News
The Boring Co. is holding a Not-a-Flamethrower pickup party on June 9
In an update on Saturday, Elon Musk announced that The Boring Company would be holding a Not-a-Flamethrower pickup party in Los Angeles on June 9.
During The Boring Company’s information session earlier this month, Elon Musk, together with SpaceX engineer Steve Davis, stated that the delivery and shipment of the Not-a-Flamethrowers were delayed since shipping items with propane proved to be complicated. Thus, according to Musk, the Boring Co. has come up with a solution to its shipping problems — the company will custom-deliver the Not-a-Flamethrowers to the homes of reservation holders.
About to ship. @BoringCompany holding flamethrower pickup parties in a week or so, then deliveries begin. Check https://t.co/WTl3TOTOkt for details.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2018
As it turns out, however, the Boring Company has an extra surprise before it starts delivering the fiery device. As could be seen in a recently shared screenshot of a correspondence from the tunneling startup (credit to u/Herbrax212 of the r/BoringCompany subreddit), a pick-up party for the first 1,000 Not-a-Flamethrowers would be held in Los Angeles on June 9. Following is an excerpt from the email that The Boring Company recently sent out to reservation holders.
-->Anyways… we are hosting a Not-a-Flamethrower pickup party in Los Angeles on June 9, 2018, from noon to 5 pm. Up to 1,000 customers can pick up their Not-a-Flamethrower, toast some marshmallows, take some fun pics, prep to take on a zombie horde, and (of course) receive a refund for their shipping charges. Only eligible customers who have signed the terms and conditions and have registered at www.boringcompany.com/pickup may attend. Don’t worry if you can’t make it; all Not-a-Flamethrowers will ship out this summer!
Where should we throw our next pick up party?
The Boring Company
The Boring Company Not-a-Flamethrower started off as a joke from Elon Musk and yet another reference to Hollywood sci-fi flick Spaceballs. In a tweet last December, Musk stated that the tunneling startup would release a flamethrower after selling its 50,000th Boring Company hat. Sure enough, after the inventory of the hats were cleared out, signs of the Boring Company Flamethrower started emerging.
By January, musician D.A. Wallach shared a video of the fiery device on his Instagram page. Not long after that, Elon Musk officially launched the Flamethrower in the Boring Company’s website, selling the contraption for $500 each. All 20,000 Boring Company Flamethrowers were sold out within four days, raising $10 million for the tunneling startup.
-->The device, however, did not come without its detractors. California assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), for one, expressed his opposition to the device, citing its safety concerns. Customs agencies also stated that they would not ship anything that is branded as a flamethrower. In response to this, Musk opted to rebrand the fiery device, calling it a Not-a-Flamethrower.
While the Boring Company Not-a-Flamethrower looks like a powerful firestarter, the device is actually more akin to a propane torch fitted on what appears to be a modified airsoft rifle. Considering that the device can only shoot flames up to a few feet, the Not-a-Flamethrower is actually more similar to a Weed Dragon, which could be purchased in any hardware store, than an actual flamethrower such as the XM42-M, which can shoot flames up to 30 feet.
News
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
The refreshed Tesla Model 3 has won the DRIVEN Car Guide AA Insurance NZ Car of the Year 2025 award in the Passenger Car category, beating all traditional and electric rivals.
Judges praised the all-electric sedan’s driving dynamics, value-packed EV tech, and the game-changing addition of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) that went live in New Zealand this September.
Why the Model 3 clinched the crown
DRIVEN admitted they were late to the “Highland” party because the updated sedan arrived in New Zealand as a 2024 model, just before the new Model Y stole the headlines. Yet two things forced a re-evaluation this year.
First, experiencing the new Model Y reminded testers how many big upgrades originated in the Model 3, such as the smoother ride, quieter cabin, ventilated seats, rear touchscreen, and stalk-less minimalist interior. Second, and far more importantly, Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
FSD changes everything for Kiwi buyers
The publication called the entry-level rear-wheel-drive version “good to drive and represents a lot of EV technology for the money,” but highlighted that FSD elevates it into another league. “Make no mistake, despite the ‘Supervised’ bit in the name that requires you to remain ready to take control, it’s autonomous and very capable in some surprisingly tricky scenarios,” the review stated.
-->At NZ$11,400, FSD is far from cheap, but Tesla also offers FSD (Supervised) on a $159 monthly subscription, making the tech accessible without the full upfront investment. That’s a game-changer, as it allows users to access the company’s most advanced system without forking over a huge amount of money.
News
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out.
It appears that the Tesla AI team burned the midnight oil, allowing them to release FSD V14.2.1 on Thanksgiving. The update has been reported by Tesla owners with AI4 vehicles, as well as Cybertruck owners.
For the Tesla AI team, at least, it appears that work really does not stop.
FSD V14.2.1
Initial posts about FSD V14.2.1 were shared by Tesla owners on social media platform X. As per the Tesla owners, V14.2.1 appears to be a point update that’s designed to polish the features and capacities that have been available in FSD V14. A look at the release notes for FSD V14.2.1, however, shows that an extra line has been added.
“Camera visibility can lead to increased attention monitoring sensitivity.”
Whether this could lead to more drivers being alerted to pay attention to the roads more remains to be seen. This would likely become evident as soon as the first batch of videos from Tesla owners who received V14.21 start sharing their first drive impressions of the update. Despite the update being released on Thanksgiving, it would not be surprising if first impressions videos of FSD V14.2.1 are shared today, just the same.
-->Rapid FSD releases
What is rather interesting and impressive is the fact that FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out. This bodes well for Tesla’s FSD users, especially since CEO Elon Musk has stated in the past that the V14.2 series will be for “widespread use.”
FSD V14 has so far received numerous positive reviews from Tesla owners, with numerous drivers noting that the system now drives better than most human drivers because it is cautious, confident, and considerate at the same time. The only question now, really, is if the V14.2 series does make it to the company’s wide FSD fleet, which is still populated by numerous HW3 vehicles.
News
Waymo rider data hints that Tesla’s Cybercab strategy might be the smartest, after all
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota Connected Europe designer Karim Dia Toubajie has highlighted a particular trend that became evident in Waymo’s Q3 2025 occupancy stats. As it turned out, 90% of the trips taken by the driverless taxis carried two or fewer passengers.
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota designer observes a trend
Karim Dia Toubajie, Lead Product Designer (Sustainable Mobility) at Toyota Connected Europe, analyzed Waymo’s latest California Public Utilities Commission filings and posted the results on LinkedIn this week.
“90% of robotaxi trips have 2 or less passengers, so why are we using 5-seater vehicles?” Toubajie asked. He continued: “90% of trips have 2 or less people, 75% of trips have 1 or less people.” He accompanied his comments with a graphic showing Waymo’s occupancy rates, which showed 71% of trips having one passenger, 15% of trips having two passengers, 6% of trips having three passengers, 5% of trips having zero passengers, and only 3% of trips having four passengers.
The data excludes operational trips like depot runs or charging, though Toubajie pointed out that most of the time, Waymo’s massive self-driving taxis are really just transporting 1 or 2 people, at times even no passengers at all. “This means that most of the time, the vehicle being used significantly outweighs the needs of the trip,” the Toyota designer wrote in his post.
-->Cybercab suddenly looks perfectly sized
Toubajie gave a nod to Tesla’s approach. “The Tesla Cybercab announced in 2024, is a 2-seater robotaxi with a 50kWh battery but I still believe this is on the larger side of what’s required for most trips,” he wrote.
With Waymo’s own numbers now proving 90% of demand fits two seats or fewer, the wheel-less, lidar-free Cybercab now looks like the smartest play in the room. The Cybercab is designed to be easy to produce, with CEO Elon Musk commenting that its product line would resemble a consumer electronics factory more than an automotive plant. This means that the Cybercab could saturate the roads quickly once it is deployed.
While the Cybercab will likely take the lion’s share of Tesla’s ride-hailing passengers, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover would be perfect for the remaining 9% of riders who require larger vehicles. This should be easy to implement for Tesla, as the Model Y and Model 3 are both mass-market vehicles.
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
