Roy Serruto, Jr., the President and Co-Founder of the club told me that the club raised $2,095 for the hospital at their first ever silent auction. Founded in April 2018 and incorporated as an Ohio nonprofit in 2021, the club is the largest and most active Tesla Owners Group in the state with 1,500 members.

“We strive to find ways to give back to the community,” Roy told me. “This year, Nationwide Children’s Hospital was named the #9 2022-2023 U.S. News & World Report Best Children’s Hospital, and we are honored to have them in our community.”

After raising the funds for the hospital, Roy told me how proud he was of the team for making the event possible.

“I am extremely proud of our executive team and sponsors for making the event possible, and for everyone that helped support the End of Summer Party at Medallion Country Club to benefit Nationwide Children’s Hospital.”

“I believe that the Tesla community is about more than cars and top-notch technology. We truly want to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy and improve the communities around us. Tonight our group came together to support the Columbus, Ohio community and to do our part to help ensure Nationwide Children’s Hospital is able to continue to create the best outcomes for children everywhere.”

Earlier this month, Tesla’s Head of Investor Relations, Martin Viecha, took note of the impact the Tesla community has had. He tweeted that the community is on another level and he’s absolutely correct. Another example of the Tesla community in action is the video below.

During the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the club wanted to find ways to lift the spirits of children, parents, doctors, and hospital staff. In the video below, the club organized the largest Tesla drive-by that the hospital had ever seen with 80 Tesla owners participating.

Note: Johnna is a Tesla shareholder and supports its mission. 

Your feedback is important. If you have any comments, concerns, or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @JohnnaCrider1

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A beautiful day at #teslatakeover!

Since the office is obsessed with Street Fighter, we brought the arcade with us! Chun Li, Blanka , Zangief, Ryu ?

Come play! Winner stays on… #evo #StreetFighter pic.twitter.com/hBGpm78U2d

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 6, 2022

The Tesla Owners California Takeover event will be held at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, CA.  There will be contest sessions, speakers, customized Teslas for you to check out, an exhibitor expo, and more.

“Teslas are the best performing and safest cars on the road. But the best thing about Teslas are the owners! So, with that in mind, we are hosting the second annual Tesla Owners California Takeover—the largest Tesla owners event in California this year!”

There will also be educational seminars, an assembly of rare and original Tesla Roadsters, and activities for the kids.

John Stringer, the club president for Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley told me that he’s excited about the Tesla Takeover. He’s also excited about helping a charity that will benefit from the event: 17 Strong.

“I’m very excited to get the whole community back together for all of the amazing vendors that are coming out and for all the awesome family-friendly activities.”

“I’m also very excited about the donation we’ll be making  to 17 Strong.”

17 Strong is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides Victory Trips to young adults ages 18-40 after they have battled a life-threatening illness.

A Victory Trip is a vacation or life experience that allows the recovering patient and a companion time to recuperate and reset while fulfilling a life-long dream.

“It’s an opportunity to inspire hope, celebrate their victory over cancer or illness, and begin a new chapter after fighting for their life. Since many wish-fulfillment organizations stop at the age of 18, we aim to fill the gap of young adults that are often forgotten.”

Tesla owners from all over are coming to the Tesla Takeover and the Teslarati team is looking forward to seeing each and every one of you.

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Details about the party held at the Tesla Design Center in Hawthorne, California are slim limited but images and videos posted online are enough to make Tesla fans and other autophiles drool, especially with the rare appearance of the next-generation Tesla Roadster.

Entrepreneur Nan Lin posted images on Instagram and Facebook that gives us a good look of the all-electric Tesla supercar, the polarizing Cybertruck, and the much-awaited Cyberquad ATV:

The Roadster — dubbed by Tesla as the quickest car in the world with record-setting acceleration, range, and performance– is expected to roll out in late 2020 following the Model Y. Tesla claims it will have a top speed of over 250 mph, can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9s and will include cold-gas gas thrusters as part of a SpaceX package.

Last October, Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen provided insights about what consumers can expect from the production version of the all-electric supercar when he appeared on the Ride The Lightning podcast.

“It’s evolving deservedly so; it needs more time. It will be even better than what we’ve unveiled. In every way,” von Holzhausen said.

Franz von Holzhausen’s thoughts echoes what Elon Musk thinks the Roadster can do. According to the Tesla chief, the tri-electric motor supercar with Plaid powertrain can absolutely break the Nürburgring’s all-time track record. The Tesla Roadster is expected to hit the track in West Germany next year.

Below are more images from the Tesla Christmast party from Instagram user @giftedkicks:

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Musk is expected to reveal updated details on Starship and Super Heavy, a next-generation SpaceX launch vehicle meant to carry cargo and humans to the Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and more.

“Starship will allow us to inhabit other worlds. To make life as we know it multiplanetary” – Elon Musk

Since 2016 Elon Musk has spoken annually at SpaceX facilities presenting his dream of creating a multi-planetary transportation system. Tonight’s presentation from SpaceX’s South Texas production facility will take place on the site where a full-size prototype of the Starship rocket stands.

The Teslarati team is on-site and will be bringing you live coverage of Musk’s update. Stay tuned at @Teslarati.

A livestream of SpaceX’s official Starship update will be available at the link below.

Check out Teslarati’s newsletters for prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket launch and recovery processes.

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“We’re having an event next Tuesday in San Francisco to share a bit about what we’ve been working on the last two years, and we’ve reserved a few seats for the internet,” the company posted. “It will also be livestreamed, for those who don’t have the chance to come!”

An update on Neuralink’s research activity was teased in September last year by Musk during a live interview. “I think [Neuralink will] have something interesting to announce in a few months that’s at least an order of magnitude better than anything else, probably better than anyone thinks is possible,” he revealed.

It will also be livestreamed, for those who don't have the chance to come!

— Neuralink (@neuralink) July 11, 2019

A long-form explainer on Neuralink’s purpose was posted by Tim Urban on Wait But Why in April 2017 after Musk gave him first-hand access to the company and its team; however, details beyond that have been scarce.

Some insight on the company has been gleaned from its job postings and permit filings in the last two years. In 2017, Neuralink filed paperwork to build an in-house machine shop and a biological testing laboratory for its facility in San Francisco. The enterprise also filed for a permit from the California Department of Public Health in April 2017, directly referencing the utilization of laboratory animals. While specifics are still missing, the permits at the very least confirm Neuralink is making progress in its endeavors as do their evolving job postings. The theme of the company’s employment needs has gradually shifted from experimental science, engineering, and fabrication to something more explicitly focused on one or a few particularly promising solutions.

In an interview on Axios last November, Musk hinted that Neuralink would first introduce microcontrollers to further advance computer-brain interface technology, i.e., possibly unveil an initial version of what will eventually become a “neural lace.” One of the concerns about the rise of AI is the role humans will have once it’s sufficiently advanced to no longer need our input. A neural lace would address this concern. “I don’t love the idea of being [an AI] house cat, but what’s the solution? I think one of the solutions that seem maybe the best is to add an AI layer,” Musk said during Code Conference 2016.

The technology being developed by Neuralink would theoretically allow us to integrate with computers to access and process information just as well as our AI counterparts. Essentially, our brains will have our very own AI in a cloud that our brains can synthesize with as needed. We already interface with our computers on a regular basis, so the jump from an external device to an internal one would seem to be a natural progression.

Musk also suggested memory functionality as an area for Neuralink to focus on, specifically for issues around Alzheimer’s, during his discussion on Axios. “It’s incredibly sad when a mother forgets her children, and that can be solved, too,” he noted. This concept is in line with marketable technology for therapy use that Musk has hinted at before during his discussions with Tim Urban. “We are aiming to bring something to market that helps with certain severe brain injuries (stroke, cancer lesion, congenital) in about four years,” he was quoted as saying.

Perhaps this therapeutic research will be included in the July 16th event. Or perhaps we’ll see something pulled straight out of science fiction, as he seems to have indicated last year. Both?

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A video posted online by a conference attendee provided a full walkaround of the all-electric ‘halo car‘ as it was surrounded by excited onlookers taking turns capturing photographs of the futuristic steering wheel, high-tech console, and other innovative features.

CVPR is an annual event put on by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Computer Vision Foundation (CVF) for pattern recognition, computer vision, machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence researchers to present advances made in their fields. Various presentations, tutorials, workshops, demos, exhibitions, and social events promoting relevant topics are made available to attendees. This is the 32nd year for CVPR, taking place June 16-20 at the Long Beach Convention Center.

Along with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving capabilities, the next-generation Roadster may have some other features that would be of particular interest to CVPR attendees. CEO Elon Musk revealed last year that the tri-motor ‘supercar killer’ would be equipped with a feature an augmented mode that would enhance a driver’s abilities when operating the vehicle. “Definitely. Will also have Augmented Mode that will massively enhance human driving ability. Like a flying metal suit, but in car form,” he teased on Twitter in response to a question on whether the Roadster would have Autopilot. Augmented and mixed reality are computer vision problems at their core.

Furthering speculation surrounding Augmented Mode was Tesla’s former Senior Manager, Design, Andrew Kim. Prior to working at Tesla, Kim worked for Microsoft, where he helped develop the HoloLens headset, a holographic computer that allows users to see and interact with holograms within an environment. Kim’s LinkedIn profile also noted that he was “leading experiences” in Tesla’s Model S, X, 3, Semi, Roadster 2, and Model Y, as well as “confidential future products and experiences.”

Elon Musk is notoriously associated with Marvel’s famous Tony Stark character, making the heads-up display connection between Roadster and the one featured in the Iron Man suit a highly anticipated prediction. Software and technical marvels aside, the next-generation Roadster will perform to the tune of 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds, the standing quarter-mile time in 8.9 seconds, and capable of achieving 620 miles of range thanks to a 200 kWh battery. Musk has also described a SpaceX package with cold-gas thrusters on several occasions which would push the performance of the electric car even further.

Test drives for the new Roadster are estimated to start at the end of this year. See the full walkaround video from Roadster’s appearance at CVPR 2019 below:

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Driving the Model 3 Performance was Team Panel Gap Racing (PGR) with Andrew Dekoning and Chad Martin behind the wheel. Andrew previously took part in the 2006 One Lap driving a Mazda RX-7, and as a veteran of the event and Tesla enthusiast, he knew there were advantages the Model 3 had that would make it competitive against other gas-powered vehicles.

“We had a few things that made us think this year was the year for a Tesla. #1 is that no one has ever completed the One Lap in an electric car, and we thought with the introduction of the Model 3 that it was possible,” he told us while the team was on the road. “With a performance model and Track Mode, it would actually be a pretty good car. This event is part road rally, part transit, and part on-track competition – the best cars excel at all three.”

The Tire Rack One Lap of America road rally event’s history dates back to the Cannonball Run, a not-quite-legal American highway race from New York City to Redondo Beach, California. It was created by Brock Yates, former senior editor of Car and Driver Magazine, to prove the point that competent, well-trained drivers could safely compete on highways while having a good time reminiscent of barnstorm piloting days. After a few revisions, One Lap was eventually organized into the format it has today. Drivers travel to nine places located in several different states to compete at 18 timed track events including time trials, skid pads, and drag races.

To meet their battery power needs, Team PGR used 27 Superchargers and 22 plug-ins either at the track or hotels they stayed at for a total of 1,500 kWh used to complete the event. Along with the availability of Superchargers and other power sources, the Model 3’s Track Mode gave the team a competitive edge.

“Without Track Mode we likely wouldn’t have made the attempt,” Andrew explained. “We had faith from the development story with Randy Pobst that they had the feature dialed in fairly well…Track Mode (and AWD) allow you to turn with the accelerator which is a fun new challenge and very fast when done right.”

Only minimal aftermarket swaps were made to Team PGR’s midsize sedan before taking on the One Lap challenge to keep the car within “Stock” class requirements. They upgraded the Model 3’s front brake pads and rotors with Racing Brake parts, used racing brake fluid, and opted for Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires. Aftermarket rear brake pads weren’t available, however, and the stock versions used on the car melted during one of the time trials.

One other hiccup reported was the loss of cruise control, Autopilot, the speed limit display, and automatic wipers about two-thirds of the way into the trip, but those issues only impacted convenience. Tesla’s support service indicated a software bug may have caused the losses, and the issue was fixed after completion of the One Lap with a system reboot.

The tweaks and detailed planning paid off in the end for Andrew and Chad. Team PGR finished first in the Alternative Fuel category, 2nd in the Stock Touring class, and 17th in the One Lap overall out of 77 vehicles competing.

As Tesla enthusiasts, there was more than winning with an all-electric car that motivated Team PGR’s decision to join One Lap this year, namely in sharing everything that comes with the Tesla ownership experience.

“We wanted to show a whole new set of people (enthusiasts) that this was possible, and that the car was very good. At least half the field didn’t know that Superchargers were as prevalent as they are, so they didn’t know how we’d make it. They didn’t know about Track Mode, how well the car works to control the power, cornering, braking, etc. That said, there were a number of people who were very excited/interested to see how we did, who know the performance potential of the car, and [were] rooting for us,” Andrew explained.

#teamPGR photo – with our awesome #Tesla #racecar. #Tirerack #GRM #OLOA2019 pic.twitter.com/yW1Urk1oXK

— teamPGR (@team_pgr) May 12, 2019

The Tesla Model S driving team named Hyliion joined the event as a last-minute entrant after their gas-powered vehicle options became unavailable for the One Lap. The father and son team of Thomas and Brian Healy have their own alternative fuel creds aside from racing their 2017 P100D via Hyliion, their semi truck manufacturing company that’s developing a diesel-electric hybrid Class 8 long hauler. The Model S performed well for the team, although the lack of Track Mode’s thermal protections required adjustments to their driving techniques to compensate during timed trials.

Much like Team PGR, the Hyliion drivers were able to take advantage of Tesla’s extensive Supercharger network to participate successfully in the One Lap and they finished 34th overall.

“The most surprising thing was the abundance of Superchargers that are out there in order to keep the car charged. We weren’t sure going into the event how manageable it was going to be, getting from one track to the next, and being able to do it in the allotted time… Tesla’s done a great job of getting these Superchargers located around the US, where finding a destination to stop at and charge up for 45 minutes is a really feasible thing,” the team told CNET’s Roadshow in comments about the event.

As for Andrew and Chad, they plan to participate in future One Lap events with other Tesla vehicles and also expect more of the all-electric cars to meet them on the tracks.

“Because we are newer to running this car on track, and the car is new overall, we believe it has a lot more potential! We are already scheming about how to improve the car and how to find someone with one of the first [Next Generation] Roadsters when it is released so we can ‘borrow’ it for the One Lap…I think by completing the events we will go a ways toward changing some minds toward electric cars in the performance driving community and it will not surprise me if there’s 5 Model 3’s here next year,” Andrew concluded enthusiastically.

For more about TeamPGR, watch their video below with some updates and highlights from the One Lap of America 2019.

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Our first experiences with taking in the majestic seascape of Fort Funston was met with a sense of tranquility, purpose, and … sadness. Repeatedly, we would come across hundreds of dead jellyfish washed ashore. And repeatedly, the same thoughts would come to mind. What could be the reason for this? Toxic water? Warmer water? Ocean currents?

Over the months, Leyla and I stumbled upon the carcass of an entire whale, dead sea lions, and dead birds. One time I was lucky enough to rescue a malnourished bird that was clinging onto its last hope for life by rushing it to a bird sanctuary. Caretakers at the sanctuary told me the birds are starving to death due to warmer waters that lead to fish swimming to greater depths to remain cooler. A depth that birds can’t reach. Unfortunately, the change in mother nature’s balance is a sad reality that is becoming more and more common.

Walking along this beach, we see the impact of human life. Mostly, plastic bottles, tires, and dog waste in plastic bags. If you look closely at the trash, sometimes you can spot something from across the globe. This horrific realization is also a reminder of how connected we all are. We are all sharing the same resources. I believe we can all make a significant impact if everyone on earth practiced adopting stranded trash. Imagine if everyone just stopped using plastic water bottles. If we all realized what our true cost of convenience is and the impact it will have on everyone else.

These thoughts run through my head every time we are running along the coast. I’ve never organized a birthday, let alone an event, but I feel like that is an easy excuse to hide behind. I just want to invite everyone in the community to come out, feel the beach, appreciate the beach, and nurture the earth as it was intended to be.

On Saturday, May 4th, 2019, I invite you to come out and join Leyla and I, in an effort to connect with nature and nurture it. Mark your calendars and join me on Beach Clean Up Day at Fort Funston.

Beach Clean Up Day

• Date: Saturday, May 4, 2019
• Location: Fort Funston Rd, San Francisco, CA 94132
• Time: 10am-12pm
• Meeting place: At the end of the main parking – by the observation deck and stairs to the beach.
• Details: Expect to pick up small and large pieces of litter. Gloves and bags will be provided. Note that the only restrooms are port-a-potties next to the main parking lot.

To participate, please sign up at www.scentwedge.com/clean

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From the company’s headquarters in Palo Alto, Tesla will present the roadmap for its self-driving technology to select investors in attendance. The company is also expected to demonstrate the latest developments in its Full Self-Driving feature.

“Tesla is making significant progress in the development of its autonomous driving software and hardware, including our FSD computer, which is currently in production and which will enable full-self driving via future over-the-air software updates,” notes Tesla.

The Autonomy Day event will further provide Tesla owners with the Full Self-Driving package an even bigger taste of features still to come.

Key executives involved in the development of Tesla’s autonomous software, including Musk, VP of Engineering Stuart Bowers, VP of Hardware Engineering Pete Bannon, and Sr. Director of AI Andrej Karpathy, will provide details about the Autopilot software. Musk has previously predicted that Full Self-Driving capability will be ready by the end of the year, although still pending regulatory approval. Tesla’s Autonomy Day may announce some significant progress on this front given the background.

On April 22, Investor Autonomy Day, Tesla will free investors from the tyranny of having to drive their own car

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2019

The hardware to support Tesla’s next-generation Full Self-Driving Capabilities is now being included in new production vehicles. As part of its progression to autonomous driving, Tesla began the first rollout of its Navigate of Autopilot without turn stalk confirmation as well as Enhanced Summon. Together these features represent one of the most advanced iterations of the company’s Autopilot suite.

“We think including Autopilot is very important because our data strongly indicate that the chance of an accident is much lower when Autopilot is enabled. Autopilot also dramatically improves the quality of the driving experience, especially in heavy traffic, as thousands of our customers frequently describe online,” Tesla wrote in a blog post. A long-term plan to create a ride-sharing feature called The Tesla Network is also part of the company’s autonomous driving future.

Tesla’s Investor Autonomy Day will be followed up by its Q1 2019 financial results and earnings call on April 24.

Tune in on Monday, April 22 as Tesla live streams its Autonomy Day event, beginning at 11 am Pacific (18:00 UTC). We embedded the webcast below.

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CEO Elon Musk spoke briefly on the quick progress previously made on the company’s existing Gigafactory 1 in Sparks, Nevada before transitioning to the factory construction project currently underway in China.

“This is what it will look like at the end of the year,” Must touted. “Things are moving fast…Once it’s complete, it will be the equivalent of our Fremont car factory plus our Nevada Gigafactory combined, integrating the two, which kind of makes sense.”

The image of a long, white-colored building with red-Tesla accents, and portrayed with numerous semi-trucks awaiting cargo, is reminiscent of its Nevada facility. More importantly, it gives us a good glimpse of what Tesla expects to have completed less than a year after its January 6 ground breaking event.

A Chinese government official recently stated that Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai is expected to complete the first phase of construction this coming May, with assembly lines on track to be set up by the end of the year. This timeframe meets Musk’s previous estimates for the project’s completion, which would mean Tesla Model 3 production by the end of the year. While aggressive, Gigafactory 3’s building schedule comes with generous support from both the local and national Chinese governments.

Once completed, the newest Tesla factory site located at the Lingang Industrial Zone will be 864,885-square meters on a plot of land reported to be 9.3 million square feet. Once completed, Gigafactory 3 is expected to produce 500,000 vehicles per year, allowing Tesla to fully tap into the rapidly expanding electric vehicle market in China as a local manufacturer.

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