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Tesla who? Bill Gates refuses to mention EV leader in blog post

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Tesla has done more than any other company to accelerate the transportation movement toward electrification. By introducing the Model S in 2012, Tesla proved electric cars could be fast and exciting and sustainable at the same time. However, Tesla’s notable surge in popularity over the past few years wasn’t enough to convince Bill Gates to mention the company in his most recent blog post. Instead, he chose to credit legacy carmakers GM and Ford, and new kids on the block Rivian and Bollinger, leaving Tesla as a forgotten and unmentioned despite its much-deserved notoriety when talking about electric vehicles.

In a blog post on GatesNotes.com, the former Microsoft frontman talked about the struggle between traveling and contributing to global climate change. While moving and exploring is a part of life, the use of cars that are powered by petrol are contributing to the influx of emissions that are poisoning the Earth’s atmosphere.

Gates, who is a known supporter of electric vehicles, drives Porsche Taycan. The product of a prestigious private college in Massachusetts, known as Harvard, was more than willing to express his gratitude for the companies that are assisting in the surge toward cleaner transportation.

While electric sedans have been available for several years across a variety of car companies, pickup truck designs are rare. While the sustained focus on small passenger vehicles has subsided slightly in favor of crossovers and SUVs, other car companies are working on all-electric pickups, which would be a valuable contribution to the American automotive market.

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“You’ll even be able to buy an all-electric pickup truck soon thanks to legacy companies like GM and Ford and new carmakers like Rivian and Bollinger,” Gates said. However, he left out the one company that has a sizeable lead in the EV sector, according to some of its competitors: Tesla.

Interestingly enough, Gates even talked about the widespread availability of EV batteries, which is a much-improved topic compared to 2010. Gates said that the price of battery cells has dropped 85% since that year, “so they’re getting more affordable to purchase,” he added.

However, the most bang for your buck in terms of EVs and battery quality is Tesla, which makes it interesting that Gates would leave out such a large contributor to the very subject his blog post was focused on.

The reason for leaving Tesla out of the conversation is unknown. However, Gates has been vocally critical of Musk in the past, especially when concerning the Tesla CEO’s comments about the coronavirus. Gates said that he hoped Musk would not “confuse areas he’s not involved in too much,” in an interview with CNBC.

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However, Musk is involved in the fight against the pandemic, as he has donated ventilators, developed his own in-house breathing system using Tesla auto parts, and has worked with pharmaceutical companies to build RNA printers that could assist in the development of a vaccine.

Leaving Tesla out of the conversation when talking about electric vehicles is like leaving out Microsoft when talking about computers. Tesla is the company that has made electric cars mainstream and has convinced other car companies that it is time to move away from gas-powered automobiles. Some of the largest companies in the world admit that Tesla is years ahead of everyone else, and for a good reason. The company was building EVs before the public widely accepted it.

Gates’ full blog post is available here.

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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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Ford is charging for a basic EV feature on the Mustang Mach-E

When ordering a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, you’ll now be hit with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

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Credit: Ford Motor Company

Ford is charging an additional fee for a basic EV feature on its Mustang Mach-E, its most popular electric vehicle offering.

Ford has shuttered its initial Model e program, but is venturing into a more controlled and refined effort, and it is abandoning the F-150 Lightning in favor of a new pickup that is currently under design, but appears to have some favorable features.

However, ordering a new Mustang Mach-E now comes with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

The frunk is the front trunk, and due to the lack of a large engine in the front of an electric vehicle, OEMs are able to offer additional storage space under the hood. There’s one problem, though, and that is that companies appear to be recognizing that they can remove it for free while offering the function for a fee.

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Ford is charging $495 for the frunk.

Interestingly, the frunk size varies by vehicle, but the Mustang Mach-E features a 4.7 to 4.8 cubic-foot-sized frunk, which measures approximately 9 inches deep, 26 inches wide, and 14 inches high.

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When the vehicle was first released, Ford marketed the frunk as the ultimate tailgating feature, showing it off as a perfect place to store and serve cold shrimp cocktail.

Ford Mach-E frunk is perfect for chowders and chicken wings, and we’re not even joking

It appears the decision to charge for what is a simple advantage of an EV is not going over well, as even Ford loyal customers say the frunk is a “basic expectation” of an EV. Without it, it seems as if fans feel the company is nickel-and-diming its customers.

It will be pretty interesting to see the Mach-E without a frunk, and while it should not be enough to turn people away from potentially buying the vehicle, it seems the decision to add an additional charge to include one will definitely annoy some customers.

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Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows

According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

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Credit: @jojje167 on X

Tesla is looking to upgrade its Matrix Headlights, a unique and high-tech feature that is available on several of its vehicles. The headlights aim to maximize visibility for Tesla drivers while being considerate of oncoming traffic.

The Matrix Headlights Tesla offers utilize dimming of individual light pixels to ensure that visibility stays high for those behind the wheel, while also being considerate of other cars by decreasing the brightness in areas where other cars are traveling.

Here’s what they look like in action:

As you can see, the Matrix headlight system intentionally dims the area where oncoming cars would be impacted by high beams. This keeps visibility at a maximum for everyone on the road, including those who could be hit with bright lights in their eyes.

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There are still a handful of complaints from owners, however, but Tesla appears to be looking to resolve these with the coming updates in a Software Version that is currently labeled 2026.2.xxx. The coding was spotted by X user BERKANT:

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According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

Finally, the new system will prevent the high beams from glaring back at the driver. The system is made to dim when it recognizes oncoming cars, but not necessarily objects that could produce glaring issues back at the driver.

Tesla’s revolutionary Matrix headlights are coming to the U.S.

This upgrade is software-focused, so there will not need to be any physical changes or upgrades made to Tesla vehicles that utilize the Matrix headlights currently.

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xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

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Credit: xAI

Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.

Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards. 

Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD. 

Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible. 

The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.

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