Connect with us

News

Layer3 TV plans to use 100 Tesla Model X fleet to deliver next-gen cable

Published

on

Denver-based Layer3 TV, a next generation cable television service provider, is switching its service vehicles to a Tesla Model X fleet as the company aims to redefine the antiquated cable TV industry using modern day technologies. Layer3’s CEO Jeff Binder said that the company’s biggest advantage is in video quality, citing “It’s unanimous”.

With plans to purchase 100 Model X vehicles by the end of the year, Binder claims that the savings from their unique installation process and the low maintenance cost of the Model X enables the company to reap “substantial” savings. Their installation costs are nearly 50% lower than competitors, enabling the company to expand the Model X fleet and creating a “win-win” scenario.

“It’s a pretty different experience… Who doesn’t like driving a Model X?” – Layer3 TV CEO Jeff Binder

The company, founded in 2013 by cable veterans Jeff Binder and Dave Fellows, raised nearly $100M to fund its big plans to disrupt the cable service provider industry. Layer3 TV tells Teslarati that they had purchased a Model X to deliver their new service in Colorado earlier this year, and recently expanded the fleet nationwide. Layer3 currently services Chicago, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Dallas, and parts of Denver. While Binder didn’t release any subscriber numbers, he said the company is seeing double digit growth month-over-month.

Layer3 Originally planned to have a fleet of BMW i3s, but ultimately decided the Model X better fit their needs.

Multichannel reported that Layer3 TV is using a fleet of Teslas for their Colorado rollout stating, “For the rollout with NextLight in Longmont, Layer3 TV is using a fleet of Tesla vehicles to perform installs and other customer visits.” Layer3 TV initially envisioned using a fleet of BMW i3s but decided to go with the Tesla Model X after determining  that they needed more space, all wheel drive, and more range.

The company plans to have a fleet of roughly 100 Teslas by the end of the year and currently has the Model X deployed in all of their markets. Jeff Binder told Teslarati via phone, “There is no downside… we are spending half as much as the competition on installs, our installers love the vehicles, it’s sustainable, and we get great marketing out of the vehicles.”

100 Tesla Model X Fleet

Layer3’s fleet of Model Xs are presumably the largest in the world, as not many company’s have adopted commercial uses for the vehicle. Binder told Teslarati that they haven’t adopted any custom fleet management systems in the Model X that’s out of the norm, but definitely plans to take advantage of the Model X’s large center screen. Binder is a bit surprised that Tesla doesn’t have much of a fleet management system, and hopes the company will develop such a program.

Layer3 has deployed their fleet nationwide, and plans to continue adding more vehicles to the fleet. Photo: Layer3 TV

Layer3 stated back in March, “Not only do we provide quick installs, but we do it in a Tesla. Rodney (a Layer3 TV installer) installs 6 boxes in a day with our eco-friendly Tesla.”

Before the company launched their service last year they had planned to deliver the service in the BMW i3. Layer3 is aiming to be the new “upscale” cable provider, while the company doesn’t lay its own fiber or cable lines, it delivers the service through advanced video technology riding through leased fiber and private IP. You can see if Layer3 TV is in available in your area.

Advertisement
-

Picking the Tesla Model X looks like the perfect way to show customers that they aren’t doing business in the usual way which stereotypically includes late arrivals and in a beat-up white van.

The nex-gen cable TV provider has released a video showing off their new wrap which we find simply stunning. Check out the video below to see how Layer3 TV “tricked out” their Model X!

https://www.facebook.com/inkmonstr/videos/1504959446214814/

https://instagram.com/p/BSv8UHOgGQ9/

 

Advertisement
-

Christian Prenzler is currently the VP of Business Development at Teslarati, leading strategic partnerships, content development, email newsletters, and subscription programs. Additionally, Christian thoroughly enjoys investigating pivotal moments in the emerging mobility sector and sharing these stories with Teslarati's readers. He has been closely following and writing on Tesla and disruptive technology for over seven years. You can contact Christian here: christian@teslarati.com

Advertisement
Comments

Cybertruck

Tesla is ending Cybertruck production

Published

on

Credit: diagnosticdennis/Instagram and @smile__no via Tesla Owners of Santa Clarita Valley/X

Tesla is ending Cybertruck production sometime in mid-2027, according to CEO Elon Musk.

Musk made the announcement on X last night, which came as a shock to many. He said that the Cybertruck will end production “to make room for increased Cybercab production” at Gigafactory Texas.

It is a huge blow to the fans of Tesla who have come to love the Cybertruck and identify with it as a symbol of their fandom. It has been the best-selling electric pickup, but it has had an underwhelming sales performance in terms of what was expected. This is mostly due to Tesla not meeting the prices it planned to offer the Cybertruck, as its unveiling and actual release were four years apart.

Overall, the responses were mixed. Some fans understood the move toward Cybercab production, especially as Tesla is truly pushing the autonomous future through its Robotaxi platform. However, others did not understand it.

Advertisement
-

“Damn, how many Cybercabs do you guys need?” one response read. Another said it was “Sad but understandable.”Even analyst Gary Black had responded to the news, stating he hoped Tesla planned to replace it with a traditional pickup design.

It doesn’t seem like that will be the case.

Tesla is so hell-bent on delivering autonomy and eventually providing a driverless service that owning a car seems like an arbitrary idea, according to their thesis. Instead, Cybercabs will be available to pick you up and drop you off on demand, safely, without any human help.

As a result, Tesla has thinned its lineup considerably, and one can only ask where the vehicle lineup goes from here. Eventually, it seems like Cybercab could be the only vehicle that Tesla will sell.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

SpaceX’s next Starship flight set to make history on Friday the 13th

SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15 and its first ship catch.

Published

on

By

SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15, the mission the company plans to use for its first attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower.

SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev shared the date on stage at the UP.Summit on Thursday, according to Ars Technica’s Eric Berger, who was in attendance. It is the first launch target to come directly from a SpaceX executive. Until now, the public schedule had relied on FAA air traffic planning slides, which listed Flight 15 for no earlier than November 8 and later November 12. SpaceX has not posted an official mission page yet, and no launch time has been shared.

The date lands inside the window Elon Musk sketched out last month. Speaking at Giga Texas on October 10, Musk said the flight would “probably launch a little bit before Thanksgiving,” as Teslarati reported. On SpaceX’s third quarter earnings call ten days later, he confirmed that Flight 15 would try to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the ship, and put the odds of a successful ship catch at “more likely than not.” SpaceX also aired an animation of the maneuver during that webcast, showing the ship swinging vertical over Starbase before dropping into the tower’s chopsticks.

The hardware is ready. Booster 22 fired all 33 of its Raptor engines for a full duration static fire at Pad 2 on October 25. Ship 42 followed with a single engine burn simulating a deorbit maneuver on October 26 and a 60 second firing of all six engines the next day, according to NASASpaceflight. Ship 42 had already rehearsed the catch in September, when the Pad 2 arms lifted it into position and crews connected the quick disconnect arm while the vehicle hung from the tower.

The remaining hurdle is regulatory. The FAA’s Starship page does not yet list a Flight 15 license. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in October that, after “significant constructive engagement with the FAA,” she expects the license to cover a return to the launch site and a tower catch for both stages. Bringing the ship home means a reentry path that heads toward land, rather than ending over open ocean as every Starship flight so far has.

Advertisement
-

SpaceX has caught Super Heavy three times, on Flights 5, 7 and 8, but the ship comes back from orbital velocity and has never been caught. Flight 14 on September 28 was the first Starship to reach orbit, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites before splashing down despite an early engine shutdown that Musk blamed on engine computer software.

Musk has called a successful ship catch “the first time that there’s been full recovery of an orbital class rocket,” and he has already named the step after it: a Flight 16 where both the booster and the ship fly again. NASASpaceflight reports that Ship 43, the next vehicle in line, is set for static fire testing in December.

Continue Reading

News

EVgo taps Tesla Superchargers for mass charging expansion

Published

on

Credit: EVgo

EVgo has tapped Tesla Superchargers for its most recent efforts to expand its charging presence in the United States, a move that seems logical based on the effectiveness of the automaker’s own infrastructure.

EVgo opened its first Supercharger site in Illinois, a 12-stall station near downtown Chicago at 3145 South Ashland Avenue in the Riverside Square & River’s Edge center, right beside a grocery store. This marks the start of the company’s plan to deploy hundreds of Supercharger stalls across the United States, primarily at grocery-anchored Regency Centers properties where drivers can shop, eat, or run errands while they charge.

The new location uses Tesla’s Magic Dock technology so both NACS and CCS vehicles can plug in natively without drivers needing to carry their own adapters. Peak power reaches 325 kW at this site, with pricing set between $0.25 and $0.35 per kWh depending on the hour—the same rate for Tesla and non-Tesla drivers.

The stalls also appear in Tesla’s in-car navigation and Trip Planner, making them easy for Tesla owners to find and route to. Illinois has seen EV registrations rise nearly 60 percent over the past two years, and EVgo’s broader network has experienced more than 700 percent growth in charging demand over three years, so the timing fits the market’s trajectory.

Choosing Tesla hardware through the Supercharger for Business program turns out to have been a smart, practical move.

Tesla’s V4 stalls and cabinets deliver high, reliable power with a proven track record of strong uptime, while Magic Dock delivers true dual-standard compatibility in one package. Because the sites show up in Tesla’s navigation tools, EVgo instantly gains visibility among millions of existing Tesla drivers, which should raise utilization and help the company double its addressable market as more vehicles adopt NACS. EVgo still owns the stations and sets pricing, yet benefits from Tesla’s established hardware, longer cables, and operational support.

The result is faster, lower-risk infrastructure expansion that serves every EV driver—Tesla or otherwise—with convenient, high-power charging at everyday retail locations. For drivers, that means fewer adapters, more predictable stops, and a denser network just as electric vehicles become everyday transportation.

Continue Reading