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Tesla Semi competitor Nikola set to unveil battery-only semi-trucks at launch event

The Nikola Two. | Credit: Nikola Motors

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Tesla Semi Truck competitor Nikola Motor Company will unveil battery-only versions of the Nikola Two and Nikola Tre semi-trucks at its two-day Nikola World 2019 event in Scottsdale, Arizona this week. Previously, hydrogen-electric versions were announced, including the Nikola One, unveiled in 2016. A track demonstration of the Nikola Two will be part of the Nikola World activities, and a functioning version of the company’s coming solar powered hydrogen fueling stations will be on display.

In the lead up to the Nikola World production, the zero-emissions trucking startup has made significant development headway, teased further product announcements, and built excitement around its brand. At the end of March, Nikola finalized a deal with Saint Holdings IPA acquiring 400 acres of prime development property of an up-and-coming vehicle manufacturing hub in Pinal County, Arizona. The manufacturing mega site will host the factory where Nikola’s Class 8 vehicles will be built once complete. For now, Fitzgerald Glider Kits is handling the initial truck manufacturing.

Nikola announced a $16 million-dollar equipment purchase (out of hundreds of millions planned) for its hydrogen fuel cell laboratory shortly after the Arizona land deal was made public. The technology already developed and utilized in the company’s demo trucks will continue to be improved upon at this lab, enabling Nikola to β€œset a new efficiency benchmark for heavy-duty fuel cell systems”, as described by CEO Trevor Milton in a press release about the investment.

Nikola has made a number of bold claims about the products it’s developing since the Nikola One’s unveiling in 2016. Nikola’s truck lineup itself is said to meet or exceed the performance provided by diesel-powered vehicles with 1,000 hp, up to 2,000 ft-lbs of torque, and around 1,000 miles of range. In response to claims that hydrogen production requires fossil fuels, the company stated that its fueling stations will primarily use renewable energy sources as will its manufacturing facilities. Along with committing to a clean energy, diesel-free future for transportation, Nikola is also working on making its products ready for full autonomous driving, all of which draw direct comparisons to its main rival, the Tesla Semi.

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The hydrogen-electric truck company unveiled the Nikola One full-cab semi-truck prior to Tesla’s launch of its own commercial hauler, which should have given Nikola a time and development advantage; however, over the last year, the Arizona-based truck manufacturer has acquired the appearance of having fallen technologically behind.

The electric vehicle community has grown accustomed to seeing all-electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla’s continued success while also witnessing several electric startups disappear almost as quickly as they appeared. The lack of a near-production vehicle feeds the perception that Nikola’s “talk” won’t be translated into its “walk”, to borrow a common phrase. There are also doubts about the hydrogen fuel cell component of Nikola’s technology, something the company has addressed numerous time, doubling down on the viability of fuel cells as a better solution over batteries-only for long range trucking.

Comparison between Nikola One and Tesla Semi.

In contrast, the Tesla Semi test mule has been seen on public roads on several occasions, and Tesla has even released production-quality video of the semi-truck hauling its all-electric sedan and SUV brethren. Photos of the long-hauler making deliveries of those same vehicles to customers were also published by Tesla, furthering the narrative that significant progress is being made by the California-based car maker with its Semi.

Tesla itself is very familiar with the public relations climb. Every slip in production estimates, price change, or even odd tweet or two (etc.) from CEO Elon Musk draws the ire of critics and skepticism of fans alike. Musk’s tenacity, however, has given way to the phrase β€œTesla Effect”. Due to Musk’s drive that helped lead to success at Tesla, any newcomers to the electric auto manufacturing industry are going to have to answer the question, β€œWhat are you doing that’s better?” Nikola Motors is no exception despite the primary business differences between the companies.

Nikola World 2019’s product announcements and battery-electric unveilings will serve to bring the company’s tangibility into view. Nikola also frequently communicates its gratitude for its supporters, and this week’s event is no different. An announcement was made via the company’s social media accounts that guests of Nikola World would be treated to a country music superstar performance during the first night of the event.

β€œSURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT! We will be having a special country music superstar performing the night of the unveiling, you don’t want to miss it,” the company tweeted. Nikola World 2018 was the company’s first annual event, officially putting Nikola on the map of next generation, Class 8 truck manufacturers.

Follow us @Teslarati for behind-the-scenes coverage from Nikola World, taking place on April 16-17 in Scottsdale. We’ll bring you a first look at Nikola’s upcoming all-electric semi trucks and new products.

Accidental computer geek, fascinated by most history and the multiplanetary future on its way. Quite keen on the democratization of space. | It's pronounced day-sha, but I answer to almost any variation thereof.

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Elon Musk

Tesla primes Cybercabs for 4K streaming and high bandwidth gaming with Starlink integration

Tesla is now shipping Cybercabs from Giga Texas with Starlink hardware built in as standard.

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tesla cybercab with no manual controls showing a movie with two employees inside

Tesla’s Cybercabs are now leaving Gigafactory Texas with Starlink hardware on the rear hatch in significant numbers, according to drone footage captured Tuesday by longtime Austin drone observer Joe Tegtmeyer. Production at the factory ramped back up after the Labor Day weekend, and his flyover of the outbound lot showed rows of gold Cybercabs alongside Model Y Long Wheelbase units, many carrying the satellite module for the first time as standard equipment rather than a one off retrofit.

Tesla first showed Starlink built into an actual Cybercab on August 10, when the Robotaxi account posted images of a single gold unit with the antenna integrated into the roofline above the taillights and called it the first Cybercab with Starlink integration. That followed a July reveal where Tesla and Starlink jointly posted a cutaway diagram of the antenna placement without a working vehicle to back it up. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI software, said at the time that the connection isn’t required for the car to drive itself. It exists mainly for navigation, customer service and keeping tabs on the fleet.

Musk has made a different case in public. During Tesla’s Q2 earnings call, he said the company can’t afford robotaxis stranded in what he called “Bermuda Triangles of lack of cellular connectivity,” and he separately claimed on X that Starlink will eventually reach every Tesla built, calling it the only way to deliver high bandwidth to billions of vehicles. He has also pitched the antenna as an entertainment upgrade, telling riders they would be able to stream 4K video or play games during a trip.

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The rollout has moved fast since. Robotaxi service opened to the public in Austin on September 3, and Cybercabs had already been spotted with Starlink hardware in Houston and near Miami International Airport in the weeks before Tuesday’s factory footage showed the module shipping at volume rather than on scattered test units. Whether the satellite link earns its keep is still an open question. Tesla’s unsupervised service currently runs in dense metro geofences in Texas and Florida, markets where cellular coverage is already strong, which is not where the rural dead zones Musk describes tend to show up.

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Tesla Cybertruck targets job site crews with new Tailgate Utility Track and Bed Gear Box accessory

Tesla launched a $350 tailgate track and a $985 lockable Bed Gear Box for Cybertruck.

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Tesla Cybertruck construction site

Tesla’s Cybertruck team added two more items to the Tesla Shop, targeting job site crews and owners who use the truck bed for actual work rather than just showing it off. The official Cybertruck X account posted the Tailgate Utility Track and the Bed Gear Box within minutes of each other, part of a five item batch that also included a reflective jacket, a spray paint hat and an updated reflective tee.

The Tailgate Utility Track runs $350 and turns the folded down tailgate into another mounting surface. It’s a single aluminum track with a T-slot for sliding accessories and two L-track attachment points, plus two load stops included in the box. The pitch is straightforward: strap down oversized cargo, like lumber or a cooler, that hangs off the back of the bed without it sliding out mid-drive. It bolts onto the existing tailgate and works on every Cybertruck trim.

The Bed Gear Box costs $985 and is a different kind of accessory. It’s a lockable aluminum storage box, 55.78 inches long, 19.8 inches wide and 7.79 inches tall, that mounts to the bed’s L-track rails and comes with two internal bins for smaller items. According to Tesla, at just over 57 pounds empty, it’s meant to stay in place rather than come in and out with each trip, giving owners a factory-fit alternative to loose totes for tools, recovery gear or emergency supplies. Tesla’s listing notes that Long Range and Dual Motor AWD Cybertrucks need the L-Tracks accessory installed separately before the Gear Box will mount, since L-tracks come standard only on certain configurations.

Tesla Cybertruck bed gear box accessory

Tesla Cybertruck bed gear box accessory

Both accessories lean on the idea Tesla has been building toward since Elon Musk first described the Cybertruck’s third-party attachment strategy at the 2023 shareholder meeting, when he said the truck would ship with mounting points so outside companies, and Tesla itself, could keep adding gear without redesigning the bed. That’s the same L-track backbone underneath the tailgate shield and jumpseats Tesla launched last year, and the off-road armor package that arrived through the same X account in 2025.

Owners looking to round out the rest of the L-track ecosystem, cargo dividers, MOLLE panels, bed racks and similar gear, can find a wider range of options through our Cybertruck accessories collection.

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Elon Musk says he knows how to save Earth for a billion years

Elon Musk says sentient AI satellites launched from the Moon could keep Earth livable forever.

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Elon Musk spent part of his weekend describing a plan to keep the planet livable for roughly a billion years, and it starts with satellites that can think for themselves.

In a post on X, Musk argued that swapping fossil fuels for solar and wind power will not be enough to protect humanity from what he called extremely severe extinction events, the kind that occur roughly every 100 million years. His fix is what he called sentient satellites, or solar-powered satellites, controlled by AI, that would sit in a fixed spot between Earth and the Sun after being launched off the Moon using a giant electromagnetic catapult instead of rockets.

The satellites’ onboard AI would make continuous, small adjustments rather than waiting on human instructions. The mass driver is Musk’s proposed way of getting the raw material there cheaply by using an electromagnetic launch track built on the Moon, where lower gravity and no atmosphere make it far easier to fling cargo into space than it is from Earth.

Musk shared a Grok generated estimate suggesting roughly 5 percent of Florida’s land, or about 1.68 million acres, could face regular flooding by 2070 under a high sea level rise scenario, and said humanity has about 50 years to act before coastal living looks very different than it does today.

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This is not the first time Musk has floated the idea. He raised a similar concept in November, describing a solar powered AI satellite constellation that could make tiny adjustments to incoming sunlight to fine tune Earth’s temperature. Musk has also tied planetary risk to his broader vision at SpaceX, where his compensation package is explicitly linked to establishing a self-sustaining Mars colony, one he has described as an insurance policy against the kind of extinction event he referenced this weekend, and where he has said humans could set foot within five to seven years.

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