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Tesla Arcade in China to get online multiplayer titles from Tencent

Tesla China Multiplayer Video Games And Useful Apps (Source: Ray4Tesla | Twitter)

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Tesla China plans to roll out three popular online games, a local weather app, an air quality alert system, and two streaming apps to its customers in the country in the first quarter of 2020. The official announcement as shared by Tesla owner-enthusiast Ray4Tesla on Twitter lists popular online titles Fight Landlords, Mahjong, and Happy Upgrade as part of the expected update. Tesla owners can play these games with their friends using their WeChat or QQ accounts.

These video games and apps are all products of Tencent Holdings, a Chinese multinational conglomerate with a market cap of about $461 billion that offers internet and mobile value-added services, advertising, and e-commerce transactions through its subsidiaries. In 2017, Tencent bought a 5% stake in Tesla, a strategic move that gave the electric car manufacturer a solid ally in China.

Fight Landlords, Mahjong, and Happy Upgrade are among the most popular Tencent Games played on QQ, an instant messaging app with more than 807 million users as of last year. Such games add color to the in-car entertainment system of Tesla that could provide a good boost to attract local, young, and tech-savvy car buyers in the country. Likewise, WeChat is also a property of Tencent and is the most popular messaging app in China with over a billion active users per month.

QQ and WeChat are prominent messaging and social media apps treasured by businesses in China where 91 percent of online users have social media accounts. Consumers use these platforms to communicate, research brands, play games, and engage in transactions. Tesla’s presence on these popular apps gives the company some leverage if it wants to crack the local market. This should give Tesla an edge against established brands such as BMW, GM, and Volkswagen, to name a new.

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Video games are nothing new in Tesla cars as the electric car maker has practically turned its vehicles’ infotainment system into a gaming console that could be used while the cars are on Park. Tesla offers various games that appeal to a wide range of users such as classic Atari games, Chess, Beach Buggy Racing 2, and more recently, Cuphead.

As Tesla China prepares for its first deliveries of the Model 3, rolling out popular games and useful apps can also help the brand attract more buyers away from local competition. They can serve as talking points that can further strengthen word of mouth marketing that has saved Tesla millions in advertising costs too. Furthermore, such a move shows the local market that Tesla is fully-committed to provide owners in the country with the best user experience possible.

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This focus on its vehicles’ fun factor has been mentioned by CEO Elon Musk in the past. “The goal for the infotainment system is to say what’s the most amount of fun you can have in a car. I don’t think other car companies really think about it that way. It’s not just some sort of transport utility device with no soul and no character,” Musk said during the Q3 2019 earnings call.

Aside from the popular video games, the local weather app and air quality app come handy for consumers in China who live in areas with poor air quality.

As announced by the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology earlier this month, two variants of the locally-made Tesla Model 3 will receive subsidies from the government. Deliveries of Made-in-China Model 3s also appear to be just around the corner, with car carriers filled with the vehicle being spotted in Gigafactory 3’s holding lots.

The announcement of Tesla China coincides with Elon Musk’s tweet about Tesla’s upcoming 2019 holiday software update, which is expected to include a “sneak preview” of Full-Self Driving, new games, and possibly a number of video streaming apps.

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A curious soul who keeps wondering how Elon Musk, Tesla, electric cars, and clean energy technologies will shape the future, or do we really need to escape to Mars.

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Starlink V2 to bring satellite-to-phone service to Deutsche Telekom in Europe

Starlink stated that the system is designed to deliver 5G speeds directly to compatible smartphones in remote areas.

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Credit: Deutsche Telekom/X

Starlink is partnering with Deutsche Telekom to roll out satellite-to-mobile connectivity across Europe, extending coverage to more than 140 million subscribers across 10 countries.

The service, planned for launch in 2028 in several Telekom markets, including Germany, will use Starlink’s next-generation V2 satellites and Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) spectrum to enable direct-to-device connectivity.

In a post on X, the official Starlink account stated that the agreement will be the first in Europe to deploy its V2 next-generation satellite-to-mobile technology using new MSS spectrum. The company added that the system is designed to deliver 5G speeds directly to compatible smartphones in remote areas.

Abdu Mudesir, Board Member for Product and Technology at Deutsche Telekom, shared his excitement for the partnership in a press release. “We provide our customers with the best mobile network. And we continue to invest heavily in expanding our infrastructure. At the same time, there are regions where expansion is especially complex due to topographical conditions or official constraints,” he said.

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“We want to ensure reliable connectivity for our customers in those areas as well. That is why we are strategically complementing our network with satellite-to-mobile connectivity. For us, it is clear: connectivity creates security and trust. And we deliver. Everywhere.”

Under the partnership, compatible smartphones will automatically switch to Starlink’s satellite network when terrestrial coverage is unavailable, enabling access to data, voice, video, and messaging services.

Telekom reports 5G geographic coverage approaching 90% in Germany, with LTE exceeding 92% and voice coverage reaching up to 99%. Starlink’s satellite layer is intended to extend connectivity beyond those terrestrial limits, particularly in topographically challenging or infrastructure-constrained areas.

Stephanie Bednarek, VP of Starlink Sales, also shared her thoughts on the partnership. “We’re so pleased to bring reliable satellite-to-mobile connectivity to millions of people across 10 countries in partnership with Deutsche Telekom. This agreement will be the first-of-its-kind in Europe to launch Starlink’s V2 next-generation technology that will expand on data, voice and messaging by providing broadband directly to mobile phones,” she said. 

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Starlink’s V2 constellation is designed to expand bandwidth and capacity compared to its predecessor. If implemented as outlined, the 2028 launch would mark one of the first large-scale European deployments of integrated satellite-to-phone connectivity by a major telecom operator.

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Tesla back on top as Norway’s EV market surges to 98% share in February

Tesla became Norway’s top-selling brand with 1,210 registrations, representing a 16.6% share.

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Credit: Grok Imagine

Tesla reclaimed the top spot in Norway’s auto market in February as electric vehicles captured more than 98% of all new car registrations.

The rebound follows a sharp January slump triggered by VAT rule changes, which prompted numerous car buyers to advance their purchases into late 2025.

As per data from the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council (OFV), 7,127 new electric vehicles were registered in February, representing a 98.01% market share. Fossil-fuel vehicles and hybrids accounted for just 2% of total new registrations.

Total new car registrations reached 7,272 units in February, hinting at a rapid recovery after January sales fell nearly 75% year-over-year following VAT adjustments.

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OFV Director Geir Inge Stokke noted that similar patterns were observed after previous VAT changes in 2022, with demand temporarily weakening before normalizing, as noted in an Allt Om Elbil report. 

“We are now seeing signs that the market is returning to a more normal level of activity, which we also experienced after the VAT change in 2022. At that time, changes in demand led to a weak start to 2023. We have seen the same pattern this year,” he said. 

Amidst this trend, the Tesla Model Y made a strong comeback in the domestic market. After an unusually weak January that saw the Tesla Model Y drop to seventh place, the model returned to the top of Norway’s sales chart in February.

The Model Y recorded 1,073 registrations, giving it a 14.8% market share for the month. Tesla also became Norway’s top-selling brand with 1,210 registrations, representing a 16.6% share. Toyota followed with 941 registrations, while Volkswagen, Volvo, and Skoda rounded out the top five brands.

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The February data suggests that Tesla’s January dip was tied more to timing effects around VAT adjustments than to structural demand shifts. It would then be interesting to see how the rest of the year unfolds for Tesla, particularly as the company pushes for the release of its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system to Europe this year. 

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Tesla arson suspect pleads guilty, faces up to 70 years in prison

The update was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.

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Credit: Tesla China

A Las Vegas man has pleaded guilty to federal arson charges tied to a March 2025 attack on a Tesla Collision Center in Nevada.

The update was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.

According to court documents, on March 18, 2025, Paul Hyon Kim spray-painted the word “RESIST” on the front entrance of the Tesla Collision Center before damaging the facility and multiple vehicles.

Federal prosecutors stated that Kim used a PA-15 multi-caliber firearm equipped with a .300 BLACKOUT upper receiver and a 7.62mm silencer to shoot out surveillance cameras. He then fired multiple rounds into Tesla vehicles on the property.

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Authorities stated that Kim later threw three Molotov cocktails into three separate Tesla vehicles. Two of the devices exploded and ignited the vehicles, while a third did not detonate. In total, five Tesla vehicles were damaged in the incident.

Kim pleaded guilty to two counts of arson of property used in interstate commerce, one count of attempted arson of property used in interstate commerce, and one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm classified as a destructive device.

The mandatory minimum sentence for the charges is five years in federal prison, though the total maximum statutory penalty is 70 years, as per a release from the United States Attorney’s Office of the District of Nevada. 

Sentencing is scheduled for May 27, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey. A federal judge will determine the final sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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The case was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, with assistance from the Clark County Fire Department.

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