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Tesla Cybertruck to become New York man’s power source for tiny home
A New York man plans to use the Tesla Cybertruck as a power source for his “tiny home.” Karl Gesslein, a resident of Ithaca placed an order for the Cybertruck the day of the unveiling after realizing that Tesla’s initial attempt at a pickup truck was exactly what he had been looking for since his childhood.
The idea came from his desire to power his new house in a sustainable way, and by using the $50,000 Dual Motor variant of the Tesla Cybertruck, he will no longer need to use portable batteries as his primary power source.
“I watched the Cybertruck reveal and knew I had to have one because it was everything I had always wanted in a car but never been able to have,” Gesslein said. His interest in the Cybertruck came from his childhood dreams of owning cars like the Lotus Espirit and the Delorian DMC-12. But the most appealing thing about the vehicle was its capability to power his house, especially with the help of the “Vault’s” optional solar panel cover.
Currently, Gasslein and his wife live in an off-the-grid house that they have called home for six years. The house utilizes a homemade battery pack, but he is looking for another option as only 1 kWh of the 1.25 kWh system is usable. The Cybertruck, by his estimation, would power his home for 240 straight days, along with some help from solar panels. “That is long enough to get through a pretty harsh nuclear winter with some time to spare,” he says in a blog post he wrote about his idea.
One thing that Gesslein has noted is that the Cybertruck would fight power outages and scheduled blackouts, especially if the vehicle was hooked up to an on-the-grid circuit breaker. Blackouts and power outages are a relevant issue, especially to those who live in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, who were negatively impacted by them earlier this year.
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), a power supplier for many Bay Area homes, conducted mandatory scheduled blackouts to lower the possibility of forest fires caused by their powerlines during California’s windy and dry Autumn months. In response to the blackouts, Tesla offered its solar solutions for a reduced cost, a strategy that would assist homeowners in avoiding blackouts and carbon emissions altogether.
Tesla’s Cybertruck is a versatile machine. Its triple-motor setup offers the highest towing capacity on the market with a 14,000+ lb rating, a stainless steel design that will not bend or dent, a solar panel vault cover capable of charging the vehicle while it is sitting in sunlight, and a charging port for the electric ATV Tesla unveiled at the same event.
But now, the truck will have a new use: powering a future owner’s tiny home. The Cybertruck is a safe and sustainable option for those who are looking for an alternative way to power their homes. While it will take some creativity and some experience with electric, it is definitely possible. “The Cybertruck is the best deal to be found for electric backup power that won’t accidentally burn your house to the ground or kill you in your sleep. Hands down,” Gesslein said.
The Cybertruck begins production in late-2021 and has accumulated over a quarter-of-a-million pre-orders according to CEO Elon Musk. The truck will be available in three trims, a Single, Dual, and Tri-Motor, all offering different power and performance ratings. The Single Motor base model will cost $39,900, the Dual Motor $49,990, and the Tri-Motor variant that will offer a 2.9 second 0-60 MPH acceleration rate will be available for $69,900.
You can watch Karl Gesslein’s video on the idea to utilize his Cybertruck to run his tiny home below.
Tesla teased its entrance into a new market with a confusing and what appeared to be cryptic message on the social media platform X.
The company has been teasing its entrance into several markets, including Africa, which would be a first, and South America, where it only operates in Chile.
In September, Tesla started creating active job postings for the Colombian market, hinting it would expand its presence in South America and launch in a new country for the first time in two years.
The jobs were related to various roles, including Associate Sales Manager, Advisors in Sales and Delivery, and Service Technicians. These are all roles that would indicate Tesla is planning to launch a wide-scale effort to sell, manage, and repair vehicles in the market.
Last night, Tesla posted its latest hint, a cryptic video that seems to show the outline of Colombia, teasing its closer than ever to market entry:
— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) November 12, 2025
This would be the next expansion into a continent where it does not have much of a presence for Tesla. Currently, there are only two Supercharger locations on the entire continent, and they’re both in Chile.
Tesla will obviously need to expand upon this crucial part of the ownership experience to enable a more confident consumer base in South America as a whole. However, it is not impossible, as many other EV charging infrastructures are available, and home charging is always a suitable option for those who have access to it.
Surprisingly, Tesla seems to be more concerned about these middle-market countries as opposed to the larger markets in South America, but that could be by design.
If Tesla were to launch in Brazil initially, it may not be able to handle the uptick in demand, and infrastructure expansion could be more difficult. Brazil may be on its list in the upcoming years, but not as of right now.
@teslarati 🚨🚨 Tesla Full Self-Driving and Yap is the best driving experience #tesla #fsd #yapping ♬ I Run – HAVEN.
News
Tesla expands crucial Supercharging feature for easier access
It is a useful tool, especially during hours of congestion. However, it has not been super effective for those who drive non-Tesla EVs, as other OEMs use UI platforms like Google’s Android Auto or Apple’s iOS.
Tesla has expanded a crucial Supercharging feature that helps owners identify stall availability at nearby locations.
Tesla said on Tuesday night that its “Live Availability” feature, which shows EV owners how many stalls are available at a Supercharger station, to Google Maps, a third-party app:
Live availability of Superchargers now in Google Maps pic.twitter.com/DJvS83wVxm
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) November 11, 2025
Already offering it in its own vehicles, the Live Availability feature that Teslas have is a helpful feature that helps you choose an appropriate station with plugs that are immediately available.
A number on an icon where the Supercharger is located lets EV drivers know how many stalls are available.
It is a useful tool, especially during hours of congestion. However, it has not been super effective for those who drive non-Tesla EVs, as other OEMs use UI platforms like Google’s Android Auto or Apple’s iOS.
Essentially, when those drivers needed to charge at a Supercharger that enables non-Tesla EVs to plug in, there was a bit more of a gamble. There was no guarantee that a plug would be available, and with no way to see how many are open, it was a risk.
Tesla adding this feature allows people to have a more convenient and easier-to-use experience if they are in a non-Tesla EV. With the already expansive Supercharger Network being available to so many EV owners, there is more congestion than ever.
This new feature makes the entire experience better for all owners, especially as there is more transparency regarding the availability of plugs at Supercharger stalls.
It will be interesting to see if Tesla is able to expand on this new move, as Apple Maps compatibility is an obvious goal of the company’s in the future, we could imagine. In fact, this is one of the first times an Android Auto feature is available to those owners before it became an option for iOS users.
Apple owners tend to get priority with new features within the Tesla App itself.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s Boring Co goes extra hard in Nashville with first rock-crushing TBM
The Boring Company’s machine for the project is now in final testing.
The Boring Company is gearing up to tackle one of its toughest projects yet, a new tunnel system beneath Nashville’s notoriously tough limestone terrain. Unlike the soft-soil conditions of Las Vegas and Austin, the Music City Loop will require a “hard-rock” boring machine capable of drilling through dense, erosion-resistant bedrock.
The Boring Company’s machine for the project is now in final testing.
A boring hard-rock tunneling machine
The Boring Company revealed on X that its new hard-rock TBM can generate up to 4 million pounds of grip force and 1.5 million pounds of maximum thrust load. It also features a 15-filter dust removal system designed to keep operations clean and efficient during excavation even in places where hard rock is present.
Previous Boring Co. projects, including its Loop tunnels in Las Vegas, Austin, and Bastrop, were dug primarily through soft soils. Nashville’s geology, however, poses a different challenge. Boring Company CEO and President Steve Davis mentioned this challenge during the project’s announcement in late July.
“It’s a tough place to tunnel, Nashville. If we were optimizing for the easiest places to tunnel, it would not be here. You have extremely hard rock, like way harder than it should be. It’s an engineering problem that’s fairly easy and straightforward to solve,” Davis said.
Nashville’s limestone terrain
Experts have stated that the city’s subsurface conditions make it one of the more complex tunneling environments in the U.S. The Outer Nashville Basin is composed of cherty Mississippian-age limestone, a strong yet soluble rock that can dissolve over time, creating underground voids and caves, as noted in a report from The Tennessean.
Jakob Walter, the founder and principal engineer of Haushepherd, shared his thoughts on these challenges. “Limestone is generally a stable sedimentary bedrock material with strength parameters that are favorable for tunneling. Limestone is however fairly soluble when compared to other rack materials, and can dissolve over long periods of time when exposed to water.
“Unexpected encounters with these features while tunneling can result in significant construction delays and potential instability of the excavation. In urban locations, structures at the ground surface should also be constantly monitored with robotic total stations or similar surveying equipment to identify any early signs of movement or distress,” he said.
Tesla teases new market entrance with confusing and cryptic message
Tesla expands crucial Supercharging feature for easier access
Elon Musk’s Boring Co goes extra hard in Nashville with first rock-crushing TBM
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