Hertz (NASDAQ: HTZ) reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2024 today, announcing that it is continuing to lose money on its electric vehicle investment and plans to dump even more EVs from its fleet. Hertz said it had increased the number of EVs it will let go of by 10,000 units, now planning to sell 30,000 of its purchased electric cars this year. In January, it said it would get rid of 20,000 units after it felt $245 million of incremental net depreciation on the value of its EV fleet. The losses continued in Q1. Hertz said it incurred a $195 million charge to vehicle depreciation t ..read more

A Tesla driver in Australia who attempted to blame Autopilot for a hit and run with a pedestrian back in March 2022 has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving. The driver’s guilty plea comes after police analysis and Tesla’s own telemetry of the vehicle involved revealed that Autopilot was not engaged at the time of the accident.  On the morning of March 22, 2022, nurse Nicole Lagos stepped onto the road on Wattletree Road in an inner south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Australia, to board a tram. She did not make it to the tram, how ..read more

Tesla China has announced a zero downpayment program for inventory Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossovers. The program, which is likely a way for the company to boost its domestic sales in China, was announced by the electric vehicle maker in a post on its official Weibo account.  Customers who purchase a Model 3 or Model Y before the end of the second quarter could take advantage of the zero downpayment program. It should be noted, however, that only inventory vehicles and showroom units are covered by the promotion.  Tesla China noted in its poster that with ..read more

Rocket Lab successfully launched the “Beginning of the Swarm” mission, its 47th overall yesterday. Electron took the skies at 10:32 am NZT from Launch Complex 1B on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand, sending two small payloads to vastly different orbits. Our 47th Electron launch…and counting pic.twitter.com/yCbaHXukMV — Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) April 24, 2024 The launch was originally scheduled for 10:15 a.m. NZT, just 2 minutes before a Falcon 9 mission from Florida, but it held at t – 12 minutes as the Rocket Lab team worked on a ground support system issue. It didn’t take long for teams t ..read more

Speaking: Tesla VP of Investor Relations Martin Viecha, CEO Elon Musk, CFO Vaibhav Taneja, VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy, Autopilot Director Ashok Elluswamy, Senior Megapack Director Mike Snyder, along with other executives and analysts. Q1 2024 Earnings Call held on Tuesday, April 23: Transcript Below Martin Viecha: My name is Martin Viecha, VP of investor relations, and I’m joined today by Elon Musk, Vaibhav Taneja and a number of other executives. Our Q1 results were announced at about 3:00 p.m. Central Time in the update deck we published at the same link as this webcast. During th ..read more

Tesla gave a first look at its Robotaxi-powered ride-hailing service by way of a potential smartphone app that would be used to summon a vehicle for a driverless ride. This is far from the first time we have heard about Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet and what it might be capable of. The company plans to compete with the largest ride-hailing services in the world and claims that owners will even be able to rest while their car makes money for them. However, they are in need of completing the Full Self-Driving suite, which evidently seems to be moving forward based on releases of the Beta program and st ..read more

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) needed what Elon Musk delivered during the company’s Q1 Earnings Call last night: an adult in the room. “The focus for us and investors was around the blueprint and roadmap for growth as Musk and Tesla are facing a Category 5 storm after a Cinderella ride the last few years,” Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush, wrote in a note. “Last night in a much-needed conference call, Elon Musk finally stepped up as the adult in the room and laid the foundation for Tesla’s growth strategy with, most importantly, a lower cost vehicle now slated for 2025 production and delivery.” Tesla invest ..read more

With a starting price of $52,990, the reengineered Tesla Model 3 Performance is already a bang-for-the-buck vehicle. But while the new Model 3 Performance stands out from the upgraded Model 3 Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) and the upgraded Model 3 Long Range Dual Motor All Wheel Drive (AWD) in terms of design, the vehicle also stands out in terms of price.  This is because among Tesla’s current Model 3 lineup, only the new Model 3 Performance qualifies for the $7,500 federal tax credit. With the federal tax credit and estimated gas savings in place, the upgraded ..read more

During its most recent Starlink mission, which occurred last night, SpaceX landed the 300th Falcon rocket. The 300 mark is split between both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy but does not count as recovered rockets, as two of these rockets, a Falcon Heavy center core and a Falcon 9, tipped over at sea after successful landings. Engines full power and liftoff! pic.twitter.com/FeW78mZio2 — SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 23, 2024 This is a significant milestone for the company as it continues to push its flight cadence further than what nearly anyone in the industry thought was possible. SpaceX is currently o ..read more

Tesla is counting on FSD as a key to its next growth cycle, so it was no surprise that the advanced driver-assist system became a point of interest for analysts during the first quarter earnings call. One of the inquiries was focused on Tesla’s strategy for FSD’s worldwide rollout — a fitting question considering that FSD’s most current features are only available in the US and Canada today.  During the earnings call, Canaccord Genuity analyst George Gianarikas asked about Tesla’s FSD strategy for markets outside the US and Canada. Elon Musk responded by highlight ..read more