Connect with us

News

Tesla Model Y looks surprisingly close to Model X size in California sighting

Tesla Model Y next to a Tesla Model X (Source: Anonymous tip via Teslarati)

Published

on

Tesla fans and future owners of the Model Y cannot help but think about how the upcoming all-electric crossover compares in size versus the flagship Model X SUV and the mass-produced Model 3 sedan. While recent sightings of the upcoming vehicle have given the EV community a general idea, the latest snapshots of a Model Y prototype parked next to a Model X in California just helped paint a clearer picture.

The anonymous tipster spotted a Model Y parked next to a Model X at the Manteca Supercharger, roughly 55 miles east of Tesla’s Fremont factory in California and a charging stop near the main corridor between San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Tesla Model Y next to a Tesla Model X (Source: Anonymous tip via Teslarati)

The Model Y was covered in tarp when it was photographed, but one could see that it was just as tall as the Model X. A recent sighting of the Model Y in Mountain View, California  revealed that the crossover’s height is about 65 inches. The Model X, on the other hand, has an overall standard height of 66 inches but can vary depending on the air suspension height setting. The ground clearance of the Model X ranges between 7 and 9 inches.

In the latest image showing the Model Y next to a Model X, the difference in width between the two vehicles was quite evident. The latter looks heftier than the former as the Tesla flagship SUV has an overall width of 89.4 inches with the side mirrors included, or 78.7 inches when the mirrors are excluded.

Tesla Model Y next to a Tesla Model X (Source: Anonymous tip via Teslarati)

These recent sightings are quite encouraging for customers looking to purchase the Model Y. As the vehicle closes in on its production date, it is starting to become evident that the Model Y offers a lot of space for its price. This could make the vehicle extremely popular for buyers, as it is essentially an almost Model X-sized crossover at a price that’s just slightly above the Model 3. That’s a very good deal, and it would allow it to undercut rivals from more experienced carmakers, such as the Jaguar I-PACE and the Audi e-tron.

It is also interesting to see how the Model Y stacks up in height and width compared to the Model 3, and this photo shared by @Teslaincanada via Twitter has provided a good idea how the bigger crossover looks when it is alongside the midsize sedan.

The Model Y is expected to start production in Fremont by Summer this year and Tesla CEO has also formally launched the Model Y program at Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai during the first public deliveries of the Made-in-China Model 3. Gigafactory 4 in Germany will also start its operations with the production of the Model Y, which will likely be distributed across European markets.

Musk sees the Model Y as an essential key to success in its push towards the global market. The Tesla chief also believes that the demand for the electric crossover might be higher than the demand for the Model S, Model X, and Model 3 combined.

Advertisement
-

The Model Y will come in several variants and will have enough space for 7 adults. Tesla’s electric crossover will start at $48,000 with the top-tier going for $61,000 before potential incentives and options.

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.

Advertisement
Comments

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.

Published

on

By

the-boring-company-tesla-robotaxi

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.

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.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Elon Musk will give ‘every kid in America’ a SpaceX share in 2027

Published

on

Credit: Grok Imagine

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:

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.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Elon Musk reveals why Boring Co’s biggest East Coast project never happened

Published

on

(Credit: The Boring Company)

Elon Musk revealed in a post on X that “Permits were impossible to get,” explaining the fate of The Boring Company’s most ambitious East Coast proposal.

The comment responded to a query about what became of his July 20, 2017 announcement that he had “just received verbal govt approval” for an underground Hyperloop connecting New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., capable of carrying passengers from the Big Apple to the Nation’s Capital in just 29 minutes.

The Boring Company receives verbal ‘approval’ to build NY to DC Hyperloop tunnel

The 2017 post, which envisioned city-center stations and multiple elevators in each city, sparked immediate scrutiny. Local and state officials in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and D.C. said they had no knowledge of any approval. A White House spokesperson confirmed only “promising conversations” about the transformative infrastructure.

Musk clarified shortly after that there was “still a lot of work” to do for formal approvals.

Limited progress followed, as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s administration issued a conditional utility permit and supported work near Fort Meade. In 2018, Washington, D.C., granted a preliminary permit for site preparation and excavation on a vacant lot at 53 New York Ave. NE in the NoMa neighborhood, which The Boring Company said could become a station.

A draft environmental assessment for a D.C.-Baltimore segment was released in 2019. Yet, by April 2021, the company had removed the project from its website, and the Federal Highway Administration reported receiving no indication of further interest. Communication with Maryland officials had ceased.

The full corridor would have required coordination among the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, the Federal Highway Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, and other agencies.

Environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, utility clearances, and approvals for novel infrastructure added to the overall complexity of the project and its approval.

Speculation on the permitting barriers centers around a few factors, but a multi-state, multi-level route involving unproven high-speed vacuum-tube technology inherently triggers exhaustive safety, environmental, and engineering reviews that can stretch for years, even for conventional projects.

There are also other elements, of course, like officials who may face political exposure if a privately funded, untested system encountered anything such as cost overruns, delays, or safety issues. On the outset of this project, there were limited things such as engineering plans or demonstrated technology maturity, which also added to the potential skepticism.

The East Coast vision for Boring Co., once framed as a privately funded revolution that could reshape Northeast travel, quietly ended without construction of the promised network. Musk’s recent statement frames the outcome as a regulatory impasse, unfortunate but not unexpected.

Continue Reading