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Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Perth Now
Tesla slow in reporting self-driving tech crashes
US federal auto safety regulators are investigating why Tesla has repeatedly broken rules requiring it to quickly tell them about crashes involving its self-driving technology. It's potentially significant development given the company's plans to put hundreds of thousands of driverless cars on US roads over the next year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Thursday that Tesla's reports on numerous incidents involving its driver assistance and self-driving features were submitted far too late — several months after the crashes, instead of within five days as required. The probe comes two months after the electric vehicle maker run by Elon Musk started a self-driving taxi service in Austin, Texas, with hopes of soon offering it nationwide. The company also hopes to send over-the-air software updates to millions of Teslas already on the road that will allow them to drive themselves. Investors enthusiastic about such plans have kept Tesla stock aloft despite plunging sales and profits due to boycotts over Musk's support for US President Donald Trump and far-right politicians in Europe. The safety agency said the probe will focus on why Tesla took so long to report the crashes, whether the reports included all the necessary data and details and if there are crashes that the agency still doesn't know about. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment, but the agency noted that the company has told it the delays were "due to an issue with Tesla's data collection," which Tesla says has now been fixed. The new investigation follows another probe that began in October into potential problems with Tesla's self-driving technology in foggy weather and other low-visibility conditions, which has been linked to several accidents including one death. That probe involves 2.4 million Tesla vehicles. The crash reporting rule for vehicles using level two driver-assistance software, or those that require drivers to pay full attention to the road, was implemented in 2021. Since then, Tesla has reported 2308 crashes when the software was used, the vast majority of the more than 2600 reported by all automakers, according to agency data. The numbers are skewed by the fact that Tesla is by far the dominant maker of partial self-driving vehicles in the US The company has been offering robotaxi rides in Austin to only a select group of riders, but said it will allow any paying customer to hail its cabs starting sometime in September, according to a Musk post on X earlier this month. Tesla has also begun allowing limited robotaxi service in San Francisco with a driver behind the wheel as a safety check to conform with California rules. Investors in Tesla were initially cheered after Trump won the presidency in hopes he would reward his biggest financial backer, Musk, by getting safety regulators to go easier on the company. Now that isn't so certain given Musk's falling out with the president in recent months after Musk called Trump's budget bill an "abomination" that would add to US debt and threatened to form a new political party. Tesla stock fell less than 1.0 per cent in afternoon trading on Thursday to $US321 ($A500).
The Advertiser
19 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Wild new Cupra Tindaya concept teased – without a steering wheel
The Cupra Tindaya concept car has been teased in the lead-up to its reveal at the Munich motor show on September 8, where it will showcase the Spanish performance brand's new design direction – including a radical cabin. 'Tindaya' is the name of a volcanic mountain on the Spanish island of Fuerteventura in the North Atlantic Ocean – or the 'wild' Atlantic Ocean as Cupra describes it – and its "copper-toned rock echoes the signature of Cupra", said the Volkswagen Group brand. The exterior teaser image shows said volcanic mountain (which is no longer an active volcano, by the way) behind the sharp-edged, zig-zagging lines of the concept car's rear-end. A second shot shows the diamond-patterned surfacing of the interior, and a glimpse of the unconventional steering yoke – ala Tesla and Lexus, among others – in place of a regular steering wheel. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Cupra. Click here to get a great deal. A statement from the company says the concept "embraces its namesake's dramatic character, with an exterior and interior design that comes alive with a radical yet simple idea: 'No Drivers, No Cupra'". Cupra is amid a design shift as it moves further into EVs, and the Tindaya concept also features elements of the chiselled Dark Rebel – a wild, jagged-edged two-door electric sports car concept shown in 2023 (pictured below). Starting life as the performance arm of Seat – which is no longer present in Australia – Cupra was established as a standalone brand in 2019. Design chief Jorge Díez told British publication Autocar that Cupra's short existence as a brand in its own right was an advantage when it came to designing the Dark Rebel concept. "[With] no heritage or need to keep to DNA, we can make it from scratch, which gives thousands of possibilities, but it's an emotional design, a human design," he said. Another Cupra concept, the 2021 UrbanRebel, previewed the 2026 Raval small electric SUV, which goes on sale in Europe next year. Cupra Australia says it plans to launch it here by mid-2027. Based on the Volkswagen Group's MEB Entry platform – which also underpins the Volkswagen ID.2 – the Raval will sit below the current Cupra Born electric hatch in terms of size and price, to compete with small electric vehicles (EVs) like the MG 4, BYD Dolphin, Abarth 500e and, in Europe, the Renault 5 E-Tech. The Raval will be powered by a single front-mounted electric motor making 169kW, and will offer a sub-7.0-second 0-100km/h time along with a 440km range. Officially called the IAA Mobility Show, the Munich motor show will open to the public from September 9. MORE: Explore the Cupra showroom Content originally sourced from: The Cupra Tindaya concept car has been teased in the lead-up to its reveal at the Munich motor show on September 8, where it will showcase the Spanish performance brand's new design direction – including a radical cabin. 'Tindaya' is the name of a volcanic mountain on the Spanish island of Fuerteventura in the North Atlantic Ocean – or the 'wild' Atlantic Ocean as Cupra describes it – and its "copper-toned rock echoes the signature of Cupra", said the Volkswagen Group brand. The exterior teaser image shows said volcanic mountain (which is no longer an active volcano, by the way) behind the sharp-edged, zig-zagging lines of the concept car's rear-end. A second shot shows the diamond-patterned surfacing of the interior, and a glimpse of the unconventional steering yoke – ala Tesla and Lexus, among others – in place of a regular steering wheel. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Cupra. Click here to get a great deal. A statement from the company says the concept "embraces its namesake's dramatic character, with an exterior and interior design that comes alive with a radical yet simple idea: 'No Drivers, No Cupra'". Cupra is amid a design shift as it moves further into EVs, and the Tindaya concept also features elements of the chiselled Dark Rebel – a wild, jagged-edged two-door electric sports car concept shown in 2023 (pictured below). Starting life as the performance arm of Seat – which is no longer present in Australia – Cupra was established as a standalone brand in 2019. Design chief Jorge Díez told British publication Autocar that Cupra's short existence as a brand in its own right was an advantage when it came to designing the Dark Rebel concept. "[With] no heritage or need to keep to DNA, we can make it from scratch, which gives thousands of possibilities, but it's an emotional design, a human design," he said. Another Cupra concept, the 2021 UrbanRebel, previewed the 2026 Raval small electric SUV, which goes on sale in Europe next year. Cupra Australia says it plans to launch it here by mid-2027. Based on the Volkswagen Group's MEB Entry platform – which also underpins the Volkswagen ID.2 – the Raval will sit below the current Cupra Born electric hatch in terms of size and price, to compete with small electric vehicles (EVs) like the MG 4, BYD Dolphin, Abarth 500e and, in Europe, the Renault 5 E-Tech. The Raval will be powered by a single front-mounted electric motor making 169kW, and will offer a sub-7.0-second 0-100km/h time along with a 440km range. Officially called the IAA Mobility Show, the Munich motor show will open to the public from September 9. MORE: Explore the Cupra showroom Content originally sourced from: The Cupra Tindaya concept car has been teased in the lead-up to its reveal at the Munich motor show on September 8, where it will showcase the Spanish performance brand's new design direction – including a radical cabin. 'Tindaya' is the name of a volcanic mountain on the Spanish island of Fuerteventura in the North Atlantic Ocean – or the 'wild' Atlantic Ocean as Cupra describes it – and its "copper-toned rock echoes the signature of Cupra", said the Volkswagen Group brand. The exterior teaser image shows said volcanic mountain (which is no longer an active volcano, by the way) behind the sharp-edged, zig-zagging lines of the concept car's rear-end. A second shot shows the diamond-patterned surfacing of the interior, and a glimpse of the unconventional steering yoke – ala Tesla and Lexus, among others – in place of a regular steering wheel. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Cupra. Click here to get a great deal. A statement from the company says the concept "embraces its namesake's dramatic character, with an exterior and interior design that comes alive with a radical yet simple idea: 'No Drivers, No Cupra'". Cupra is amid a design shift as it moves further into EVs, and the Tindaya concept also features elements of the chiselled Dark Rebel – a wild, jagged-edged two-door electric sports car concept shown in 2023 (pictured below). Starting life as the performance arm of Seat – which is no longer present in Australia – Cupra was established as a standalone brand in 2019. Design chief Jorge Díez told British publication Autocar that Cupra's short existence as a brand in its own right was an advantage when it came to designing the Dark Rebel concept. "[With] no heritage or need to keep to DNA, we can make it from scratch, which gives thousands of possibilities, but it's an emotional design, a human design," he said. Another Cupra concept, the 2021 UrbanRebel, previewed the 2026 Raval small electric SUV, which goes on sale in Europe next year. Cupra Australia says it plans to launch it here by mid-2027. Based on the Volkswagen Group's MEB Entry platform – which also underpins the Volkswagen ID.2 – the Raval will sit below the current Cupra Born electric hatch in terms of size and price, to compete with small electric vehicles (EVs) like the MG 4, BYD Dolphin, Abarth 500e and, in Europe, the Renault 5 E-Tech. The Raval will be powered by a single front-mounted electric motor making 169kW, and will offer a sub-7.0-second 0-100km/h time along with a 440km range. Officially called the IAA Mobility Show, the Munich motor show will open to the public from September 9. MORE: Explore the Cupra showroom Content originally sourced from: The Cupra Tindaya concept car has been teased in the lead-up to its reveal at the Munich motor show on September 8, where it will showcase the Spanish performance brand's new design direction – including a radical cabin. 'Tindaya' is the name of a volcanic mountain on the Spanish island of Fuerteventura in the North Atlantic Ocean – or the 'wild' Atlantic Ocean as Cupra describes it – and its "copper-toned rock echoes the signature of Cupra", said the Volkswagen Group brand. The exterior teaser image shows said volcanic mountain (which is no longer an active volcano, by the way) behind the sharp-edged, zig-zagging lines of the concept car's rear-end. A second shot shows the diamond-patterned surfacing of the interior, and a glimpse of the unconventional steering yoke – ala Tesla and Lexus, among others – in place of a regular steering wheel. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Cupra. Click here to get a great deal. A statement from the company says the concept "embraces its namesake's dramatic character, with an exterior and interior design that comes alive with a radical yet simple idea: 'No Drivers, No Cupra'". Cupra is amid a design shift as it moves further into EVs, and the Tindaya concept also features elements of the chiselled Dark Rebel – a wild, jagged-edged two-door electric sports car concept shown in 2023 (pictured below). Starting life as the performance arm of Seat – which is no longer present in Australia – Cupra was established as a standalone brand in 2019. Design chief Jorge Díez told British publication Autocar that Cupra's short existence as a brand in its own right was an advantage when it came to designing the Dark Rebel concept. "[With] no heritage or need to keep to DNA, we can make it from scratch, which gives thousands of possibilities, but it's an emotional design, a human design," he said. Another Cupra concept, the 2021 UrbanRebel, previewed the 2026 Raval small electric SUV, which goes on sale in Europe next year. Cupra Australia says it plans to launch it here by mid-2027. Based on the Volkswagen Group's MEB Entry platform – which also underpins the Volkswagen ID.2 – the Raval will sit below the current Cupra Born electric hatch in terms of size and price, to compete with small electric vehicles (EVs) like the MG 4, BYD Dolphin, Abarth 500e and, in Europe, the Renault 5 E-Tech. The Raval will be powered by a single front-mounted electric motor making 169kW, and will offer a sub-7.0-second 0-100km/h time along with a 440km range. Officially called the IAA Mobility Show, the Munich motor show will open to the public from September 9. MORE: Explore the Cupra showroom Content originally sourced from:
7NEWS
2 days ago
- 7NEWS
Elon Musk hits brakes on plans for new political party to challenge Trump
Billionaire Elon Musk is quietly putting the brakes on plans to start his new political party, telling allies he wants to focus on his companies, the Wall Street Journal says. Musk unveiled the America Party in July after a public falling out with US President Donald Trump on the tax cut and spending bill. He has recently been focused in part on maintaining ties with Vice President JD Vance, the paper said, citing people with knowledge of the plans. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today He has acknowledged to associates that forming a political party would damage his relationship with Vance. Musk, the world's richest man, and his associates have told people close to Vance that the billionaire is considering using some of his financial resources to back Vance if he decides to run for president in 2028, the paper said. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX spent nearly $US300 million ($A464 million) in 2024 to help Trump and other Republicans get elected, exerting enormous influence in the first few weeks of Trump's term as head of the newly created efficiency department. Tesla and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. Vance, who had called for a truce following Musk's all-public feud with Trump, reaffirmed his position this month and said he had asked Musk to return to the Republican fold. Tesla shares are down more than 18 per cent this year after it posted in July its worst quarterly sales decline in more than a decade and profit that missed Wall Street targets, though its profit margin was better than many had feared. Musk also warned of 'a few rough quarters' after the end of support for electric vehicles by the Trump administration. Investors worry whether he will be able to devote enough time and attention to Tesla after locking horns with Trump over his ambitions for a new political party.
