Lifestyle
The Importance of Having a Tesla Supercharger
With every new Supercharger location that comes online, a certain population of people can no longer say a Tesla can’t get them from A to B. For some current, future and perspective Tesla owners, there is one particular trip they make regularly that can not be done in their Model S. I would wager that most of these people have one specific Supercharger location in mind – whether they came up with it themselves or it is on Tesla’s own charging map as planned for some day – that if built, would be the key to their trip.
Tesla Supercharger in Allentown, PA via app check-in
For me, that location is Allentown, PA. As I mentioned in my post about Giving Thanks to the Tesla Village, this particular location was intended to be built in 2014. As a yet unwise future owner, I truly believed the showroom employees and delivery team I worked with were correct in saying that location would be completed in time. Our car was set to be delivered some time in November or December of 2014, so we worried not about getting to our parents’ home in the Northeastern corner of PA for the holidays. Traveling round-trip from the Southeastern corner of PA, up and over mountains in the cold, would not be possible without a Supercharger en route or a reasonable destination charging option. (They have no driveway or garage, and the nearest L2 charger is a 15 minute drive to an adjacent town.)
Watching the “dot” on Tesla’s map move from 2014 to 2015 and learning that the original location at the Lehigh Valley Mall ran into reportedly insurmountable obstacles was very disappointing. As if owning such a grand car isn’t embarrassing enough, asking for a ride to drop off and pick up said car because you can’t make it home without charging really made me feel awkward. (Thank you Mom, Dad and little bro for being a team player for an entire year!)
The wait started getting a little ridiculous, so I searched and inquired for any tidbits of information that would bring good news about a charger. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, a new site was selected. The new township would have to have a zoning board meeting to determine how to categorize the space. (Parking vs. fueling.) They likened the need to vote with a time, years ago, when someone asked to build a cell tower there. The township just had no way to classify it yet.
Something told me that driving over an hour to attend this zoning board meeting was crazy, so instead I reached out to a local reporter and asked for updates. She happily obliged but unhappily gave me the bad news: the zoning board couldn’t vote due to some procedural snafu. That one month delay gave me a bad premonition that the charger would not be installed in time for the cold weather or our Thanksgiving trip.
“You see, one single charging location can mean the world to some people”
I was right, unfortunately, but still had hopes for Christmas. That too came and went, as did we, to and from that level 2 charger 15 minutes away. I visited the site while in construction and heard of others doing the same. One claimed a construction worker said they were trying to be done by the end of the year. Of course, done to them does not mean done to us, as testing and electrification requirements must be met before a charger officially opens.
Tesla Supercharger in Allentown, PA [Photo credit: TMC User Syd]
Then one day it happened. On January 21, 2016, a TMC forum member that goes by the name 55 Sux successfully plugged in and took pictures to share the news. Just as soon as the news came out, various members rejoiced. Undoubtedly, others who travel within, to, from or across Eastern Pennsylvania but do not participate in forums rejoiced as well. So too did those hoping to be able to take their Model S to a ski trip at one of PA’s many resorts near or north of Allentown this year.
You see, one single charging location can mean the world to some people. As of today, Tesla has over 250 Supercharger locations in the United States and 600 in the world. Perhaps those early owners who had the car before the first dot appeared aren’t affected by any one new charger. Perhaps those nonchalant California owners who jokingly call their cars “California Corollas” are also unfazed by any one new charger. Perhaps those who don’t road trip couldn’t care less about any one new charger. But for many current and potential owners, one location can mean everything.
But don’t take my word for it, just look at how many owners breathed a sigh of relief and beamed a smile after getting to use their much awaited Allentown, PA Supercharger location. (Note: This unofficial ribbon cutting ceremony brought out curious onlookers that surely recognized how important these funny shaped charging stations were to us.)
Tesla announced its Spring 2026 software update, and it’s the most feature-dense seasonal release the company has put out. The update covers twelve named changes spanning FSD, voice AI, safety lighting, dashcam storage, and pet display customization, among other things.
The centerpiece for owners with AI4 hardware is a redesigned Self-Driving app. The new interface lets owners subscribe to Full Self-Driving with a single tap and view ongoing FSD usage stats directly in the vehicle.
Grok gets its biggest in-car upgrade yet. The update adds a “Hey Grok” hands-free wake word along with location-based reminders, so a driver can now say “remind me to pick up groceries when I get home” without touching the screen. Grok first arrived in vehicles in July 2025, but each update has pushed it closer to genuine daily utility. Musk framed the broader vision clearly at Davos in January, saying Tesla is “really moving into a future that is based on autonomy.”
On safety, the update introduces enhanced blind spot warning lights that integrate directly with the cabin’s ambient lighting, building on the blind spot door warning that arrived in update 2026.8.
Dog Mode has been renamed Pet Mode and now lets owners choose a dog, cat, or hedgehog icon and add their pet’s name to the display.
Dashcam retention now extends up to 24 hours, up from the previous one-hour rolling loop, with a permanent save option for any clip. Weather maps now show rain and snow with better color differentiation and include the past hour of precipitation data along the route.
Tesla has now established a clear rhythm of two major OTA pushes per year. As with last year’s Spring update, that cycle started taking shape in 2025 with adaptive headlights and trunk customization. The 2025 Holiday Update then added Grok to the vehicle for the first time. This Spring follows that structure: the Holiday update introduces new architecture, and the Spring update broadens it across the fleet.
Two notable features still did not make it. IFTTT automations, which launched in China earlier this year, were held back from this North American release for unknown reasons, and Apple CarPlay remains absent, reportedly still delayed by iOS 26 and Apple Maps compatibility issues.
Below is the full list of feature updates released by Tesla.
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 13, 2026
Lifestyle
Tesla hit by Iranian missile debris in Israel
A Tesla in Israel absorbed a direct hit from missile debris, and the glassroof held.
On March 30, 2026, Lara Shusterman was in Netanya, Israel when Iranian ballistic missiles triggered air raid sirens across the city. While she remained in safety, her 2024 Tesla Model Y did not escape untouched. A heavy piece of missile debris struck the car’s massive glass roof, leaving a deep crater but without shattering. In a Facebook post to the Tesla Israel community the following morning, Shusterman described what happened: “The glass did not shatter into dangerous shards. She stopped the damage and pushed the metal part to the ground.” She closed by thanking Elon Musk and the Tesla team for building what she called “security and a sense of trust even in extreme situations.”
Netanya is a coastal city in central Israel, roughly 18 miles north of Tel Aviv and has been among the areas most frequently struck during Iran’s ongoing missile campaign, following coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian military infrastructure. Falling shrapnel from intercepted missiles is a common occurrence.
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- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
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- A piece of Iranian missile debris that struck Lara Shusterman’s Tesla Model Y in Netanya, Israel on March 30, 2026, after being intercepted by Israeli air defenses.
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- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
Source: Tesla Israel Facebook Group
The incident is a testament to Tesla’s structural engineering. Tesla’s glass roof is designed to support over four times the vehicle’s own weight. That strength has shown up in real-world accidents too. In 2021, a Model Y in California was struck by a falling tree during a storm, with the glass roof holding firm and the cabin remaining intact. In another widely reported incident, a Tesla Model Y plunged 250 feet off the cliff at Devil’s Slide in California in January 2023, with all four occupants, including two young children, surviving.
Disturbing details about Tesla’s 250-foot cliff drop emerge amid initial investigation
Tesla officially launched sales in Israel in early 2021 and captured over 60 percent of Israel’s EV market in the first year. The brand’s foothold in Israel remains significant. Tens of thousands of Teslas are now on Israeli roads, making incidents like Shusterman’s easy to corroborate. On the same week her Model Y took the hit, the U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $178.5 million contract to launch missile tracking satellites, a separate but fitting reminder of how intertwined the Musk ecosystem has become with the realities of modern conflict.
Elon Musk
NASA sends humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972 – Here’s what’s next
NASA’s Artemis II launched four astronauts toward the Moon on the first crewed lunar mission since 1972.
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket launches carrying the Orion spacecraft with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist on NASA’s Artemis II mission, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, from Operations and Support Building II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis II mission will take Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back aboard SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft launched at 6:35pm EDT from Launch Complex 39B. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
NASA launched four astronauts toward the Moon on April 1, 2026, marking the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in December 1972. The Artemis II mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center aboard the Space Launch System rocket at 6:35 p.m. EDT, sending commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day journey around the far side of the Moon and back.
The mission does not include a lunar landing. It is a test flight designed to validate the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems, navigation, and communications in deep space with a crew aboard for the first time. If the crew reaches the planned distance of 252,000 miles from Earth, they will set a new record for the farthest any human has ever traveled, surpassing even the Apollo 13 distance record.
As Teslarati reported, SpaceX holds a central role in what comes next. The Starship Human Landing System is under contract to carry astronauts to the lunar surface for Artemis IV, now targeting 2028, after NASA restructured its mission sequence due to delays in Starship’s orbital refueling demonstration. Before any Moon landing happens, SpaceX must prove it can transfer propellant between two Starships in orbit, something no rocket program has done at this scale.
The last time humans left Earth’s orbit was 53 years ago. Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17 were the final people to walk on the Moon, a record that stands to this day. Elon Musk has long argued that returning is not optional. “It’s been now almost half a century since humans were last on the Moon,” Musk said. “That’s too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent base on the Moon.”
The Artemis program involves 60 countries signed onto the Artemis Accords, and this mission sets several firsts beyond distance. Glover becomes the first person of color to travel beyond low Earth orbit, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American astronaut to reach the Moon’s vicinity. According to NASA’s live mission updates, the spacecraft’s solar arrays deployed successfully after liftoff and the crew completed a proximity operations demonstration within the first hours of flight.
Artemis II is step one. The Moon landing and the permanent lunar base come later. But after more than five decades, humans are heading back.
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