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EV adoption spurs updated guidance on parking structure design

Credit: Riverwalk Landing Parking Deck

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As electric vehicles (EVs) become increasingly common on roads around the world, many infrastructural changes will be needed to accommodate them. One example includes the design of parking garages, which some say will require updated fire safety protocols and additional modifications to accommodate the heavy weight of EVs.

The United Kingdom’s Institution of Structural Engineers released a new design guidance for parking garages earlier this year, pointing out a broad range of topics related to the structures, from EV weight, charging access and reduced noise levels to fire safety considerations (via CNBC). The guidance includes suggestions for the design of garages that are multi-story, underground or simply located inside offices or residential buildings.

Perhaps the most pressing topic included in the guidance for parking garages — called multi-story car parks in the U.K. — is the battery hardware used in EVs, which makes them much heavier than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. With increased range models and a wider span of vehicle classes, EV weights will likely continue getting heavier in the future.

“This extra load and the changing fire safety requirements are all considerations not just for new car parks, but for existing structures too,” the institution writes in the report.

According to the group, average vehicle weights have increased from 1.5 metric tons (3,307 pounds) in 1974 to almost 2 metric tons (4,409 pounds) this year. As one example, Tesla’s forthcoming Cybertruck is a stainless steel behemoth, expected to weigh somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 pounds (2.3 to 3.6 metric tons).

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Institution fellow and co-author of the guidance Chris Whapples also notes that some newer EVs are well over 3 metric tons (6,614 pounds).

“The thing to bear in mind is that the ones that cause the damage, if you like, are the heavy vehicles — not the vehicles that are heavier than they were 40 years ago but still within the capacity of the design for car parks,” Whapples explained in an interview with CNBC. “We’re seeing increasing numbers now of SUVs, large executive cars — both fossil-fueled and battery ones — and pickup trucks, which are immensely heavy.”

Tesla Smart Summon retrieves Model 3 from closed garage

Whapples details a handful of potential solutions for heavy vehicles, primarily including the need to retrofit older garages with increased structural support, either in specific spots that are determined to be weaker or in their entirety. He also notes that heavy vehicles could stay on ground floors to park, and garages could even screen the weights of cars as they enter.

“If one pickup is significantly overloaded and that car park is weak, that’s a potential disaster waiting to happen,” Whapples added. “We said, as an industry, we must actually check our car parks out and make sure that that’s not going to happen. Because what we want is the public to maintain confidence in our car parks and structural engineers.”

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Another top concern detailed in the guidance was improving fire safety protocols in parking garages. Whapples notes that fire risks aren’t exclusive to EVs, adding that gasoline cars can also start fires and make situations more complicated. While EV fires aren’t considered more common than ICE vehicle fires, they can be especially tough to put out, he explains.

“To actually extinguish an EV fire is very, very difficult — particularly if the battery is on fire, because you’ve got so much energy that’s locked in,” Whapples said.

As for potential solutions, Whapples says that sprinkler systems could be an important way to mitigate fire spread, especially in underground car parks.

“Although the sprinkler system will not put out the car fire, it will reduce the rate of spread within the car park, so it’s constantly … ‘quenching’ the car next to the one that’s on fire, and stopping that one from catching fire,” Whapples explains.

All of these and more points will need to be considered ahead of mass EV adoption, both for existing garages and newly built construction. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects EVs, buses, vans and heavy trucks to reach as many as 145 million units globally by 2030, though government ramp-up efforts could boost that number even more. In 2022, 10 million EVs were sold, including plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles.

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The discussions come ahead of Tesla’s initial release of the Cybertruck, which has been widely discussed for its large size, among other details. If many EVs are physically larger than ICE vehicles in the future, it could also require garages to be built with similarly larger parking spaces. Tesla has rolled out some wider and longer parking spaces at its Supercharger stations for the Cybertruck, a move that may be necessary for all parking structures down the road.

Will Tesla Cybertruck fit inside a home garage?

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.

Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Tesla board reveals reasoning for CEO Elon Musk’s new $1 trillion pay package

“Yes, you read that correctly: in 2018, Elon had to grow Tesla by billions; in 2025, he has to grow Tesla by trillions — to be exact, he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in value for shareholders for him to receive the full award.”

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla’s Board of Directors has proposed a new pay package for company CEO Elon Musk that would result in $1 trillion in stock offerings if he is able to meet several lofty performance targets.

Musk, who has not been meaningfully compensated since 2017, completed his last pay package by delivering billions in shareholder value through a variety of performance-based “tranches,” which were met and resulted in the award of billions in stock.

Elon Musk’s new pay plan ties trillionaire status to Tesla’s $8.5 trillion valuation

However, Musk was unable to claim this award due to a ruling by the Delaware Chancery Court, which deemed the payout an “unfathomable sum.”

Now, the company is taking steps to ensure Musk gets paid, as the Board feels that it is crucial to retain its CEO, who has been responsible for much of the company’s success.

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This is not a statement to undermine the work of all of Tesla’s terrific employees, but a ship needs to be captained by someone, and Musk has proven he is the right person for the job.

The Board also believes that, based on a statement made by the company in its proxy, various issues will be discussed during the upcoming Shareholder Meeting.

Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson recognized Musk’s contributions in a statement, which encouraged shareholders to vote to approve the payout:

“We’re asking you to approve the 2025 CEO Performance Award. In designing the new performance award, we explored numerous alternatives. Ultimately, the new award aims to build upon the success of the 2018 CEO Performance Award framework, which ensure that Elon was only paid for the performance delivered and incentivized to guide Tesla through a period of meteoric growth. The 2025 CEO Performance Award similarly challegnes Elon to again meet a series of even more aspirational goals, including operational milestones focused on reaching Adjusted EBITDA targets (thresholds that are up to 28 times higher than the 2108 CEO Performance Award’s top Adjusted EBITDA milestone) and rolling out new or expanded product offerings (including 1 million Robotaxis in commercial operation and delivery of 1 million AI Bots), all while growing the company’s market capitalization by trillions of dollars.

Yes, you read that correctly: in 2018, Elon had to grow Tesla by billions; in 2025, he has to grow Tesla by trillions — to be exact, he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in value for shareholders for him to receive the full award.

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In addition to these unprecedented performance milestones, the 2025 CEO Performance Award also includes innovative structural features, born out of the special committee’s considered analysis and extensive shareholder feedback. These features include supercharged retention (at least seven and a half years and up to 10 years to vest in the full award), structural protections to minimize stock price volatility due to administration of this award and, thereafter, incentives for Elon to participate in the Board’s continued development of a framework for long-term CEO Succession. If Elon achieves all the performance milestones under this principle-based 2025 CEO Performance Award, his leadership will propel Tesla to become the most valuable company in history.”

Musk will have a lot of things to accomplish to receive the 423,743,904 shares, which are divided into 12 tranches.

However, the Board feels he is the right person for the job, and they want him to remain the CEO. This package should ensure that he stays with Tesla, as long as shareholders feel the same way.

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Tesla Robotaxi app download rate demolishes Uber, Waymo all-time highs

After two and a half months of testing with a group of hand-picked Tesla influencers and some media, the company has officially launched Robotaxi rides in both Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area to the public.

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Credit: @BLKMDL3 | X

Tesla launched its Robotaxi app to the general public yesterday, and the number of downloads is a testament to the platform’s high demand for testing.

After two and a half months of testing with a group of hand-picked Tesla influencers and some media, the company has officially launched Robotaxi rides in both Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area to the public.

Tesla Robotaxi makes major expansion with official public app launch

Downloading the app is available to iOS users, so if you have an iPhone, you can get it and join the waitlist. Tesla has not yet launched the Robotaxi app for the Android platform, but did hint that it would be coming soon.

The testing phase with the group Tesla selected has gone well. In Austin, the City has only listed one “Safety Concern” with Robotaxi during the testing phase. For the most part, things have gone extremely well, and riders have had good things to say.

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Tesla is still operating with some safeguards in place, such as Safety Monitors and Safety Drivers, but these are precautionary and temporary; CEO Elon Musk has said they should be removed by the end of the year.

Elon Musk says Tesla will take Safety Drivers out of Robotaxi: here’s when

Even still, Tesla Robotaxi is something that many people want to experience, and the app downloads prove it.

The Tesla Robotaxi app was downloaded at a rate that exceeded all rolling 30-day periods of both Uber and Waymo, according to Brett Winton of ARK Invest. Tesla’s Robotaxi’s first day on the App Store exceeded Uber’s by 40 percent and Waymo’s best download day ever by six times:

The surge in downloads is a good indication of how in demand the Robotaxi suite was, as many people within the community had vocalized their requests to try the platform, but Tesla was not ready to expand it beyond its handpicked group.

The expansion of the program will result in more rides, provided Tesla continues to expand its fleet of vehicles. It has already admitted many of those who were initially placed on the waitlist.

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Elon Musk’s xAI expands to Seattle with salaries up to $440,000

The move was announced by the artificial intelligence startup and Elon Musk on social media platform X.

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(Credit: xAI)

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is opening a new office in Seattle as it accelerates its global expansion. 

The move was announced by the artificial intelligence startup and Elon Musk on social media platform X. xAI is also hiring for its first positions in the new site.

New Seattle office

As could be seen on xAI’s Careers webpage, the Seattle office is currently hiring for three engineering roles. Each of the three technical roles tied to the new site carry salaries ranging from $180,000 to $440,000. 

The new office adds to xAI’s growing presence, which now spans San Francisco, Austin, London, Dublin, New York, and Memphis. The Seattle-based roles focus on video and image generation systems, signaling Musk’s intent to challenge rivals like OpenAI and Meta in generative AI.

Pressures and challenges

Seattle also places xAI within reach of Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond. Microsoft has emerged as a central player in the AI race through its multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI, making xAI’s move into the region notable. The competition for AI specialists has pushed salaries higher across the industry, with filings showing OpenAI staff earning up to $530,000 and Anthropic engineers as much as $690,000 annually, as noted by Insider.

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The startup has also seen some high-profile departures in recent months, including cofounder Igor Babuschkin and general counsel Robert Keele. Still, xAI continues to grow aggressively, and its Grok large language model has been gaining momentum among mainstream users. Work also continues to be underway to further build out the company’s Colossus supercomputer cluster. Reports have also suggested that xAI has moved into San Francisco offices in the Mission District, a site Musk initially leased during OpenAI’s early years.

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