News
Ford F-150 Lightning to lead NASCAR Cup Series to green flag this weekend
The Ford F-150 Lightning has been chosen as the official Pace Car for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. Ford’s introductory electric pickup will be the first electric truck to lead the pack of cars to the green flag Saturday night but will be featured at the half-mile track all weekend.
The Pace Car does a few things in a NASCAR race. It leads the cars to the first lap, but it is also required to lead the vehicles around the track under caution laps, ensuring safety and proper speed during the delay in racing.
While NASCAR still utilizes high-horsepower gas engines for their competition vehicles, one thing all stock car fans love is speed. Thanks to the electric powertrain featured in the F-150 Lightning, the pickup will undoubtedly turn the heads of racing enthusiasts with its instant torque. Regardless, the Ford-loyal race fans who have followed what was once the nation’s fastest-growing sport will undoubtedly take a peek at the automaker’s newest and latest technology, which packs efficiency, utility, and sustainability in a single pickup.
“We can’t wait to show our Ford fans how capable the F-150 Lightning is,” Darren Palmer, VP of Ford’s electric vehicle programs, said. “With 563 horsepower, 775 lb.-ft. of near-instantaneous torque and a 0-60 mph time in the mid-4-second range, I think it will turn some heads out on the track.”
“Ford is fully invested in electrification, and the response to Lightning has been so overwhelming that it was an easy decision to bring it to a NASCAR event,” Jeannee Kirkaldy, Ford Performance’s Motorsports Marketing Manager, said. “One thing we definitely know is that our fans love trucks, and we’re confident that feeling will only grow when they see Lightning out on the track leading the field to green.”
-->Ford F-150 Lightning Range, efficiency revealed in Monroney sticker leak
Ford’s Mustang Mach-E was the Pace Car for the spring race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, where the only thing that keeps the cars from reaching speeds of 250+ MPH is a restrictor plate. The Mustang Mach-E made Ford the first OEM to use an electric vehicle as a Pace Car for a NASCAR race.
Driver Ryan Blaney, who is looking for his first career series win at Martinsville, said the Mustang Mach-E offered a fun experience, which has him looking forward to Ford’s first-ever all-electric pickup. “I haven’t driven the Lightning yet, but if it’s anything like the Mustang Mach-E, it’s going to be a blast,” Blaney said. “I hope it ends up being the only thing in front of me once the race starts.”
Blaney drives the no. 12 Ford Mustang for Penske Racing. Blaney overtook Ross Chastain for the number one spot in NASCAR’s power rankings, so expect to see him near the front of the pack on Saturday night.
The F-150 Lightning has already accumulated nearly 200,000 reservations since being unveiled in May 2021 and is the third all-electric vehicle in Ford’s lineup, joining the Mustang Mach-E and the E-Transit.
-->The race, which is the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500, will start at 7:30 PM eastern on Saturday night.
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Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Starship program is already bouncing back from Booster 18 fiasco
Just over a week since Booster 18 met its untimely end, SpaceX is now busy stacking Booster 19, and at a very rapid pace, too.
SpaceX is already bouncing back from the fiasco that it experienced during Starship Booster 18’s initial tests earlier this month.
Just over a week since Booster 18 met its untimely end, SpaceX is now busy stacking Booster 19, and at a very rapid pace, too.
Starship V3 Booster 19 is rising
As per Starbase watchers on X, SpaceX rolled out the fourth aft section of Booster 19 to Starbase’s MegaBay this weekend, stacking it to reach 15 rings tall with just a few sections remaining. This marks the fastest booster assembly to date at four sections in five days. This is quite impressive, and it bodes well for SpaceX’s Starship V3 program, which is expected to be a notable step up from the V2 program, which was retired after a flawless Flight 11.
Starship watcher TankWatchers noted the tempo on X, stating, “During the night the A4 section of Booster 19 rolled out to the MegaBay. With 4 sections in just 5 days, this is shaping up to be the fastest booster stack ever.” Fellow Starbase watcher TestFlight echoed the same sentiments. “Booster 19 is now 15 rings tall, with 3 aft sections remaining!” the space enthusiast wrote.
Aggressive targets despite Booster 18 fiasco
SpaceX’s V3 program encountered a speed bump earlier this month when Booster 18, just one day after rolling out into the factory, experienced a major anomaly during gas system pressure testing at SpaceX’s Massey facility in Starbase, Texas. While no propellant was loaded, no engines were installed, and no one was injured in the incident, the unexpected end of Booster 18 sparked speculation that the Starship V3 program could face delays.
-->Despite the Booster 18 fiasco, however, SpaceX announced that “Starship’s twelfth flight test remains targeted for the first quarter of 2026.” Elon Musk shared a similar timeline on X earlier this year, with the CEO stating that “ V3 is a massive upgrade from the current V2 and should be through production and testing by end of year, with heavy flight activity next year.”
Considering that Booster 19 seems to be moving through its production phases quickly, perhaps SpaceX’s Q1 2026 target for Flight 12 might indeed be more than feasible.
News
Elon Musk makes a key Tesla Optimus detail official
“Since we are naming the singular, we will also name the plural, so Optimi it is,” Musk wrote on X.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk just made a key detail about Optimus official. In a post on X, the CEO clarified some key wording about Optimus, which should help the media and the public become more familiar with the humanoid robot.
Elon Musk makes Optimus’ plural term official
Elon Musk posted a number of Optimus-related posts on X this weekend. On Saturday, he stated that Optimus would be the Von Neumann probe, a machine that could eventually be capable of replicating itself. This capability, it seems, would be the key to Tesla achieving Elon Musk’s ambitious Optimus production targets.
Amidst the conversations about Optimus on X, a user of the social media platform asked the CEO what the plural term for the humanoid robot will be. As per Musk, Tesla will be setting the plural term for Optimus since the company also decided on the robot’s singular term. “Since we are naming the singular, we will also name the plural, so Optimi it is,” Musk wrote in his reply on X.
This makes it official. For media outlets such as Teslarati, numerous Optimus bots are now called Optimi. It rolls off the tongue pretty well, too.
Optimi will be a common sight worldwide
While Musk’s comment may seem pretty mundane to some, it is actually very important. Optimus is intended to be Tesla’s highest volume product, with the CEO estimating that the humanoid robot could eventually see annual production rates in the hundreds of millions, perhaps even more. Since Optimi will be a very common sight worldwide, it is good that people can now get used to terms describing the humanoid robot.
-->During the Tesla 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting, Musk stated that the humanoid robot will see “the fastest production ramp of any product of any large complex manufactured product ever,” starting with a one-million-Optimi-per-year production line at the Fremont Factory. Giga Texas would get an even bigger Optimus production line, which should be capable of producing tens of millions of Optimi per year.
News
Tesla is improving Giga Berlin’s free “Giga Train” service for employees
With this initiative, Tesla aims to boost the number of Gigafactory Berlin employees commuting by rail while keeping the shuttle free for all riders.
Tesla will expand its factory shuttle service in Germany beginning January 4, adding direct rail trips from Berlin Ostbahnhof to Giga Berlin-Brandenburg in Grünheide.
With this initiative, Tesla aims to boost the number of Gigafactory Berlin employees commuting by rail while keeping the shuttle free for all riders.
New shuttle route
As noted in a report from rbb24, the updated service, which will start January 4, will run between the Berlin Ostbahnhof East Station and the Erkner Station at the Gigafactory Berlin complex. Tesla stated that the timetable mirrors shift changes for the facility’s employees, and similar to before, the service will be completely free. The train will offer six direct trips per day as well.
“The service includes six daily trips, which also cover our shift times. The trains will run between Berlin Ostbahnhof (with a stop at Ostkreuz) and Erkner station to the Gigafactory,” Tesla Germany stated.
Even with construction continuing at Fangschleuse and Köpenick stations, the company said the route has been optimized to maintain a predictable 35-minute travel time. The update follows earlier phases of Tesla’s “Giga Train” program, which initially connected Erkner to the factory grounds before expanding to Berlin-Lichtenberg.
-->Tesla pushes for majority rail commuting
Tesla began production at Grünheide in March 2022, and the factory’s workforce has since grown to around 11,500 employees, with an estimated 60% commuting from Berlin. The facility produces the Model Y, Tesla’s best-selling vehicle, for both Germany and other territories.
The company has repeatedly emphasized its goal of having more than half its staff use public transportation rather than cars, positioning the shuttle as a key part of that initiative. In keeping with the factory’s sustainability focus, Tesla continues to allow even non-employees to ride the shuttle free of charge, making it a broader mobility option for the area.
SpaceX’s Starship program is already bouncing back from Booster 18 fiasco
Elon Musk makes a key Tesla Optimus detail official
