Category: elon musk

A Tense Clash Between Musk and Disney

Elon Musk’s recent fallout with Disney CEO Bob Iger over advertising practices has seemingly impacted Tesla’s software updates. The latest update to Tesla vehicles appears to have removed the shortcut to the Disney+ app from the Tesla Theater, a move that aligns with Musk’s public feud with Disney. This development, first noticed by Tesla enthusiasts on social media, raises questions about whether the app’s removal is a strategic decision or a technical glitch.

Impact on Tesla Owners and Possible Intentions

The holiday update has led to mixed experiences among Tesla owners, with some reporting the disappearance of the Disney+ app shortcut, while others have not been affected. It appears the app itself remains on the vehicle but is hidden from the Theater app unless accessed via the in-car browser. This discrepancy has fueled speculation about whether the removal is a deliberate response to Musk’s criticism of Disney or merely a bug in the new software.

Brand Image and Shareholder Concerns

The removal of the Disney+ shortcut could potentially tarnish Tesla’s reputation, especially given Musk’s extensive commitments across multiple ventures, including SpaceX and Neuralink. Shareholders might view this move as a conflict of interest, raising concerns about whether Musk’s personal disputes are influencing Tesla’s operational decisions. As Tesla’s PR department was disbanded in late 2019, the company remains silent on the matter, leaving many questions unanswered.

It looks like Tesla is still hiring engineers to be a part of this elite taskforce.

The secret sauce behind getting the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenberg up and running was a team of 25 highly skilled engineers, as per CEO Elon Musk’s recent Tweet. The team is the Delta Force of Tesla, said a Twitter user, referring to the US military’s tier-one special operations unit tasked with the most complex missions.

We already reported about this elite group back in 2020, when construction of the brand’s factory in Germany was still in its nascent stages, and when the automaker initially began putting together this special unit. But now the head honcho has confirmed that the highly skilled team has delivered on what was hired for.

The 25 Guns task force engineer is an official job posting on Tesla’s career website. And qualities team members must have include a “can-do attitude and maniacal sense of urgency.”

They are required to have mastery in manufacturing engineering, ramp-up, production uptime, and cost optimization. Most importantly, they have to be excellent problem solvers and great communicators.

A now-deleted LinkedIn hiring post by a Tesla executive stated that members of the 25-person engineering task force would be deployed wherever the toughest problems exist, and report directly to Musk.

The ‘only’ requirements were: to have exceptional engineering talent, an unconventional approach to problem-solving, and make amazing things happen.

But why the number 25? There’s no definitive answer to that. A research paper published by the International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications suggests that a team size exceeding 25 can create communication issues, are unlikely to follow agile development, and it’s not possible to keep everyone on the same page.

Moreover, people can be more reluctant in taking up responsibilities, assuming that someone else will. Although, the size can vary depending on the scale of operations. But for Tesla, 25 seems to be the magic number.

Tesla wants to make the Berlin factory the continent’s biggest EV manufacturing hub, with an annual target of over one million EVs, and 100 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity, as per Reuters. It’s not surprising that Tesla needs engineering wizards to lead this ambitious operation.

As of March 2023, the factory had an output of 5,000 units per week and is awaiting regulatory approvals for expansion.

The Tesla Model Y is manufactured at the facility – the electric crossover was Europe’s best-selling car of any category in the first half of 2023, outselling popular ICE models like the Dacia Sandero and Volkswagen T-Roc.

Elon Musk has hinted that Tesla may implement additional price reductions on its electric vehicles if current economic conditions persist, even if it means impacting the company’s profit margins. Tesla caused a major shift in the EV market last year with significant price cuts across its models in the U.S., China, and Europe. Although price adjustments have stabilized recently, Musk’s comments reflect a willingness to lower prices further to maintain volume growth amidst what he describes as “turbulent times.”

During Tesla’s Q2 2023 earnings call, Musk expressed concerns about the unstable global economy and its impact on business decisions. He acknowledged the company’s readiness to sacrifice profit margins in favor of higher vehicle sales if necessary. Despite these strategies, Tesla’s quarterly automotive gross margin decreased to 18.1 percent, down from 19 percent in the previous quarter and a significant drop from 26 percent a year ago. The company aims to balance cost reduction and innovation while maintaining its delivery targets for the year, despite a slight expected decrease in production due to planned factory upgrades.

Tesla is in discussions with a big car manufacturer to license its so-called Full Self-Driving driving assistance feature, the EV brand’s CEO Elon Musk said during the Q2 2023 Earnings Call yesterday.

Last month, Musk wrote on his Twitter account that Tesla made its patents freely available in 2014 and that it’s currently allowing other companies to use the Supercharging network. In that same tweet (embedded below), he stated that the Austin-based EV marque is also happy to license its Autopilot/FSD systems to other automakers.

Well, a month and a half later, it looks like there are some negotiations going on, with Musk saying during yesterday’s webcast that Tesla is already in early discussions with “a major OEM” about using FSD.

“Something I want to emphasize strongly, this is a very important point, is that Tesla – as with the North American Charging Standard (NACS) – although we’re not licensing it, we’re just making it available, but we are very open to licensing our full self-driving software and hardware to other car companies, and we are already in early discussions with a major OEM about using the Tesla FSD,” the CEO said.

“So, we’re not trying to keep this to ourselves, we’re more than happy to license it to others.”

No details or hints about what OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) is involved, but it’s interesting to see where this possible collaboration will lead. In the same conference call, Musk said that cars enrolled in the FSD Beta program have traveled over 300 million miles.

If we were to guess, we’d say that Ford, General Motors, and Mercedes-Benz are out of the question when it comes to licensing FSD, as their proprietary driving assistance systems – into which millions of dollars have been invested – have been ranked among the best by Consumer Reports.

What would be your guess? Head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts on this.