Elon Musk has noted that Tesla is making “minor tweaks” to the Cybertruck’s new design to make it “better” in a recent tweet. Musk may have tweeted about the “minor tweaks” Tesla’s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen and his team made to the Cybertruck’s design earlier this year.
Musk recently responded to an inquiry to EV enthusiast @LouisFerreira, who asked why there needed to be a change to the Cybertruck at all. “Even the small details matter,” the Tesla CEO explained. In another recent tweet, Musk said that Tesla could release pictures of the refined Cybertruck with its changes in about “a month or so.”
During the TSLA Q3 earnings call, Musk further explained why improvements to the Cybertruck’s design needed to be made. “Generally, at Tesla, we really aim to make the car that is delivered better than the car that is unveiled. Because it always drives me crazy, car companies would unveil these awesome looking cars, like, great, you can’t wait until they make that,” he said.
“And then the car they actual[ly] make is like much worse, and—but it’s just—it’s like really disappointing? So man, we always want to make the car that we deliver be better than the car we unveil. And that’s the goal with the Cybertruck. So there’s like a lot of small improvements compared to what was unveiled. I think it’s going to be better than what we showed.”
Back in April, Musk hinted that Tesla was thinking of reducing the size of the Cybertruck by about 3%. Ultimately, Musk and Tesla’s design team decided against making it smaller. There are differing opinions about reducing the Cybertruck’s size amongst the Tesla community. Some love its massive size and daunting stance. Others preferred a slightly smaller Cybertruck, at least one that will fit in their garages.
It seems like Musk and Tesla have decided to release the Cybertruck in the original size it was unveiled for now. Musk hinted that Tesla might release a smaller version of the EV pickup in the future. The release of a smaller Cybertruck might heavily rely on the success of Tesla’s first release of the EV pickup.
Besides its size, Musk has previously remarked that the Cybertruck’s center line will be more leveled and its window sill height will be lowered in its production version. The all-electric car manufacturer was also working on increasing the EV pickup’s dynamic air suspension travel for a better off-roading experience. Musk has spoken of suspension improvements so the Cybertruck would “kick butt” at Baja as well.
The Tesla community has suggested some changes to the Cybertruck that may have made it to the EV pickup’s final design. For instance, the Tesla Truck Club group suggested that Tesla should consider releasing a feature that would allow drivers to roll down the rear window that separates the Cybertruck’s cabin from its bed. He said that such a function would make the EV pickup perfect for camping, especially when the Tonneau was closed, or for carrying longer items. Musk responded that the suggestion was “worth considering.”
Based on Musk’s tweets and statements about the Cybertruck during the recent earnings call, there are likely more changes to the EV pickup truck’s design than the ones mentioned previously. Although it may be safe to say that the Cybertruck’s unique triangular, origami-like exterior will most certainly stay the same.
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Tesla Robotaxi’s biggest challenge seems to be this one thing
That big bright thing in the sky might be Tesla’s biggest challenge in terms of Robotaxi.
Tesla Robotaxi launched just a few days ago to a limited number of riders in Austin, Texas, but its biggest challenge seems to be how the automaker will figure out one thing: the Sun.
Among the company’s unique strategies, its emphasis on using cameras for self-driving is perhaps the most interesting. No other company has adopted the same strategy, as others have relied on cameras with either sensors or LiDAR rigs to accomplish their self-driving deployments.
Tesla, on the other hand, has called LiDAR unnecessary. CEO Elon Musk once called it “a fool’s errand,” stating it was not needed to build an effective self-driving fleet of vehicles.
Musk compared cameras to eyes. Humans don’t need sensors or LiDAR to operate vehicles on the road, so why should cars? This brought up some questions, especially regarding sun glare. Musk said that Tesla would use direct photon counting to see directly into brigt sunlight or even in the darkest conditions at night.
His quote during a recent earnings call was:
“Actually, it does not blind the camera. We use an approach which is direct photon count. When you see a processed image, so the image that goes from the sort of photon counter — the silicon photon counter — that then goes through a digital signal processor or image signal processor, that’s normally what happens. And then the image that you see looks all washed out, because if you point the camera at the sun, the post-processing of the photon counting washes things out.”
So far, this strategy has yielded mixed results. We have seen examples of both:
The Good
We’ve had a handful of people state that they have had no issue using the Robotaxi when it is driving into direct sunlight.
There are plenty of examples:
Robotaxi seems to have no trouble driving into the sun. More to come pic.twitter.com/rZdd3Sya8k
— Dirty Tesla (@DirtyTesLa) June 25, 2025
Tons of direct sun glare during many of my Tesla Robotaxi rides today in Austin. The vehicles handled it with no problem. pic.twitter.com/3kyiQF4RMs
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 24, 2025
Absolutely ZERO issues heading into direct sunlight in our Robotaxi, been going for almost an hour now during golden hour/sunset. As smooth as it always is. pic.twitter.com/iSCp6qdNC0
— Zack (@BLKMDL3) June 25, 2025
The Bad
🚗 Day 1 of Robotaxi testing with 20 initial riders! Caught a rare phantom braking moment on camera during our Waymo vs. Tesla Robotaxi race. 🤖 It’s a one-off glitch in Full Self-Driving mode—most rides were smooth! Drop your thoughts! 👀 pic.twitter.com/liJGSIIHKw
— Kim Java (@ItsKimJava) June 24, 2025
The Verdict
This is obviously a weird case, and it seems that this could be one of the challenges Tesla will face with the deployment of Robotaxi.
While it will get figured out, this is something that could ultimately push back Tesla’s goal of having no safety monitor in the vehicles. However, the instance will be learned and used to improve in the future through its Neural Nets.
The first intervention was captured yesterday, requiring the Tesla safety monitor to stop the vehicle manually on the car’s touchscreen.
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Tesla owners take stand as Stockholm insists on blocking FSD tests
Despite the Tesla owners’ efforts, city officials appear unwilling to budge.
Tesla owners in Sweden are taking it upon themselves to lobby for the approval of FSD-style tests in the City of Stockholm. The owners’ efforts come amidst city officials’ continued refusal to allow Tesla to test its autonomous driving system in the capital.
In open letters and social media posts, Tesla owners have urged Stockholm to reconsider its stance, pointing to broader support for FSD trials across Europe. But despite their efforts, city officials appear unwilling to budge, reinforcing the capital’s hardline stance on the Elon Musk-led EV maker.
Public support shows brand loyalty
A group of Swedish Tesla owners recently sent an open letter to Stockholm leaders. Among them is Alexander Kristensen, who has written a letter to officials urging them to allow Tesla to test FSD in the region.
“Members of the Traffic Committee are politically appointed by the Stockholm City Council, whose mandate is determined by the popular vote. Your stance—continuing to block a conditional pilot of FSD— is thus a political decision and fully subject to the electorate’s judgment in the next municipal election.
“When the City prevents tests that could validate and refine the technology locally, it is perceived as hampering life-saving innovation,” the Tesla owners wrote.
The Swedish Transport Administration issued a response, acknowledging the Tesla owners’ feedback. The Transport Administration noted that it could proceed to grant a permit for Tesla to test FSD, but the company would still have to secure approval from local governments where the FSD-style tests will be conducted.
Stockholm remains firm
Despite this, Stockholm doubled down shortly after, stating that Tesla’s FSD software remains prohibited on city roads.
“Thank you for your comments and for taking an interest in traffic issues concerning the City of Stockholm. As previously stated, the City’s assessment of the current application remains unchanged and our position is set out in the opinion,” the City of Stockhom wrote.
In light of the city’s response, some Tesla owners have vowed to campaign against current officials in the next election.
The push for FSD testing comes as Tesla faces ongoing challenges in Sweden, including a labor dispute with unions over collective bargaining agreements. Since late 2023, the conflict has resulted in strikes, blockades, and legal battles, none of which appear close to resolution. Despite regulatory and labor headwinds, Tesla continues to expand in the region, including the recent installation of Superchargers in union-backed areas.
Elon Musk
xAI welcomes Memphis pollution results, environmental groups push back
Tests were conducted at Macedonia Church in Boxtown, The Links at Whitehaven, and City Hall Downtown.
The City of Memphis has released initial air quality test results from three sites across the city, including one near Elon Musk’s xAI data center in South Memphis.
According to city officials, the results showed no dangerous levels of pollutants. “At every site and for every pollutant tested, levels were either too low to detect or well below established safety thresholds,” the city’s report read.
xAI Welcomes Air Quality Test Results
Tests were conducted at Macedonia Church in Boxtown, The Links at Whitehaven, and City Hall Downtown. Memphis Mayor Paul Young stated that the data only represents a “snapshot in time” and that continued monitoring will take place.
“The City doesn’t control air quality regulations, but we stepped up to find answers. The initial results showed no dangerous levels of air pollutants at any of the tested sites. We are committed to ongoing testing to continue to inform and protect our community,” Mayor Young stated.
xAI, which opened a facility in Boxtown to house its Colossus supercomputer, welcomed the city’s initial findings. The artificial intelligence startup shared its comments in a post on social media platform X.
“xAI welcomes the independent third-party data showing no dangerous pollutant levels at test sites near our Memphis data center. We have built a world-class data center in Memphis and we couldn’t have done it without the support of the local community and its leaders,” the company stated.
Critics Are Not Satisfied
Environmental advocates and local leaders, however, were not satisfied with the city’s initial tests. The Southern Environmental Law Center criticized the city’s approach, arguing that smog-forming emissions, including nitrogen oxides from xAI’s turbines, pose health risks that the city’s testing did not account for, as noted in a FOX 13 Memphis report.
“The city failed to measure ozone pollution–better known as smog–which we already know is a major problem in the Memphis area… As community members have warned for the last year, smog-forming pollution is a major concern with the unpermitted turbines being run at xAI’s South Memphis data center,” the group noted.
State Representative Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis) echoed the group’s criticism.
“We do not need any more misleading reports that are more concerned with finding a conclusion conducive to Mayor Young’s unwavering support of xAI, rather than discovering the truth. Our review of the information released by the City of Memphis earlier this evening revealed a glaring and critical omission in their pollution testing and results: the monitoring of ozone which is a considerable factor in air pollution problems in Memphis,” he noted.
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