Tesla showcases Autopilot, Full Self-Driving tech in Autonomy Day (Live Blog)

Tesla is holding its Autonomy Day today, with the company inviting investors to its headquarters in Palo Alto, CA to get a deep dive into the company’s full self-driving initiatives. During the event, Tesla will be sharing its full self-driving roadmap to attendees. Several key executives involved in the company’s autonomous driving project such as CEO Elon Musk, VP of Engineering Stuart Bowers, VP of Hardware Engineering Pete Bannon, and Sr. Director of AI Andrej Karpathy will be addressing the event’s attendees as well.

Investors will also have the opportunity to experience test rides in vehicles that are equipped with Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features that are yet to be released. With Autonomy Day, Tesla has the potential to establish itself as a key player in the autonomous vehicle race, a competition that is currently being dominated by big players such as Waymo and GM Cruise. Elon Musk’s stance on Full Self-Driving being attainable using a system that consists primarily of cameras and artificial intelligence will also be put to the test.

The following are live updates from Tesla’s Autonomy Day. Fellow Teslarati reporter Dacia Ferris and I will be updating this article in real-time, so please keep refreshing the page to view the latest updates on this story.

Simon 11:32 PT: So just to review, we’re expecting to see a number of pertinent updates on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving initiatives today. Personally looking forward to Stuart Bowers, Pete Bannon, and Andrej Karpathy’s segments in the event.

Simon 11:32 PT: This song will effectively be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. I guarantee it.

Dacia 11:31 PT: “New Rule” for live stream events in future: More than one soundtrack for film reel.

Dacia 11:30 PT: Okay, half hour late now. Well…it did say Autonomy “Day”.

Dacia 11:26 PT: I love that the Tesla Semi is in this video roll. Would be even MORE awesome if the Semi was part of the Autopilot demo.

Simon 11:24 PT: We’re approaching 25 mins late. Looks like Autonomy Day will start in Elon Time. Not sure if that’s a good sign or a bad sign.

Dacia 11:14 PT: Seeing complaints on Twitter about the video, now. Some are amusing, some not so much.

Simon 11:10 PT: We’re at 13 mins late now. But the new footage sure is sweet. The Roadster shots are particularly amazing.

Dacia 11:10 PT: Well, the livestream is late…but this video footage is amazing. We haven’t seen most of these shots before. There are some Autopilot features intertwined – nice touch!

Tesla showcases Autopilot, Full Self-Driving tech in Autonomy Day (Live Blog)

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Tesla Model 3 makes way for Jaguar as I-PACE secures World Car of the Year Award

The Jaguar I-PACE swept a new round of awards recently at the 2019 New York Auto Show. After a long deliberation, over 80 judges from 24 different countries dubbed the all-electric premium crossover SUV as the 2019 World Car of the Year, beating the Audi e-tron and the Volvo S60/V60 in the process. The I-PACE was also the winner of the World Car Design of the Year and World Green Car of the Year awards, adding to the vehicle’s ever-growing list of accolades.

The judges of the World Car of the Year award were notably impressed by the Jaguar I-PACE’s looks and its capability to mix a range of 292 miles WLTP (234 miles EPA) and a brisk 0-62 mph time of 4.5-seconds. Prof. Dr. Ralf Speth, Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Land Rover, received the award for the I-PACE, noting that the all-electric crossover is but the first step in the automaker’s journey towards a zero-emissions future.

“It is an honor that the Jaguar I-PACE has received such an accolade from the prestigious World Car jurors. We started with an ideal, to move towards our Destination Zero vision; zero emissions, zero accidents, and zero congestion. I-PACE is our first step to achieving this, and it was conceived when EVs were little more than a niche choice,” he said.

Notably absent in the World Car of the Year nominees for 2019 was an electric sedan that is disrupting the US and international market today: the Tesla Model 3. The World Car of the Year title requires nominated vehicles to be sold in at least five countries to be considered, and this is a requirement that the Model 3 did not meet.

It is then quite interesting to see the Audi e-tron qualifying for the award despite the vehicle’s status when nominees were being listed. The e-tron was listed as a nominee by AutoExpress.uk on September 14, 2018, a few days before the SUV was unveiled on September 18, 2018. Ars Technica, whose auto journalist Jonathan Gitlin was among this year’s judges, explained the Model 3’s absence in the 2019 World Car of the Year nominees, stating that the vehicle “went on sale too long ago to be considered for this year’s awards.”

The absence of the Model 3 in the nominees for the 2019 World Car of the Year does not mean that the awards program is biased against Tesla. Back in 2013, the Tesla Model S walked away with the World Green Car title, and in 2017, the Tesla Model X was a finalist in the same category, before losing to the Toyota Prius Prime.

With Tesla now focusing its Model 3 deliveries to the international markets, it will not be surprising if the electric sedan will make it as a nominee for 2020’s World Car of the Year awards. Perhaps, just like the Jaguar I-PACE, the Model 3 could even go further than its more expensive siblings, earning not only the World Green Car title, but the World Car of the Year trophy as well. With the Tesla Model 3’s shadow hovering over the international market’s electric car industry, next year’s awards will likely be very compelling.

Tesla Model 3 makes way for Jaguar as I-PACE secures World Car of the Year Award

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Elon Musk and SEC get another week to resolve dispute over Tesla production tweet

Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission have received a one-week extension from US Judge Alison Nathan, giving them more time to settle an ongoing dispute over the Tesla CEO’s Twitter use. The extension came on the heels of a joint submission to the federal judge, who initially gave Musk and the SEC until April 18 to reach an agreement.

“While we have not reached an agreement, counsel for the SEC, Mr. Musk, and counsel for Tesla met and conferred for over an hour by telephone earlier this week and are continuing to discuss a potential resolution. Because our discussions are ongoing, we respectfully request to provide the Court with another joint submission on or before April 25, 2019, indicating whether we have reached an agreement in principle,” the request read.

Elon Musk and the SEC’s ongoing dispute was caused by a tweet posted on February 19 which noted that the electric car maker will produce around 500K electric cars this year, a figure that the CEO previously mentioned in the Q4 2018 earnings call. Musk eventually issued a follow-up tweet, stating that the 500k figure referred to an annualized production rate. The SEC promptly jumped on Musk’s tweet, asking a US court to hold the Tesla CEO in contempt over the alleged violation of his settlement with the agency, which required any social media posts with material information to be reviewed before they are uploaded.

Elon Musk and his legal team faced off with the SEC earlier this month, where both sides presented their case to the US judge. The SEC’s attorney, Cheryl Crumpton, argued that Musk had “recklessly tweeted out information that has no basis in fact.” The SEC lawyer also admonished Tesla for allegedly failing to control the conduct of its CEO. As punishment for his alleged violation, the SEC called on the court to give Musk an escalating series of fines. Crumpton also stated that Musk should be ordered to report monthly on his compliance with the terms of his settlement.

Musk’s legal team, represented by veteran lawyer John Hueston, argued that the Tesla CEO did not violate the terms of his settlement because the February 19 tweet contained information that had been public since the company’s Q4 2018 earnings call. The lawyer added that under the terms of the settlement, Musk has the discretion to decide what is material information and what is not. Hueston also argued that the SEC should have attempted to settle its dispute with Musk before it asked the court to hold the CEO in contempt. “What the SEC should have done was approach in good faith and try to work things out,” he said.

After hearing the arguments from the SEC and Musk’s legal team, Judge Nathan ordered the two parties to “take a deep breath, put on your reasonableness pants” and work out a solution by April 18. If the parties are unable to resolve their conflicts on their own, Nathan noted that Musk’s legal team and the SEC will hear from her. Musk, for his part, noted in a statement after the hearing that he was “very impressed with Judge Nathan’s analysis.”

Elon Musk and SEC get another week to resolve dispute over Tesla production tweet

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