

News
Elon Musk offers Tesla Powerpacks, Boring Co. tech to help rescue stranded soccer team in Thailand
In a recent update on Twitter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk offered to lend a hand to the ongoing rescue efforts for the stranded soccer team in Thailand. According to Musk, technology from the Boring Company and Tesla could help rescuers retrieve the 12 young players and their coach from the depths of the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex.
Elon Musk’s offer to help in the rescue efforts for the young soccer team came as a response to one of his followers on Twitter. Musk initially stated that he would be happy to help if he is able, but earlier today, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO offered a concrete way to assist in the rescue operations.
Boring Co has advanced ground penetrating radar & is pretty good at digging holes. Don’t know if pump rate is limited by electric power or pumps are too smal. If so, could dropship fully charged Powerpacks and pumps.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2018
The members of the Wild Boar soccer team had been trapped inside the cave complex since June 23, after the group got stranded in an air pocket inside the caverns due to flooding in the area. The team’s plight has captured attention worldwide, and this Monday, the 12 boys, aged 11-15, as well as their 25-year-old coach, received their first dose of good news when two British divers found them in a cavern 2.5 miles away from the entrance of the caves. Thai Navy SEAL divers, including a doctor and a nurse, opted to stay with the soccer team on Tuesday, providing them with food and other supplies.
As noted in a recent report from The Guardian, there are currently three plans being considered for the group’s rescue. The first plan involves teaching the children and their coach how to dive, the second involves draining the tunnels to adequately lower the water levels, and the third involves drilling into the caves to create a way out for the stranded soccer team. If Musk’s tweet is any indication, the Boring Company and Tesla can provide support for the third and second plans.
The Boring Company, after all, specializes in tunneling and drilling underground. As noted by Musk, the tunneling startup’s digging equipment and ground-penetrating radar could be of use when drilling into the caves. Government officials have expressed reservations for this plan, however, considering that the boys are located 800m-1km below the surface. An attempt to drain the caves has already started as well, and as noted by Musk in his tweet, Tesla Powerpack batteries could be hooked up to stronger pumps in order to help lower the water levels in the caverns faster.
Considering the risks brought about by the monsoon season, however, the Thai government is preparing to send up to four months’ worth of supplies to the stranded soccer team, in the event that rescue efforts fail and they have to stay in the caves for the long run.
Tesla is no stranger to humanitarian efforts. Even until today, Tesla is still in the process of helping Puerto Rico get back on its feet after the island nation was ravaged by Hurricane Maria last year. In a recent update, Musk noted that there are currently 11,000 projects ongoing in Puerto Rico today. Over in Australia, Tesla is also laying the foundations of what could become a virtual power plant comprised of 50,000 low-income households fitted with solar panels and Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries.
News
Tesla Robotaxi just got a big benefit from the U.S. government
The NHTSA is looking to help streamline the application process for companies developing driverless vehicles.

Tesla Robotaxi just got a big benefit from the U.S. Government, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is looking to ease some rules and streamline the application process that could hinder the development and licensing of autonomous vehicles.
Tesla is set to launch its Robotaxi platform in the coming days or weeks, but regulation on autonomous vehicles is incredibly slim, so automakers are left in a strange limbo as permissions to operate are usually up to local jurisdictions.
The NHTSA still has the ultimate say, but it is now adopting a new strategy that will see companies gain an exemption from federal safety standards and streamline the entire application process.
The agency is authorized to grant exemptions to permit manufacturers to produce vehicles over a two or three-year period that might not comply with certain Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Robotaxi, for example, will eventually not have a steering wheel or pedals, through the Cybercab that Tesla unveiled last October.
The exemption program the NHTSA announced today would be possible through Part 555 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act:
“NHTSA may grant a Part 555 exemption if at least one of four bases listed in the statute is met and NHTSA determines that the exemption is consistent with the public interest and the Safety Act. The statute also authorizes NHTSA to subject an exemption to terms the agency deems appropriate and requires that NHTSA publish notice of the application and provide an opportunity to comment.”
The rapid and non-stop innovation that is being performed is tough to keep up with from a legal standpoint. The NHTSA recognizes this and says current legislation is appropriate for traditional vehicles, but not for the self-driving cars companies are producing now:
“The current Part 555 process was designed for traditional vehicles. As currently applied, this process is not well suited for processing exemptions involving ADS-equipped vehicles in a timely manner or overseeing the unique complexities involving their operations. This has resulted in long processing times for applications for ADS-equipped vehicles. NHTSA must improve its Part 555 processing times substantially to keep pace with the rapid innovation of the ADS industry and to ensure that exemptions remain effective tools for nurturing groundbreaking safety technologies.”
Now, the NHTSA will be “enhancing application instructions” to help manufacturers understand the requirements involved in the application process. This will streamline the entire process by “reducing the need for NHTSA to request additional information from the manufacturer,” the agency says.
First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX
Next, the NHTSA is going to have a more flexible approach to evaluating exemptions for ADS-equipped vehicles:
“To build flexibility into the Part 555 process while also accounting for the unique aspects of those exemptions, NHTSA intends to develop terms that could be included in Part 555 exemption grants, when appropriate, to condition operations of exempted ADS-equipped vehicles on enhanced and continuing oversight from NHTSA. NHTSA would expect to administer this enhanced oversight through letters, which could be updated over time, mirroring real-world ADS development. This will enable NHTSA to focus its initial review during the application stage and align the Part 555 oversight approach more closely to exemptions administered under NHTSA’s Automated Vehicle Exemption Program (AVEP), which have proven effective for ADS.”
This will benefit any company making autonomous vehicles, but it will especially benefit Tesla in the short-term as it is readying for the launch of Robotaxi.
Tesla is trading up 1.89 percent at the time of publication.
Part 555 Letter June 2025 by Joey Klender on Scribd
News
SpaceX produces its 10 millionth Starlink kit
The first 5 million Starlink kits took nearly four years to build.

SpaceX has achieved a major milestone, producing its 10 millionth Starlink kit. The accomplishment was celebrated across the company’s Hawthorne, California, and Bastrop, Texas, facilities.
The milestone was shared in social media by Sujay Soman, Senior Facilities Engineer, in a LinkedIn post, which has since been deleted.
Starlink Production Ramp
Soman noted in his LinkedIn post that the first 5 million Starlink kits took nearly four years to build, but the next 5 million kits were completed in just 11 months. This underscores SpaceX’s intense efforts to ramp up the satellite internet system’s production, and it reflects the private space company’s manufacturing prowess.
The SpaceX Senior Facilities Engineer shared a couple of photos of the Machine Maintenance and Facilities team in Bastrop to commemorate the event.
“Today, Starlink Product teams across our Hawthorne and Bastrop sites produced the 10th Million Starlink Kit! It took almost 4 years to build our first 5 million kits, and we doubled that in about 11 months. Monumental accomplishment!” Soman wrote in his post.

World-Changing Technology
The Starlink kits, featuring dish hardware and supporting equipment, enable users to connect to the company’s growing constellation of low Earth orbit satellites. With over 6,000 satellites launched to date, Starlink now provides fast and reliable internet connectivity to over 6 million customers worldwide. This was a significant increase from the 5 million customers that the company reported in February 2025.
SpaceX has not detailed its next production targets, but the production of Starlink’s 10 millionth kit milestone signals the company’s readiness to scale further. Being an Elon Musk-led company, SpaceX is arguably the best in the business when it comes to efficient and cost-effective manufacturing. It would then be unsurprising if SpaceX announces another Starlink production milestone soon.
News
Tesla retires yoke steering wheel in base Model S and X
Tesla’s controversial steering yoke is now exclusive to the Model S and Model X Plaid.

Tesla has closed a chapter in the saga of the Model S and Model X’s controversial steering yoke. Following the announcement of the new iterations of the flagship vehicles, Tesla promptly removed the steering option for the vehicles’ base variants.
This means that if drivers wish to experience the Model S or Model X with a yoke, they would have to go Plaid.
The new Model S and Model X
The refresh of the Model S and Model X were quite minor, with the two vehicles featuring a new front camera, a new color, and a handful of other small changes like new exterior styling for the Model S Plaid. Tesla also noted on its website that the two vehicles now have a much smoother and quieter ride.
The changes were quite polarizing, with some appreciating the subtle improvements made to the two flagship cars and others arguing that Tesla should have done more. Others, however, noted that the level of improvements implemented on the Model S and Model X would already be considered major refresh for a tech company like Apple.
No More Yoke Unless Plaid
When Tesla refreshed the Model S and Model X in 2021, the vehicles were released with a steering yoke as standard. The yoke was controversial, with critics stating that it was unsafe and fans stating that it made driving the Model S and Model X fun. Tesla later introduced a round steering wheel option for the Model S and Model X, which later became standard on the two flagship vehicles.
This remains true today, with the most recent versions of the Model S and Model X still being released with a round steering wheel as standard. Those who wish to experience the Model S and Model X Plaid as envisioned by the company and its CEO, Elon Musk, however, might find it a good idea to spend the extra $1,000 for the vehicles’ yoke steering wheel.
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