News
Rivian Motorway name change approved by city council despite opposition
The City Council of Bloomington, Illinois approved a motion last night to rename the highway where Rivian’s main manufacturing plant is located to Rivian Motorway. The road, which has parts located in both Bloomington and Normal, is currently named Mitsubishi Motorway after the prior owner of the facility. After some deliberation, the Council voted 7 to 2 to move forward with the requested name change.
Prior to the Bloomington Council’s meeting, the vote on the naming matter was expected to largely be a formality. However, one council member was decidedly against the motion. Donna Boelen, Alderwoman of Ward 2, objected over several concerns focused on the long-term ramifications of the move.
“Is this really in the best interest of the City of Bloomington and the region? It’s an unfortunate precedent that streets have been named after companies, and I would like to see that come to an end,” Boelen commented. “Rivian has two other operational entities, one in California, and one in Michigan… Rivian did not meet its incentive goal last year. They promised 1,000 employees over the next ten years, and that only means 100 per year.”
Along with casting doubts about Rivian’s long-term prospects in Illinois, Boelen further asserted that street names are free advertising that could deter future businesses from setting up shop nearby as there are several vacant lots near Rivian’s facility that could be developed.
Renaming Mitsubishi Motorway would also require local businesses to incur significant expenses, Boelen further claimed, citing one business owner’s quote of $5,000 to update their website and advertising materials with the new street name. This particular point caused a bit of debate among the members, specifically with regard to the amount cited.
“I have a really hard time understanding where a $5,000 total could possibly come from,” one member objected. “I mean, changing a website and changing the line to Rivian from Mitsubishi should take somebody like 5 minutes at the most… I think maybe he should have some serious conversations with his web developer at that point.” Mayor Teri Renner also added a comment about the overall street naming precedent in response to Boelen’s concerns. “It’s pretty common throughout the entire United States to name streets after major investors,” he said. “That is part of what some people think of as pro-business.”
The Town Council for Normal, where Rivian’s facility is actually located, had its own debate about the name change despite its motion ultimately being approved 4-2 in early July. Council member Stan Nord cited concerns about electronic databases adjusting to the temporary nature of businesses in the long term. Other members were not convinced that a problem existed, though, noting that new streets and street name changes were very common across the country.
Rivian specifically requested the name change earlier this year, according to a memo written by Assistant City Manager Eric Hanson to the Normal City Council. “Obviously, it’s not necessarily advantageous for them to bring (potential investors) down Mitsubishi Motorway,” he said. “ A second road for access to Rivian’s factory is also planned for renaming, citing the same reasons – Sakura Lane will be renamed Electric Avenue.
The nascent car maker bought their factory headquarters from Mitsubishi in 2017, and efforts are currently underway to transition to the electrified lineup they have in the works to include the R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV. Interestingly, many of the workers currently involved in Rivian’s changeover process were part of the original Mitsubishi team that opened the factory when it was new.
Rivian must gain one more approval from the McLean County Board before Rivian Motorway is final. Along with the Normal and Bloomington Councils, the Illinois Emergency Telephone Systems Board has also approved the move. The County Board will consider the request later this month.
The City Council’s deliberations in full can be viewed below:
News
Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025.
The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall safety score of any vehicle tested by ANCAP in 2025. The Tesla Model 3 also delivered strong results, reinforcing the automaker’s safety leadership in Australia and New Zealand.
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025. ANCAP’s 2025 tests evaluated vehicles across four key pillars: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist technologies.
The Model Y posted consistently strong results in all four categories, distinguishing itself through a system-based safety approach that combines structural crash protection with advanced driver-assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring.
This marked the second time the Model Y has topped ANCAP’s annual safety rankings. The Model Y’s previous version was also ANCAP’s top performer in 2022.
The Tesla Model 3 also delivered a strong performance in ANCAP’s 2025 tests, contributing to Tesla’s broader safety presence across segments. Similar to the Model Y, the Model 3 also earned impressive scores across the ANCAP’s four pillars. This made the vehicle the top performer in the Medium Car category.
ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg stated that the results highlight a growing industry shift toward integrated safety design, with improvements in technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and lane support translating into meaningful real-world protection.
“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist. The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.
“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection,” Hoorweg said.
News
Tesla Sweden uses Megapack battery to bypass unions’ Supercharger blockade
Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery.
Tesla Sweden has successfully launched a new Supercharger station despite an ongoing blockade by Swedish unions, using on-site Megapack batteries instead of traditional grid connections. The workaround has allowed the Supercharger to operate without direct access to Sweden’s electricity network, which has been effectively frozen by labor action.
Tesla has experienced notable challenges connecting its new charging stations to Sweden’s power grid due to industrial action led by Seko, a major Swedish trade union, which has blocked all new electrical connections for new Superchargers. On paper, this made the opening of new Supercharger sites almost impossible.
Despite the blockade, Tesla has continued to bring stations online. In Malmö and Södertälje, new Supercharger locations opened after grid operators E.ON and Telge Nät activated the sites. The operators later stated that the connections had been made in error.
More recently, however, Tesla adopted a different strategy altogether. Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery, as noted in a Dagens Arbete (DA) report.
Because the Supercharger station does not rely on a permanent grid connection, Tesla was able to bypass the blocked application process, as noted by Swedish car journalist and YouTuber Peter Esse. He noted that the Arlandastad Supercharger is likely dependent on nearby companies to recharge the batteries, likely through private arrangements.
Eight new charging stalls have been launched in the Arlandastad site so far, which is a fraction of the originally planned 40 chargers for the location. Still, the fact that Tesla Sweden was able to work around the unions’ efforts once more is impressive, especially since Superchargers are used even by non-Tesla EVs.
Esse noted that Tesla’s Megapack workaround is not as easily replicated in other locations. Arlandastad is unique because neighboring operators already have access to grid power, making it possible for Tesla to source electricity indirectly. Still, Esse noted that the unions’ blockades have not affected sales as much.
“Many want Tesla to lose sales due to the union blockades. But you have to remember that sales are falling from 2024, when Tesla sold a record number of cars in Sweden. That year, the unions also had blockades against Tesla. So for Tesla as a charging operator, it is devastating. But for Tesla as a car company, it does not matter in terms of sales volumes. People charge their cars where there is an opportunity, usually at home,” Esse noted.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s X goes down as users report major outage Friday morning
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Elon Musk’s X experienced an outage Friday morning, leaving large numbers of users unable to access the social media platform.
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Downdetector reports
Users attempting to open X were met with messages such as “Something went wrong. Try reloading,” often followed by an endless spinning icon that prevented access, according to a report from Variety. Downdetector data showed that reports of problems surged rapidly throughout the morning.
As of 10:52 a.m. ET, more than 100,000 users had reported issues with X. The data indicated that 56% of complaints were tied to the mobile app, while 33% were related to the website and roughly 10% cited server connection problems. The disruption appeared to begin around 10:10 a.m. ET, briefly eased around 10:35 a.m., and then returned minutes later.
Previous disruptions
Friday’s outage was not an isolated incident. X has experienced multiple high-profile service interruptions over the past two years. In November, tens of thousands of users reported widespread errors, including “Internal server error / Error code 500” messages. Cloudflare-related error messages were also reported.
In March 2025, the platform endured several brief outages spanning roughly 45 minutes, with more than 21,000 reports in the U.S. and 10,800 in the U.K., according to Downdetector. Earlier disruptions included an outage in August 2024 and impairments to key platform features in July 2023.
Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025
Tesla Sweden uses Megapack battery to bypass unions’ Supercharger blockade
