

Energy
Jay Leno talks Tesla Cybertruck and his ride through the Boring Co. tunnel
Former late-night television host Jay Leno spoke about his experiences with the Tesla Cybertruck and what it was like to ride inside Elon Musk’s Boring Company tunnel on a recent episode of the Spike’s Car Radio podcast.
Spike Feresten and co-host Paul Zuckerman didn’t waste any time with Leno on the podcast and jumped right into questions about Tesla’s upcoming electric pickup truck. “Did you drive it, what’s it like?” asked the hosts.
“Well, it is very Tesla-like,” Leno explains. “It’s very quick. It’s very interesting, some people like the styling and some people don’t. One thing it does do, it changes your perception of–trucks have looked the same since what? 1930? It is basically a giant grille with some sort of aggressive thing in the front, you know? This doesn’t look like anything else you’ve ever seen before.”
Many people have described the Cybertruck as unique and different than the standard pickup design. At the Cybertruck’s unveiling event in November, one of the first portions of Elon Musk’s presentation was comparing currently available pickup designs. “It is hard to tell which is which, really. We took the brands off, but it is hard to tell which is which, they all pretty much look the same. We need something different.” Musk explained.
It seems that Tesla’s design undoubtedly convinced Jay Leno, a car enthusiast with a $52 million collection of automobiles, that trucks did not have to have the typical design that entailed a large grille, bulky exterior, and bed. The Cybertruck’s newly-introduced design changed what the idea of a pickup can look like so much for Leno that he believes any other truck currently on the market is outdated.
“It immediately makes everything else look sort of old-fashioned,” Leno stated.
Perhaps the most exciting portion of Leno’s trip to Hawthorne was when he asked Musk how the Boring Company tunnel was doing. “Oh, good good! We have a tunnel running under Los Angeles,” Musk said. But the CEO of Tesla and the Boring Company wasn’t done yet. “Hey, I’ve got an idea,” he said to Jay. “You want to see if we can drive the Cybertruck in the tunnel? I don’t know if it’s going to fit.”
Leno described the tight fit of the truck within the tunnel, stating there may have been about a quarter of an inch on each side of the vehicle. “We drive the Cybertruck, we barely get it into the tunnel, and now we’re going like 50 or 60 miles per hour through the tunnel with a quarter-inch on each side.”
Leno’s first impressions of the truck seem to fit the rhetoric that he has used to describe Tesla vehicles since driving the original Roadster in 2008. He is a fan of electric cars due to their low maintenance and high-performance, and it seems that the Cybertruck simply widened Leno’s horizons when it comes to what is possible with electric transportation.
Tesla Cybertruck is set to air in the new season of hit TV series “Jay Leno’s Garage”. The show documents Leno’s drives in several rare cars with some familiar celebrity faces, one of which is Elon Musk.
The podcast of Spike’s Car Radio with Jay Leno can be heard below.
Energy
Tesla launches first Virtual Power Plant in UK – get paid to use solar
Tesla has launched its first-ever Virtual Power Plant program in the United Kingdom.

Tesla has launched its first-ever Virtual Power Plant program in the United Kingdom. This feature enables users of solar panels and energy storage systems to sell their excess energy back to the grid.
Tesla is utilizing Octopus Energy, a British renewable energy company that operates in multiple markets, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, as the provider for the VPP launch in the region.
The company states that those who enroll in the program can earn up to £300 per month.
Tesla has operated several VPP programs worldwide, most notably in California, Texas, Connecticut, and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. This is not the first time Tesla has operated a VPP outside the United States, as there are programs in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.
This is its first in the UK:
Our first VPP in the UK
You can get paid to share your energy – store excess energy in your Powerwall & sell it back to the grid
You’re making £££ and the community is powered by clean energy
Win-win pic.twitter.com/evhMtJpgy1
— Tesla UK (@tesla_uk) July 17, 2025
Tesla is not the only company that is working with Octopus Energy in the UK for the VPP, as it joins SolarEdge, GivEnergy, and Enphase as other companies that utilize the Octopus platform for their project operations.
It has been six years since Tesla launched its first VPP, as it started its first in Australia back in 2019. In 2024, Tesla paid out over $10 million to those participating in the program.
Participating in the VPP program that Tesla offers not only provides enrolled individuals with the opportunity to earn money, but it also contributes to grid stabilization by supporting local energy grids.
Energy
Tesla Lathrop Megafactory celebrates massive Megapack battery milestone
The Tesla Megapack is the backbone of Tesla Energy’s battery deployments.

The Tesla Lathrop Megafactory recently achieved a new milestone. As per the official Tesla Megapack account on X, the Lathrop Megafactory has produced its 15,000th Megapack 2 XL battery.
15,000 Megapack Batteries
Tesla celebrated the milestone with a photo of the Lathrop Megafactory team posing with a freshly produced Megapack battery. To commemorate the event, the team held balloons that spelled out “15,000” as they posed for the photo.
The Tesla Megapack is the backbone of Tesla Energy’s battery deployments. Designed for grid-scale applications, each Megapack offers 3.9 MWh of energy and 1.9 MW of power. The battery is extremely scalable, making it perfect for massive energy storage projects.
More Megafactories
The Lathrop Megafactory is Tesla’s first dedicated facility for its flagship battery storage system. It currently stands as the largest utility-scale battery factory in North America. The facility is capable of producing 10,000 Megapack batteries every year, equal to 40 GWh of clean energy storage.
Thanks to the success of the Megapack, Tesla has expanded its energy business by building and launching the Shanghai Megafactory, which is also expected to produce 40 GWh of energy storage per year. The ramp of the Shanghai Megafactory is quite impressive, with Tesla noting in its Q1 2025 Update Letter that the Shanghai Megafactory managed to produce over 100 Megapack batteries in the first quarter alone.
Tesla Energy’s Potential
During the first quarter earnings call, CEO Elon Musk stated that the Megapack is extremely valuable to the energy industry.
“The Megapack enables utility companies to output far more total energy than would otherwise be the case… This is a massive unlock on total energy output of any given grid over the course of a year. And utility companies are beginning to realize this and are buying in our Megapacks at scale,” Musk said.
Energy
Tesla Megapacks powers the xAI Colossus supercomputer
Tesla Megapacks step in to stabilize xAI’s Colossus supercomputer, replacing natural gas turbines. Musk’s ventures keep intertwining.

Tesla Megapack batteries will power the xAI Colossus supercomputer in Memphis to ensure power stability. The collaboration between Tesla and xAI highlights the synergy among Elon Musk’s ventures.
The artificial intelligence startup has integrated Tesla Megapacks to manage outages and demand surges, bolstering the facility’s reliability. The Greater Memphis Chamber announced that Colossus, recently connected to a new 150-megawatt electric substation, is completing its first construction phase. This transition addresses criticism from environmental justice groups over the initial use of natural gas turbines.
“The temporary natural gas turbines that were being used to power the Phase I GPUs prior to grid connection are now being demobilized and will be removed from the site over the next two months.
“About half of the operating turbines will remain operating to power Phase II GPUs of xAI until a second substation (#22) already in construction is completed and connected to the electric grid, which is planned for the Fall of 2025, at which time the remaining turbines will be relegated to a backup power role,” the Chamber stated.
xAI’s rapid development of Colossus reflects its ambition to advance AI capabilities, but the project has faced scrutiny for environmental impacts. The shift to Megapacks and grid power aims to mitigate these concerns while ensuring operational continuity.
The Megapack deployment underscores the collaboration among Musk’s companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. Tesla appears to be the common link between all of Musk’s companies. For example, The Boring Company built a tunnel in Giga, Texas. In addition, Musk has hinted at a potential collaboration between the Tesla Optimus Bot and Neuralink. And from January 2024 to February 2025, xAI invested $230 million in Megapacks, per a Tesla filing.
Tesla Energy reported a 156% year-over-year increase in Q1 2025, deploying 10.4 GWh of storage products, including Megapacks and Powerwalls. Tesla’s plans for a new Megapack factory in Waller County, Texas, which is expected to create 1,500 jobs in the area, further signal its commitment to scaling energy solutions.
As xAI leverages Tesla’s Megapacks to power Colossus, the integration showcases Musk’s interconnected business ecosystem. The supercomputer’s enhanced stability positions xAI to drive AI innovation, while Tesla’s energy solutions gain prominence, setting the stage for broader technological and economic impacts.
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