ELON CHRON: Your 24hr Musk Companies Update (Patreon)

25th of April, 2025

"Waymo needs ”way mo” money to succeed..." - Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

■ TESLA $TSLA ($284.95, 9.80%):

- On Earth Day, an excited Denson White, Chief Commercial Officer at the APM Terminals at Pier 400, was with Joey Villareal of Lincoln Transportation Services and the first Tesla Semi put to work at the Port of Los Angeles. Per Denson, "New Tesla Semi-Trucks hitting the market! Got to check out the very 1st one moving containers at the Port of LA’s APM Terminals - Pier 400 Los Angeles! Our friends at Lincoln Transportation just performed their 1st drayage transaction at our terminal!"

Per Tesla Semi Lead Dan Priestley (@danWpriestley), "Electrifying port related trucking will help improve the health of those that live near the ports and the related freight corridors."

- Speaking of the Tesla Semi... new official @tesla_semi account!

- Tesla dropped a lot of incentives yesterday evening. Let's break them down:

• Free FSD transfer across the S3XY lineup including non-Foundation Cybertruck orders in North America. Launch Series Model Ys are excluding.

• New Model 3 qualifying orders can get 0% APR for 60 months, or .99% for 72 months. Orders must be placed on or after the 24th of April.

• Model 3 Performance: Deep Blue Metallic and Pearl White, plus white interior, are at no extra cost in the U.S. ($3,500 savings).

• Early Model Y Owners are getting offers of a $2,000 discount towards the purchase of a new Model Y.

- For Earth Week, Tesla China announced it will designate 50 Superchargers to be used free of charge 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the 26th of April.

- Fellow Rebellionaire, Kees Roelandschap (@KRoelandschap) discovered that Tesla secured a two-year exemption from Norwegian Road Authority, Statens vegvesen, to test FSD (Supervised) v13 on public roads. This allows Tesla to test FSD v13 with Tesla-trained drivers only and use modified steering and speed control with registered EU-type-approved vehicles. This is part of a strategy to gain EU-wide approval via Article 39. Tesla is already testing FSD in the Netherlands and there is a potential European Commission vote in May this year for a broader rollout.

- Minneapolis County Attorney Mary Moriarty declined to charge 33-year-old Dylan Adams for vandalizing six Teslas, causing $21,000 in damage, opting for a diversion program. On the same day, she charged a 19-year-old woman with no prior record with a first-degree felony for keying a single non-Tesla vehicle, causing $7,000 in damage. This inconsistent prosecutorial decisions seems highly suspect of political influence. Adams is a state employee, working for the Department of Human Services as a program consultant.

- John visited the Giga Nevada Semi Factory construction site and a Semi was potted at the UC David campus.

- Yesterday, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, introduced the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Automated Vehicle Framework that will expand the Automated Vehicle Exemption Program to include domestically produced autonomous vehicles (Tesla) oddly it was previously limited to imports. This will modernize Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, streamline regulations, and accelerate the safe commercial deployment of AVs. Go Robotaxi! Go Cybercab!

- Xavier Barbaro, Chairman & CEO at Neoen, just visited the new 200k sqm Megafactory in Shanghai. Per Xavier, "Tesla x China: what a powerful combination! And certainly a source of inspiration for those of us who aspire to the reindustrialization of Europe. Congratulations to Tesla for rapidly producing these magnificent Megapacks for Neoen, from A to Z. The first batch is ready to be shipped from Shanghai to Queensland."

- Tesla is at the Limburgs Auto Salon in the De Soeverein Arena in Lommel, Belgium! Pic by Tesla's Anass El Ghazouani.

- Yesterday, Washington state House Democrats passed House Bill 2077 in a 52-45 vote, imposing a 10% tax on Tesla’s revenue from selling carbon emission credits, which the bill claims creates an unfair “financial windfall” for Tesla. Tesla holds 54% of the state’s credits despite selling less than 10% of cars in 2024. The legislation is awaiting Senate approval and is projected to generate $78 million in two years and $400 million over four. Critics like Rep. Travis Couture argue it may increase zero-emission vehicle costs, potentially leading to more gas-powered vehicles.

- Business Insider is reporting that Tesla is using 300 test operators to drive the Robotaxi prototypes around Austin. They also Tesla has conducted a training event with Austin Police and Texas Department of Public Safety first responders to prepare for the launch. Elon also reposted Sawyer Merritt's post about this, basically confirming the story.

FLYOVERS (flight links in sources section):

• Giga Berlin: Tobias Lindh (@tobilindh), 25th of April, '25. Public rail station update and Phase 2 progress.

• Giga Texas: Brad Sloan, 24th of April, '25. Flags are at half-staff for the passing of the Pope. Considerable vehicles in outbound lot. Progress update for the Cortex Support Facility and groundwork for the 2nd Switch Yard.

■ SPACEX:

- Last night, launch 49 of Falcon 9 Starlink 6-74 took place from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. This was the 23rd flight for first stage booster B1069. It previously launched CRS-24, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F, OneWeb 1, SES-18 and SES-19, and 18 Starlink missions. The booster landed on drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. 28 Starlinks were deployed. This was the 475th mission of a Falcon 9 rocket! Ascent pic by John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos).

- At Starbase, new fire suppression system was installed on the Pad A Tower. Zack says it will be one or the other, but this will most likely be used to for both spraying down the tower before (maybe during) the booster's return for landing and extinguishing fires on the vehicle after touchdown.

Also, the Clamp Arms for Pad B's launch mount have started to be installed. Pic by @StarshipGazer.

- Starship 39, Launch Pad Pumps, Pad B Mount Legs, and Starship 37 progress in Mega Bay 2. Amazing shots around Starbase by the great and powerful Carlos, the Starbase Surfer (@cnunezimages).

- Latest pics of NASA's/SpaceX Crew-11. From right to left; Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Oleg Platonov, Pilot Mike Fincke, Commander Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Mission Specialist Kimiya Yui. Launch is scheduled for July. Pics by Ben Cooper (@LaunchPhoto).

Countdown to 180 (46 - Falcon 9, 0 - Falcon Heavy, and 2 - Starship):

• Launch 50! Sunday, 27th of April, at 1:55 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 11-9 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.

• Launch 51! Sunday, 27th of April, at 10:04 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 12-23 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 52! Monday, 28th of April, at 9:37 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 12-10 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 53! Wednesday, 30th of April, at 10:17 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 6-75 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 54! Thursday, 1st of May, at 11:40 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 15-3 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.

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■ THE BORING COMPANY: N/A... boring.

■ NEURALINK:

- The World BCI Forum (WBF) will welcome Neuralink's Neurosurgeon Dr. Andres Lozano as the Keynote Speaker. Per the WBF, "As the world’s most-cited neurosurgeon and a pioneer in deep brain stimulation (DBS) and functional neurosurgery, his work has reshaped the field and redefined what is possible in patient care. Dr. Lozano’s presence at our conference is more than symbolic — it represents the bridge between scientific innovation and patient impact. It is a privilege to learn from his insights." Dr. Lozano will now serve as the Chair of the Education & Research Committee of the WBF

■ STARLINK:

- This is Shona Prince Technologies' 2nd Starlink Retail Fulfillment Center for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region of Africa. Per Victor Mapunga, Founder & CEO Shona Prince Technologies, "Extensive work has started on filling up our 2nd Center. We are extremely aggressive about expansion and the growth of digital infrastructure in Africa."

- T-Mobile is reducing the price of its Starlink Direct-to-Cell service to $10 per month for customers on all carriers, down from $20. The commercial launch set for July of this year. The service has seen strong beta participation, including from AT&T and Verizon users via a downloadable eSIM. T-Mobile aims to stay competitive as AT&T and Verizon develop rival satellite services with AST SpaceMobile.

- Per Elon, "Doing my first tweet/post via Starlink was wild, now you can livestream without interruption."

- SpaceX has accused Echostar of failing to meet the 2 GHz spectrum deployment requirements by presenting evidence from a Starlink satellite’s spectrum analysis. The analysis showed low activity in Echostar’s bands across Alaska, and the Northeast and Western US. Echostar holds AWS-4 spectrum rights for satellite and 5G services, claiming they are in compliance with FCC’s 70% US population coverage mandate. This move by SpaceX could aim to access Echostar’s spectrum to alleviate Starlink’s US network congestion, potentially prompting the FCC to revise 2 GHz licensing for shared use favoring next-gen systems like Starlink.

- Zambia's SMART Zambia Institute launched the Girls in ICT Learn-a-Thon, a three-week program training schoolgirls in AI, cybersecurity, and data science, supported by 58 Starlink kits deployed to schools under the Ministry of Education to enhance e-learning access, as announced by Chief Government Technical Officer Kasali Musenge during International Girls in ICT Day.

■ X:

- I asked X's Jay Baxter (jaybaxter) if there was anyone at X still working on Articles. Didn't see a reply from Jay, but Elon did with, "That does need some love." I really hope someone jumps on that and we start to see more effort towards the publication side of X. I replied back to Elon by saying "IMO it is the most underrated underutilized part of X. Here are some ideas/suggestion I posted last year." I attached the above post I made last year.

- The new X Live tab in X Analytics by Zach Warunek (@ZachWarunek). Zach be shipping!

- Elon on post reach... "A barrage of posts results in lower average views per post, but perhaps higher total views of all your content. This is to avoid users getting too much content all at once from one account and getting annoyed. If they really want to see everything you post, they can switch to the Following tab."

- Also Elon, "To be clear, there is no explicit rule limiting the reach of links in posts. The algorithm tries (not always successfully) to maximize user-seconds on 𝕏, so a link that causes people to cut short their time here will naturally get less exposure. Best to post a text/image/video summary of what’s at the link for people to view and then decide if they want to click the link."

■ xAI:

- The Tennessee Concrete Association has awarded Delta Industries and Darana Hybrid the Artisan – Specialty Mix category for their work on the xAI project. "This standout pavement design shows just how creative and precise concrete work can be."

- Tonight, the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) of South Memphis is holding a public hearing to get the public's views about xAI's Colossus facility using gas turbines. The event is from 5-7 p.m. at the Fairley High School auditorium located at 4950 Fairley Road in Memphis. Link in the sources section.

■ DOGE:

Estimated Savings: $160 Billion

Amount Saved Per Taxpayer: $993.79

- The Secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, announced the cancelation of ineffective, over-budget IT contracts and 45 grants funding non-essential activities saving nearly $300 million. This included a study on "population consequences of the disturbance of humpback whales in the context of climate change".

- DOGE Update: Social Security has marked 11 million number-holders aged 120+ as deceased over the last 7 weeks. Here are the results:

• 2.7 million aged 120-129

• 3.4 million aged 130-139

• 4.4 million aged 140+ 1

1.4 million more to be updated by the 8th of May.

■ ELON NEWS: N/A...

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Have a great weekend, and go test drive a Tesla! Pic below of Tesla's Veronica of the Warsaw, Poland, Store

■ SOURCES:

FLYOVERS:

• Giga Berlin: Tobias Lindh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60dlBmXUNLo

• Giga Texas: Brad Sloan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmSHXFFyKp4

SpaceX:

• Starlink Mission 6-74

Starlink:

• https://www.pcmag.com/news/t-mobile-lowers-price-for-cellular-starlink-as-satellite-competition-heats

• https://techafricanews.com/2025/04/25/schoolgirls-get-starlink-powered-ict-training-in-zambia/

xAI:

• https://www.shelbytnhealth.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=480

Elon News:

• Elon Quote: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1915814968252912063