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Suspect charged in connection with Tesla New Mexico arson
Another suspect has been charged in connection with the vandalism of a Tesla store—this time in New Mexico.
Authorities have arrested and charged a suspect in connection with a firebombing attack on a Tesla store in New Mexico, amidst a larger wave of vandalism attempts targeting the company’s vehicles and retail locations.
On Monday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel announced that a suspect had been arrested in relation to a pair of firebombing attempts on Tesla’s Albuquerque store, saying that authorities would attempt to seek up to 40 years in prison for the suspect.
Later in the day, the Albuquerque resident, 40-year-old Jamison Wagner, had officially been charged related to separate fires at the Tesla store on February 9 and at a nearby Republican Party office on March 30, according to a report Bloomberg. The suspect is charged with two counts of malicious destruction of property by fire or explosives.
“We have made an arrest in connection to the February firebombing of a New Mexico Tesla dealership and the March attack on the New Mexico Republican Party Headquarters,” Bondi wrote in a post on X. “We will be prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law. We are seeking up to 40 years in prison—no negotiating.”
🚨 Elon Musk announces the measures Tesla is taking to fight the vandalism that has been going on at stores across the country https://t.co/rAZzbzLayQ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 20, 2025
READ MORE ON TESLA VANDALISM: Tesla attacks get FBI task force to squash the acts of ‘domestic terrorism’
Patel went on to say in his own post that evidence recovered at the crime scene suggested that the arrest, made on Saturday, prevented further arson attempts.
The February attack involved two Tesla vehicles that had been set on fire, along with graffiti saying “Tesla Nazi Inc,” “Die Elon,” and drawings of swastikas, court documents show.
After gaining a search warrant for Wagner’s home, Federal investigators discovered evidence that linked him to both the Tesla store attack and the Republican headquarters attack, including incendiary devices and spray paint identified as the graffiti at the crime scenes.
The news follows a series of vandalism targeting Tesla stores in the U.S. and around the world, in response to Elon Musk’s controversial involvement with the administration of President Donald Trump.
Over the past few months, Bondi, Patel, Musk, and the Trump administration have repeatedly vowed to prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law in the past several weeks, along with noting that the attacks would be considered “domestic terrorism.”
In late March, authorities charged another vandal in connection with a Las Vegas repair center fire, concluding that the alleged attacker had used Molotov cocktails to set the building and five vehicles on fire. The same week, another 17 cars at a Tesla store in Rome, Italy were set on fire, while the country’s anti-terror police unit, the General Investigations and Special Operations Division, known as DIGOS, continues to investigate how the fire began.
Last Tuesday, Tesla announced that the company was working with the FBI to investigate an explosion at a Supercharger in Lacey, Washington. While a suspect hasn’t been arrested, authorities and users online have since been circulating photos from surrounding security footage to attempt to identify a man who is now wanted by police in connection with the attack.
This Tesla vandal caused thousands in damage, but she was let off the hook: Here’s why
Tesla Cybercab is going to get some pretty substantial updates, including improvements to efficiency and a new color.
CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X on Saturday that Tesla would be working to refine the Cybercab even more, following the announcement during the week that the company would eliminate the Cybertruck lines within Giga Texas for more Cybercab manufacturing capacity.
“There are efficiency improvements coming that will allow for a 40kWh Cybercab pack,” Musk posted on X. “We will make this in liquid silver, so the colors are not too monotonous.”
There are efficiency improvements coming that will allow for a 40kWh Cybercab pack. We will make this in liquid silver, so the colors are not too monotonous.
The biggest thing most people fail to understand is that there are a very limited number of smart, dedicated people! They can only do so many things.
If we have to maintain a complex production line, supply chain and allocate engineering for Cybertruck, we can’t use those people or factory space and machinery for scaling Cybercab, which is the vehicle that will PROFOUNDLY transform the world of terrestrial transport!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2026
A new, more efficient model of the Cybercab will be engineered, which will only help Tesla’s profitability and margins, and it also boosts the argument for why the Cybertruck should be discontinued, at least from a business perspective.
The current Cybercab that operates in the Robotaxi platform in Austin, Texas, has a 48 kWh pack, and it sounds like Musk believes Tesla is on its way to introducing a version that has fewer cells but can manage the same workload thanks to engineering efficiencies.
Credit: Tesla
Musk also doubled down on the decision to prioritize Cybercab production over Cybertruck, which is a decision that has been extremely polarizing within the community, and many fans have made it abundantly clear that they are not particularly pleased with the plans.
“If we have to maintain a complex production line, supply chain, and allocate engineering for Cybertruck, we can’t use those people or factory space and machinery for scaling Cybercab, which is the vehicle that will PROFOUNDLY transform the world of terrestrial transport,” Musk said.
A good look at Tesla’s new Liquid Silver Cybercab, planned with a 40 kWh battery pack following new improvements
😍 https://t.co/IUYsUcCBMs
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 8, 2026
Cybercab is obviously Tesla’s path forward in an automotive sense. It seems that Tesla is less concerned about catering to the passenger vehicle market and is more prone to focus on transforming passenger transportation in a way that prioritizes autonomy. However, this requires some sacrifice on Tesla’s end, and the Cybertruck is unfortunately a victim of this.
Cybercab holds an extremely crucial part of Tesla’s future. With the company already revolutionizing passenger transportation once, this is the next phase, and Cybercab is the path forward.
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Tesla Robotaxi app update now tells riders if Cybercab is the better choice
Tesla’s Robotaxi app now shows ETAs, wait times and availability for Cybercab and Model Y.
Tesla has rolled out a new vehicle selection screen in its Robotaxi app, and it puts the numbers riders care about most in front of them before they book.
Version 26.11.0 of the app shows the estimated arrival time, the expected wait and current availability for each vehicle option on a single screen, according to a video shared by @gheeunit on X on November 7. Riders deciding between a Cybercab and a Model Y Robotaxi can now compare those figures side by side instead of picking a car first and learning how long it will take afterward.
Tesla first gave riders that choice on September 3, the day paid Cybercab rides began in Austin. The original version of the screen listed the Cybercab, which seats two, next to the Model Y, which seats four. A later build, 26.8.2, added a seating capacity indicator so groups knew which car would fit them. What it did not show was whether choosing the Cybercab meant standing on the curb a few extra minutes.
Newest version of @robotaxi app has a new vehicle selector UI for choosing between Cybercab and Model Y and shows you the fare for both simultaneously! https://t.co/7qoDQ0vACX — mantequilla 🧈 (@gheeunit) November 7, 2026
That question matters more now than it did two months ago. Tesla had 45 Cybercabs on the Texas DMV roster when rides started. By late October the state listed 573, alongside 631 Model Ys, and community trackers logged a record 1,576 Cybercab sightings across Austin on Halloween alone. With two large fleets sharing one service area, the closest car and the quickest pickup are not always the same vehicle.
Inline availability also changes what happens when demand spikes. If no Cybercab is free nearby, the rider sees that on the selection screen rather than after trying to book one.
For now the comparison is mostly an Austin feature. Riders in Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth and the Florida markets are still matched with Model Y vehicles, though Tesla said on its third quarter earnings call that Cybercab rides would launch in Dallas this month.
The update follows a steady run of smaller changes to the rider experience. Late last month Tesla brought a quiet mode that blacks out the cabin screen to Model Y Robotaxis after first testing it in the Cybercab, and it has stretched Austin service to run from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m.
The Cybercab side of that selection screen is about to get much busier. Elon Musk said this week that Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of 2027 to make room for more Cybercab output, and Tesla has said it is aiming to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of this year.
Tesla has not published official release notes for version 26.11.0.
Tesla is ending Cybertruck production sometime in mid-2027, according to CEO Elon Musk.
Musk made the announcement on X last night, which came as a shock to many. He said that the Cybertruck will end production “to make room for increased Cybercab production” at Gigafactory Texas.
It is a huge blow to the fans of Tesla who have come to love the Cybertruck and identify with it as a symbol of their fandom. It has been the best-selling electric pickup, but it has had an underwhelming sales performance in terms of what was expected. This is mostly due to Tesla not meeting the prices it planned to offer the Cybertruck, as its unveiling and actual release were four years apart.
Tesla will be winding down production of the Cybertruck at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of next year to make room for increased Cybercab production
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2026
Overall, the responses were mixed. Some fans understood the move toward Cybercab production, especially as Tesla is truly pushing the autonomous future through its Robotaxi platform. However, others did not understand it.
“Damn, how many Cybercabs do you guys need?” one response read. Another said it was “Sad but understandable.”Even analyst Gary Black had responded to the news, stating he hoped Tesla planned to replace it with a traditional pickup design.
It doesn’t seem like that will be the case.
Tesla is so hell-bent on delivering autonomy and eventually providing a driverless service that owning a car seems like an arbitrary idea, according to their thesis. Instead, Cybercabs will be available to pick you up and drop you off on demand, safely, without any human help.
As a result, Tesla has thinned its lineup considerably, and one can only ask where the vehicle lineup goes from here. Eventually, it seems like Cybercab could be the only vehicle that Tesla will sell.
Tesla Cybercab is set to get some massive improvements
Tesla Robotaxi app update now tells riders if Cybercab is the better choice
