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A Tesla Semi with structural batteries and 620 miles of range is a haymaker against trucking emissions
The Tesla Semi may be requiring a lot of patience among its reservation holders, but it appears that the all-electric Class 8 long-hauler will be well worth the wait. While speaking at the European Battery Conference organized by the Federal Ministry of Economics, Elon Musk remarked that the Tesla Semi will be equipped with a structural battery pack. This, together with other optimizations, should allow the Tesla Semi to have a range of up to 620 miles in the future.
“Getting a range of 500 km is I think, quite easy. And this is assuming a truck that is pulling a load of something in the order of 40 metric tons. So that’s a heavy truck. For long-range trucking, up to, we think, easily 800 kilometers, and we see a path over time, to get to about 1,000 kilometers of range. We think this is going to be extremely competitive and compelling to trucking companies,” Musk said.
The Tesla Semi’s initial range of 300-500 miles per charge is no joke, but it does give the impression that the Class 8 long-hauler is best used for short or medium routes. With a 620-mile range, however, things become very different. Together with its low operating costs, stellar safety systems, as well as built-in driver-assist features like Convoy Mode, the Tesla Semi could very well be a haymaker against the emissions of the trucking industry.
The trucking industry is among the biggest culprits in the transportation sector’s overall emissions. Following the unveiling of the Tesla Semi back in 2017, the Environmental Defense Fund published a post stating that the transportation sector accounts for 7% of total fine particulate matter globally. Commonly known as soot, particulate matter has been linked to several diseases such as cancer, heart attacks, and strokes. Freight trucks produce nearly half of the transportation sector’s total fine particulate matter.
There is no doubt that a shift to electric trucks would benefit the environment and humanity as a whole. Unfortunately, battery-electric trucks have been constrained by range so far. Even vehicles made by veteran truckers like the eCascadia are only able to travel a measly 250 miles per charge. That makes battery-electric trucks limited in their use, despite their environmental benefits. Even the Tesla Semi’s initial iteration, which was announced with 300-500 miles of range per charge, is not comparable to the range of diesel long-haulers, which are fitted with 200-gallon tanks and are capable of running over 1,000 miles with a full tank.
Things become very different with a battery-electric truck that is capable of traveling 620 miles between charging sessions. In the United States, semi truck drivers are mandated by law to drive no more than 11 hours per day with a 14-hour work day cap before they are required to rest. At highway speeds, this translates to drivers covering about 600-650 miles per shift. Considering Elon Musk’s recent statements about the Semi, it appears that Tesla is improving its Class 8 truck to such a degree that it would be a compelling alternative even to long-range diesel and gas semis.
The trucking market is pretty much dictated by the businesses that are dependent on it. With this in mind, there is a good chance that businesses using trucks for their operations would shift to battery-electric trucks once they offer more advantages compared to their traditional counterparts. In the Tesla Semi’s case, the low operating costs, better performance, and safety improvements are already there. And with 620 miles of range, businesses will likely find very little reason to stick with fossil fuel-powered trucks.
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Tesla FSD (Supervised) fleet passes 8.4 billion cumulative miles
The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system has now surpassed 8.4 billion cumulative miles.
The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.
Tesla has long emphasized that large-scale real-world data is central to improving its neural network-based approach to autonomy. Each mile driven with FSD (Supervised) engaged contributes additional edge cases and scenario training for the system.

The milestone also brings Tesla closer to a benchmark previously outlined by CEO Elon Musk. Musk has stated that roughly 10 billion miles of training data may be needed to achieve safe unsupervised self-driving at scale, citing the “long tail” of rare but complex driving situations that must be learned through experience.
The growth curve of FSD Supervised’s cumulative miles over the past five years has been notable.
As noted in data shared by Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt, annual FSD (Supervised) miles have increased from roughly 6 million in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and 4.25 billion in 2025. In just the first 50 days of 2026, Tesla owners logged another 1 billion miles.
At the current pace, the fleet is trending towards hitting about 10 billion FSD Supervised miles this year. The increase has been driven by Tesla’s growing vehicle fleet, periodic free trials, and expanding Robotaxi operations, among others.
With the fleet now past 8.4 billion cumulative miles, Tesla’s supervised system is approaching that threshold, even as regulatory approval for fully unsupervised deployment remains subject to further validation and oversight.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk fires back after Wikipedia co-founder claims neutrality and dubs Grokipedia “ridiculous”
Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”
Elon Musk fired back at Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales after the longtime online encyclopedia leader dismissed xAI’s new AI-powered alternative, Grokipedia, as a “ridiculous” idea that is bound to fail.
Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”
Wales made the comments while answering questions about Wikipedia’s neutrality. According to Wales, Wikipedia prides itself on neutrality.
“One of our core values at Wikipedia is neutrality. A neutral point of view is non-negotiable. It’s in the community, unquestioned… The idea that we’ve become somehow ‘Wokepidea’ is just not true,” Wales said.
When asked about potential competition from Grokipedia, Wales downplayed the situation. “There is no competition. I don’t know if anyone uses Grokipedia. I think it is a ridiculous idea that will never work,” Wales wrote.
After Grokipedia went live, Larry Sanger, also a co-founder of Wikipedia, wrote on X that his initial impression of the AI-powered Wikipedia alternative was “very OK.”
“My initial impression, looking at my own article and poking around here and there, is that Grokipedia is very OK. The jury’s still out as to whether it’s actually better than Wikipedia. But at this point I would have to say ‘maybe!’” Sanger stated.
Musk responded to Sanger’s assessment by saying it was “accurate.” In a separate post, he added that even in its V0.1 form, Grokipedia was already better than Wikipedia.
During a past appearance on the Tucker Carlson Show, Sanger argued that Wikipedia has drifted from its original vision, citing concerns about how its “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” framework categorizes publications by perceived credibility. As per Sanger, Wikipedia’s “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” list leans heavily left, with conservative publications getting effectively blacklisted in favor of their more liberal counterparts.
As of writing, Grokipedia has reportedly surpassed 80% of English Wikipedia’s article count.
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Tesla Sweden appeals after grid company refuses to restore existing Supercharger due to union strike
The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons.
Tesla Sweden is seeking regulatory intervention after a Swedish power grid company refused to reconnect an already operational Supercharger station in Åre due to ongoing union sympathy actions.
The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons. A temporary construction power cabinet supplying the station had fallen over, described by Tesla as occurring “under unclear circumstances.” The power was then cut at the request of Tesla’s installation contractor to allow safe repair work.
While the safety issue was resolved, the station has not been brought back online. Stefan Sedin, CEO of Jämtkraft elnät, told Dagens Arbete (DA) that power will not be restored to the existing Supercharger station as long as the electric vehicle maker’s union issues are ongoing.
“One of our installers noticed that the construction power had been backed up and was on the ground. We asked Tesla to fix the system, and their installation company in turn asked us to cut the power so that they could do the work safely.
“When everything was restored, the question arose: ‘Wait a minute, can we reconnect the station to the electricity grid? Or what does the notice actually say?’ We consulted with our employer organization, who were clear that as long as sympathy measures are in place, we cannot reconnect this facility,” Sedin said.
The union’s sympathy actions, which began in March 2024, apply to work involving “planning, preparation, new connections, grid expansion, service, maintenance and repairs” of Tesla’s charging infrastructure in Sweden.
Tesla Sweden has argued that reconnecting an existing facility is not equivalent to establishing a new grid connection. In a filing to the Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, the company stated that reconnecting the installation “is therefore not covered by the sympathy measures and cannot therefore constitute a reason for not reconnecting the facility to the electricity grid.”
Sedin, for his part, noted that Tesla’s issue with the Supercharger is quite unique. And while Jämtkraft elnät itself has no issue with Tesla, its actions are based on the unions’ sympathy measures against the electric vehicle maker.
“This is absolutely the first time that I have been involved in matters relating to union conflicts or sympathy measures. That is why we have relied entirely on the assessment of our employer organization. This is not something that we have made any decisions about ourselves at all.
“It is not that Jämtkraft elnät has a conflict with Tesla, but our actions are based on these sympathy measures. Should it turn out that we have made an incorrect assessment, we will correct ourselves. It is no more difficult than that for us,” the executive said.