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Tesla Model X sheers in half after high speed crash (WPLG Local 10 | YouTube) Tesla Model X sheers in half after high speed crash (WPLG Local 10 | YouTube)

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Tesla Model X splits in half after blindsided by Nissan GT-R, Tesla driver walks away unscathed

Tesla Model X Florida car crash (Source: 7News Miami)

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A serious car crash in Hallandale Beach, Florida left a Tesla Model X split in two after a Nissan GT-R alleged ran a red light before slamming into the all-electric SUV at high speed. The driver of the Model X walked away with a minor injury to his leg while the occupants of the other vehicle were brought to nearby hospitals for treatment and are expected to recover.

The driver of the Model X was identified as Jose Diaz who was seen counting his blessings moments after walking away from the incident. In a brief phone interview with 7News Miami, Diaz narrated that the Nissan came so fast that he didn’t even see it and that he just felt the bang.

Eyewitnesses to the scene recall seeing the white Nissan GT-R running through a red light at the intersection of Hallandale Beach Boulevard and Three Islands Boulevard before careening into the rear section of the Tesla Model X.

“I went over to help the guy in the white car, because the car had a lot of smoke, and I thought it was going to blow. He came out unscathed, and he was kissing the floor. It was a little blood coming from his nose, and he said, ‘Oh, I just wanna see my girl,’” said Tony Peart, a witness who approached to help the Tesla driver seconds after the wreck.

While it’s unfortunate to read about serious vehicular accidents, those involving a Tesla put into spotlight the all-electric carmaker’s award-winning safety features. It is very common to see SUVs involved in rollovers when involved in side-impact crashes because of their high center of gravity, but the opposite is true for Tesla vehicles and the Model X. With its low-mounted skateboard design battery pack, the center of gravity is far lower than traditional combustion engine cars, making it virtually impossible to roll over in high-speed crash testing.

The battery pack outer casing also serves as an extra layer of structural rigidity for the vehicle. Combined with a hybrid of ultra-high-strength materials, and large crumple zones that absorb energy to protect occupants from harm, and it’s no wonder that Tesla owners have touted never buying another car other than a Tesla.

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“I waited 4 years for this one and would wait 4 more if that is what it took to protect my family like this” recalls one Model X owner after his all-electric SUV saved his life and the lives of his family after being involved in a horrific crash.

The Tesla Model X was awarded a 5-star safety rating in every category by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since its debut. Last December, the Model X was a standout in its class for earning the highest overall rating to date in the 2018/2019 protocol of the  European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) for Large Off-Road Vehicles with a near-perfect score of 98 percent in Adult Occupant Protection category.

Tesla’s Q4 2019 Vehicle Safety Report revealed that its vehicles are still 3 to 4x safer compared to the average even without Autopilot and active safety features enabled. With Autopilot on, the numbers are even more impressive at one accident per 3.07 million miles driven compared to the NHTSA findings of one automobile crash per 479,000 miles in the United States.

A curious soul who keeps wondering how Elon Musk, Tesla, electric cars, and clean energy technologies will shape the future, or do we really need to escape to Mars.

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Tesla Cybercab fleet grows in Austin ahead of launch event

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Credit: Teslarati

UPDATE: The number has now been updated to 45 units, up from 7!

Tesla is bolstering its Cybercab fleet with the State of Texas’s regulatory bodies ahead of the planned launch of the all-electric ride-hailing vehicle this Thursday.

Seven purpose-built Tesla Cybercabs have been added to Texas’s official automated vehicle registry, appearing in the Texas Motor Carrier Credentialing System (TxMCCS) public lookup just three days before Tesla’s invite-only Cybercab launch event in Austin on September 3.

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The records, visible through TxDMV’s Motor Carrier and Automated Motor Vehicle Operator Lookup, list seven 2026 Tesla Cybercabs under Tesla Robotaxi, LLC. Their VINs begin with the 5YJA prefix, distinct from the 7SAYG Model Y robotaxis that already dominate Tesla’s Texas fleet.

Community trackers that scrape the same public database recorded the new entries on August 31, bringing Tesla’s authorized Texas robotaxi total to 276 vehicles: 269 Model Ys and the seven Cybercabs:

Texas Senate Bill 2807, which took effect in late May 2026, created a self-certification framework for commercial Level 4 operations. Operators file through TxMCCS, attest to SAE Level 4 capability, maintain insurance, and keep an active vehicle list.

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Tesla completed that process months earlier for its existing Model Y Robotaxi service, which has carried paying passengers in Austin, Dallas, Houston and other markets. Adding the Cybercabs to the same authorization means the new two-seat, steering-wheel-free vehicles are now legally recognized for commercial use on Texas roads.

The timing is deliberate as Tesla scheduled the September 3 event at its Austin campus after sending invitations to selected Robotaxi riders and other guests. The company has described the evening as a chance to “experience the future of full autonomy” and plans to livestream it.

Production Cybercabs, which lack pedals and a steering wheel, have been rolling off the Giga Texas line for months; some earlier examples still carried temporary driver controls for data collection. Registering a small fleet of the finished design immediately before the public event signals that Tesla intends to move the purpose-built vehicle from factory and test tracks into the same Robotaxi app already used by Model Y passengers.

The seven units remain a tiny fraction of Tesla’s overall Texas authorization and far smaller than competing fleets. Registration does not automatically equal unsupervised public rides; it is the legal prerequisite.

Still, the sudden appearance of Cybercab VINs in the state’s lookup system, after a year of Model Y-only listings, is the clearest official confirmation yet that Tesla’s dedicated robotaxi hardware is entering the regulatory pipeline at the same moment the company is preparing to show it to invited guests and a global livestream audience.

Whether those seven vehicles appear at the September 3 event or begin carrying passengers shortly afterward, their presence in TxMCCS marks a concrete regulatory step that has been anticipated since the Cybercab concept was first revealed.

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Tesla expands driverless Robotaxi geofence in Austin

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Credit: @JoeTegtmeyer/X

Tesla has expanded the operational geofence for its driverless Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, marking the first such increase in some time. The updated Service Area for Robotaxi in Austin now spans about 288 square miles and is roughly 9 percent larger than the previous boundary.

This incremental growth adds approximately 24 square miles of coverage, bringing the prior zone of roughly 264 square miles into a broader footprint that better serves northern suburbs.

The expansion extends the geofence northward toward Pflugerville along the US 183 corridor, incorporating additional neighborhoods north of the Domain and areas such as Mesa Park. These additions include higher-end residential and commercial districts that previously sat just outside the allowed operating zone.

Riders can now request unsupervised trips that begin or end in these newly included locations, provided the entire route remains inside the digital boundary:

Tesla first launched public Robotaxi operations in Austin in mid-2025 with a modest initial zone of about 20 square miles. Subsequent enlargements in 2025 and early 2026 steadily grew the map until it covered much of the metropolitan area.

After the last major update roughly ten months earlier, the company held the boundary steady while it collected additional miles and refined the FSD suite.

The modest nine percent increase still matters for daily utility. Longer trips become possible, more residents gain access, and the fleet can accumulate more diverse real-world data across new road types and traffic patterns. Observers note that the added territory aligns with existing Tesla service infrastructure, which could support more efficient vehicle staging in the North end of Austin.

Although the geofence has grown, Tesla continues to operate a relatively small unsupervised fleet in the city. The company has emphasized safety and software readiness over rapid geographic scaling. This latest map update signals that Tesla remains committed to expanding Robotaxi availability in its home market as it prepares for further software improvements and potential Cybercab deployments.

The 288-square-mile zone now gives Austin riders one of the larger driverless service areas currently available in the United States.

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Elon Musk’s Grok can basically control anything in your Tesla now

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update turns Grok from a talking companion into a true in-car controller, with considerably expanded capabilities. Where the assistant once answered questions and handled navigation, it can now operate hardware and software through ordinary speech, including several requests at the same time.

Grok has become incredibly robust over the past few quarters, and this new ability that Tesla has included with its Summer Update is perhaps the clearest sign of just how capable it has become.

You can issue many commands to Grok at once, and each will be taken care of: anything from headlight control to climate adjustments to mirror folding can now all be taken care of with a simple sentence spoken toward Grok:

Here’s another example I used in my Model Y:

Tesla’s official Release Notes list the core powers of Grok’s new capabilities: Grok can place phone calls from a paired phone, search a streaming service and queue music, adjust climate, and search the Controls panel. Drivers can also ask it questions about the vehicle or the latest features included in a recent software update.

It can also take care of driving settings, dynamics, and other relevant preferences that deal with how the car operates and handles.

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Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features

It’s also more of a use case than a novelty feature. Grok was great for learning about something that was being pondered while Full Self-Driving was taking care of the major automotive responsibilities, but it did have some useful functionality when it came to navigation.

Another less-noted improvement is the swift transition that Grok has from thinking of its answer to giving you one. In the past, it would take a few seconds for Grok to truly come up with a valuable response. It now seems that it is improving, at least slightly.

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