Connect with us

News

Tesla Semi-truck due to arrive in September, “Seriously next level”

Published

on

Elon Musk is on the loose again tweeting important details about Tesla’s future product lines. The multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur has announced that the Tesla semi-truck will be unveiled this September and will be “seriously next level”. He had previously spoken about a semi-truck that would be far better than anything on the road, and by reading into the statement one can presume that the next level he’s referring to is Level 4 or Level 5 autonomy.

Musk also previously stated in February that the “Model 3 is the overwhelming priority” but is making good progress with the semi-truck development.  Former VP of Worldwide Sales and Service Jerome Guillen is now leading the development of Tesla’s Trucks and Programs initiative which began over a year ago. Guillen was previously General Manager of New Product development at Freightliner, an American truck manufacturer best know for its heavy duty class 8 diesel trucks. His LinkedIn profile lists his current position at Tesla as VP of Trucks and Programs.

Advertisement

“Jerome is driving the Tesla Semi & and is doing a great job with his team. At Daimler he lead the most successful semi truck program ever.” said Musk last year in reply to a tweet asking about Jerome’s return to Tesla.

The semi-truck market could be a huge market for Tesla, as 70% of US freight move through semi-trucks. We previously analyzed how Tesla could target the semi-truck market and the potential development issues. Though the potential market for Tesla is staggering, it’s also fraught with a lot of implications. Semi-trucks typically drive millions of miles and are some of the largest polluters in the world. Tesla’s electric truck could take thousands of these dirty trucks off the road, making our air cleaner and quieter, but battery technology and Tesla’s charging network would need to be able to support the extreme long distance travel and weight often associated with this industry.

Advertisement

One of Tesla’s co-founders, Ian Wright, has been targeting the commercial trucking industry for over a decade had been working on hybrid powertrains to help curb costs and emissions. Wrightspeed was founded in 2005 and has raised $40M in venture capital funding since. Ian Wright left Tesla when Elon Musk came onboard. The thought of an electric sports car didn’t resonate and he wanted to pursue an electric vehicle that solved larger pollution issues – trucks.

Ryan Popple, CEO of Proterra, the electric bus maker, speculates that the Tesla semi-project could be more for internal use than initially expected. “A fairly reasonable idea would be to move battery packs from the Gigafactory downhill to the assembly plant in Fremont, California. The reason I say that could be viable is they’re fundamentally transporting battery packs. They could build battery packs and put them into a truck that’s optimized for the shipment of those packs, charge them with solar as a way of validating the pack, and transport them at maybe 50 or 60 percent state of charge.”

Only time will tell what Elon has envisioned for the future of the trucking industry.

Advertisement

Christian Prenzler is currently the VP of Business Development at Teslarati, leading strategic partnerships, content development, email newsletters, and subscription programs. Additionally, Christian thoroughly enjoys investigating pivotal moments in the emerging mobility sector and sharing these stories with Teslarati's readers. He has been closely following and writing on Tesla and disruptive technology for over seven years. You can contact Christian here: christian@teslarati.com

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

Texas township wants The Boring Company to build it a Loop system

The township’s board unanimously approved an application to The Boring Company’s “Tunnel Vision Challenge.”

Published

on

the-boring-company-prufrock
Credit: The Boring Company

The Woodlands Township, Texas, has formally entered The Boring Company’s tunneling sweepstakes. 

The township’s board unanimously approved an application to The Boring Company’s “Tunnel Vision Challenge,” which offers up to one mile of tunnel construction at no cost to a selected community.

The Woodlands’ proposal, dubbed “The Current,” features two parallel 12-foot-diameter tunnels beneath the Town Center corridor near The Waterway. Teslas would shuttle passengers between Waterway Square, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Town Green Park and nearby hotels during concerts and large-scale events, as noted in a Chron report.

Township officials framed the tunnel as a solution for the township’s traffic congestion issues. The Pavilion alone hosts more than 60 shows each year and can accommodate crowds of up to 16,500, often straining Lake Robbins Drive and surrounding intersections.

Advertisement

“We know we have traffic impacts and pedestrian movement challenges, especially in the Town Center area,” Chris Nunes, chief operating officer of The Woodlands Township, stated during the meeting.

“The Current” mirrors the Loop system operating beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center, where Tesla vehicles transport passengers through underground tunnels between venues and resorts.

The Boring Company issued its request for proposals (RFP) in mid-January, inviting cities and districts to pitch local uses for its tunneling technology. The Woodlands must submit its application by Feb. 23, though no timeline has been provided for when a winning community will be announced.

Nunes confirmed that the board has authorized a submission for “The Current’s” proposal, though he emphasized that the project is still in its preliminary stages.

Advertisement

“The Woodlands Township Board of Directors has authorized staff to submit an application to The Boring Company, which has issued an RFP for communities interested in leveraging their technology to address community challenges,” he said in a statement. 

“The Board believes that an underground tunnel would provide a safe and efficient means to transport people to and from various high-use community amenities in our Town Center.”

Continue Reading

News

Tesla Model Y wins 2026 Drive Car of the Year award in Australia

The Model Y is already Australia’s best-selling EV in 2025 and the tenth best-selling vehicle overall.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

The Tesla Model Y has been named 2026 Drive Car of the Year overall winner, taking the top honor after being judged as the vehicle that “moves the game forward the most for Australian new car buyers.” 

The Model Y is already Australia’s best-selling EV in 2025 and the tenth best-selling vehicle overall, but the vehicle’s Juniper update strengthened its case with new ownership benefits and expanded software capability.

Drive’s overall award compares category winners and looks at which model most significantly advances the local new car market. In 2026, judges pointed to the Model Y’s five-year warranty and the availability of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) as a monthly subscription as key differentiators.

Priced from AU$58,900 before on-road costs, the all-electric crossover SUV offers a lot of value compared to similarly sized petrol and hybrid rivals. The ability to access Tesla’s Supercharger network across Australia also reduces friction for buyers moving to EV ownership.

Advertisement

Owners can add FSD (Supervised) for AU$149 per month. While it still requires driver oversight, the system expands the vehicle’s advanced driver-assistance capabilities and reflects Tesla’s software-first approach.

“The default choice for a reason. The Tesla Model Y makes the transition to electric both effortless and rewarding,” Drive wrote.

The 2025 Model Y facelift also sharpened the vehicle’s exterior, highlighted by a distinctive rear light bar that gives the crossover SUV a more modern road presence.

Drive described the Model Y as a benchmark for combining practicality, efficiency and technology at an accessible price point. With eligibility for federal Fringe Benefit Tax exemptions through novated leasing, its value proposition has improved for numerous buyers.

Advertisement

For 2026, the Model Y’s combination of range efficiency, charging access and software capability proved decisive. Ultimately, the award all but cements the Model Y’s position as one of the most influential vehicles in Australia’s evolving new-car market today.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Elon Musk reiterates rapid Starship V3 timeline with next launch in sight

Musk shared the update in a brief post on X, writing, “Starship flies again next month.”

Published

on

Credit: SpaceX/X

Elon Musk has confirmed that Starship will fly again next month, reiterating SpaceX’s aggressive timeline for the first launch of its Starship V3 rocket.

Musk shared the update in a brief post on X, writing, “Starship flies again next month.” The CEO’s post was accompanied by a video of Starship’s Super Heavy booster being successfully caught by a launch tower in Starbase, Texas. 

The timeline is notable. In late January, Musk stated that Starship’s next flight, Flight 12, was expected in about six weeks. This placed the expected mission date sometime in March. That estimate aligned with SpaceX’s earlier statement that Starship’s 12th flight test “remains targeted for the first quarter of 2026.”

If the vehicle does indeed fly next month, it would mark the debut of Starship V3, the upgraded platform expected to feature the rocket’s new Raptor V3 engines.

Advertisement

Raptor V3 is designed to deliver significantly higher thrust than earlier versions while reducing cost and weight. Starship V3 itself is expected to be optimized for manufacturability, a critical step if SpaceX intends to scale production toward frequent launches for Starlink, lunar missions, and eventually Mars.

Starship V3 is widely viewed as the version that transitions the program from experimental testing to true operational scaling. Previous iterations have completed multiple integrated flight tests, with mixed outcomes but steady progress. Expectations are high that SpaceX is now working on Starship’s refinement.

An aggressive launch schedule supports several priorities at once. It advances Starlink’s next-generation satellite deployment, supports NASA’s lunar ambitions under Artemis, and keeps SpaceX on track for its longer-term Moon and Mars objectives.

Continue Reading