*By Michael Teich*
Tesla's Model 3 Performance vehicle is bad news for the company's haters, said Wall Street Journal auto columnist Dan Neil.
"Tesla runs their company in a different way, and it drives people crazy. But you can't argue with the results," Neil told Cheddar in an interview Friday.
Earlier this year, CEO Elon Musk announced the high-performance Model 3 Performance vehicle on Twitter. According to Musk, the dual-motor, all-wheel drive car "will beat anything in its class on the track." Neil was the first person to test drive it, and he was thoroughly impressed.
"This thing is magnificent, a little rainbow-farting space ship," he said in his review. "They have a schedule of innovation ahead of them."
Sans additions, the base price of the Tesla Model 3 Performance is $64,000, but it may sell for $78,000 with certain upgrades. The car is advertised with a 0 to 60 mph acceleration time of 3.5 seconds.
Whether reviews of the souped-up version will make up for recent struggles at Tesla remains to be seen. Many Wall Street analysts have grown skeptical of the company's capacity to meet expectations for even the regular version of the Model 3, which is supposed to cost as little as $35,000, though that configuration isn't available yet. And CEO Elon Musk's latest [blunders](https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/17/technology/elon-musk-twitter-investors/index.html) on Twitter aren't helping. Even if Tesla overcomes the hurdles of production, investment bank Needham says consumers are losing patience: the analyst estimates that about one in every four Model 3 orders is canceled, about twice the rate of late year's reports.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/behind-the-wheel-of-the-tesla-model-3-performance-vehicle)
Amid an ongoing labor shortage, more companies are turning to automation for processes like shipping and delivery in order to relieve supply chain pressures. But what does this mean for the wider labor market - will those jobs return? How will workers fare once supply chain issues ease? Sam Lurye, CEO and Founder of automation startup Kargo, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the pros and cons of automation, how workers can adapt alongside new technology, and how the pandemic led to the perfect storm for the rise of automation.
Ben McMillan, CIO at IDX Digital Assets, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains how the recent surge by Ethereum and Bitcoin can be connected to a play against inflation.
AI chipmaker Hailo raised $136 million in its latest funds round, representing one of the largest investments ever in the AI chip space. It comes amid the ongoing global chip shortage, and a surge in demand for the company's technology, which is used to power smart cities, cars and homes, and the next generation of retail. Hailo co-founder and CEO Orr Danon joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The two biggest names in the ride-sharing industry reported earnings this week. Uber and Lyft both beat Wall Street expectations on their top and bottom lines, as the companies and the ride-sharing industry have recently faced several challenges like the pandemic, the supply chain crisis, and driver shortages. Johnson Research Group CEO Chris Johnson joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Gaming technology studio Mythical Games recently raised $150 million in a round led by Andreesen Horowitz, bringing Mythical's valuation to above unicorn status at $1.2 billion. Mythical Games' mission is to create a new generation of gaming with play-to-earn games that allow players to play to win actual cryptocurrency. Now the company is taking it to another level with NFT technology, allowing players to play with characters they can truly own. Mythical Games CEO John Linden joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk posed a question to his Twitter followers over the weekend: 'Should I sell 10% of my Tesla shares in order to pay off a looming $15 billion tax bill?' Shares plummeted after he posed the question, and just over half of 3.5 million Twitter voters said Musk should sell a fraction of his shares. Dan Ives, Managing Director of Equity Research at Wedbush Securities, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss whether or not Musk's Twitter poll was significant amid his looming tax bill, and how investors are feeling after yet another controversial tweet from the Tesla chief.
