Tesla self-driving development gets huge compliment from NVIDIA CEO

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Tesla’s developments in autonomous driving, specifically through its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving suites, received a huge compliment from NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang in a recent interview.

Jensen’s comments did not only commend Tesla’s self-driving performance, but its approach to data learning and model training was also a focus of his comments, which commended the company’s entire process for developing a robust self-driving suite.

“Tesla is far ahead in self-driving cars,” Jensen said in the interview with Yahoo! Finance. “But every single car, someday, will have to have autonomous capability. It’s safer. It’s more convenient. It’s more fun to drive.”

Jensen highlights the fact that so many car companies in the world are developing at least some form of driver assistance package that helps improve safety. Whether it includes lane-keep assist, traffic-aware cruise control, hands-free driving, or other features that not only improve the driving experience but also increase safety for everyone on the road, all companies are in the process of offering it in one way or another.

It’s a whole different story how those suites are being developed. While some companies are developing hands-free driving programs, they are only using cameras and sensors. How they are capturing data is the evidence some companies need to determine how robust they can actually be.

Tesla is using video specifically to capture the data it needs to make its self-driving program more robust and accurate and bring it closer to fully autonomous than ever before.

Huang supports this type of training because “it is now very well known, very well understood that learning from video directly, is the most effective way to train these models.”

According to data released by the company, Tesla’s Autopilot suite is one of the safest ways to operate a motor vehicle. Yesterday, it released the latest iteration of its Vehicle Safety Report after nearly a year of hearing nothing about it.

Tesla said it recorded one crash for every 7.63 million miles driven on Autopilot technology, making it prone to an accident less than one-tenth of the frequency of the U.S. average, which was every 670,000 miles.

You can watch a portion of Huang’s interview below:

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Tesla self-driving development gets huge compliment from NVIDIA CEO





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Tesla launches and quickly sells out Cybertruck-inspired “Cybervessel”

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Tesla’s lineup of Cybertruck-inspired merchandise has grown once more. As could be seen in the Tesla Shop, the electric vehicle maker has launched the Cybervessel, a $50 Cybertruck-inspired insulated bottle that perfectly matches the design of the all-electric pickup truck. 

The Tesla Cybervessel is available in two colors — stainless steel and black. Interestingly enough, the stainless steel finish of the Cybervessel looks very similar to the Cybertruck’s own steel panels. The black Cybervessel, on the other hand, looks quite similar to the matte black Cybertruck wrap that Tesla offers to owners of the all-electric pickup truck. 

Tesla described the Cybervessel as follows in its official shop. 

“Form meets function. Cybervessel is constructed from double-walled stainless steel with a vacuum-seal lid and articulating handle. Offered in stainless steel and powder-coated matte black, and finished with a laser-etched Cybertruck silhouette on the lid. Custom designed for Cybertruck cupholders, compatible with all Tesla vehicles,” the item’s description on the Tesla Shop read. 

Being an insulated bottle, Tesla notes that the Cybervessel should be able to keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold. The Cybervessel comes in a pretty fair size as well, as the bottle holds 20 oz (591 ml) of fluids. It is also dishwasher safe. 

Similar to Tesla’s other merchandise, the Cybervessel was quickly sold out. As of this writing, the Cybertruck-inspired water bottle is no longer in stock at the Tesla Shop. Tesla enthusiasts who wish to acquire the item once it’s restocked could sign up for updates on the Cybervessel’s availability by listing their email in the product’s page. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Tesla launches and quickly sells out Cybertruck-inspired “Cybervessel” bottle





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Tesla police fleet is saving taxpayers $80k per year on fuel costs: report

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A fleet of Tesla police cars are proving themselves superior to their combustion-powered counterparts at the town of Bargersville, which is situated south of Indianapolis. As per Police Chief Todd Bertram, the Tesla police vehicles are saving the town a lot of money. 

The town’s fleet of 13 Tesla police cars is saving taxpayers around $80,000 per year in fuel cost savings, the police chief noted. “It’s all about the money. We started the program because I needed two officers,” Bertram said. 

Bargersville started with its first Tesla police car in 2019. Since then, the town has added a dozen more Teslas to its fleet of police vehicles. The police chief noted that going for Teslas was evidently a risk in the beginning, but it has paid off. This was highlighted by the fact that the fuel savings for the Teslas were so notable that the town was able to pay for two more officers, as noted in a WRTV report. 

Clerk Treasurer Dustin Doyle noted that the town’s Teslas were more expensive upfront than the usual Dodge Charger or Ford Crown Victoria units that police typically use. However, the Teslas make up for this difference in fuel savings in less than three years. With this in mind, the Teslas are actually benefitting taxpayers.

“If it benefits the environment, fantastic. But this benefits our taxpayers in the sense that we’re saving money and we’re being fiscally responsible with their money,” Doyle stated. 

The Bargersville police department still operates six combustion-powered vehicles in its fleet, which consume $2,900 in gas every month. In comparison, the 13 Teslas that the police department operates cost about $600 per month to charge. “It’s working, it saves a lot of money,” Bertram noted. 

Officers seem to be fans of the Tesla police cars. Officer Cody St. John, who stands at 6-foot-2, noted that he actually is comfortable in his Tesla Model Y police vehicle. He noted that there was a learning curve involved, but today, he definitely prefers his electric cruiser over a combustion-powered car. 

“I have no issues with it. I fit in this car. Plenty of legroom, plenty of room for everything else. At first it took a little getting used to, but now if I have to get a tire replaced or something like that on this car and I’m in a gas car again, I can’t wait for my car to come back,” he noted. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Tesla police fleet is saving taxpayers $80k per year on fuel costs: report





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