The SpaceX and T-Mobile alliance will be life-saving during hurricanes, fires, and other natural disasters. SpaceX Founder, Elon Musk, and T-Mobile CEO, Mike Sievert, announced the new alliance which will end mobile dead zones by launching a new mobile service enabled by Starlink’s second-generation satellites and T-Mobile’s bandwidth.
During tonight’s press conference, Elon Musk said that this new service was meant to provide basic coverage to areas that are currently completely dead. When asked by KRGV’s Cristian von Preysing about the winter freeze, hurricanes, and flooding disasters, both CEOs answered. Mike Sievert emphasized that one of the top priorities of the industry which is a big benefit of this new service is redundancy.
“One of the things about starting next year with messaging as opposed to trying to plunge right in with voice and data right away is that with messaging we should be able to handle a lot of messages. Many, many thousands of messages can be sent. So when you do have outages that happen through natural disasters or otherwise, there’s an opportunity for people at scale to be connected in real-time.
“And Elon was saying, there could be a lag at first but he’s talking about before we reach commercial service. So eventually, as we hit commercial service and even in beta, this is a real-time message where you send a message, and you get an answer. You’re connected.”
He added that by starting out with just messaging, allows T-Mobile to address use cases such as cellular networks being vulnerable to the weather.
Elon Musk added,
“This really is a big deal. Great question to ask because even if an entire region or country lost connectivity because of a severe hurricane or floods or fires or tornadoes, earthquakes there’s so many natural disasters.”
“Even if all the cell towers were taken out your phone would still work.”
This is a game changer for areas that are constantly impacted by disasters such as my own.
During my interview with Elon Musk, I told him about what happened to me and many others during the aftermath of hurricane Ida. The storm knocked out not only all eight Entergy transmission lines in New Orleans but communications as well. I was without power for a week and was one of the lucky ones.
Only people with Verizon were sometimes able to send a text. I have T-Mobile and I was unable to text my friends out of state and tell them that I was okay. Being cut off from communications like that made me feel entirely disconnected from the rest of the world–forgotten, even. And that’s a daunting feeling.
This was on my mind during my interview with Elon Musk. Earlier this summer, Elon Musk invited me down to Giga Texas to interview him on my gem and mineral podcast during the end-of-quarter push.
“When we had Ida, my power was out for a week. When the hurricane hit, the communications and southeast Louisiana were completely wiped out. We were using–I forgot the name of the app but Cajun Navy uses this app to rescue people. They’d go from place to place to place. It just kind of made me think of that–Starlink.”
“Starlink would definitely help organizations like the Cajun Navy as well as others just to be able to communicate better, especially with the government [agencies, I meant to say]. And not just in my area but in other areas, too.”
“It would be cool to see something like that on a more–installed on your phone to keep people connected.”
Elon told me that a phone is able to act like a short-range walkie-talkie but that SpaceX could create a WiFi bridge.
“Certainly one’s phone is capable of behaving at least as a short-range walkie-talkie even if it’s not connected to the internet in any way. We could basically create a WiFi bridge. Is that what you’re talking about?”
“Just something to keep people connected during the disasters you don’t have to worry about a friend is missing and they can call and say ‘hey I’m okay power’s out we’re conserving battery,” I told him.
Tonight’s news will do exactly this.
Your feedback is important. If you have any comments, or concerns, or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @JohnnaCrider1
Elon Musk
Tesla has one big bottleneck with its public Robotaxi launch, but it can fix it easily
Elon Musk plans for Tesla Robotaxi to be open to the public in Austin in September.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the company’s Robotaxi program would open to the public in September, but there is one big bottleneck that would inhibit it from launching smoothly.
The thing is, it can be resolved in no time, and Tesla can fix it internally.
In Austin, the Robotaxi platform has been in operation since late June. The launch of the program only allowed a handful of privileged influencers and groups to access the driverless ride-hailing service, although it has expanded this group on several occasions.
It has also slowly added vehicles to the fleet, starting at 11 cars when it launched in June. There have been a few cars added, but Tesla has continued to prioritize safety, keeping its rider population and number of vehicles low for the time being.
However, this is going to cause quite a bit of a bottleneck in next month’s planned public launch, as there will be an open invitation for anyone and everyone to test out the Robotaxi platform in Austin.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirms Robotaxi is opening to the public: here’s when
Many people have been waiting for an invitation to ride in a Robotaxi, and Tesla has not been prone to give one to just anybody.
As that becomes a much larger number next month, Tesla is going to have to step up its Robotaxi fleet number, as well as its population of Safety Monitors, the riders that sit in the passenger seat to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Tesla is going to need to add A LOT more cars if they want to be able to meet the demand, otherwise rides will be unavailable to most.
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 11, 2025
While the geofence in Austin has roughly doubled in size twice during both of Tesla’s expansions of the service area, the company is still playing it safe with rider population growth, something that aligns with its focus on safety.
Musk said recently about the expansion of Robotaxi to customer-owned vehicles:
“As I said, we’re being paranoid about safety. But I guess next year is I’d say confidently next year. I’m not sure when next year, but confidently next year, people would be able to add or subtract their car to the Tesla, Inc. fleet.”
The Robotaxi fleet will, without a doubt, revolutionize the way people view ride-hailing. Tesla seems ready to open it up to the public next month, based on what Musk said, but some changes will have to occur to ensure it goes smoothly.
News
Tesla Model Y L spotted in Europe ahead of expected September China launch
Tesla’s long-wheelbase Model Y L has seemingly been spotted in Europe.
Tesla’s long-wheelbase Model Y L has seemingly been spotted in Europe, signaling its upcoming debut outside China. A lightly camouflaged prototype was seen at a charging station near Germany’s Nürburgring, hinting that the extended wheelbase crossover will make its way to European markets after its expected September launch in China.
The Model Y L
The Model Y L, which will be offered in a six-seat configuration, is expected to add roughly 178 mm (7 inches) to the overall length of the standard Model Y, with 152 mm (6 inches) dedicated to stretching the wheelbase, as noted in an autoevolution report. This design tweak should unlock more third-row space, and it should be enough to rival the rear seating comfort of the much more expensive Model X, which can no longer be ordered in Europe.
While initially mistaken for a Model Y Performance during testing, the prototype’s extended rear door cutout and 19-inch wheels, which were unusual for a Performance variant, suggested that the covered unit was actually the Model Y L. The prototype’s wheels, if any, match those listed in China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) filing for the upcoming Model Y L.
Model Y L production
Tesla is expected to build the Model Y L at Giga Shanghai for the Chinese market initially, though speculations are high that the vehicle will also be built at Giga Berlin in Germany, as well as the Fremont Factory and Giga Texas in the United States. Recent reports have suggested that the Model Y L’s production in China has already begun, and sales there are slated to start in September.
Considering the Model Y L’s lower entry price compared to the flagship Model X, the upcoming extended wheelbase crossover could quickly become Tesla’s new premier SUV for families needing extra passenger capacity, at least without stepping into the premium pricing bracket of the Model X.
News
Tesla fans are urging Elon Musk to file a lawsuit against fake “disabled” Cybertruck video
As per Tesla supporters, enough is enough,
Tesla supporters and retail investors are urging CEO Elon Musk and the electric vehicle maker to pursue legal action against a rapper who faked a video of a Cybertruck that was reportedly disabled remotely by the company.
As per Tesla supporters, enough is enough.
The fake video
American rapper Big Huey made headlines over the weekend when he claimed that his Cybertruck had been deactivated by Tesla. The rapper claimed that Tesla had remotely disabled his Cybertruck unless he complied with a cease-and-desist letter over a song he made about the all-electric pickup truck. In his video, the rapper even claimed that he was “stranded as f*ck” because he could not move his Cybertruck.
The video itself was immediately flagged by longtime Tesla watchers as fake. It did not take long before Tesla itself posted a clarification on its official X account stating that the rapper’s viral video was indeed fake. By this time, however, the rapper’s claims have already made their way across the internet.
Enough is enough
A look at the comments on Tesla’s clarification post shows that a good number of EV enthusiasts and retail investors are urging the company to pursue legal action against the rapper. One of the rapper’s videos, after all, featured an alleged cease-and-desist letter that featured what appeared to be a forged signature from a Tesla Legal executive. Others also noted that it is high time for Tesla to fight back more assertively against fake videos and allegations.
While Tesla North America tends to be a punching bag of sorts for false claims, the company has been adopting a more assertive approach to defend its reputation in other countries. These include China, which has proven to be very assertive when it comes to defending its legal interests and reputation. This has worked well for Tesla China, so it is no wonder that investors are now clamoring for a similar legal approach in the United States.
Tesla has one big bottleneck with its public Robotaxi launch, but it can fix it easily
Tesla Model Y L spotted in Europe ahead of expected September China launch
Tesla fans are urging Elon Musk to file a lawsuit against fake “disabled” Cybertruck video
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