News
Singapore minister dismisses Elon Musk and Tesla, states hydrogen is ‘cleaner’ option
Elon Musk might command notable admiration and respect from countries such as China, but it appears that Singapore does not feel the same way about the Tesla CEO. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Singapore’s minister for environment and water resources Masagos Zulkifli issued a brusque rebuttal to Musk’s statement on May 2018, which involved the CEO stating that the island nation was “unwelcome” to electric cars.
When asked by the news agency about his response to Musk’s previous comments, Zulkifli noted that the CEO wants to produce a “lifestyle,” and that is simply something that Singapore prefers to do. Instead, the island nation is looking for proper solutions to address the climate crisis, such as investing in mass transportation. “What Elon Musk wants to produce is a lifestyle. We are not interested in a lifestyle. We are interested in proper solutions that will address climate problems,” he said.
Musk’s tweets about Singapore came as a response to an electric vehicle enthusiast who inquired when Tesla will make its presence felt in the city-state. In a response on Twitter, Musk explained that Tesla had tried to enter the island nation, but Singapore’s government was “not supportive of electric vehicles.” It should be noted that Singapore is incredibly restrictive to ownerships of single-occupancy vehicles, both electric and those powered by the internal combustion engine.
Instead, the city has invested heavily in mass transit systems, with trains and buses covering much of the island’s 720 square kilometers (280 square miles). Yet, despite this, Zulkifli maintained that Singapore is uniquely positioned to embrace a zero-emissions fleet. “If there’s any country which can convert from petrol cars to 100% EVs, it will be Singapore,” he said.
Interestingly, Zulkifli noted that he believes hydrogen-powered vehicles are a better long-term solution than all-electric cars as a means to decarbonize transportation. As noted in a Bloomberg report, the Singapore minister explained that is due to the carbon footprint of battery-electric vehicles, which come mainly from mining the materials required to produce batteries and the challenges for their disposal.
These concerns might prove unfounded in the long run, especially since companies like Tesla are working to optimize the materials used in its vehicle’s batteries, including an initiative to completely remove cobalt from its battery cells. Companies such as Rivian and Jaguar have also started programs to repurpose vehicle batteries after they are no longer optimal for use, converting them into energy storage devices that can be used for homes and remote areas.
Singapore welcomed its first charging point at a petrol station earlier this month, as per the Royal Dutch Shell Plc, and nine more are expected to open by October. This, if any, is a way to address a recent study which showed that about 52% of Singaporeans are deterred from purchasing an electric car because they believe there are not enough places to charge their vehicles (a valid concern considering that most of the island nation’s population do not have personal garages). “Just choosing a parking spot is already problematic. And now you want to say who gets the charging point. We do not have the solution yet,” Zulkifli said.
Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
