Though production of this vehicle has since improved, it hasn’t been enough to quiet the company’s critics.
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A man has been killed in the first known fatal accident involving a self-driving auto.
“This is the first known fatality in just over 130 million miles where Autopilot was activated”, Tesla said in a statement. The crash took place in May.
Every program has problems in it, said Jeff Miller, an associate professor in the Computer Engineering Department at USC.
Tesla Motors delivered 14,370 vehicles in the second quarter, missing its forecast of 17,000 units because of what it called an “extreme production ramp” that saw half of the quarter’s production in the final four weeks.
Through the second quarter, Tesla delivered 9,745 Model S saloon cars and 4,625 of its Model X sports utility vehicle.
The revised expectations arrive at a delicate moment for Tesla, which has excited drivers and investors alike by the promise of gasoline-free autos. The agency said the crash came in a 2015 Model S operating with automated driving systems engaged.
The National Highway Traffic Administration said that preliminary investigation has found that the crash occurred when a tractor trailer made a left turn in front of the Tesla, which failed to apply the brakes. Federal regulators are investigating the accident.
Following the announcement, Tesla stock fell slightly in after-hours weekend trading.
Tesla now expects to deliver around 50,000 vehicles during the second half of the year.
Delivering cars to customers in other countries is a sign that Tesla has finally gotten a handle on the production gremlins that have plagued the introduction of the Model X. Deliveries of the SUV are critical to meeting its production targets for the year and for calming investors fears that the company can not meet its ambitious goal of delivering 500,000 cars a year by 2018.
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July 3: Tesla reports Q2 sales and production missed targets; Model S sales down more than 20 percent from Q1. The company ran out of parts needed to build the Model X, its latest release to hit the road, and could not meet production needs for two months.
