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Tesla ‘Teslaquila’ booze may follow Short Shorts for the ultimate party

Elon Musk shares an image of a Teslaquila bottle. (Credit: Elon Musk/Instagram)

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Elon Musk has stayed true to his word by releasing Tesla Short Shorts, with the CEO even remarking that he has acquired a couple of XL ones for himself. With the upcoming 2020 Annual Shareholder Meeting looking to be an event with some participants proudly donning the latest and boldest in Tesla’s apparel line, there is only one other product that is yet to be released for the ultimate party: Teslaquila.

Amidst the announcement of the impending launch of the Short Shorts on Tesla’s official shop, Elon Musk reiterated that Teslaquila is still “coming soon.” This shows that the CEO has not given up on releasing the cleverly named beverage just yet. There are very few things that could go perfectly with a pair of red and gold short shorts after all, and Teslaquila is definitely one of them.

Teslaquila has been a long time coming. The product was initially teased during Musk’s infamous 2018 April Fools’ joke, which featured him “passing out” against a Model 3 with a cardboard sign that read “Bankwupt!” In the post’s description, Musk mentioned that he had been found by Tesla staff passed out and surrounded by bottles of “Teslaquila.” It did not take long before Tesla owners and enthusiasts asked the CEO if a real alcoholic beverage with the name would indeed be made.

Musk, of course, was game with the idea, and Tesla did file an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for an alcoholic beverage branded as “Teslquila.” Unfortunately for the company, the application was rejected by a patent examiner on account of another alcoholic beverage with a name that was allegedly too close to “Teslaquila” called “Spirit Tesla.” Spirit Tesla featured a bottle with the image of Nikola Tesla, and is owned by Serbian brewing firm Valjevsko.

Tesla’s legal team then argued that it would be unlikely for the two beverages — “Teslaquila” and “Spirit Tesla” — to be confused with each other. The electric car maker’s legal team noted that “Teslaquila” is immediately recognizable as a drink related to the EV and battery company, while “Spirit Tesla” is recognizable as a drink that invokes a connection to Nikola Tesla himself. The two drinks would be different as well, since Teslaquila is a distilled agave liquor and Spirit Tesla is plum brandy, also known as Slivovitz.

Inasmuch as Teslaquila has been delayed for a while, it should be noted that it also took some time before the company was able to release Tesla Short Shorts to the market. The shorts, after all, were announced on August 2018, just a few months after the initial announcement of Teslaquila. With this in mind, it definitely seems like Teslaquila may be next for the electric car maker’s expanding range of eclectic merchandise.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla Cybercab fleet doubles to well over 100 units

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(Credit: Teslarati)

Tesla quietly doubled the size of its Cybercab fleet within the Robotaxi program in Austin, Texas, over the weekend to well over 100 units.

The move not only establishes more of the steering-wheel-less and pedal-less vehicles within the ride-sharing fleet Tesla has been operating for a year, but it also solidifies a more robust Robotaxi fleet as a whole.

Riders started receiving notifications from the Robotaxi app that stated: “Cybercab fleet has doubled: more rides available.”

Tesla first launched rides in the Cybercab in early September, although the Robotaxi fleet has been active for over a year, as rides began last Summer. Cybercab is truly Tesla’s most crucial vehicle release yet, as it is the first car any company has built that is geared toward full-fledged and end-to-end autonomy, never needing human intervention for anything.

Only available in Austin at the current time, Cybercab has two seats and has been spotted testing around various U.S. states and regions; Tesla plans to deploy the Cybercab in various U.S. cities in the coming months as a best-case scenario.

Tesla Cybercab gets initial tie-in to localized, in-house cathode plant

The availability of the Cybercab has doubled from just 58 units last Monday to 125 the following Friday. Marking a substantial increase in Cybercab availability, the additional ride-sharing units are more than welcome, as wait times for Cybercabs, especially, were quite high.

The dramatic increase is a sign that demand for Robotaxi is growing and Tesla is feeling more confident that its driverless ride-hailing suite, especially its Full Self-Driving software, is able to handle any traffic situation without explicit direction or supervision from a human being.

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Tesla has a ‘no human contact’ approach for Semi production

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Tesla is advancing a fully automated pipeline for the 4680 battery cells used in its all-electric Semi, spanning production from Giga Texas through shipment and direct consumption on the line at the new dedicated Semi Factory in Sparks, Nevada.

The approach was outlined by Tesla at its September 24 Semi Handover event, which launched high-volume production at its new 1.8-million-square-foot plant in Nevada, which sits adjacent to Gigafactory Nevada and is designed for an annual production rate of 50,000 trucks per year.

After years of pilot builds and what was a four-year-long redesign of the truck, Tesla moved the Semi from 2170 batteries to its in-house 4680 cells, which are made in Austin. The change cuts battery mass and total energy while holding range, a key step in making volume production a realistic possibility.

Cells will leave Giga Texas in trailers, and at the Nevada Semi plant, Tesla intends for a dedicated line to unload those trailers automatically, station the cells, and feed them straight into pack and vehicle assembly.

Both Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, and Dan Priestley, the Head of Tesla’s Semi program, described the goal as a “zero human touch point” from the moment the trailer arrives in Texas until a finished Semi drives off the production line in Nevada.

The unloading system that Moravy and Priestley described is just one piece of a much broader automation push. The plant uses what Tesla calls the highest-capacity electric monorail conveyance in vehicle manufacturing, carrying frames-in-white simultaneously. Powder-coating replaces conventional paint, and many processes that would normally require operators have been designed out.

Tesla has repeatedly said that “the best part is no part,” and the cell-handling plan extends that philosophy from the cell factory floor in Texas all the way to final assembly in Nevada.

If executed as described, the closed-loop flow would reduce labor, handling damage, and inventory buffers while tightening quality control on a component that represents a large share of the truck’s cost and weight. It also shortens the physical and organizational distance between two factories separated by more than 1,200 miles. The Semi itself now shares a bar-wound stator and other components with the Cybertruck, further linking Tesla’s passenger and commercial production systems.

High-volume output is expected to ramp gradually after the first trucks left the new line in April 2026. Early customers include PepsiCo, DHL, and U.S. Foods. Whether the automated trailer-to-line process reaches the promised zero-touch standard will be visible in the coming months as production scales. For Tesla, the Semi factory is another test of how far it can push “the machine that builds the machine” across sites.

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Elon Musk’s AI Grok Bot can now handle banking while your Tesla FSD handles the road

Elon Musk says Grok Bot can manage your finances through linked bank and investment accounts.

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Concept of SuperGrok Bot handling banking in a Tesla via Grok
Concept of SuperGrok Bot handling banking in a Tesla via Grok

Grok Bot now wants access to your wallet, with SpaceXAI rolling out a new Finance integration for its agent platform that lets users link bank, credit card and investment accounts thereby letting their Bots help manage spending, investments and more. Elon Musk amplified the announcement on X with a short endorsement, “Grok Bot can manage your finances.”

The feature builds on two earlier steps. In early September, Grok gained the ability to answer questions about spending, savings, investments and cash flow using accounts connected through Plaid, starting with users in the U.S. Before that, on August 28, SpaceXAI let Grok Bot buy things online through Link, with users approving every spend request and the Bot receiving a single use card for each payment.

Musk has already shown how far he wants users to push it. In late August, when Tesla investor account Teslaconomics said he was weighing whether to give Grok Bot access to his bank accounts, Musk replied, “Try it out. If Grok Bot messes up, we will make you whole.” That promise goes beyond SpaceXAI’s consumer terms, which make users responsible for what their agents do and generally cap the company’s liability at the greater of fees paid or $100. SpaceXAI’s own documentation recommends requiring approval for purchases and financial transfers.

For Tesla owners, the update lands five days after Tesla brought Grok Bot into its vehicles, letting drivers hand off errands by voice while FSD (Supervised) handles the road. Bot access inside the car is currently limited to SuperGrok Heavy subscribers, though Connectors are open to anyone signed into Grok. With Finance linked, a driver could ask for a spending summary or a check on upcoming bills during the commute.

Grok’s role in the car has grown quickly since Tesla’s Summer Update let it control cabin features by voice. We have been using Grok Bot in our own Tesla for several weeks, and here’s how our latest test went.

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