00:00On today's episode, Elon Musk takes over a Texas town, Tesla's mysterious cyber cab reveals its bones, and the Tesla Semi charges ahead with a factory update.
00:10Elon Musk and SpaceX have officially created their own city.
00:14On May 3rd, 2025, residents near the company's launch site in Cameron County, Texas, voted 212 to 6 in favor of incorporating the area as a new city called Starbase.
00:26The new city encompasses approximately 1.45 square miles along Texas Highway 4, right beside SpaceX's launch and production facilities.
00:36The community has just 283 residents, most of whom live in SpaceX-owned housing and work for the company.
00:42The election was made possible through a Texas law, allowing small communities to incorporate via petition.
00:48Nearly all registered voters live in SpaceX housing, and all newly elected city officials work for the company.
00:54Bobby Pedden, SpaceX's VP of Texas Test and Launch, ran unopposed and was elected as the city's first mayor.
01:01The city plans to invest in community amenities, including a $22 million community center and a $13.5 million recreation facility to support its growing workforce.
01:13The new city structure gives SpaceX more legal control over the area surrounding its Starship launch operations, including zoning decisions and land use.
01:22Starbase General Manager Catherine Luters said the company already manages the area's roads, utilities, schooling, and even medical care, and that incorporating would help Starbase grow as a community.
01:34This move also unlocks a strategic advantage.
01:37Under a recently passed state law, cities that host spaceports can approve beach and road closures for launches.
01:44That power used to belong to Cameron County, but SpaceX is now pushing for those rights to shift to Starbase officials.
01:52Not everyone is happy.
01:54Concerns have been raised about potential restrictions on public access to Boca Chica Beach and the environmental impact.
02:00Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. has publicly opposed the city.
02:05In a letter to Congress, Trevino said the project does not serve the public interest.
02:09He pointed to the overwhelmingly negative response he's received from the local community, and noted the positive working relationship the county already has with SpaceX.
02:19Realistically, these changes won't actually increase the number of beach closures permitted.
02:24SpaceX is licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration to close the beach up to 500 hours a year for operations, plus 300 hours per year to address anomalies.
02:33Before it became Starbase, it was Boca Chica Village, a neighborhood originally developed in the 1960s as a beachside retirement spot.
02:41By the time SpaceX showed up in 2014, only a few homes were occupied and the area lacked running water or essential services.
02:50SpaceX began buying up land aggressively in 2019, offering homeowners up to three times the assessed value of their properties.
02:57By 2020, most of Boca Chica Village had been vacated.
03:01SpaceX converted the houses into employee lodging and built out additional facilities.
03:06Today, Starbase is home to Star Factory, a $100 million rocket factory that will eventually be capable of building a full-size Starship every day.
03:16Just down the road are two launch pads and fuel storage facilities that support regular testing of SpaceX's rockets.
03:22To support the growing workforce, the company has invested in housing, a private school called Ad Astra, and a retail and dining complex known as Rio West.
03:32Rio West will include 11,000 square feet of retail space, a grocery store, several shops, and a cafe.
03:39The cost for that portion of the project is estimated at $8.9 million.
03:44Plans also call for a restaurant complex with a 3,500 square foot indoor dining area and a 930 square foot outdoor deck overlooking the Rio Grande River.
03:56An additional 2,500 square feet will be used for the kitchen and office space.
04:00The restaurant's total construction cost is projected at just over $6 million.
04:05Starbase looks a lot like a 21st century company town.
04:08SpaceX runs the housing, the school, the utilities, and now the local government.
04:13But it's not just Starbase.
04:15There's also the town of Snailbrook, which is located outside Austin, where Tesla and other companies that Musk owns are located.
04:22It's in Snailbrook where he first launched his Ad Astra Academy for preschool-aged children.
04:27Musk's plans for Snailbrook reportedly grew out of conversations with his ex Grimes and Kanye West
04:33to create a Texas utopia.
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05:56Drone pilot and Tesla tracker Joe Tettmeyer observed a growing number of unusual castings piling up outside GigaTexas.
06:03Tettmeyer's flyovers known for consistently tracking factory development show racks of components that don't match anything from the Model Y or Cybertruck lines.
06:13As of Monday, there were about 75 units visible in racks labeled RTTX, a likely shorthand for Robotaxi Texas.
06:22Industry analyst Luca Greco highlighted the significance of the RTTX markings and confirmed that the shape of the parts does not match any known production vehicle.
06:31Unlike the two-part castings used in the Model Y and Cybertruck, these appear to be one-piece units.
06:38That change could reflect a simpler structural approach optimized for high-speed assembly and lightweight design.
06:44Greco's analysis points out several new markings like ASCAST, which indicates the parts haven't been trimmed or machined yet,
06:51and W68RSF, which could mark a rear subframe component.
06:56He also notes that certain structural areas, like the inner wheel arch, appear to have been replaced with thinner, stamped sections instead of thick aluminum castings.
07:05All of this suggests a deliberate effort to reduce material usage, part count, and weight.
07:11Because they are smaller and flatter, Tesla can reportedly stack 10 of these castings per rack, twice as many with Model Y parts.
07:18These parts are likely a key piece of Tesla's unboxed production strategy, first introduced in 2023.
07:25Instead of assembling a car in sequence on a long line, the unboxed process builds the front, back, and sides of the vehicle in parallel,
07:32using large castings like these, and then joins them at the end.
07:37Musk said the process will be so fast that people can't even get close to it.
07:41The cybercab could eventually be built in less than 5 seconds, allowing Tesla to produce up to 2 million robotaxis per year, if demand proves strong enough.
07:50Weight and space optimization seem to be priorities.
07:53That makes sense for a ride-hailing vehicle that will operate all day, where every bit of energy saved increases range and reduces cost.
08:02Tesla's VP of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravey, confirmed that cybercab prototypes would begin this summer, with full-scale production planned for 2026.
08:10If the castings seen at Giga Texas are for prototype builds, Tesla is likely entering the early validation and test assembly phase right now.
08:19On April 29th, Dan Priestley, Tesla's semi-program lead, took the stage at the 2025 Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Las Vegas to deliver the most detailed update yet.
08:30The ACT Expo is North America's largest clean transportation event.
08:35Tesla used the opportunity to unveil new production lines, manufacturing upgrades, battery improvements, and real-world test results.
08:44Tesla is building a 1.7 million square foot manufacturing plant at Gigafactory Nevada just for producing semis.
08:51The factory will have the capability to produce 50,000 trucks per year.
08:56The exterior of the new Nevada factory is complete, and now Tesla is focused on installing internal systems and equipment.
09:03Initial trucks will roll out later this year, with production scheduled to ramp up through 2026.
09:09Tesla has hired over 1,000 workers to staff the new facility and plans to put early production vehicles into its own fleet before delivering to customers.
09:18They will offer two versions of the updated semi, a 300-mile standard model, and a 500-mile long-range variant.
09:25Priestley also introduced a new high-efficiency battery designed specifically for heavy-duty applications.
09:32The new high-performance battery offers a 7% improvement in efficiency and reduces overall vehicle weight.
09:38Critically, all battery cells for the semi are now sourced domestically in the U.S., and this will help Tesla sidestep any new tariffs while reducing supply chain disruptions.
09:49Another major feature unveiled is a 25-kilowatt electric power takeoff port at the rear of the truck.
09:56This allows the semi to directly power refrigerated trailers and auxiliary equipment, eliminating the need for separate diesel generators.
10:03This expands the semi's utility to support more specialized commercial loads beyond standard freight.
10:10The Tesla semi will use a new megawatt charging system capable of delivering up to 1.2 megawatts of power.
10:16By comparison, most Model 3s and Ys are capable of a max charging rate of 250 kilowatts, and even the Cybertruck tops out at 350 kilowatts.
10:26Using the MCS, the Tesla semi will get up to 400 miles of range out of a 30-minute charge.
10:31Tesla plans to launch a nationwide semi-charging network with 46 public megacharger sites and over 300 stalls by 2027.
10:40The semi fleet has already logged more than 7.9 million miles, 12.7 million kilometers, in testing.
10:47And at least 26 trucks in the fleet have now logged over 100,000 miles each.
10:52PepsiCo, Tesla's first customer, operates 21 trucks in Sacramento and has installed four 750-kilowatt on-site chargers.
11:00Their fleet mostly runs within a 100-mile radius of their home base.
11:06In one test, a Tesla semi completed over 1,050 miles in a single day.
11:11Initial speculation suggests that Tesla semis could cost less than half the cost of a diesel semi to operate,
11:17and one Redditor calculated that a 450-mile trip would cost just $125 in electricity,
11:25whereas the same route would require about $335 in diesel fuel.
11:31Priestley says the semi is designed to be easily swapped out for the diesel rigs presently on the road,
11:37same routes, same uptime, but with dramatically lower fuel and maintenance costs.
11:42Across garages and maker forums, old gas pumps are getting a second life as electric vehicle chargers.
11:49One project in Berkeley rewired a 1950s Flying A pump to deliver 7.4 kilowatts of charge,
11:56complete with analog dials repurposed to show kilowatt hours instead of gallons.
12:02In Germany, a DIY builder engineered a 22-kilowatt charger using open-source controllers and retro LED displays.
12:09Builders gut the fuel lines, install modern internals, and keep the steel shells intact.
12:15The look stays vintage, but the power is all-electric.
12:19Even commercial outfits are getting in on the action.
12:21Gamesroom Company now sells EV-ready replicas for nostalgic homeowners.
12:26One less relic, one more place to charge your Tesla.
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