Sorry, let me rephrase that. These are the five updates you need to know about. You may be perfectly happy with your petroleum fed automobile, and that’s just fine. A little education never hurts, though. Tesla, the California company that has been the golden boy of both tech and motoring industries have stepped up their game. It’s easy to fall behind on such advancements, so here are the five crucial ones you can wrap your mind around.
1. A NEW TESLA ROADSTER IS COMING
Fans of the Tesla Roadster were wrought with disappointment in 2012. Their beloved 2-door was axed that year due to poor sales. That is set to change, however, but in three years. Elon Musk has confirmed that a new Roadster will be released soon enough. Not only that but Musk jokingly stated it will have a “Ludicrous” mode that will take this car to “plaid”. Musk is a Spaceballs fan apparently.
2. MODEL 3
March 31st. Mark it, dude. This is the date that Tesla expects to announce its new Model 3. Fans may recognize that this was previously called the Model E. Turn that E around and you get a 3. You can thank Ford for that. They own the “E” trademark, whatever that means. Anyway, not much is known about the 3 except that it has a new name and will be produced in 2017.
3. MODEL Y
Tesla has always loved humor and the Model Y is hardly an exception. No one really knows what’s up with the Model Y. Will it have Falcon Wing doors like the Model X? Will it precede the Model Z? Nothing’s for sure. What we do know is that Musk is pretty much using this for publicity. If the Model Y was released, that would make their lineup spell “S3XY”.
4. MODEL S
The Model S does actually exist. Many were pretty excited that it started at just over $55,000 dollars but that is due to change. The top end model will go up to $100,000 dollars now. Those wishing to go electric will need some extra funds. Don’t fret, though, the Model 3 line will be priced at $35,000 dollars.
5. AUTOPILOT MODE
When Tesla released the Dual-motor Model S, autopilot functionality was created. The hardware is only available on new Teslas. The new hardware will be able to steer itself, change lanes and manage speed by actively observing road signs. Oddly enough, Musk says the introduction of this hardware is not to enable driverless cars. The autopilot is not fully autonomous, but more like what pilots use in aircraft. Essentially, it takes the boring part out of driving through Kansas.
