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Tesla’s ‘Big Green’ Semi truck gets a shoutout from Kimbal Musk
The Tesla Semi recently got a shoutout from someone who is part of Elon Musk’s most intimate circle — Kimbal Musk. In a recent post on his Instagram page, Kimbal dubbed the electric long-hauler as a “Big Green” Tesla Semi, referencing his nonprofit organization aimed at building Learning Gardens for schools across the United States.
Quite interestingly, Kimbal Musk’s projects, such as Big Green and Square Roots, could benefit from using the Tesla Semi. Big Green, for one, is involved with building interactive, modular gardens where young American students can learn about real food and healthy eating habits. Considering Kimbal Musk’s goal of building 100,000 Learning Gardens across the US, having an electric truck that can haul materials would be a good idea.
The Tesla Semi is also a perfect match for Kimbal’s Square Roots farming project. Square Roots involves converting old shipping crates into advanced, climate-controlled indoor farms that can yield more than 50 pounds of organic, non-GMO, pesticide-free greens each week. So far, Square Roots is only operating its shipping container-farms in Brooklyn, NY, but it’s not too difficult to see a future where the farming startup’s indoor farms can be transported and set up in other key US cities.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj4v7w4Apa6/?taken-by=kimbalmusk
Since being unveiled last November, the Tesla Semi has been sighted numerous times across the United States. Back in March, Elon Musk announced in his social media pages that Tesla would start using the all-electric trucks as transport vehicles to haul battery packs from Gigafactory 1 in Sparks, NV to the Fremont factory in CA. The two Tesla Semi prototypes have also been spotted conducting transport runs between Tesla’s headquarters in Palo Alto, CA and Fremont.
During its unveiling back in November, Elon Musk outlined several of the Semi’s impressive specs. Just like Tesla’s other vehicles, the Semi is capable of quick acceleration, thanks to its four Model 3-derived electric motors that produce instant torque. From a dead stop, the Semi is capable of sprinting from 0-60 mph in just 5 seconds, compared to about 15 seconds on a similar Class 8 diesel truck. With a full 80,000-pound load, the Semi can hit 60 mph in 20 seconds. On average, diesel-powered Class 8 trailers hit highway speeds in about a minute.
The Tesla Semi is capable of climbing 5% grades at a steady 65 mph, unlike diesel trucks that max out at 45 mph on 5% grades. Lastly, thanks to an upcoming network of Megachargers, the Semi will be capable of charging up to 400 miles of range in just 30 minutes.
The interior of the Tesla Semi as spotted during the 2018 Annual Shareholder Meeting. [Credit: TeslaModel11/Reddit]
During Tesla’s Q1 2018 earnings call, both Elon Musk and CTO JB Straubel noted that the production version of the Semi’s long-range variant would likely have almost 600 miles of range per charge. These statements, of course, stand in stark contrast to criticisms from Tesla’s competitors, especially Daimler AG head of trucks Martin Daum, who threw shade at Tesla earlier this year by suggesting that the Semi’s rated specs, if accurate, defy the laws of physics. According to Straubel, much of competitors’ criticisms come from a misunderstanding of Tesla’s battery technology.
“There’s a fundamental misunderstanding, I think, of what the current technology in our existing products can actually do. Maybe that’s just a misunderstanding of the current status of the technology versus others in the industry. If they’re benchmarking sort of the best battery pack they can buy from a supplier, and then mapping that with what the Semi could do, it doesn’t solve,” Straubel said.
While Tesla is not actively pushing sales for the Semi, Straubel noted during the first-quarter earnings call that the all-electric long-hauler has roughly 2,000 reservations to date. Production of the Tesla Semi is expected to begin in 2019.
Elon Musk
SpaceX maintains unbelievable Starship target despite Booster 18 incident
It appears that it will take more than an anomaly to stop SpaceX’s march towards Starship V3’s refinement.
SpaceX recently shared an incredibly ambitious and bold update about Starship V3’s 12th test flight.
Despite the anomaly that damaged Booster 18, SpaceX maintained that it was still following the upgraded spacecraft and booster’s plans for the coming months. Needless to say, it appears that it will take more than an anomaly to stop SpaceX’s march towards Starship V3’s refinement.
Starship V3 is still on a rapid development path
SpaceX’s update was posted through the private space company’s official account on social media platform X. As per the company, “the Starbase team plans to have the next Super Heavy booster stacked in December, which puts it on pace with the test schedule planned for the first Starship V3 vehicle and associated ground systems.”
SpaceX then announced that Starship V3’s maiden flight is still expected to happen early next year. “Starship’s twelfth flight test remains targeted for the first quarter of 2026,” the company wrote in its post on X.
Elon Musk mentioned a similar timeline on X earlier this year. In the lead up to Starshp Flight 11, which proved flawless, Musk stated that “Starship V3 is a massive upgrade from the current V2 and should be through production and testing by end of year, with heavy flight activity next year.” Musk has also mentioned that Starship V3 should be good enough to use for initial Mars missions.
Booster 18 failure not slowing Starship V3’s schedule
SpaceX’s bold update came after Booster 18 experienced a major anomaly during gas system pressure testing at SpaceX’s Massey facility in Starbase, Texas. SpaceX confirmed in a post on X that no propellant was loaded, no engines were installed, and personnel were positioned at a safe distance when the booster’s lower section crumpled, resulting in no injuries.
Still, livestream footage showed significant damage around the liquid oxygen tank area of Booster 18, leading observers to speculate that the booster was a total loss. Booster 18 was among the earliest vehicles in the Starship V3 series, making the failure notable. Despite the setback, Starship V3’s development plans appear unchanged, with SpaceX pushing ahead of its Q1 2026 test flight target.
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Tesla Sweden faces fresh union blockade at key Gothenburg paint shop
Allround Lack works with painting and damage repair of passenger cars, including Teslas.
Tesla’s ongoing labor conflict in Sweden escalated again as the trade union IF Metall issued a new blockade halting all Tesla paintwork at Allround Lack in Gothenburg.
Allround Lack works with painting and damage repair of passenger cars, including Teslas. It currently employs about 20 employees.
Yet another blockade against Tesla Sweden
IF Metall’s latest notice ordered a full work stoppage for all Tesla-related activity at Allround Lack. With the blockade in place, paint jobs on Tesla-owned vehicles, factory-warranty repairs, and transport-damage fixes, will be effectively frozen, as noted in a report from Dagens Arbete. While Allround Lack is a small paint shop, its work with Tesla means that the blockade would add challenges to the company’s operations in Sweden, at least to some degree.
Paint shop blockades have been a recurring tool in the longstanding conflict. The first appeared in late 2023, when repair shops were barred from servicing Tesla vehicles. Days later, the Painters’ Union implemented a nationwide halt on Tesla paint work across more than 100 shops. Since then, a steady stream of workshops has been pulled into the conflict.
Earlier blockades faced backlash from consumers
The sweeping effects of the early blockades drew criticism from industry groups and consumers. Employers and industry organization Transportföretagen stated that the strikes harmed numerous workshops across Sweden, with about 10 of its members losing about 50% of their revenue.
Private owners also expressed their objections. Tibor Blomhäll, chairman of Tesla Club Sweden, told DA in a previous statement that the blockades from IF Metall gave the impression that the union was specifically attacking consumers. “If I get parking damage to my car, I pay for the paint myself. The company Tesla is not involved in that deal at all. So many people felt singled out, almost stigmatized. What have I done as a private individual to get a union against me?” Blomhäll stated.
In response to these complaints, IF Metall introduced exemptions, allowing severely damaged vehicles to be repaired. The union later reopened access for private owners at workshops with collective agreements. The blockades at the workshops were also reformulated to only apply to work that is “ordered by Tesla on Tesla’s own cars, as well as work covered by factory warranties and transport damage on Tesla cars.”
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Tesla breaks Norway’s all-time annual sales record with one month to spare
With November alone delivering 4,260 new registrations, Tesla has cemented its most dominant year ever in one of Europe’s most mature EV markets.
Tesla shattered Norway’s decade-old annual sales record this month, overtaking Volkswagen’s long-standing milestone with over one month still left in the year. Backed by surging demand ahead of Norway’s upcoming VAT changes, Tesla has already registered 26,666 vehicles year-to-date, surpassing Volkswagen’s 2016 record of 26,572 units.
With November alone delivering 4,260 new registrations month-to-date, Tesla has cemented its most dominant year ever in one of Europe’s most mature EV markets.
Model Y drives historic surge in Norway
Tesla’s impressive momentum has been led overwhelmingly by the Model Y, which accounted for 21,517 of Norway’s registrations this year, as noted in a CarUp report, citing data from Elbil Statistik. The Model 3 followed with 5,087 units, while the Model S and Model X contributed 30 and 19 vehicles, respectively. Even the parallel-imported Cybertruck made the charts with 13 registrations.
Demand intensified sharply through autumn as Norwegian buyers rushed to secure deliveries before the country’s VAT changes take effect in January. The new regulation is expected to add roughly NOK 50,000 to the price of a Model Y, prompting a wave of early purchases that helped lift Tesla beyond the previous all-time record well before year-end.
With December still ahead, Tesla is positioned to extend its historic lead further. Needless to say, it appears that Norway will prove to be one of Tesla’s strongest markets in Europe.
FSD could be a notable demand driver in 2026
What’s especially interesting about Tesla’s feat in Norway is that the company’s biggest selling point today, Full Self-Driving (Supervised), is not yet available there. Tesla, however, recently noted in a post on X that the Dutch regulator RDW has reportedly committed to issuing a Netherlands national approval for FSD (Supervised) in February 2026.
The RDW posted a response to Tesla’s post, clarifying the February 2026 target but stating that FSD’s approval is not assured yet. “The RDW has drawn up a schedule with Tesla in which Tesla is expected to be able to demonstrate that FSD Supervised meets the requirements in February 2026. RDW and Tesla know what efforts need to be made to make a decision on this in February. Whether the schedule will be met remains to be seen in the coming period,” the RDW wrote in a post on its official wesbite.
If FSD (Supervised) does get approved next year, Tesla’s vehicles could gain a notable advantage over competitors, as they would be the only vehicles on the market capable of driving themselves on both inner-city streets and highways with practically no driver input.
SpaceX maintains unbelievable Starship target despite Booster 18 incident
Tesla Sweden faces fresh union blockade at key Gothenburg paint shop
