Updated on 10-19-2016 by Andrew Hard: Tesla’s announcement wasn’t specific to the Model 3, but the brand revealed its entire fleet will be fitted with full self-driving hardware moving forward. Read the full post here.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk loves a good tease and his platform of choice is usually his Twitter account. The exec previously revealed a new Tesla product would be unveiled on Monday and he sweetened the deal by saying the debut would be “unexpected by most.” But on Sunday, Musk took to Twitter again to inform eager fans that there would be a slight delay in the unveil — until Wednesday at 5:00 pm Pacific Time.
Moving the Tesla announcement to Wednesday. Needs a few more days of refinement.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 16, 2016
There are countless products that would fall into the category of “unexpected” — a Tesla-branded hair dryer, for instance — but Musk revealed today the announcement would center on the highly-anticipated second half of the Model 3’s reveal, something the exec has been promising since the original launch on March 31.
Read more: A hearse to die for: Get buried in style in this stretched Tesla Model S by RemetzCar
We know a fair amount about the vehicle by now — check out our full news and rumor roundup here — but specs regarding all the available powertrains are still under wraps and we have not seen the car’s full insides yet. Rumors of a spartan driverless cabin are swirling, so it is possible the interior of the future is just around the corner.
@elonmusk This is also what I was alluding to by Model 3 part 2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2016
Musk’s original Twitter message also confirmed that a major announcement concerning Tesla and SolarCity will go down on October 28. We expect a new Powerwall to show its face alongside the beefier Powerpack 2.0 energy storage system, both compete with new 2170 cells from the brand’s gargantuan Gigafactory. We are hoping to get a glimpse of a new solar roof or Tesla charging unit as well, but if Musk’s tweet is anything to go by, join us in expecting the unexpected.
Article originally published on 10-10-2016. Updated on 10-19-2016 by Andrew Hard: Added confirmation that the “unexpected” reveal will be the second half of the Model 3’s debut.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.