2023 Tesla Model S Plaid on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Recent Tesla Model S buyers frustrated over new features

Tesla wowed the motoring world when it recently unveiled the all-wheel drive, dual-motor D version that added power and range to the already well-regarded Model S. At the same time, the company showed off a new suite of safe-driving tech like a forward-looking camera, radar and ultrasonic sensors to come standard on all models. While the new features might attract some new buyers into the fold, for a few current owners the upgrades aren't coming as a pleasant surprise at all. Some of them are rallying for Tesla to fix things somehow.
These disgruntled owners aren't upset about what any of the new features actually do; in fact, they love them. The issue is Tesla's secrecy before the reveal. A few of these folks bought their cars just a few months ago, some even in September, according to The San Jose Mercury News. If the upgrades had been publicized earlier, then they would have waited to order versions with the latest and greatest tech.
Some of them are already on the web lodging their complaints. According to The San Jose Mercury News, the website Change.org has competing petitions asking Tesla to find a way to retrofit the features, which the company says isn't possible, and another requesting the automaker to ignore the complainers.

Tesla Model S sells 6,900 units in Q4, eyes top of the charts

Tesla Motors sold roughly 6,900 of its battery-electric Model S sedans during the last three months of 2013, making it the country's best-selling plug-in vehicle during the fourth quarter. The California-based automaker beat independent sales estimates by about 20 percent and increased its quarterly sales rate from the third quarter by about 25 percent. More notably, Tesla's fourth-quarter sales beat those of Nissan Leaf EV (6,534 units), and the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug in (6,334). For the year, Tesla sold about 22,300 vehicles, putting it just behind the Volt's 23,094 vehicles and the Leaf's 22,610. Heck, Tesla sold more green cars last year than Honda, which moved about 20,600 battery-electric, hybrid and plug-in vehicles, combined. Investors were certainly happy with the news. Shares of TSLA were up around 16 percent in Tuesday trading, closing at $161.27. The news release was conveniently timed to change the story from the issues Tesla has regarding its wall chargers and what's believed to be their potential role in a garage fire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said earlier today that more than 29,000 of Tesla's wall charger adapters were being recalled. You will find Tesla's press release on Q4 sales numbers below. Tesla Revenue Expected to Exceed Guidance by 20% in Fourth Quarter Sales Driven by Superlative Safety Record and Excellent Cold Weather Performance TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014 PALO ALTO, Calif. – Tesla sales in the fourth quarter of 2013 were the highest in company history by a significant margin. With almost 6,900 vehicles sold and delivered, Tesla exceeded prior guidance by approximately 20%. A higher than expected number of cars was manufactured as a result of an excellent effort by the Tesla production team and key suppliers, particularly Panasonic. The two key drivers of demand were the superlative safety record of the Model S and great performance under extremely cold conditions. Safety Record Tesla remains the only manufacturer with a perfect safety record of zero deaths or serious, permanent injuries ever. Including the Roadster, Tesla vehicles have now been on the road for almost six years in 31 countries with almost 200 million miles driven to date. Despite dozens of high speed collisions, the driver and passengers have always been protected. This is Tesla's proudest achievement.

Tesla could make 800 Model S EVs a week by late 2014

Tesla continues to impress, with high demand pushing the small, California-based company well beyond its initial projections of 400 Model S EVs per week. According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, "We're above 400 a week at the current manpower, and not trivially above it." If things continue at the current pace, Tesla's Fremont, California factory, former home of the General Motors/Toyota NUMMI facility, will be pumping out 800 cars per week by late 2014.
That number will eventually come to include the Model X SUV and a smaller, more affordable alternative to the Model S. There's even chatter of a compact SUV, according to a story from Bloomberg.
Even if Tesla produces 800 cars per week for an entire year, the company hasn't even approached the maximum capacity of its Fremont factory. The NUMMI facility was producing 500,000 units per year during its glory days. And while that number is still far off for Tesla, Musk claims it'll happen eventually. "We going to have every kind of car you could possibly imagine. If it moves, we'll make it."