Skip to main content

Tesla to begin deliveries of Model Y by end of first quarter

Tesla said Wednesday that production of the Model Y started this month with the first deliveries of the all-electric compact crossover to begin by the end of the first quarter as the company pushes to extend its profitability streak.

Production of the Model Y is at limited volume for now, CEO Elon Musk said during a call after earnings were released. Musk added that Tesla’s engineers have been able to increase the maximum EPA range of the all-wheel drive version of the Model Y to 315 miles. It was previously estimated at 280 miles.

Tesla reported Wednesday net income of $105 million, or 56 cents a diluted share, compared with $140 million, or 78 cents a share, in the same year-ago period. Tesla reported revenue of $7.38 billion, 17% higher than the third quarter, but just 1% higher than the $7.2 billion generated in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Tesla indicated in its fourth quarter report that it will turn to China and Model Y for revenue growth as deliveries of its higher profit margin Model X and Model S decrease. Tesla delivered 19,475 Model S and Model X in the fourth quarter, a 29% decline from the same period last year. Meanwhile, deliveries of Tesla’s cheaper Model 3 vehicle continued to climb. Tesla delivered 92,620 Model 3 vehicles in the fourth quarter, a 46% increase from the same period in 2018.

The Model Y is being produced at Tesla’s Fremont, Calif. factory, settling a long-running discussion within the company over where to build the upcoming vehicle. Tesla had also looked at producing the vehicle at its massive factory in Sparks, Nev., where it currently builds battery packs and electric motors.

Tesla said it will ramp up production of the Model Y gradually as it adds machinery through mid-2020. Once these expansions are done, installed combined Model 3 and Model Y capacity should reach 500,000 units
per year, the company said.

Tesla intends to eventually produce the Model Y in China, as well. The company’s Shanghai factory has capacity to produce 150,000 Model 3 vehicles. Tesla has broken ground on the next phase of its Shanghai factory, which will produce the Model Y.

“Given the popularity of the SUV vehicle segment, we are planning for Model Y capacity to be at least equivalent to Model 3 capacity,” the company said.



from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2Ub4uYj

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft’s board to focus on philanthropy

In an announcement on Friday, Microsoft revealed that company co-founder Bill Gates has decided to step down from his role on its Board of Directors in order to focus on his philanthropic efforts at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This is Gate’s biggest change to his role at Microsoft since stepping down as company chairman in February 2014. According … Continue reading from SlashGear https://ift.tt/2We90Gu

World Economic Forum launches Global AI Council to address governance gaps

The World Economic Forum is creating a series of councils that create policy recommendations for use of things like AI, blockchain, and precision medicine. Read More from VentureBeat http://bit.ly/2EKBjD4

A Mini USB Keyboard That Isn’t A Keyboard

A useful add-on for any computer is a plug-in macro keyboard, a little peripheral that adds those extra useful buttons to automate tasks. [ Sayantan Pal] has made one, a handy board with nine programmable keys and a USB connector, but the surprise is that at its heart lies only the ubiquitous ATmega328 that you might find in an Arduino Uno. This isn’t a USB HID keyboard, instead it uses a USB-to-serial chip and appears to the host computer as a serial device. The keys themselves are simple momentary action switches, perhaps a deluxe version could use key switches from the likes of Cherry or similar. The clever part of this build comes on the host computer, which runs some Python code using the PyAutoGui library. This allows control of the keyboard and mouse, and provides an “in” for the script to link serial and input devices. Full configurability is assured through the Python code, and while that might preclude a non-technical user from gaining its full benefit it’s fair to say that ...