Lifestyle
Rivian swappable components come to life in new renderings
The new (and patient) Rivian community has taken a recently published company patent one step further from its concept drawings by creating beautifully colored “digital previews” to bring its described “swappable” modules to life. In five renderings, the team running RivianForums imagined a basic flatbed, two recreational caps/toppers, a side rail module (with and without dirtbikes), and a cargo box utility module.
The patent in question presented a customizable, modular concept for its cars: As imagined, cargo bed components can be swapped out per driver preference, and the cars automatically adjust to whatever is installed. Whether the driver needs a set up for delivery, recreation, etc., there’s a modular component specially designed to provide a solution.
The Rivian base flatbed, as imagined on RivianForums. 
A Rivian cargo box utility module, as imagined on RivianForums. 
A Rivian recreational cap module, as imagined on RivianForums. 
A Rivian recreational cap module, as imagined on RivianForums. 
A Rivian side rail module, as imagined on RivianForums. 
A Rivian side rail module, as imagined on RivianForums.
It certainly seems that the Michigan-based company’s portrayal of its vehicles as part of an “electric adventure” lifestyle has been happily taken up by its fast-growing fan base; a narrative wherein nature beckons the thrill-seeking traveler to muddy the wheels of their battery-powered Rivian R1T truck or R1S SUV.
Last week, the company’s official Twitter account shared a personality-filled photo of an R1T sitting inside their Plymouth location with a caption stating it was “smiling for the camera”. The subsequent responses to the image further demonstrated an audience excited for Rivian’s future.
A sign above the overhead door behind the happy R1T tweet-pic read, “Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few are dirt”, which is of course very much in line with the feeling Rivian has been promoting. The EV startup recently posted a mood-inspiring series of cinematic videos chock-full of snow, mountain, and trail imagery. It seems that after nine years in stealth mode, this up-and-coming auto maker really wants everyone to keep the idea of an outdoors + EV lifestyle fresh in their minds with Rivian at the helm. They’ve even adopted the #electricadventure hashtag to go with it, and a quick search for the tag generates results full of impressive and exciting images of Rivian’s vehicle lineup that’s set to begin production next year.
The Rivian R1T and R1S have been designed with “megapack” batteries to provide up to 400 miles per charge, and their high-powered quad-motors have been touted to give a 0-60 mph acceleration time of 3 seconds. To support the flexible, adventurous lifestyle of its target market, Rivian has also been developing longer range power solutions for its vehicles, as seen by another recent patent application. For a starting price of $69,000 for the R1T pickup and $72,500 for the R1S SUV before incentives, Rivian’s customers will be treated to both innovative new electric vehicles and a company committed to supporting their travel-centered lifestyle.
As with Tesla orders, a $1000 deposit via Rivian’s official website will secure a prospective buyer’s place in line for one of the company’s outdoor-focused vehicles. Also keeping in line with what customers have somewhat come to expect during the vehicle pre-order process, Rivian has also begun offering perks as a reward for buyers’ vote of confidence. An invite went out to their “preorder community” this week to attend a private vehicle viewing and celebration in a run-up to the company’s appearance at the 2019 New York International Auto Show. Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and a greeting by the company’s CEO and founder, RJ Scaringe, were promised to be part of the event.
Lifestyle
Tesla Semi hauls fresh Cybercab batch as Robotaxi era takes hold
A Tesla Semi was filmed hauling Cybercab units out of Giga Texas for the first time.
A Tesla Semi loaded with Cybercab units was recently filmed leaving Gigafactory Texas, marking what appears to be the first documented delivery run of Tesla’s autonomous two-seater. The footage shows multiple Cybercabs secured on a flatbed trailer being hauled by a production Tesla Semi, a truck rated for a gross combination weight of 82,000 lbs. The location is consistent with Giga Texas in Austin, where Cybercab production has been ramping since February 2026.
The sighting follows a wave of Cybercab activity at the Austin facility. In late April, drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer spotted approximately 60 Cybercabs parked in two organized groups in the factory’s outbound lot, the largest concentration observed to date. Units being staged in an outbound lot is a standard pre-delivery step, and the Semi footage is the logical next frame in that sequence.
En route with @tesla_semi pic.twitter.com/ZfuOjaeLH1
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) May 7, 2026
This is not the first time Tesla has used its own Semi to move Tesla products. When the Semi was unveiled in 2017, Musk noted it would be used for Tesla’s own operations, and over the years Semi prototypes were spotted carrying cargo ranging from concrete weights to Tesla vehicles being delivered to consumers. In 2023, a Semi was photographed transporting a Cybertruck on a trailer ahead of that vehicle’s delivery launch.
The Cybercab itself was first revealed publicly at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event on October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, where 20 pre-production units gave attendees rides around the studio lot. Musk stated at the event that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027. The first production unit rolled off the Giga Texas line on February 17, 2026, with Musk posting on X: “Congratulations to the Tesla team on making the first production Cybercab.”
Tesla’s annual production goal is 2 million Cybercabs per year once multiple factories reach full design capacity, with the company targeting a price under $30,000 per unit. Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.
Tesla has taken home the “Overall Loyalty to Make” award from S&P Global Mobility for the fourth consecutive year, reinforcing Tesla owners’ willingness to come back. The 2025 awards are based on S&P Global Mobility’s analysis of 13.6 million new retail vehicle registrations in the U.S. from October 2024 through September 2025. The complete list of 2025 winners includes General Motors for Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer, Tesla for Overall Loyalty to Make, Chevrolet Equinox for Overall Loyalty to Model, Mini for Most Improved Make Loyalty, Subaru for Overall Loyalty to Dealer, and Tesla again for both Ethnic Market Loyalty to Make and Highest Conquest Percentage.
Tesla’s streak in this category started in 2022, and the brand has now won the Highest Conquest Percentage award for six straight years, meaning it keeps pulling buyers away from other brands at a rate no competitor has matched. Tesla’s retention among Asian households reached 63.6% and among Hispanic households 61.9%, rates that significantly outpace national averages for those groups. That breadth of appeal across demographics adds a layer of significance to a win that some might dismiss as routine.
The timing matters too. After several consecutive quarters of decline, Tesla’s share of U.S. EV sales jumped to 59% in Q4 2025. That rebound, arriving just as competitors were flooding the market with new models and incentives, suggests Tesla’s loyalty numbers are not simply the result of limited alternatives. Buyers are still choosing it when they have plenty of other options.
What keeps Tesla owners coming back has a lot to do with the and convenience of charging. The Supercharger network is the most straightforward example. With over 65,000 Superchargers globally, it remains the largest and most reliable fast-charging network in the world, and owners who have built their routines around it face a real practical cost when considering a switch. Competitors have made progress, but the consistency, speed, and availability of Tesla’s network is still the benchmark the rest of the industry is chasing. Then there is the software side. Tesla has built a model where the car you own today is functionally different from the car you bought two years ago, through over-the-air updates that add continuous game-changing improvements such as Full Self-Driving that has moved from a driver-assist feature to an increasingly capable autonomous system. For many Tesla owners, leaving the brand means starting over with a car that will not get meaningfully better over time, and that is a trade-off fewer and fewer are willing to make.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybercab just rolled through Miami inside a glass box
Tesla paraded a Cybercab in a glass display at Miami’s F1 Grand Prix event this week.
Tesla set up an “Autonomy Pop-Up” at Lummus Park in Miami Beach from April 29 through May 3, 2026, embedded within the official F1 Miami Grand Prix Fan Fest. The centerpiece was a Cybertruck towing the Cybercab inside a glass display case marked “Future is Autonomous,” rolling through the beachfront crowd.
Miami is on Tesla’s confirmed list of cities for robotaxi expansion in the first half of 2026, making the promotion a strategic promotion that lays groundwork in a target market.
This was not Tesla’s first time using Miami as a showcase city. In December 2025, Tesla hosted “The Future of Autonomy Visualized” at its Miami Design District showroom, coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach. That event featured the Cybercab prototype and Optimus robots interacting with attendees. The F1 pop-up this week marks Tesla’s return to Miami and follows a pattern Tesla has been running since early 2026. Just two weeks before Miami, Tesla stationed Optimus at the Tesla Boston Boylston Street showroom on April 19 and 20, directly on the final stretch of the Boston Marathon, letting tens of thousands of runners and spectators meet the robot for free, generating massive earned media at zero advertising cost.
Tesla is sending its humanoid Optimus robot to the Boston Marathon
Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year. On the production side, Musk told shareholders that the Cybercab manufacturing process could eventually produce up to 5 million vehicles per year, targeting a cycle time of one unit every ten seconds. Scaling robotaxis to 10 million operational units over the next ten years is a key condition of his compensation package, alongside selling 20 million passenger vehicles.
As for the Cybercab’s price, Musk has said buyers will be able to purchase one for under $30,000, with an average operating cost around $0.20 per mile. Whether those numbers hold through full production remains to be seen.
Cybercab at F1 Fan Fest in Miami
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