Elon Chron: Your 24hr Musk Companies Update (Patreon)

4th of March, 2025

"Be careful what you wish for..." - Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

■ TESLA $TSLA ($272.04, -4.43%):

- The new Model Y deconstructed on display at Giga Texas's west main entrance. Pic by Tesla's Miguel Flores.

- Tesla's three insurance carrier subsidiaries reported a collective net underwriting loss of $42 million for the first nine months of 2024 across 12 states. Tesla Property & Casualty (Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Texas, Utah) nearly doubled its premiums. Tesla General Insurance (Nevada, Oregon, Virginia) saw a 78% premium increase. Both improved underwriting performance year-over-year. Tesla Insurance Company (California) generated $106 million in written premiums and $45 million in earned premiums but posted a $33 million underwriting loss. Tesla’s State National program (California, Illinois, Arizona, Ohio) produced $654 million in premiums, up 69% from the prior year. Tesla is encouraging policyholders to switch to its California carrier.

- Steak 'n Shake (@SteaknShake) posted that they would welcome a partnership with Tesla to provide drive-in movies and 50s styled diners.

- In Littleton, Massachusetts, fire officials are investigating an arson fire on the local Supercharger where seven chargers burned. A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information that helps to solve the case. Information can be shared with the Arson Watch Reward Program Hotline at 1-800-682-9229. Video by Jonathan Hall (@JHall7news).

- Powerwall 3 is now available in South Africa.

- Tesla Semi spotted in California. Video by Rick Emshoff on TikTok.

- Today, Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick ruled in favor of Tesla in the Donald Ball v. Tesla, Inc. case, rejecting a stockholder challenge to Tesla’s reincorporation from Delaware to Texas. The plaintiff argued that the move required 66% or 2/3 of shareholder votes under Tesla’s charter, but only 63% approved. Adopting reasoning from Gunderson v. Trade Desk, Inc., McCormick granted summary judgment to Tesla on this claim, affirming the redomestication. Partial final judgment was entered, though other issues in the case may persist.

- Surprise! Model Y Performance testing. Pic by Reddit u/JONNILIGHTNIN.

- Tesla China sold 30,688 vehicles in February, down 49% YoY and down 51.5% month to month. Though this looks bad, keep in mind that production slowed for the introduction on the new Model Y.

- Tesla partnered with the Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative (GVEC) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to expand its Virtual Power Plant (VPP) program in South-Central Texas. The initiative, part of ERCOT's Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource (ADER) pilot, has already registered 17 MW of generation capacity from Tesla Powerwall customers, with GVEC offering its Peak-Time Payback (PTP) program to allow participants to sell stored electricity back to the grid.

- Cool video by Tesla Owners GA (@Rocket__Mac) from his trip to Giga Texas. Appears to be testing of Cybertruck steer-by-wire.

- Australia's Electric Vehicle Council shows that Tesla sold only 1,592 vehicles in February, down from 5,665 YoY. For the first two months of the 2025, Tesla sold 2,331, down from 6,772 YoY.

- Two Tesla Semis spotted by Sydney Krueger in Washoe County.

- I just heard about this, but last month on the 14th,, 44 wheels were stolen off of 11 Teslas stored near an Amazon Warehouse at 2455 Tuscan Lakes Blvd in League City, Texas. The League City Police Department has noted that Sentry Mode on the Teslas’ provided no footage due to the cars being powered off. There are currently no suspect leads. If you got a tip call 281-554-1860 or Crime Stoppers at 409-945-8477.

- Oracle's Head of Product Marketing, Shane Ruiz, is at the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Spain, with their Oracle Local Government Cybertruck connected with Oracle Communications. Over 130,000 attendees will see this truck. Per Shane, "This is more than just technology, it’s about seamless, secure, and unstoppable connectivity that empowers agencies to respond faster, communicate better, and save lives. And what better way to showcase it than with our Cybertruck?!"

FLYOVERS (flight links in sources section):

• Giga Texas: Brad Sloan, 4th of March, '25.

■ SPACEX:

- SpaceX scrubbed Flight yesterday, but just look at as a Wet Dress Rehearsal. They found some issues that need to be corrected. The launch date is tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. CT. Today they destacked to make the corrections and should restack soon. Per Elon, "Too many question marks about this flight and then we were 20 bar low on ground spin start pressure. Best to destack, inspect both stages and try again in a day or two." Pics by Richard P Gallagher (@rpg571) and Base Camp Zero (@clwphoto1).

- Great shot of SpaceX deploying the the Buoys Cams in the Indian Ocean.

- Per SpaceX's Jon Edwards (@edwards345), "People - especially the media - often claim that Elon isn’t deeply involved in his companies and doesn’t deserve credit for their success. This couldn’t be further from the truth. While he obviously can’t personally solve every issue, he relentlessly focuses on the biggest, most critical problems, often staying hands-on 24/7 until they’re resolved (or until an even bigger challenge demands his attention). Anyone who’s worked with him for more than a few years can attest to this firsthand."

- During the pre-flight show, SpaceX showed us a render of the Gigabay for the Roberts Road facility in Florida. The also published an update about the upcoming project. Link is in the sources section. Per Gwynne Shotwell (@Gwynne_Shotwell), "Really big things are coming to Florida!" Per Kiko Dontchev (@TurkeyBeaver), "So excited to finally show off what the SpaceX team has cooking in Florida. It’s time to scale Starship at the Cape!"

Today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially announced SpaceX's $1.8 billion expansion of its Starship operations. Per Ron, "Florida is the present and future of the space industry with leading space companies—like SpaceX—investing in the Free State of Florida." Along with the Gigabay and expansion of the Roberts Road Facility, roadwork widening Saturn Causeway by nearly 8 feet will be included to support transporting Starship and Super Heavy Boosters. Per Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared W. Perdue, "SpaceX’s investment in Florida is a major victory for our state and the future of the space industry."

- Starship 38 production inside the Starfactory. Pic by the great and powerful Carlos, the Starbase Surfer (@cnunezimages).

Countdown to 180 (26 - Falcon 9, 0 - Falcon Heavy, and 1 - Starship):

• Launch 29! Wednesday, 5th of March, at 1:00 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 12-21 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 28! Wednesday, 5th of March, at 5:30 p.m. CT, Starship 34 Super Heavy Booster 15 (Flight 8) will launch from Orbital Launch Mount A at SpaceX Starbase, Texas. The booster will return to the launch site and caught by the Tower A. Starship 34 will do a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

• Launch 30! Thursday, 6th of March, at 7:09 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 SPHEREx & PUNCH will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will return to Vandenberg and land at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4).

• Launch 31! Friday, 7th of March, at 6:00 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 11-7 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land of droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.

• Launch 32! Saturday, 8th of March, at 8:41 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 12-16 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 33! Saturday, 8th of March, at 10:39 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Transporter 13 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will return to Vandenberg and land at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4).

• Launch 34! Wednesday, 12th of March, at 7:48 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Crew-10 will launch from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The booster will return to Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Crew Dragon Endurance will take U.S Commander Anne McClain, U.S. Pilot Nichole Ayers, Russian Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov, and Japanese Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi to the ISS and replace Crew 9 members Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov and Starliner members Barry E. Wilmore and Sunita Williams. This is the tenth crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the ISS as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

■ THE BORING COMPANY:

- Las Vegas Director of Economic and Urban Development, Dina Babsky, recently toured The Boring Company’s Vegas Loop and Command Center. "I got to see how this technology could support our city’s commitment to innovation and smart growth. As Las Vegas continues to expand and attract global investment, projects like this highlight why our city is a hub for forward-thinking infrastructure and economic development."

■ NEURALINK: N/A...

■ STARLINK:

- Yesterday, we were given an unprecedented look inside the Starlink Factory in Bastrop, Texas. Alexandra Noe and John Federspiel, both Senior Directors of Starlink production, both stated that SpaceX produces 15,000 dishes per day, with Federspiel specifying this figure applies to the Standard kits. Do what about Mini, Maritime, Aviation, HP, ect? These non-standard units account for an estimated 30-35% increase over standard production. So are we actually looking closer to 20,000 per day? An annual run rate of 7 million dishes rather than the 5.5 million? Either way, WOW!

- At the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Spain, today, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Major General Hafeezur Rehman and SpaceX's Ryan Goodnight (@ryangoodnight) stated that the registration process for Starlink is underway.

- Digis Squared, a telecom of London, met with the Starlink team at MWC 2025. "Great discussions with SpaceX. It was a pleasure connecting with the Starlink team to explore connectivity and telecom innovation opportunities. As the demand for reliable, high-speed connectivity grows, collaborations like these are key to driving the future of global communication. Looking forward to what’s next!"

- FSMT Cable Corp has successfully installed and activated the Starlink Gateway on Kosrae Island in the Caroline Islands archipelago, and state within the Federated States of Micronesia. The commissioning ceremony was led by FSM Vice President Aren Palik and Kosrae Governor Tulensa Palik.

■ X:

- X Devs (@XDevelopers) will hold an X Spaces tomorrow at 11 a.m. PT to teach how you can migrate to the new Media Upload endpoints in the X API v2.

- X for iOS will soon let you sort your timeline by Popular New, Popular All, Popular Day, Popular Week, Popular Month, Popular Year, My Posts, and My Replies. H/T Aaron (@aaronp613).

- Aaron also found that X will soon add a popup to user profiles that are not Verified. It only displays once, and the popup will not return for a while if you click to dismiss it.

- Community Notes has implemented an update to reduce note visibility fluctuations by extending the preview period for notes with promising scores but high flip potential. This allows more contributor ratings before displaying them platform-wide.

■ xAI:

- Grok-3, specifically the "grok-3-preview-02-24" model, though tied for first, topped the Chatbot Arena leaderboard passing Chat-GPT 4.5 by one point. It outperformed in hard prompts, coding, math, creative writing, instruction following, and longer queries. Grok-3 had 3,364 votes. GPT had 3,242. Per Elon, "We had an ace up our sleeve at xAI. Turns out to be just enough to hold first place! Upgrades are in work to address presentation quality/style vs competition. That will shift ELO meaningfully higher."

■ DOGE:

- DOGE estimated savings is not at a total of $105 billion, an average of $652 per taxpayer.

- According to DOGE, the Office of Personnel Management, with approximately 2,500 employees, allocated $370 million for IT expenditures in fiscal year 2025. They estimate that this amount could be decreased by roughly 80% without compromising the current quality of service. Preliminary cost-saving measures include:

• $1.9M for studies on quantum cryptography and quantum response readiness

• $1.5M for support on a "large number of OPM-wide AI proof-of-concepts and pilots"

• $364k for 1,000 unused cybersecurity software licenses -$121k in unused Zoom licenses

- The Inter-American Foundation has been reduced to its statutory minimum (1 active employee). The following grants have been cancelled:

• $903,811 for alpaca farming in Peru

• $364,500 to reduce social discrimination of recyclers in Bolivia

• $813,210 for vegetable gardens in El Salvador

• $323,633 to promote cultural understanding of Venezuelan migrants in Brazil

• $731,105 to improve marketability of mushrooms and peas in Guatemala

• $677,342 to expand fruit and jam sales in Honduras

• $483,345 to improve artisanal salt production in Ecuador

• $39,250 for beekeeping in Brazil

■ ELON NEWS:

- Per Jon Stewart on an Elon conversation unedited, "That’s actually how the in-studio interviews normally air. Unedited. As a matter of fact, let me sweeten or unsweeten the pot. The interview can be 15 minutes, an hour, two hours, whatever,” said the late-night host. “I’ll be honest, I don’t think this network makes any other programming. So we can do whatever the fuck we want." This would totally break the internet!

■ SUBSCRIBERS:

I am giving away the Tesla Cyberbeast Trucker Hat for March! Like always, one random subscriber's name will be drawn at the end of the month. Good luck!

Also, if you are interested in getting Tesla products, please use my referral. You can get up to a $2,500 discount. ts.la/stephen746292

Have a great day!

■ SOURCES:

FLYOVERS:

• Giga Texas: Brad Sloan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUPJG-fTn2I

Tesla:

• https://www.wcvb.com/article/tesla-supercharger-fire-littleton-investigation/64018767

• https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/league-city-tesla-wheels-theft-20201543.php

• https://coverager.com/tesla-releases-financials-for-carrier-subsidiaries/

• https://aboutblaw.com/bho7

• https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-expand-virtual-power-plant-texas/

SpaceX:

• https://www.spacex.com/updates/#building-starship

Elon News:

• Elon Quote: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1897003882779382207