News Analysis India

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  • Honor 10 With 19:9 Display, 6GB RAM, and Dual Rear Cameras Launched in India: Price, Specifications, and More

    Honor 10 was launched in India on Tuesday at an event in London. The smartphone was first launched in China last month, and is the Huawei brand Honor’s flagship offering. The Honor 10 will go on sale exclusively via Flipkart in India from Wednesday. It has several highlights, including its top-end HiSilicon Kirin 970 SoC that’s paired with 6GB of RAM, a dual rear camera setup, a 19:9 FullView display with an iPhone X-like notch, and a 24-megapixel front camera. The company is touting several AI 2.0-based features, from beautification and face recognition, to UX features in its EMUI 8.1 custom Android ROM that’s based on Android 8.1 Oreo. Finally, the Honor 10 also sports a gradient colour finish, similar to the Pink Gold and Twilight colour variants we last saw on the flagship-level Huawei P20 Pro and Huawei P20 smartphones.
    Honor 10 price in India, launch offers

    Honor 10 price in India has been set at Rs. 32,999 for the 6GB RAM and 128GB inbuilt storage variant in India – the company has chosen not to launch the 6GB RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage in the country. It will be available from midnight, Wednesday, May 16 in India, exclusively via Flipkart. The company has also chosen only to launch two colour variants in the country – Midnight Black and Phantom Blue.

    The Honor 10 India launch offers include an additional Rs. 5,000 off over the regular exchange value for all Honor smartphones, as well as select other devices. The company is also offering an additional Rs. 3,000 off over regular exchange value for all other devices. Both these exchange offers will be valid from Wednesday, May 16 to Friday, May 18. Honor is also offering no cost EMI on Bajaj Finserv cards, but this is valid on May 16 only. Buyers on Flipkart will also get a 10 percent instant discount with Axis Bank and debit cards – something that’s also applicable on EMI transactions. A Jio offer was also detailed, with Rs. 1,200 cashback, 100GB additional data, and Rs. 3,300 worth of partner vouchers.

    The company also announced that the Honor 10 will also be available to buy via Hi Honor online store in India, with a Rs. 500 coupon being provided on purchase of the smartphone, apart from MobiKwik SuperCash up to Rs. 2,000.

    In Europe, the company launched both the 64GB and 128GB storage variants, priced at EUR 399.90 (roughly Rs. 32,300) and EUR 449.90 (roughly Rs. 36,400), while the in the UK, the company launched only the 128GB variant, priced at GBP 399.99 (roughly Rs. 36,800). In Europe and the UK, the smartphone will be bundled with Monster Earphone II with Hi-Res Audio support, and a tailor-made sound profile for the Honor 10.

  • Co-Pilot Sucked Halfway Out Of Plane After Windshield Cracks Over China

    Getting sucked halfway out of a plane window is the stuff of movies and nightmares and it happens extremely rarely.

    But in mid-April, a female passenger died after being partially sucked out of a Southwest Airlines flight when one of the aircraft’s engines exploded. And then on Monday, the co-pilot of a Chinese Sichuan Airlines flight was also almost sucked out of his plane after a part of the cockpit windshield broke.

    After taking off at the Chinese municipality of Chongqing, passengers and crew sensed that something was wrong about half an hour into their flight to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

    “We experienced a few seconds of free fall before it stabilized again,” one passenger told Chinese media.

    But that wasn’t just turbulence. At the front of the plane, the pilot was fighting for the life of his colleague – who at that point had been almost entirely sucked out of the plane and was only being held back by his seat belt.

    “Suddenly, the windshield just cracked and made a loud bang. The next thing I know, my co-pilot had been sucked halfway out of the window,” said pilot Liu Chuanjian, speaking to Chinese media.

    Liu managed to pull his co-pilot back into the cockpit, according to his own account. The co-pilot only suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the drama that unfolded at an altitude of 32,000 feet.

    The pilot then managed to land the Airbus A319 in the city of Chengdu in a turbulent descent that injured another crew member.

    “Everything in the cockpit was floating in the air. Most of the equipment malfunctioned . . . and I couldn’t hear the radio. The plane was shaking so hard I could not read the gauges,” he was quoted as saying by Chinese media.

    French Airbus representatives later said they would send teams to China to investigate what triggered the 7-year-old plane’s malfunctioning. Airbus A319s can carry up to 160 passengers and are widely used around the world by European and U.S. airlines.

    While Sichuan Airlines mostly operates in Asia, it also offers flights to international destinations in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. According to its website, it operates on routes to Los Angeles and Vancouver, among other destinations.

    The last known emergency of that kind occurred almost three decades ago, in 1990, when a British Airways pilot survived a similar incident at an altitude of 23,000 feet. While lightning strikes or objects in the flight path can sometimes crack windshields, incidents like Monday’s are extremely rare – but when they do happen, they almost always end with passengers, crew members or pilots being sucked out of the planes completely or partially, according to my colleagues Lori Aratani and Faiz Siddiqui:

    “It’s all about air pressure, which varies depending on location. At sea level, atmospheric pressure is about 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch), Thomas Anthony, director of the University of Southern California’s aviation security program, told the Verge. But at an airplane’s cruising altitude, about 33,000 feet, it drops to about 4 psi. That is why the higher you go, the more difficult it is to breathe. The air gets thinner. It’s the reason climbers on Mount Everest must carry oxygen with them.

    “Aircraft cabins are pressurized to keep passengers comfortable and alive at high altitudes, said Jim Gregory, a professor of aeronautical engineering and director of the Aerospace Research Center at Ohio State University.

  • LePage veto fails, clearing way for recreational pot sales in Maine

    AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine lawmakers overrode Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of an adult-use marijuana regulatory bill Wednesday, putting the state on track to regulate a retail market that has been in limbo since voters legalized recreational marijuana use in 2016.

    The proposal that survived the Republican governor’s pen was Maine’s second attempt to create a framework for the system after a veto of an earlier bill was upheld in 2017, sending a special committee that was convened to handle the issue back to rehash it.

    This year’s bill, sponsored by Rep. Teresa Pierce, D-Falmouth, will set an effective tax rate of 20 percent on marijuana products, give Mainers priority for commercial licenses, and set health and safety standards for the market. It won’t open before LePage leaves office in early 2019.

    It passed the Legislature easily last month, but LePage vetoed it as expected. In a letter, the governor cited marijuana’s federally illegal status and his perception that the latest bill didn’t integrate recreational and medical marijuana programs.

    The Maine House of Representatives voted 109-39 to override LePage’s veto, and the Maine Senate overrode it in a 28-6 vote. Few see the new law as perfect, but it is seen by most lawmakers as the only politically feasible way to regulate the recreational market approved by voters in a 2016 referendum.

     Lawmakers reduced the number of plants that adults will be able to grow at home from six in current law to three, and the bill will force cities and towns to opt in before sales are allowed there. It also scrapped the “marijuana social clubs” allowed in the voter-approved law.

    Sen. Roger Katz, R-Augusta, who co-chaired the marijuana committee, said after the vote that Maine is “well-positioned to intelligently regulate marijuana,” though he noted that it will likely have to be adjusted over time.

    “I think we’re just going to have to live with the law, and experience will dictate what changes that’ll be made in the future,” he said.

    Opposition in the Legislature was split between the anti-marijuana right, which doesn’t want to allow recreational sales, and the pro-marijuana left, which thinks the new law is too restrictive. It was opposed by Legalize Maine, a group of medical growers that wrote the referendum.

  • Trump says Stormy payment never came from campaign, was meant to stop ‘false’ claims

    President Trump, in his first statements since lawyer Rudy Giuliani revealed overnight that the president reimbursed attorney Michael Cohen for a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, said the money was meant to stop “false” allegations and stressed campaign funds played no role.

    The president put out a three-part tweet about the $130,000 Cohen paid to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to stay quiet in the weeks before the 2016 election about accusations of an affair.

    “Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA,” Trump tweeted early Thursday.

    “These agreements are very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair,” Trump added.

  • Venezuela’s Maduro defies foreign censure, offers ‘prize’ to voters

    Venezuela’s mainstream opposition is boycotting the election on the grounds it is rigged in favor of the 55-year-old socialist incumbent. The United States, European Union and various Latin American neighbors have also slammed it as unfair.

    “So they’re not going to recognize Maduro around the world. What the hell do I care?” Maduro said at an election rally in La Guaira, on the coast outside Caracas, late on Wednesday. “What the hell do I care what Europe and Washington say?”

    Maduro, who is casting his re-election campaign as a battle against imperialist powers bent on seizing Venezuela’s oil wealth, has only one serious rival: Henri Falcon, 56, a former state governor. Falcon has broken with the opposition coalition’s boycott of the vote, believing anger at a economic crisis will win him votes.

    OPEC member Venezuela is in a fifth year of punishing recession, inflation is the highest in the world, oil production is at a three-decade low, shortages of food and medicines are widespread, and millions are skipping meals.

    Some polls show Falcon more popular than Maduro, who narrowly won election to replace Hugo Chavez in 2013.

    But the opposition abstention campaign, presence of Maduro loyalists in key institutions including the election board, and vote-winning power of state welfare programs like housing and food giveaways makes a Falcon victory look a tall order.

    In his speech, Maduro told supporters that all those who vote showing a government-issued “Fatherland Card,” which is needed to access certain welfare programs, probably would receive “a really good prize.”

    He did not give details but critics say that, and other pre-election cash and other bonuses via the card, is akin to vote bribery. Voting in Venezuela is secret but state workers say they are constantly pressured to support the government.

  • Kim meets Chinese foreign minister, says he’s committed to denuclearisation

    North Korea showed on Thursday, May 3, that it is yet consistent with its stance on peace as its leader Kim Jong-un reiterated his commitment to denuclearisation while meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi who visited Pyongyang the week following the historic Korean Summit at Punmunjeom on April 27, Reuters reported China’s foreign ministry as saying.

    China’s foreign minister Wang Yi paid a visit to North Korea in the wake of the Kim’s summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Pyongyang’s invite, according to Beijing.

    During their meeting, Kim told Yi that the positive changes that took on the Korean Peninsula of late were in favour of a peaceful resolution, a statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry said, according to Reuters. Yi reportedly praised Kim saying Pyongyang had seized the day and made a decisive decision and brought positive changes, Reuters added. Yi reached North Korea on Wednesday, May 2, and also met his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho.

    According to North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, Yi and Ri had an “in-depth” discussion on the issues that pertain to developing “friendly and cooperative” relations between North Korea and China following a summit between Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late March, Yonhap reported. It was the two foreign minister’s second meeting inside a month after their April 8 talks in Beijing.

    Kim’s surprising visit to Beijing in an armoured train to meet Xi was one of the foremost moves in North Korea’s diplomatic quest of reaching out to the international community. Kim is now set to meet US President Donald Trump in a widely awaited event inside a month, culminating into a peaceful Korean Peninsula which the world has been eagerly seeking.

    China supported an end to the state of war on the peninsula, North Korea’s shift to economic development and the resolution of North Korea’s legitimate security concerns during the denuclearisation process, he said.

  • Thursday’s Sports Minute: Jazz dump Rockets

    Jazz dump Rockets, even series
    The Utah Jazz are heading home after evening their Western Conference semifinal series at a game apiece.

    Joe Ingles set career highs with seven 3-pointers and 27 points as the Jazz surprised the top-seeded Rockets, 116-108 in Houston. Ingles nailed a pair of treys while Utah was scoring eight straight to go ahead 108-96 with 4 ½ minutes to play.

    Rookie Donovan Mitchell added 17 points and 11 assists, the first playoff game in which he didn’t lead the team in scoring. Mitchell provided a 3-pointer to cap an 8-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter, giving the Jazz breathing room after the Rockets turned a 19-point, first-half deficit into a two-point lead.

    James Harden had 32 points and 11 assists in the Rockets’ first loss in six games against the Jazz this season. Chris Paul added 23 points for Houston, which plays Game 3 Friday at Salt Lake City.

    Thunder GM says Donovan will return
    Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti says coach Billy Donovan’s job is safe, despite a disappointing season.

    Oklahoma City had high expectations this season after trading for Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to join reigning MVP Russell Westbrook. Even with the added star power, the Thunder won just one more regular-season game than last year and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Utah.

    Palat’s 2 goals help Lightning cruise to 2-1 series lead
    The Tampa Bay Lightning now have the upper hand in their Stanley Cup second-round series against the Boston Bruins. And the San Jose Sharks have evened their second-round series with Vegas at a game apiece.

    Ondrej Palatscored twice in the first 3:19 to put the Lightning ahead to stay in a 4-1 win at Boston. Anthony Cirelli completed Tampa Bay’s three-goal first period, about 2 ½ minutes after Patrice Bergeron scored on a power play for the Bruins.

    Steven Stamkos added an empty-netter and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots in the Lightning’s second straight win since a 6-2 setback in the series opener.
    Game 4 is Friday in Boston.

    In San Jose, Martin Jones recorded his second shutout of the postseason and sixth of his playoff career by stopping 34 shots in the Sharks’ 4-0 victory over the Golden Knights.

    Brenden Dillon set up goals by Marcus Sorensen and Joonas Donskoi four-17 apart late in the first period. Tomas Hertl added a second-period goal and Joe Pavelski capped the scoring midway through the third.

    Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 30 shots for the Knights, who will host Game 5 on Friday.

    Elsewhere in the league:
    — A person with knowledge of the situation tells The Associated Press that the Dallas Stars will hire the University of Denver’s Jim Montgomery to be their next head coach. The 48-year-old Montgomery has spent five seasons in charge of the Pioneers and led them to a national title in 2016-17. He would replace Ken Hitchcock, who retired last month and will become a consultant for the Stars.

    Three-peats by Betts, Encarnacion
    Mookie Betts and Edwin Encarnacion are the latest major leaguers to homer three times in a game this season. In Betts’ case, it’s the second time he’s done it since opening day.

    Betts launched three solo blasts while going 4-for-4 to lead the Red Sox past the Royals, 5-4. It’s the fourth three-homer game for the 25-year-old Betts, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Ted Williams for the most in franchise history.

    J.D. Martinez also homered and Drew Pomeranz allowed three runs over six innings as the Red Sox improved to an American League-leading 22-8.

    Encarnacion tops the Indians with nine home runs after slamming three more in a 12-4 rout of the Rangers. Encarnacion launched a three-run shot in the first inning before adding a two-run blast and a solo homer in Cleveland’s highest-scoring game of the season.

    Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor also homered to support Corey Kluber, who improved to 5-1 despite yielding solo homers by Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara and Juan Centeno.

    Cleveland still leads the AL Central by three games over Detroit.

    In other major league action:
    — The Yankees earned their second straight 4-0 win over the Astros as Luis Severino struck out 10 while allowing five hits in his first career complete game. Giancarlo Stanton homered twice and had four RBIs in the Yankees’ 11th victory in 12 games.
    — JaCoby Jones tripled and scored the winning run on John Hicks’ bunt single to send the Tigers to a 12-inning win over the Rays, 3-2. James McCann tied it with a solo shot in the seventh after Michael Fulmer tossed two-run ball over six innings for Detroit.
    — Fernando Romero won his major league debut by scattering four hits over 5 2/3 innings of the Twins’ 4-0 shutout of the Blue Jays. Eddie Rosario homered in Minnesota’s second victory in 13 games.
    — Jed Lowrie launched a game-tying, two-run homer in the eighth inning and Mark Canha delivered a solo blast in the ninth to lift the Athletics past the Mariners, 3-2. Seattle’s bullpen wasted a fantastic performance by starting James Paxton, who struck out a career-high 16 and held Oakland to five hits over seven shutout innings.
    — Albert Pujols is two hits shy of 3,000 after furnishing a homer and a double in the Angels’ 10-7 win against the Orioles. Justin Upton hit a three-run blast and Mike Trout added his 11th homer of the year to tie for the major league lead.
    — The Dodgers’ ended a four-game skid and won for the first time in nine tries at Phoenix as Alex Verdugo doubled and scored twice in a 2-1 decision over the Diamondbacks. The Dodgers received 7 2/3 strong innings from the bullpen after Hyun-Jin Ryu left the game with what the ballclub said was a left groin strain.
    — Sean Newcomb tossed two-hit ball over a career-high seven innings and the Braves slammed three home runs off Mets relievers in a 7-0 romp in New York. Ender Inciarte and Johan Camargo blasted two-run shots and Ryan Flaherty added a solo shot. Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis each had three this and an RBI to help Atlanta take over first place in the NL East.
    — The Phillies were 6-0 winners at Miami behind Aaron Nola, who scattered four hits over 7 1/3 innings to move to 4-1. Cesar Hernandez led off the game with a homer off Jose Urena, who fell to 0-5 and is winless in his last nine starts dating to last season.
    — The Nationals earned their fourth straight win as Bryce Harper hit a leadoff homer and drove in three in a 9-3 thrashing of the Pirates. Stephen Strasburg fanned 11 and yielded two earned runs in seven innings to even his record at 3-3.
    — Nolan Arenado belted two of Colorado’s four homers and collected five RBIs as the Colorado Rockies blasted the Cubs, 11-2 in Chicago. Trevor Story and Chris Ianetta went deep against Yu Darvish, who was rocked for five earned runs and seven hits over 4 1/3 innings.
    — Wade Miley won his season debut by holding the Reds to a run and only three hits over six innings of the Brewers’ 3-1 victory at Cincinnati. Christian Yelich went 2-for-5 with a solo homer for Milwaukee, which leads the NL Central by a half-game over St. Louis.
    — Carlos Martinez was the star in the Cardinals’ 3-2 win over the White Sox, smacking his first big league homer and limiting Chicago to a run and five hits over 7 1/3 scoreless innings. Dexter Fowler added a two-run homer against the White Sox, who have dropped four straight and 13 of 17 to fall a season-low 12 games under .500.
    — The Giants rolled to a 9-4 romp over the Padres as Nick Hundley homered, doubled and matched a career high with four hits. Brandon Crawford drove in three runs to help San Francisco finish 7-3 on their 10-game homestand.

    Cueto may meet with Dr. Andrews
    Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto may meet with specialist Dr. James Andrews on the team’s upcoming road trip to get his sore pitching elbow evaluated.

    Cueto was placed on the disabled list Tuesday night with inflammation in his right elbow. Manager Bruce Bochy later acknowledged that Cueto had been pitching with soreness in his previous two starts.

    Cueto leads the majors with a 0.84 ERA.

    Elsewhere in the majors:
    — Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy says he is feeling discomfort when he runs as he tries to come back from right knee surgery. Murphy says he’s not running the way he would if at 100 percent, adding that it’s frustrating to be unable to play while his teammates compete so hard each night.
    — Mets ace Jacob deGrom had to leave Wednesday’s start after four shutout innings because of a hyperextended pitching elbow. DeGrom has thrown 18 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings and seemed in control against the Braves, striking out four straight at one point and lowering his ERA to 1.87.
    — Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery could miss up to eight weeks because of strained left flexor in his left elbow. Montgomery left Tuesday’s start with the injury after the first inning. He is 2-0 with a 3.62 ERA in six games this year.
    — Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson was pulled from Wednesday’s game against the Mets for precautionary reasons in the sixth inning due to a sore left wrist. The first overall pick in 2015 is batting .289 with two homers and 13 RBIs this year.
    — The Diamondbacks have reached an agreement with Maricopa County that would give the franchise the immediate right to explore rebuilding Chase Field or moving to another site. The memorandum of understanding also gives the Diamondbacks complete control of Chase and stipulates the team will play there for at least five more seasons unless a new facility is ready elsewhere in the Maricopa County.

  • Women In Sports Coming Together Is Just A Start

    Women in sports are coming together. This week eight leagues –a list that includes the WNBA, National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL), National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), Women’s Professional Lacrosse League (WPLL), and the U.S. Tennis Association — announced they were joining forces to form SheIS, an initiative designed to increase demand for women’s professional sports in North America. Women’s professional sports clearly do not attract the attention given to men’s professional leagues. So, perhaps by sharing resources women can close this gap.

    In a sense, this approach seems consistent with something Adam Silver — the NBA’s commissioner — said about the WNBA. Silver recently repeated (yes, he has said this before) his observation that the WNBA is simply not doing enough to connect to young women. According to Silver, if the WNBA did a better job of marketing it would become more successful. In other words, Silver seems to think the issues facing the WNBA could be solve by the WNBA simply trying harder.

    Elena Delle Donne — who stars for the Washington Mystics — was quick to respond to this criticism via twitter:

    “We continue to cover the negatives of the WNBA as a league and it’s exhausting. We have a great product as a league and don’t get the support and coverage we deserve. … We absolutely do not get promoted as our counterparts do. Yes, I’m talking about the NBA. When you put millions into marketing athletes and allow fans to get to know the players on the court they develop a connection. … Fans feel like they know NBA players.  How is anyone to get to know me or any of my colleagues if we aren’t marketed as much? Yes, this is a business. But, like any business have to invest to get a return. This goes for EVERY industry. Not just the WNBA.”

    Silver and Delle Donne both agree that marketing is an issue for the WNBA. Where they differ is that Silver seems to think the issue is the quality of the WNBA’s marketing efforts. For Delle Donne, the issue is clearly the quantity of these efforts.

    Whether the issue is quality or quantity, there is yet another more important issue facing the WNBA. And it’s the same issue facing all the women’s sports leagues who have come together for the SheIS movement.

  • This Is How Much Money You Need To Be Happy Forever, According To Millionaires

    Millionaires have it tough.

    No, they do. Imagine being really, really wealthy, but embarrassed at not having quite enough change to keep the chopper tanked up as well as making sure the yacht’s in good nick through the winter? Doesn’t bear thinking about.

    A million or two will technically make you a millionaire, sure, but will it make you a proper, bona fide Croesus?

    Not according to an analyst from US Trust, who told Town & Country that to keep up a rich person’s lifestyle and truly stop worrying about money forever, you’ll need at least $190 million.

    This is a properly rich person’s lifestyle, mind, not the needy wad-flashing of someone who’s fluked their way to a couple of million on the lottery.

    Then there’s the wages of your chef, your housekeeper and your chauffeur, which put another $190,000 a year on.

    So, you can see how it stacks up. Being sickeningly wealthy must be an absolute admin nightmare.

    There’s a chance you might be able to sneak into the super-rich club with a little less, though. According to Richard Kirshenbaum, who wrote ‘Isn’t That Rich?: Life Among the 1%, billionaires’, you should “view $100 million as the starting point for real money”.

    “They call it a hundy,” he told Town & Country. “Like, ‘Oh, they made it, they have a hundy.’”

    If it’s a straight choice between being phenomenally wealthy and knowing that the word ‘hundy’ is never going to come out of your mouth, we’ll happily take penury.

  • Tesla earned and spent more money than ever before in Q1 2018

    From the report, it is clear that Tesla is attracting a lot of money through sales, but is also burning through cash at an alarming rat.

    Tesla’s current flagship product is the Model 3 sedan, which was revealed in 2016. Since its reveal, the car’s production has run into multiple problems, including cost overruns and production delays. The first batch of the sedans – with 30 vehicles – was delivered in July 2017, and Tesla was able to make a total of 1,764 deliveries in 2017. In its report, Tesla stated that it had managed to produce more than 2,000 vehicles per week for three straight weeks, and expressed a positive outlook for the vehicle’s future production, despite recent issues with automation.

    In a letter to investors and shareholders accompanying the report, Tesla Founder and CEO Elon Musk wrote, “Even at this stage of the ramp, Model 3 is already on the cusp of becoming the best-selling mid-sized premium sedan in the US, and our deliveries continue to increase. Consumers have clearly shown that electric vehicles are simply more desirable when priced on par with their internal combustion engine competitors while offering better technology, performance, and user experience.” Elon also added that following previous cycles, Tesla plans to shut its production plant for the Model 3 for some scheduled downtime in Q2 2018. The company has previously used its breaks to analyse the production line and to make it more efficient.

    While the Model 3 usually grabs most of the headlines about Tesla’s product line, Elon was also quick to point out that the company’s Model S and Model X vehicles also continue to see high demand. Tesla produced 24,728 Model S and Model X vehicles in Q1 2018, delivering 21,815 of them. The company expects production numbers to stay around the same level for Q2 2018 but said it aims to ramp up production in Q3 2018 to meet its avowed target of 100,000 deliveries by the end of 2018.