2021 Model 3 2021 Long Range Awd Autopilot Nav Pano Blind 38k on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Tesla Model S has secret menu that shows possible upcoming features

The Telsa Model S may have won just about every automotive award it could last year, but that doesn't mean it's a perfect vehicle. Far from it. Drivers have been asking when the already high-tech vehicle will get somewhat normal features, like adaptive cruise control or blind spot detection. Well, a new video of menus hidden within the giant touch screen in the Model S shows that those two features might be coming soon, along with a lane departure warning. When these options might arrive is anyone's guess, but the video (see it below) shows that the software is at least in the prototype stage. In any case, unless Tesla has installed a bunch of sensors and not told anyone about them, turning these features on will require more than just a software update.
The hidden menu also shows some as-of-yet-unannounced apps in the car's software: an image viewer, a sketch pad, a scheduler/calendar and various test apps.
The way you access these menus, apparently, is by holding down the Tesla logo on the main menu for a few seconds and then entering an access code. We don't know this password and we also don't recommend fooling around in there, since it looks like you might be able to muck things up, but good. We have enough trouble rooting our phones and we're not sure we'd like to take the risk with an $70,000+ electric vehicle. But if someone else wants to do so and post a video online, then we're happy to watch.

Daimler divests remaining interest in Tesla

Back in 2009, Daimler acquired over 9 percent of Tesla. A couple of months later, it sold 40 percent of that stake to Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments. The following year, Tesla listed on the stock exchange and Daimler's interest was reduced to 4 percent. But now the German industrial giant has announced it is selling that 4 percent and divesting from Tesla altogether in a liquidation that is expected to raise approximately $780 million for Daimler. The divestment has also triggered speculation that the move could make room for rival German automaker BMW to take an interest in Tesla.
Despite the divestment, Daimler insists that its technological partnership with Tesla will remain unaffected. Mercedes sources the batteries for its B-Class Electric Drive (pictured above) from the Californian outfit in a deal that is not set to change as a result of the financial realignment. A similar collaboration was in place for the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive, however, now that the new generation of Smarts developed with Renault is on its way, it's possible that a next-generation Fortwo ED will use French tech instead as an extension of the partnership between Daimler and Renault-Nissan.
Daimler has also taken the occasion to point out that, between the Mercedes, Smart and various truck brands, it offers "the industry's biggest portfolio of electric vehicles," including pure EVs, fuel cells and hybrids. The automaker says it will introduce ten new plug-in hybrid Mercedes models by 2017.

GM admits Cadillac ELR no real competition for Tesla Model S

Last year, then-CEO of General Motors, Dan Akerson, made it clear that the company lookouts at the Ren Cen had California automaker Tesla in their sights. "If you want to compete head-to-head with Tesla, and we ultimately will, you want to do it with a Cadillac," he said. So, given the fact that the Cadillac ELR has a plug and sells for roughly the same price at the Tesla Model S ($75,000 vs $69,900, before incentives) and that Cadillac doesn't have any other electric vehicle on the horizon, you'd be forgiven if you thought that the way that Akerson wanted to challenge Tesla's EV success was with the ELR. Well, you'd apparently be wrong. "The ELR is a different car, it's a different price point. It's way-different technology." - GM's Mark Reuss Speaking yesterday in Detroit, GM's head of global product development, Mark Reuss, admitted that the ELR is not the Tesla competitor that Akerson promised. "People like to say the ELR is [competition for the Model S], but it's really not. It's a different car, it's a different price point. It's way-different technology." So, if we follow that logic to conclusion with Akerson's quote from last year, then the only way that Cadillac can eventually compete with Tesla is with a pure electric car, and that seems an outside chance, at best, for the foreseeable future. Through the end of July, Cadillac has sold 578 ELRs since it went on sale earlier this year. Tesla doesn't break out monthly US sales, but has sold 15,114 Model S EVs around the world in the first six months of 2014. For his part, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has already said that GM is headed down the wrong path with plug-in hybrids like the ELR or the Chevy Volt. Speaking about the Volt last year, Musk said, Chevy "sort of created something that's a bit of amphibian," which resulted in a car that's, "Okay but not great."