Kalakshar US

After steadily increasing prices over the past couple of years, Tesla has cut them drastically across its lineup in the US and Europe, in an apparent bid to boost sales. The least expensive EV, the Model 3 RWD, has dropped from $46,990 to $43,990, while the 5-seat Model Y Long Range fell 20 percent from $65,990 to $52,990. That means the latter model now qualifies for the $7,500 US Federal Tax credit, so the final price drop will be $20,500 — over 30 percent. 

All other models, including the Model S and Model X (both regular and plaid versions) and the performance versions of the Model 3 and Model Y saw price cuts. However, the 7-seat option on the Model Y has increased in price by $1,000 to $4,000. While that puts the price over $55,000, it still qualifies for the Tax Credit as it’s considered to be an SUV. In Germany, Model 3 and Y prices were cut by one to 17 percent, and also dropped in Austria, Switzerland and France.

To receive the full $7,500 rebate, customers will have to order before mid-March, when it’s expected to be reduced to half that. The tax rebates apply to SUVs priced below $80,000 and cars under $55,000. The Model Y fell into both categories, depending on the number of seats, meaning certain 5-seat models weren’t eligible — something CEO Elon Musk called “messed up.” Now, all Model Y EVs except the Performance version appear to qualify.  

Late last year, it was reported that Tesla inventory was building up after years of strong sales, first with reports in China, then the US. Tesla recently cut prices in China, then later declined any compensation to customers who complained. The Model 3 now starts at 229,900 yuan ($33,425) in that nation. 

Neither Tesla nor CEO Elon Musk have weighed in on the price cuts, but potential buyers will no doubt be pleased (and recent purchasers displeased). The Model 3 was originally supposed to cost $35,000 and shipped in that configuration for a short time, but saw steady increases to the $46,990 price announced in March 2022. Last month, Musk said that “radical interest rate changes” had affected vehicle affordability and that Tesla could potentially lower prices.

 

Tim Cook is getting paid around 40 percent lower than last year, according to the annual proxy statement (PDF) Apple has released — and the CEO himself recommended it. Apparently, during the tech giant’s annual advisory meeting for shareholders in 2022, only 64 percent of the “Say on Pay” votes cast regarding the compensation proposals for executives was in favor of retaining their 2021 pay packages. While that’s still majority of the votes, it represents a significant year-over-year decline in approval. As 9to5Mac notes, 94.9 percent of the shareholders who voted the previous year was in favor of the compensation proposals for executives. 

To decide this year’s pay packages, Apple’s Compensation Committee took into account the Say on Pay’s voting results and Tim Cook’s own recommendation “to adjust his compensation in light of feedback received.” For 2023, Cook’s target salary is $49 million, down $35 million from his target salary in 2022. His base pay is still $3 million and his annual cash incentive remains unchanged at $6 million, but his equity award value went from $75 million in 2022 to $40 million this year. Further, he was granted an equity award that’s 75 percent performance and 25 percent time-based vesting, instead of 50-50 like 2022’s. 

The truth is that Cook, who vowed to donate his fortune to charity a few years ago, will likely earn more than $49 million this year due to stock awards and bonuses. According to Bloomberg, he earned $99.4 million in 2022, which was $15.4 million more than his target salary for the year. In 2021, his total pay package was $98.7 million. Critics like advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services previously urged shareholders to vote against Cook’s pay package, citing concerns about how big his equity award is and how it’s structured. “Half of the award lacks performance criteria,” the firm previously said. This shift in Cook’s compensation reflects the changing attitude towards executive pay, and the CEO might be setting an example for his peers. It is, after all, uncommon for an executive his level to recommend that their own pay be cut. 

 

Russia is prepping a ‘rescue’ mission following a coolant leak on a Soyuz capsule docked with the International Space Station. NASA said in a media briefing that Russia’s Roscosmos agency will send an empty Soyuz to the station on February 20th as a replacement for the damaged spacecraft. The vehicle was originally supposed to launch in March.

The leaking capsule is expected to return to Earth without a crew sometime in March. It will still carry experiments and other cargo. Cosmonauts Dmitriy Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev, as well as NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, will now remain in orbit for several months longer rather than departing in March as planned.

The affected craft started spraying particles December 14th. The ISS team quickly noticed that an external radiator cooling loop was to blame, and investigators later determined that a micrometeoroid struck the radiator. Roscosmos soon decided the Soyuz was too dangerous to use for a standard crew return. Temperatures would have climbed past 100F on reentry, threatening both occupants and computer equipment. An in-space repair would be impractical as the procedure would be too difficult, according to the agency’s Sergei Krikalev.

The ISS crew is still prepared to use the broken Soyuz to evacuate in an emergency. However, that’s not ideal when three of the seven people aboard the ISS would likely have to accept elevated risks to come home. A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule is also docked, but it normally only takes four occupants. NASA’s ISS program head Joel Montalbano said at the briefing that there had been talks with SpaceX to see if one of the Soyuz passengers could travel aboard the Crew Dragon if necessary.

Relations between NASA and Roscomos are strained following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia said last summer that it would leave the ISS after 2024 to work on its own space station, and the US has been preparing for a possible Russian withdrawal since 2021. However, the capsule leak has effectively forced the two to work closely together — if only briefly.

 

Formula 1: Drive to Survive, the docuseries that helped the motorsport become a bigger deal in the US, will return for its fifth season on Netflix on February 24th. That’s smart timing, since the three-day preseason test for this year’s F1 calendar will be be taking place that weekend. 

Netflix has also released a teaser for the latest episodes. The clip focuses on the major rule changes that F1 brought in for the 2022 season and the potential impact that the regulations could have on the drivers’ and manufacturers’ standings.

Until that show returns, you might be able to tide yourself over by checking out Break Point,a tennis docuseries from the Drive to Survive producers. The first five episodes drop on Friday and the rest of the season will premiere in June. Full Swing, a similar show from the Drive to Survive team that focuses on golfers from the PGA Tour, will debut on February 15th.

 

Don’t worry if Mercedes’ insistence on EQ branding for electric cars seems arbitrary — the naming scheme might not last much longer. Sources speaking to the German daily Handelsblatt claim Mercedes will drop the EQ brand as soon as late 2024, when it’s expected to debut its next wave of compact cars. Simply put, the company won’t have much use for the label when more and more of its cars will be electric.

Mercedes first used the EQ name on production cars with 2019’s EQC SUV. Since then, the company has applied the branding to both electrified versions of conventional designs like the EQB as well as unique models like the EQS SUV. Concept cars like the long-range EQXX have similarly stuck to the nomenclature.

In a statement to Reuters, a Mercedes spokesperson said it was “too early” to divulge plans. However, the representative said the automaker would “adapt” the use of the EQ brand as it transitioned to an all-EV lineup by 2030. The identification still plays a key role in the company’s current electric vehicle strategy, the spokesperson added.

If the report is true, the rethink won’t come as a surprise. While car manufacturers have frequently used names to highlight electric powerplants, such as the Chevy Bolt and Ford Mustang Mach-E, they’re starting to rely on more traditional monikers as EVs become more commonplace. Chevy’s upcoming electric Blazer is one example. EVs will eventually become the default, and companies won’t get to use the presence of an electric motor as a selling point.

 

Instacart will pay workers $5.1 million as part of a settlement after it allegedly failed to provide some benefits, as The San Francisco Chronicle reports. San Francisco accused the company of violating healthcare and paid sick leave ordinances. The company, which has not admitted to wrongdoing, will pay an additional $150,000 to cover the city’s legal costs and pay for a settlement administrator to distribute the funds.

“Instacart has always properly classified shoppers as independent contractors, giving them the ability to set their own schedule and earn on their own terms,” Instacart said in a statement. “We remain committed to continuing to serve customers across San Francisco while also protecting access to the flexible earnings opportunities Instacart shoppers consistently say they want.”

People who worked as independent contractors for Instacart in the city between February 2017 and December 2020 are eligible for payments based on how many hours they worked. San Francisco estimates that between 6,000 and 7,000 people are affected by the settlement. The city and Instacart previously reached a similar settlement that covered an earlier time period. San Francisco has settled a benefits-related case with DoorDash too.

After December 15th, 2020, Instacart workers were subject to Proposition 22, which afforded them some benefits without the company having to define them as employees. An Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled in 2021 that the measure was unconstitutional, but it remains in force while Instacart, DoorDash, Uber, Lyft and other gig companies who bankrolled Prop 22 appeal the decision. Another suit — filed by San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego — claims that Uber and Lyft drivers should have been classed as workers until Prop 22 passed.

 

The US government has reportedly passed on buying more HoloLens-based AR combat goggles from Microsoft after discovering the current version has some kinks to work out, according to Bloomberg. So instead of ordering more of the current model, the government approved $40 million for Microsoft to develop a new version.

The updated combat goggles will address test results from last year when 70 soldiers wore the current version during three 72-hour scenarios simulating combat conditions. The results showed that the soldiers suffered “headaches, eyestrain and nausea” and that the system had too many “failures of essential functions.” In addition, more than 80 percent of soldiers who reported discomfort began experiencing it less than three hours into the 72 hours test.

The Army had initially requested $400 million to buy up to 6,900 pairs of the goggles as part of the $1.75 trillion government funding bill. Instead, Congress approved $40 million from that sum to develop the new version. The Army has already given Microsoft $125 million to create a revised model, and it still plans to spend up to $21.9 billion over the next decade for as many as 121,000 devices.

The Department of Defense contract has significantly boosted Microsoft’s ability to profit from its AR device. Before working with the DoD, the company had marketed the headset for enterprise manufacturing, training and other industrial purposes. Although Microsoft has hinted at an eventual consumer version of HoloLens, the company hasn’t yet announced any specifics — and its plans are hazier after the company has reportedly struggled to form a coherent strategy for its headset.

 

Everything was going great until it wasn’t in the skies over Cornwall, UK on Monday. Virgin Orbit, the space launch division of Sir Richard Branson’s sprawling commercial empire, was in the midst of setting a major milestone for the country and the nation: to be the first orbital launch from European soil. The carrier aircraft, Cosmic Girl, had successfully taken off from Spaceport Cornwall, LauncherOne had cleanly separated from the modified 747 and properly ignited its first stage rocket, blasting it and its payload of satellites into space. But before they could be pushed into their proper orbit by the rocket’s second stage, something went wrong. On Thursday, Virgin Orbit leaders provided a preliminary explanation as to just what happened.

“At an altitude of approximately 180 km, the upper stage experienced an anomaly. This anomaly prematurely ended the first burn of the upper stage,” the company told Engadget via email. “This event ended the mission, with the rocket components and payload falling back to Earth within the approved safety corridor without ever achieving orbit.”

Virgin Orbit has also announced a “formal” investigation into the root causes of the anomaly which will be led by Jim Sponnick, who developed the Atlas and Delta launch systems, and Chad Foerster, Virgin Orbit’s Chief Engineer. Despite the setback, the company is already in contact with UK officials to reschedule the launch for as soon as late 2023.    

 

There wasn’t anything particularly sinister about the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) outage that prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to ground US flights on Wednesday — it appears to have been a relatively simple glitch. As part of its early investigation, the FAA has determined that the outage was prompted by a “damaged database file.” The agency is still working to identify the exact causes and prevent repeat incidents, but says there’s still “no evidence” of a cyberattack.

The FAA grounded all domestic departures in the US on Wednesday morning after the NOTAM system failed the afternoon before. This was the first such failure in the country, and it prompted hundreds of delays that took hours to resolve. NOTAMs provide important information about potential problems along a flight’s path, such as runway closures and temporary airspace restrictions.

The initial findings may be reassuring for those concerned the outage may have stemmed from another critical infrastructure hack. However, it still leaves some unanswered questions about the fragility of NOTAM in the US. A single corrupted file was apparently all it took to disrupt flights nationwide for over half a day — whatever redundancy was in place clearly wasn’t enough.

 

Intel has just introduced a new desktop processor, the Core i9-13900KS, that can reach up to 6GHz without overclocking, making it the fastest desktop processor available. This is made possible by the processor’s Thermal Velocity Boost feature, which allows the chip to run faster when it’s cool enough.

The i9-13900KS is an upgraded version of the i9-13900K, which Intel released last fall. The main differences between the two processors are that the older chip reached a maximum speed of 5.8GHz and had a lower base power of 125W compared to 150W in the new chip. However, the i9-13900KS has the same number of cores (24), amount of cache (36MB) and number of PCIe lanes (20) as the i9-13900K. In addition, the new processor is compatible with Z790 and Z690 motherboards; however, an updated BIOS is recommended.

The Thermal Velocity Boost is a feature in 11th Gen and later Intel Core chips that lets them run faster when they’re cool. It does this by increasing the clock frequency by 100 MHz when the temperature is below a threshold of 70 degrees C. However, you’ll need a good cooling solution to get the most out of it.

This release comes before the launch of AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X3D, which is set to be released in February. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D can reach standard speeds of 5.7GHz and has 144MB of 3D V-Cache technology, which allows for more cache to be added to the CPU. The i9-13900KS is available starting today, with a suggested starting price of $699.