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Mars rover continues sleep as NASA captures new imagery of planet-engulfing dust storm
While the massive dust storm currently enveloping Mars continues to force the 14-year-old Opportunity Rover into silence, NASA’s other Martian missions are watching the spectacle at the Red Planet’s surface unfold from a distance.
NASA’s Opportunity Rover was situated on the slopes of Perseverance Valley when it the dust storm hit last June. As the storm broke out, NASA decided to keep the rover’s arm deployed on its rock target, dubbed as La Joya. As of mid-June, the dust storm covered 15.8 million square miles (41 million square kilometers), and it was so intense that it became impossible for Opportunity to recharge its batteries through its solar panels. The last power reading from Opportunity was recorded on Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018), when the veteran rover collected a measly 22 Wh of solar energy from the Sun. Since then, Opportunity has been silent.
NASA believes that Opportunity has put itself in hibernation, with the rover shutting down all of its systems except its mission clock. In a later statement, Dr. James Rice, co-investigator and geology team leader on NASA projects including Opportunity, noted that the timing of the Martian dust storm could actually work in Opportunity’s favor. The current storm on the Red Planet formed during the Martian Spring, which would likely help keep the rover’s electronics from becoming too cold during nights. Earlier this month, NASA Mars Exploration Program director Jim Watzin stated that the massive dust storm was already peaking. Nevertheless, according to a statement from NASA officials last Wednesday, it could take a long time before the dust in the Red Planet’s air clears properly.
Before and after images of the Mars dust storm (Photo: NASA/JPL)
“Based on the longevity of a 2001 global storm, NASA scientists estimate it may be early September before the haze has cleared enough for Opportunity to power up and call home,” NASA officials wrote.
As Opportunity’s team continues to wait for the dust to settle, other Martian missions are on overdrive studying the remarkable dust storm from a distance. The nuclear-powered Curiosity Rover, for one, is currently analyzing how the dust storm evolves over time from Mars’ surface. Ashwin Vasavada, a scientist from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, who currently works with the Curiosity mission, stated that they are working “double-duty.”
“We’re working double-duty right now. Our newly recommissioned drill is acquiring a fresh rock sample. But we are also using instruments to study how the dust storm evolves,” the scientist said.
From above, NASA’s orbiters are intently studying the storm. Researchers are now utilizing the THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) instrument aboard NASA’s Mars Odyssey to monitor the temperatures on the surface and the atmosphere on the planet. The orbiter is also studying the dust loads in the air. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which was the first orbiter to spot the storm last June, is tracking the evolution of the storm and how it affects the planet’s atmospheric pressures. Furthermore, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution orbiter (MAVEN) is analyzing dust storm particles from higher up, right at the point where Mars’ air meets space. MAVEN’s analysis could potentially provide clues as to how Mars seemingly lost its once-thick atmosphere.
In a way, all the instruments pointed at the dust storm on Mars’ surface today are almost poetic. While Opportunity continues to fight for its survival in the darkness of the storm, its siblings, both on the ground and in orbit, are giving the impression that the 14-year veteran rover is not really alone.
News
Tesla China breaks 8-month slump by selling 71,599 vehicles wholesale in June
Tesla China’s June numbers were released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Tuesday.

Tesla China was able to sell 71,599 vehicles wholesale in June 2025, reversing eight consecutive months of year-over-year decline. The figure marks a 0.83% increase from the 71,599 vehicles sold wholesale in June 2024 and a 16.1% jump compared to the 61,662 vehicles sold wholesale in May.
Tesla China’s June numbers were released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Tuesday.
Tesla China’s June results in focus
Tesla produces both the Model 3 and Model Y at its Shanghai Gigafactory, which serves as the company’s primary vehicle export hub. Earlier this year, Tesla initiated a changeover for its best-selling vehicle, the Model Y, resulting in a drop in vehicle sales during the first and second quarters.
Tesla’s second-quarter China sales totaled 191,720 units including exports. While these numbers represent a 6.8% year-over-year decline for Tesla China, Q2 did show sequential improvement, rising about 11% from Q1 2025, as noted in a CNEV Post report.
For the first half of the year, Tesla sold 364,474 vehicles wholesale. This represents a 14.6% drop compared to the 426,623 units sold wholesale in the first half of 2024.
China’s competitive local EV market
Tesla’s position in China is notable, especially as the new Model Y is gaining ground in the country’s BEV segment. That being said, Tesla is also facing competition from impressive local brands such as Xiaomi, whose new YU7 electric SUV is larger and more affordable than the Model Y.
The momentum of the YU7 is impressive, as the vehicle was able to secure 200,000 firm orders within three minutes and over 240,000 locked-in orders within 18 hours. Xiaomi’s previous model, the SU7 electric sedan, which is aimed at the Model, also remains popular, with June deliveries surpassing 25,000 units for the ninth straight month.
While China’s EV market is getting more competitive, Tesla’s new Model Y is also ramping its production and deliveries. Needless to say, Tesla China’s results for the remaining two quarters of 2025 will be very interesting.
Elon Musk
Tesla reveals it is using AI to make factories more sustainable: here’s how
Tesla is using AI in its Gigafactory Nevada factory to improve HVAC efficiency.

Tesla has revealed in its Extended Impact Report for 2024 that it is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enable its factories to be more sustainable. One example it used was its achievement of managing “the majority of the HVAC infrastructure at Gigafactory Nevada is now AI-controlled” last year.
In a commitment to becoming more efficient and making its production as eco-friendly as possible, Tesla has been working for years to find solutions to reduce energy consumption in its factories.
For example, in 2023, Tesla implemented optimization controls in the plastics and paint shops located at Gigafactory Texas, which increased the efficiency of natural gas consumption. Tesla plans to phase out natural gas use across its factories eventually, but for now, it prioritizes work to reduce emissions from that energy source specifically.
It also uses Hygrometric Control Logic for Air Handling Units at Giafactory Berlin, resulting in 17,000 MWh in energy savings each year. At Gigafactory Nevada, Tesla saves 9.5 GWh of energy through the use of N-Methylpyrrolidone refineries when extracting critical raw material.
Perhaps the most interesting way Tesla is conserving energy is through the use of AI at Gigafactory Nevada, as it describes its use of AI to reduce energy demand:
“In 2023, AI Control for HVAC was expanded from Nevada and Texas to now include our Berlin-Brandenburg and Fremont factories. AI Control policy enables HVAC systems within each factory to work together to process sensor data, model factory dynamics, and apply control actions that safely minimize the energy required to support production. In 2024, this system achieved two milestones: the majority of HVAC infrastructure at Gigafactory Nevada is now AI-controlled, reducing fan and thermal energy demand; and the AI algorithm was extended to manage entire chiller plants, creating a closed-loop control system that optimizes both chilled water consumption and the energy required for its generation, all while maintaining factory conditions.”
Tesla utilizes AI Control “primarily on systems that heat or cool critical factory production spaces and equipment.” AI Control communicates with the preexisting standard control logic of each system, and any issues can be resolved by quickly reverting back to standard control. There were none in 2024.
Tesla says that it is utilizing AI to drive impact at its factories, and it has proven to be a valuable tool in reducing energy consumption at one of its facilities.
Elon Musk
Tesla analysts believe Musk and Trump feud will pass
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump’s feud shall pass, several bulls say.

Tesla analysts are breaking down the current feud between CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump, as the two continue to disagree on the “Big Beautiful Bill” and its impact on the country’s national debt.
Musk, who headed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump Administration, left his post in May. Soon thereafter, he and President Trump entered a very public and verbal disagreement, where things turned sour. They reconciled to an extent, and things seemed to be in the past.
However, the second disagreement between the two started on Monday, as Musk continued to push back on the “Big Beautiful Bill” that the Trump administration is attempting to sign into law. It would, by Musk’s estimation, increase spending and reverse the work DOGE did to trim the deficit.
Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!
And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2025
President Trump has hinted that DOGE could be “the monster” that “eats Elon,” threatening to end the subsidies that SpaceX and Tesla receive. Musk has not been opposed to ending government subsidies for companies, including his own, as long as they are all abolished.
How Tesla could benefit from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that axes EV subsidies
Despite this contentious back-and-forth between the two, analysts are sharing their opinions now, and a few of the more bullish Tesla observers are convinced that this feud will pass, Trump and Musk will resolve their differences as they have before, and things will return to normal.
ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood said this morning that the feud between Musk and Trump is another example of “this too shall pass:”
BREAKING: CATHIE WOOD SAYS — ELON AND TRUMP FEUD “WILL PASS” 👀 $TSLA
She remains bullish ! pic.twitter.com/w5rW2gfCkx
— TheSonOfWalkley (@TheSonOfWalkley) July 1, 2025
Additionally, Wedbush’s Dan Ives, in a note to investors this morning, said that the situation “will settle:”
“We believe this situation will settle and at the end of the day Musk needs Trump and Trump needs Musk given the AI Arms Race going on between the US and China. The jabs between Musk and Trump will continue as the Budget rolls through Congress but Tesla investors want Musk to focus on driving Tesla and stop this political angle…which has turned into a life of its own in a roller coaster ride since the November elections.”
Tesla shares are down about 5 percent at 3:10 p.m. on the East Coast.
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