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How other industries see Tesla Motors
This what industry players are having a hard time seeing, how a startup focuses on vision instead of cash flow profit and the mundane.
I caught my second glimpse of Elon’s Roadster at a car event where I saw the charging cord daisy chain here.
The latest wild swings in the Tesla news fueled by New Jersey’s infamous closing of its doors on allowing the company to sell directly, has had greater repercussions than anticipated. Our original $5B Gigafactory and how Tesla will disrupt more than carmakers article, written on March 4th on how disruptive its Gigafactory will be, has gained a lot of traction. Since then, the investment world seems to take Tesla Motors a little more seriously, even the articles on Seeking Alpha are becoming favorable to the company. We are happy to see the specialized press also acknowledging the potential Tesla is, not just as a cheerleader for electric cars, with GreenCarReports writing about how much more than a carmaker the company is. And yes, Panasonic is not the only battery maker wondering where this whole Gigafactory is going and what it means to their business model. I wrote a similar article on CarNewsCafe.
Tesla Motors is.. a lifestyle statement!
Tesla Motors really boils down to two fundamental trends. It is part of the answer many want to see, a different future than the one presented by most companies and what mainstream carmakers are satisfied with. It’s also about one entrepreneur’s vision of wanting a fun electric car to drive, Elon Musk. Doing only what an entrepreneur does best with a startup, it begins with a clean slate. It is extremely nimble and capable of tackling far greater changes than an established company. Tesla Motors has never been, will never be and can never be defined as a carmaker. It is much more than that with Superchargers, soon a battery factory, an indirect solar energy company, and much more. This is what traditional carmakers and investors were having a hard time understanding, the whole picture and how out of the box the Tesla business model is.
This is the day my gearhead friend finally saw the light with EVs
If we are blessed and cursed with ADD and always wanting more, this can be a great fuel for innovations, but it can also frighten companies focused on keeping a steady cash flow. Startups need to continuously innovate and at some point, they too become established companies, see Apple and Google, for example. Certain established companies rekindled their original drive and unique DNA, such as IBM going back to consulting, dropping manufacturing out of the equation. That is the only way for a startup to survive in the long run, leaving the rest to linger.
Tesla will continue to innovate, as long as it keeps focusing on what matters. What matters is what we all want, a change, a real change away from the mundane. Tesla answers this and will continue to disrupt more than carmakers, as we noted in our March 4th article.
Solar City and the challenges it faces
Solar City is one of the outlets where Tesla Motors can surprise us the next few years. The company made solar panels a household name, but it faces the entrepreneur’s dilemma, how to go forward and continue innovating.
Solar City is good at one thing, leasing photovoltaic (PV) panels with a promise to cut your electric bill by at least $25. Since then, it has done little more than that. Today, Solar City virtually sits on most rooftops, making it one of the biggest energy maker in the U.S. It will need to move beyond the leasing model, which really isn’t that economical for the long term. Solar City, through Elon Musk’s vision should be where the next Tesla Motors saga will reveal its next strategic move. The Gigafactory will use solar energy and should indirectly motivate Solar City to move beyond simply leasing. It could morph into an energy management company. This is what happened to Coulomb Technology as it spun off its manufacturing process to ChargePoint and got into the management aspects of the business, much like IBM. Solar City is the last company Elon Musk hasn’t reworked yet. It is fully poised to reap the benefits of its energy management before the government runs out of patience with it. With the Superchargers in place, this juggernaut has a complete portfolio for energy management.
Tesla has officially revealed its 2026 Summer Update, which comes with a variety of crazy new features, including Navigation fixes that owners have been wanting for months.
Tesla routinely releases a larger update with the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter updates, where it ships a variety of new features, bug fixes, and other additions to customer cars.
The 2026 Spring Update featured things like “Hey Grok” voice assistance, a redesigned self-driving app, Unreal Engine visual upgrades, and more.
🚨 TESLA’S SUMMER UPDATE FOR 2026 IS HERE:
Featuring:
✅ Self-Driving Stats in Mobile App
✅ Caraoke with Scoring
✅ Automatic Navigation
✅ Preferred Routes
✅ Set Arrival Energy from Mobile App
✅ Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App
✅ Rear Display Lock
✅ Other Improvements
🔌… https://t.co/C9IW3egEhH— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 21, 2026
Tesla’s Summer Release has about ten new features; we’ll show you each and detail them below:
New Grok Voice Commands
“Grok can now make phone calls, search and play music, adjust climate, open the glovebox, and answer questions about your Tesla.”
Self-Driving Stats in Mobile App
“View and share self-driving stats from the mobile app.”
Caraoke With Scoring
“Caraoke now scores your singing while in Park. High scores are saved to your Tesla profile.”
Automatic Navigation
“Automatic Navigation now adapts to your routine.
In addition to Home, Work, and upcoming calendar events, your vehicle can now suggest and route to places you visit regularly – like a school drop-off on the way to work, or the gym on the way home.”
Preferred Routes
“For a more personalized experience, navigation now prioritizes routes that you’ve taken before”
Set Arrival Energy from Mobile App
“Set your desired Arrival Energy from your phone.”
Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App
“Skip the USB drive and upload a custom wrap of your car from the mobile app. Instructions for creating a custom wrap here: https://github.com/teslamotors/custom-wraps.”
Rear Display Lock
“Kids can watch content on the rear screen, but only the front row can control it through the rear screen app.”
Other Improvements
- Find Superchargers by name when searching for a destination
- Add Apple Music songs to queue from search and artist page
- Set your preferred zoom level for the Self-Driving visualization
- Intro animations for new Model 3 and Y
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you, as the company’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, finally shed some light on the reason they are putting a satellite internet terminal on its ride-hailing-geared vehicle.
On Monday, Tesla officially confirmed that it would integrate Starlink V5 terminals into Cybercab vehicles, something many Tesla fans had figured the company would do, as the vehicle is primarily geared toward giving rides without any passenger intervention.
Starlink V5 directly integrated in Cybercab pic.twitter.com/FxzTtzjB6I
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 20, 2026
The ability to access the internet would allow riders to work or play in the car with their devices. It seemed like a more-than-reasonable feature to add to the Cybercab, which made its way off the production lines for the first time earlier this year.
Tesla reveals first vehicle model to receive Starlink integration
However, the move is not for the rider, as Elluswamy confirmed on Monday night. Instead, it’s actually for Tesla to be able to have a constant connection to the cars in the Robotaxi fleet so it can troubleshoot issues, contact riders, or resolve other issues.
Elluswamy said:
“It is still not required for safe operation of the vehicle. Connectivity is primarily meant for navigation, customer service and, in general, fleet management.”
It is still not required for safe operation of the vehicle. Connectivity is primarily meant for navigation, customer service and, in general, fleet management.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) July 20, 2026
Many initially assumed the option of constant connectivity would be enabled on the Cybercab for passenger entertainment or work. With the Cybercab, passengers won’t be doing anything but enjoying the ride, so it seemed more than logical that they would be hanging out with Starlink internet access as an amenity.
However, Tesla’s primary concern with Robotaxi is safety, and nailing these first unsupervised rides is a crucial step to setting a good narrative on how effective driverless transportation can be.
Being able to get in touch with passengers or a vehicle if something is wrong is a crucial part of the overall experience, and preventative measures are being taken by Tesla to ensure a smooth process, even in the worst-case.
Tesla has expanded its Robotaxi program in Florida to include two new cities: Tampa and Orlando.
This marks the second and third cities to be added to the company’s available locations for autonomous ride-hailing in the Sunshine State, joining Miami, which was the first Florida city to offer Robotaxi rides.
Tesla announced the addition of Orlando and Tampa to the Robotaxi program on Tuesday morning. The cities now join Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and the San Francisco Bay Area as locations where Tesla can operate its Robotaxi platform:
Robotaxi now in Tampa & Orlando! pic.twitter.com/fYtmXgJq3O
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) July 21, 2026
These rides are unsupervised, as AI Head Ashok Elluswamy confirmed the suite in Florida is operating without safety drivers or anyone within the cabin to assist with operation.
Orlando Tesla Robotaxi Operation
The geofence in Orlando covers a prominent irregular shaded zone on the map, roughly 4-6 miles across in key dimensions, so it likely measures somewhere between 25 and 45 square miles, which is comparable to other early Tesla launches in other cities.
It encompasses central and southern areas bounded by major highways including SR-417 and SR-528, including parts of the Orlando metro core, tourism-adjacent zones, and residential/commercial districts. This represents an initial targeted rollout in a tourist-heavy region, positioned for quick expansion via Tesla’s software updates.
Tampa Tesla Robotaxi Operation
In Tampa, the shape of the geofence is a shaded polygon covering key neighborhoods, explicitly including West Tampa, Tampa Heights, Hyde Park, and downtown Tampa proper, with boundaries along major roads and the Hillsborough River area.
This focuses on high-demand central zones and will offer tourists and citygoers rides without drivers.
Robotaxi Progress
Tesla has been operating Robotaxi since last June, when it launched in Austin. The geofences in most regions have already expanded several times since their launch last year, but the bigger complaint is vehicle availability. Tesla has been working to add more Robotaxi-enabled vehicles to its fleet.
The company still plans to utilize its Cybercab, a new vehicle that is being produced at Gigafactory Texas, for the Robotaxi suite alongside the Model Y, which has been the vehicle of choice for Tesla with early operations.
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you
