It was supposed to provide a high-speed alternative to air travel, but Elon Musk is quietly shutting down his once-promising hyperloop company at the end of this year. Its assets are being sold off to a Dubai-based shipping company, though it’s far from clear that will ever bring the maglev system into real-world operation. Get details at Headlight.News.
Tesla is coming under more intense fire as a result of a series of crashes involving its Autopilot system. The NTSB wants the automaker to block its use on roads where it’s not safe to operate. And California regulators say the name, Autopilot, is itself false and misleading and should be changed.
Within a week of its 2019 launch, Tesla claimed to have logged 250,000 advance reservations for the Cybertruck, and CEO Musk claims the number is now up to 1 million. Yet, even with the all-electric pickup finally in production, it very well could turn into a bust, CEO Elon Musk telling investors and analysts “We dug our own grave with the Cybertruck.”
Ford dropped a shift at the Dearborn, Michigan plant assembling its all-electric F-150 Lightning. The automaker blamed “multiple constraints,” for the move, but the UAW says the production cut comes as sales “have tanked.” If anything, Ford had expected a growing surge in demand as it prepares a major expansion of capacity at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center.
Hyundai, Genesis and Kia are the latest brands set to migrate to Tesla’s NACS plug and Supercharger network. Headlight.News looks at why, and also lists the other EV manufacturers partnering with Tesla.