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Rivian sends its R1T, R1S, and electric van to New Zealand for cold-weather tests

Credit: Reddit | u/RobDickinson

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Rivian has sent the R1T pickup, the R1S SUV, and its electric delivery van to New Zealand. The reasons are unknown, but it seems that the vehicles could have been sent there for cold-weather testing as the climate in North America heats up for the Summer months.

New photographs of the vehicles were captured by an unidentified source and shared by u/RobDickinson of the r/Rivian subreddit. The two consumer vehicles are seen being unloaded off of haulers or trucks, while the all-electric van hides discretely behind a small box truck.

The reason for the vehicles being sent to New Zealand is likely cold-weather testing, according to some members of the r/Rivian subreddit. New Zealand’s Southern Proving Grounds are a widely popular location for automakers who want to test cold-weather performance as North America begins to heat up for Summer.

According to the Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds website, the location is an award-winning automotive proving ground that is located in the South Island of New Zealand. It is ideal for automakers to ship vehicles there as the prime months for testing occur from June to September. The climate gives automakers an advantage as an additional winter season provides reduced development times for companies that are aiming for their products to be released soon.

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Rivian has already accomplished considerable amounts of testing in winter climates, as well as in challenging off-road terrains and long-distance endurance road trips. The company has also performed various testing for semi-autonomous features, including hooking up LiDAR rigs to its R1T in Palo Alto where the company is performing routine real-world testing.

Rivian has slated the R1T for its first deliveries to begin in July, meaning the wait for the highly-anticipated all-electric pickup will finally be over next month. It seems that Rivian could finally be ready to roll with deliveries, especially as recent photos from its production facility in Normal, Illinois, showed plenty of R1T bodies sitting in shelves waiting to be placed on a chassis.

Rivian has also launched several new features to add to the upcoming ownership experience. Not only will the company roll out Rivian Guides, personalized experts who will help new owners become accustomed to their new rides, but the company has also launched several other new additions that will be standard on the vehicles.

Rivian pushes R1T deliveries to July, updates standard features and Drive program

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla Cybercab just rolled through Miami inside a glass box

Tesla paraded a Cybercab in a glass display at Miami’s F1 Grand Prix event this week.

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Tesla Cybercab at the Miami F1 Fan Fest 2026: Credit: TESLARATI

Tesla set up an “Autonomy Pop-Up” at Lummus Park in Miami Beach from April 29 through May 3, 2026, embedded within the official F1 Miami Grand Prix Fan Fest.  The centerpiece was a Cybertruck towing the Cybercab inside a glass display case marked “Future is Autonomous,” rolling through the beachfront crowd.

Miami is on Tesla’s confirmed list of cities for robotaxi expansion in the first half of 2026, making the promotion a strategic promotion that lays groundwork in a target market.

This was not Tesla’s first time using Miami as a showcase city. In December 2025, Tesla hosted “The Future of Autonomy Visualized” at its Miami Design District showroom, coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach. That event featured the Cybercab prototype and Optimus robots interacting with attendees. The F1 pop-up this week marks Tesla’s return to Miami and follows a pattern Tesla has been running since early 2026. Just two weeks before Miami, Tesla stationed Optimus at the Tesla Boston Boylston Street showroom on April 19 and 20, directly on the final stretch of the Boston Marathon, letting tens of thousands of runners and spectators meet the robot for free, generating massive earned media at zero advertising cost.

Tesla is sending its humanoid Optimus robot to the Boston Marathon

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Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year. On the production side, Musk told shareholders that the Cybercab manufacturing process could eventually produce up to 5 million vehicles per year, targeting a cycle time of one unit every ten seconds. Scaling robotaxis to 10 million operational units over the next ten years is a key condition of his compensation package, alongside selling 20 million passenger vehicles.

As for the Cybercab’s price, Musk has said buyers will be able to purchase one for under $30,000, with an average operating cost around $0.20 per mile. Whether those numbers hold through full production remains to be seen.

Cybercab at F1 Fan Fest in Miami
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Tesla Semi gets new product launch as mass manufacturing hits Plaid Mode

While the 1.2 MW Megacharger handles quick 30-minute en-route boosts, the Basecharger serves as a reliable overnight solution for longer dwell times at warehouses, distribution centers, fleet yards, and even, potentially, homes.

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Credit: Tesla

The Tesla Semi is getting a new production launch as mass manufacturing on the all-electric truck is gearing up to hit Plaid Mode.

Tesla has introduced a game-changing addition to its commercial charging lineup with the new 125 kW Basecharger for Semi. Launched this week as part of the new “Semi Charging for Business” program, this compact unit is purpose-built for depot and overnight charging of Tesla Semi trucks.

While the 1.2 MW Megacharger handles quick 30-minute en-route boosts, the Basecharger serves as a reliable overnight solution for longer dwell times at warehouses, distribution centers, fleet yards, and even, potentially, homes.

Delivering up to 60 percent of the Semi’s range in roughly four hours, perfect for overnight top-ups during mandated driver rest periods or while trucks are loaded or unloaded. Its fully integrated design eliminates the need for bulky separate AC-to-DC cabinets.

Tesla engineers tucked one of the power modules from a V4 Supercharger Cabinet directly inside the sleek post, resulting in a compact footprint. It also features a six-meter cable for layout flexibility. This is one thing that must have been learned through the V4 Supercharger rollout.

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Installation and operating costs drop dramatically thanks to daisy-chaining. Up to three Basechargers can share a single 125 kVA breaker, slashing electrical infrastructure requirements. The unit outputs 150 amps continuous across an 180–1,000 VDC range, matching the Semi’s high-voltage architecture while supporting the MCS 3.2 standard.

Tesla Semi sends clear message to Diesel rivals with latest move

Priced from $40,000 for a minimum order of two units, the Basecharger is far more affordable than the $188,000 Megacharger setup for two posts. Deliveries begin in early 2027. Buyers also receive Tesla’s full network-level software, remote monitoring, maintenance, and a guaranteed 97 percent or higher uptime—critical for fleet reliability.

This launch arrives as Tesla accelerates high-volume Semi production at its Nevada factory, targeting 50,000 units annually. By pairing affordable depot charging with ultra-fast highway options, Tesla removes one of the biggest obstacles to electrifying Class 8 trucking: infrastructure cost and complexity.

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Fleet operators stand to gain lower electricity rates during off-peak hours, dramatically reduced maintenance compared to diesel, and quieter yards at night. The Basecharger isn’t just another charger—it’s the practical bridge that makes large-scale electric semi adoption economically viable.

With the Basecharger handling “home” duties and Megachargers powering the road, Tesla is delivering a complete ecosystem that could finally tip the scales toward zero-emission freight. For trucking companies ready to go electric, the future just got a whole lot more charger-friendly.

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Tesla revises new Intervention Reporting system with Full Self-Driving

It is the second revision to the program as Tesla is trying to make it easier to decipher driver and owner complaints, but also to make it easier to report issues within the suite for them.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has revised its new Intervention Reporting system within the Full Self-Driving suite that now categorizes reasons that drivers take over when the semi-autonomous driving functionality is active.

It is the second revision to the program as Tesla is trying to make it easier to decipher driver and owner complaints, but also to make it easier to report issues within the suite for them.

With the initial rollout of Full Self-Driving v14.3.2, Tesla included a new reporting menu that gave four options for an intervention: Preference, Comfort, Critical, and Other. A slightly revised version of Full Self-Driving with the same ID number then came out a few days later, changing the “Other” option to “Navigation” after numerous complaints from owners.

It appears Tesla has listened to those owners once again and has not only made it smaller and more compact, but also easier to report the issues than previously.

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The new menu is now embedded within the request for a Voice Memo from Tesla, and does not block the entire screen, as the second rollout of the menu was:

There will likely be one additional revision to the Interventions Menu, as we have coined it here at Teslarati.

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Unfortunately, at times, there are no reasons for an intervention at all, but the menu does not give an option to simply disregard the reporting and forces the driver to choose one of the options. We, as well as other notable Tesla influencers, indicated that there is not always a reason for an intervention.

For example, I choose to back into my parking spot in my neighborhood at least some of the time for the reason of charging. I usually hit “Preference” for this, but it sends a false positive to Tesla that there was a reason I took over that I was unhappy with.

Tesla begins probing owners on FSD’s navigation errors with small but mighty change

Instead, I’m simply performing a maneuver that is not yet available to us. When Tesla allows drivers to choose the orientation at which their car enters a parking spot, I and many others won’t have to deal with this menu.

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Others are still skeptical that it will help resolve any issues whatsoever and prefer to disregard the menu altogether. It does seem as if Tesla will issue another revision in the coming days to allow this to happen.

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