Lifestyle
Life after my Tesla 30 day Autopilot Trial ends: Where do I go from here?
As I lament the end of my 30 day trial of Autopilot, I thought a summary of the features would be helpful to those not yet familiar with the technology.
I bought my Tesla S70D in November of last year as an inventory model with nearly every feature I would have selected on line including the color. At the time, all of the hardware for Autopilot was included in the build but the software had not been installed.
I travel around New England for my work and had an opportunity to show a business associate, who happens to be a big “car guy” from Dallas Texas my new Tesla. I alerted him that I didn’t have the famous Autopilot that he had been watching in videos on line, but the car was still beautiful and thrilling to drive. I picked him up at the airport late and headed to the hotel before customer visits the next day. When we came out to the car in the morning, there it was! A software download overnight giving me a 30 day trial of Autopilot! The timing couldn’t have been better!
First thing we did, stood in the parking lot and summoned the car out of the spot. After all, there’s no reason to ding your car doors for the very first time when you can open them wide in a place just 15 feet back from where you parked!
Next, we got on the highway and pulled the cruise control stalk one time. I felt the accelerator hold where we were so I took my foot off and relaxed a bit. Slowly creeping up on the car in front of us, the dash showed me the silhouette of the car in front getting closer. I’d have to push the stalk down to reduce my speed in the past, but as we got within 2 car lengths, I saw the MPH start to go down as we tracked perfectly behind the next car at a constant distance. Cool! Traffic aware cruise control! When the guy in front slows down, you slow down without a thought and even if he comes to a stop, when he takes off, you take off maintaining the set car length distance.
Next, pull back on the stalk twice. The steering wheel goes stiff and takes over keeping the car right in the middle of the lane. With decent lane lines on both sides, the steering was better than I would have been on my own, right down the center. Even in bends in the road, the vision system looks far enough ahead to anticipate the turn and keep you right in the center of the lane.
We got to our first appointment and entered the parking lot. I drove slowly by a spot and not seeing any others close by I put the car in reverse and to my surprise, the center screen showed the spot on my left and a button to “Auto Park” I pushed the button and the car started backing up, then the steering wheel started turning very fast on its own to back me into the spot. We were a little close to the lane before starting the process so we couldn’t quite make it in the first go, but no intervention necessary, the car went into drive, wheel turned the opposite way, we pulled forward a bit, then continued backing right in the middle of the spot. Perfect!
Getting the hang of Autopilot on the highway, I decided to try it out long distance for my trip from Central Connecticut all the way to Boston. I didn’t need to touch the wheel, accelerator or break except when we were exiting the Mass pike. Even in stop and go traffic on Storrow Drive, the car stayed in Autopilot and performed flawlessly.
After dropping my associate off at the airport, I travelled the rest of the way home to Southern New Hampshire again “no hands, no feet”! I did keep a finger on the wheel just in case, but I got confident enough with the system that I know I could have let go all together. The car does, however remind you to keep a hand on the wheel with a notification on the dash and by turning the radio volume all the way down until you grab the wheel.
The next day, I went back to Boston with my wife to pick up my daughter at the train. We were to park outside the train station and wait for her to arrive. Slowly pulling up the street, we passed an open parking spot (actually a fire hydrant location, there’s no open parking spots in Boston!) but we’d be sitting in the car so no problem. Again, as soon as I put the car in reverse, the parallel spot showed up on the center screen with a button to auto park. Again, the car took over turning the wheel and reversing right into the spot with perfection. My wife told me to pull out and do it again so she could video this time!!!
Over the weekend, it was time to wash the Tesla. I did a thorough job on the exterior and vacuumed and wiped all surfaces on the interior. Now I’ve got to put the car in the garage, but, I just cleaned everything and if I get in the car, I’ll probably drag in and deposit sand or small pebbles on the rug! No worries! Autopilot allows you to stand along the side of your car, and using the key fob, park it in the garage and close the garage door with one tap of the fob! Amazing!
Now, I’m not that compulsive about my rugs, so I’ll probably not need to use the “Auto park in my garage” feature, and I’m still parking at the far end of parking lots away from other potential dings so I have no problem opening my doors, but if I had to park in a very tight spot, Autopark will be an awesome feature to have.
Auburn Massachusetts Supercharger
For the most part, my daily travel is a few miles from home to the office on town roads but frequently I am on an extended road trip somewhere in New England. I’ve gotten over the range anxiety with a number of strategically placed Supercharger stations available and having used Plug share in a pinch a couple times. I definitely see using Autopilot on the highway allowing me to relax a bit but also keep me safer on the trip than if I were driving myself!
Do I take the plunge and plunk down $3k to keep this going or not? I still have a few days left to figure it out. Maybe Elon will just “forget to turn it off”?
Elon Musk
NASA sends humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972 – Here’s what’s next
NASA’s Artemis II launched four astronauts toward the Moon on the first crewed lunar mission since 1972.
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket launches carrying the Orion spacecraft with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist on NASA’s Artemis II mission, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, from Operations and Support Building II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis II mission will take Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back aboard SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft launched at 6:35pm EDT from Launch Complex 39B. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
NASA launched four astronauts toward the Moon on April 1, 2026, marking the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in December 1972. The Artemis II mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center aboard the Space Launch System rocket at 6:35 p.m. EDT, sending commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day journey around the far side of the Moon and back.
The mission does not include a lunar landing. It is a test flight designed to validate the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems, navigation, and communications in deep space with a crew aboard for the first time. If the crew reaches the planned distance of 252,000 miles from Earth, they will set a new record for the farthest any human has ever traveled, surpassing even the Apollo 13 distance record.
As Teslarati reported, SpaceX holds a central role in what comes next. The Starship Human Landing System is under contract to carry astronauts to the lunar surface for Artemis IV, now targeting 2028, after NASA restructured its mission sequence due to delays in Starship’s orbital refueling demonstration. Before any Moon landing happens, SpaceX must prove it can transfer propellant between two Starships in orbit, something no rocket program has done at this scale.
The last time humans left Earth’s orbit was 53 years ago. Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17 were the final people to walk on the Moon, a record that stands to this day. Elon Musk has long argued that returning is not optional. “It’s been now almost half a century since humans were last on the Moon,” Musk said. “That’s too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent base on the Moon.”
The Artemis program involves 60 countries signed onto the Artemis Accords, and this mission sets several firsts beyond distance. Glover becomes the first person of color to travel beyond low Earth orbit, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American astronaut to reach the Moon’s vicinity. According to NASA’s live mission updates, the spacecraft’s solar arrays deployed successfully after liftoff and the crew completed a proximity operations demonstration within the first hours of flight.
Artemis II is step one. The Moon landing and the permanent lunar base come later. But after more than five decades, humans are heading back.
Elon Musk
Tesla Optimus Gen 3 is coming to the Tesla Diner with new ambitions
Tesla’s Optimus robot left the Hollywood Diner within months of opening. Now Musk is planning its return with a bigger role and a major Gen 3 upgrade underway.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus robot was one of the most talked-about features when the Tesla Diner opened on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood on July 21, 2025. Dubbed “Poptimus” by Tesla fans, the Gen 2 robot stood upstairs at the retro-futuristic, drive-in theater and Tesla Supercharging station, scooping popcorn into bags and handing them to guests with a wave.
The diner itself had been years in the making. Elon Musk first floated the idea in 2018 with a tweet about building an “old-school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant” at a Hollywood Supercharger. What eventually opened was a unique two-story neon-lit space, with 80 EV charging stalls, and Optimus serving as a live demonstration of where Tesla’s ambitions were headed.
If our retro-futuristic diner turns out well, which I think it will, @Tesla will establish these in major cities around the world, as well as at Supercharger sites on long distance routes.
An island of good food, good vibes & entertainment, all while Supercharging! https://t.co/zmbv6GfqKf
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2025
But Optimus did not stay long, and was gone by December 2025.
Now, the robot is set to return with a more demanding job. Musk has ambitions for Optimus to take on a food runner role in 2026, delivering meals directly to cars at the Supercharger stalls. While the latest Gen 3 Optimus is likely to initially take on its previous popcorn-serving role, it wouldn’t be out of the question for Optimus to see a quick promotion. With improved hand dexterity that features 50 total actuators and 22 degrees of freedom per hand, and significantly more powerful processing through Tesla’s latest AI5 chip that includes Grok-powered voice interaction, Musk described Optimus at the Abundance Summit on March 12, 2026, as “by far the most advanced robot in the world, Nothing’s even close.”
Back to work
See you at Tesla Diner tomorrow pic.twitter.com/H3tTajrUbu
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) March 30, 2026
That confidence is backed by a major manufacturing shift. At the Q4 2025 earnings call in January, Musk announced Tesla would discontinue the Model S and Model X and convert those Fremont production lines to build Optimus. “It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end,” he said, calling for a pivot that reflects where the Tesla’s future lies.
Elon Musk
The Boring Company clears final Nashville hurdle: Music City loop is full speed ahead
The Boring Company has cleared its final Nashville hurdles, putting the Music City Loop on track for 2026.
The Boring Company has cleared one of its most significant regulatory milestones yet, securing a key easement from the Music City Center in Nashville just days ago, the latest in a series of approvals that have pushed the Music City Loop project firmly into construction reality.
On March 24, 2026, the Convention Center Authority voted to grant The Boring Company access to an easement along the west side of the Music City Center property, allowing tunneling beneath the privately owned venue. The move follows a unanimous 7-0 vote by the Metro Nashville Airport Authority on February 18, and a joint state and federal approval from the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration on February 25. Together, these green lights have cleared the path for a roughly 10-mile underground tunnel connecting downtown Nashville to Nashville International Airport, with potential extensions into midtown along West End Avenue.
Music City Loop could highlight The Boring Company’s real disruption
Nashville was selected by The Boring Company largely because of its rapid population growth and the strain that growth has placed on surface infrastructure. Traffic has become a persistent problem for residents, convention visitors, and airport travelers alike. The Music City Loop promises an approximately 8-minute underground transit time between downtown and the Nashville International Airport (BNA), removing thousands of vehicles from surface roads daily while operating as a fully electric, zero-emissions system at no cost to taxpayers.
The project fits squarely within a broader vision Musk has championed for years. In responding to a breakdown of the Loop’s construction costs, Musk posted on X: “Tunnels are so underrated.” The comment reflected a longstanding belief that underground transit represents one of the most cost-effective and scalable infrastructure solutions available. The Boring Company has claimed it can build 13 miles of twin tunnels in Nashville for between $240 million and $300 million total, a fraction of what comparable projects cost elsewhere in the country.
Image Credit: The Boring Company/Twitter
The Las Vegas Loop, The Boring Company’s first operational system, has served as a proof of concept. During the CONEXPO trade show in March 2026, the Vegas Loop transported approximately 82,000 passengers over five days at the Las Vegas Convention Center, demonstrating the system’s capacity during large-scale events. Nashville draws millions of convention visitors and tourists each year, and local business leaders have pointed to that same capacity as a major draw for supporting the project.
The Music City Loop was first announced in July 2025. Construction began within hours of the February 25 state approval, with The Boring Company’s Prufrock tunneling machine already in the ground the same evening. The first operational segment is targeted for late 2026, with the full route expected to be complete by 2029. The project represents one of the largest privately funded infrastructure efforts currently underway in the United States.
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