News
SpaceX & Boring Co. engineers are flying to Thailand to assess options for rescue efforts
In a recent update on Twitter, Elon Musk stated that engineers from SpaceX and The Boring Company would be flying to Thailand tomorrow to assess how to best help the Thai government in its rescue efforts for the stranded soccer players in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex.
Musk’s recent statements come as a response to updates posted by James Yenbamroong, an entrepreneur and founder of mu Space Corp, who stated that SpaceX engineers had already reached out in an attempt to connect with the Thai government. Government officials are currently looking into three plans to rescue the 12 stranded children and their coach. Among these involve teaching the young soccer players to dive, draining the caves of water to make extraction easier, and drilling a hole from the surface to provide a way out.
SpaceX & Boring Co engineers headed to Thailand tomorrow to see if we can be helpful to govt. There are probably many complexities that are hard to appreciate without being there in person.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2018
Yesterday, Musk offered to dropship Tesla Powerpacks and water pumps on the site of the rescue efforts to help in draining the caves. Musk also offered technology from The Boring Company as a means to help with the Thai government’s third rescue option. Among the most challenging portions of the cave, however, is a 70cm cross-section located about 3.1 miles away from the stranded soccer team, which gives trouble to the water pumps. The Thai government also expressed some reservations about the idea of digging a hole to reach the children and their coach, considering that the air pocket where the group is currently located is half a mile underground.
In a series of tweets today, Musk threw some ideas that could work to help in draining the caves and retrieving the children. According to Musk, it might be worth looking into the idea of inserting a 1-meter diameter nylon tube through the cave network that could be inflated with air “like a bouncy castle.” This would create an air tunnel underwater against the cave roof and auto-conform to odd shapes in the network including the tricky 70cm cross-section. Velcro slits at the ends of the tubes, as well as a continuous air feed, would allow the tube to remain inflated. According to Musk, this particular solution would require little power since that the work done is low.
A map of the cave system where the members of the Thai Wild Boar soccer team are located. [Credit: James Yenbamroong/Twitter]
The Wild Boar Soccer Team entered the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex last June 23. Due to the monsoon rains, however, the team, comprised of children aged 11-15, as well as their 25-year-old coach, were forced to take shelter in an air pocket 2.5 miles away from the entrance to the caves. The team was located by two British divers last Monday, and since then, the children have been supplied with much-needed food and other survival supplies. Thai Navy SEAL divers, including a doctor and a nurse, also stayed with the soccer team on Tuesday.
The ongoing rescue efforts have taken a toll on the rescuers themselves. As noted by The Guardian, Saman Kunan, a former Navy Seal diver who opted to assist in the rescue, recently died while volunteering in the caves. Kunan was found unconscious in the caves after he transported tanks from the caves’ third chamber. First aid was attempted by his colleagues on site, but efforts to revive him were ultimately unsuccessful.
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Tesla is no stranger to humanitarian efforts. The company has responded to Puerto Rico’s call for help in reviving its battered power system after Hurricane Maria. Tesla was also pivotal in providing power for the first time to a town in the Philippines that has never experienced a constant power supply in its history.
Elon Musk continues to tease the unveiling event for the Tesla Roadster, a continuing trend that has grown into a bigger game of “When” for fans who have been waiting years for the car to finally enter production.
A video shared on X of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Musk appeared on last year, teasing the Roadster unveiling, was shared once again on the social media platform. The poster said the Roadster event will be “unforgettable.”
Musk agreed:
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
The timing is interesting because just yesterday, Musk said that we will be getting flying cars, and for years, Tesla has hinted that it could develop a SpaceX cold gas thruster package that would help the car float or fly for a short period of time.
It would be reasonable to assume Tesla’s major delays with this unveiling event are likely caused by the company’s need to break the rules and push the envelope on nearly everything. Last July, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said:
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“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on and he got a little excited.”
The latest updates that Tesla has given us are that the Roadster is in design development, and it did have several potential dates for an unveiling event this year, including April. It was then pushed to August.
However, there are no clues as to when Tesla will be ready, and fans are certainly getting frustrated with the delays.
For what it is worth, Franz von Holzhausen told Jay Leno this week that the event would be “very soon.”
We sure hope.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
Florida’s governor rode Tesla’s Cybercab at a closed test track and called the experience impressive.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rode in a Tesla Cybercab on a closed test track this week and came away impressed, posting on X that the vehicle “successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.” He called the ride “impressive.”
The stop was part of a broader event Monday at SunTrax, a 775 acre state owned proving ground in Auburndale that Florida built specifically to test autonomous and connected vehicles before they reach public roads. Standing next to a gold Cybercab, DeSantis described the car in plain terms: “You go in there and you just sit. You have a screen. There’s no steering wheel, no pedals. Clearly these things could be very beneficial.”
We took a ride on a robotaxi on the Suntrax course and it successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.
Impressive! https://t.co/FVAkzFLz3r
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 11, 2026
DeSantis paired the praise with a caveat that has followed autonomous vehicles since the category existed. “You don’t want to be in an autonomous vehicle and it drives you into a ditch. That would not be good,” he said, framing safety validation as the gate before wider deployment.
SunTrax, the 2.25 mile oval which the state calls the only high speed autonomous vehicle test track in the Southeast, can simulate rain, pedestrian crossings, hills and crowded urban conditions at highway speeds, letting companies push a car past what an early public rollout would risk. Tesla, Waymo and Beep all use the facility, and Florida’s regulatory approach, among the most permissive for autonomous vehicles in the country, doesn’t require a human operator inside a fully autonomous car.
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Tesla has reason to want the blessing of Florida and states beyond, as the Cybercab entered volume production at Gigafactory Texas this spring and has since self certified as SAE Level 4 under Texas law. Public road testing so far has kept a safety monitor in the passenger seat, and Florida is where Tesla has been expanding its existing Model Y based Robotaxi service instead, adding Miami in July and then Orlando and Tampa two weeks later. A closed track endorsement from a sitting governor doesn’t change any of that, but it does put Tesla’s newest hardware in front of a state that has already shown it will move fast on rules.
Sweden’s IF Metall union has announced that it is ending all protests against Tesla, effective immediately.
The union said in a statement this morning:
“There seems to be no limits to the length Tesla would go to keep unions out of their operations. Unfortunately, they have managed to pay their way out in Sweden. At least that has given the former IF Metall members more money in their pocket, but the insecurity of not having a union or a collective agreement still remains.”
IF Metall has been after Tesla in Sweden for the past three years, attempting to push unionized operations into its factories. Tesla, on the other hand, has given its employees the chance to unionize in various markets. However, the organization says that Tesla has “bought out all of its striking members.”
🚨 NEW: IF Metall has decided to end all industrial action against Tesla in Sweden, effective immediately.
“IF Metall has decided to end all industrial action against Tesla’s Swedish operations, after the company bought out all of its striking members. With no members remaining… pic.twitter.com/blne8iC6hV
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 13, 2026
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“Today, we end our industrial action against Tesla. We do so because it can no longer have an effect – not because our principles have changed,” a written statement said.
Over the past three years, IF Metall has definitely been a thorn in the side of Tesla and its operations in Sweden. The primary strike started in October 2023, when IF Metall members at Tesla’s Swedish Service Centers refused to work.
IF Metall chair to Elon Musk: “Give us a chance” as Tesla Sweden strike hits 2 years
Strikes extended to blockades and work stoppages at non-Tesla-owned repair shops that service Teslas. This limited and stopped anything related to warranties, transport damage, and other work on Teslas ending, eliminating work arounds for customers.
Sympathy strikes followed, as postal workers, dock workers, electricians, and other tradesmen stopped working. Add in lawsuits and other pressures, and you get the full scope of what strategies the union has used against Tesla over the past several years.
But now, it’s all over.
“We will continue to defend the right of workers to organize. We will continue to fight for collective bargaining. And we will continue to stand in solidarity with workers and trade unions facing similar challenges elsewhere – just as you have stood with us,” IF Metall said.
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Tesla launches Powerwall Lease for affordable home backup
Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again
