Tesla Terminates It’s Famous Referral Program | 19 Sep 2021

Show #1216

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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Sunday 19th September. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

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"Tesla has officially ended its Referral Program, which provides owners with Supercharging miles and the opportunity to earn other rewards."

"The referral program applied to any vehicle and solar panel purchases and would provide both the customer and Tesla with advantages. Owners were able to work their way up to cool prizes like a next-gen Tesla Roadster, drives in the Tesla Semi, and of course, 1,000 free Supercharging miles when a vehicle was purchased using their referral code"

"On the company’s website, Tesla said: “As of September 18, 2021, vehicle products, and solar panels are no longer eligible for Referral awards.” Tesla owners who still have Supercharging miles will be able to use them. Unfortunately, due to the termination of the program, no more miles will be earned through referrals." 

"Tesla’s demand has skyrocketed to the point that some vehicles are sold out for the rest of the year. While it is advantageous for customers to earn rewards for helping Tesla sell cars and other products, there comes a point where it becomes a financial liability, and perhaps it has reached that point"

Mashable says: "Tesla's referral program has changed over the years and was completely decimated in 2019. When it returned, it was a shadow of its former self with pared-back rewards. The company used to throw in extra gifts like toy Teslas for kids and Elon Musk-signed wall connectors."

Source: https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-referral-program-cancelled/

Source: https://mashable.com/article/tesla-referral-program-ends

"Tesla owners in the United States will only have to wait for another week to get the Tesla FSD button."

"The Tesla boss went on to tweet that the request button for the Tesla FSD is rolling out next Friday, or on Sept. 24 to be exact. It is worth noting that Musk often announces that the FSD button is coming in two weeks, but it gets moved to another date. However, things must have changed by this time as the EV giant exec now boasted a one-week waiting time"

"Musk further said that the software for the button is supposed to be out by now to a wider range of users. However, Tesla is still fixing some final touches to avoid bugs from ruining the rollout of the FSD Beta."

"Musk further explained on Twitter that the upcoming FSD button will only request permission to access the driving behavior of the user in the next seven days via the insurance calculator of the EV giant. Such a process is in place to ensure that only the drivers with good behavior will get to use the wider release of the FSD feature."

"In August, BYD set its third consecutive monthly passenger plug-in car sales record in China, reaching an amazing level of 60,508 units (up 332% year-over-year). That's over 10,000 more than in July and over 20,000 more than in June."

"According to the data of EV Sales, in July 2021, BYD returned to the top of the global NEV sales in a single month after 26 months, surpassing Volkswagen to claim third place in terms of cumulative sales from January to July."

"So far in 2021, the company sold in China over 260,000 plugs-in (up 206% year-over-year), which means that it already is the best year in the company's history."

"Jay Leno gave CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” an optimistic outlook when it comes to the future of electric cars, despite the latest warning from General Motors to owners of some Chevy Bolts, advising them not to park within 50 feet of other cars. GM’s latest warning follows the Detroit automaker recalling more than 140,000 of the EVs produced since 2016 due to the risk of batteries spontaneously catching fire from “two rare manufacturing defects.”"

“The last days of old technology are always better than the first days of new technology, but we’re beyond the first days of new technology,” said Leno, the host of CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage.” “I mean, the electric car is here to stay. I predict a child born today will probably drive in a gasoline powered car about as often as you would drive in a car with a stick shift now.”"

"Drivers hoping to go electric before the ultra low emission zone expansion next month face waiting lists of up to a year for new vehicles. Demand for battery electric vehicles has increased by more than 30 per cent in the past year but a global shortage of semiconductors has meant manufacturers are struggling to meet demand."

"Most petrol cars made since 2005 and diesel cars since September 2015 will have engines that comply with the ULEZ, and Mr Khan has advised Londoners to switch to a compliant second-hand vehicle. But used car dealerships are also reporting a “massive” increase in demand for Ulez-compliant cars, with prices soaring and stock issues at some dealers."

"On the rush for compliant cars, Rupert Moylett, director of Harringtons of Fulham, said: “We’ve had one of our best past three months in quite a long time, as everyone is trying to get rid of their diesels."

Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cop26-electric-cars-ulez-expansion-drivers-b955933.html

"The Sinclair C5 arrived in 1985 with a level of accompanying hype that would surely have impressed a then fourteen-year-old Elon Musk, but this brainchild of one of Britain’s most famous tech entrepreneurs crashed spectacularly soon after launch."

"Sir Clive, whose death at the age of 81 was announced on 16 Sept 2021, was lauded in the 1980s as the inventor of the first pocket calculator and the ground-breaking ZX81 and ZX Spectrum home computers. The tech tycoon had a deep interest in electric transport and founded Sinclair Vehicles in 1983 on the back of his earlier commercial successes."

"The company’s first and only production vehicle was the Sinclair C5, an innovative three-wheeler with a polypropylene body designed by Lotus, manufactured at the Hoover washing machine factory in Merthyr Tidfil. The C5 was launched with great fanfare in January 1985 in London - and the project went downhill from there.".

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