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Tesla Semi spotted delivering Model 3 fleet in Q2 push

Credit: Twitter | @emanuelreyes

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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 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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Cybertruck

Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes

According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla’s new Cybertruck offering has had its delivery date pushed back once again. This is now the second time, and deliveries for the newest orders are now pushed well into 2027.

According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:

Just three days ago, the initial delivery date of June 2026 was pushed back to early Fall, and now, that date has officially moved to April 2027.

The fact that Tesla has had to push back deliveries once again proves one of two things: either Tesla has slow production plans for the new Cybertruck trim, or demand is off the charts.

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Judging by how Tesla is already planning to raise the price based on demand in just a few days, it seems like the company knows it is giving a tremendous deal on this spec of Cybertruck, and units are moving quickly.

That points more toward demand and not necessarily to slower production plans, but it is not confirmed.

Tesla Cybertruck’s newest trim will undergo massive change in ten days, Musk says

Tesla is set to hike the price on March 1, so tomorrow will be the final day to grab the new Cybertruck trim for just $59,990.

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It features:

  • Dual Motor AWD w/ est. 325 mi of range
  • Powered tonneau cover
  • Bed outlets (2x 120V + 1x 240V) & Powershare capability
  • Coil springs w/ adaptive damping
  • Heated first-row seats w/ textile material that is easy to clean
  • Steer-by-wire & Four Wheel Steering
  • 6’ x 4’ composite bed
  • Towing capacity of up to 7,500 lbs
  • Powered frunk

Interestingly, the price offering is fairly close to what Tesla unveiled back in late 2019.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt

Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

Elon Musk has clarified when SpaceX will first attempt to catch Starship’s upper stage with its launch tower. The CEO’s update provides the clearest teaser yet for the spacecraft’s recovery roadmap.

Musk shared the details in recent posts on X. In his initial post, Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.

“Starship V3 SN1 headed for ground tests. I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability,” Musk wrote.

In a follow-up post, Musk addressed when SpaceX would attempt to catch the upper stage using the launch tower’s robotic arms. 

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“Should note that SpaceX will only try to catch the ship with the tower after two perfect soft landings in the ocean. The risk of the ship breaking up over land needs to be very low,” Musk clarified. 

His remarks suggest that SpaceX is deliberately reducing risk before attempting a tower catch of Starship’s upper stage. Such a milestone would mark a major step towards the full reuse of the Starship system.

SpaceX is currently targeting the first Starship V3 flight of 2026 this coming March. The spacecraft’s V3 iteration is widely viewed as a key milestone in SpaceX’s long-term strategy to make Starship fully reusable. 

Starship V3 features a number of key upgrades over its previous iterations. The vehicle is equipped with SpaceX’s Raptor V3 engines, which are designed to deliver significantly higher thrust than earlier versions while reducing cost and weight. 

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The V3 design is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability, a critical step if SpaceX intends to scale the spacecraft’s production toward frequent launches for Starlink, lunar missions, and eventually Mars. 

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Tesla FSD (Supervised) could be approved in the Netherlands next month: Musk

Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared that Full Self-Driving (FSD) could receive regulatory approval in the Netherlands as soon as March 20, potentially marking a major step forward for Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance rollout in Europe.

Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin, noting that the date was provided by local authorities.

“Tesla has the most advanced real-world AI, and hopefully, it will be approved soon in Europe. We’re told by the authorities that March 20th, it’ll be approved in the Netherlands,’ what I was told,” Musk stated. 

“Hopefully, that date remains the same. But I think people in Europe are going to be pretty blown away by how good the Tesla car AI is in being able to drive.”

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Tesla’s FSD system relies on vision-based neural networks trained on real-world driving data, allowing vehicles to navigate using cameras and AI rather than traditional sensor-heavy solutions. 

The performance of FSD Supervised has so far been impressive. As per Tesla’s safety report, Full Self-Driving Supervised has already traveled 8.3 billion miles. So far, vehicles operating with FSD Supervised engaged recorded one major collision every 5,300,676 miles. 

In comparison, Teslas driven manually with Active Safety systems recorded one major collision every 2,175,763 miles, while Teslas driven manually without Active Safety recorded one major collision every 855,132 miles. The U.S. average during the same period was one major collision every 660,164 miles.

If approval is granted on March 20, the Netherlands could become the first European market to greenlight Tesla’s latest supervised FSD (Supervised) software under updated regulatory frameworks. Tesla has been working to secure expanded FSD access across Europe, where regulatory standards differ significantly from those in the United States. Approval in the Netherlands would likely serve as a foundation for broader EU adoption, though additional country-level clearances may still be required.

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