NEWS: SpaceX is protesting Virginia’s $613M plan to expand high-speed internet access, accusing the state of deliberately denying a larger slice of the subsidies to @Starlink.

Starlink will receive just $3.2M in funding or what amounts to about $584 per site —a sharp contrast from the more expensive, but faster fiber installations that can cost around $6,000 to $8,000 per site. The state chose Starlink for just 5,579 of the total 133,000 locations slated for subsidized broadband installations.

The letter from SpaceX reveals the company wanted “to serve virtually every BEAD-eligible household in Virginia with high-speed broadband for $60 million dollars, available to Virginians immediately."

“Instead, Virginia proposes to spend $613 million dollars for connectivity that will be deployed at some point within the next four years, if ever, resulting in taxpayers overspending for connectivity in Virginia by ten times the necessary amount,” SpaceX added.

Full letter in thread below: page 2/7

Motortrend has released some up close photos of Waymo's 6th-generation Robotaxi hardware, which is used on an all-electric RT van from Chinese EV company Zeekr.

The van has 10 tiny 3" windshield wipers to clean all the sensors. Waymo confirmed that all the vehicle’s wiper wash spray nozzles draw from a single central reservoir, indicating some complicated ducting beneath the skin to reach the cameras.

Waymo's 6th-generation hardware includes:
• 13 cameras
• 4 lidar
• 6 radar
• An array of external audio receivers (EARs)

Waymo: "Our new sensor suite is optimized for greater performance at a significantly reduced cost, without compromising safety. It provides the Waymo Driver with overlapping fields of view, all around the vehicle, up to 500 meters away, day and night, and in a range of weather conditions."

Waymo also told Motortrend: “Supporting each of our sensors are preventive measures—from coatings and heaters to wipers and sprayers—to keep our sensors clean and the Waymo on the road in some of the harshest conditions. We have designed a compressive automated onboard cleaning system, along with a robust cleaning policy that detects and dictates when and how to clean the sensors and under what conditions, all without human intervention.”

The company has been testing this sixth generation hardware and the new van on public roads for over a year. The Zeekr RT van is produced exclusively for Waymo.

More photos of the exterior, interior and sensors in the thread below:

Here's a thread of the official before and after Cybertruck crash test photos from the NHTSA.

Tesla's Cybertruck scored the lowest overall probability of injury & lowest chance of rollover (12.4% rollover risk) of any pickup truck tested by the NHTSA. Overall, it got 5-Stars.🧵 Pre And Post-Test Front View of Test Vehicle

NEWS: Volkswagen has re-launched the Scout brand, but it's an electric brand this time. Tonight they unveiled two vehicles for the U.S.

Scout Traveler SUV:
• Starting price: Under $60,000
• Range: Up to 350 miles, with option for 500 miles with built-in gas generator
• Towing capacity: 7,000 lbs
• 0-60 mph: As low as 3.5s
• NACS, 800v architecture, up to 350kW fast charging and have bi-directional charging capability
• Option for 35" tires. 12" of ground clearance, 3 feet
of water fording capability
• Production starts in South Carolina in 2027. $100 reservations now open

Scout Terra Pickup Truck:
• Starting price: Under $60,000
• Range: Up to 350 miles, with option for 500 miles with built-in gas generator
• Towing capacity: 10,000 lbs
• 0-60 mph: As low as 3.5s
• bench style seat in the front
• NACS, 800v architecture, up to 350kW fast charging and have bi-directional charging capability
• Option for 35" tires. 12" of ground clearance, 3 feet
of water fording capability
• 5.5-foot pickup bed which offers two 120V power outlets and one 240V power outlet
• Production starts in South Carolina in 2027. $100 reservations now open

Lots more photos in the thread below:


Pic of Terra truck bench seat:

NEWS: Tesla has just released brand new 4K images of its Cybercab.

Below is a thread of them all 🧵

Here is a full 25-page presentation that Tesla's board of directors is showing to investors.

Thread: The Tesla Board of Directors Is Asking Stockholders to Vote FOR Proposals Three and Four

BREAKING: @Tesla has officially introduced the all-new Model 3, the car's first major refresh in 6 years!

Below is a thread of what's new:





Range has increased 12%

NEWS: Ford has reported Q1 earnings, and for the first time have broken out EV earnings.

• EPS : $0.63 adj. vs $0.41 expected
• Auto revenue: $39.09B vs $36.08B expected

Ford's EV unit lost $700 million in Q1, with EBIT margin being -102.1%.

Total combined free cash flow was… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… EV EBIT margin took a nosedive in Q1.

NEWS: @elonmusk says the Starship pad damage is quite small and will be repaired quickly. He added the vehicle structural margins appeared to be better than expected.

"From a pad and rocket standpoint, we are probably ready to relaunch in 6-8 weeks." Elon says at liftoff there were 3 engines SpaceX chose not to start. "The system didn't think they were healthy enough to launch with."

BREAKING: Magnis Energy directly reached out to me & confirmed they have signed an offtake deal with @Tesla to supply a minimum of 17,500 tonnes per annum of active anode battery material beginning in February 2025 for a minimum term of 3 years at a fixed price.

1/4

https://twitter.com/SawyerMerritt/status/1627545974452244481

The material will come from Magnis’s proposed US production plant. The agreement contains an option for Tesla to increase up to 35,000 tpa. The agreement is conditional on Magnis securing a final location for its commercial AAM facility by 30 June 2023, etc.

2/4

NEWS: For the first time ever, @Tesla has overtaken BMW to claim the title of the top luxury car brand in the US for 2022.

This marks the first time a US automaker has held this title in 28 years. Tesla sold 158,612 more cars in the US than BMW.
driveteslacanada.ca/news/tesla-thu… Making the accomplishment even more impressive is that Tesla increased their sales 56% while overall sales in the US luxury segment dropped by 8%. Tesla sold more cars in the luxury segment in the US than Mercedes and Audi combined.

BREAKING: @Tesla China VP, Tao Lin, says that Tesla lowering prices recently reflects their estimated future costs.

"The biggest difference between 2023 & last year is that the epidemic has basically passed. We believe that the supply chain has returned to a large extent..

1/10 ...and there will be no unpredictable shortage of such materials as in previous years, which will bring uncertainty in cost."

2/10

BREAKING: @Tesla has launched 'Tesla Electric' in Texas!

Tesla Electric is an electric power plan made for Powerwall owners in Texas. It bring Tesla’s unique expertise in energy markets and energy storage to your home, lowering your bills & boosting your sell-back credits.

1/3 Tesla Electric unlocks more value out of your exported energy with Tesla Electric Mode. Tesla algorithms monitor electricity prices in your area in real time and direct Powerwall to export power when prices are high.

BREAKING: Elon Musk’s bankers are considering providing him with new margin loans backed by $TSLA stock to replace some of the high-interest debt on the Twitter deal - Bloomberg

1/2 The margin loans are one of several options the Morgan Stanley-led bank group and Musk's advisers have discussed to soften the burden of the $13 billion of debt Twitter took on as part of Musk's $44 billion acquisition.

Idea for Twitter 2.0: Reporter accuracy rankings/percentages displayed on profile. @elonmusk

This would let the reader know how trustworthy (relatively) the info they are sharing is.

The Apple leaker community does this very well.

A thread🧵 It’s tracked by @appltrack & shows the latest rumors/leaks they share along with accuracy %.

Accuracy could be rated from Community notes participants on Twitter so that it’s unbiased as possible. Maybe reporters over 90% accurate could receive some extra badge on profiles

2/6

NEWS: Apple has scaled back its self-driving plans for its future EV & postponed the launch date to 2026 (from 2025) - Bloomberg

Apple's now planning a less-ambitious design that'll include a steering wheel & pedals and only support full autonomous capabilities on highways.

1/6 Apple had expected each car to sell for more than $120k, but is now aiming to offer the vehicle to consumers for less than $100k.

Apple hasn’t yet settled on a design for its car and the vehicle is considered to be in the “pre-prototype” stage.
2/6

Elon Musk is currently speaking live at the B20 Indonesia summit. You can view it here: Elon: I'm really working the absolute most amount that I can work form morning until night 7 days a week. This is not something i'd recommend frankly"

NEWS: @Tesla has released a new video showing their new Megafactory in Lathrop, California.

Tesla: “Megafactory is capable of producing 10k Megapack units per year--that's equal to 50 fossil fuel peaker plants” Megapack pricing starts around $2.1 million so 10,000 units per year would be over $21 billion in annual revenue just from the Lathrop Megafactory🔋

Awesome new photo gallery from the Peterson Museum. They will launch their new exhibit in collaboration with @Tesla on Nov 19th called Inside Tesla: Supercharging the Electric Revolution. @elonmusk

🧵1/10
Tesla Roadster Prototype (from 2017): 2/10

Something remarkable is happening that I don’t see many outside the Teslasphere talking about yet. @Tesla is on track to likely deliver over 760k Model Ys this year, which will generate $50B+ in revenue, making it the highest revenue generating vehicle in the world in 2022.

1/5 Model Y is on track this year to be the 4th best selling vehicle in the world. The Toyota AV4 is the best selling car in the world with 1.1 million sales last year. At its current trajectory, the Model Y will supplant the RAV4 to become the best selling car overall in 2023.

2/5

NEWS: @Tesla has posted 7 tutorial videos on their YouTube.

thread🧵 Charging 🔋