News
Elon Musk pledges $1 million to #TeamTrees viral tree-planting initiative
In May of 2019, popular YouTube creator “MrBeast” – real name: Jimmy Donaldson – reached 20 million subscribers. His followers quickly challenged him to plant as many trees as he had followers. In response, the YouTuber did what YouTubers do best: formed a collaborative effort of other well known YouTubers and legitimate foundations to crowdfund a viral challenge. The viral challenge has been so successful in just four days that it now has the backing of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Sounds cool. Where are the trees being planted & what kind of trees?— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2019
With the help of multiple partners, Donaldson paired up with The Arbor Day Foundation to create a fundraising campaign that would plant 20 million trees. TeamTrees.org was created and went live on Oct. 25th following an announcement video posted to the MrBeast Youtube channel. As stated on the site’s FAQ page, the organizers have promised all donors that “for every dollar you donate, one tree will be planted in a forest of high need around the world.”
In just four days the TeamTrees.org official Twitter account has garnered nearly 12 thousand followers when the challenge first caught the eye of Musk. Donaldson posted an update that “almost 6 million” trees had been planted accompanied by a screencap of what just 5,000 trees appeared as in the popular online game “Fortnite.” Musk responded “sounds cool,” but wanted more information and asked, “where are the trees being planted & what kind of trees?”
Of course, it comes as no surprise that the prospect of planting 20 million trees piqued the interest of the billionaire that founded Tesla. Musk has long been a supporter of the premise that electric vehicles could help reduce emissions and preserve the earth of the future. Combining an initiative to save Mother Earth by planting trees and using Fortnite as a visual reference was as genius as it could get to guarantee to grab the billionaire’s attention.
The factor that really drove it home was an almost immediate response by the influential tech review Youtuber, Marques Brownlee. Brownlee, who has had the opportunity to interview Musk at a Tesla factory, responded by linking the billionaire directly to the TeamTrees.org website. Musk then, almost as immediately, pledged to “donate 1M trees,” in other words, donate $1 million to the cause.
Ok, sounds legit, will donate 1M trees— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 29, 2019
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Musk’s promised donation quickly gained appreciation all over the internet. The official Youtube Twitter account soon confirmed the legitimacy of Musk’s pledge. Then, larger than life social media platform – owned by parent company Google – promised to match every one of the following million donations to keep the support of TeamTrees.org going.
While pledging to plant 20 million trees is surely an effort in the right direction of combating global climate change, it may be just a drop in a bucket. As suggested in a fortuitous and completely unrelated article, WIRED.com suggests that more than just planting trees would need to be done in order to really address the issue of excess carbon in the atmosphere. An overarching theme of the article is that “seedlings and fancy agriculture” won’t even make a dent in the issue if emissions aren’t reduced.
“It’s possible to imagine agriculture as a kind of geoengineering, of improving on nature’s yields and productivity. If it could also improve on nature’s ability to put carbon in the ground, that would be transformative. But there’s no evidence yet people can do it at a scale that it can by itself save the planet.” – WIRED.com
Perhaps it won’t completely save the planet from the destruction that has already been done but surely vowing to plant sustainable trees in forests of high need is a step in the right direction. Especially when the cause has gained the attention of thousands of internet users and some very influential creators including MythBusters’ Adam Savage and SmarterEveryday’s Destin Sandlin.
If you would like more information about the campaign backed by Elon Musk, you can view the announcement video below or visit TeamTrees.org to pledge your own donation.
News
SpaceX just launched a secret payload from California
SpaceX launched a classified Space Force mission from Vandenberg, revealing almost nothing about its payload.
SpaceX launched a classified Falcon 9 mission for the U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday night, and the government released almost nothing about what was on board. The mission, designated USSF-366, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E with a window that opened at 9:52 p.m. ET and ran into the early hours of Sunday, according to SpaceX’s own mission page, which described the payload only as classified. SpaceX confirmed the launch on its X account and pointed viewers to a livestream that began roughly ten minutes before liftoff.
Watch Falcon 9 launch the USSF-366 mission from pad 4E in California https://t.co/FFEzeYOds1
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 16, 2026
The lack of detail did not stop analysts from filling in the blanks. Independent tracking of the rocket’s stage drop zones matched the pattern SpaceX has used on previous Starlink Group 15 missions, according to reporting from Outer Space Today, which pointed to Starshield as the likely payload rather than a one off government satellite. Starshield is SpaceX’s national security product, a version of the Starlink satellite bus built to Pentagon specifications for earth observation, communications and hosted payloads. Unlike consumer Starlink, government agencies do not have to disclose what Starshield satellites are actually doing once they reach orbit.
USSF-366 is the latest entry in a steady flow of classified and semi classified work between SpaceX and the Space Force. The company picked up a $178.5 million task order in April to launch missile tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency, as Teslarati reported at the time, and followed that in July with a $1.6 billion award covering 18 more Falcon 9 missions from Vandenberg through the end of 2027, also detailed by Teslarati. Add those contracts up and SpaceX’s Pentagon business for 2026 alone tops $8 billion.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
The Falcon 9 that flew Saturday landed back near the launch site, producing the sonic booms that have become routine for residents near Vandenberg. What is less routine is how little the public will likely ever learn about what the rocket carried. SpaceX and the Space Force have not confirmed the Starshield connection, and government satellite programs built on commercial buses rarely get identified beyond a mission number and a general orbit. For a company that live streams almost everything else it does, from Starship test flights to Optimus robot demos, USSF-366 is a reminder that some of SpaceX’s busiest work now happens entirely out of public view.
On Friday, Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter that enabled Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) energy transfer, meaning owners could essentially utilize their cars as a power source for things like laptops, electric grills, or string lights.
However, even owners of some of the newest builds of the Model Y are finding out that their cars are not compatible with the new $80 accessory, stirring up a new complaint among members of the community.
Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.
Upon the release of the Outlet Adapter on Friday, I signed into my Tesla account to order the accessory. However, I was met with the dreaded “This product is not compatible with your 2026 Model Y” message at the bottom of the screen.
Some said their accounts also displayed the same message, but they ordered anyway. However, they might be surprised to find that this is no mistake; some of the newest Model Ys do not have the appropriate Power Conversion System (PCS). Mine, which was ordered on this day last year and delivered on August 31, has the old 48A, single-phase PCS.
Vehicles with the new, two-piece PCS are able to utilize V2L features on their cars:
🚨 Looks like you can hit the Parts Catalog and enter your VIN and check to see if your Model Y will be able to use the adapter for V2L.https://t.co/QA9zRk7n2k
h/t to @SawyerMerritt for finding this out.
I am sad but this isn’t a huge loss. https://t.co/AYpI12QVV9 pic.twitter.com/LRFSrtRywo
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 16, 2026
Obviously, it’s disappointing. Many owners have taken delivery this year and still can not utilize the Outlet Adapter because their cars feature the old PCS:
Took delivery in February of 2026. I have the older one, so not going to work for me pic.twitter.com/RcOVq8gvvT
— Russell (@QuietTesla) August 16, 2026
It looks like if you have one of these older PCS units, you can upgrade, but the parts alone are $1,750, and that’s before Tesla adds labor for installing. It is honestly more logical to get some kind of portable power supply or power station at that point.
It is great that Tesla has enabled V2L for Model Y vehicles, but it is also unfortunate that vehicles that are less than one year old are not able to take advantage of this awesome new feature.
With that being said, it truly is a first-world problem; can you really complain when Full Self-Driving is available, maintenance is incredibly inexpensive, and the car has been so good through a year of ownership?
Tesla has launched a new Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y vehicles in the United States, meaning you can now power devices like laptops or light strings with your vehicle’s battery.
It appears the capability will be available for any Model Y Premium trim, including those that were purchased prior to the Adapter being launched. It will also only impact Juniper Model Y vehicles, so the first-gen owners will unfortunately not have access to this capability.
If your Model Y was purchased before Tesla renamed the trim levels to “Premium” and “Standard,” it does not seem to be compatible. My Model Y is technically a Premium build, as it is the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive. However, Tesla says it is not compatible with my vehicle.
🚨 Tesla has launched the Outlet Adapter for Model Y Premium in the U.S., enabling V2L capability for all Premium trims (that’s what it appears to be as it is available for purchase with all Premium trims)
It’s available for $80. 2.4kW max power and rated for 120v, 20A pic.twitter.com/lDxlVIk5s8
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 14, 2026
For $80, you can now utilize your car as a portable charger for small appliances or devices. This is perfect for things like tailgates, concerts, or camping, as you can now plug in devices that you might use. Those string lights for camping? That laptop for the other games that are on at the tailgate?
They’ll both utilize energy from your Tesla’s battery to be powered. This is the first time Tesla has expanded the capability to vehicles outside of the Model Y Performance and Cybertruck. However, this feature has been highly requested by owners for an extended period of time.
Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter in China last year:
Tesla China rolls out Model Y L V2L adapter, and it’s free for early owners
You will need the Mobile Connector to operate the Outlet Adapter: the Outlet Adapter will plug into the main housing of the Mobile Connector, where the appropriate adapter to charge your vehicle will plug in.
It is rated for 120 volts and 20 amps, and has a max power rating of 2.4kW.
You can buy it here from Tesla for $80.
SpaceX just launched a secret payload from California
Tesla V2L adapter for Model Y stirs up a new complaint among owners
