News
SpaceX reschedules Starship static fire amid deadly Texas cold snap, power grid failure
After extreme weather and a once-in-a-decade cold snap ground SpaceX’s Starship launch preparations to a halt, the company’s next critical preflight test is back on the calendar.
SpaceX received permission to close Boca Chica Boulevard from 9 am to 6 pm CST (UTC-6) on Monday, February 22nd, with identical backup windows available on Tuesday and Wednesday. An agreement with Cameron County currently requires SpaceX to avoid road closures (and thus testing) on weekends – a compromise to preserve some level of access to Boca Chica’s public beaches for local residents.
Over the last several days, Texas has been in the throes of an unusual – but far from unprecedented – cold snap. With temperatures well below freezing in many regions and snow building up for the first time in years, the state’s systematically dysfunctional power grid – intentionally separated from the rest of the US grid and effectively left to the “free market” wolves – almost instantly collapsed. Effectively unregulated, patchwork utilities and power companies left to their own devices unsurprisingly chose to save money and maximize profits in the short term by deploying non-winterized powerlines, substations, and power plants.
It’s a ‘mistake’ – really more of an intentional design flaw – that’s been repeated twice before and as recently as 2011. Once again, power outages have mostly been caused by a lack of winterization at natural gas and coal-fired power plants throughout Texas, which forced the state’s so-called Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT) to enforce systematic rolling blackouts. The state inexplicably went as far as allowing the same utilities and power companies whose conscious failures caused the outages to then raise gas and electricity prices to astronomic levels, resulting in bills on the order of thousands, tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands of dollars in a handful of days.
Additionally, the cold has shocked other Texan infrastructure, throwing no less than 1/50th of the entire American population into darkness and without running or potable water. SpaceX hasn’t been spared by any means and both Boca Chica and greater Brownsville have been subjected to multi-day power outages. SpaceX, however, has built up an extensive footprint for its growing Starship factory, including an installation of Tesla solar panels and Powerpack batteries that have likely helped keep the lights on, for the most part. SpaceX is even doing its best to save cold-stunned sea turtles, performing hundreds of rescues on its own and providing generators and help wherever possible.
-->“Like a ray from heaven, yesterday at 7:30 p.m. the site director and operations manager for SpaceX Boca Chica and two electricians and engineers from SpaceX showed up on our property with the largest generator I’ve ever seen,” Knight said. “And at 1:30 a.m. this morning, we turned the lights and the power on.”
(Trained SpaceX employees have also rescued some 850 of the turtles, Knight said, initially storing them in their gymnasium while coordinating transportation. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.)
NPR – Rachel Treisman – February 17th, 2021
High winds, cold temperatures, and no guarantee that employees will be in a condition to work have meant that SpaceX’s rocket factory and latest Starship test campaign have both slowed considerably. Thankfully, weather-wise, next week is looking somewhat more positive as forecasts show winds dropping and temperatures rising well above freezing. With a little luck, SpaceX will be able to put Starship serial number 10 (SN10) through its first triple-Raptor static fire(s) and qualify the rocket for flight between Monday and Wednesday, potentially opening the door for a third high-altitude launch and landing attempt as early as the end of the week.
News
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
The refreshed Tesla Model 3 has won the DRIVEN Car Guide AA Insurance NZ Car of the Year 2025 award in the Passenger Car category, beating all traditional and electric rivals.
Judges praised the all-electric sedan’s driving dynamics, value-packed EV tech, and the game-changing addition of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) that went live in New Zealand this September.
Why the Model 3 clinched the crown
DRIVEN admitted they were late to the “Highland” party because the updated sedan arrived in New Zealand as a 2024 model, just before the new Model Y stole the headlines. Yet two things forced a re-evaluation this year.
First, experiencing the new Model Y reminded testers how many big upgrades originated in the Model 3, such as the smoother ride, quieter cabin, ventilated seats, rear touchscreen, and stalk-less minimalist interior. Second, and far more importantly, Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
FSD changes everything for Kiwi buyers
The publication called the entry-level rear-wheel-drive version “good to drive and represents a lot of EV technology for the money,” but highlighted that FSD elevates it into another league. “Make no mistake, despite the ‘Supervised’ bit in the name that requires you to remain ready to take control, it’s autonomous and very capable in some surprisingly tricky scenarios,” the review stated.
-->At NZ$11,400, FSD is far from cheap, but Tesla also offers FSD (Supervised) on a $159 monthly subscription, making the tech accessible without the full upfront investment. That’s a game-changer, as it allows users to access the company’s most advanced system without forking over a huge amount of money.
News
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out.
It appears that the Tesla AI team burned the midnight oil, allowing them to release FSD V14.2.1 on Thanksgiving. The update has been reported by Tesla owners with AI4 vehicles, as well as Cybertruck owners.
For the Tesla AI team, at least, it appears that work really does not stop.
FSD V14.2.1
Initial posts about FSD V14.2.1 were shared by Tesla owners on social media platform X. As per the Tesla owners, V14.2.1 appears to be a point update that’s designed to polish the features and capacities that have been available in FSD V14. A look at the release notes for FSD V14.2.1, however, shows that an extra line has been added.
“Camera visibility can lead to increased attention monitoring sensitivity.”
Whether this could lead to more drivers being alerted to pay attention to the roads more remains to be seen. This would likely become evident as soon as the first batch of videos from Tesla owners who received V14.21 start sharing their first drive impressions of the update. Despite the update being released on Thanksgiving, it would not be surprising if first impressions videos of FSD V14.2.1 are shared today, just the same.
-->Rapid FSD releases
What is rather interesting and impressive is the fact that FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out. This bodes well for Tesla’s FSD users, especially since CEO Elon Musk has stated in the past that the V14.2 series will be for “widespread use.”
FSD V14 has so far received numerous positive reviews from Tesla owners, with numerous drivers noting that the system now drives better than most human drivers because it is cautious, confident, and considerate at the same time. The only question now, really, is if the V14.2 series does make it to the company’s wide FSD fleet, which is still populated by numerous HW3 vehicles.
News
Waymo rider data hints that Tesla’s Cybercab strategy might be the smartest, after all
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota Connected Europe designer Karim Dia Toubajie has highlighted a particular trend that became evident in Waymo’s Q3 2025 occupancy stats. As it turned out, 90% of the trips taken by the driverless taxis carried two or fewer passengers.
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota designer observes a trend
Karim Dia Toubajie, Lead Product Designer (Sustainable Mobility) at Toyota Connected Europe, analyzed Waymo’s latest California Public Utilities Commission filings and posted the results on LinkedIn this week.
“90% of robotaxi trips have 2 or less passengers, so why are we using 5-seater vehicles?” Toubajie asked. He continued: “90% of trips have 2 or less people, 75% of trips have 1 or less people.” He accompanied his comments with a graphic showing Waymo’s occupancy rates, which showed 71% of trips having one passenger, 15% of trips having two passengers, 6% of trips having three passengers, 5% of trips having zero passengers, and only 3% of trips having four passengers.
The data excludes operational trips like depot runs or charging, though Toubajie pointed out that most of the time, Waymo’s massive self-driving taxis are really just transporting 1 or 2 people, at times even no passengers at all. “This means that most of the time, the vehicle being used significantly outweighs the needs of the trip,” the Toyota designer wrote in his post.
-->Cybercab suddenly looks perfectly sized
Toubajie gave a nod to Tesla’s approach. “The Tesla Cybercab announced in 2024, is a 2-seater robotaxi with a 50kWh battery but I still believe this is on the larger side of what’s required for most trips,” he wrote.
With Waymo’s own numbers now proving 90% of demand fits two seats or fewer, the wheel-less, lidar-free Cybercab now looks like the smartest play in the room. The Cybercab is designed to be easy to produce, with CEO Elon Musk commenting that its product line would resemble a consumer electronics factory more than an automotive plant. This means that the Cybercab could saturate the roads quickly once it is deployed.
While the Cybercab will likely take the lion’s share of Tesla’s ride-hailing passengers, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover would be perfect for the remaining 9% of riders who require larger vehicles. This should be easy to implement for Tesla, as the Model Y and Model 3 are both mass-market vehicles.
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
