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Trump says he ‘has to be for electric cars’ because of Musk endorsement
Presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke at a rally in Georgia over the weekend, and while he maintained plans to end U.S. President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle (EV) “mandate,” he also added that he was a supporter of the technology as a result of his endorsement from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Trump held a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, during which he noted that he is supportive of EVs due to Musk officially endorsing him for president last month. Trump has gone back and forth on EVs over the last several weeks, and although Biden doesn’t formally have an “EV mandate,” Trump has doubled down on plans to end the mandate on his first day in office, if elected.
RELATED:
President Joe Biden comes after Elon Musk following Trump endorsement
“She wants to get rid of gas-powered cars and replace them with all electric,” Trump said during the speech, referring to Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris. “They don’t go far, they cost too much, they’re all made in China; other than that they’re fantastic, and I’m for electric cars.”
“I have to be, you know, because Elon endorsed me very strongly, Elon. So I have no choice,” Trump added.
The presidential candidate also went on to say he thought EVs should be a part of the market, though he emphasized that he thinks switching to only EVs was unwise, partially due to the cost of chargers.
“I’m for a small slice as a slice. You want to have every kind of a car imaginable,” Trump said. “You want to have gas-propelled cars, you want to have hybrids, you want to have every kind of a car imaginable. They want to go all electric, and there’s no way you can ever load them up. They call it loading them, you can’t load them.”
Trump also went on to allude to the amount of money that would need to be spent to install EV chargers in the “middle West,” where he says the country is going to have to spend $9 trillion. He then said that, for just eight chargers, it cost $9 billion, adding that that was a good deal.
The speech touched on several different subjects, and the EV comments came following Trump’s claims that he would “end the $100 trillion green new scam,” lower energy prices, and re-launch several drilling projects. He also detailed plan his apparent plans to build an iron dome over the entire country to protect against World War 3, which he says is “very close to happening.”
To be sure, the so-called “mandate” Trump was talking about doesn’t exist, though he’s likely referring to emissions standards set by Biden with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), requiring U.S. light-duty auto sales to reach a 67-percent market share of overall EVs by 2032, with that ratio required to meet 46 percent for medium-duty vehicles. The target is also aiming for about 50 percent of auto sales to be electric by 2030, in line with a goal Biden had set a few years earlier.
Another program that is thought to hang in the balance if Trump is elected is the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, which Trump and running mate J.D. Vance have vocally opposed in the past. Last year, Vance proposed a bill that would replace the $7,500 credit with one of the same amount for gas vehicles, additionally pointing to U.S. reliance on China for EVs and their materials.
You can watch the full rally below, with Trump’s statements about EVs taking place about 20 minutes in.
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Tesla has officially revealed its 2026 Summer Update, which comes with a variety of crazy new features, including Navigation fixes that owners have been wanting for months.
Tesla routinely releases a larger update with the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter updates, where it ships a variety of new features, bug fixes, and other additions to customer cars.
The 2026 Spring Update featured things like “Hey Grok” voice assistance, a redesigned self-driving app, Unreal Engine visual upgrades, and more.
🚨 TESLA’S SUMMER UPDATE FOR 2026 IS HERE:
Featuring:
✅ Self-Driving Stats in Mobile App
✅ Caraoke with Scoring
✅ Automatic Navigation
✅ Preferred Routes
✅ Set Arrival Energy from Mobile App
✅ Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App
✅ Rear Display Lock
✅ Other Improvements
🔌… https://t.co/C9IW3egEhH— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 21, 2026
Tesla’s Summer Release has about ten new features; we’ll show you each and detail them below:
New Grok Voice Commands
“Grok can now make phone calls, search and play music, adjust climate, open the glovebox, and answer questions about your Tesla.”
Self-Driving Stats in Mobile App
“View and share self-driving stats from the mobile app.”
Caraoke With Scoring
“Caraoke now scores your singing while in Park. High scores are saved to your Tesla profile.”
Automatic Navigation
“Automatic Navigation now adapts to your routine.
In addition to Home, Work, and upcoming calendar events, your vehicle can now suggest and route to places you visit regularly – like a school drop-off on the way to work, or the gym on the way home.”
Preferred Routes
“For a more personalized experience, navigation now prioritizes routes that you’ve taken before”
Set Arrival Energy from Mobile App
“Set your desired Arrival Energy from your phone.”
Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App
“Skip the USB drive and upload a custom wrap of your car from the mobile app. Instructions for creating a custom wrap here: https://github.com/teslamotors/custom-wraps.”
Rear Display Lock
“Kids can watch content on the rear screen, but only the front row can control it through the rear screen app.”
Other Improvements
- Find Superchargers by name when searching for a destination
- Add Apple Music songs to queue from search and artist page
- Set your preferred zoom level for the Self-Driving visualization
- Intro animations for new Model 3 and Y
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you, as the company’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, finally shed some light on the reason they are putting a satellite internet terminal on its ride-hailing-geared vehicle.
On Monday, Tesla officially confirmed that it would integrate Starlink V5 terminals into Cybercab vehicles, something many Tesla fans had figured the company would do, as the vehicle is primarily geared toward giving rides without any passenger intervention.
Starlink V5 directly integrated in Cybercab pic.twitter.com/FxzTtzjB6I
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 20, 2026
The ability to access the internet would allow riders to work or play in the car with their devices. It seemed like a more-than-reasonable feature to add to the Cybercab, which made its way off the production lines for the first time earlier this year.
Tesla reveals first vehicle model to receive Starlink integration
However, the move is not for the rider, as Elluswamy confirmed on Monday night. Instead, it’s actually for Tesla to be able to have a constant connection to the cars in the Robotaxi fleet so it can troubleshoot issues, contact riders, or resolve other issues.
Elluswamy said:
“It is still not required for safe operation of the vehicle. Connectivity is primarily meant for navigation, customer service and, in general, fleet management.”
It is still not required for safe operation of the vehicle. Connectivity is primarily meant for navigation, customer service and, in general, fleet management.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) July 20, 2026
Many initially assumed the option of constant connectivity would be enabled on the Cybercab for passenger entertainment or work. With the Cybercab, passengers won’t be doing anything but enjoying the ride, so it seemed more than logical that they would be hanging out with Starlink internet access as an amenity.
However, Tesla’s primary concern with Robotaxi is safety, and nailing these first unsupervised rides is a crucial step to setting a good narrative on how effective driverless transportation can be.
Being able to get in touch with passengers or a vehicle if something is wrong is a crucial part of the overall experience, and preventative measures are being taken by Tesla to ensure a smooth process, even in the worst-case.
Tesla has expanded its Robotaxi program in Florida to include two new cities: Tampa and Orlando.
This marks the second and third cities to be added to the company’s available locations for autonomous ride-hailing in the Sunshine State, joining Miami, which was the first Florida city to offer Robotaxi rides.
Tesla announced the addition of Orlando and Tampa to the Robotaxi program on Tuesday morning. The cities now join Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and the San Francisco Bay Area as locations where Tesla can operate its Robotaxi platform:
Robotaxi now in Tampa & Orlando! pic.twitter.com/fYtmXgJq3O
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) July 21, 2026
These rides are unsupervised, as AI Head Ashok Elluswamy confirmed the suite in Florida is operating without safety drivers or anyone within the cabin to assist with operation.
Orlando Tesla Robotaxi Operation
The geofence in Orlando covers a prominent irregular shaded zone on the map, roughly 4-6 miles across in key dimensions, so it likely measures somewhere between 25 and 45 square miles, which is comparable to other early Tesla launches in other cities.
It encompasses central and southern areas bounded by major highways including SR-417 and SR-528, including parts of the Orlando metro core, tourism-adjacent zones, and residential/commercial districts. This represents an initial targeted rollout in a tourist-heavy region, positioned for quick expansion via Tesla’s software updates.
Tampa Tesla Robotaxi Operation
In Tampa, the shape of the geofence is a shaded polygon covering key neighborhoods, explicitly including West Tampa, Tampa Heights, Hyde Park, and downtown Tampa proper, with boundaries along major roads and the Hillsborough River area.
This focuses on high-demand central zones and will offer tourists and citygoers rides without drivers.
Robotaxi Progress
Tesla has been operating Robotaxi since last June, when it launched in Austin. The geofences in most regions have already expanded several times since their launch last year, but the bigger complaint is vehicle availability. Tesla has been working to add more Robotaxi-enabled vehicles to its fleet.
The company still plans to utilize its Cybercab, a new vehicle that is being produced at Gigafactory Texas, for the Robotaxi suite alongside the Model Y, which has been the vehicle of choice for Tesla with early operations.
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you
