Eric

I’m a huge fan of Tesla, Elon Musk, SpaceX, and The Boring Company. Tesla investor. I’m a Model 3 owner and my wife owns a Model Y. I’m a Registered Nurse.

[Eric @es2120]

@wholemars Pothole avoidance for FSD

[Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt]

Tesla has reportedly submitted plans for a carwash dedicated for Robotaxis in Las Vegas. The permit, filed with Clark County on May 12th, describes "Tesla Center Cybercab Phase 2 Car Wash."

According to the project description, the work involves interior and exterior improvements to an existing facility, including the construction of a car wash enclosure, relocation of tire service equipment, and the installation of power raceways. This seems to suggest that Tesla is building a full-service maintenance hub specifically designed to handle the unique needs of an autonomous fleet.

via @NotATeslaApp/@MarcoRPi1: https://t.co/vlQC7TeTBh

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Tesla AI Vision deploys airbags before impact, which greatly reduces risk of injury or death. This comes for free on all new cars.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

The human-perceived RGB is image 1 and the Tesla AI photon count reconstruction is image 2.

This is why Tesla FSD can see so well at night or through extreme glare.

[Eric @es2120]

@itskyleconner Loosing a dog is the worst! So sorry for your loss. It helped my wife and I to get a new one a couple of months after ours passed away.

[Eric @es2120]

@SawyerMerritt Sawyer, I often disengage in the last half mile of my journey to work due to potholes and manhole covers. I wish there was a “pothole” button. I guess I’ll just have to select “discomfort” when I take over to avoid like 5 spots I always know to avoid.

[Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt]

Walter Isaacson today: "I definitely think you're going to see Tesla and SpaceX end up merging. They're already working together on Terafab. Elon Musk is always moving engineers back and forth between his companies. I think he wants to make this one big company."

[Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt]

Well, that was a (unexpectedly) great @Tesla Q1 earnings report!

Beat on revenue, EPS, gross margins, free cash flow, net income, etc. Record new FSD subscriptions, Cortex 2 is already training, Optimus factory construction at Giga Texas has started, Cybercab production has started, Tesla Semi and Megapack 3 production is starting soon, LFP battery factory in Nevada is ramping, research chip fab construction has started construction, etc.

The company is entering a new chapter.

[Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt]

“Tesla hasn’t even launched a robotaxi service.”

“It’s not real because Tesla isn’t offering rides without safety monitors.”

“It’s only one unsupervised Model Y in a tiny geofence in Austin.”

“Sure, the service area and number of unsupervised robotaxis expanded, but it’s still only in one city.”

“Sure, Tesla launched Unsupervised robotaxi rides in Houston and Dallas, but it’s just a small geofenced area.”

Haters keep moving the goalposts, while downplaying what is happening right in front of their eyes.

[Brivael Le Pogam @brivael]

Aujourd'hui grosse discussion avec mes ingés (chez Argil) sur pourquoi Elon a viré le LIDAR de ses voitures autonomes. Choix radical, moqué pendant des années, et comme d'hab il avait raison depuis le début.

Le LIDAR c'est un laser qui balaye l'environnement et crache un nuage de points 3D. Sur le papier tu obtiens la géométrie exacte du monde. Dans la vraie vie c'est une verrue technologique collée sur le toit parce qu'on sait pas faire mieux avec la vision seule.

Problème numéro un : ça rajoute une modalité dans le training du modèle. Ton réseau doit apprendre à fusionner vision + lidar + radar + ultrasons. Chaque capteur en plus c'est une source de désaccord à arbitrer, pas une source d'info supplémentaire. Sensor fusion artisanale = dette technique permanente.

Problème numéro deux, la bitter lesson de Rich Sutton : scaler le compute sur une seule modalité bat systématiquement les architectures bricolées à la main. Tesla a dropé le radar, puis les ultrasons, est passé full end-to-end vision. Leur courbe sur les edge cases s'est accélérée APRÈS, pas avant. Waymo fait l'inverse et reste stuck en ops géofencée.

Problème numéro trois, le plus fondamental : le LIDAR voit la géométrie, pas la sémantique. Il sait qu'il y a un truc, pas ce que c'est ni ce que ça va faire. Les derniers 9 de fiabilité sont des problèmes de cognition, pas de perception brute. Un capteur de plus résout rien, il ajoute du bruit.

Sébastien Loeb balance une 208 T16 à 180 dans un chemin boueux corse sous la pluie avec zéro LIDAR. Deux yeux, un cerveau. L'évolution a donné des yeux aux prédateurs pendant 500 millions d'années, pas des lasers. Il y a une raison.

Le LIDAR c'est l'équivalent du marxisme appliqué à l'économie. Une solution planifiée, centralisée, qui prétend modéliser explicitement ce qui doit émerger d'un système distribué et adaptatif. Tu remplaces l'intelligence par de la mesure, la compréhension par de la donnée, l'émergence par le contrôle. Ça rassure les ingénieurs qui veulent tout spécifier en amont, exactement comme la planif rassurait les économistes soviétiques. Et ça échoue pour les mêmes raisons : la réalité est trop riche pour être capturée par un capteur, comme elle est trop riche pour être capturée par un plan quinquennal.

La vraie intelligence, celle de Hayek comme celle de Tesla, c'est de faire confiance à un système qui apprend de l'expérience plutôt que de tout pré-encoder. L'élégance d'une solution c'est son rapport signal sur complexité. Le LIDAR explose le dénominateur.

Défendre le LIDAR en 2026 c'est préférer empiler des hacks plutôt que résoudre le vrai problème. C'est de la feignasserie intellectuelle maquillée en rigueur d'ingénieur. Les mêmes gens qui défendaient les systèmes experts en 2012 contre le deep learning. Ils finiront pareil.

Never bet against end-to-end. Never bet against la simplicité. Never bet against Elon.

[Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt]

Tesla's Optimus V3 robot hand looks to have been revealed in a new international patent published today.

The patent describes a tendon/cable-driven hand:
• Actuators in the forearm
• Each finger has 4 degrees of freedom
• The wrist has 2 degrees of freedom
• Tendon-driven system: 3 thin, flexible control cables (tendons) per finger run from forearm actuators, through the wrist and into the fingers.
• Advanced wrist routing: Cables switch from a lateral (horizontal) stack on the forearm side to a vertical stack on the hand side, plus a transition zone to minimize stretch, torque, friction, and crosstalk during yaw/pitch movements.
• Integrated control cable channels in the finger segments and precise routing (behind some joints, forward others) for selective bending.

The full filing is in the thread below if you want to read more about it:

[Tesla @Tesla]

https://t.co/FrWpKzTkjj

[Ashlee Vance @ashleevance]

Here, in all its glory, is the exclusive first look at the massive @Tesla Semi factory.

Our @corememory crew went to Nevada to see the line come to life, as it gets ready to pump out thousands of all-electric trucks. We saw the new cab and went on a drive too. Wunderbar!

[Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 @JasonJournoDC]

🚨NEW: Big Balls tells @nickshirleyy #1 lesson @elonmusk has taught him🧠

"You've gotta do what you think is RIGHT. That's the BIGGEST thing about Elon ... I think if I was to distill the Elon mindset into one thing, it would be truthmaxxing."

@DailyCaller

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Oh and it works in all AI4-equipped cars, so your car can do office work for you when not driving.

We’re also deploying millions of dedicated Digital Optimus units in the field at Superchargers where we have ~7 gigawatts of available power.

[Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt]

Current average residential electricity prices and gas prices by U.S. state, with the average cost to fully charge a @Tesla Model Y Premium at home compared to the cost to fill a 2026 Honda CR‑V Hybrid AWD:

Ranked by cost per kWh (cost to charge Model Y Premium):
• Hawaii: $0.39/kWh ($30.81 per full charge)
• California: $0.34 ($26.86)
• Massachusetts: $0.32 ($25.28)
• Rhode Island: $0.31 (24.49)
• Maine: $0.30 ($23.79)
• Connecticut: $0.28 ($22.12)
• New Hampshire: $0.27 ($21.33)
• New York: $0.27 ($21.33)
• Alaska: $0.27 ($21.33)
• Vermont: $0.25 ($19.75)
• District of Columbia: $0.24 ($18.96)
• New Jersey: $0.23 ($18.17)
• Maryland: $0.22 ($17.38)
• Pennsylvania: $0.21 ($16.59)
• Michigan: $0.21 ($16.59)
• llinois: $0.19 ($15.01)
• Wisconsin: $0.18 ($14.22)
• Delaware: $0.18 ($14.22)
• Ohio: $0.18 ($14.22)
• Indiana: $0.17 ($13.43)
• Alabama: $0.17 ($13.43)
• Minnesota: $0.16 ($12.64)
• Virginia: $0.16 ($12.64)
• Colorado: $0.16 ($12.64)
• West Virginia: $0.16 ($12.64)
• Oregon: $0.16 ($12.64)
• Texas: $0.16 ($12.64)
• Florida: $0.16 ($12.64)
• South Carolina: $0.16 ($12.64)
• Arizona: $0.16 ($12.64)
• Kansas: $0.15 ($11.85)
• North Carolina: $0.15 ($11.85)
• New Mexico: $0.15 ($11.85)
• Georgia: $0.15 ($11.85)
• Wyoming: $0.15 ($11.85)
• Mississippi: $0.14 ($11.06)
• Oklahoma: $0.14 ($11.06)
• Montana: $0.14 ($11.06)
• South Dakota: $0.14 ($11.06)
• Washington: $0.14 ($11.06)
• Nevada: $0.14 ($11.06)
• Utah: $0.14 ($11.06)
• Kentucky: $0.14 ($11.06)
• Iowa: $0.14 ($11.06)
• Arkansas: $0.13 ($10.27)
• Nebraska: $0.13 ($10.27)
• Tennessee: $0.13 ($10.27)
• Missouri: $0.13 ($10.27)
• North Dakota: $0.13 ($10.27)
• Idaho: $0.12 ($9.48)
• Louisiana: $0.12 ($9.48)

Ranked by gas price (cost to fill a 2026 Honda CR-V Hybrid AWD):
• California: $5.15/gal ($72.23 per tank)
• Washington: $4.60 ($64.47)
• Hawaii: $4.51 ($63.18)
• Oregon: $4.18 ($58.65)
• Nevada: $4.18 ($58.56)
• Alaska: $3.92 ($54.89)
• Arizona: $3.84 ($53.84)
• Pennsylvania: $3.57 ($50.02)
• Michigan: $3.55 ($49.70)
• Illinois: $3.49 ($48.99)
• Maryland: $3.48 ($48.79)
• Indiana: $3.46 ($48.52)
• District of Columbia: $3.46 ($48.45)
• Florida: $3.45 ($48.34)
• Colorado: $3.39 ($47.47)
• Maine: $3.37 ($47.31)
• New York: $3.37 ($47.26)
• West Virginia: $3.37 ($47.26)
• Vermont: $3.33 ($46.69)
• Connecticut: $3.33 ($46.68)
• New Hampshire: $3.32 ($46.52)
• New Jersey: $3.31 ($46.47)
• Rhode Island: $3.30 ($46.20)
• Massachusetts: $3.29 ($46.09)
• Virginia: $3.28 ($45.98)
• Minnesota: $3.25 ($45.53)
• North Carolina: $3.25 ($45.50)
• Idaho: $3.23 ($45.30)
• Georgia: $3.22 ($45.16)
• Utah: $3.16 ($44.30)
• Iowa: $3.158 ($44.21)
• South Carolina: $3.13 ($43.90)
• Wisconsin: $3.13 ($43.90)
• Montana: $3.12 ($43.75)
• Kentucky: $3.11 ($43.55)
• Texas: $3.11 ($43.55)
• South Dakota: $3.06 ($42.95)
• Wyoming: $3.06 ($42.88)
• Nebraska: $3.04 ($42.56)
• Alabama: $3.03 ($42.48)
• Louisiana: $3.03 ($42.43)
• Mississippi: $2.98 ($41.85)
• Tennessee: $2.98 ($41.73)
• Arkansas: $2.97 ($41.68)
• Missouri: $2.97 ($41.65)
• Oklahoma: $2.96 ($41.48)
• Kansas: $2.91 ($40.75)

• Average cost in the U.S. to fully charge a Tesla Model Y Premium: $14.22 (up to 357 miles of range).
• Average cost in the U.S. to fill up a Honda CR-V Hybrid: $48.30 (about 518 miles per tank).

That’s 45% more range for the CR-V Hybrid, but 240% higher cost per fill, it can't self-drive and received a lower safety rating than the Model Y.

[Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt]

This is the first time we've seen the Cybercab's side repeater washer, b-pillar washer and rear camera washer all cleaning at the same time. Look how strong the side repeater washer is. RIP dirt lol

[Jesse Richards @iamjesserichard]

Wow! Tesla Robotaxi saw truck coming in the distance and backed up and went the other way.

[Dillon Loomis @DillonLoomis]

Before everyone moves on to autonomy (thanks to Tesla), I want to make it abundantly clear why Tesla is a national treasure. America would be dead in the water on electric vehicles without Tesla, and everyone that said legacy auto would eventually do everything Tesla is doing, and better, has been embarrassingly wrong. This is not an exhaustive list:

Ford

• F-150 Lightning discontinued
• $19.5B EV write-down
• Pivot to hybrids - Model E division losing billions

Stellantis

• $26B EV write-down
• RAM 1500 REV scrapped
• Jeep Renegade EV cancelled
• Abandoned 100% EV target
• Pivot to hybrids

Mercedes-Benz

• EQE ending production
• EQB program cancelled
• Paused new EV orders in the US
• Abandoned all electric pledge
• MB.EA Large platform cancelled

Honda

• EV sales targets continually reduced
• Large EV SUV cancelled
• Pivot to hybrids
• Acura ZDX discontinued

GM

• Dropped all-EV pledge
• $6.6B in EV charges tied to reduced EV targets
• Lyriq and Vistiq production cuts
• Pivot to hybrids

So in fact, no one has been able to do what Tesla has done. Make great electric cars, profitably, at scale

Tesla's superiority is even greater when it comes to autonomy and the ability to achieve scale. Many still doubt this, but the facts will confirm it in the near future, just like the facts have confirmed Tesla's EV production superiority when early on, nearly everyone doubted Tesla would be able to maintain its dominance

Well, here we are a decade later $TSLA