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Tesla community comes together for a special, once-in-a-lifetime ‘bucket list’ wish

(Photo: rubenjasonpenders/YouTube)

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It takes a special type of person to stare at adversity and see a bright future ahead. It also takes a special group of dedicated people to show that amidst all the conflicts and ugliness in the world, there is still a space for human kindness. This was recently demonstrated by the Tesla community in the Netherlands, when they came together to grant a special “bucket list” wish for an extraordinary guest.

Rob (last name not given), who resides in the city of Utrecht, Netherlands, heard the words that nobody ever wants to hear last December. Late in the month, Rob got news that he only had a couple of months left to live. One of his friends, Tesla enthusiast Ruben Jason Penders, had been asking him about a “bucket list” wish that he could help him with. Rob initially declined, but with enough prodding, he stated that he wanted to experience “this electric Tesla car.”

In a video about Rob’s tale that was later shared on YouTube, Ruben noted that his friend was aware he would not experience the electric car era himself. Nevertheless, Rob still wanted to “experience the future my kids and grandkids will live in.” On the final day of 2018, Ruben got to work, posting on the Tesla Motors Club forum and asking if any Tesla owners are willing to give his friend a short ride in their vehicle. In his post, Ruben even mentioned that a 10-15 minute ride in a Tesla would suffice.

The Tesla community decided to go above and beyond. Within a few hours, several owners had volunteered to give some of their time to grant Rob’s “bucket list” wish. Not long after that, a little get-together was organized, with several owners pledging to travel to the city of Utrecht to give Rob the full Tesla experience.

As could be seen in a video of the special get-together, Rob and his family were picked up by three electric cars from his home (two Teslas and a Jaguar I-PACE). This was but the start of Rob’s surprise, though, as he was soon welcomed by 20 more Teslas and their beaming owners. Rob was able to experience the whole Tesla ecosystem, from using the Supercharger Network to using Autopilot on the highway. At one point in the video, Rob showed what could only be described as a classic Tesla grin as he experienced firsthand what appeared to be a Model S P100D Ludicrous Mode launch. In yet another gesture from the Tesla community, Rob was able to drive a Model S as well.

Despite its noble mission, Tesla remains a polarizing company, especially in the United States. The company, particularly its CEO, Elon Musk, receive a notable amount of vitriol on an almost daily basis from critics, some of whom stand to receive monetary gains if Tesla were to fall. In social media platforms like Twitter alone, the clashes between the TSLA community, who supports the company, and the TSLAQ group, who are clamoring for the electric car maker to fall, happen daily. Yet, despite the noise from the company’s skeptics, there are tales like Rob’s, which could only be described as initiatives that are accomplished through the kindness of the human heart.Β 

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This is not the first time that the Tesla community has done something like this, either. Β Last year, Dr. Matthew Chan, a Tesla enthusiast diagnosed with cancer, was given the full VIP treatment after the community got together to arrange a meetup with Chief Designer Franz Von Holzhausen. During Dr. Chan’s tour, he was able to chat with the Tesla designer extensively, and his visit was even capped off by a meet-and-greet with Elon Musk himself. Not long before that, a story also emerged that involved the company bumping a terminally-ill man up the Model 3 reservation list, so that he could experience and enjoy the vehicle while he was still able.

Watch the Tesla community grant Rob’s “bucket list” wish in the video below.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk

Tesla primes Cybercabs for 4K streaming and high bandwidth gaming with Starlink integration

Tesla is now shipping Cybercabs from Giga Texas with Starlink hardware built in as standard.

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tesla cybercab with no manual controls showing a movie with two employees inside

Tesla’s Cybercabs are now leaving Gigafactory Texas with Starlink hardware on the rear hatch in significant numbers, according to drone footage captured Tuesday by longtime Austin drone observer Joe Tegtmeyer. Production at the factory ramped back up after the Labor Day weekend, and his flyover of the outbound lot showed rows of gold Cybercabs alongside Model Y Long Wheelbase units, many carrying the satellite module for the first time as standard equipment rather than a one off retrofit.

Tesla first showed Starlink built into an actual Cybercab on August 10, when the Robotaxi account posted images of a single gold unit with the antenna integrated into the roofline above the taillights and called it the first Cybercab with Starlink integration. That followed a July reveal where Tesla and Starlink jointly posted a cutaway diagram of the antenna placement without a working vehicle to back it up. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI software, said at the time that the connection isn’t required for the car to drive itself. It exists mainly for navigation, customer service and keeping tabs on the fleet.

Musk has made a different case in public. During Tesla’s Q2 earnings call, he said the company can’t afford robotaxis stranded in what he called “Bermuda Triangles of lack of cellular connectivity,” and he separately claimed on X that Starlink will eventually reach every Tesla built, calling it the only way to deliver high bandwidth to billions of vehicles. He has also pitched the antenna as an entertainment upgrade, telling riders they would be able to stream 4K video or play games during a trip.

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The rollout has moved fast since. Robotaxi service opened to the public in Austin on September 3, and Cybercabs had already been spotted with Starlink hardware in Houston and near Miami International Airport in the weeks before Tuesday’s factory footage showed the module shipping at volume rather than on scattered test units. Whether the satellite link earns its keep is still an open question. Tesla’s unsupervised service currently runs in dense metro geofences in Texas and Florida, markets where cellular coverage is already strong, which is not where the rural dead zones Musk describes tend to show up.

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Tesla Cybertruck targets job site crews with new Tailgate Utility Track and Bed Gear Box accessory

Tesla launched a $350 tailgate track and a $985 lockable Bed Gear Box for Cybertruck.

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Tesla Cybertruck construction site

Tesla’s Cybertruck team added two more items to the Tesla Shop, targeting job site crews and owners who use the truck bed for actual work rather than just showing it off. The official Cybertruck X account posted the Tailgate Utility Track and the Bed Gear Box within minutes of each other, part of a five item batch that also included a reflective jacket, a spray paint hat and an updated reflective tee.

The Tailgate Utility Track runs $350 and turns the folded down tailgate into another mounting surface. It’s a single aluminum track with a T-slot for sliding accessories and two L-track attachment points, plus two load stops included in the box. The pitch is straightforward: strap down oversized cargo, like lumber or a cooler, that hangs off the back of the bed without it sliding out mid-drive. It bolts onto the existing tailgate and works on every Cybertruck trim.

The Bed Gear Box costs $985 and is a different kind of accessory. It’s a lockable aluminum storage box, 55.78 inches long, 19.8 inches wide and 7.79 inches tall, that mounts to the bed’s L-track rails and comes with two internal bins for smaller items. According to Tesla, at just over 57 pounds empty, it’s meant to stay in place rather than come in and out with each trip, giving owners a factory-fit alternative to loose totes for tools, recovery gear or emergency supplies. Tesla’s listing notes that Long Range and Dual Motor AWD Cybertrucks need the L-Tracks accessory installed separately before the Gear Box will mount, since L-tracks come standard only on certain configurations.

Tesla Cybertruck bed gear box accessory

Tesla Cybertruck bed gear box accessory

Both accessories lean on the idea Tesla has been building toward since Elon Musk first described the Cybertruck’s third-party attachment strategy at the 2023 shareholder meeting, when he said the truck would ship with mounting points so outside companies, and Tesla itself, could keep adding gear without redesigning the bed. That’s the same L-track backbone underneath the tailgate shield and jumpseats Tesla launched last year, and the off-road armor package that arrived through the same X account in 2025.

Owners looking to round out the rest of the L-track ecosystem, cargo dividers, MOLLE panels, bed racks and similar gear, can find a wider range of options through our Cybertruck accessories collection.

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Elon Musk says he knows how to save Earth for a billion years

Elon Musk says sentient AI satellites launched from the Moon could keep Earth livable forever.

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Elon Musk spent part of his weekend describing a plan to keep the planet livable for roughly a billion years, and it starts with satellites that can think for themselves.

In a post on X, Musk argued that swapping fossil fuels for solar and wind power will not be enough to protect humanity from what he called extremely severe extinction events, the kind that occur roughly every 100 million years. His fix is what he called sentient satellites, or solar-powered satellites, controlled by AI, that would sit in a fixed spot between Earth and the Sun after being launched off the Moon using a giant electromagnetic catapult instead of rockets.

The satellites’ onboard AI would make continuous, small adjustments rather than waiting on human instructions. The mass driver is Musk’s proposed way of getting the raw material there cheaply by using an electromagnetic launch track built on the Moon, where lower gravity and no atmosphere make it far easier to fling cargo into space than it is from Earth.

Musk shared a Grok generated estimate suggesting roughly 5 percent of Florida’s land, or about 1.68 million acres, could face regular flooding by 2070 under a high sea level rise scenario, and said humanity has about 50 years to act before coastal living looks very different than it does today.

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This is not the first time Musk has floated the idea. He raised a similar concept in November, describing a solar powered AI satellite constellation that could make tiny adjustments to incoming sunlight to fine tune Earth’s temperature. Musk has also tied planetary risk to his broader vision at SpaceX, where his compensation package is explicitly linked to establishing a self-sustaining Mars colony, one he has described as an insurance policy against the kind of extinction event he referenced this weekend, and where he has said humans could set foot within five to seven years.

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