SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is pictured here at the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Flight 1 post-launch press conference on Feb. 6, 2018. Last week he received a disappointing ruling concerning the lawsuit against him filed by Twitter. (Source: Wikimedia Commons/Daniel Oberhaus)

Bad Day in Court, but Good Day across the Pond for Musk & Tesla’s Model Y

It was best of times, it was the worst of times for Elon Musk. You could call it a tale of two entrepreneurial ventures, one that went wrong and one that is succeeding.

A Delaware court denied the billionaire Musk’s attempt to push back the October trial over his now abandoned Twitter acquisition, but it agrees that he can incorporate claims made by former Twitter security chief Peiter “Mudge” Zatko into his case.

The decision follows a hearing yesterday afternoon that saw Musk’s attorneys argue for a “meager” few weeks to review new information before the trial’s October 17 start date. Twitter, meanwhile, accused Musk of trying to drag out the trial and “sow chaos” with more document requests — claiming at one point that its lawyers had been forced to pause responding to international law enforcement requests.

Musk, who had offered $44 billion for the social media company, tried to back out of the deal on July 8. Twitter then sued for breach of contract.

In a statement, Musk attorney Alex Spiro lauded the decision.

“We are hopeful that winning the motion to amend takes us one step closer to the truth coming out in that courtroom,” said Spiro.

However, McCormick said that Twitter would be unduly harmed by a delay in the trial—which Musk had initially pushed to schedule for next year.

“The company has been forced for months to manage under the constraints of a repudiated merger agreement,” wrote McCormick. “I am convinced that even four weeks’ delay would risk further harm to Twitter too great to justify.”

Axios.com created a timeline of the proposal and all that followed.

The Good News

In other news, theverge.com reported that Musk received more accolades for his Model Y from European auto testers.

Tesla extended its five-star rating streak in Europe with the Model Y, the company announced. The electric crossover SUV earned top marks during safety tests conducted by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), receiving the highest overall score among any vehicle tested under the agency’s more stringent test protocol.

The testing measures four areas: the vehicle’s ability to protect adults; its ability to protect children; the protection it provides vulnerable road users like cyclists and pedestrians; and its safety assistance features. The Model Y, made at Tesla’s new gigafactory in Berlin, scored a 97% in Adult Occupant Protection and a “near-perfect” 98% in Safety Assist, with full points for its lane support and new cabin camera-based driver monitoring system, Euro NCAP reports.

Near perfect is great, but it’s not great enough. Still, it was good news for Tesla and Musk.

“Tesla have shown that nothing but the best is good enough for them, and we hope to see them continue to aspire to that goal in the future,” Michiel van Ratingen, Euro NCAP’s secretary general, said in a statement.

But there is more. Tesla’s other three vehicles, the Model S, Model X, and Model 3, have also earned five-star ratings from Euro NCAP.

read more at theverge.com