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Tesla welcomes Pittsburgh Store with owners’ exclusive grand opening event

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It’s official—Pittsburgh has a Tesla Store!  The Owners’ Exclusive Grand Opening was held Thursday night as the store dropped the construction panels and was revealed to shoppers at Ross Park Mall for the first time.  Situated on a stretch of high end stores that my wife calls “Handbag Row,” the design follows the Tesla aesthetic to… well, a “T.”

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It’s been about a year since Tesla first parked a car inside the mall, outside Nordstrom. Officially designated a mere “kiosk” by Tesla, it was more like a relative sleeping on your living room couch, with a Model S just haphazardly plunked in the middle of a lounge area. Now the beautiful bright red Model S display car has a place to call home and it comes with a cool backyard too.

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Six new HPWC Tesla chargers are installed in the parking lot outside and are just waiting for the power to be turned on.  Set apart in specially designated, well-signed and painted slots, the chargers will serve as a base for a growing fleet of test drive Model S and Model X.

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If Ross Park follows similar installations at other mall stores, the chargers will also be available for owners— a miraculous provision during the crowded holiday shopping season.

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The new store actually wraps around the corner, with two storefronts.  Tesla has put offices and private ordering/design studio rooms in the back with the main storefront facing the highest traffic area.  The other storefront is a mostly blank wall with a back lit poster of a Model S.

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The location is close to the middle of the mall and very visible to people on both levels and multiple corridors.  Surrounding neighbors are high-end clothiers and brands familiar to a more affluent crowd: Nordstrom, Armani, Michael Kors, Omega, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Kate Spade and JCPenney… yep, there’s even a JCPenney for folks like me.

Simon Property Group very quickly updated their website to announce the coming of Tesla earlier this spring.  They’d originally said the store would open May 24th.  The store will instead be opening to the public this weekend.

Some photos courtesy Darren Schilberg and Michael Kirven.

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Tesla expands Early Access Program (EAP) for early Full Self-Driving testing

Tesla expanded the elusive EAP program for more drivers to test versions of Full Self-Driving before they are widely released.

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Credit: @WholeMars/YouTube

Tesla has expanded its Early Access Program (EAP) to more drivers as it is allowing vehicle owners to test Full Self-Driving versions earlier than normal.

The EAP allows owners to test FSD versions before they are released widely to the public. In previous years, having access to EAP was quite a privilege, but Tesla seems to be going all-in on its eventual rollout of autonomous driving by letting more owners test supervised versions of the suite before they are released publicly.

On Thursday night, Tesla officially launched the ability for some owners to gain entry into EAP. The company did not detail how it chose certain drivers to enable their status in the program, but we’ve seen several well-known Tesla influencers and fans gain access. There are plenty of other drivers who have been granted access as well:

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It seems that the EAP access is being granted to those who purchased Full Self-Driving outright and are not paying for the monthly subscription. Tesla has not confirmed that is the case, though.

Tesla wrote in its release notes of the EAP program:

“Enroll to experience early features before they’re widely released. Provide your feedback and related vehicle data to help make the next release our best yet. Note, every driver is responsible for remaining alert and must be prepared to take action at any time.”

The expansion of the EAP indicates that Tesla is growing more confident in these new, unreleased versions of the suite and is aiming to gain significant amounts of data from those who are lucky enough to gain access to it.

In the past, Tesla has been hesitant to add drivers to the EAP because its widespread release was not necessarily warranted. Reading between the lines, there is a significant vote of confidence on Tesla’s part to do this, just seeing as the hesitance to release these versions of FSD has been evident in the past few years.

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Tesla is still aiming to roll out a ride-hailing service using FSD in Austin later this year. The company was hiring for teleoperators recently, so that could be one way it manages to ease into the idea of a driverless service for those who choose to use it as it is released to more cities in the U.S. later this year.

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Tesla rolls out new, more affordable trim of the Model Y Juniper in U.S.

Two months after launching the new Model Y with the Launch Series, Tesla has brought out an All-Wheel-Drive configuration of the ‘Juniper’ build.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has finally rolled out a new trim level of the new Model Y “Juniper” in the United States, bringing a more affordable option of the revitalized version of its best-selling vehicle to market.

On Friday, Tesla officially launched the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive version of the new Model Y in the United States. Before the $7,500 federal tax credit, the configuration starts at $48,990.

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Just a few days ago, we reported on Tesla ramping up production of non-Launch Edition configurations of the new Model Y at Gigafactory Texas. While the company initiated sales of these trim levels in other countries, the U.S. was still waiting for more affordable options to become available.

The Launch Series version of the new Model Y had 327 miles of range, a top speed of 125 MPH, and a 4.1-second 0-60 MPH acceleration rate. The Long Range All-Wheel-Drive trim of the new Model Y has nearly identical specs: it offers the same 327-mile range rating with the same top speed of 125 MPH. However, it has a 4.6-second 0-60 MPH acceleration rate.

The Launch Series also came with Full Self-Driving included. The new, more affordable trim does not, so owners will have to pay $8,000 for FSD if they’d like to purchase it outright. There is also a monthly subscription service that costs $99/mo.

Now that the new Model Y has a new, more accessible configuration available and Tesla has already started ramping production, this could be a good sign of things to come for the company as Q2 kicks off.

Tesla reported lower-than-expected delivery figures for Q1 earlier this week, with the company stating that the shutdown of production lines to changeover to the new Model Y design impacted “several weeks” of manufacturing.

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Inventory levels for Tesla were also high, as production outpaced deliveries by a margin of nearly 22,000 vehicles. This could be due to the number of units that have not made their way to delivery centers quite yet, but more information on this will likely be shed by Tesla during its earnings call on April 22.

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Investor's Corner

“Nothing Magnificent about Tesla (TSLA),” claims Jim Cramer

Cramer shared his thoughts about the matter in a comment to CNBC.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is one of the stocks in the “Magnificent Seven,” which is comprised of U.S. tech companies that have driven notable market growth. But as per finance veteran Jim Cramer, electric vehicle maker Tesla no longer qualifies for the group’s moniker.

Cramer shared his thoughts about the matter in a comment to CNBC.

Not “Magnificent” Anymore

The Magnificent Seven (Mag 7) stocks are comprised of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Tesla, and Nvidia. The companies are known for their large market caps, innovation, and domination in their respective fields. As per Cramer in his recent comments, however, there are essentially no Mag 7 stocks anymore amid the fallout of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

“You can buy some low multiple techs, industrials, and banks here. We did that for the charitable trust today, right under the teeth of the selloff. I would not jump back into the Magnificent 7 because, as of tonight, there is no ‘Mag 7’ anymore. I came up with that name, and I’m scrapping it right now — no moniker fits the two or three that remain viable. And I’m not going to put it out there — there’s nothing magnificent about Tesla or Nvidia,” Cramer noted.

Trump Tariffs

Donald Trump’s tariffs are expected to affect a variety of industries, including automakers like Tesla. Despite this, Tesla’s domestic factories such as Gigafactory Texas and the Fremont Factory should shield Tesla to some degree. As per TD Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli, “Tesla (is) a relative beneficiary given [its] 100% U.S. production footprint, substantial U.S. sourcing, and with Model Y competing in a midsize crossover segment where close to ~50% of vehicles could be subject to tariffs.”

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Elon Musk, however, has noted that the effects of Trump’s tariffs to Tesla are no joke. “To be clear, this will affect the price of parts in Tesla cars that come from other countries. The cost impact is not trivial,” Musk wrote in a post on X. 

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