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Tesla Cybertruck to be ‘Elon Musk’s first disaster,’ according to Jim Cramer

Credit: /cybertruckjourney

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Since November 2019, arguably the most frequently-discussed electric vehicle coming to the market has been the Tesla Cybertruck. The first pickup from Elon Musk’s electric car company shocked nearly everyone who tuned in to the live event streamed nearly two years ago as the Tesla frontman and the company’s Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen rolled out the Cyberpunk-inspired pickup onto the stage in Hawthorne, California. However, despite having over 1.2 million pre-orders thus far, the truck is not making everyone turn their heads and throw $100 down to reserve one. One of those people is Tesla investor and Musk fan Jim Cramer, who said that the truck is bound to be Musk’s “first disaster.”

While fielding questions regarding Tesla’s AI Day last week during an interview on Wall Street, Cramer averted commenting very much on the Tesla Bot that Elon Musk said the company would bring in 2022 in a prototype form and instead focused on the Cybertruck. His comments were unfavorable toward the all-electric pickup, with Cramer recommending that consumers opt for a more traditional pickup style in the Ford F-150 Lightning as the Cybertruck is “ugly.”

“I saw the actual pickup truck,” Cramer said when speaking about the Cybertruck. “Go buy an F-150. I mean, this thing is not just ugly…You have got to love Tesla to get this thing,” Cramer added.

There is no doubt that the Cybertruck has an unorthodox and “polarizing” look, as many people have described the truck. Still, this was the point of the design. One of the first portions of Musk’s presentation in November 2019 had to do with the traditional automakers and how their pickups stood apart from others. Taking manufacturer badges away from the truck makes it more difficult to tell each model apart. The traditional design has been broken down to a rectangular driver’s cabin and a bed, with relatively the same shapes and angles shared amongst the major pickup truck designs in the United States.

This is where Tesla decided that an orthodox pickup may not be the best option. Instead, Tesla went with a futuristic design, covered in ultra-strength stainless steel alloy and equipped with resilient glass and, potentially, solar panels on the tonneau for additional range.

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Tesla Cybertruck’s Solar Panel Tonneau Cover comes to life in new patent

Cramer is still a Tesla supporter, he says, especially as the automaker has avoided massive failures with its product. Specifically mentioning the recent Chevrolet Bolt EV recall due to faulty batteries, Cramer believes Tesla is one of the major players in the sector, especially in terms of autonomous driving. “I still like Tesla because I think it’s been unfair the way their autonomous driving has been handled. There are many more accidents from drunk drivers. But I recognize…I think this pickup truck is going to be a disaster, his first disaster.”

Interestingly, Cramer and Musk share a similar but not an identical point of view on the Cybertruck. While Cramer is undoubtedly convinced the Cybertruck will fall flat, Musk has stated in the past that the truck could be a flop due to its unfamiliar design. However, 1.2 million reservations for the truck say differently.

The Ford F-150 Lightning will be the company’s second EV to the market, following the Mustang Mach-E. The truck has already amassed an impressive 120,000 pre-orders, according to Ford’s Q2 2021 Earnings Call. Sporting a traditional pickup design, the two options on the market may be the perfect recipe for accelerating the transition to sustainable energy as the traditional and unorthodox designs should cater to consumers and what they’re looking for in a new vehicle.

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Don’t hesitate to contact us with tips! Email us at tips@teslarati.com, or you can email me directly at joey@teslarati.com.

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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Tesla Robotaxi has already surpassed Waymo in this key metric

Tesla Robotaxi has already overtaken Waymo in Austin in one key metric, but there’s still more work to do.

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Credit: @HanChulYong/X

Tesla Robotaxi has already surpassed Waymo in one extremely important key metric: size of service area.

Tesla just expanded its service area in Austin on Monday morning, pushing the boundaries of its Robotaxi fleet in an interesting fashion with new capabilities to the north. Yes, we know what it looks like:

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The expansion doubled Tesla Robotaxi’s potential travel locations, which now include the University of Texas at Austin, a school with over 53,000 students.

The doubling of the service area by Tesla has already made its travel area larger than Waymo’s, which launched driverless rides in October 2024. It became available to the public in March 2025.

According to Grok, the AI agent on X, Tesla Robotaxi’s current service area spans 42 square miles, which is five square miles larger than Waymo’s service area of 37 square miles.

The service area is one of the most important metrics in determining how much progress a self-driving ride-hailing service is making. Safety is the priority of any company operating a ride-hailing network, especially ones that are making it a point to use autonomy to deploy it.

However, these companies are essentially racing for a larger piece of the city or cities they are in. Waymo has expanded to several different regions around the United States, including Arizona and Los Angeles.

Tesla is attempting to do the same in the coming months as it has already filed paperwork in both California and Arizona to deploy its Robotaxi fleet in states across the U.S.

As the platform continues to show more prowess and accuracy in its operation, Tesla will begin to expand to new areas, eventually aiming for a global rollout of its self-driving service.

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Tesla Megapacks arrive for massive battery replacing coal plant

Tesla Megapacks have started arriving on-site to the Stanwell Battery Project, just as Queensland prepares to wind down the Stanwell coal plant.

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Credit: Tesla

The first of over 300 Tesla Megapacks have arrived to the site of a massive battery energy storage system (BESS) being built in Australia, dubbed the Stanwell Battery Project after a coal plant it’s set to replace.

In a press release last week, the Stanwell Battery Project announced that the first Tesla Megapack 2XL units had arrived to the site, which is located outside of Rockhampton in Queensland, Australia. The project will eventually feature 324 Megapack units, set to arrive in the coming months, in order to support the 300MW/1,200MWh battery project.

“The Stanwell Battery is part of the diversification of our portfolio, to include cleaner and more flexible energy solutions,” said Angie Zahra, Stanwell Central Generation General Manager. “It is just one part of the 800 MW of battery energy storage capacity we have in our pipeline.

“Capable of discharging 300 MW of energy for up to four hours (1,200 MWh), our mega battery will be one of the largest in Queensland.”

Credit: Stanwell

READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Lathrop Megafactory celebrates massive Megapack battery milestone

The state is working with government-owned company Yurika to facilitate construction, and the process is expected to create roughly 80 jobs. The project is expected to come fully online in May 2027, with initial commissioning of the Megapacks aiming for November 2025.

The Stanwell Battery is set to replace the nearby Stanwell coal generation plant, which the government is planning to wind down starting in 2026 as part of efforts to reach an 80 percent renewable energy generation ratio by 2035. Meanwhile, the government is also set to begin winding down the Tarong and Callide coal plants, while several other Megapack projects are being built or coming online. o ya

Tesla currently has two Megapack production facilities, located in Lathrop, California, in the U.S. and another that came online earlier this year in Shanghai, China. The Shanghai Megafactory shipped its first units to Australia in March, while both factories are expected to be capable of producing 10,000 Megapack units per year upon reaching volume production.

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The Tesla Diner is basically finished—here’s what it looks like

The company first broke ground on the Diner, Drive-in, and Supercharger location in September 2023. Now, it has served one of its first internal customers.

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Tesla has finally completed the construction of its highly anticipated Diner, Drive-in, and Supercharger in Los Angeles, and recent photos of the interior’s “retro-futuristic” style are making their way around the internet.

X user Brad Goldberg shared photos from the Tesla Diner site last Tuesday, depicting some of the Supercharger stalls, indoor and outdoor seating areas, multiple neon lights, and even an Optimus robot. Goldberg also noted that there had been a “flurry of activity on site” while he was snapping the photos last week, suggesting that the restaurant location could be getting close to opening.

The Tesla Diner also served one of its first internal customers in the past few days, as Elon Musk posted on X on early Monday morning that he had just finished up eating a meal at the site:

I just had dinner at the retro-futuristic Tesla diner and Supercharger.

Team did great work making it one of the coolest spots in LA!

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The photos also show that the site is pretty much done, with some of them even showing vehicles charging at the charging stalls.

You can see some of the latest photos of the Tesla Diner below.

Credit: BradGoldbergMD | X

Credit: BradGoldbergMD | X

Credit: BradGoldbergMD | X

Credit: BradGoldbergMD | X

Credit: TeslaKing420 | X

Credit: TeslaKing420 | X

Credit: Brad Goldberg (via Sawyer Merritt on X)

Credit: Brad Goldberg (via Sawyer Merritt on X)

Credit: Brad Goldberg (via Sawyer Merritt on X)

Credit: Brad Goldberg (via Sawyer Merritt on X)

Credit: Brad Goldberg (via Sawyer Merritt on X)

READ MORE ON TESLA’S LA DINER: Tesla readies Drive-In Diner Supercharger for launch with app inclusion

When will the Tesla Diner open to external customers?

While it’s still not open to external customers yet, the news again suggests that the company could be close to an official opening date. Tesla first broke ground on the Diner in September 2023, after receiving a wave of building permit approvals throughout that yearTeslarati also covered much of the construction progress throughout last year, including when crews installed the first and second drive-in screens.

Located at 7001 West Santa Monica Boulevard, the idea was first discussed in 2018 by Musk and a few others on Twitter, featuring 1950s rock and roll, waiters on roller skates, and drive-in movie theater screens playing clips from some of history’s best movies. Notably, the photos of the front doors also show that the site will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, whenever it does end up opening.

Tesla’s progress on Supercharger with diner, drive-in seen in aerial footage

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