News
Tesla Semi sleeper section and large side storage teased in new video
Recent videos of the Tesla Semi at the 2024 IAA Transportation trade show in Hannover, Germany have revealed some new details about the production version of the Class 8 all-electric truck. These include, among other things, a space for a sleeper area and some clever storage space on the sides of the vehicle.
The Tesla Semi was initially unveiled in late 2017, though deliveries of the vehicle to its first customer, PepsiCo, started in December 2022. A number of changes have been rolled out to the Semi’s design since its unveiling, from the changing of its door handles to the removal of its frunk.
I learned a few new things checking out the very first Tesla Semi in Europe today.
A thread ?:
1. Tesla has already designed the Semi with sleeper cab in mind per the team, they're "keeping the space" for it with a metal frame in place: pic.twitter.com/I5qLLn3Dtr— Jaan of the EV Universe ⚡ (@TheEVuniverse) September 16, 2024
Electric vehicle enthusiast @TheEVuniverse recently shared some videos featuring the Tesla Semi at the electric vehicle maker’s booth in the IAA Transportation 2024 exhibitor’s hall. The EV advocate noted that he was fortunate enough to capture some footage of the Tesla Semi at the event, and he was also able to learn a number of interesting details about the vehicle.
2. The Tesla Semi has been designed 'international' from start, so they had to change very little for Europe entry (only minor details like wheel covers etc).
Semi hasn't gone through homologation for EU markets, as it isn't launching just yet (as far as I could understand) pic.twitter.com/cmz18ApPAF— Jaan of the EV Universe ⚡ (@TheEVuniverse) September 16, 2024
These include a sleeper cab, which would be useful for Tesla Semi units that would be deployed for long routes. Tesla has reportedly designed the Semi with a sleeper cab in mind, so for now, the area where the sleeper cab would be built is occupied by a metal frame. Considering the area occupied by a metal frame in the EV advocate’s video, it would appear that the Semi’s sleeper area would be quite spacious.
3. The Tesla Semi storage compartments on both sides are actually rather large, and they pop wide open when pushing a button on the touchscreen.
The Semi doesn't have a frunk, although they didn't show us under the hood because of the competition snooping pic.twitter.com/IhdmUFUoIa— Jaan of the EV Universe ⚡ (@TheEVuniverse) September 16, 2024
The production Tesla Semi is also fitted with side storage compartments, which are located on both sides of the Class 8 all-electric truck. The storage spaces are rather large, and they are reportedly opened through a button on the Tesla Semi’s touchscreen. Interestingly enough, the door of the vehicle also features physical buttons that open the hood and side storage areas.
4. The Tesla Semi door has buttons to open the hood and the side storage door;
The window doesn't seem to open too much, but enough for toll booth payments etc;
The red loop with the dude is a handle that opens the door in case of emergency:
The cabin is surprisingly spacious pic.twitter.com/lfbYREUqpN— Jaan of the EV Universe ⚡ (@TheEVuniverse) September 16, 2024
The Tesla Semi features a central driving position, which suggests that the vehicle was designed for international markets from the beginning. Tesla reportedly only has to change very little in the Semi for it to be approved for Europe. The vehicle has not gone through homologation in EU markets yet, though this would likely be done later as the vehicle prepares to enter the region.
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Elon Musk
The Boring Company’s latest Tesla tunnel truck mod “fits like a glove”
The Boring Company has modified a Tesla powered tunnel truck to carry freight containers underground.
The Boring Company has found a second job for the Tesla hardware it already runs underground. In a post on X, Elon Musk’s tunneling company showed its latest Prufrock Liner Truck modified to carry a standard 20 foot shipping container. “Using TBC tunnels to transport freight,” the company wrote. “The latest Prufrock Liner Truck (using Tesla Model 3 batteries and drive units) has been modified to carry a standard 20′ shipping container. Fits like a glove!”
The photo shows a red container sitting on a long, low white chassis parked outside, with drive hardware visible at one end. The Boring Company did not say where or when freight hauling would start, which customers it has in mind, or how many trucks it is converting.
Using TBC tunnels to transport freight.
The latest Prufrock Liner Truck (using Tesla Model 3 batteries and drive units) has been modified to carry a standard 20’ shipping container.
Fits like a glove! https://t.co/VV0phWK4fc
— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) October 19, 2026
Until now, the liner trucks have hauled concrete. Teslarati reported in August on Liner Truck 3, which uses Model 3 battery packs and drive units to move more than 22,000 pounds of precast tunnel segments to the boring machine. It has 28 miles of range, tops out at 12 mph, and is piloted remotely from the company’s operations center in Texas. The freight version appears to be the same platform with a different bed, and The Boring Company has not said whether it will also be remotely piloted.
Freight has been on the company’s menu for years. When TBC updated its product lineup in 2021, its freight tunnel was described as sized to fit a standard shipping container, “barely.” The company later used the idea at Tesla’s own factory, where Prufrock 3 dug a tunnel to Giga Texas that now moves finished Cybertrucks away from the production line.
The Boring Company closed a $3 billion Series D in September at a $23 billion valuation, and Teslarati has covered how that money is tied to a UAE tunneling push and a faster Nashville build. In Nashville, Prufrock MB1 and MB2 are mining at the same time, and a third machine is expected to launch in late October. Each machine needs a steady supply of liner trucks, so any design that works for segments and containers alike gives the company more use out of the same Tesla parts.
The Vegas Loop remains the only Boring Company system open to the public, and it moves passengers in Tesla vehicles. A freight service would be a separate product, and the post gave no indication that one is close to launch. For now, it is a truck, a container and a short caption saying they fit together.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk will give ‘every kid in America’ a SpaceX share in 2027
Elon Musk said he is planning to give “every one of his SpaceX shares to every kid in America” in 2027, stating that “this will be the first of many.”
SpaceX went public earlier this year, and its stock price has been relatively stable since leveling off shortly after its IPO. Based on its current price, it’s a gift of just over $10 billion to children across the United States.
It appears to be closely related to President Donald Trump’s bank accounts for children, which were set up earlier this year as Trump Accounts.
Just hours earlier, Anthropic had announced the establishment of its Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, “a new wholly-owned entity dedicated entirely to public benefit.” Musk responded by stating he recommended “giving the shares directly to the public,” and that he would be doing it that way.
Just a little bit later, Musk said children across the U.S. would be getting a share from him:
Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America.
This will be the first of many.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
There are roughly 70 million children, meaning someone under the age of 18, in the United States, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. Musk’s ownership of SpaceX stock shows he has around 849 million Class A shares of SpaceX stock, according to filings with the SEC.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk reveals why Boring Co’s biggest East Coast project never happened
Elon Musk revealed in a post on X that “Permits were impossible to get,” explaining the fate of The Boring Company’s most ambitious East Coast proposal.
The comment responded to a query about what became of his July 20, 2017 announcement that he had “just received verbal govt approval” for an underground Hyperloop connecting New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., capable of carrying passengers from the Big Apple to the Nation’s Capital in just 29 minutes.
The Boring Company receives verbal ‘approval’ to build NY to DC Hyperloop tunnel
The 2017 post, which envisioned city-center stations and multiple elevators in each city, sparked immediate scrutiny. Local and state officials in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and D.C. said they had no knowledge of any approval. A White House spokesperson confirmed only “promising conversations” about the transformative infrastructure.
Musk clarified shortly after that there was “still a lot of work” to do for formal approvals.
@cybrtrkguy Permits were impossible to get
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
Limited progress followed, as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s administration issued a conditional utility permit and supported work near Fort Meade. In 2018, Washington, D.C., granted a preliminary permit for site preparation and excavation on a vacant lot at 53 New York Ave. NE in the NoMa neighborhood, which The Boring Company said could become a station.
A draft environmental assessment for a D.C.-Baltimore segment was released in 2019. Yet, by April 2021, the company had removed the project from its website, and the Federal Highway Administration reported receiving no indication of further interest. Communication with Maryland officials had ceased.
The full corridor would have required coordination among the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, the Federal Highway Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, and other agencies.
Environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, utility clearances, and approvals for novel infrastructure added to the overall complexity of the project and its approval.
Speculation on the permitting barriers centers around a few factors, but a multi-state, multi-level route involving unproven high-speed vacuum-tube technology inherently triggers exhaustive safety, environmental, and engineering reviews that can stretch for years, even for conventional projects.
There are also other elements, of course, like officials who may face political exposure if a privately funded, untested system encountered anything such as cost overruns, delays, or safety issues. On the outset of this project, there were limited things such as engineering plans or demonstrated technology maturity, which also added to the potential skepticism.
The East Coast vision for Boring Co., once framed as a privately funded revolution that could reshape Northeast travel, quietly ended without construction of the promised network. Musk’s recent statement frames the outcome as a regulatory impasse, unfortunate but not unexpected.