Lifestyle
Elon Musk teases ‘Ice Blaster’ as The Boring Co. delivers first 1000 flamethrowers
Following the release of the Not-a-Flamethrower, it was only a matter of time before Elon Musk announced the next merchandise that The Boring Company would offer. Never one to disappoint, Musk stated that the Boring Co. Ice Blaster would be offered sometime before winter.
Elon Musk has actually mentioned the Boring Co. Ice Blaster earlier this year. Back in January, Musk was discussing the Not-a-Flamethrower on his Twitter page when one of his followers asked about the tunneling startup’s future products. During that time the Tesla and SpaceX CEO teased a device he dubbed as a “Freezegun.”
Good thing you didn’t ask about the Freezegun …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2018
At this point, it seems safe to say that The Boring Company would indeed make an Ice Blaster sometime later this year. Musk, after all, has garnered a well-deserved reputation for joking about things on Twitter and eventually following up with something real. The Boring Co. Not-a-Flamethrower is the perfect example of this, as Musk first mentioned the device back in December 2017 seemingly as a joke, or at least that’s what it seemed like before the firestarter was released.
In a way, selling an Ice Blaster would not be too difficult for the tunneling startup. The materials needed for a handheld Ice Blaster, after all, are already very similar to the items that The Boring Co. utilized for the Not-a-Flamethrower, such as a tank of propane and an internal trigger mechanism. Considering that liquid propane becomes super cold when it gets dispensed, all the tunneling startup really needs to do is to repurpose the Not-a-Flamethrower by removing its igniter. Once that is complete, the Boring Co. Ice Blaster is as good as done.
This actually makes Elon Musk’s “before winter” timeline more than feasible. The company, after all, only needs to manufacture another batch of modified Not-a-Flamethrowers to release its next product. Pricing for the icy device has not been announced, but it’s possible that the TBC Ice Blaster would be priced at around the same range as its fiery counterpart.
- The Boring Company holds a handover party for the first 1,000 Not-a-Flamethrower reservation holders. [Credit: Elon Musk/Twitter]
- The Boring Company holds a handover party for the first 1,000 Not-a-Flamethrower reservation holders. [Credit: Elon Musk/Twitter]
- The Boring Company holds a handover party for the first 1,000 Not-a-Flamethrower reservation holders. [Credit: Elon Musk/Twitter]
- The Boring Company holds a handover party for the first 1,000 Not-a-Flamethrower reservation holders. [Credit: Elon Musk/Twitter]
- The Boring Company holds a handover party for the first 1,000 Not-a-Flamethrower reservation holders. [Credit: Frank Ippolito/Twitter]
☑️ flamethrower
☑️ roasted marshmallowsthanks @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/725sGGsXE8
— Brownies & Lemonade🍫🍋 (@TeamBandL) June 9, 2018
The Boring Company’s pickup party for the first 1,000 Not-a-Flamethrowers on Saturday appeared to be a success. Based on images posted by Musk of the event, it seems like Not-a-Flamethrower reservation holders were had a grand time. One buyer, Frank Ippolito, even noted that since he bought the Not-a-Flamethrower, he was going to donate $1,000 to the California Wildfire Relief Fund. Responding to the Not-a-Flamethrower buyer, Musk stated that the Boring Company would be donating $10,000 to the CWRF.
The Boring Company Not-a-Flamethrower was priced at $500 per piece, and it quickly proved to be an overwhelming success. The device sold out within four days, raising $10 million during its limited run. The Not-a-Flamethrower attracted its own set of critics, however, such as LA Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), who attempted to file a bill that would restrict the public’s access to flame-making devices. As we noted in a previous report, however, Santiago’s efforts ended up being held at the Assembly Appropriations Committee, ultimately becoming a victim of the state’s “suspense file” process.
For now, however, here’s an unboxing video of the Boring Company’s Not-a-Flamethrower, courtesy of Tesla owner-YouTuber and hypermiler that managed to squeeze 606 miles of range from a Model 3, Erik Strait.
Elon Musk
Tesla’s golden era is no longer a tagline
Tesla “golden era” teaser video highlights the future of transportation and why car ownership itself may be the next thing to change.
The golden age of autonomous ridesharing is arriving, and Tesla is making sure we can all picture a future that looks like the future. A recent teaser posted to X shows a Cybercab parked outside a home, and with a clear message that your everyday life may soon look like this when the driverless vehicles shows up at your door.
Tesla has begun the rollout of its Robotaxi service across US cities, and the production of its dedicated, fully-autonomous Cybercab vehicle. The first Cybercab rolled off the Giga Texas assembly line on February 17, 2026, with volume production now targeted for this month. Additionally, the Robotaxi service built around it is already running, without human drivers, in US cities.
Tesla Cybercab production ignites with 60 units spotted at Giga Texas
The Cybercab is built without a steering wheel, pedals, or side mirrors, designed from the ground up for unsupervised autonomous operation. Musk described the manufacturing approach as closer to consumer electronics than traditional car production, targeting a cycle time of one unit every ten seconds at full scale.
Drone footage from April 13, 2026 captured over 50 Cybercab units on the Giga Texas campus, with several clustered near the crash testing facility. Musk has noted that Tesla plans to sell the Cybercab to consumers for under $30,000, and owners will be able to add their vehicles to the Tesla robotaxi network when not in personal use, potentially generating income to offset the vehicle’s purchase cost. That model changes the math on vehicle ownership in a meaningful way, making a car something closer to a depreciating asset that can also earn by paying itself off and generate a profit.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call, the company confirmed plans to expand the Robotaxi program to seven new cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas. The service already runs without safety drivers in Austin, and public road testing of the Cybercab has expanded to five states, including California, Texas, New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts.
Golden era pic.twitter.com/AS6pX2dK8N
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) April 16, 2026
Firmware
Tesla 2026 Spring Update drops 12 new features owners have been waiting for
Tesla announced its Spring 2026 software update, and it’s the most feature-dense seasonal release the company has put out. The update covers twelve named changes spanning FSD, voice AI, safety lighting, dashcam storage, and pet display customization, among other things.
The centerpiece for owners with AI4 hardware is a redesigned Self-Driving app. The new interface lets owners subscribe to Full Self-Driving with a single tap and view ongoing FSD usage stats directly in the vehicle.
Grok gets its biggest in-car upgrade yet. The update adds a “Hey Grok” hands-free wake word along with location-based reminders, so a driver can now say “remind me to pick up groceries when I get home” without touching the screen. Grok first arrived in vehicles in July 2025, but each update has pushed it closer to genuine daily utility. Musk framed the broader vision clearly at Davos in January, saying Tesla is “really moving into a future that is based on autonomy.”
On safety, the update introduces enhanced blind spot warning lights that integrate directly with the cabin’s ambient lighting, building on the blind spot door warning that arrived in update 2026.8.
Dog Mode has been renamed Pet Mode and now lets owners choose a dog, cat, or hedgehog icon and add their pet’s name to the display.
Dashcam retention now extends up to 24 hours, up from the previous one-hour rolling loop, with a permanent save option for any clip. Weather maps now show rain and snow with better color differentiation and include the past hour of precipitation data along the route.
Tesla has now established a clear rhythm of two major OTA pushes per year. As with last year’s Spring update, that cycle started taking shape in 2025 with adaptive headlights and trunk customization. The 2025 Holiday Update then added Grok to the vehicle for the first time. This Spring follows that structure: the Holiday update introduces new architecture, and the Spring update broadens it across the fleet.
Two notable features still did not make it. IFTTT automations, which launched in China earlier this year, were held back from this North American release for unknown reasons, and Apple CarPlay remains absent, reportedly still delayed by iOS 26 and Apple Maps compatibility issues.
Below is the full list of feature updates released by Tesla.
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 13, 2026
Lifestyle
Tesla hit by Iranian missile debris in Israel
A Tesla in Israel absorbed a direct hit from missile debris, and the glassroof held.
On March 30, 2026, Lara Shusterman was in Netanya, Israel when Iranian ballistic missiles triggered air raid sirens across the city. While she remained in safety, her 2024 Tesla Model Y did not escape untouched. A heavy piece of missile debris struck the car’s massive glass roof, leaving a deep crater but without shattering. In a Facebook post to the Tesla Israel community the following morning, Shusterman described what happened: “The glass did not shatter into dangerous shards. She stopped the damage and pushed the metal part to the ground.” She closed by thanking Elon Musk and the Tesla team for building what she called “security and a sense of trust even in extreme situations.”
Netanya is a coastal city in central Israel, roughly 18 miles north of Tel Aviv and has been among the areas most frequently struck during Iran’s ongoing missile campaign, following coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian military infrastructure. Falling shrapnel from intercepted missiles is a common occurrence.
- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
- A piece of Iranian missile debris that struck Lara Shusterman’s Tesla Model Y in Netanya, Israel on March 30, 2026, after being intercepted by Israeli air defenses.
- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
The incident is a testament to Tesla’s structural engineering. Tesla’s glass roof is designed to support over four times the vehicle’s own weight. That strength has shown up in real-world accidents too. In 2021, a Model Y in California was struck by a falling tree during a storm, with the glass roof holding firm and the cabin remaining intact. In another widely reported incident, a Tesla Model Y plunged 250 feet off the cliff at Devil’s Slide in California in January 2023, with all four occupants, including two young children, surviving.
Disturbing details about Tesla’s 250-foot cliff drop emerge amid initial investigation
Tesla officially launched sales in Israel in early 2021 and captured over 60 percent of Israel’s EV market in the first year. The brand’s foothold in Israel remains significant. Tens of thousands of Teslas are now on Israeli roads, making incidents like Shusterman’s easy to corroborate. On the same week her Model Y took the hit, the U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $178.5 million contract to launch missile tracking satellites, a separate but fitting reminder of how intertwined the Musk ecosystem has become with the realities of modern conflict.











