@GreenTexanEV For families, this is one of the key issues. I think robotaxis will need a reliable built in child seat solution or they will remain difficult for many parents.
SPOTTED! These two Cybercabs have just been snapped right here in New Zealand. Tesla is trying to keep the operation secret but a local saw them being discreetly moved to the South Island for winter testing and shared these spy photos.
https://t.co/0X3kNPjlFf
@philroberts Excellent to hear. I am very encouraged by how well the charging infrastructure is working on such a remote route. It is a significant boost for confidence in EV travel.
Well, my day took a detour.
Late last night the rear window regulator broke, leaving the window stuck down right before a trip to Pennsylvania.
Mission critical.
Drove to Rockville, grabbed the part from Tesla, ripped the door apart in my driveway, and fixed it myself.
Sometimes you just have to figure it out and get it done.
Now onto PA. ๐ค
Over 60 lbs of unsprung weight reduced on the Model Y Performance Juniper.
OEM 21" Arachnid 2.0 rear wheel & tire package:
72.66 lbs with 275/35R21
21" UP-03 rear wheel & tire package:
57.42 lbs with wider 295/30R21
That is 15.24 lbs lighter per corner, or over 60 lbs across the vehicle based on the measured per-corner difference.
Less unsprung and rotational mass means sharper response, better braking feel, improved suspension control, and a more connected drive.
Shop UP-03 wheel & tire packages now at Unplugged Performance.
@congressdj Very true. After getting used to Tesla, going back to a physical key and manual shutdown feels like a step into the past. Returning home to mine always feels excellent.
@TheCaptainEli Pet Mode is one of Teslaโs most practical features. I appreciate technology like this that helps keep pets safe and gives owners real peace of mind on warm days.
Freelander 8 SUV in China - Best photos so far
New photos of the Freelander 8. There's a lot of buzz around this SUV in China - mainly caused by its cool & boxy design,
- Size: 5118/2050/1898, 3040.
- Power: EREV. 115 kW 1.5 turbo + two electric motors.
- Top speed: 220 km/h.
- 60.3 kWh NMC battery. Electric range: 221 km.
- Towing: max 2000 kg.
- 21 inch wheels standard, 22 inch optional.
- active aero in the nose and bumper.
- clearly visible lidar in contrasting color - am interesting choice. Most Chinese brands try to hide the lidar.
Off-road: i-ATS intelligent all-terrain system. Front mechanical differential lock, rear e-LSD limited-slip differential, virtual center lock, and a closed dual-chamber air suspension.
Launch in July. EV-version will join the lineup later.
Freelander is a new Chinese brand under Chery-JLR.
Global grid battery additions (#BESS) have grown from around 1 GW in 2015 to 112 GW in 2025.
BloombergNEF expects annual deployments to reach 228 GW by 2030.
My Structural Transition Case is considerably more aggressive, reaching 919 GW by 2030, around 4x BloombergNEF's outlook.
Why? Because batteries are no longer a standalone market. Their growth is increasingly being driven by the success of solar.
More solar creates more midday oversupply and curtailment. More curtailment improves the economics of storage. More storage then enables even more solar. It's a powerful feedback loop.
โ๏ธ Solar drives curtailment.
๐ Curtailment drives batteries.
โก Batteries enable more solar.
โ๏ธ More solar creates more curtailment.
Add falling LFP costs, China's manufacturing scale, accelerating electrification, increasing energy security concerns and AI-driven electricity demand, and the case becomes even stronger.
LMFP is waiting in the wings, offering higher energy density than LFP, while sodium-ion is queuing up behind it with the potential for even lower-cost stationary storage.
Cost curves don't care about opinions. They have a habit of blowing straight past linear projections, as the solar industry has demonstrated repeatedly over the past two decades.
They just keep falling. And disruption keeps accelerating. ๐โก๐
#BatteryStorage #BESS #EnergyTransition #SolarEnergy #LFP #LMFP #LMR #SodiumIon #Bettrification
To me this is mainly a standards issue. Low sales do not remove the need for a safe design, and if Tesla adapts it for Europe, it can be assessed like any other vehicle.
I tihnk it's crazy that Tesla isn't allowed to sell Cybertruck in Europe. I know it has to do with some pedestrian safety nonsense but the reality is that since Tesla wouldn't sell many of them anyways because it's too expensive and Europe isn't a strong pickup truck market that the few units sold would have a rather low probability of hitting a pedestrian. If Tesla sold 10K units after a year it would represent about 0.003% of the total European vehicle fleet. In other words: the probability of a Cybertrack hitting a pedestrian in Europe would be astronomically small.
@that1evguyjay Very encouraging to hear. I like that Standard mode is delivering smoother lane changes and a better ride over bumps. That is real progress.