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SpaceX to leverage Boring Co. tunneling tech to help humans settle Mars
SpaceX’s COO and President Gwynne Shotwell corroborated past comments made by CEO Elon Musk in a recent interview with CNBC, stating that she believed The Boring Company’s advances in tunneling technology will help SpaceX safely house humans on Mars.
Asked more broadly about collaboration between Musk’s many ventures, ranging from Tesla to Neuralink, she noted that “The Boring Company could actually be how we house people on Mars,” while also noting that Tesla’s expertise in battery technology had already found a home inside SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
In the past, Musk has also expressed interest in and awareness of the many potential uses for advanced tunneling technologies on Mars and for settlement of the solar system more generally. Speaking at 2017’s International Space Station Research and Development Conference, the CEO was asked by an audience member whether The Boring Company was actually just a front to develop technology that would help SpaceX settle humans on Mars. He agreed, at least partially:
“I do think getting good at digging tunnels could be really helpful for Mars. It would be a different optimization for a Mars boring machine versus an Earth boring machine, [but] there’s going to be a [need for a] lot of…mining in general to get raw materials [and water ice]. And then, along the way, building underground habitats where you could get radiation shielding… you could build an entire city underground if you wanted to.”
Intriguingly, a brand new study based on long-term data gathered from the Curiosity Mars rover (also known as Mars Science Laboratory) showed that Mars’ radiation environment was significantly less hostile than many have baselined in analyses of human outposts on the planet. Combined with vast lava tubes nurtured by Mars’ intense volcanism and forgiving gravity one third that of Earth’s, underground Martian habitats may be unnecessary in the short term, although long-term radiation exposure will remain a concern for colonists settling on the Red Planet.
Put simply, the first trips to Mars with SpaceX’s BFR and BFS (Big F****** Rocket/Spaceship) could save vast amounts of precious mass by initially avoiding tunneling hardware in lieu of more versatile supplies, saving lightweight Mars-optimized TBMs for future cargo transport missions. This would also give SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company additional time to perfect tunneling on Earth and to hone their synergistic battery and materials expertise. As such, past and present comments made by Musk and Shotwell likely indicate a long-term perspective, sketching out a rough outline of potential strategies they believe can help enable a permanent human presence beyond Earth, particularly the colonization of Mars.
While not yet utilizing the much larger BFS, SpaceX’s first ventures into the world of human spaceflight could begin in less than a year, per the company’s internal H1 2019 target for its first crewed Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station. Recently, Musk revealed the first photo of of a flightworthy Crew Dragon spacecraft, set to conduct its own uncrewed test flight near the end of 2018.
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Tesla cleared in Canada EV rebate investigation
Tesla has been cleared in an investigation into the company’s staggering number of EV rebate claims in Canada in January.

Canadian officials have cleared Tesla following an investigation into a large number of claims submitted to the country’s electric vehicle (EV) rebates earlier this year.
Transport Canada has ruled that there was no evidence of fraud after Tesla submitted 8,653 EV rebate claims for the country’s Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program, as detailed in a report on Friday from The Globe and Mail. Despite the huge number of claims, Canadian authorities have found that the figure represented vehicles that had been delivered prior to the submission deadline for the program.
According to Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland, the claims “were determined to legitimately represent cars sold before January 12,” which was the final day for OEMs to submit these claims before the government suspended the program.
Upon initial reporting of the Tesla claims submitted in January, it was estimated that they were valued at around $43 million. In March, Freeland and Transport Canada opened the investigation into Tesla, noting that they would be freezing the rebate payments until the claims were found to be valid.
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Huw Williams, Canadian Automobile Dealers Association Public Affairs Director, accepted the results of the investigation, while also questioning how Tesla knew to submit the claims that weekend, just before the program ran out.
“I think there’s a larger question as to how Tesla knew to run those through on that weekend,” Williams said. “It doesn’t appear to me that we have an investigation into any communication between Transport Canada and Tesla, between officials who may have shared information inappropriately.”
Tesla sales have been down in Canada for the first half of this year, amidst turmoil between the country and the Trump administration’s tariffs. Although Elon Musk has since stepped back from his role with the administration, a number of companies and officials in Canada were calling for a boycott of Tesla’s vehicles earlier this year, due in part to his association with Trump.
News
Tesla Semis to get 18 new Megachargers at this PepsiCo plant
PepsiCo is set to add more Tesla Semi Megachargers, this time at a facility in North Carolina.

Tesla partner PepsiCo is set to build new Semi charging stations at one of its manufacturing sites, as revealed in new permitting plans shared this week.
On Friday, Tesla charging station scout MarcoRP shared plans on X for 18 Semi Megacharging stalls at PepsiCo’s facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, coming as the latest update plans for the company’s increasingly electrified fleet. The stalls are set to be built side by side, along with three Tesla Megapack grid-scale battery systems.
The plans also note the faster charging speeds for the chargers, which can charge the Class 8 Semi at speeds of up to 1MW. Tesla says that the speed can charge the Semi back to roughly 70 percent in around 30 minutes.
You can see the site plans for the PepsiCo North Carolina Megacharger below.

Credit: PepsiCo (via MarcoRPi1 on X)

Credit: PepsiCo (via MarcoRPi1 on X)
READ MORE ON THE TESLA SEMI: Tesla to build Semi Megacharger station in Southern California
PepsiCo’s Tesla Semi fleet, other Megachargers, and initial tests and deliveries
PepsiCo was the first external customer to take delivery of Tesla’s Semis back in 2023, starting with just an initial order of 15. Since then, the company has continued to expand the fleet, recently taking delivery of an additional 50 units in California. The PepsiCo fleet was up to around 86 units as of last year, according to statements from Semi Senior Manager Dan Priestley.
Additionally, the company has similar Megachargers at its facilities in Modesto, Sacramento, and Fresno, California, and Tesla also submitted plans for approval to build 12 new Megacharging stalls in Los Angeles County.
Over the past couple of years, Tesla has also been delivering the electric Class 8 units to a number of other companies for pilot programs, and Priestley shared some results from PepsiCo’s initial Semi tests last year. Notably, the executive spoke with a handful of PepsiCo workers who said they really liked the Semi and wouldn’t plan on going back to diesel trucks.
The company is also nearing completion of a higher-volume Semi plant at its Gigafactory in Nevada, which is expected to eventually have an annual production capacity of 50,000 Semi units.
Tesla executive teases plan to further electrify supply chain
News
Tesla sales soar in Norway with new Model Y leading the charge
Tesla recorded a 54% year-over-year jump in new vehicle registrations in June.

Tesla is seeing strong momentum in Norway, with sales of the new Model Y helping the company maintain dominance in one of the world’s most electric vehicle-friendly markets.
Model Y upgrades and consumer preferences
According to the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV), Tesla recorded a 54% year-over-year jump in new vehicle registrations in June. The Model Y led the charge, posting a 115% increase compared to the same period last year. Tesla Norway’s growth was even more notable in May, with sales surging a whopping 213%, as noted in a CNBC report.
Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian EV Association (NEVA), stated that Tesla’s strong market performance was partly due to the updated Model Y, which is really just a good car, period.
“I think it just has to do with the fact that they deliver a car which has quite a lot of value for money and is what Norwegians need. What Norwegians need, a large luggage space, all wheel drive, and a tow hitch, high ground clearance as well. In addition, quite good digital solutions which people have gotten used to, and also a charging network,” she said.
Tesla in Europe
Tesla’s success in Norway is supported by long-standing government incentives for EV adoption, including exemptions from VAT, road toll discounts, and access to bus lanes. Public and home charging infrastructure is also widely available, making the EV ownership experience in the country very convenient.
Tesla’s performance in Europe is still a mixed bag, with markets like Germany and France still seeing declines in recent months. In areas such as Norway, Spain, and Portugal, however, Tesla’s new car registrations are rising. Spain’s sales rose 61% and Portugal’s sales rose 7% last month. This suggests that regional demand may be stabilizing or rebounding in pockets of Europe.
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