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SpaceX’s Starship, Florida Space Coast make it through Hurricane Dorian unscathed

Taken by local photographer Greg Scott, these photos show SpaceX's Florida-based Mk2 Starship on August 31st and September 4th, before and after Hurricane Dorian. (Greg Scott/Teslarati)

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With Hurricane Dorian’s central Florida rendezvous essentially over, it’s safe to say that SpaceX’s Starship facilities and Florida’s Space Coast more generally have made it through the threatening storm almost completely unscathed.

SpaceX is simultaneously building two orbital-class Starship prototypes at separate facilities in Boca Chica, Texas and Cocoa, Florida, the latter of which was under threat from Hurricane Dorian and the former of which just made it through the remnants of Tropical Storm Fernand. Both facilities are where they are primarily because of their favorability relative to Earth’s orbital mechanics, but their locations also mean that SpaceX will have to deal with risks of hurricanes, tropical storms, and generally unsavory weather every summer.

Heading into the last few days of August, there was an increasingly high risk that Hurricane Dorian would pose an almost unprecedented threat to central Florida and the US East Coast, rapidly swelling from Category 3 to Cat 4. On September 1st, Dorian made landfall in the Bahama Islands and exploded into a record-breaking Category 5 storm with sustained wind speeds of more than 180 mph (285 km/h), making it the strongest hurricane to impact the region in recorded history.

As a collection of islands with a maximum surface height barely 30 meters (100 ft) above sea level, the storm wreaked havoc on the Bahamas, with storm surge appearing to inundate a majority of the several islands. In a tragic turn of events, the weather system pushing the storm west died off, effectively leaving the massive hurricane to listlessly pummel the Bahamas for a full 48 hours. Sadly, no fewer than 23 Bahamians have been killed by Hurricane Dorian, and damages to the island are immense and will likely take years to recover from.

Thus, it’s an incredibly bittersweet victory to know that the ~48 hours Dorian spent almost paused over the Bahamas can probably be credited with the storm’s dramatically reduced East Coast impact. As shown in the videos below, SpaceX is back in action at its Cocoa, Florida Starship assembly facility as of September 5th, almost entirely unscathed after Dorian weakened to a Category 2 storm and never made landfall in the state.

Without making landfall, the limited remaining impact of Dorian’s weakened storm surge and winds is unlikely to have resulted in significant damage to the string of launch pads located along Florida’s Space Coast, including two SpaceX pads (LC-40 and LC-39A). Had Dorian remained at its peak Category 5 strength and continued towards Florida unabated, the damage could have been immense. In particular, SpaceX’s Cocoa Starship facilities and hardware are almost entirely uncovered and unprotected from the elements, with almost two dozen massive steel rings at an exceptionally high risk of being tossed around like hula hoops if winds were high enough.

Before…
… and after.

Those destructive winds never transpired in Florida – albeit at a great cost to the Bahamas – and it’s nearly impossible to discern between videos of the Starship facility taken before and after Dorian. More standing water is visible (yay, mosquitoes!) and SpaceX managed to roll the larger Starship Mk2 tank section inside a vertical assembly building partially completed just days prior, but all Starship hardware appears to have made it through the relatively mild weather untouched.

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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First Look at Tesla’s Robotaxi App: features, design, and more

Tesla is using a Robotaxi section of its normal smartphone application to enable access to driverless vehicles roaming around Austin.

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Tesla has officially launched the Robotaxi platform to a limited number of people, giving them the ability to ask for a ride from a driverless Model Y in Austin, Texas. But how do you hail a ride?

Through the Tesla Robotaxi app, which officially launched on June 22 as the company initiated the first rides for non-employees, people can request rides from driverless cars that are traveling around Austin. Teslarati gained access to the app as we are members of the Early Access Rider program.

There are only a very limited number of vehicles operating within the fleet currently, as Tesla has said the number is between 10 and 20 vehicles.

Tesla is using a Robotaxi section of its iOS smartphone app for the launch, confirming what the company said prior to the program’s maiden voyage: there would not be a separate app for the Robotaxi.

First Look at the Robotaxi App

The Tesla Robotaxi app, similar to the official Tesla App, features a simple interface that should be familiar to anyone who has used a ride-sharing app in the past. Downloading the app brings users to a sign-in page, which features a Tesla Model Y Robotaxi as a header image. Users can then log in or create an account to access the service.

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A Clean, Simple UI

Upon logging in, users are presented with a clean user interface that allows them to select a destination and pickup point. Upon booking, users are provided with a real-time update on when their Robotaxi will arrive. Users could also select some settings for their upcoming ride, such as their preferred temperature in the cabin.

Smart Suggestions

If there is one evident thing about Tesla’s Robotaxi App, it is the fact that it is smart and designed to make driverless ride sharing services feel as normal as possible. While waiting for their ride, customers are presented with a number of tips that should help them understand their robotaxi better.

These include tips on how to use the Model Y’s door handles, as well as information about the vehicle’s light signals. The app also includes smart suggestions on destinations that riders can visit using their Robotaxi. These include cafes, restaurants, parks, shopping centers, and other pertinent locations.

Credit: @BLKMDL3/X

Cybercab Theme

Another thing that is evident with the Robotaxi App is its Cybercab-inspired color theme. This is evident from the login page, which already features the golden hues of the dedicated two-seater autonomous car. The golden Cybercab color theme is used to great effect inside the app itself as well.

No Tips, at Least for Now

As observed by Tesla owner-enthusiast @BLKMDL3, Tesla is not accepting anything more than the service’s flat $4.20 rate per ride for now. If customers wish to leave a tip for the service, they would be presented with a page featuring Tesla’s hedgehog mascot saying “Just Kidding.”

Tips will likely be an option in the future, but for this stage of the Robotaxi rollout, it appears that the service really will follow a flat rate system.

 

 

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Watch Tesla’s first driverless public Robotaxi rides in Texas

Tesla’s first driverless Robotaxi rides for non-employees are starting with the first drives beginning today.

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Tesla has finally launched its Robotaxi platform to members of the public for the first time in Austin, Texas.

The Tesla Robotaxi platform is a driverless ride-hailing service that will enable people to use their cars for passive income as they will ride around, find riders, and drive them to their destinations in exchange for money. For right now, Tesla is using company vehicles, the Model Y specifically, and has opened up rides to a small number of people who are a part of the Early Access Program.

Teslarati is a member of the Early Access Program, as we were invited to Austin for the launch. We have gained access to Tesla’s new Robotaxi app, which lies within the main Tesla iOS app, and we are able to use the Robotaxi fleet during the Early Access Program.

The first rides are already occurring as Tesla launched the platform at around noon local time in Austin on Sunday:

The video shows that Tesla’s initial Robotaxi rides are being quite cautious. Currently, the Robotaxis can only travel within a geofenced portion of Austin. This area will eventually be expanded.

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For the time being, Tesla is keeping a safety rider in the vehicles with occupants, but they do not take up the driver’s seat. Instead, they are sitting in the passenger’s seat. This is simply a safety precaution that Tesla is using to keep Early Access riders safe, although there are ways riders can alert Tesla of any issues.

In the initial communication Tesla sent to members of the Early Access Rider program, the company said the Cabin Camera would be deactivated for the duration of their rides, but can be used if the rider needs support. Additionally, the in-cabin microphone will be deactivated, but can also be used to get in contact with support if there are any issues during the ride.

We have seen a variety of different Robotaxis rolling around Austin for the past several weeks. The company has been testing the vehicles in a very limited way for the time being, and it only has between 15 and 20 Robotaxis in the city for the launch. This number will slowly grow over time.

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Tesla to launch in India in July with vehicles already arriving: report

Tesla is finally making serious moves toward launching in India, with showrooms opening in July, a report claims.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is finally bringing its business to India, a new report indicates, as the company is already shipping vehicles from China to the market where it has attempted to launch business for several years.

We first heard of Tesla planning to launch in India about a decade ago when CEO Elon Musk and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in California at the Fremont Factory in 2015.

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Over the years, the two have hinted that the automaker would eventually land in India, but issues with import duties have delayed Tesla’s attempts.

Now, there seems to be some serious movement in Tesla’s plans, as it has reportedly shipped the first batch of vehicles from China to India, according to Bloomberg. The outlet says these are Model Y Rear-Wheel-Drive configurations.

Tesla is also planning for other parts of the launch, like preparing for Supercharging, aftermarket parts and merchandise purchasing for vehicle owners and fans, and spare parts from various regions, including the United States, China, and the Netherlands.

The company and the Indian government must have come to some sort of agreement that was catalyzed by Musk and Modi’s meeting in February in the U.S.

It is a long time coming, and it now gives Tesla access to an incredibly vast market in India, where a very small percentage of 2024’s total automotive sales were comprised of electric vehicles.

Another interesting tidbit about the launch is that the vehicles will be coming from Gigafactory Shanghai and not Gigafactory Berlin as previously thought. Reports from other publications, like Reuters, indicated the German production facility was building vehicles for India early last year.

India has a very strict policy that favors domestic manufacturing, which is why the import duties were so high for foreign automakers looking to bring their product into the market. These duties were reduced from 110 percent to just 15 percent, as long as companies aim to invest in India and meet certain investment and sales targets.

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