Elon Musk is cruising toward another major payday.

It was an extraordinary vote of confidence for autonomous driving by the nation's top vehicle safety agency.

Tesla's stock price sank Thursday after Consumer Reports blasted the reliability of the company's new Model 3 sedan and dropped it from a list of recommended vehicles.

Tesla Inc.

Buyers who order the new lower-cost "standard-range" $35,000 Tesla Model 3 electric car and expect to receive it in two to four weeks might be in for a surprise.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, who is scheduled to defend himself Monday against contempt charges in a federal district court, may find his defense complicated by a semi-secret teleconference Tesla held Thursday with a small number of investors and members of the media.

It's a sunny day in March and "Machine Planet" is flying a single-engine Cessna over Northern California.

Panasonic is freezing plans to expand its role as Tesla's electric car battery supplier, a move that raises new questions about demand for Tesla's Model 3 — and the company's future.

Elon Musk is in a bind — perhaps the tightest bind of his business career.

Tesla, under pressure to show it can generate profits on its main business of making electric cars, on Monday trumpeted a custom-designed computer chip to let its vehicles drive themselves.

Elon Musk envisions a glorious future when fleets of Tesla robo-taxis earn money for Tesla owners and make all other automobiles instantly obsolete.

Tesla's financial results released last week didn't mention that the automaker's revenue included $200 million collected from regulatory credits.

The Tesla Model 3 remained the bestselling electric car in the United States last month by far, according to estimates from website Inside EVs.

The Polestar 2, the first electric car to go straight up against Tesla's Model 3, is due to go on the market in the U.S. by summer 2020.

Elon Musk's growth story is looking more like a fable as Tesla Inc. enters survival mode.

Morgan Stanley stock analyst Adam Jonas told clients Wednesday that if Tesla's troubles continue, it's unlikely to be acquired by a tech company, an auto company, or someone from China.

Tesla's sales of its Model 3 perked up in the U.S. in May, according to estimates from the website InsideEVs, after a round of price cuts.

Less than two months after touting a plan to put driverless taxis on the road, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk on Tuesday walked back the ambitious timetable.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk turned to Twitter on Sunday to open up old wounds with one of Tesla's co-founders before announcing he had "deleted" his Twitter account.

For years, automakers have been offering driver-assist technologies on many new cars.

Tesla Inc. delivered 95,200 vehicles to customers in the second quarter, outperforming analysts' expectations.

Is Randeep Hothi a stalker, a harasser, a perpetrator of violence and an imminent threat?

Tesla dropped its case against Randeep Hothi after a judge ordered the company to turn over video and audio evidence to prove its case.

Tesla's $408-million second-quarter loss raises the question: How will Tesla ever make money?

Elon Musk has a huge financial incentive to turn on full-service driving. But is Tesla anywhere close to ready?

Elon Musk tiene un gran incentivo financiero para activar la conducción de servicio completo. ¿Pero está Tesla cerca de estar listo?

On top of fires at Amazon and Walmart facilities, Tesla may have problems with residential power systems, a much bigger part of its sputtering solar business.

Porsche is taking on Tesla and all other would-be electric sports cars with its new Taycan.

EV sales rose 65% in California in the first half of the year, led by Tesla. But that doesn't mean consumers are suddenly in love with electric cars.

With Tesla's Smart Summon feature, the car drives itself to its human owner. It's already being abused, raising public safety questions.

Smart Summon, the feature that lets Teslas drive themselves through parking lots, is drawing increasing criticism.

Tesla limited the range for Model S and Model X charging after fires. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to know why.

A growing army of hot rodders is cannibalizing crashed electric cars and turning them into custom vehicles with electric power trains.

In the "pedo guy" trial, Musk's lawyers dismissed Twitter as a "not a source of facts."

Peer-to-peer car sharing seems strange but turns out to be easy, if a bit expensive.

Compartir el coche de persona a persona parece extraño, pero es fácil, aunque un poco caro

Tesla stock reached a record high after the automaker said it delivered 112,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, including 92,550 Model 3 sedans.

Electric vehicles can cut greenhouse gases and carmakers have big plans for them. But so far, few car buyers want them.

With stock price in the stratosphere, Tesla grows earnings again. But questions about the future remain.

Tesla's Autopilot and other driver-assist systems might enhance safety, but manufacturers can keep the data under wraps.

National Transportation Safety Board chairman blasts Tesla and 'government regulators' for jeopardizing traffic safety over Tesla's Autopilot feature.

As pandemic slams the world economy, Musk tweets that "The coronavirus panic is dumb."

Tesla's Fremont EV assembly plant will remain open despite the "shelter in place" Coronavirus lockdown issued by Bay Area counties.

Tesla's electric car factory was operating as usual Tuesday, despite a San Francisco Bay Area multi-county "shelter in place" lockdown.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has kept his Fremont, Calif., manufacturing plant open despite the Bay Area coronavirus lockdown.

Tesla will temporarily end production at its Fremont assembly plant beginning March 23 to comply with Bay Area restrictions due to coronavirus.

For most of first quarter, it was business as usual at Tesla. No more.

Of all the bizarre tweets Elon Musk let loose Friday morning, one stands out because it might violate a fraud-related consent decree he agreed to that's intended to control his social media behavior.

A Texas woman wanted to control her Tesla Model 3. So she implanted part of the vehicle's valet key in her arm.

• Tesla's vehicles are and always have been crammed with great ideas.
• These range from touchscreen interfaces to innovative battery designs to staggering acceleration.
• I've driven or experienced every vehicle Tesla has ever sold or intends to sell in the future.
• Here are all my favorite features, ranked.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In about two decades, Tesla has done what everyone in the auto industry thought was impossible: create an all-electric brand that could sell hundreds of thousands of vehicles.

Tesla could have done that in a boring or modest way, developing  the equivalent of an electric VW Beetle.

Instead, Tesla made fantastically compelling cars that are fast, look amazing, and are packed with features.

Here's a rundown of all my favorites, ranked from bottom to top:

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Tesla has been in business for 17 years. In that period of time, it's consistently captivated the world not just because it makes all-electric cars, but because those cars have always been packed with cool features.

"Easter eggs" — frivolous little extras that Tesla throws in whenever it does software updates. Owners enjoy finding them.

The Model X's falcon-wing doors. Dramatic, slightly impractical, and a nightmare to manufacture. But Tesla has the only SUV on the road with such an exotic feature.

Bioweapon Defense Mode uses a powerful filtration system to render the interior air quality of the Model X or Model S "hospital grade," according to Tesla.

The Model X's 5,000-pound towing capacity. Nobody ever talks about it, but the Model X can tow a goodly amount for an electric SUV. It's very competitive with gas-powered SUVs that tout their capabilities.

The large, central portrait touchscreen on the Model S and Model X. This mega-tablet interface was a revelation when Tesla first introduced it on the Model S in 2012, but it's now emulated throughout the auto industry. It's actually canted slightly toward the driver.

Aero Wheels on the Model 3. The proprietary design is standard on the vehicle, enhancing airflow, reducing drag, and improving range.

Ludicrous Mode. The acceleration feature — which followed Insane Mode, first rolled for the all-wheel-drive Model S — enables Teslas to cover the 0-60 mph sprint at supercar-like velocities.

Frunks! All Teslas currently on sale have front trunks, expanding their cargo capacities. Having no gas engine helps to free up space.

Trunks! Teslas are commendable cargo haulers because they're effectively boxes on top of battery packs, creating ample space for luggage, groceries, of gear.

Quiet. In operation, Teslas are notably quiet and smooth, thanks to the optimization of airflow, solid build quality, and mostly silent electric motors.

The Tesla smartphone app. I've actually tested a number of these from assorted manufacturers, but Tesla's is the only one that's truly useful. For the Model 3, it replaces the traditional key fob.

The glass roof of the Model 3. It creates a stunning silhouette and floods the cabin with natural light.

The space-age operators' platform in the cab of the Tesla Semi. This space — clearly anticipating a time when semi-trucks drive themselves — is the most futuristic thing Tesla has ever designed.

Roadsters in space. CEO Elon Musk's personal Tesla Roadster was launched atop the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in 2017, as a test payload. Piloted by "Starman," it set a new standard for automotive marketing.

Tesla's in-house audio system. Most luxury brands partner with a big-name audio company for premium sound systems, but Tesla developed its own — and it sounds absolutely fantastic.

Charge monitoring and mapping. Charging is among the most important things Tesla has to think about, so the company has made it a priority to track it in the vehicle and via the app, as well as to plot road-trip courses that use GPS navigation to permit island-hopping from charging location to charging location.

Navigate on Autopilot combines Tesla's GPS mapping system with Autopilot's ability to execute lane changes and freeway on- and off-ramping maneuvers.

The new Roadster's staggering performance specs. The all-new machine has a claimed 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, making it the fastest production vehicle in the world.

The Model 3's consolidated vehicle-management system and central landscape touchscreen. Almost every aspect of the Model 3 is controlled here, and the traditional instrument cluster has been moved to the left side of the screen, and streamlined.

The radical design of the Cybertruck. In late 2019, Tesla had fallen into a design rut. The otherworldly, stainless-steel Cybertruck changed all that. Controversial to be sure, but also thrilling.

Read about the Cybertrucks' rad design.

Manufacturing simplicity. Electric cars are less complicated to build than gas-powered ones. Tesla has designed its factory in China to optimize this aspect of production, which could support and enviable profit margin for Tesla in the 20-30% range.

The white interior. It's an extra, but a very popular one. I was initially skeptical, but I'm now a fan. After all, it survived a 700-plus-mile family road trip!

Read about the road trip.

Over-the-air software updates. Just like smartphones, Teslas can be routinely upgraded while sitting in owners' driveways. This means that an older Tesla can acquire new features quite literally overnight.

The Supercharger network. Access to DC fast-charging used to be a lifetime perk for Tesla owners, but Tesla has begun to bill for the service. Still, it enables longer road trips and is completely integrated with each Tesla vehicle's systems.

Tesla's design philosophy. Head designer Franz von Holzhausen and Elon Musk argue that it doesn't cost anymore to make Teslas beautiful. But von Holzhausen has also exercised tasteful restraint, ensuring that Tesla's vehicles have a long market life.

Read about Franz's design influence.

Performance! Tesla vehicles have always combined electric virtuosity with industry-leading performance. Owners can usually expect to be driving one of the fastest cars on the road.

Battery design. Tesla has taken a complicated, multi-cell concept — thousands are wired together in packs — and perfected it, yielding impressive range and performance. The company also manufactures its own packs, in partnership with Panasonic.

The Model 3's minimalist driving experience. With the clean dashboard, you can focus on the road ahead. It's a blissful thing and my top Tesla feature.

The bottom line is that while plenty of other automakers put cool features in their cars, Teslas are crammed with ideas, ideas, and more ideas.