It appears that Tesla and aftermarket accessory maker EVject have come to an agreement. In a recent email reportedly sent by the accessory maker to its customers, EVject stated that it would be recalling its V1.0 and V1.1 Escape Connectors and replacing them with V1.2 connectors, which includes built-in thermal protection.
Tesla filed a lawsuit against EVject over allegations that the company’s product, which allows drivers to disconnect and drive away from a Supercharger without leaving their cabin, was unsafe due to its lack of overtemperature protection. As part of its lawsuit, Tesla looked to ban EVject Escape Connectors from being imported into the United States.
Will investigate— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 2, 2024
Tesla’s lawsuit received polarizing reactions from EV community members, many of whom urged the company to work with the aftermarket accessory maker since the product serves a vital role in keeping owners feel more secure during Supercharging sessions. Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself addressed the community’s concerns, stating that he would be investigating the matter. Considering EVject’s recent communication to its customers, it would appear that Musk’s investigation has borne fruit.
EVject noted in its communication to its customers that it wants to be “good partners with Tesla.” The accessory maker also noted that it is recalling its V1.0 and V1.1 Escape Connectors. Instead, the company would now be selling its V1.2 Escape Connector, which fully meets Tesla’s standards. The V1.2 connector is expected to start shipping later this year.
The company @EVjectOfficial and Tesla have come to an agreement.
EVject will be discontinuing their v1.1 connector and are offering a complimentary upgrade to EVject Supervised V1.2, which includes built-in thermal protection. https://t.co/jxVzeC4zaV pic.twitter.com/OTQydzQKld— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) September 6, 2024
“The EVject Escape Connector is evolving to meet the latest safety standards. Our upcoming version will feature advanced thermal sensors to enhance safety during charging. These improvements will help prevent potential hazards and ensure optimal charging performance. Upcoming version (v1.2) will include: (1) Advanced thermal sensors for enhanced safety; (2) Improved temperature monitoring; and (3) Compliance with the latest charging recommendations,” the company noted.
Customers who have purchased EVject V1.0 and V1.1 Escape Connectors will be getting a complimentary upgrade to a V1.2 connector. The accessory maker is asking its customers to return their V1.0 and V1.1 connectors, after which they will receive credit to purchase a V1.2 Escape Connector when it becomes available.
Tesla and OEMs will keep working with the industry to provide safe adapters and develop common sense regulatory standards. https://t.co/v1D7QoPMVQ— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) September 6, 2024
“Per Tesla’s request, we have discontinued the sale of V1.0 and V1.1 and are offering a complimentary upgrade to EVject Supervised V1.2, which includes built-in thermal protection, and works with all current Tesla charging options and vehicles,” the accessory maker reportedly noted in its email.
Tesla Charging acknowledged EVject’s Escape Connector recall in a post on its official social media account on X. “Tesla and OEMs will keep working with the industry to provide safe adapters and develop common sense regulatory standards,” Tesla Charging wrote in its post on X.
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SpaceX just launched its secret Starfall saucer again
SpaceX launched its Starfall capsule again on Bandwagon-5, this time listed openly beside rideshare customers.
SpaceX launched its Starfall reentry capsule for the second time on Tuesday morning, flying it as the payload of the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission. Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida at 7:04 a.m. ET with 32 payloads, and the first stage booster, on its 19th flight, landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas about nine minutes later.
Starfall was scheduled to separate last, 2 hours and 48 minutes after liftoff. The final customer satellite on SpaceX’s mission timeline comes off the upper stage about an hour and nine minutes in, which left a long gap before the capsule was due to be released alone. SpaceX later posted that the payload deployment sequence is complete. At liftoff, the company said Starfall “enables affordable, routine access to a microgravity environment, providing unique opportunities for on-orbit manufacturing, scientific research, and testing.”
Starfall enables affordable, routine access to a microgravity environment, providing unique opportunities for on-orbit manufacturing, scientific research, and testing https://t.co/y8kJg3QDor
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 20, 2026
As Teslarati reported before the first Starfall flight, SpaceX made no public announcement about the vehicle then, and nearly everything known came from FAA and FCC filings. This time Starfall is an item name on the official mission page, listed beside paying rideshare customers. SpaceX has still not said what, if anything, is aboard this Starfall, Spaceflight Now noted.
The FAA’s environmental assessment from May describes a disk about 10.2 feet wide and 2.5 feet tall that weighs roughly 4,600 pounds and can bring 2,200 pounds of payload back to Earth.
Interestingly, the same rocket also carries a competitor’s hardware. Varda Space Industries launched its W-Series 7 capsule on Bandwagon-5, a spacecraft about three times smaller than Starfall that will test whether microgravity can improve the solubility of a cancer drug called Protac. It is Varda’s ninth reentry capsule, and W-8 and W-9 launched earlier this month on Transporter-18. SpaceX has been Varda’s launch provider since the company’s first Falcon 9 rideshare contract in 2021.
SpaceX has not published where or how this Starfall will come down. The preview we ran in June described a recovery from the Pacific Ocean, and the company has not said whether this flight follows the same plan. The launch also arrives hours before SpaceX posts its third quarter results after the market closes, a report we previewed earlier this week.
Elon Musk
The Boring Company’s latest Tesla tunnel truck mod “fits like a glove”
The Boring Company has modified a Tesla powered tunnel truck to carry freight containers underground.
The Boring Company has found a second job for the Tesla hardware it already runs underground. In a post on X, Elon Musk’s tunneling company showed its latest Prufrock Liner Truck modified to carry a standard 20 foot shipping container. “Using TBC tunnels to transport freight,” the company wrote. “The latest Prufrock Liner Truck (using Tesla Model 3 batteries and drive units) has been modified to carry a standard 20′ shipping container. Fits like a glove!”
The photo shows a red container sitting on a long, low white chassis parked outside, with drive hardware visible at one end. The Boring Company did not say where or when freight hauling would start, which customers it has in mind, or how many trucks it is converting.
Using TBC tunnels to transport freight.
The latest Prufrock Liner Truck (using Tesla Model 3 batteries and drive units) has been modified to carry a standard 20’ shipping container.
Fits like a glove! https://t.co/VV0phWK4fc
— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) October 19, 2026
Until now, the liner trucks have hauled concrete. Teslarati reported in August on Liner Truck 3, which uses Model 3 battery packs and drive units to move more than 22,000 pounds of precast tunnel segments to the boring machine. It has 28 miles of range, tops out at 12 mph, and is piloted remotely from the company’s operations center in Texas. The freight version appears to be the same platform with a different bed, and The Boring Company has not said whether it will also be remotely piloted.
Freight has been on the company’s menu for years. When TBC updated its product lineup in 2021, its freight tunnel was described as sized to fit a standard shipping container, “barely.” The company later used the idea at Tesla’s own factory, where Prufrock 3 dug a tunnel to Giga Texas that now moves finished Cybertrucks away from the production line.
The Boring Company closed a $3 billion Series D in September at a $23 billion valuation, and Teslarati has covered how that money is tied to a UAE tunneling push and a faster Nashville build. In Nashville, Prufrock MB1 and MB2 are mining at the same time, and a third machine is expected to launch in late October. Each machine needs a steady supply of liner trucks, so any design that works for segments and containers alike gives the company more use out of the same Tesla parts.
The Vegas Loop remains the only Boring Company system open to the public, and it moves passengers in Tesla vehicles. A freight service would be a separate product, and the post gave no indication that one is close to launch. For now, it is a truck, a container and a short caption saying they fit together.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk will give ‘every kid in America’ a SpaceX share in 2027
Elon Musk said he is planning to give “every one of his SpaceX shares to every kid in America” in 2027, stating that “this will be the first of many.”
SpaceX went public earlier this year, and its stock price has been relatively stable since leveling off shortly after its IPO. Based on its current price, it’s a gift of just over $10 billion to children across the United States.
It appears to be closely related to President Donald Trump’s bank accounts for children, which were set up earlier this year as Trump Accounts.
Just hours earlier, Anthropic had announced the establishment of its Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, “a new wholly-owned entity dedicated entirely to public benefit.” Musk responded by stating he recommended “giving the shares directly to the public,” and that he would be doing it that way.
Just a little bit later, Musk said children across the U.S. would be getting a share from him:
Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America.
This will be the first of many.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
There are roughly 70 million children, meaning someone under the age of 18, in the United States, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. Musk’s ownership of SpaceX stock shows he has around 849 million Class A shares of SpaceX stock, according to filings with the SEC.