Tesla Model X 2017 News

The Australasian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced another set of national safety recalls, with models from Mazda, Tesla, Mitsubishi, Peugeot and Citroen impacted.

Tesla has issued a voluntary recall for its electric Model S sedan and Model X SUV after discovering a potential manufacturing issue that could stop the electric park brake from functioning properly.

Jaguar has laid claim to the title of World Car of the Year with its high-riding F-Pace, as three SUV models occupied the top placings for 2017.

Customers who order a new Tesla electric vehicle (EV) after January 15 will have pay to access the company’s network of Supercharger stations, while existing owners will continue to receive free recha

Tesla Motors has nabbed another former-Apple employee, with the all-electric car-maker recruiting ex-senior developer Chris Lattner to lead the advancement of its Autopilot self-driving software.

Electric car maker Tesla will charge its owners to 'fill up' at its own high-speed charging bays from January next year, in a scheme that will be applied to cars sold from January 1 next year.

Tesla has announced that the cars it's now building are able to drive themselves and all you need to do is get in and tell it where you want to go.Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the news overnight on Twitter and through the company's blog saying that its latest vehicles are being built with technology that will enable them to be fully autonomous."We're excited to announce that as of today, all Tesla vehicles produced in our factory – including the Model 3 – will have the hardware needed  for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver," Tesla posted in its official blog.The number of cameras has been doubled from four to eight to give the car 360 degrees of visibility for up to 250m which Tesla says enables the car to pilot itself "in all circumstances at what we believe will be a probablity of safety at least twice as good as the average human driver."These cameras are supported by 12 updated ultrasonic sensors that can detect hard and soft objects almost twice as far away as the previous system. A forward facing radar with improved processing uses a redundant wavelength that lets it see through heavy rain, fog, dust and the car in front.All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go.An on-board computer with 40 times the computing power of the previous generation processes the data coming in from the camera, radar and sensors.Tesla's last generation optional Autopilot system was capable of self-driving, but needed careful supervision by the driver who could be there take over if needed – you can read our review of the self-driving Model S here. The new Enhanced Autopliot appears to be a major leap forward."The basic news is that all vehicles exiting the factory have the hardware for Level 5 autonomy – the cameras, the compute power. On the order of 2000 cars a week we have hardware capable of full self-driving autonomy," Musk said.SAE International defines Level 5 autonomy as the highest level of driving automation in which the vehicle can perform all aspects of dynamic driving under all conditions – both road and weather – than can be managed by a human.According to Tesla the Enhanced Autopilot will be available to download from December 2016."All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go. If you don't say anything, the car will look at your calendar and take you there as your assumed destination or just home if nothing is on the calendar," according to the Tesla website.A video released by Tesla of Enhanced Autopilot in action on public roads displayed the car's impressively ability to move through traffic and skilfully handle everyday situations such as busy intersections and highways before dropping off its passenger and then finding a place to park on its own.And in his true show man style Musk added in a tweet:"When you want your car to return, tap Summon on your phone. It will eventually find you even if you are on the other side of the country."

Tesla's all-electric Model X SUV can cover 0-100km/h in 3.1 seconds and boast a towing capacity of 2500kg – but would it be able to cross a river?Speaking at the Model X's launch on Wednesday Tesla spokesman Heath Walker said he was not sure what the SUV's wading depth would be."It's secure from all water – like on a rainy day," Walker said."To be honest I haven't seen a wading test done to check if the seals would be broken but I wouldn't imagine so. Like any normal manufacturer we have to pass all those tests."Walker said that although it's unlikely Model X owners will take the SUV through deeper water, they will expect it to cope with a range of adverse driving conditions."I don't think wading through water is going to be done often, but in terms of where this car is going to go in Europe with snow and those sort of things we're going to see this car used on what would be deemed not normal road conditions."Why it handles so well in those conditions is due to that heavy weight down low, the all-wheel drive and the low end torque as well to generate you out of a tricky situation."When crossing rivers off-road, the risk vehicles with combustion engines face is water entering the engine through the inlet manifold and causing instant destruction as the pistons try to compress water of significantly greater density than air.The Model X wouldn't face the same issue, but ultimately, electricity and water aren't the best of friends.Built on a slightly longer ‘skateboard chassis' than the Model S sedan, the top-spec Model X P100D is all-wheel drive with an electric 193kW/330Nm motor at front axle and 375kW/600Nm at the rear with the batteries stored under the floor.

Tesla's Model X may be the fastest SUV on the planet, but its towing credentials might also surprise you.

The world's fastest SUV has made its first Australian appearance, with Tesla showcasing the Model X in Sydney today.