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Elon Musk: 50%+ of new cars will be electric in 10 years, no steering wheel in 20 years

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Speaking at the 2017 National Governor’s Association meeting in Rhode Island on Saturday, serial tech entrepreneur Elon Musk told state leaders that more than half of new cars being produced will be electric in ten years, and almost all of them will be fully autonomous self-driving vehicles.

When asked by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval who invited Musk to speak on innovation at the NGA meeting, “What would you want things to look like in 5 to 10 years, associated with energy and autonomous vehicles: electric vehicles?” Musk noted that there was a big difference between a 5-year timeframe and a 10-year timeframe, saying that innovation will grow exponentially.

“Probably in 10 years, more than a half of new vehicle production is electric in the United States,” said Musk, adding “half of all production will be EV, I think almost all cars produced will be autonomous.”

However, those expecting to see a transportation network dominated by self-driving cars should curb some of their expectations. Though it’s likely that more than 50% of new vehicles will be fully autonomous in 2027, Musk points out that new production only represents 5% of the overall vehicle fleet on the roads. In other words, given the 15 to 20-year life span of cars, the large majority of vehicles on the roads will still be human-operated.

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The ratio of self-driving cars to human-driven ones will quickly increase and skew in favor of fully autonomous cars as we near 2037. “There will be not be a steering wheel” said Musk when asked by Sandoval on whether drivers would need to touch a vehicle’s steering wheel 20 years from now.

“There will not be a steering wheel, in 20 years, it [owning a regular car] will be like having a horse” – Elon Musk

The statement comes as Tesla continues to make significant advancements in Autopilot 2.0 technology and aims to complete a fully autonomous car by end of this year.

Musk has said on several occasions that Tesla plans to showcase a cross-country journey made in a self-driving car, and with no human intervention, that will travel from California to a parking garage in New York by the end of 2017.

“November or December of this year, we should be able to go all the way from a parking lot in California to a parking lot in New York with no controls touched in the entire journey.” said Musk from TED 2017 earlier this year.

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Gene has been obsessed with cars since before he could legally sit in the front seat. Writer, researcher, unofficial CS support, accountant, native suit guy when needed, and overall stick poker. He approaches every story the way he approaches a road trip: with too much enthusiasm, not enough planning, and a surprisingly good outcome. gene@teslarati.com

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Elon Musk

Tesla Hardware 3 owners could be made whole this month

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Credit: Tesla Asia/Twitter

Tesla Hardware 3 owners are set to get a new Full Self-Driving version this month as the company plans to release what it is referring to as v14 Lite.

The rollout is not yet confirmed for June, but Tesla executives have stated on several occasions that this more refined FSD iteration will work with their cars and increase its capabilities.

This comes after Tesla admitted during its last Earnings Call that these Hardware 3 vehicles would not be able to achieve Full Self-Driving, something that they did not know when they bought these cars. We regularly receive messages from Hardware 3 owners asking when v14 Lite will come out, what they should expect, and whether it is worth it to upgrade the self-driving computer or buy a new car altogether.

It is hard not to feel for them; Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the company’s 2019 Autonomy Day that all vehicles produced at the time, including Hardware 3 cars, had “all the hardware necessary, compute and otherwise, for Full Self-Driving.”

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Musk also said in March of that year that, “Anyone who purchased Full Self-Driving will get FSD computer upgrade for free.”

However, during the Q1 2026 Earnings Call, Musk admitted that Hardware 3 vehicles would not be capable of FSD, as “It has only 1/8th the memory bandwidth of Hardware 4, and memory bandwidth is one of the key elements needed for unsupervised FSD.”

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Tesla has made some effort to remedy these Hardware 3 owners by offering:

  • Discounted trade-ins toward AI4 cars
  • Hardware retrofits, which would replace the self-driving computer and upgrade all cameras
  • Full Self-Driving v14 Lite

The issue is that many of these owners were led to believe their cars would be capable of unsupervised self-driving. Now, they’re left scrambling for options, and while there are several, they will all require more money out of their pockets.

Expectations for Tesla v14 Lite for Hardware 3 Owners

The big differences between the AI4 v14 and v14 Lite for Hardware 3 owners will stem primarily from hardware constraints. Tesla developed v14 Lite with an optimized frame of mind; the v14 neural nets are toned down to run on an HW3 computer.

Tesla v14 will use the same behavior, but its limits will be hardware-related, especially given that the cameras on HW3 vehicles are lower-resolution.

Tesla reveals its plans for Hardware 3 owners who are eager for updates

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This will result in potentially more edge cases due to the lower quality perception and less long-range detection, but reaction time and overall confidence should be more refined.

There should also be a handful of additional features that are available on AI4 cars, such as:

  • Starting Full Self-Driving from Park
  • Auto Shift
  • Streaks
  • Speed Profiles
  • Improved Dynamics, like Pulling Over for Emergency Vehicles

Tesla plans to release v14 Lite this month, but we are all familiar with how the company can be with timelines. Additionally, if v14 Lite has not proven to be ready for a wide release, Tesla will slam the brakes on the rollout.

We would anticipate that Tesla is testing v14 Lite internally, and likely has been for several months.

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SpaceXAI just launched into your kitchen with their new app

SpaceXAI just powered its first consumer app and it predicts what you want to buy.

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SpaceXAI just made its first move into consumer AI, and it involves your grocery cart. On June 3, 2026, Gopuff and SpaceXAI announced the launch of Go, a Grok-powered shopping assistant built directly into the Gopuff app that predicts what you need before you even start searching for it.

Gopuff is an instant delivery platform that operates more than 400 micro-fulfillment centers across the U.S., delivering everyday essentials, snacks, drinks, and household items in as little as 15 minutes. It is not a restaurant delivery app or a marketplace. It owns its inventory, controls its warehouses, and handles its own logistics, which means it has built one of the most detailed consumer behavior datasets in retail over its 13-year history.

Go combines SpaceXAI’s advanced reasoning, voice, and image generation models with Gopuff’s dataset of hundreds of millions of orders and real-time cultural signals from X to prepare a suggested cart the moment a customer opens the app. It learns each shopper’s habits and automatically builds a personalized cart based on time of day, location, order history, and real-time indicators. Returning customers can check out with a single tap.


Rather than searching for specific items, users can describe a situation like a game-day party or the desire for a healthy breakfast and Go will assemble a cart automatically. It can also predict when shoppers are running low on items like coffee or paper towels and have them packed and delivered in under 15 minutes. Grok voice integration lets users talk to the app in plain conversational language and check out completely hands-free.

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Gopuff co-founder and co-CEO Yakir Gola said: “Today, we believe the greatest friction left in commerce is not delivery or instantaneous access to the essentials customers need. It’s the moment before: the thinking, the deciding, the remembering. We’re combining Gopuff’s demand intelligence with xAI’s frontier reasoning to create an everyday shopping experience that feels like a true extension of you.”

Why SpaceX just made a $60 billion bet on AI coding ahead of historic IPO

The timing carries context beyond the product launch. SpaceXAI was formed after SpaceX completed an all-stock merger with Elon Musk’s xAI earlier this year, folding one of the most advanced AI labs in the world into the same corporate structure as the company preparing what could be the largest IPO in history. SpaceXAI is dipping into consumer-focused AI just as it prepares for its public debut, and while Musk has openly discussed building an everything app, this launch uses Grok to power another company’s product rather than launching a standalone consumer platform. Every consumer-facing deployment of Grok ahead of the IPO roadshow adds tangible evidence that SpaceXAI is not just an infrastructure play but a direct competitor in the AI application layer where OpenAI and Google are already fighting for dominance.

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Tesla adds new Supercharger feature for a better idea of what to expect

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has introduced an enhanced visualization in its Supercharger navigation system, building directly on the Site Maps feature rolled out a few months ago.

This latest software update adds detailed 3D icons that represent specific vehicle models parked at charging stalls, offering drivers a more precise view of site occupancy and layout.

The Site Maps debuted in Tesla’s 2025 Holiday Update, providing 3D overviews of select Supercharger locations with real-time stall availability.

Tesla supplements Holiday Update by sneaking in new Full Self-Driving version

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Drivers could see which spots were open, occupied, or out of service when navigating to supported stations.

Now, the system takes this capability further by rendering accurate representations of Tesla vehicles, including distinctions between models such as the Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck. These icons appear as lifelike 3D renderings, complete with recognizable shapes and proportions that match the actual cars charging at the site:

This refinement improves the user experience during road trips and daily charging stops. As drivers approach a Supercharger, the navigation display now shows not just generic occupied markers but identifiable vehicle types plugged into each stall.

Blue indicators highlight active charging sessions, while other visual cues denote availability or maintenance status. The feature integrates seamlessly with the existing map interface, allowing quick assessment of the best available spot based on vehicle size and positioning.

Tesla continues to expand the availability of these detailed Site Maps across its global network. Initially piloted at a limited number of locations, the rollout has progressed steadily, with more stations gaining support in recent software versions.

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Owners benefit from better planning, as the system helps identify compatible stalls and reduces uncertainty upon arrival. The update reflects Tesla’s ongoing commitment to refining its navigation and charging ecosystem through iterative software improvements.

In addition to model-specific icons, the enhanced maps maintain all prior functionalities, such as integration with nearby amenities and energy usage predictions. This ensures a comprehensive tool for efficient Supercharging.

As Tesla’s fleet grows and the network scales, such features play a key role in optimizing the overall ownership experience. Future updates may extend similar visualizations to additional sites and incorporate even more data points for drivers.

With this piggyback enhancement, Tesla demonstrates how small but thoughtful additions can elevate an already useful tool, making Supercharger visits smoother and more informed for its customers. The company is expected to broaden the feature’s reach in upcoming releases, further solidifying its leadership in EV charging infrastructure.

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