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Elon Musk turned off many potential buyers of his Tesla cars and sent sales plunging with his foray into politics. But the stock has soared anyway and now he wants the company to pay him more -- a lot more. Shareholders gathering on Thursday for Tesla's annual meeting in Austin, Texas, will decide in a proxy vote whether to grant Musk, the company's CEO and already the richest person in the world, enough stock to potentially make him history's first trillionaire. It's a vote that has sparked heated debate on both sides of the issue, even drawing the pope's comments on it as an example of income inequality. Several pension funds have come out against the package, arguing that the board of directors is too beholden to Musk, his behaviour too reckless lately and the riches offered too much. Supporters say Musk is a genius who is the only person capable of ushering in a Tesla-dominated future in which hundreds of thousands of self-driving Tesla cars -- many without steering wheels -- w
A Chinese firm this week began trial production of flying cars stated to be the next generation in the world of transportation, ahead of US firm Tesla and others plans to launch the same shortly. Xpeng Aeroht, the flying car affiliate of Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng on Monday began trial production at the world's first intelligent factory for mass-produced flying cars --- a milestone in the commercialisation of next-generation transport. Located in the Huangpu district of Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong Province, the 120,000-square-metre plant has already rolled out the first detachable electric aircraft of its modular flying car, the Land Aircraft Carrier, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The facility is designed to have an annual production capacity of 10,000 detachable aircraft modules, with an initial capacity of 5,000 units. It has the largest production capacity of any factory of its kind, and will be capable of assembling one aircraft ever
Tesla rolled out new, cheaper versions of two of its electric car models on Tuesday in hopes the offerings will help revive flagging sales but investors dumped its stock anyway. The new Model Y, costing just under USD 40,000 with a stripped-down interior, comes in a brutal year for Tesla as it tries to attract more customers despite an aging lineup, stiff competition from foreign EV makers and anti-Elon Musk boycotts targeting the company. The reaction from the stock market after the news broke suggests the new models are not expected to help much. Investors were looking for something truly different, not an iteration of a old product, said Edmunds analyst Ivan Drury, speaking as Tesla stock dropped sharply in the last minutes of trading. I can't imagine this will bring levels back to what they want. Tesla also announced a cheaper version of its Model 3 for under USD 37,000. For New York residents taking advantage of a state rebate, the price was below USD 35,000. Tesla has talked