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Tesla Ships to Norway Using a Natural Gas Powered Ferry

Norwegian shipping company Nor Lines has struck a deal to deliver Teslas from Bremerhaven, Germany direct to the west coast of Norway using LNG powered ferries to reduce carbon emissions from diesel transporters.

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Teslas on LNG Ferry In Norway
Teslas on LNG Ferry In Norway

Tesla Model S transported to Norway in a natural gas powered ferry [Source: Anders Sandvik]

Norwegian shipping company Nor Lines has made an agreement with Tesla Motors to ship its cars using a natural gas powered ferry. Shipping the cars by sea will significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions compared to using traditional diesel powered transporters. The first cargo of 79 Tesla Model S sedans arrived on the west coast of Norway on March 29.

Nor Lines has been negotiating with Tesla for some time. The fact that its ships use liquid natural gas instead of heavy bunker oil seems to have been the factor that won Tesla over.  “I don’t think we would have crossed the finish line as easily if the ships were run on heavy oil,” Nor Lines representative Anders Sandvik told Norway’s PursuitGreen.

This is a first for Nor Lines because the voyage will be followed up with a full complement of cargo headed south on the return voyage. “There was one time when the ship sailed home empty,” Sandvik says. “But we now have a delivery of 79 cars combined with regular line traffic. With all the other goods we have on board, that results in good utilization of vessels and line structure.”

Nor Lines Shipping Boat

Tesla Model S being unloaded from a shipping ferry in Norway [Source: Nor Lines]

The arrangement with Tesla happened almost by accident. When Sandvik bought a Tesla Model S last fall, it made him aware of how much unused capacity there was at the port of Drammen. “I didn’t think it made any sense for cars going to western and northern Norway through a port in the east of the country,” Sandvik says.

He got in touch with Tesla and negotiations began. “In January we took up the thread again and now we are ready for the first pilot project.” he says. Tesla was very interested in making sure its cars would arrive in a timely fashion, but once Sandvik assured them they would, the company accepted Nor Lines’ proposal and pricing structure.

The shipping company is hoping Tesla will ship 40 to 50 cars a week from Bremerhaven, Germany directly to Norway. That would eliminate hundreds of truck shipments every year. Sandvik praises Tesla for being willing to consider using Nor Lines to ship its cars. “I think it is wonderful that Tesla dares to be a little different than the traditional commodity owner. They really take the environment seriously and actively seek to minimize their carbon footprint. I miss such vigor in other industries today,” Sandvik says.

Photo credit: Anders Sandvik, Nor Lines

Special thanks to Leif Hansen of Norway for bringing this story to our attention, and to Anders Sandvik for the collaboration.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk confirms he’s still in wartime CEO mode

He is still locked in.

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Wcamp9, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk tends to use social media platform X as his personal platform to express himself, so much so that critics tend to allege that the CEO is no longer serious about his numerous companies. 

As per Musk, he is still very much in wartime CEO mode, despite all the jokes and fun posts about Ani on X. 

Elon Musk leads several prolific companies, much more than the average CEO. And while Tesla is the only publicly traded entity that he currently leads, Musk is so visible that everyone across the internet pretty much has a strong opinion of him one way or another. For his longtime supporters and followers, however, what truly matters is if Musk is locked in.

Considering that Elon Musk’s feed on X has recently been filled with AI imagery, a good portion of which involve AI-rendered women, some X users have expressed concerns that the CEO may be losing focus once more. Musk responded to one such user by highlighting his very busy schedule and his numerous active projects. 

Needless to say, Elon Musk is still locked in. He is still in “wartime CEO” mode.

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As per the CEO, even his recent AI posts about AI are “part of a broader vision and strategy.” He also highlighted that SpaceX’s Starship Flight 10 is launching in a few days, xAI’s Grok 5 is starting its training next month, and Tesla’s Autopilot V14 is also coming next month. As per Musk, “long-term strategy is compelling.”

Elon Musk’s comments are quite accurate. While he may seem to spend all his time on X, after all, he is very much still neck-deep in all his companies’ projects. There is a reason why Musk became known as a visionary, and a lot of it is because he really is intimately involved in all of his companies’ projects. 

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Tesla watchers spot mysterious castings at Fremont Factory

The castings seem to be quite new, as they do not seem to match any of the castings that are currently being used for the Model Y.

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Credit: @metgodinwilderness7130/YouTube

A recent flyover of the Fremont Factory has triggered speculations about Tesla’s ongoing initiatives that are yet to be unveiled publicly. This was hinted at by the sighting of some apparent vehicle castings around the factory that have never really been observed before.

A Fremont Factory flyover

In a recent update, drone operator Met God in Wilderness, who has been chronicling the progress and developments of the Fremont Factory for years, shared some footage from his August 14, 2025 flyover. Based on the video, the Fremont Factory seemed very much alive. Vehicles were being pumped out of the factory, and a rather interestingly covered car could be seen going around the test track.

What is quite fascinating about the footage from the Fremont Factory is the fact that the vehicles that were moving from the production line to the outbound logistics lot are not driven manually anymore. As per Tesla in previous updates, vehicles produced at the Fremont Factory navigate to the outbound logistics lot on their own using Unsupervised FSD

Mysterious castings

Perhaps most interestingly, the drone operator also managed to capture some footage of some castings that were being gathered just outside one of the facility’s sprung structures. These castings seem to be quite new, as they do not seem to match any of the castings that are currently being used for the Model Y. This has brought speculations suggesting that the new components, which seem smaller than standard Model Y megacasts, may be for a different, perhaps more compact, vehicle. 

As per Tesla in its second quarter earnings call, the company actually started the initial production of more affordable models sometime in June. These vehicles, as per Elon Musk, will be made available for consumers in the fourth quarter. “Given that we started in North America and that our goal is to maximize production with higher rates by the end of Q3, we’re going to keep pushing hard on our current models to avoid complexity… We’ll be running with the more affordable models available for everyone in Q4,” Musk said.

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Watch the recent drone footage of the Fremont Factory in the video below.

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Investor's Corner

Shareholder group urges Nasdaq probe into Elon Musk’s Tesla 2025 CEO Interim Award

The SOC Investment Group represents pension funds tied to more than two million union members, many of whom hold shares in TSLA.

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Credit: xAI/X

An investment group is urging Nasdaq to investigate Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) over its recent $29 billion equity award for CEO Elon Musk. 

The SOC Investment Group, which represents pension funds tied to more than two million union members—many of whom hold shares in TSLA—sent a letter to the exchange citing “serious concerns” that the package sidestepped shareholder approval and violated compensation rules.

Concerns over Tesla’s 2025 CEO Interim Award

In its August 19 letter to Nasdaq enforcement chief Erik Wittman, SOC alleged that Tesla’s board improperly granted Musk a “2025 CEO Interim Award” under the company’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan. That plan, the group noted, explicitly excluded Musk when it was approved by shareholders. SOC argued that the new equity grant effectively expanded the plan to cover Musk, a material change that should have required a shareholder vote under Nasdaq rules.

The $29 billion package was designed to replace Musk’s overturned $56 billion award from 2018, which the Delaware Chancery Court struck down, prompting Tesla to file an appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court. The interim award contains restrictions: Musk must remain in a leadership role until August 2027, and vested shares cannot be sold until 2030, as per a Yahoo Finance report.

Even so, critics such as SOC have argued that the plan does not have of performance targets, calling it a “fog-the-mirror” award. This means that “If you’re around and have enough breath left in you to fog the mirror, you get them,” stated Brian Dunn, the director of the Institute for Comprehension Studies at Cornell University.

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SOC’s Tesla concerns beyond Elon Musk

SOC’s concerns extend beyond the mechanics of Musk’s pay. The group has long questioned the independence of Tesla’s board, opposing the reelection of directors such as Kimbal Musk and James Murdoch. It has also urged regulators to review Tesla’s governance practices, including past proposals to shrink the board. 

SOC has also joined initiatives calling for Tesla to adopt comprehensive labor rights policies, including noninterference with worker organizing and compliance with global labor standards. The investment group has also been involved in webinars and resolutions highlighting the risks related to Tesla’s approach to unions, as well as labor issues across several countries.

Tesla has not yet publicly responded to SOC’s latest letter, nor to requests for comment.

The SOC’s letter can be viewed below.

Nasdaq+Letter Tsla Socig Final by Simon Alvarez

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