 60 from a standstill in under 3.0 seconds, with a range of over 300 miles and fast charging options, all these “Tesla Killers” are doing is simply making Tesla’s position stronger. After a year of volatility, Tesla stock was up nearly 18% as of last Wednesday’s close. Today it’s up 10.39% as well. While many have been writing obituaries and salivating on the possible death of Tesla, the company – even though it went through a roller coaster ride for...

Now primarily reserved for launches involving the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft, SpaceX has begun touching up its Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) pad with new paint and hardware in anticipation of the first orbital launch of Crew Dragon, set to occur as early as the evening of January 17th. A little over three weeks away from the milestone mission’s launch, SpaceX has – even more importantly – rolled Pad 39A’s transporter/erector (T/E) into an on-site hangar, where Falcon 9 B1051 and Crew Dragon C201 are awaiting final integration and fit checks prior to a series of careful...

As a late Christmas gift, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced some expansions to the Supercharger network, including ‘dramatically increasing’ Superchargers within cities, a European expansion, and more. Last month, Musk announced another expansion of the Supercharger network in order to cover “95% to 100% of the population in all active markets.” He also said that the next expansion will include the Supercharger V3, a new version of the fast-charging station with a higher charge rate, which is finally supposed to be released ‘early’ next year. Now Musk is talking about also ‘dramatically increasing’ the number of Superchargers within cities in...

A few years ago, a Silicon Valley billionaire decried that he and his friends dreamed of flying cars, and instead got 140 characters. He was wrong: They, along with entrepreneurs and governments around the world, got much more — a space race on steroids. The big picture: From Dubai to the U.S., Tokyo to Moscow, Tel Aviv to Beijing and more, billionaires, privateers and political leaders are vying to land on the Moon, colonize Mars, mine asteroids — and just get off the Earth. "Whatever we have evolved into hundreds and thousands of years from now, we'll look at these...

CONTRARY TO WHAT SOME PEOPLE MAY MISTAKENLY BELIEVE, HERE’S THE STRAIGHT TRUTH ON PLUG-IN VEHICLES. For most consumers, electric vehicles are still the cars of the future. Yet with many new battery-powered rides scheduled for release in the coming years, the future is closer than many might believe. Those who remain unschooled in the virtues of plug-in vehicles often hold onto dated and inaccurate perceptions of this particular vehicular genre. Here’s a quick look at 10 common misconceptions about electric cars that we’ve bathed in the bright light of reality. 1. EVS DON’T HAVE ENOUGH RANGE. YOU CAN’T TRAVEL VERY...

A group of thugs in modified pickup trucks allegedly blockaded a row of Tesla Superchargers in North Carolina and harassed drivers that attempted to use the chargers. One Tesla owner photographed the event and posted the image to a Tesla fan community of Reddit . According to the poster, whose screen name is Leicina, the incident occurred at a Sheetz in Hickory, North Carolina on or before Sunday, Dec. 23. They state that while traveling through Hickory for work, they had used the row of Superchargers the day prior without issue. On their way back through the city, they returned...

Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) raced higher today, up by 10% as of market close, after the company received a bullish analyst note from Wall Street. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives reiterated an outperform rating and price target of $440 on Tesla shares.Wedbush, which only initiated coverage on Tesla earlier this month, argues that demand for the Model 3 "looks very strong into 2019 and beyond." International deliveries are ramping while Tesla continues to improve manufacturing efficiency, according to the note. While the company struggled immensely during the first year of Model 3 production, it has largely solved the most difficult...

Last year, California utilities started offering rebates to EV-owning customers based on a simple application process with few strings attached. Next year, California is releasing more funds to utilities for these programs, and in response utilities have increased the available incentives – SCE’s rebate has gone from $450 to $1,000, and PG&E has upped theirs from $500 to $800. PG&E’s new rebate applies to any application received after January 1 – so if you just got an EV for Christmas (perhaps during Tesla’s year-end delivery rush), hold off on your application for a couple of days to save yourself $300....

Tesla had a booming year with the production ramp-up of Model 3 and since things are slow between Christmas and the New Year, I thought I’d do a quick post about Tesla’s 2018 year in pictures. For Tesla, 2018 was the year of the Model 3. Officially, Tesla started production and sales in 2017, but it was extremely low volume production and mainly employees got vehicles until 2018. The whole year revolved around the Model 3 production ramp up, but there were also a few other interesting things that happened with the automaker in 2018. Let’s take a look month-by-month...

Some Tesla customers may still be able to take delivery before the end of the year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested on Wednesday via Twitter.Vehicles that are delivered before the end of 2018 are eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit that will begin to expire in 2019."Reminder to US buyers that the $7500 tax credit cuts in half in 5 days! Order online at http://Tesla.com to see if there is any inventory left in your region or visit Tesla stores," Musk said. Some Tesla customers may still be able to take delivery before the end of the year, Tesla...

I just signed up on the Porsche website to place a deposit on the Taycan EV — their alleged Tesla Killer — and got the most entertaining response. According an e-mail from their local brand ambassador, the base Taycan will be called a Taycan, the all-wheel drive version will be called the 4S, and the performance model will be called the Turbo. A. Porsche. Taycan. Turbo. Wait. What? I think the likelihood of a Taycan hybrid is near zero, which means Porsche has decided that internal combustion engine (ICE) nomenclature is the best way to sell the most profitable version...