Tesla wins China security clearance

Tesla received a key security clearance from China during owner Elon Musk's whistlestop visit to the world's biggest electric car market, which wrapped up on Monday.

The tech billionaire arrived on Sunday for his second trip to China in less than a year, meeting top officials including Premier Li Qiang as he worked to boost his electric car company's fortunes in the face of intense competition from local challengers such as BYD.

On the same day, Tesla's locally produced models were listed among the EVs that meet China's data security requirements for smart cars, clearing a key regulatory hurdle.

Musk boarded his private jet at Beijing Capital Airport just before 1:00 pm (0500 GMT), with a Chinese flight tracking app saying it was bound for Anchorage, Alaska.

Despite the growing market share of domestic automakers, Teslas remain among the best-selling EVs in China.

The firm has been working to boost sales through its "Full Self Driving" (FSD) features, which need to be compliant with strict data and privacy laws.

It appeared to inch closer to that approval by teaming up with Chinese tech titan Baidu for maps and navigation, Bloomberg reported Monday.

These advanced assisted driving features do not make its cars fully autonomous, and Tesla says its autopilot and FSD capabilities are meant to be used under driver supervision.

It sells FSD to Tesla owners for $8,000 in the United States, or for a $99 monthly subscription.

Tesla did not immediately respond to AFP queries about FSD in China and the reported partnership with Baidu.

Earlier this month, in response to a question on his social media platform X, Musk said FSD availability in China "may be possible very soon".

That report came a day after the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y were compliant with data security laws.

CAAM, which tested vehicles with a national computer security regulator, said in a statement that the approved models satisfied rules on the collection and processing of personal data, including the recordings of faces outside the car.

- FSD 'no guarantee' -

FSD could help Tesla cars stand out in a Chinese market awash with models that offer customers a wide variety of connected and smart features, analysts said.

Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y "have become uncompetitive", said Tu Le, the founder and managing director of Sino Auto Insights.

"There's still no guarantee of additional sales but without FSD, Tesla has nothing new to offer consumers who are now used to seeing refreshes on EVs every 6-9 months."

In a note on Monday, Wedbush Securities analysts said the "long term valuation story at Tesla hinges on FSD and autonomous".

"If Musk is able to obtain approval from Beijing to transfer data collected in China abroad this would be pivotal around the acceleration of training its algorithms for its autonomous technology globally," they added.

Tesla's stock was up more than 10 percent during morning trading in New York on Monday.

However, the cost of FSD on top of Tesla cars' retail price may prove to be a hurdle for Chinese consumers.

"Tesla's FSD is not free... There doesn't seem to be much willingness among current Chinese Tesla owners to pay for and use it," Zhong Shi, an analyst with the China Automobile Dealers Association, told AFP.

"Many Chinese car companies offer similar features for free or at discounted prices, so users are willing to try it because it doesn't add to their financial burden."

China has led the electric car revolution.

"Based on today's policy settings, almost 1 in 3 cars on the roads in China by 2030 is set to be electric," the International Energy Agency said last week in its annual Global EV Outlook.

Musk and Tesla's China efforts reflect the importance of this hugely lucrative market for foreign automakers.

Two Japanese car giants last week said they would team up with Chinese tech firms to enhance their artificial intelligence capabilities.

Toyota said it would join hands with gaming giant Tencent on AI to try and capitalise on Chinese consumers' growing appetite for advanced smart features in the cars it sells in China.

Like other foreign manufacturers, Toyota has struggled to keep up in the ultra-competitive Chinese market, especially as it shifts to electric.

Toyota competitor Nissan also said it would work with Baidu in the same field, cooperating on AI research and to use the Chinese search engine giant's AI tech in cars for the local market.

Agence France-Presse

Tesla secures $1.29-B loan from Chinese banks for Shanghai factory

Tesla Inc entered into agreements with lenders in China for a secured term loan facility of up to 9 billion yuan ($1.29 billion), according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The electric car maker said it has also signed agreements for an unsecured revolving loan facility of up to 2.25 billion yuan, adding that both the loans will be used for its Shanghai car plant.

China Construction Bank Corp, Agricultural Bank of China, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China are the lenders, according to the filing.

Besides construction and production at the Shanghai factory, the loan may also be used to repay the 3.5 billion yuan debt due to be repaid on March 4 next year.

The factory, which is Tesla's first car manufacturing site outside the United States, is the centerpiece of its ambitions to boost sales in the world's biggest auto market and avoid higher import tariffs imposed on US-made cars.

Reuters reported earlier this week that Tesla and a group of China banks had agreed to a new 10 billion yuan, 5-year loan facility for the automaker's Shanghai car plant, citing sources familiar with the matter.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Tesla cybertruck orders near 150,000 just days after chaotic launch

LOS ANGELES, California - Tesla's new electric pickup truck has secured almost 150,000 orders, the company's chief executive Elon Musk boasted on Twitter, just two days after its big reveal went embarrassingly wrong. 

The billionaire Tesla co-founder floundered on stage in California on Thursday when the vehicle's armored glass windows cracked in a demonstration intended to prove their indestructible design.

Shares in the company plunged 6.1 percent following the truck's bumpy launch and several lackluster reviews.

But on Saturday Musk tweeted that Tesla had already received 146,000 orders from prospective owners.

"146k Cybertruck orders so far, with 42% choosing dual, 41% tri & 17% single motor," he wrote.

The demand comes despite the product receiving "no advertising & no paid endorsement".

The industrial-looking Cybertruck is covered in the same steel alloy Musk plans to use for his SpaceX Starship rocket and will be able to go from 0 to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour in about three seconds, the Tesla chief executive claimed in his presentation.

He said the entry-level model will have a starting price of $39,900 and a 400-kilometer (250-mile) range, while a deluxe option will be able to travel twice the distance and will sell for $69,900.

No date has been given for its release, but analysts said it would not be ready before the end of 2021 at the earliest.

Its space-age design is unlikely to challenge top-selling models by Ford and other conventional car companies, analysts warn. 

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Tesla recalls more than 14,000 cars in China over airbags

SHANGHAI, China - Tesla will recall 14,123 cars in China over airbags that contained parts made by now-defunct Japanese manufacturer Takata, the Chinese market regulator announced on Friday.

Tesla, which recently broke ground on a factory outside Shanghai, has said the move is part of an industry-wide global recall of parts made by Takata, which went bust in 2017 after its airbags were blamed for a number of deaths.

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Tesla appoints Robyn Denholm as chair to replace Elon Musk

Tesla Inc said board member Robyn Denholm will replace Elon Musk as its chair, more than a month after the billionaire had to step down as the electric-car maker's chairman as part of a settlement with US regulators.

Tesla had until Nov. 13 to name an independent board chairman under its agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which said Musk's tweets about taking the company private were fraudulent and that the billionaire should quit as chairman but could retain his role as CEO.

Musk, who has been on Tesla's board since 2004, tweeted in August he was considering taking the company private for $420 per share and had secured funding for a deal that was later scuttled but attracted scrutiny from several government agencies.

The appointment of Denholm caps months of turbulence for the company and its stock as investors called for stronger oversight of Musk, whose erratic public behavior raised concerns about his ability to steer the company through a rocky phase of growth.

Denholm is currently chief financial officer at Australian telecoms operator Telstra Corp Ltd and has been an independent director on Tesla's nine-member board since 2014.

Denholm takes over as Tesla's chair immediately and will leave her role as CFO and head of strategy at Telstra once her six-month notice period with the company is complete, Tesla said late on Wednesday. She was appointed as Telstra's CFO in July. 

Tesla said Denholm, one of the two women on its board, will serve as chair on a full-time basis and will temporarily step down as chair of the company's audit committee until she leaves Telstra.

"Would like to thank Robyn for joining the team. Great respect. Very much look forward to working together," Musk tweeted early on Thursday.

The Financial Times had in October reported that outgoing Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Chief Executive James Murdoch was the lead candidate for the job, citing two people briefed on discussions. Musk later tweeted that this was "incorrect."

Murdoch is also an independent director on Tesla's board.

The carmaker last month quieted some critics after it reported a net profit and positive cash flow in the third quarter as higher production volumes of its crucial Model 3 sedan began to pay off, delivering on Musk's promise to turn the company profitable.

A Tesla spokeswoman said Denholm would receive an annual cash retainer of $300,000 and 8,000 stock options annually.

The spokeswoman also said Tesla was actively looking for two additional independent directors.

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Dyson says to make electric cars in Singapore

LONDON - British electric appliance pioneer Dyson said Tuesday it had picked Singapore as the site for its first electric car plant as part of a $3.3 billion global investment drive in new technology.

Dyson, which was founded by Brexit-backing billionaire entrepreneur James Dyson in 1991, said the factory was scheduled for completion in 2020 and is aiming to launch electric vehicles in 2021.

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Elon Musk says in talks with Saudis on taking Tesla private

WASHINGTON - Tesla chief executive Elon Musk disclosed Monday that he was in talks with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and other investors to take the electric automaker private.

The revelation came after Musk claimed in an August 7 Twitter post that financing for a deal to take Tesla private had been "secured."

Musk said in a blog post on Monday he had "no question" that the Saudis would finance such a transaction following a July 31 meeting.

"I continue to have discussions with the Saudi fund, and I also am having discussions with a number of other investors, which is something that I always planned to do since I would like for Tesla to continue to have a broad investor base," Musk wrote.

"It is appropriate to complete those discussions before presenting a detailed proposal to an independent board committee."

The transaction would be structured with equity so as not to burden Tesla with crushing debt, Musk added.

Musk's surprise comments last week sparked speculation he would need to borrow massive amounts to take Tesla private, a move that could allow the company to operate without requirements for financial reports and other pressures of a publicly traded firm.

But the comments also raised questions about whether Musk ran afoul of securities laws by claiming backing without a firm financial commitment.

The disclosures about Saudi interest "helps reduce the legal risk fallout for Tesla," said Efraim Levy, an equity analyst at CFRA Research.

"It also helps clarify the going private situation even if the transaction is ultimately not consummated."

But Levy said taking the company private would be a mixed blessing for Tesla and Musk -- the company could avoid short-term pressures from Wall Street but also reduce its access to capital markets.

"They've had significant benefits from having access to capital markets, and the media attention has provided priceless free advertising," Levy said.

"Despite Musk protestations, we think remaining public has and will benefit Tesla," he added.

Tesla shares failed to sustain an early surge and ended with a small gain of 0.26 percent at $356.41.

LESS THAN $70 BILLION 

In his blog post Monday, Musk said that reports that more than $70 billion would be needed to take Tesla private "dramatically overstate the actual capital raise needed" because he expected some shareholders to remain invested in the firm.

His comment that he wanted to launch a buyout at $420 a share "would only be used for Tesla shareholders who do not remain with our company if it is private," Musk said in the post.

"My best estimate right now is that approximately two-thirds of shares owned by all current investors would roll over into a private Tesla."

Musk added that the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund "has approached me multiple times" starting in early 2017 about taking Tesla private and had already taken a stake of nearly 5 percent though share purchases.

He said the Saudis were interested "because of the important need to diversify away from oil" and added that the sovereign fund "has more than enough capital needed to execute on such a transaction."

Loup Ventures analysts Gene Munster and Will Thompson said in a research note that Musk has answered the question "where would the money come from?" but still faces a number of challenges.

"If Musk can help it, we believe he will limit additional investors to 20 percent equity (he owns 22 percent), which implies the Saudi fund could only invest $16 billion," the analysts wrote.

"We still believe there is a greater than 50 percent chance Tesla is private in a year, and the blog post slightly increased those odds."

California-based Tesla has become one of the most valuable automakers on expectations it will disrupt the industry, although it produced only slightly more than 100,000 vehicles last year.

The company has been struggling to boost production of its Model 3, which is less expensive than its first models and could held expand Tesla's base.

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Battery of complaints against Tesla in Norway

OSLO - "I've had the car for eight months and it ran fine for four days," says Yngve Solberg, who like many Norwegians is fed up with the slew of problems his Tesla X has given him.

Tesla has sold more cars per capita in Norway than any other country in the world thanks to the government's generous measures in favour of electric cars including tax exemptions, free city tolls and public parking.

More than 26,000 Tesla S and X models are registered in Norway, according to the website www.teslastats.no.

But Tesla has struggled to provide after-sales support that matches the soaring demand for its high-end electric cars.

As a result, Tesla owners in Norway face long waits for repairs, a shortage of spare parts, difficulty reaching customer services, leading -- unsurprisingly -- to oodles of complaints.

In the first half of the year, Tesla became the company with the fourth-highest number of complaints registered with the Norwegian Consumer Council. In 2017, it held the 24th spot.

A car enthusiast, Solberg has had a long series of woes with his new Tesla X.

Among the problems he has faced were malfunctioning rear doors and a faulty suspension system. And each time he has faced trouble, it has taken him several months to get an appointment for repairs.

"Because of the doors, I couldn't park next to other cars for three months, neither at my work garage nor in my parking spot outside my home. All this with a car that costs 1.1 million kroner (115,000 euros, $133,000)," he bristled.

On an online forum for the Norwegian Association of Electric Cars, another Tesla owner said he was so frustrated he ended up taking his car to Danish capital Copenhagen to replace a faulty suspension arm. He has also been waiting for new seats for 13 months.

MUSK SAYS NORWEGIANS ARE RIGHT

These are not isolated cases. A survey conducted by the Tesla Owners Club Norway indicates that 38 percent are dissatisfied with the company's after-sales support, compared with 57 percent who are satisfied.

"Norwegians are right to be upset with Tesla," admitted Tesla chief executive Elon Musk.

"We are having trouble expanding our service facilities in Oslo especially," he tweeted on July 5.

He said the problems could be resolved "quickly" if Norway would give the green light for mobile service vans able to provide repairs at clients' homes.

Tesla is in talks with authorities with a view to adapting this service to national regulations, which strictly define car repair shops.

The problems are particularly troublesome for Tesla, as Norway is a seen as a global testing ground for electric cars.

The Scandinavian country, whose electricity is almost exclusively from hydro, aims to stop selling cars running on fossil fuels in seven years -- by 2025.

Tesla is therefore doubling its efforts to meet Norway's needs.

The company's spokesman in the Nordic region, Even Sandvold Roland, said after-sales support staff has already been augmented by 30 percent this year, additional shifts have been set up in some places, and a new repair center is due to open shortly in Oslo.

'GROWING PAINS'

"Things are improving," said Satheesh Varadharajan, the head of the Association of Tesla Owners. "It's positive, though we're still a little concerned about whether it's going quickly enough."

Recruiting and training new employees is time-consuming.

Keen to participate in the technological breakthrough the Californian company is offering, many motor enthusiasts are affording Tesla a patience they would not normally grant a conventional carmaker.

"Early adopters show a lot of understanding and accept that things take a little time, that there are growing pains. No other group has grown as much as quickly," stressed Varadharajan.

Despite the many frustrations, Yngve Solberg still has faith in Tesla and has reserved a Model 3, the company's first car targeting the mass market.

But Solberg said his faith had limits.

Tesla has had trouble ramping up production of the Model 3, and "if it's the same chaos that I've experienced these past eight months, then, no."

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US safety agency criticizes Tesla crash data release

WASHINGTON - The US National Transportation Safety Board said on Sunday it was "unhappy" that electric car maker Tesla Inc made public information about the crash of its Model X vehicle on Autopilot that killed the driver last month.

The agency "needs the cooperation of Tesla to decode the data the vehicle recorded," NTSB spokesman Chris O'Neil said in a statement.

"In each of our investigations involving a Tesla vehicle, Tesla has been extremely cooperative on assisting with the vehicle data."

"However, the NTSB is unhappy with the release of investigative information by Tesla," he added.

A Tesla spokesperson declined to comment.

The board's reaction to Tesla was first reported by the Washington Post Sunday evening.

O'Neil was responding to Tesla's announcement on Friday that the Tesla Model X involved in the crash had activated its Autopilot system moments before the March 23 mishap.

The driver, 38, died at a nearby hospital shortly after the vehicle hit a concrete highway divider near Mountain View, California. The mishap involved 2 other vehicles.

"The NTSB is looking into all aspects of this crash including the driver's previous concerns about the autopilot," said O'Neil.

"We will work to determine the probable cause of the crash and our next update of information about our investigation will likely be when we publish a preliminary report, which generally occurs within a few weeks of completion of field work."

Last week, the company said that a search of its service records did not "find anything suggesting that the customer ever complained to Tesla about the performance of Autopilot. There was a concern raised once about navigation not working correctly, but Autopilot's performance is unrelated to navigation."

In its announcement on Friday, the company said that shortly before the crash, the vehicle's "Autopilot was engaged with the adaptive cruise control follow-distance set to minimum."

Autopilot allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel for extended periods under certain conditions. Tesla requires users to agree to keep their hands on the wheel at all times before they can use Autopilot. Users, however, routinely brag they can use the system to drive hands-free.

In its Friday statement, Tesla also said vehicle logs from the accident showed no action had been taken by the driver right before the crash and that he had received earlier warnings to put his hands on the wheel.

The statement did not say why the Autopilot system apparently did not detect the concrete divider.

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Electric car-sharing service to roll into Singapore

SINGAPORE - An electric car-sharing service will be launched in Singapore in December, in what the company behind the scheme said Wednesday was a first for Southeast Asia.

BlueSG, a subsidiary of France's Bollore Group, said that 80 cars and 30 stations where vehicles can be picked up and dropped off would be operational by the end of the year.


The group plans to roll out 1,000 of its custom-built Bluecars by 2020, as well as numerous stations and charging points.

The affluent city-state -- whose generally uncongested roads are a contrast to many traffic-choked cities in the region -- has become a testbed for transport innovations. Last year it hosted a limited public trial of the world's first driverless taxis.

Marie Bollore, from Blue Solutions, said Singapore was a launchpad for the company to enter the Asian market.

"We will start in Singapore, and afterwards we will see if other regions in Asia are interested," Bollore said at the launch of BlueSG's new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore.

The service is being rolled out with the help of the authorities.

Land Transport Authority chief technology officer Lam Wee Shann said the initiative would "lay the foundation" for a network of electric vehicle charging stations, and support the growth of electric car use in Singapore.

Blue Solutions is the world's biggest operator of electric car-sharing services, with 5,000 other electric vehicles in eight cities -- including Paris and Lyon in France, Turin in Italy and Indianapolis in the United States.

In Singapore, users will be able to book an electric car online or via a mobile app, and charged for the time they rent the vehicle rather than the distance travelled.

There will also be an option for a daily or annual membership.

Slightly bigger than a Smart car, the two-door, four-seater Bluecars are designed with Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina.

Nissan in March started a similar service in the city of Yokohama south of Tokyo.

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