

Lifestyle
Tesla on Mars: A vision of an all-electric infrastructure on the Red Planet
The words Elon Musk and Mars find themselves in the same sentence frequently, and for good reason. After all, why would Musk just be content merely working on the problems of Earth knowing full well that it would only take one extinction-level event to wipe it all out? If we manage to avoid all major asteroids, the Sun is still going to expand and burn us up in about 5 billion years, so we should probably practice living somewhere else in the meantime. Or so goes the argument. [For what it’s worth, I don’t need the existential argument to want to colonize other planets.]
SpaceX and Musk have big plans to shuttle the first long-term residents of Mars to their new regolith-covered home. But in the meantime, Musk is also running an all-electric car company that’s expanding by the minute and keeps selling more and more cars. Tesla and SpaceX have already seen some relationship crossover, and two places particularly stand out: Musk’s cherry red Roadster sent into space by the maiden launch of Falcon Heavy, complete with Starman as its passenger; and the upcoming SpaceX thruster package that will be an option on the next generation Roadster.
Now, imagine if that relationship were expanded to a colony-level scale on Mars…
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The year is 2050, and you’ve caught a seat on the last cargo ship bound for Mars full of red planet editions (rpe) of Models S, 3, X, and Y on their way for delivery to Colony Bravo. This is one of the last shipments to come from Earth before the Terafactory finishes construction and begins manufacturing on site. The company’s production lines were retooled to build the vehicles to work without air or air pressure and under extreme temperatures and high levels of UV radiation, along with a few other things to help traverse the planet’s surface better. However, skipping the satellite clean room procedures will be a welcome change for Tesla as it’s just one less thing their factory has to comply with to meet planetary protection regulations.
You’re on your way to visit your niece and nephew who were among the first humans to be born on Mars. Since the journey and stay on the planet will be long, you’ve taken up a contract job repairing Tesla tiles on habitation modules. That’s how you scored this economy class flight and can finally afford to see your brother for the first time since he and his wife left Earth for an Autopilot programming job at Tesla’s Gale Crater headquarters a few years ago.
Your brother picks you up in his Roadster (rpe). He tells you a bit about the work he’s doing training Tesla’s neural net to map out the red planet as you drive along and take in the sights. The mapping has been very useful to the researchers on Mars for route and site planning. Licensing deals are now in the works with relocation companies to help the next wave of colonists pick out prime real estate. One of the groups is going to set up the first terraforming projects using some type of silicon aerogel.
After arriving at your brother’s house, you finally meet your niece and nephew and the team of doctors monitoring their development. It seems a little invasive to have medical people in and out of their personal space so frequently, but your brother’s wife swears it’s become normal for them. You take note that the family’s habitat has both a top dome with Tesla tiles for electricity and an underground residence that’s connected to the larger city infrastructure via tunneled highways. A couple of them run on Hyper-T technology, Tesla’s Martian-modified version of the Earth-based Hyperloop, and the oldest tunnels were put in place by The Boring Company; however, several other digging and construction companies have since moved in, and Boring decided to just license its tech on Mars so it could focus on all the Earth projects it was busy with.
You get a quick tour of your brother’s local community and see that large facilities and shopping centers are also underground, but most garden pods are open to the surface with similar top domes to what your brother has, albeit much taller. You pass a battery storage center full of Tesla Megapacks (rpe) that are connected to solar panels at the surface.
Your brother next takes you to the lodging facility that Tesla contracted for you. According to the area’s website, you’re staying in a modified Tesla Semi (rpe) that’s been converted into a type of RV. Since the big rigs were already climate controlled and pressurized for construction work throughout the planet, the retro fits were pretty cheap and give newcomers affordable housing while they settle into their new lives and contract one of the digging companies to bore out a residence.
On the way to your lodging, your brother sees a geologically interesting patch of regolith and wants to grab a few bits for his rock collection. Using the Roadster’s split-chamber function, an airlock is formed around the driver’s seat after a clear divider goes up between the two of you and seals into place. He zips his walkaround suit up to the atmospheric helmet stored under his seat and goes outside for a bit.

After he comes back inside, he remembers that he didn’t offer to feed you lunch at his house and asks if you want to check out one of the local Supercharger stations where there’s a nice retro-themed restaurant. You don’t have to report to Tesla until tomorrow, so you’re up for it. Once there, you enter a car-sized airlock before moving into the charging area. Your brother mentions some things about how the Superchargers work there and how they need a pressurized environment like this one, prompting you to look upward. Somehow you missed the giant bubble encompassing the whole facility.
You both exit the Roadster and start heading towards Maye’s Diner a few hundred feet away. There’s an arcade in a building next door and before you ask about it, your brother tells you it was his favorite place to go when he first moved to Mars. It has all the old Teslatari classics, but the real draw is the virtual reality (VR) games from Tesla’s Full-Self Driving (FSD) launch.
You remember the cool looking sunglasses that were sent to customers who’d purchased FSD that turned out to be VR headsets with games and experiences integrated with the Autopilot. Game obstacles were mapped from the actual roads as the cars were driving. Your brother reminds you that’s what inspired him to move to the red planet – the Total Recall VR experience that came pre-loaded in his Model S. The two of you then grab a bite to eat at Maye’s and head out.
Once at your RV habitat, you watch the local news streamed from your included Starlink-M Internet plan, and then notice you have mail already. It’s just marketing, but you read it anyway, kind of like you would read flyers for tourist attractions on vacation. The ad says Amazon Red has a new members deal for Earth classic deliveries. “A taste of home!” it says, along with explaining how the company makes deliveries to Mars every two weeks, regardless of orbital synchronization, and that all products are certified sterile by the Planetary Protection Food & Drug Agency. You wonder if the food items need to be reconstituted but then decide you’ve had enough information for one day and head to bed.
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So, do you think Tesla will have a big presence on Mars once Musk et al. get there??
Lifestyle
Elon Musk seemingly confirms Cybertruck gift to 13-year-old cancer fighter
Diagnosed in 2018 with a rare form of brain and spine cancer with no cure, the teen has undergone 13 surgeries by the time he was 12.

Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed that he will be sending a Tesla Cybertruck to 13-year-old Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel, a 13-year-old Houston boy fighting brain cancer. The teen was recognized as an honorary Secret Service member by U.S. President Donald Trump during his address to Congress on Tuesday.
A Chance Meeting
The Tesla CEO’s Cybertruck pledge was mentioned during DJ’s short interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. When Collins asked the 13-year-old what he told the Tesla CEO, DJ answered that he asked for a Cybertruck.
“I said, ‘can you do me a big favor, when you get back to Houston can you send us a Cybertruck down there?’” the cancer fighter stated.
Daniel noted that Musk responded positively to his request, which was highlighted by Collins in a post on X. Musk responded to the post with a heart emoji, suggesting that he really will be sending a Cybertruck to the 13-year-old cancer fighter.
Teen’s Cancer Battle Inspires
Diagnosed in 2018 with a rare form of brain and spine cancer with no cure, Daniel has undergone 13 surgeries by the time he was 12. During his speech, Trump highlighted the 13-year-old’s long battle with his disease.
“Joining us in the gallery tonight is a young man who truly loves our police. The doctors gave him five months at most to live. That was more than six years ago. Since that time, DJ and his dad have been on a quest to make his dream come true,” Trump stated.
Daniels officially received an honorary badge from U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran, to much applause during the event.
Surprisingly Partisan
While Daniels’ story has been inspiring, Trump’s focus on the 13-year-old cancer fighter has received its own fair share of criticism. MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, while referencing Daniels’ love for law enforcement, noted that she is hoping the 13-year-old never has to defend the U.S. capitol against Trump supporters. “If he does, I hope he isn’t one of the six who loses his life to suicide,” Wallace stated.
Anti-Musk and Trump accounts on X have also thrown jokes at the cancer fighter’s honorary badge, with some dubbing the 13-year-old as a “DEI hire” that should be looked into by DOGE.
Lifestyle
Tesla owner highlights underrated benefit of FSD Supervised

Elon Musk has been pretty open about the idea of FSD being the difference maker for Tesla’s future.
If Tesla succeeds in achieving FSD, it could become the world’s most valuable company. If it doesn’t, then the company would not be able to reach its optimum potential.
FSD Supervised’s safety benefits:
- But even if FSD is still not perfect today, FSD Supervised is already making a difference on the roads today.
- This was highlighted in Tesla’s Q4 2024 Vehicle Safety Report.
- As per Tesla, it recorded one crash for every 5.94 million miles driven in which drivers were using Autopilot technology.
- For comparison, the most recent data available from the NHTSA and FHWA (from 2023) showed that there was one automobile crash every 702,000 miles in the United States.
This morning, Tesla FSD proved to be an absolute godsend. I had to take my brother-in-law to the hospital in Sugar Land, TX, which is 40 miles away, at the ungodly hour of 4 AM. Both of us were exhausted, and he was understandably anxious about the surgery.
— JC Christopher (@JohnChr08117285) January 29, 2025
The convenience of…
FSD user’s tale:
- As per an FSD user’s post on social media platform X, FSD Supervised was able to help him drive a relative to a medical facility safely even if he was exhausted.
- During the trip, the driver only had to monitor FSD Supervised’s performance to make sure the Tesla operated safely.
- In a vehicle without FSD, such a trip with an exhausted driver would have been quite dangerous.
- “This morning, Tesla FSD proved to be an absolute godsend. I had to take my brother-in-law to the hospital in Sugar Land, TX, which is 40 miles away, at the ungodly hour of 4 AM. Both of us were exhausted, and he was understandably anxious about the surgery.
- “The convenience of sending the hospital’s address directly from my iPhone to my Tesla while still inside my house, then just a single button press once inside, and 40 miles later we were precisely in front of the hospital’s admissions area.This experience really underscores just how transformative this technology can be for society,” Tesla owner JC Christopher noted in his post.


Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
Lifestyle
Tesla Optimus “stars” in incredible fanmade action short film

There are few things that prove an enthusiast’s love towards a company more than a dedicated short film. This was highlighted recently when YouTube’s SoKrispyMedia posted a 10-minute action movie starring Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, as well as several of the company’s most iconic products.
The video:
- Shot like a Hollywood action flick, the video featured a rather humorous plot involving a group of thieves that mistakenly targeted a Tesla Model 3 driver.
- The Model 3 driver then ended up speaking to Tesla for assistance, and some high-octane and high-speed hijinks ensued.
- While the short film featured several Tesla products like the Model 3, Superchargers, and the Cybertruck, it is Optimus that truly stole the show.
- Optimus served several roles in the short film, from an assistant in a Tesla office to a “robocop” enforcer that helped out the Model 3 driver.
Future Robo-cop @Tesla_Optimus
— SOKRISPYMEDIA (@sokrispymedia) January 12, 2025
full video: https://t.co/TXpSRhcP5K pic.twitter.com/YFHZ7siAP7
Cool inside jokes:
- The best Tesla videos are those that show an in-depth knowledge of the company, and SoKrispyMedia definitely had it.
- From the opening scenes alone, the video immediately poked fun at TSLA traders, the large number of gray Tesla owners, and the fact that many still do not understand Superchargers.
- The video even poked fun at Tesla’s software updates, as well as how some Tesla drivers use Autopilot or other features without reading the fine print in the company’s release notes.
- The video ended with a tour de force of references to Elon Musk products, from the Tesla Cybertruck to the Boring Company Not-a-Flamethrower, which was released back in 2018.
Check out SoKrispyMedia’s Tesla action short film in the video below.
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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