He quickly added that he doesn’t plan on spending billions more right away.
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I think in a partnership, we need to be there on all aspects of how the technology is being used and not simply providing technology and not being in control on how it is being used.
In a statement, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the break from Mobileye was expected and “will not have any material effect on our plans”.
The Tesla driver who died had apparently not been paying attention at the time of the crash.
In Tuesday’s call, Shashua referred to that new relationship, saying advanced autonomy “requires partnerships that go beyond the typical OEM [original equipment manufacturer] supplier relationship” and that Mobileye “will continue to pursue similar such relationships”. Tesla stock fell 0.9 percent to $227.94. SolarCity was virtually unchanged.
NHTSA has also opened up an investigation into the incident, as well as another, non-fatal crash in Pennsylvania involving a Tesla vehicle using Autopilot.
Mobileye’s chief communications officer, Dan Galves, said at the time, “We have read the account of what happened in this case”.
But for reasons that still remain murky, it appears that Mobileye’s EyeQ3 chip – which is now found in Tesla’s fleet of vehicles – will be the last chip the company provides to Tesla. The auto was also being driven nine miles an hour above the posted speed limit of 65 mph. Elon Musk says Powerwall production will make up around a third of the factory’s operations initially, increasing to 50 per cent in the next few years.
Musk said the factory could ultimately support 1.5 million electric vehicles a year and he was confident the partners could eventually lower battery costs to $100 per kilowatt-hour by 2020.
About 14% of the gigafactory was finished as of Tuesday, the company said during the tour.
Musk noted that some of the area’s 10,000 wild horses often drink from the ponds at the construction site. The factory is now about 14 percent complete; when it’s finished, it will be approximately 10 million square feet, or about the size of 262 NFL football fields.
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The company’s $5bn facility will churn out batteries for both Tesla’s cars and for energy storage systems created to complement rooftop solar panels on homes and businesses offered by SolarCity, where Musk serves as chairman.
