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Tesla diner and Supercharger site gets grading, conduit and rain cover

Credit: 247Tesla | YouTube

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Construction on the forthcoming Tesla diner, drive-in movie theater, and Supercharger site in Southern California has made more progress in recent weeks. Crews have now officially started interior work, along with grading for and the laying of electrical conduit, and new measures to protect against the weather.

Crews have been working on the Tesla diner site’s interiors since the site was seen being prepped for indoor work a few weeks ago. In a video update of the site shared by drone observer 247Tesla on Sunday, construction workers at the upcoming Hollywood Supercharger location were seen grading the site and laying some initial conduit.

In addition, you can see the workers attempting to cover the second level with tarps in preparation for rain, after another recent video depicted much of the building and interior covered with a protective plastic sheeting after interior and electrical work began.

Andy of 247Tesla also notes that the large amounts of conduit being run are shielded home run pulls for each charger, with the unique Supercharger requiring substantially more power than the average fast food restaurant.

Credit: 247Tesla | YouTube

Credit: 247Tesla | YouTube

Credit: 247Tesla | YouTube

Initial structures for the first movie screen were seen going up at the site in late February. As Andy points out in yet another recent video, the crew must wait until power lines come down on the property’s west side to begin construction of the planned second screen, according to a welder he spoke to on-site at the time. He also says that AT&T is reportedly responsible for the power lines, though it’s not yet clear when they’re expected to come down.

You can see three of Andy’s recent videos from the 247Tesla channel below.

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Tesla Diner, Drive-in and Supercharger: Grading, Conduit and Rain Cover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKEtXMuVKbw

Tesla Diner, Drive-in and Supercharger: Interior and Electrical, Plus Plastic Coverings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQYkaYeZKKk

Tesla Diner, Drive-in and Supercharger: Second Screen Update

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTGnqg8mLhE

Tesla broke ground on the diner, drive-in and Supercharger site in September, following our coverage of a series of construction approvals granted to the project last year. The site plans show around 32 Supercharger stalls, as well as a multi-level restaurant building with seating on the upper deck, which is now coming together with the formation of the restaurant building’s structures.

The site, located at 7001 West Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, was first conceptualized on Twitter in 2018, when CEO Elon Musk and others discussed the concept of building a Supercharger with a 1950s-style restaurant, waiters on roller skates, rock and roll music, and two drive-in movie theater screens playing highlight reels from the best scenes in movie history.

Since then, a few design renders of the site have been shared, with perhaps the most popular being one from X account Howard Model S, in which the restaurant is dubbed “Milliways” after The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a favorite of Musk’s.

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

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What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sends rivals dire warning about Full Self-Driving

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed today on the social media platform X that legacy automakers, such as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, do not want to license the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, at least not without a long list of their own terms.

“I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy,” Musk said on X. “When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless.”

Musk made the remark in response to a note we wrote about earlier today from Melius Research, in which analyst Rob Wertheimer said, “Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is,” in terms of autonomy and self-driving development.

Wertheimer believes there are hundreds of billions of dollars in value headed toward Tesla’s way because of its prowess with FSD.

A few years ago, Musk first remarked that Tesla was in early talks with one legacy automaker regarding licensing Full Self-Driving for its vehicles. Tesla never confirmed which company it was, but given Musk’s ongoing talks with Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time, it seemed the Detroit-based automaker was the likely suspect.

Tesla’s Elon Musk reiterates FSD licensing offer for other automakers

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Ford has been perhaps the most aggressive legacy automaker in terms of its EV efforts, but it recently scaled back its electric offensive due to profitability issues and weak demand. It simply was not making enough vehicles, nor selling the volume needed to turn a profit.

Musk truly believes that many of the companies that turn their backs on FSD now will suffer in the future, especially considering the increased chance it could be a parallel to what has happened with EV efforts for many of these companies.

Unfortunately, they got started too late and are now playing catch-up with Tesla, XPeng, BYD, and the other dominating forces in EVs across the globe.

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Tesla backtracks on strange Nav feature after numerous complaints

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is backtracking on a strange adjustment it made to its in-car Navigation feature after numerous complaints from owners convinced the company to make a change.

Tesla’s in-car Navigation is catered to its vehicles, as it routes Supercharging stops and preps your vehicle for charging with preconditioning. It is also very intuitive, and features other things like weather radar and a detailed map outlining points of interest.

However, a recent change to the Navigation by Tesla did not go unnoticed, and owners were really upset about it.

Tesla’s Navigation gets huge improvement with simple update

For trips that required multiple Supercharger stops, Tesla decided to implement a naming change, which did not show the city or state of each charging stop. Instead, it just showed the business where the Supercharger was located, giving many owners an unwelcome surprise.

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However, Tesla’s Director of Supercharging, Max de Zegher, admitted the update was a “big mistake on our end,” and made a change that rolled out within 24 hours:

The lack of a name for the city where a Supercharging stop would be made caused some confusion for owners in the short term. Some drivers argued that it was more difficult to make stops at some familiar locations that were special to them. Others were not too keen on not knowing where they were going to be along their trip.

Tesla was quick to scramble to resolve this issue, and it did a great job of rolling it out in an expedited manner, as de Zegher said that most in-car touch screens would notice the fix within one day of the change being rolled out.

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Additionally, there will be even more improvements in December, as Tesla plans to show the common name/amenity below the site name as well, which will give people a better idea of what to expect when they arrive at a Supercharger.

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Dutch regulator RDW confirms Tesla FSD February 2026 target

The regulator emphasized that safety, not public pressure, will decide whether FSD receives authorization for use in Europe.

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The Dutch vehicle authority RDW responded to Tesla’s recent updates about its efforts to bring Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in Europe, confirming that February 2026 remains the target month for Tesla to demonstrate regulatory compliance. 

While acknowledging the tentative schedule with Tesla, the regulator emphasized that safety, not public pressure, will decide whether FSD receives authorization for use in Europe.

RDW confirms 2026 target, warns Feb 2026 timeline is not guaranteed

In its response, which was posted on its official website, the RDW clarified that it does not disclose details about ongoing manufacturer applications due to competitive sensitivity. However, the agency confirmed that both parties have agreed on a February 2026 window during which Tesla is expected to show that FSD (Supervised) can meet required safety and compliance standards. Whether Tesla can satisfy those conditions within the timeline “remains to be seen,” RDW added.

RDW also directly addressed Tesla’s social media request encouraging drivers to contact the regulator to express support. While thanking those who already reached out, RDW asked the public to stop contacting them, noting these messages burden customer-service resources and have no influence on the approval process. 

“In the message on X, Tesla calls on Tesla drivers to thank the RDW and to express their enthusiasm about this planning to us by contacting us. We thank everyone who has already done so, and would like to ask everyone not to contact us about this. It takes up unnecessary time for our customer service. Moreover, this will have no influence on whether or not the planning is met,” the RDW wrote. 

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The RDW shares insights on EU approval requirements

The RDW further outlined how new technology enters the European market when no existing legislation directly covers it. Under EU Regulation 2018/858, a manufacturer may seek an exemption for unregulated features such as advanced driver assistance systems. The process requires a Member State, in this case the Netherlands, to submit a formal request to the European Commission on the manufacturer’s behalf.

Approval then moves to a committee vote. A majority in favor would grant EU-wide authorization, allowing the technology across all Member States. If the vote fails, the exemption is valid only within the Netherlands, and individual countries must decide whether to accept it independently.

Before any exemption request can be filed, Tesla must complete a comprehensive type-approval process with the RDW, including controlled on-road testing. Provided that FSD Supervised passes these regulatory evaluations, the exemption could be submitted for broader EU consideration.

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