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Tesla earns nod of respect from legacy auto for pushing sustainable transportation
It took multiple bet-the-company situations, trips to “production hell,” and a massive push towards profitability in the third quarter, but Tesla has pretty much become the undeniable leader in premium electric mobility. With the Model 3 proving to be a success in the United States and getting a lot of interest in markets such as Europe and Asia, Tesla is practically becoming an inconvenient truth to traditional automakers — particularly those that have held off on the development of zero-emissions vehicles.
Earlier this year, Paul Sankey of Mizuho Securities noted during a segment on CNBC that the “Tesla Effect” is starting to spill over to industries beyond the car market. Sankey described the Tesla Effect as a trend that pushes the idea that the 21st century will be driven by clean electricity in the same way that the 20th century was driven by oil. Among legacy carmakers, this particular shift is starting to become notable.
Recently, executives from a number of established automakers acknowledged Tesla’s contribution to the evolution of sustainable transportation. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, for example, Porsche North America Chief Executive Klaus Zellmer validated Tesla’s breakthroughs in the electric car market, praising the company for its “astonishing” work.
“If you look at what Tesla has done, if you look at their volume and look at their price level, it’s truly astonishing. If you can do that with one brand and a sales network that is not comprised of dealers and a real sales organization, it’s even more astonishing,” he said.
Hope King of Cheddar inquired about Tesla while speaking with executives from several legacy carmakers during the 2018 LA Auto Show as well. Just like Porsche’s Zellner, the execs from the establishes carmakers also admitted that Tesla’s progress over the years had affected their business and the industry as a whole.
Audi of America senior product manager Anthony Foulk noted that Tesla has “pushed the entire auto industry forward and broken ground for some different topics in the industry.” Foulk pointed out that Tesla is among the reasons why Audi opted to release the e-tron SUV, an electric vehicle that is “meant to be accessible to a wide portion” of the market. Volkswagen of America Sales and Marketing executive Derrick Hatami echoed Foulk’s observations, stating that Tesla has provided an “interesting window into what the possibilities could be for electric vehicles and future retail models for the auto industry.” Hatami further remarked that the electric car maker had given other automakers “something to look at and aim for” with regards to the development of EVs.
Masahiro Moro, the President and CEO of Mazda’s North American operations, lauded Tesla for its tendency to boldly break through conventions and adopt strategies that are experimental at best. Moro noted that with Tesla in the market, “we (legacy carmakers) have to look at ourselves to see if there are unmet needs of consumers so we can innovate our process.” Bugatti President Stephan Winkelmann also validated Tesla’s contributions to the car market, stating that the electric car maker has “pushed the car industry in one direction,” while allowing other companies to admit that “social acceptance is key for the future of every car manufacturer.”
Gorden Wagener, Chief Designer of Mercedes-Benz, was optimistic about Tesla’s breakthroughs, particularly when it comes to the features and capabilities of vehicles on the road. Wagener noted that Tesla’s approach to its electric cars is encouraging other companies to “change this industry in the next 10 years more than in the 100 years before” — something that the designer admitted is a “very exciting to do.”
Tesla’s mission has been clear since day one — it aims to accelerate the world’s transition to renewable energy. Elon Musk has reiterated this multiple times, and the company itself has admitted that Tesla cannot push the transition to sustainability on its own. In the auto sector, other companies — particularly legacy carmakers that already have large manufacturing infrastructures — have to commit to developing zero-emissions vehicles as well.
Several companies have already taken valuable steps towards this goal. Porsche announced earlier this year that it is abandoning its entire diesel lineup ahead of the release of the Taycan, its first all-electric sedan. Reports have also emerged that Jaguar is looking to transition itself into a company that exclusively produces all-electric cars.
Perhaps more importantly, though, is that a number of legacy carmakers are starting to realize that there is a very real demand for electric vehicles. Norwegian news agency Dagens Næringsliv, for one, noted that Audi’s sales dropped almost 80% in Norway last month. Inasmuch as the steep decline is rather alarming, Audi’s Head of Communications Morten Moum stated that a big reason behind the decline is that car buyers are waiting for the company’s electrified vehicles, such as the hybrid Q7 e-tron SUV.
In October, estimates indicate that Jaguar sold around 1,200 units of the I-PACE, accounting for 8.7% of the company’s overall vehicle sales. Hyundai also reported that sales of the Kona Electric, its budget electric crossover, rose to 2,473 units in October, 1,000 more than the company sold in September. Estimates also point to 46% of Kona buyers opting in for the vehicle’s electric variant over its more affordable gas-powered counterpart.
Tesla’s growth over the past 15 years has been notable. Amidst the changing tides of the auto industry, the electric car maker is poised to grow even more as it establishes its place as a first mover and leader in the EV movement. It took daring gambits and years of pain and stress, but it appears that finally, Tesla has reached the point where the auto industry’s veterans are not only recognizing, but also respecting, the company’s efforts in pushing towards sustainable transportation.
SpaceXAI announced today that it had signed an agreement with Anthropic to give the company access to its Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, Tennessee.
It is a monumental deal as Anthropic will gain access to all of the compute at the plant, delivering more than 300 megawatts of power and over 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs within the month.
Anthropic’s Claude AI account on X announced the partnership:
“We’ve agreed to a partnership with SpaceX that will substantially increase our compute capacity. This, along with our other recent compute deals, means that we’ve been able to increase our usage limits for Claude Code and the Claude API.”
The company is also:
- Doubling Claude Code’s 5-hour rate limits for Pro, Max, and Team plans;
- Removing the peak hours limit reduction on Claude Code for Pro and Max plans; and
- Substantially raising its API rate limits for Opus models.
We’ve agreed to a partnership with @SpaceX that will substantially increase our compute capacity.
This, along with our other recent compute deals, means that we’ve been able to increase our usage limits for Claude Code and the Claude API.
— Claude (@claudeai) May 6, 2026
SpaceX also published its own release on the new agreement, noting that it is “the only organization with the launch cadence, mass-to-orbit economics, and constellation operations experience to make orbital compute a near-term engineering program rather than a research concept.”
CEO Elon Musk also commented on the partnership and shed light on intense meetings he had with senior members of Anthropic last week, stating, “nobody set on my evil detector.”
Same here.
By way of background for those who care, I spent a lot of time last week with senior members of the Anthropic team to understand what they do to ensure Claude is good for humanity and was impressed.
Everyone I met was highly competent and cared a great deal about…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 6, 2026
This has turned the argument that SpaceX is as much an AI company as a space exploration company into a very valid argument:
SpaceX is following in Tesla’s footsteps in a way nobody expected
Nevertheless, this is an incredibly valuable and important move in the grand scheme of things. AI scaling is fundamentally bottlenecked by compute, and demand for Claude has surged, bringing terrestrial power grids, land, and cooling operations hitting limits everywhere.
Anthropic has been aggressively signing multiple large-scale deals to be competitive in the space, including:
- Up to 5GW with Amazon
- 5GW with Google and Broadcom
- Strategic $30b Azure deal with Microsoft/NVIDIA
- $50b U.S. infrastructure investment with Fluidstack
Access to Colossus 1 gives Anthropic immediate relief on NVIDIA GPU capacity. For SpaceXAI, it turns its rapid buildout into revenue. It also showcases its ability to deliver at world-leading speed and scale.
Most importantly, it plants the seed that its much larger vision, orbital AI compute, is totally viable.
Starlink V3 satellites could enable SpaceX’s orbital computing plans: Musk
Within the month, Anthropic will begin using 100 percent of Colossus 1’s compute, directly expanding capacity for Claude Pro and Max subscribers and the API. This means fewer limits, faster responses, and support for heavier workloads.
In the long term, meaning 2026 and beyond, there will be a continued rollout of other multi-GW deals Anthropic has signed, and an early exploration of orbital compute with SpaceXAI.
News
Tesla unveils mysterious prototype at Giga Texas: Is the Model Y L coming to America?
The Model Y L has been available in China for some time, but Americans are wondering when it will potentially come to the United States, offering a larger version of the best-selling vehicle in the world, as the Model X is officially phased out.
Tesla unveiled a mysterious prototype, covered up between a Model Y and a Cybertruck at Gigafactory Texas, perhaps giving yet another hint that the Model Y L is coming to America.
The Model Y L has been available in China for some time, but Americans are wondering when it will potentially come to the United States, offering a larger version of the best-selling vehicle in the world, as the Model X is officially phased out.
Giga Texas observer and drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer captured an image of the vehicle on May 6, showing a fully-covered prototype parked alongside a standard Model Y and a Cybertruck.
This mystery Tesla is covered at Gigafactory Texas
What do you think it is? https://t.co/l5WVKLi9yM pic.twitter.com/CcOybDkCkn
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) May 6, 2026
From top-down and angled views, the prototype appears nearly identical in scale to the Model Y but reveals noticeably distinct rear proportions—an elongated rear door that stretches farther over the wheel arch and rear glass that flows uninterrupted to the spoiler lip.
The side-by-side placement provides an immediate size reference. The mystery vehicle sits comfortably between the compact Model Y and the massive Cybertruck, suggesting it occupies a practical middle ground for families seeking more interior room without jumping to a full-size pickup.
Enthusiasts quickly took to social media with guesses ranging from an extended-wheelbase Model Y to a potential station-wagon variant.
The sight of this prototype follows an earlier look at another shrouded body-in-white resting in a wooden shipping crate at the Giga Texas plant in late March.
That prototype appeared to display an elongated silhouette. Some analysis seems to show nearly exact dimensions as to what is reported for the Model Y L in the Chinese market, approximately 4.98 meters long with a 3.04-meter wheelbase, roughly seven inches longer overall than the U.S.-spec Model Y. The rear-door extension and glass-to-spoiler design were identical to the current sighting:
The Model Y L has already proven popular in China, where it launched in six- and seven-seat configurations and quickly ranked among the top-selling mid-to-large SUVs. Owners enjoy roughly 10 percent more cargo space and enhanced family versatility.
Tesla has remained silent on U.S. plans other than CEO Elon Musk saying it could come in late 2026, but localizing production at Giga Texas would make strategic sense.
With the Model X phase-out and steady Model Y output already humming along expanded lines, a longer-wheelbase variant could add tens of thousands of annual deliveries without major retooling.
The latest sighting arrives amid Tesla’s broader push to refresh its lineup. Whether this prototype represents the long-rumored Model Y L, a subtle Juniper-style update, or something entirely new remains unconfirmed.
Yet the consistent visual cues—precise dimensional match, distinctive rear styling, and strategic placement at Giga Texas—point strongly toward an extended Model Y designed for American families who want extra space without sacrificing the Model Y’s efficiency and affordability.Tesla watchers will be monitoring future drone flights closely.
If the prototype is indeed the Model Y L, it could mark a significant expansion of the company’s best-selling vehicle and deliver the extra room many U.S. buyers have been requesting for years. For now, the blue tarp keeps its secrets—but the clues are getting harder to hide.
News
Tesla Roadster gets an update, but not the one fans were looking for
Tesla has quietly filed a new trademark application for its next-generation Roadster, giving enthusiasts their first official glimpse of fresh branding for the long-teased electric supercar.
Tesla has been slow to show its hand regarding the massive project that is the Roadster, but it is now coming forth with a new update.
However, it is probably not the one fans were looking for.
Tesla has quietly filed a new trademark application for its next-generation Roadster, giving enthusiasts their first official glimpse of fresh branding for the long-teased electric supercar.
The February 3 filing includes an inverted triangular badge with the word “ROADSTER” centered above four vertical lines that, according to the application, represent “speed, propulsion, heat, or wind.”
A sleek, angular wordmark and a minimalist curved-line silhouette hinting at the car’s aerodynamic shape round out the trio of marks.
I found something cool. Tesla has filed a new trademark application for its next-generation Roadster. It could be the new Roadster logo/badge.
The filing says the lines depict speed, propulsion, heat or wind.
(I took the liberty of making the logo red. Trademark filings are… pic.twitter.com/W9JSDwTRL7
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 6, 2026
For a program that began with Elon Musk’s 2017 reveal, this is tangible forward motion. The original Roadster proved EVs could be thrilling; the next generation aims higher, with promises of sub-two-second 0-60 mph acceleration and, in its most extreme configuration, optional SpaceX cold-gas thrusters for rocket-like thrust.
The new trademarks suggest Tesla is now locking down the visual identity that will accompany those headline specs, as well as a small hint that maybe we’re finally getting close. However, the company has not revealed any progress on the vehicle itself or its specs to the public.
It continues to tease with developments like this one.
That said, the update lands with a familiar bittersweet note. Fans have waited nearly a decade since the initial unveiling. Production was once eyed for 2020, then 2021, then later still. In the intervening years, Tesla has delivered the Model Y, Cybertruck, Semi, and major autonomy advances while scaling its energy business.
The Roadster has taken a back seat, and the delays have been genuinely disappointing. Many longtime supporters have grown frustrated watching renderings and hearsay while other marques roll out ever-faster electric sports cars.
Yet, the Roadster program itself still sparks genuine excitement. It represents the purest expression of Tesla’s “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy” mission—pushing performance boundaries to prove EVs can outperform anything with an engine.
The new branding, modest as it is, keeps that promise alive. It tells owners and prospective buyers that Tesla hasn’t forgotten the car that started it all.
No one would blame fans for wanting more than a logo right now. But in an industry where many concepts never leave the drawing board, the fact that Tesla continues to invest in and protect the Roadster’s identity is reason for measured optimism.
The wait has tested patience, but when the next-generation Roadster finally arrives, the new badge may well adorn one of the most exciting cars ever built. For those who have followed the journey this far, that payoff still feels worth it.
SpaceXAI signs agreement with Anthropic for massive AI supercomputer access
Tesla unveils mysterious prototype at Giga Texas: Is the Model Y L coming to America?
