2022 Tesla Model X Plaid Fsd on 2040-cars

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Is Land Rover developing an all-electric Tesla Model X rival?

Tesla will soon put its all-electric Model X crossover on sale, and if it's anywhere near as successful as the brand's four-door sedan the Model S, then it'll be a hell of an attention getter for mainstream automakers. Land Rover isn't waiting for proof of the Model X's success, though. According to reports, Land Rover could be preparing an all-electric Range Rover. Likely more crossover than full-size SUV, the new vehicle would probably be far more aerodynamic than current models. But the new EV would still take advantage of LR's high-tech aluminum structure, and could potentially be a close relative of the production Jaguar C-X17, according to Autocar. It seems unlikely that this new Land Rover EV will have the off-road chops of the brand's other models, but that doesn't mean that will be useless on the rough stuff. AC, citing Land Rover design boss Gerry McGovern, claims that a height-adjustable air suspension will allow a low, aerodynamic ride height for high-speed travel while it can easily be transitioned to a higher level for off-road duty. As for range, AC believes (and we agree) that a successful effort would need to get as close as possible to the Model S' 265-mile EV range. Autocar is anticipating a price of around 90,000 pounds, equivalent to $144,000, which roughly matches the cost of a UK-market Model S. If the Range Rover EV comes stateside, we'd wager that prices will start under six figures, much like the US-market Tesla.

Is Tesla building a new skunkworks facility in Lathrop, California?

Tesla Motors has a secret. The California automaker has leased, and is now renovating, a 431,000-square foot former Daimler-Chrysler distribution facility in Lathrop, CA, but is not saying exactly what it will be using the space for. At least, not yet. About an hour's drive east from its Fremont, CA factory, the property is located just off the north-to-south Interstate 5 (I-5) and has extra acreage to expand the building by another 124,980 sq-ft, if needed. Designed to handle a lot of shipping in and out, one side of the structure is gifted with 32 truck docking bays. With no official word on the type of activities that are planned for the facility, it is only natural that we would want to speculate a bit. There is one clue out there that can aid our hypothesizing. The job section of the company's website lists a number of openings that would indicate manufacturing of some sort is intended for the space. We'll go ahead and rule out serial vehicle production, since the Fremont space still has ample room for that activity to handle the upcoming Model X and the more affordable future vehicle. It's far too small to be a battery gigafactory, so could it be instead a kilofactory ? Probably not. Of course, it could just be a new site for producing components for the Fremont production lines, but that doesn't sound nearly as exciting. It also doesn't seem to be worthy of secrecy. The coolest – though not necessarily most accurate – thing we can come up with is a skunkworks. A secret lair where new concepts are conceived and developed away from the prying eyes of the public. Yeah, we'll go with that. When we contacted Tesla for clues about the facility's purpose we got a boilerplate response, though interestingly, they might have thrown us another mysterious bone in the process. And we quote, "Tesla is continuing to invest and create jobs in California as part of our ongoing infrastructure expansion. In the last two months, we have signed leases for more than 625,000 square feet of Californian real estate, independent of sales and service centers. These recent investments reinforce our commitment to California and will help us continue to bring compelling electric vehicles to market at affordable prices." With a 194,00-sq ft discrepancy between the known Lathrop acquisition and the numbers given by the automaker, it seems that may be yet another decent-sized unknown building in the mix.

Revozport ready for Tesla Model S with R-Zentric line of mods [w/video]

If you're going to drop $15 grand or so boosting your Tesla Model S's output to 691 horsepower (as if the all-electric sedan doesn't have enough guts as it is), what's another $6,000 to blow on a really cool spoiler kit. Because you do want to keep that car as low to the ground as possible, right? Hong Kong aftermarket specialist Revozport, which has worked with McLaren, Lamborghini and Nissan on various aftermarket kits, is offering drivers of the Model S its so-called R-Zentric product line to sport things up further with touches such as side skirts, front splitters and trunk-lip spoilers. Prices start at $765 for the trunk spoiler and work their way up to $5,690 for the "complete aerokit." Then, there's the option of blowing $11,000 for Klassen 22-inch forged wheels. Sporty. Take a closer look at the Tesla options here and see an animated video (no shots of the car in action, sadly) below. We last reported on Revozport in 2012 with its Mini Targa Raze, which, depending on the option, tuned up the little droptop's motor by 69 horsepower to 250 horsepower while pulling 66 pounds off the little car thanks to kevlar and carbon parts. The company has also worked on customization kits for the Volkswagen Golf GTI. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.