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Consumer Reports has fired back at Tesla, issuing a statement that defends its recent report that predicts Model 3 to have “average reliability”. “Tesla appears unhappy that CR expects the new-to-market Tesla Model 3 to be of average reliability, which is generally a positive projection for any first model year of a car.” says CR in a press release sent to Teslarati. The nonprofit organization that aims to educate consumers on the value of product, that can be anywhere from a household vacuum cleaner to an automobile, through its product testing reinforces its methodology for making predictions. “Here’s how we make the prediction” notes CR, addressing Tesla’s claim …

NBA All-star Kobe Bryant has expanded his domain into the world of sports drinks, but instead of being a paid celebrity face behind an industry he’s become all too familiar with, the retired Lakers veteran is now a business person behind sports drink startup BodyArmor. With ambitious goals to take on the industry-dominating Gatorade brand thatÂ’s owned by Pepsi Co. and Coca ColaÂ’s Powerade, Bryant turns to advice he received from serial entrepreneur Elon Musk. Speaking with CNBC at the NACS Show 2017 in Chicago, Bryant recounts his time with Musk who founded and simultaneous runs Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company and NeuralNet. “Elon Musk I think is a genius by all…

It’s a common refrain: the German automotive aristocracy boasts superior performance over American muscle cars. But, times are changing. ThereÂ’s a new kid on the block — in Silicon Valley, not Motor City. In fact, Silicon ValleyÂ’s Elon Musk has become the boogeyman at one Bavarian automaker. Sure, Musk can do rockets. But can he do high-end sedans at the level of a Mercedes, BMW, or Audi? Well, the folks over at UKÂ’s Carwow decided to put a Tesla through its paces with a few of GermanyÂ’s finest. CarwowÂ’s showdown is described as a unique opportunity to, “settle two big scores all in one video: which brand makes the worldÂ’s fastest wagon, and who makes the mos…

Early Tesla Model 3 owners are beginning to see the vehicle’s automatic parallel and perpendicular parking feature dubbed as ‘AutoparkÂ’ come to life in the latest software update. A Model 3 owner took to YouTube to demonstrate the vehicleÂ’s ability to identify a vacant parking space and then automatically park itself into the designated spot. While TeslaÂ’s Autopark feature isnÂ’t new and has been around since 2015 during the days of Autopilot 1.0 and Firmware 7.0, this is the first time weÂ’re seeing it activated on a Model 3. Owners were recently notified by Tesla that Parallel and Perpendicular Autopark would be enabled only after the vehicleÂ’s Autopilot hardw…

Seize the day! Hope you didn’t think the Equifax debacle was over, because scammers are in it for the long haul, milking the massive data breach for all it’s worth. Currently, they’re calling credit holders pretending to be with the beleaguered company (but we wouldn’t be surprised to see email and text solicitations soon as well). The opportunists claim they must “validate your account information”—and they’re good impersonators, so even if the number on your caller ID says “Equifax,” hang up! The company won’t be calling or emailing you out of the blue; they’ve got their hands full with millions of angry customers and an FTC investigation that we hope leads to some real…

Three of SpaceX’s largest and most important customers have in some way expressed significant interest in flying missions aboard recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. Even with respect to the three commercial reuses SpaceX has already accomplished this year, the combined interest of NASA, the US Air Force, and Iridium could well mark a major phase change in the space industry. NASA According to NASASpaceflight.com, NASA has been exploring reused Falcon 9 hardware for CRS-13, a cargo Dragon mission scheduled for no earlier than December 4th. If NASA finalizes approvals in time, CRS-13 could see SpaceX reuse both the Falcon 9 first stage and the Dragon spacecraft atop…

Leave ‘em in the dust. We recently wrote about gas station “skimmers”: undetectable chips that thieves connect to credit/debit card readers to steal your information when you run your magnetic strip at the pump. It turns out there’s now a way to fight back, in the form of a free Android app called Skimmer Scanner that can detect the nasty little things (by the Bluetooth technology they use to swipe your data) and alert you if there are any nearby. So gas up and go, without the worry!

BS detector. Did you know that some wireless phone carriers offer scam detection for free? Often, getting it is as easy as asking for the service, which warns you with a phrase like “scam likely” when an incoming call originates from a sketchy number. From AT&T to Verizon, the website Lifehacker outlines the different phone companies, what they offer and if it’s gonna cost you. Check it out and see if your phone is covered!

It pays to be picky. Online hotel booking scams upset on average around 15 million bookings annually. In our excitement to score a good deal, it’s safe to say we may be rushing things a little, and it’s leading us to fall for the first (bad) deal we find. The problem of scam hotel sites is so ubiquitous that Congress recently took up legislation to stop criminals from bilking $1.3 billion from consumers annually (the current rate of money lost in bad bookings). Before clicking the mouse and agreeing to make a reservation, make sure that the site you’re on is legitimate and dependable (you know, like an Expedia or a Hotwire), or just book directly with the hotel (many will…

But Gatorade’s got electrolytes! In what could be a scene straight out of Idiocracy, the makers of Gatorade decided to get creative and create a mobile video game called “Bolt!,” featuring a cartoon character of Olympic runner Usain Bolt. In the game, Bolt runs faster when he touches sugar-laden Gatorade icons and slower when he reaches plain ol’ wholesome water, with text reinforcing the message: “Keep your performance level high by avoiding water.” The game was heavily promoted to children and teens on social media. Eventually, its “misleading [water] statements” trickled down to California’s attorney general, who sued and reached a settlement with the company (to the t…

It’s high time unscrupulous payday lenders got called out for what they really are: professional defrauders. While payday lending isn’t illegal, consumers need protection from the all-too-common loans charging upwards of 300% interest rates and trapping consumers in a cycle of debt. Fortunately, the government is finally getting serious about cracking down on the debt traps. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its final payday lending ruleearlier this month. And the Justice Department has gotten on board, charging payday loan shark Charles Hallinan with racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering and fraud. Hallinan maneuvered to get around sensible stat…

It’s a brave new world out there, one with video and audio streaming, the sharing economy, online shopping, and other modern conveniences ripe for scamming. If it’s not Amazon in a con artist’s crosshairs then it’s Netflix (or another company)—and this month it’s Netflix. If you get an email from supportnetflix(at)checkinformation(dot)com, you should back away faster than you would from an episode of “Fuller House.” The email will tell you that there’s been a “billing” error and, of course, you need to update your payment details (sigh…typical). Clickhere to see what the dreaded email looks like. (But don’t click on the email itself. If you do, it pops up in your inbox an…

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Consumer Reports predicts that the Tesla Model 3 will have an ‘average reliability’ rating when the vehicle eventually begins to hit the consumer market and extend beyond the few hundred vehicles first delivered to employees and their families. Jake Fisher, director of auto testing for Consumer Reports, says they were able to come to that prediction because of historical data collected from the Tesla Model S. “What we have is a lot of data from the Tesla Model S,” notes Fisher. “That gives us a little more confidence in the Tesla Model 3.” Though the reporting agency indicates that they have yet to purchase a Model 3 and put it through its usual series of tests,…

Famed Apple analyst turned Venture Capitalist, Gene Munster at Loup Ventures, recently attempted to answer Wall Street’s burning question — isnÂ’t Tesla just another car company? MunsterÂ’s answer: “Tesla is not (just) an automaker. Nor is it (just) a battery, solar, or software company. Tesla is an agent of change. Its mission is to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy – and its story is about engineering a different future. Each move the company makes lends itself to a higher-order goal, and, as you zoom out, the picture becomes clearer.” Elon Musk took a uniquely Silicon Valley approach to building the company. “Tesla, like others in technology today (…

Elon Musk’s tunnel digging venture, The Boring Company, is about to a second tunneling machine to its operations. The sleepless serial entrepreneur revealed on Twitter late Wednesday that “Line-storm” will be joining the company and become sibling to “GoDot”, The Boring Company’s slower-than-a-snail first digger. While Musk didn’t provide any specifics on when the new boring machine will come online, one can expect it to be operational in no time especially if Musk’s history of near-immediate project-turnaround has taught us anything. True to The Boring Company’s focus to name its machines after plays and poems, Line-Storm honors Robert Frost’s early 20th-century poem “…

Israeli satellite operator Space Communications will be sending its newest Amos-17 satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at no cost in 2019. The news comes via a press release by SpaceCom that outlines the agreement that SpaceX will provide launch services for the Amos-17 in 2019 that will be followed by a second launch for its Amos-8 satellite in 2020. More notably, the “launch agreement” constitutes a correction to the failed Amos-6 satellite launch after the “Facebook satellite” was destroyed when its Falcon 9 launcher exploded during a routine static fire test two days ahead of liftoff. SpaceX has provided the Israeli company “credits” from the unfilled September…

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The Boring Company has raised an additional $80,000 in funding thanks to four thousand-some boring individuals (myself included) who impulsively purchased a branded hat, seemingly for no reason other than the fact that Elon Musk tweeted it. The $20 merch dubbed as “the world’s most boring hat” was quickly shared across twitter by excited fans on Tuesday evening when Musk first revealed his plans to build LA’s underground tunnel “one hat at a time.” The Boring Company looks to reinvent traditional tunnel digging with faster tunnel boring machines and a more efficient process for digging. Musk’s ultimate goal is to build an underground transportation network for mul…

Joe Torbati who by now has become arguably more known for his series of Tesla Model 3 videos than being the owner of a leading detailing company that has helped over 2,500 Tesla owners with paint correction and protection services is back with another comprehensive look at the Model 3. The obsessive and compulsive detailer at OCDetailing in Fremont, California this time focuses on Model 3Â’s driving features, including TeslaÂ’s Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC), regenerative braking, Autopilot indicators on the center touchscreen, and the user interface layout as it relates to driving. “We have finished this Model 3. The car is done. We tinted the windows, w…

Tesla has recently come under scrutiny after the company fired 400 to 700 employees over poor performance reviews. The company issued the following statement in regards to the firing: Like all companies, Tesla conducts an annual performance review during which a manager and employee discuss the results that were achieved, as well as how those results were achieved, during the performance period. This includes both constructive feedback and recognition of top performers with additional compensation and equity awards, as well as promotions in many cases. As with any company, especially one of over 33,000 employees, performance reviews also occasionally result in employe…