 
									 
																		
									
									
								News
SpaceX Starlink a step closer to internet service and Elon Musk has beta test details
SpaceX’s successful April 22nd Starlink launch has brought the nascent constellation another step closer to serving customers internet and CEO Elon Musk has revealed the first significant beta test details.
SpaceX kicked off 60-satellite Starlink launches with its revolutionary flat-pack design in May 2019, a mission that served as a beta test for the new design and launched “v0.9 spacecraft”. The company finalized the “v1.0” Starlink satellite design shortly thereafter and began its operational launch campaign in November 2019. In the five subsequent months, SpaceX has completed six Starlink v1.0 launches, placing 360 satellites in orbit for a total of 422 as of today. Of the 422 spacecraft launched, ~415 remain operational and a small handful have been deorbited in the last few months.
The ultimate purpose of Starlink, of course, is to serve high-quality internet to customers anywhere on Earth, ranging from the deep winter Arctic to the middle of the Australian outback – places that are fundamentally underserved. Eventually, SpaceX may seek to open service to other less challenged locations and the extraordinarily ambitious final constellation – ~40,000 satellites strong – could easily serve the needs of tens or hundreds of millions, but the initial targets will, in SpaceX’s own words, be places where internet is “unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable.” Finally, thanks to CEO Elon Musk, we have a more specific idea of when customers could begin using the Starlink constellation. 

According to Musk, SpaceX could begin beta-testing its burgeoning Starlink satellite constellation as few as three months from now, potentially kicking off a “private beta” at some point in Q3 2020. “Private” means that it will almost certainly be reserved for SpaceX and Tesla employees and their families. Just like Tesla currently trials early software builds on employee cars, those customers would serve as much more regimented guinea pigs, likely offering detailed feedback throughout their trial of Starlink internet.
SpaceX has a lot of work to do along those lines. Aside from the quality, reliability, and usability of the network itself (can it stream YouTube/Netflix videos? Game? Teleconference?), the same aspects of the user terminal customers will need to access said network will also be under the microscope. If SpaceX is unable to mass-produce millions of high-quality, reliable user terminals and ensure that they are easy and intuitive to use, the quality of the Starlink satellite network itself would be effectively irrelevant.

The problem is familiar for users of ISPs (i.e. a majority of humans): your WiFi router and modem can be top-of-the-line but bad internet service makes the quality of your home network irrelevant. Vice-versa, a bad router/modem also makes high-quality internet service effectively irrelevant. In other words, SpaceX fundamentally needs to ensure that neither component becomes a bottleneck for performance or user experience.
Hence starting with a private beta test. New consumer devices and services – let alone something as ambitious, complex, and new as Starlink – will almost invariably have many, many bugs in the early stages of functionality. To the average consumer, internet is simply a commodity that they expect to “just work” in most cases, so that average customer simply isn’t fit to judge or constructively criticize an early prototype.


Once a majority of the most disruptive bugs and kinks have been worked out, though, SpaceX can begin what Musk described as a “public beta” as few as six months from now – Q4 2020. A public beta would most likely involve interested customers in the right geographic locations applying online and getting on a waitlist.
For now, it’s unknown how many testers those private and public betas will require. More likely than not, the private round will include around 1000-10,000 individuals, while it would be unusual if the public beta didn’t involve at least 10,000+ testers. There’s also a good chance that the public beta will gradually turn into full constellation operations, meaning that anyone (within reason) who wants Starlink internet would be able to join the network fairly quickly. Stay tuned for updates as SpaceX – launch by launch – gets ever closer to the goal of delivering customers internet from space.
News
Tesla targets gas car owners with this crazy new promotion
Tesla is now offering 2,000 free Supercharging miles to any gas car owner who chooses to trade their car in on a Tesla. The promotion requires a gas or hybrid electric vehicle to be turned in for any of the vehicles in Tesla’s lineup.
 
														Tesla is targeting gas car owners with a crazy new promotion launched on October 31, its latest move to boost sales amidst the loss of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, which went away on September 30.
Tesla is now offering 2,000 free Supercharging miles to any gas car owner who chooses to trade their car in on a Tesla. The promotion requires a gas or hybrid electric vehicle to be turned in for any of the vehicles in Tesla’s lineup.
If you do that, you get 2,000 free miles of Supercharging, which can be utilized at any of the chargers on the Tesla network within the next two years:
🚨 New Tesla Incentive Just Dropped!
Trade in your gas/hybrid vehicle & get
FREE Supercharging ⚡️• Must trade in a gas or hybrid vehicle
• 2,000 miles of Supercharging, valid for 2 yearsWould you trade in your gas car for 2,000 free miles? pic.twitter.com/8uEQySr1py
— DennisCW | wen my L (@DennisCW_) October 31, 2025
Supercharging is rarely a Tesla owner’s primary source of charging, but for some owners, it is critical to their ownership experience.
While many homeowners or apartment dwellers are able to utilize charging infrastructure they either installed themselves or were provided by their property management company, others are totally reliant on the wide variety of charging options that are available today.
🚨🚨 Owning an EV without home charging can be CHEAP with Tesla Superchargers!
Watch til the end to see how much I spent to charge my @Tesla Model Y@TeslaCharging @MdeZegher pic.twitter.com/jRIWkdJvY6
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 31, 2025
Tesla’s Supercharging Network has expanded rapidly over the past few years, mostly in preparation for the company to open it to other EV manufacturers, most of which have adopted the company’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) in the United States.
Its latest quarterly earnings Shareholder Deck revealed a 16 percent increase in stations in Q3 compared to the same timeframe in 2024. Meanwhile, connectors have increased by 18 percent in the same timeframe. There are over 73,800 connectors in the Tesla Supercharger Network globally.
The move could be looked at as a way to incentivize people to switch to electric vehicles, and it is something we have seen Tesla experiment with over the past month.
It has played with leasing terms, and we will likely see more incentive offers, like this Supercharging one or even Full Self-Driving trials for those who choose to make the switch over the next two months.
Tesla routinely offers some tasty deals in Q4 as it aims to round out the year with a strong delivery and production report for investors. Q4 is statistically Tesla’s strongest three-month period in any given year. However, Q3 was Tesla’s strongest performance in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history, as it narrowly missed the elusive 500,000 mark for a quarter.
News
Tesla Cybercab sighting highlights big change since 2024 unveiling
Based on an image recently taken of the vehicle, it appears that Tesla has made the Cybercab’s cabin easier to get in and out of.
 
														A recent sighting of the Tesla Cybercab in the wild has teased a pretty interesting update that has been implemented on the autonomous two-seater.
Based on an image recently taken of the vehicle, it appears that Tesla has made the Cybercab’s cabin easier to get in and out of.
Recent Cybercab sightings
As per recent posts on social media, it appears Tesla has started testing the Cybercab on public roads. Images posted by Tesla community members in Palo Alto showed a Cybercab prototype being driven near the company’s engineering headquarters. Interestingly enough, the vehicle was equipped with a steering wheel.
It’s not just the Cybercab’s steering wheel that caught a lot of attention, however. Based on observations by EV watchers online, it appears that Tesla has also made the Cybercab’s door a bit larger. This should make it easier for passengers to get into and out of the autonomous two-seater. The position of the camera in the B-pillar also appears to have been adjusted slightly. 
All-in on autonomy
While Cybercab prototypes that are seen in the wild today are fitted with a steering wheel, the vehicle will be produced strictly as an autonomous Robotaxi. This was highlighted by Elon Musk during the third-quarter earnings call. Musk also expects about 2 million Cybercabs to be produced every year, making it the company’s highest-volume vehicle.
“The single biggest expansion in production will be the Cybercab, which starts production in Q2 next year. That’s really a vehicle that’s optimized for full autonomy. It, in fact, does not have a steering wheel or pedals and is really an enduring optimization on minimizing cost per mile for fully considered cost per mile of operation,” Musk said during the Q3 2025 earnings call.
News
Tesla Robotaxi test units spotted in new region ahead of launch
These validation units are used to gain additional data for Tesla’s internal use, or even potentially for regulatory purposes that the company can share with agencies that will eventually grant a license to operate Robotaxi in the state.
 
														Tesla Robotaxi test units are being spotted in various new regions ahead of their launch in new states. Tesla is aiming to launch in at least a few new states in the coming months as it is ramping up hiring for the Robotaxi program and aiming to expand its ride-hailing service.
Already active in Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area, Tesla is looking to expand its Robotaxi operations to new states. It’s had its eyes set on Nevada, Florida, and Arizona, which have seemed to have the most movement of the three prospects over the past month or so.
That trend is continuing.
Earlier this month, we reported on two Robotaxi units spotted testing with LiDAR rigs for ground truth validation in Gilbert, Arizona. Noted Cybertruck owner and enthusiast Greggertruck spotted the two units traveling on a highway.
Now, those same two units, or at least they appear to be, were spotted in Scottsdale, which is also a suburb of Phoenix, like Gilbert is, with the same LiDAR rigs:
Real world AI coming to Scottdale! Tesla robotaxi spotted beginning testing! @SawyerMerritt @elonmusk @CuriousPejjy pic.twitter.com/D2eUmQsiao
— MpWraps (@MWraps30584) October 29, 2025
These validation units are used to gain additional data for Tesla’s internal use, or even potentially for regulatory purposes that the company can share with agencies that will eventually grant a license to operate Robotaxi in the state.
Tesla is not a company that utilizes LiDAR for its everyday self-driving efforts, as it has utilized only cameras for the past several years.
Tesla Vision, as the company calls it, is what CEO Elon Musk feels is needed to achieve a fully autonomous network of vehicles, which will eventually need zero supervision for passenger transportation.
LiDAR is utilized by other companies, like Waymo, but Tesla has maintained that it is not necessary for several years. Musk has called it a “crutch” for achieving the proper self-driving tech, and the company only uses it for an additional bit of data.
Tesla has been operating its Robotaxi service in Austin since late June, and it has expanded its service area in the city to nearly 300 square miles, with its most recent expansion occurring earlier this week.
- 
																	   Elon Musk2 weeks ago Elon Musk2 weeks agoSpaceX posts Starship booster feat that’s so nutty, it doesn’t even look real 
- 
																	   Elon Musk2 weeks ago Elon Musk2 weeks agoTesla Full Self-Driving gets an offer to be insured for ‘almost free’ 
- 
																	   News2 weeks ago News2 weeks agoElon Musk confirms Tesla FSD V14.2 will see widespread rollout 
- 
																	   News2 weeks ago News2 weeks agoTesla is adding an interesting feature to its centerscreen in a coming update 
- 
																	   Elon Musk2 weeks ago Elon Musk2 weeks agoTesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package hits first adversity from proxy firm 
- 
																	   News2 weeks ago News2 weeks agoTesla might be doing away with a long-included feature with its vehicles 
- 
																	   News2 weeks ago News2 weeks agoTesla updates fans on its plans for the Roadster 
- 
																	   Elon Musk2 weeks ago Elon Musk2 weeks agoAfter moving Tesla to Texas, Elon Musk is back in the Bay Area with Neuralink expansion 


 
									 
																	 
									 
																	 
									 
																	 
									 
																	 
									 
																	 
									 
																	 
														 
											 
											 
											 
											