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SpaceX recovered fairing appears at future Mars rocket factory in LA
In an unexpected turn of events, the first fairing half recovered by SpaceX – just after the Feb. 22 launch of PAZ – appeared at the company’s just-leased facilities at LA’s Port of San Pedro, also known as Berth 240 or SpaceX’s preferred location for the first BFR (Mars rocket) factory.
If there was any doubt before that SpaceX was not serious about the Port proposal released in March, or that individuals with SpaceX shirts at 240 were a mere coincidence, the arrival of an entire fairing half and two fairly large cranes ought to confirm the reality of the company’s active presence at the facility. After heading down to the port at dawn to capture Mr Steven’s arrival post-launch (providing a fairing surprise of its own), Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin made a quick detour to Berth 240 to check up on any potential activity at the SpaceX-leased site.
SpaceX’s first recovered fairing spotted at the BFR factory (Pauline Acalin)
Lo and behold, she found a lone recovered fairing half sitting just off the side of the public Port access road, behind the plot’s fenced enclosure. A giant Z (a la PAZ) on the fairing’s face identified it beyond any doubt to be the half that soft-landed intact just over a month ago. For such a unique pathfinder as the first apparently intact fairing half to be recovered, its uncovered storage out in the open dockside air tells us a fair bit about the reality of its condition: while it’s still surprising that this half did not spend more time (perhaps no time at all) in SpaceX’s Hawthorne facilities, this almost guarantees that the fairing suffered some form of catastrophic and irreparable damage at some point during its recovery.
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- PAZ’ fairing half in all its sooty, damaged glory. (Pauline Acalin)
RIP fairing half
If this fairing were in a flightworthy state, it would undoubtedly be safely stowed inside SpaceX’s Hawthorne facilities for many weeks or even months of careful testing and analysis to properly characterize the condition of the first fairing to be recovered in one piece.
Another possibility: perhaps SpaceX has already managed that characterization and refinement through the many different fairing fragments recovered during past (unsuccessful) attempts. Ultimately, it should come as little surprise that the fairing wound up damaged – the range of conditions it was subjected to boggle the mind. Its damage may have come from post-recovery handling, perhaps something as simple as the surface tension of seawater or some water intrusion inflating its density and overloading the fairing’s structure while it was craned or dragged aboard Mr. Steven. Its loss would appear to confirm that Mr. Steven’s seemingly elaborate net system exists for very specific and technical reasons, instead of, say, a group of engineers realizing that they could convince their managers to let them build a giant claw-boat. Sometimes the crazy solution can be the right solution!
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- A closeup of the landed fairing. This particularly fairing is the first flight of Fairing 2.0, a recent upgrade. (Elon Musk)
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- The first fairing to ever return to land intact proudly sails into Port of San Pedro aboard Mr Steven. (Pauline Acalin)
Either way, SpaceX technicians have unequivocally begun to tear down the PAZ half’s many interior components, ranging from baffles and soundproofing panels to parafoil connectors and cold-gas maneuvering thrusters. It’s conceivable that some of those parts can be reused on future missions, partly thanks to the fact that this half remained intact after landing, keeping its interior mostly dry. Given the sheer size of the cranes brought on-site on Saturday (March 31), it seems implausible that they are there just for PAZ’ fairing – more likely, they have been rented or purchased by SpaceX and will be used for a variety of tasks related to the demolition and construction outlined in the Port’s Berth 240 lease and use-case approval.
This is almost certainly the first time that SpaceX’s Berth 240 has hosted real rocket hardware, and hopefully foreshadows a bright and busy future of reusable rocket recovery, refurbishment, and manufacturing (hopefully with BFR!).
NBD, just scrapping a fairing in an abandoned shipyard. (Pauline Acalin)
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News
Tesla owners could be impacted by new EV tax credit extension rule
We confirmed with a Tesla Sales Advisor that any current orders that have the $7,500 tax credit applied to them must be completed by December 31, meaning delivery must take place by that date. However, it is unclear at this point whether someone could still claim the credit when filing their tax returns for 2025 as long as the order reflects an order date before September 30.
Tesla owners could be impacted by a new EV tax credit rule, which seems to be a new hoop to jump through for those who benefited from the “extension,” which allowed orderers to take delivery after the loss of the $7,500 discount.
After the Trump Administration initiated the phase-out of the $7,500 EV tax credit, many were happy to see the rules had been changed slightly, as deliveries could occur after the September 30 cutoff as long as orders were placed before the end of that month.
However, there appears to be a new threshold that EV buyers will have to go through, and it will impact their ability to get the credit, at least at the Point of Sale, for now.
Delivery must be completed by the end of the year, and buyers must take possession of the car by December 31, 2025, or they will lose the tax credit. The U.S. government will be closing the tax credit portal, which allows people to claim the credit at the Point of Sale.
🚨UPDATE: $7,500 Tax Credit Portal “Closes By End of Year”.
This is bad news for pending Tesla buyers (MYP) looking to lock in the $7,500 Tax Credit.
“it looks like the portal closes by end of the year so there be no way for us to guarantee the funds however, we will try our… pic.twitter.com/LnWiaXL30k
— DennisCW | wen my L (@DennisCW_) December 15, 2025
We confirmed with a Tesla Sales Advisor that any current orders that have the $7,500 tax credit applied to them must be completed by December 31, meaning delivery must take place by that date.
However, it is unclear at this point whether someone could still claim the credit when filing their tax returns for 2025 as long as the order reflects an order date before September 30.
If not, the order can still go through, but the buyer will not be able to claim the tax credit, meaning they will pay full price for the vehicle.
This puts some buyers in a strange limbo, especially if they placed an order for the Model Y Performance. Some deliveries have already taken place, and some are scheduled before the end of the month, but many others are not expecting deliveries until January.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk takes latest barb at Bill Gates over Tesla short position
Bill Gates placed a massive short bet against Tesla of ~1% of our total shares, which might have cost him over $10B by now
Elon Musk took his latest barb at former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates over his short position against the company, which the two have had some tensions over for a number of years.
Gates admitted to Musk several years ago through a text message that he still held a short position against his sustainable car and energy company. Ironically, Gates had contacted Musk to explore philanthropic opportunities.
Elon Musk explains Bill Gates beef: He ‘placed a massive bet on Tesla dying’
Musk said he could not take the request seriously, especially as Gates was hoping to make money on the downfall of the one company taking EVs seriously.
The Tesla frontman has continued to take shots at Gates over the years from time to time, but the latest comment came as Musk’s net worth swelled to over $600 billion. He became the first person ever to reach that threshold earlier this week, when Tesla shares increased due to Robotaxi testing without any occupants.
Musk refreshed everyone’s memory with the recent post, stating that if Gates still has his short position against Tesla, he would have lost over $10 billion by now:
Bill Gates placed a massive short bet against Tesla of ~1% of our total shares, which might have cost him over $10B by now
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2025
Just a month ago, in mid-November, Musk issued his final warning to Gates over the short position, speculating whether the former Microsoft frontman had still held the bet against Tesla.
“If Gates hasn’t fully closed out the crazy short position he has held against Tesla for ~8 years, he had better do so soon,” Musk said. This came in response to The Gates Foundation dumping 65 percent of its Microsoft position.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sends final warning to Bill Gates over short position
Musk’s involvement in the U.S. government also drew criticism from Gates, as he said that the reductions proposed by DOGE against U.S.A.I.D. were “stunning” and could cause “millions of additional deaths of kids.”
“Gates is a huge liar,” Musk responded.
It is not known whether Gates still holds his Tesla short position.
Tesla made a change to the Cybertruck, and nobody noticed. But to be fair, nobody could have, but it was revealed by the program’s lead engineer that it was aimed toward simplifying manufacturing through a minor change in casting.
After the Cybertruck was given a Top Safety Pick+ award by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), for its reputation as the safest pickup on the market, some wondered what had changed about the vehicle.
Tesla makes changes to its vehicles routinely through Over-the-Air software updates, but aesthetic changes are relatively rare. Vehicles go through refreshes every few years, as the Model 3 and Model Y did earlier this year. However, the Cybertruck is one of the vehicles that has not changed much since its launch in late 2023, but it has gone through some minor changes.
Most recently, Wes Morrill, the Cybertruck program’s Lead Engineer, stated that the company had made a minor change to the casting of the all-electric pickup for manufacturing purposes. This change took place in April:
We made a minor change on the casting for manufacturability in April. Our Internal testing shows no difference in crash result but IIHS only officially tested the latest version
— Wes (@wmorrill3) December 17, 2025
The change is among the most subtle that can be made, but it makes a massive difference in manufacturing efficiency, build quality, and scalability.
Morrill revealed Tesla’s internal testing showed no difference in crash testing results performed by the IIHS.
The 2025 Cybertruck received stellar ratings in each of the required testing scenarios and categories. The Top Safety Pick+ award is only given if it excels in rigorous crash tests. This requires ‘Good’ ratings in updated small and moderate overlap front, side, roof, and head restraints.
Additionally, it must have advanced front crash prevention in both day and night. Most importantly, the vehicle must have a ‘Good’ or ‘Acceptable’ headlights standard on all trims, with the “+ ” specifically demanding the toughest new updated moderate overlap test that checks rear-seat passenger protection alongside driver safety.
Tesla owners could be impacted by new EV tax credit extension rule
Elon Musk takes latest barb at Bill Gates over Tesla short position
