iFreePress Bringing News on Time Every Time Ahuja said that he would miss the energetic environment of Tesla to a room sandwiched with Tesla shareholders at the Computer Museum in Mountain View, California.
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) had its annual shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday, where the company briefed investors on the delivery schedule of Model X and the progress the company has made in autopilot. Aside from this, the company also disclosed the retirement of its CFO, Deepak Ahuja. “And I think, actually, I’d like to admit…in introducing it, we probably didn’t do an ideal job of explaining that “dual-motor” meant ‘all-wheel drive.’ So…there are two motors and they’re connected to the four wheels, but that connection was not clear for a lot of potential customers”.
In the first phase of autopilot development, Musk said, drivers will need to remain fully alert and ready to take over the driving. He will continue to serve the company till his replacement is appointed. Musk said he’d consider it. Regulators would likely be even harder to convince, he said. The electric architecture locates the heavy battery pack on the floor pan of the auto, lowering its center of gravity and making the vehicle nearly impossible to roll over, he said. That included Model X, as well as Powerwall launches.
Tesla today announced that its line of home Powerwall batteries will be upgraded to more than double their initial output, while the price remains the same.
“We’re on the short strokes with getting this to market”, he said. “We want to make sure that some of the key features of the Model X, particularly the Falcon Wing [rear] door and the way that the second row seats are done and a few other things that people aren’t aware of, are done just right”. Musk indicated that the company might give up battery-swapping technology.
The Model S will be able to steer to stay within a lane, change lanes with the simple tap of a turn signal, and manage speed by reading road signs and using active, traffic-aware cruise control. A wider roll out also failed. “People do not care about pack swap”. As such, it’s highly unlikely that the company will persist with the plans, instead focusing its time, money and resources on building out its popular supercharger network. It takes longer, but they time it for a coffee break or a meal, he said.
Despite being financially strained, Tesla is keeping a pace with its lofty growth targets which include expanding the product line-up to comprise three electric vehicles through 2017 and battery products to spearhead a disruptive opportunity in the energy storage space.
