Connect with us

Lifestyle

EVannex Pays Artistic Tribute to the Tesla Model S

Published

on

Art imitates life in the magnificent limited edition 1/12th scale Tesla Model S Sculpture by EVannex

When we first got wind that Roger Pressman, founder of EVannex and early adopter of the Model S (VIN #184), was working on a laser cut sculpture of the Tesla Model S, our minds immediately filled with grandiose visions of white doves taking flight as a laser silhouette of a Tesla Model S forms in slow motion.  Little did we know that it would be even better than that.

After hearing the news about the soon-to-be Tesla Model S Sculpture, our first reaction was to call and beg EVannex for a pre-production sample for evaluation.  However as we sat and contemplated our future in front of our trusty Macbooks while nursing our dying RedBull buzz, reality finally set in and brought us back to a more lucid and tactful state of mind – so we called EVannex and begged them for one.  They obliged.


Driving the Future – The Tesla Model S Sculpture

The story behind the Tesla Model S Sculpture is an inspiring one.  Roger, an engineer by trade, wanted to celebrate his first full year of owning the Model S by creating a sculpture that really captures the essence of driving a Model S called Driving the Future.  In Roger’s words:

“I began with a 3-D solid model, sliced it digitally, and then laser cut each slice to form a sculpture. Driving the Future is not a model car—it’s a 1/12 scale interpretation that captures the essence of the Model S and is intended for display in your office or home. To the best of my knowledge, it’s the world’s first original artistic tribute to the Tesla Model S.”

The sculpture is absolutely stunning to look at in person and we feel that the pictures don’t really do it full justice so we’ll go ahead and outline some details that may not necessarily come across in their promo copy.


Engineering Details

The art sculpture for one is 1/12th the size of a real Tesla Model S so chances are it’s probably much larger than you would imagine it to be.  It’s a solid 12 pounds of intricate elegance that sits on a very sturdy base. Each “slice” that the sculpture is comprised of, is laser cut from professional art-grade acrylic and hand assembled, piece-by-piece, until it forms the shape of a Tesla Model S.  From the swooping hood lines, to the sexy flared rear fender, every detail of the vehicle has been captured – even the lug nut holes have been accounted for!

We couldn’t even begin to  fathom the number of hours it took to manufacture and hand assemble the 91 intricate pieces together. See for yourself through this 360° view of the Tesla Model S sculpture.

Advertisement
-


Limited Edition – Collector’s Item

EVannex will only be making 250 units.  Each Tesla Model S Sculpture is being offered for sale on a first-come, first-serve basis, and will include a signed and numbered Certificate of Authenticity.

Tesla Model S Sculpture

[Image source: EVannex]

This unique piece will certainly make for an excellent Holiday Season gift.  Act now and  be one of the very few Model S owners to own the Driving the Future sculpture. Want to learn more?  Check out the Tesla Model S Sculpture FAQ for more info.

WHERE TO BUY

– EVannex

 

Related: EVannex debuts its own Tesla Model S in 1/24th scale

Advertisement
-

 

 

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

How to use Grok Bot to block spam calls and texts

Musk told users to ask Grok Bot to scrub their phone numbers from spam lists.

Published

on

By

Elon Musk has a new use case for Grok Bot, and it is the spam call. On Thursday he replied to an X user named Arash with a short instruction: “Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!” Arash had said he got tired of the calls, had an AI bot find his number on listing sites and file removal requests, and packaged the process as a free skill for others.

The skill is called Spam-Call Scrubber, which is described to find a phone number on people search sites and data brokers, submits the opt outs, completes the confirmation emails those sites send back, and rechecks on a schedule the user picks. Using it requires the Grok Bot app. The pitch is time saved, since most broker opt outs sit behind separate forms on separate sites.



Musk said Grok Bot now gives each bot its own email address, and that it can detect scam emails. On Thursday he also said SpaceX would make users whole if the bot botches a purchase or leaks a card, then told users to shop away from Amazon after the retailer blocked the agent, as Teslarati reported. The terms of service we reviewed at the time put responsibility for what an agent does on the user.

For Tesla owners, Grok Bot is not just a phone app. Tesla brought Grok Bot into its vehicles on September 22, and we argued earlier this week that the Cybercab’s real advantage may be the errands it runs during a ride. Every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y Robotaxi fleet has it enabled. The more routine tasks like this one become, the more a rider has reason to hand over something personal in the back seat.

The new Spam-Call Scrubber skill can be downloaded for free and works on sites that honor removal requests, while noting that listings can reappear, and illegal robocallers do not check any registry. Whether Spam-Call Scrubber cuts anyone’s call volume is something the first wave of users will find out, and Musk’s endorsement guarantees that wave is coming.

Advertisement
-
Continue Reading

Lifestyle

Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi’s real advantage won’t be the ride service

Published

on

By

Concept art of a Tesla Cybercab in Las Vegas Strip as rendered via Grok

For a century, the car has asked the same thing of its owner, which is basically to pay attention. Even the best ride-hailing app like Uber or Lyft only moved the problem into someone else’s hands. You stopped driving, but you still sat in a stranger’s car, while half listening, and wondering whether to take a phone call in the car without being rude. The Cybercab has no wheel, no pedals and no driver. With Grok @bot now live inside it, it becomes something else entirely, and I think that matters more than the fleet count that everyone is tracking.

Grok @bot is an agent, not a voice assistant. A rider signs in once, and from then on can say what they need and watch it happen. Order dinner from a favorite restaurant. Fill the grocery cart. Move money, answer email, adjust a calendar, push a work project forward. Tesla engineer Yun-Ta Tsai confirmed it is enabled across every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y fleet, and Tesla’s own pitch is that Full Self-Driving handles the commute while Grok handles the errands.

Think about what that does to a thirty minute ride. Uber sells you a trip, while Waymo sells you the same trip in a more private setting. Tesla is selling the thirty minutes themselves, returned to you with an assistant attached. Errands that used to eat a Saturday get done between pickup and drop off. The ride stops being dead time between two places and becomes a place of its own.

Tesla integrates Grok Bot into its vehicles for the ultimate personal assistant

Best of all, your Bots follow you into any Cybercab, and presumably your own Tesla, then logs you out automatically when you step out. Anyone can bolt a chatbot onto a screen, but much harder to own the vehicle, the autonomy stack and the assistant at once. It also quietly ties SpaceX’s Super Intelligence business to Tesla’s fleet, after Tesla converted its xAI stake into SpaceX equity. The relationship between those two companies is getting harder to describe as separate.

This is also where the hard questions start, because an agent that can spend your money in a vehicle other people also ride in needs some answers. How does it handle a voice it shouldn’t trust? What gets recorded, who can see it, and for how long? What happens when a rider leaves halfway through a task?

Advertisement
-

If Tesla gets those answers right, the scoreboard changes. We have been counting Cybercabs and wait times. The more telling number may be what riders accomplish per trip. That is data almost no one else will ever have, and it is the real reason to watch Grok @bot.

What do you think? Leave me a comment.

Continue Reading

Lifestyle

Tesla’s mirrorless Cybercab will give riders a visibility upgrade

Tesla engineer confirms Cybercab update letting riders pull up rear and repeater cameras on demand.

Published

on

By

Tesla Cybercab camera visibility for passengers (Credit: Dan Burkland via X)
Tesla Cybercab camera visibility for passengers (Credit: Dan Burkland via X)

Tesla is working on a Cybercab update that would let passengers pull up the vehicle’s rear and side cameras on demand, and the request came straight from a rider.

The exchange played out on X late Friday. Cybercab rider Dan Burkland shared photos of the two-seater’s cabin screen after an evening ride, praised the UI team’s work, and left one request: let riders open the rear and repeater cameras whenever they want, “especially for peace of mind.” Tesla UI software engineer Evan (@CarCoder) answered with two words: “In development.”

The idea fits a pattern Teslarati has tracked since public rides began. Days after paid Cybercab service opened in Austin, Tesla sent riders a survey that asked them to rate the touchscreen, the app and the cabin, and to pick the features they wanted most. We reported on that survey in September, and a camera view is the kind of small software change Tesla can push quickly if riders keep asking.

Advertisement
-

It also speaks to something unique about the vehicle. With no steering wheel, no pedals and no driver, passengers have no mirror to check and no way to see behind them. The hardware is clearly built for camera awareness, from the repeater cameras to the rear camera. Letting a passenger look through those same cameras would give a nervous first time rider a way to confirm what is around the car.

The timing matters because the fleet is growing fast. Tesla’s Robotaxi account said on Saturday that more than 300 Cybercabs are now serving Austin, an eightfold increase in 30 days, and Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy named Dallas as the next city. More cars and more cities mean more people riding in a driverless vehicle for the first time, which is exactly when small trust features carry weight.

For now, the feature is confirmed only as in development. If Tesla follows its usual pattern with Cybercab software, riders could see it appear in a point release without any announcement, and Teslarati will watch for it.

Continue Reading