Tesla is using its Semi to increase delivery numbers before the end of 2020’s second quarter on Tuesday. The commercial vehicle was loaded with Model 3 sedans outside of the Fremont production plant on Friday afternoon.
The Semi was spotted in Tesla’s South Logistics Lot outside of the Fremont Facility loaded with the company’s mass-market sedan, the Model 3. The Semi has seemingly joined the company’s efforts to reduce vehicle delivery times and increase delivery figures to offset a halt in production at Fremont during the beginning of the quarter.
@Emanuelreyes shared images of the Semi being loaded up with Tesla Model 3s that will be transported to showrooms for customers to pick up via contactless delivery.
Tesla Semi loading up!! pic.twitter.com/Nu78q1xUpn
— Emanuel (@emanuelreyesX) June 26, 2020
Tesla has been dealing with some bottlenecks in its delivery process recently due to increased demand. CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to apologize to customers who recently experienced shifting delivery dates, and thanked Tesla’s logistics partners for “figuratively & literally going the extra mile.”
Special thanks to Tesla trucking & rail partners for figuratively & literally going the extra mile
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2020
Tesla stated during the Q1 2020 Earnings Call that the Semi was set to begin deliveries in 2021. The automaker contacted reservation holders for the commercial vehicle in January, indicating that the Semi would be ready for a production push in the second half of the year.
Earlier this month, Musk indicated that Tesla would begin a “volume production” push of the Semi ahead of schedule in an email to company employees.
“It’s time to go all out and bring the Tesla Semi to volume production,” Musk said. “It’s been in limited production so far, which has allowed us to improve many aspects of the design.” The announcement surged TSLA stock past $1,000 per share for the first time in the company’s history.
Now, the vehicle has joined the company’s delivery force as Tesla attempts to continue its momentum and turn a profit for the fourth straight quarter.
https://twitter.com/westy543/status/1276591954134876161?s=21
Ever since Tesla reopened the Fremont facility on May 10, the company has been dialing in on ramping up the Model Y and attempting to recover lost delivery and production efforts. Tesla decided to close its production lines at Fremont in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After Alameda County Health Officials denied numerous efforts by the company to reopen, Tesla decided to reopen without regulatory permission from the local government.
Tesla received approval to reopen the following week after its 38-page “Return to Work Playbook” outlined a plan to work in the facility while operating effectively to reach the company’s production goals.
Tesla has been testing the capabilities of the Semi for close to a year. In January, an email sent by the company to the vehicle’s reservation holders indicated that the Semi was being tested in real-world conditions in Alaska, which evaluated the truck’s resilience when traveling in harsh environments.
The use of the truck to complete deliveries will give Tesla valuable information on the Semi’s performance when hauling vehicles. The Semi will be used by Tesla to transport its sustainable cars to customers across the United States. However, the use of the truck to deliver cars also helps the company’s efforts as Tesla prepares to release its Q2 delivery numbers next week.
Tesla has officially revealed its 2026 Summer Update, which comes with a variety of crazy new features, including Navigation fixes that owners have been wanting for months.
Tesla routinely releases a larger update with the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter updates, where it ships a variety of new features, bug fixes, and other additions to customer cars.
The 2026 Spring Update featured things like “Hey Grok” voice assistance, a redesigned self-driving app, Unreal Engine visual upgrades, and more.
🚨 TESLA’S SUMMER UPDATE FOR 2026 IS HERE:
Featuring:
✅ Self-Driving Stats in Mobile App
✅ Caraoke with Scoring
✅ Automatic Navigation
✅ Preferred Routes
✅ Set Arrival Energy from Mobile App
✅ Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App
✅ Rear Display Lock
✅ Other Improvements
🔌… https://t.co/C9IW3egEhH— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 21, 2026
Tesla’s Summer Release has about ten new features; we’ll show you each and detail them below:
New Grok Voice Commands
“Grok can now make phone calls, search and play music, adjust climate, open the glovebox, and answer questions about your Tesla.”
Self-Driving Stats in Mobile App
“View and share self-driving stats from the mobile app.”
Caraoke With Scoring
“Caraoke now scores your singing while in Park. High scores are saved to your Tesla profile.”
Automatic Navigation
“Automatic Navigation now adapts to your routine.
In addition to Home, Work, and upcoming calendar events, your vehicle can now suggest and route to places you visit regularly – like a school drop-off on the way to work, or the gym on the way home.”
Preferred Routes
“For a more personalized experience, navigation now prioritizes routes that you’ve taken before”
Set Arrival Energy from Mobile App
“Set your desired Arrival Energy from your phone.”
Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App
“Skip the USB drive and upload a custom wrap of your car from the mobile app. Instructions for creating a custom wrap here: https://github.com/teslamotors/custom-wraps.”
Rear Display Lock
“Kids can watch content on the rear screen, but only the front row can control it through the rear screen app.”
Other Improvements
- Find Superchargers by name when searching for a destination
- Add Apple Music songs to queue from search and artist page
- Set your preferred zoom level for the Self-Driving visualization
- Intro animations for new Model 3 and Y
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you, as the company’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, finally shed some light on the reason they are putting a satellite internet terminal on its ride-hailing-geared vehicle.
On Monday, Tesla officially confirmed that it would integrate Starlink V5 terminals into Cybercab vehicles, something many Tesla fans had figured the company would do, as the vehicle is primarily geared toward giving rides without any passenger intervention.
Starlink V5 directly integrated in Cybercab pic.twitter.com/FxzTtzjB6I
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 20, 2026
The ability to access the internet would allow riders to work or play in the car with their devices. It seemed like a more-than-reasonable feature to add to the Cybercab, which made its way off the production lines for the first time earlier this year.
Tesla reveals first vehicle model to receive Starlink integration
However, the move is not for the rider, as Elluswamy confirmed on Monday night. Instead, it’s actually for Tesla to be able to have a constant connection to the cars in the Robotaxi fleet so it can troubleshoot issues, contact riders, or resolve other issues.
Elluswamy said:
“It is still not required for safe operation of the vehicle. Connectivity is primarily meant for navigation, customer service and, in general, fleet management.”
It is still not required for safe operation of the vehicle. Connectivity is primarily meant for navigation, customer service and, in general, fleet management.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) July 20, 2026
Many initially assumed the option of constant connectivity would be enabled on the Cybercab for passenger entertainment or work. With the Cybercab, passengers won’t be doing anything but enjoying the ride, so it seemed more than logical that they would be hanging out with Starlink internet access as an amenity.
However, Tesla’s primary concern with Robotaxi is safety, and nailing these first unsupervised rides is a crucial step to setting a good narrative on how effective driverless transportation can be.
Being able to get in touch with passengers or a vehicle if something is wrong is a crucial part of the overall experience, and preventative measures are being taken by Tesla to ensure a smooth process, even in the worst-case.
Tesla has expanded its Robotaxi program in Florida to include two new cities: Tampa and Orlando.
This marks the second and third cities to be added to the company’s available locations for autonomous ride-hailing in the Sunshine State, joining Miami, which was the first Florida city to offer Robotaxi rides.
Tesla announced the addition of Orlando and Tampa to the Robotaxi program on Tuesday morning. The cities now join Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and the San Francisco Bay Area as locations where Tesla can operate its Robotaxi platform:
Robotaxi now in Tampa & Orlando! pic.twitter.com/fYtmXgJq3O
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) July 21, 2026
These rides are unsupervised, as AI Head Ashok Elluswamy confirmed the suite in Florida is operating without safety drivers or anyone within the cabin to assist with operation.
Orlando Tesla Robotaxi Operation
The geofence in Orlando covers a prominent irregular shaded zone on the map, roughly 4-6 miles across in key dimensions, so it likely measures somewhere between 25 and 45 square miles, which is comparable to other early Tesla launches in other cities.
It encompasses central and southern areas bounded by major highways including SR-417 and SR-528, including parts of the Orlando metro core, tourism-adjacent zones, and residential/commercial districts. This represents an initial targeted rollout in a tourist-heavy region, positioned for quick expansion via Tesla’s software updates.
Tampa Tesla Robotaxi Operation
In Tampa, the shape of the geofence is a shaded polygon covering key neighborhoods, explicitly including West Tampa, Tampa Heights, Hyde Park, and downtown Tampa proper, with boundaries along major roads and the Hillsborough River area.
This focuses on high-demand central zones and will offer tourists and citygoers rides without drivers.
Robotaxi Progress
Tesla has been operating Robotaxi since last June, when it launched in Austin. The geofences in most regions have already expanded several times since their launch last year, but the bigger complaint is vehicle availability. Tesla has been working to add more Robotaxi-enabled vehicles to its fleet.
The company still plans to utilize its Cybercab, a new vehicle that is being produced at Gigafactory Texas, for the Robotaxi suite alongside the Model Y, which has been the vehicle of choice for Tesla with early operations.
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you
