News
SpaceX rolls largest rocket booster ever built to the launch pad
Six weeks after assembly began, SpaceX has completed Starship’s first true Super Heavy booster prototype, rolled it out of its ‘high bay’ nest, and installed the building-sized rocket at the launch pad.
Standing some 65 meters (~215 ft) tall, Super Heavy Booster 3 (B3) is the same height as an entire two-stage Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft and is expected to singlehandedly weigh six times more than a fully-fueled Falcon 9 when loaded with liquid oxygen and methane propellant. Once Super Heavies are eventually outfitted with a full 32 Raptors, more engines than any other rocket in history, the booster will also produce more than twice the thrust of NASA’s Saturn V Moon rocket – still the most powerful vehicle ever successfully flown.
Assembled out of 36 steel rings, three tank domes, and dozens of other major components, Super Heavy B3 borrows heavily from the Starship production apparatus SpaceX has built and refined over the last ~18 months. Boosters use the same welding and integration jigs, facilities, and strategies and are built out of the same steel rings, stringers, stiffeners, and dome ‘gores.’
In some ways, Super Heavy boosters are actually a good deal simpler than Starships, which require a custom nose cone, secondary ‘header’ tanks, extra plumbing, actuating flaps, a heat shield with thousands of tiles, and more. Boosters, by comparison, require no heat shield and only need two main tanks made out of identical steel rings. However, all three Super Heavy domes (forward, common, and thrust) are mostly custom or require major modifications on top of parts shared with Starship domes.
Speaking on June 30th, Elon Musk revealed that Booster 3 was “very hard to build” and would be exclusively used for ground tests, reiterating that Super Heavy B4 is currently the first booster scheduled to fly. Curiously, the SpaceX CEO also said that “much of [Super Heavy’s] design” would be changed between Booster 3 and Booster 4, raising questions about what the company hopes to gain from Booster 3 “ground tests.”
Regardless, those tests are now on track to begin as early as Monday, July 6th after SpaceX transported Super Heavy Booster 3 from the factory to the launch pad and rapidly installed the rocket on a test platform on July 1st. Following in the footsteps of Starship, Super Heavy’s first hurdle will likely be an ambient proof test, in which nitrogen gas is used to check for leaks and verify general structural integrity under pressure.
-->Once complete, Booster 3 will be put through a cryogenic proof test, effectively replacing gaseous nitrogen with its supercooled liquid equivalent to simulate the immense thermal and mechanical stress incurred by similarly cold liquid oxygen and methane propellant. How exactly that test will be done is unclear given that Super Heavy can feasibly hold more than 3100 tons of liquid nitrogen and nowhere near that much storage capacity has been installed. The most important goal of cryo proof testing is to demonstrate that Super Heavy is structurally sound with its tanks pressurized to nominal flight pressures – likely at least 7-8 bar (~100-120 psi).
If successful, there are two possible routes SpaceX could go: more cryogenic proof testing at higher (and thus potentially destructive) pressures or static fire testing with one or several Raptor engines installed. Given Musk’s statement that the first flightworthy Super Heavy booster would implement major design changes, it’s unclear if Booster 3 is of a high enough fidelity to warrant static fire testing or if SpaceX has effectively turned the Super Heavy prototype into a massive ‘test tank’ instead.
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
