Want to Know: Your Daily Musk Companies Update (Patreon)

20th of January, 2025

"I'm going to work my ass off for you guys..." - Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

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FYI: With the Texas Freeze hitting tonight, I might not be able to provide the update tomorrow if the power goes out. I will keep you informed.

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■ TESLA $TSLA ($426.50, +3.06%):

- When older brother makes sure you are on the right path. Model S monitoring a Cybercab testing at Giga Texas. Pic by Joe Tegtmeyer.

- Energy Solutions Group (ESG) from Heusden-Zolder has secured financing of 85 million euros for an 82 Megapack 75MW (300MWh) site at a former cement factory in the Hainaut village of Harmignies, near Mons, France. ESG is still working on a second battery project in Wallonia.

- Tesla is finally implementing Ultra-wideband (UWB) support for Android! Ultra-wideband allows for much more accurate phone tracking which helps enable a more reliable phone key and the touchless trunk feature we have yet to use. But here is the catch, it is being reported to only work with 2024 Model 3 and later, only the 2025 Model Y, 2021 Model S and later, 2021 Model X and later, and Cybertruck... W T H!

- Tesla Philippines held secondary grand opening ceremony of their first Service Center. This event was attended by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Marcos. Per Marcos, "With plans to expand further, Tesla is building a generation of Filipinos equipped to lead in the global shift towards sustainable technologies such as this. It is our fervent hope that Tesla might one day choose to manufacture its vehicles in the Philippines. No one is more excited than I am at this launching of the Tesla Center in the Philippines. As many people know, I’m a bit of a motorhead." He pushed the nation’s commitment to sustainability via the Comprehensive Roadmap for the Electric Vehicle Industry. It aims for EVs to account for 50% of market share by 2040. This location at Taguig City will be Tesla headquarters in the country.

- Club Tesla Quebec (@clubteslaquebec) is at the Montreal International Auto Show with the S3XY lineup and Cybertrucks on display. The will be there until the 26th of January. Pics by Nat Roy (@gadgetnat3).

- Per The Limiting Factor (@LimitingThe), over the past three years, Tesla has conducted multiple trials for LFP cathode material, crucial for battery manufacturing. A key trial involved a 100-ton batch, capable of producing 15-20 MWh, sufficient for hundreds of vehicles. Yulong Liu, a Senior Materials Engineer at Tesla from 2022-2023, managed these trials, which included four pilot tests and one major production test. These efforts suggest Tesla's ability to make LFP battery cells in-house, potentially including prismatic cells in Nevada and 4680 cells in Austin. The tests used two methods: one similar to Tesla's Battery Day presentation and patent disclosures, and another akin to techniques from top Chinese manufacturers for benchmarking.

- Raphael (@ElectricRaph) was on his way to Paris and stopped at the beautiful Roye France Supercharger Lounge. "Super dope!"

- In Japan, You can get 5 years of free Supercharging if you purchase a new Model 3 or Model Y and take delivery by the 31st of March.

- The Tesla App update has references to a Tesla Diner UI hidden in it. There is a 'DinerHomeScreen', 'profile_settings_diner_description', 'View menu & amenities', and and image of the Diner. This really cool! Will Tesla owners be able to order food and access amenities directly from the app? H/T @DriveTeslaca

- Discounts on New inventory Model Ys and Cybertrucks are in effect.

• Model Y: LR RWD are up to $3,270 off. LR AWD are up to $5,830 off. Performance are up to $6,330 off.

• Cybertruck: Discounts are up to $2,110 off. Demo Cybertruck discounts are up to $3,560 off.

FLYOVERS (flight links in sources section):

• Giga Texas: Joe Tegtmeyer (@JoeTegtmeyer), 19th of January, '25. Cybercab testing, Megapack foundation work, asphalt paving at end-of line, and much more. Subscribe to Joe and support his work!

• Giga Nevada Semi Factory: Zanegler (@HinrichsZane), 19th of January, '25. Great close up view around the factory in this flight. Awesome view of the Press Pit! Subscribe to Zane and support his work!

• Giga Texas and Bastrop: Airwave Dynamics (@AirwaveDynamics), 19th of January, '25. AD flew over Giga Texas and all of Elon's facilities in Bastrop. Check out those sections below.

• Giga Berlin: Tobias Lidhn (@tobilindh), 18th of January, '24. Graffiti painting continues. Phase 2 construction progress and a new overpass is being constructed for the new train station.

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■ SPACEX:

- Per President Donald Trump today at the inauguration, "We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars by launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars." Check Elon's reaction. Love it!

- 39 year old Yinpiao Zhou allegedly flew a drone around Vandenberg Space Force Base on the 30t of November when SpaceX launched a Starshild mission for US National Reconnaissance Office. Investigators traveled to Ocean Park where they confronted Zhou and another individual. Zhou lied and he saw a drone but not its pilot. The drone was soon found inside his jacket. Later Zhou admitted he flew his drone from the park to take photographs of Vandenberg, and admitted that he had downloaded specific software onto the drone to bypass the drone’s built-in restrictions to prevent it from taking off and flying in no-fly zones. Zhou further admitted that he knew taking photographs of the space contractor facility was "probably not a good idea."

- The water cooled pipes for the Flame Trench at Tower 2 are being installed. The chopsticks carriage for Tower 2 were positioned and leveled on Saturday. Pic above and below by @StarshipGazer.

- And last night, Tower 2's Chopsticks were moved to the pad. Executing! Can't wait to see the new Chopsticks mounted.

- Super Heavy Booster 14 rolled back to the production site on Saturday.

- Starship 34 left Massey's Outpost after undergoing its cryo-testing. It is back in Mega Bay 2 preparing for more tests prior to Flight 8. Pic by Carlos, the Starbase Surfer (@cnunezimages).

- SpaceX Dragon recovery vessel Shannon has arrived at its new home; the Port of Long Beach, California.

Countdown to 180 (8 - Falcon 9, 0 - Falcon Heavy, and 1 - Starship):

• Launch 10! Tuesday, 21st of January, at 12:24 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 13-1 will launch from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

• Launch 11! Tuesday, 21st of January, at 7:24 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 11-8 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. 27 Starlink V2 minis are to be deployed.

• Launch 12! Friday, 24th of January, at 5:54 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 11-6 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.

• Launch 13! Friday, 24th of January, at 5:45 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 10-12 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

• Launch 14! Tuesday, 28th of January, at 11:00 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 SpainSat NG I will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. This is the first of two new-generation satellites built by Airbus to provide secure communications to the Spanish government, its allies, and various international organizations.

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■ THE BORING COMPANY:

- On Saturday the Boring Company officially opened the Westgate Station of the Vega LOOP.

- Here are the latest images of The Boring Company HQ in Bastrop, Texas. From Airwave Dynamics (@AirwaveDynamics) flyover.

- Airwave Dynamics also hit up Giga Texas. As we can see, the Stainless Steel cladding for the Cyber-Tunnel exit is complete. The front Cyber-lightbar is running as well.

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■ NEURALINK: N/A...

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■ STARLINK:

- João Victor Veiga, Telemetry & Connectivity at Komatsu Forrest Brazil, with is team as they get Starlink to support their work.

- Starlink is now active in the island country of Tuvalu. They are the 120th active country and are located in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia.

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■ X:

- X has launched an immersive new home tab for videos in the US. Not sure if this only on iOS. If not, it is slowly rolling out so keep checking.

- X jumped head first into Inauguration Weekend in Washington DC. They held an event in partnership with Uber and The Free Press. They kicked things off with Bari Weiss chatting with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson for her podcast.

X's Romina Khananisho (@khananisho) with Speaker Johnson and X CEO Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) mingling at the The Free Press Party with the likes of Lex Fridman (@lexfridman) and Jason Calacanis (@Jason). Per Linda, "You can't understate the significance of 𝕏 in DC. All 100 U.S. Senators are on 𝕏, engaging with constituents and having dialogue in public. About half (47%) of people in the city check 𝕏 every single day, making it a daily ritual."

- The latest images of the X Safety and Moderation facility next to the Boring Bodega in Bastrop, Texas. Pics by Airwave Dynamics.

- Elon says X is looking into re-activating Vines.

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■ xAI:

- xAI's Greg Yang (@TheGregYang) posted that they are modernizing the Grok tab so that it will "recommend cool things you can do with Grok and surface interesting things you might want to know." The first update has shipped.

- It looks like the Grok App is finally coming to Android soon. Some users in certain countries can per-register. Australia for sure. The link is in the sources section.

- The Grok iOS app is now live in Japan.

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■ ELON NEWS:

- The most powerful businessmen in the world sat together at President Donald Trump's inauguration.

- Elon, Shivon Zilis (@shivon), Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump), and Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) talking prior to President Donald Trump's remarks during a Inauguration Candlelight dinner at the Building Museum in Washington DC.

- Elon met with China's Vice President Han Zheng in Washington DC on Sunday. Per Han, "I welcome Tesla and other U.S. companies to seize the opportunities and share in the benefits of China's development, and contribute to the growth of China-U.S. economic and trade relations." Other U.S. business community members were on hand. Elon said that Tesla is willing to deepen investment and cooperation in China and play an active role in promoting U.S.-China economic and trade exchanges.

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■ ANNOUNCEMENTS:

- If you are a user Android and got access to the Grok App, please let me know. Would love to hear your feedback.

- For January, I will be giving a limited edition 'Find Me In Deep Space' Tesla Hat to a lucky subscriber! This commemorates the launch of Elon's Roadster and Starman aboard the Falcon Heavy on the 6th of February, 2018. Instead of credits like now, Tesla gave this out in limited capacity if you referred a Tesla purchase. Subscribe here to support and be eligible.

- If you are interested in getting a new Tesla, use my Referral to get $1,000 off the purchase. ts.la/stephen746292

Thanks for reading! Please repost and spread the news.

Have a great day!

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■ SOURCES:

FLYOVERS:

• Giga Texas: Joe Tegtmeyer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S-0kTtB8o4

• Giga Nevada: Zanegler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s2cVURT6hU

• Giga Texas, Starlink Facility, X Facility, Boring Company HQ: Airwave Dynamics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gZehV6Ti00

• Giga Berlin: Tobias Lindh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YI-mUebpOw

Tesla:

• https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/milieu-energie/esg-start-bouw-van-batterijpark-van-85-miljoen-euro/10582613.html

• https://www.notateslaapp.com/news/2497/tesla-to-add-ultra-wideband-support-for-android-hands-free-trunk-opening-and-improved-phone-key

xAI:

• Grok Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.x.grok

Elon Quote: https://x.com/teslaownersSV/status/1881434864635044164