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Tesla Cybertruck takes center stage in Los Angeles museum, wowing fans in public showing

Credit: Twitter | @zfescht

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Tesla Cybertruck took center stage at the Petersen Automotive Museum on Saturday, dazzling fans in its first of six days as a display piece at the legendary gallery in Los Angeles.

Today’s debut at the Petersen Museum follows this week’s reveal that the Cybertruck would be arriving at the gallery after the museum added the all-electric pickup to its website.

The Petersen Auto Museum was opened in 1994 and is one of the most extensive museums for cars and motorcycles in the world. The Cybertruck’s appearance at the Museum shows worldwide recognition for Tesla’s newest pickup, and it joins the Model S prototype as the company’s only vehicles in the massive gallery.

Peterson welcomed the Cybertruck inside the museum last night. Video from @Chad_Hodge surfaced, showing the massive truck being unloaded from a hauler, which was then transported into the facility and set up as an exhibit.

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Now, the truck is inside, and those who bought tickets for admission into the museum are getting the opportunity to stand just a few feet from the unique design from Tesla’s engineers. Many of those who came to the museum to see the Cybertruck are showing photos and videos of the machine, which sits stationary surrounded by ropes, dawning a license plate that says, “CYBRTRK.”

Closeups of the Cybertruck reveal the tugged and robust exterior of the all-electric pickup. The 30X series stainless steel exterior is dent-proof while the glass that is used for all of the windows will be bulletproof.

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It was recently announced that the truck would only be available in its stainless steel color, but it can be wrapped in any color or pattern, Musk said. This means the appearances and looks of the Cybertruck will be endless, combining personality and creativity to each of the builds that the owner will design themselves.

The Cybertruck has been seen around Los Angeles by a few lucky spectators, but it has mainly been a rare sight for the public. Its appearance at the Petersen Museum is the first time the truck has been on display for the public to view at their leisure. Tesla’s Cybertruck unveiling event was on an invite-only basis, allowing a select few lucky viewers to watch CEO Elon Musk and Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen explain the finer points of the pickup’s design.

The widely popular design of the Cybertruck was met with both support and criticism after its unveiling event. However, there is no denying that the pickup’s futuristic design has enticed many people to consider the vehicle as a catalyst for a new era in the automotive sector.

The truck’s Dual and Tri-Motor configurations will be built at the company’s next production facility in the United States in 2021. The new facility will be built in a location yet to be determined.

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H/t: @TeslaNY on Twitter

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Ford is charging for a basic EV feature on the Mustang Mach-E

When ordering a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, you’ll now be hit with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

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Credit: Ford Motor Company

Ford is charging an additional fee for a basic EV feature on its Mustang Mach-E, its most popular electric vehicle offering.

Ford has shuttered its initial Model e program, but is venturing into a more controlled and refined effort, and it is abandoning the F-150 Lightning in favor of a new pickup that is currently under design, but appears to have some favorable features.

However, ordering a new Mustang Mach-E now comes with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

The frunk is the front trunk, and due to the lack of a large engine in the front of an electric vehicle, OEMs are able to offer additional storage space under the hood. There’s one problem, though, and that is that companies appear to be recognizing that they can remove it for free while offering the function for a fee.

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Ford is charging $495 for the frunk.

Interestingly, the frunk size varies by vehicle, but the Mustang Mach-E features a 4.7 to 4.8 cubic-foot-sized frunk, which measures approximately 9 inches deep, 26 inches wide, and 14 inches high.

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When the vehicle was first released, Ford marketed the frunk as the ultimate tailgating feature, showing it off as a perfect place to store and serve cold shrimp cocktail.

Ford Mach-E frunk is perfect for chowders and chicken wings, and we’re not even joking

It appears the decision to charge for what is a simple advantage of an EV is not going over well, as even Ford loyal customers say the frunk is a “basic expectation” of an EV. Without it, it seems as if fans feel the company is nickel-and-diming its customers.

It will be pretty interesting to see the Mach-E without a frunk, and while it should not be enough to turn people away from potentially buying the vehicle, it seems the decision to add an additional charge to include one will definitely annoy some customers.

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Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows

According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

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Credit: @jojje167 on X

Tesla is looking to upgrade its Matrix Headlights, a unique and high-tech feature that is available on several of its vehicles. The headlights aim to maximize visibility for Tesla drivers while being considerate of oncoming traffic.

The Matrix Headlights Tesla offers utilize dimming of individual light pixels to ensure that visibility stays high for those behind the wheel, while also being considerate of other cars by decreasing the brightness in areas where other cars are traveling.

Here’s what they look like in action:

As you can see, the Matrix headlight system intentionally dims the area where oncoming cars would be impacted by high beams. This keeps visibility at a maximum for everyone on the road, including those who could be hit with bright lights in their eyes.

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There are still a handful of complaints from owners, however, but Tesla appears to be looking to resolve these with the coming updates in a Software Version that is currently labeled 2026.2.xxx. The coding was spotted by X user BERKANT:

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According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

Finally, the new system will prevent the high beams from glaring back at the driver. The system is made to dim when it recognizes oncoming cars, but not necessarily objects that could produce glaring issues back at the driver.

Tesla’s revolutionary Matrix headlights are coming to the U.S.

This upgrade is software-focused, so there will not need to be any physical changes or upgrades made to Tesla vehicles that utilize the Matrix headlights currently.

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xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

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Credit: xAI

Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.

Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards. 

Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD. 

Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible. 

The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.

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