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Groton Daily Independent
Saturday, July 29, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 029 ~ 30 of 67
The Model 3 was designed to be much simpler and cheaper to make than Tesla’s previous vehicles. It has one dashboard screen, not two, and no fancy door handles. It’s made primarily of steel, not alumi- num. It has no instrument panel; the speed limit and other information normally there can be found on the center screen. It doesn’t even have a key fob; drivers can open and lock the car with a smartphone or a credit card-like key.
Still, Musk said he’s expecting “at least six months of manufacturing hell” as the Model 3 ramps up to full production. Musk wants to be making 20,000 Model 3s per month by December at the carmaker’s Fremont factory.
Musk aims to make 500,000 vehicles next year, a number that could help Tesla nally make money. The company has only had two pro table quarters since it went public in 2010. But even at that pace, Tesla will remain a small player. Toyota Motor Corp. made more than 10 million vehicles last year.
Abuelsamid said even if it doesn’t meet its ambitious targets, Tesla has done more than anyone to pro- mote electric vehicles.
“A decade ago they were a little more than golf carts. Now all of a sudden, EVs are real, practical vehicles that can be used for anything,” he said.
Few heed call for mass protest in Venezuela’s capital By FABIOLA SANCHEZ, Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Few demonstrators heeded opposition calls for a mass protest Friday in Venezu- ela’s capital against President Nicolas Maduro’s divisive push to rewrite the constitution by a constituent assembly to be elected Sunday.
Streets in Caracas were largely de- void of protests a day after Interior Minister Nestor Reverol announced that authorities were prohibiting any demonstrations from taking place through Tuesday.
Opposition leaders had urged Ven- ezuelans to demonstrate anyway in a protest they billed as the “Taking of Caracas,” hoping for a dramatic culmination of three days of protests that started with a 48-hour nation- wide general strike. But the hundreds of thousands who have sometimes takentothestreetsduringnearlyfour months of anti-government protests were largely absent.
“Hereweareinthestreets,justlike the rst day,” opposition lawmaker Jose Manuel Olivares said, urging peopletorejectReverol’sdemonstra- tionban.“Let’snotbevictimsoffear.”
There were isolated clashes be- tween National Guard troops and
A poster that shows some of Venezuela’s opposition lead- ersholdingasignwithamessagethatreadsinSpanish: “that constituent assembly will not pass” is displayed on a wall near Altamira Square in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, July28,2017.VenezuelanPresidentNicolasMadurohas provoked international criticism and enraged his political opponents by pushing for a special assembly to rewrite thenation’sconstitution.PicturedintheposterareHen- riqueCapriles,left,LilianTintori,secondleft,MariaCorina Machado, second right, and National Assembly President Julio Borges, right. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)