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Early Tesla Model S road warrior successfully passes 1 million mile mark

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It was just another milestone for a legendary Tesla Model S road warrior, but it was a giant leap forward for electric vehicles as a whole. In recent social media posts, Germany-based Tesla owner Hansjörg Gemmingen revealed that his Model S P85, which he purchased in 2014 second-hand, had successfully reached the 1 million mile mark. 

Gemmingen shared the milestone on his social media accounts, where it promptly drew a lot of attention and praise from the electric vehicle community. The Tesla owner expects the 1-million-mile feat to be recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. 

It has been one insane journey. Gemmingen is an ardent supporter of electric vehicles, being one of the few brave souls who made long trips on an original Tesla Roadster at a time when there were very few rapid charging stations available. He made the switch to a used Model S in 2014 for health and comfort reasons, and Gemmingen has been racking up the miles ever since. 

Five years into his ownership of the second-hand all-electric sedan, the Tesla owner crossed the fateful 1-million-kilometer mark. The Model S P85 road warrior seemed destined for history then, with the feat being recognized by a representative of the Guinness Book of World Records. By then, however, the car had already changed its battery pack once and its drive unit three times. 

The vehicle has since needed more replacements. Its battery, a used 63.1 kWh pack that was installed at the 1,202,000 km (746,000-mile) mark, had 211 miles of range in the beginning, and today, it still has 192 miles of range per charge left. The Model S has also gone through several more electric motors since it reached the 1 million km mark. Gemmingen noted that he is now on his eighth electric motor, and that the last few replacements have been underwhelming. 

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This does not take away from the impressive record set by the all-electric car, of course. However, Gemmingen admitted to The Driven that while he would like to continue setting records and possibly pushing for a 2-million-km record within the next two years, he is at an impasse. This was because he had reached out to Tesla about his plans, but the company had been silent. 

Thus, Gemmingen, an avid electric vehicle supporter who set out to prove that EVs were viable road trip machines at a time before Tesla Superchargers were a thing, is now pondering if he should try pursuing records in other electric vehicles. He mentioned the Lucid Air, which has a range of 520 miles, as a potential contender for his next vehicle.

“If I keep going like this, no problem. I’m toying with the idea of ordering a Lucid Air with a range of over 800 km and setting more records,” Gemmingen said. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Sweden Mediation Institute throws in the towel on Tesla vs IF Metall union conflict

After nearly two years, the union’s strike has become the country’s longest labor dispute to date.

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Credit: @NicklasNilsso14/X

Sweden’s Mediation Institute has formally ended its efforts to resolve the conflict between Tesla Sweden and trade union IF Metall. After nearly two years, the union’s strike has become the country’s longest labor dispute to date. 

Launched 677 days ago by the IF Metall union, the strike was intended to push Tesla Sweden into signing a collective agreement. Tesla Sweden, however, remained firm, maintaining that its working conditions are already better than union standards.

Mediation Institute withdraws

The state-run Mediation Institute, which had been involved early in the strike, confirmed this week that it was officially closing the case. The two parties have had several meetings, but neither side has been able to come to an agreement.

Director General Irene Wennemo described the effort as unprecedented in difficulty in a comment to Ekot. “We have tried in every possible way to get the parties to come closer to each other in a way that allows this conflict to end. But now we have come to the end of the road and have realized that it is just as good to end the case,” she told the Swedish outlet.

Union signals flexibility

The mediators noted in their final report that Tesla Sweden had limited authority in the talks, with key decisions appearing to rest with executives in the United States. The situation, they stated, created barriers to compromise that made the conflict “unlike anything else.” Tesla has maintained throughout that its Swedish workers already receive strong benefits and protections without the need for a formal collective agreement, as noted in a CarUp report.

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IF Metall, for its part, has begun hinting that it was open to alternatives. This was highlighted by Union Chair Marie Nilsson, who noted that while the preferred outcome of the country’s longest strike in history is a signed agreement, “other alternative solutions” are now on the table. “You can do it in different ways. The easiest thing would be to sign a collective agreement. But when that is not possible, we have to find other alternative solutions as well, so we are open to discussion,” the union official stated.

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Neuralink expands beyond US with breakthrough brain chip implants in Canada

The operations mark Neuralink’s first international expansion of its clinical trial program.

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(Credit: Neuralink/YouTube)

Two Canadian men with spinal cord injuries have become the first patients outside the United States to receive Neuralink brain implants, Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN) confirmed this week. 

The operations mark Neuralink’s first international expansion of its clinical trial program.

A new step in Neuralink’s trials

The surgeries were performed at Toronto Western Hospital. The two patients, both in their early 30s from Ontario and Alberta, underwent the procedures on August 27 and September 3 under the leadership of neurosurgeon Dr. Andres Lozano. Both patients were implanted with Neuralink’s first device, Telepathy, which allows users to interact with tech devices using only their thoughts.

Lozano noted that the effects were visible almost immediately. “The first patient was able to control a cursor by just thinking within minutes. It is extremely rapid. The signals are decoded and the artificial intelligence reads the signals and then translates them into movement on the cursor,” he said. “They just think about it and it happens.” 

Both men were discharged the day after surgery, as noted in a CBC report.

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Clinical trials, safety, and quality of life

The Canadian patients will be monitored for at least a year, with the research team permitted to enroll up to four additional participants with either spinal cord injuries or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The trial will focus on safety and quality-of-life improvements, and doctors will be watching for potential side effects such as seizures, infections, or strokes.

Over the coming months, the patients are expected to advance from moving a cursor to typing on a virtual keyboard using only their thoughts. “It’s really as a preliminary step to see whether this should be scaled and rolled out to a larger population. The device right now is a cursor, but in the future you could drive a car, you could drive your wheelchair, you could drive a robot,” Lozano stated.

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Tesla Board takes firm stance on Elon Musk’s political involvement in pay package proxy

But there was one driving factor that was considered critical to Tesla: “Receive assurances that Musk’s involvement with the political sphere would wind down in a timely manner.”

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The Tesla Board of Directors announced yesterday that it had established a new pay package for CEO Elon Musk, as it believes it is “critical” to secure his long-term commitment to the position.

However, the Board made it clear about Musk’s political involvement in its proxy filing, which announced the new pay package, and it seems the company is addressing it directly.

Elon Musk’s new pay plan ties trillionaire status to Tesla’s $8.5 trillion valuation

The proxy announced the massive pay package, which could give Musk $1 trillion if he achieves various goals that would help Tesla grow as an automaker, energy provider, and in the Robotics and AI sectors.

There are also some details about the Board’s decision, which we went over yesterday, as it felt that Musk was the right person to continue to lead Tesla for the foreseeable future.

It appears that there were four primary reasons behind the decision to retain Musk with this substantial pay package.

Tesla sought to secure Musk’s commitment to the company by offering him a path to increased ownership; if he were to achieve all tranches, he would hold approximately 27 percent ownership.

Another was to let Musk develop the newest Master Plan, which was released last week. Additionally, there needs to be a “meaningful framework for long-term succession planning led by the Board with Musk’s active participation.”

But there was one driving factor that was considered critical to Tesla: “Receive assurances that Musk’s involvement with the political sphere would wind down in a timely manner.”

It is far from a secret that Musk’s involvement with President Donald Trump during his election campaign and after he was voted in rubbed many people the wrong way.

Musk was part of President Trump’s White House, serving as the Head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and also acting as a Special Advisor.

The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

Musk’s political involvement impacted sales, but by how much is unknown.

It appears the Board is truly ready to move on from politics and focus on what matters: expanding AI, Robotics, and sustainable energy. For what it’s worth, Musk has backed away from politics significantly compared to how it was during election season.

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