When we first started the Musk Reads newsletter in 2017, we wanted to give smart, curious readers like you essential reporting on commercial space, electric cars, clean energy, and more. 

Now, I’m excited to share our next chapter — HORIZONS, a brand new, completely free newsletter that expands our reporting on the innovation…

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Musk quote of the week:

“The limbic instinct for vengeance is incredibly strong, which is why turn the other cheek is such a powerful idea” — Elon Musk tweeted on March 18, perhaps as a general rule of thumb. I guess Putin DMed him a picture of his bicep, or something.

Tesla: Another master plan

Elon Musk is working on writing Tesla’s third Master Plan, which historically outlines some of Tesla’s core company values and goals for the foreseeable future. The second Master Plan, which Tesla posted on its website on July 20, 2016, indicated that Tesla’s primary goals were to create solar roofs, expand the EV “product line to address all major segments,” develop “10X safer” self-driving, and “enable your car to make money for you when you aren't using it.” Arguably, Tesla has only accomplished one of those goals (the roof part), but, hey, every vision board needs updating.

In his tweet describing what he plans to put in Master Plan three, Musk wrote that he’ll also be including “sections about SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company,” leading some fans to speculate that Musk is consolidating his businesses. Musk hasn’t directly addressed the theory, but perhaps his Master Plan will provide more insight.

In smaller Tesla news… 

• Musk suggests the Supercharger network is expanding

• Model X five seater deliveries have begun!

SpaceX: Big boom

SpaceX truly just keeps launching more and more Starlink — this time, a whopping 53 satellites launched from sleepy Cape Canaveral around 12:43 a.m. Eastern on March 19.

SpaceX wrote on Twitter that the flight was “the first time a Falcon 9 first stage has launched and landed 12 times.” 

“Also the heaviest Falcon 9 payload at 16.25 metric tons,” Musk added.

SpaceX has concentrated its efforts on Starlink recently, but there’s variety on the horizon. Axiom Space’s SpaceX mission to the International Space Station will occur no earlier than April 3, SpaceX’s Crew-4 mission will occur no earlier than April 19, and Musk says Starship’s orbital flight will happen in “hopefully May.”

We wanted to give a heartfelt thank you to all of our readers! Let’s welcome some of our newest Musk Reads members:

Forefrnite, Cowboy Thumper, Steve, Steph K., A. Johns, Faith K., Stephen B., G. Merkeley, Juan P., Raymond, Ryan S., P.H., Dave S., Big Green Frog, D.J., Frederic B., P. Tupsy, Stefano F., Wyliam H., N. Fiertel, Kiran H., Maxime E., Martin F., David L., T. Clarks, Pehr M., Judydene K.

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10. About Green Hills Software, Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that the company has “no idea how hard FSD is. Only path to success imo is hardcore real-world AI software with dedicated NN inference acceleration ASICs in car, multibillion dollar NN training supercluster and 10+ billion miles of vehicle data.” It’s no-bars criticism, but in the end, he did add a “Good luck.” How thoughtful!

9. Speaking of thoughtful, it seems like Musk is ready to go full gamer — he mentioned on Twitter (though facetiously) that he might start playing League of Legends, the massively popular online game that debuted a similarly successful spinoff show in 2021. Now, League is releasing a book. Gamers love books.

8. Some things are better left to video games. For example, in real life, you shouldn’t drive your Tesla so fast that it becomes airborne, flies through an intersection, then demolishes two parked cars and a bunch of garbage cans on the landing. Thanks so much.

7. Sorry, real quick — did you know that the Save the Children Fund straps solar panels onto camels’ backs to help them deliver tablets filled with reading material to children in Ethiopia’s Somali Region? Now you do.

6. Musk just flew to Berlin in his private jet. We know this because privacy does not exist.

5. Maybe leave the private jet at home next time. According to Reuters, “German companies have signed agreements with firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to build up a hydrogen supply chain” in order to “cut carbon emissions and reduce its reliance on Russian energy.” OMG Germany is sooo alternative.

4. Russian astronauts wore Ukraine’s national colors, blue and gold, as they entered the International Space Station during a livestream event. It’s unclear whether the color choice was intentional.

3. Internet startup Aquarian Space received $650,000 in seed funding to equip the Earth, Moon, and Mars with broadband. Uh, same. Can I have $650,000?

2. Wow, I’m so glad we’re working on having broadband on Mars, which might not (yet) be able to support human life. I can’t wait to stream the Real Housewives and not asphyxiate or anything like that. Only seven years to go, says Musk.

1. And a piece of Musk history: So, back to the whole Elon-Musk-beating-up-Putin thing. Musk recently updated his original Twitter thread with a response to a naysayer. He shared an action shot of the time in (presumably) 2014 where he squared off against a sumo wrestler. Musk wrote that he managed “to throw him, but it cost me smashing my c5-c6 disc & 8 years of mega back pain! Finally fixed with c5-c6 disc fusion.” The price you pay for glory.

The ultra-fine print

This has been Musk Reads #290, the weekly rundown of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. I’m Ashley Bardhan, newsletter writer at Inverse.

• Email Ashley directly at ashleybardhan@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter at @ashleybardhan.

• Follow Inverse on Twitter at @inversedotcom.

• Have thoughts on today’s newsletter? Send us your questions and feedback at muskreads@inverse.com.

Musk Reads+ is a fully independent operation. We are not Elon Musk, nor are we employed by him. Our job is to report the events we find worthy of a story, giving you an inside look at the worlds of space rockets, electric cars, clean energy, and more. It means firsthand accounts of a SpaceX rocket launch, Tesla insights from third-party analysts, and more. 

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And for our premium subscribers — last week, you heard from Harvard University professor Jill Lepore about the ideology of "Muskism." This week, you’ll hear from Tesla Solar Roof owner Beth Parrish about how the product helped her avoid soaring gas prices.

Musk quote of the week:

“Always worth reading about the many civilizations that have risen and fallen … lessons we should take to heart.” — Elon Musk tweeted on March 13. Mhm. Do those same lessons apply to Mars colonies? 

Tesla: Inflation nation

Elon Musk has spent the past few days posting offensive Twitter memes and making inflammatory attempts to win Ukraine’s heart, but in terms of his companies, all is quiet on the Muskian front. 

The biggest news — that Tesla and SpaceX are affected by inflation — isn’t very big at all since everything in the world happens to also be affected by inflation, but Musk’s discussion of it might be an indication of price increases and production delays. 

Elsewhere, Tesla’s Full-Self Driving Beta 10.11’s release notes were leaked anonymously on March 13, and Teslarati comments that they seem to indicate “a number of critical improvements for the advanced driver-assist software.” Some highlights include an improved “creeping profile,” improved precision of vulnerable road users (VRU) (meaning the software will want to murder cyclists less), and improved detection and control for open car doors.

SpaceX: Also inflation

SpaceX has been concentrating its efforts on Ukraine and Starlink — its most recent Starlink launch was Wednesday, March 9, when it deployed 48 satellites from Florida. 

Hopefully, SpaceX can use this public downtime to focus on enjoying how far the company has come since its founding on March 14, 2002. Happy 20th birthday, SpaceX!

We wanted to give a heartfelt thank you to all of our readers! Let’s welcome some of our newest Musk Reads members:

S. Darmody, M. Parcells, Tovar, Leif N., Em D., Ahmet K., Terri L., J. Hubbard, Kathy E., Barker J., Glendelport, Benjamin, Kevin, Zak, Abinc, M. Tapes, Mick M., Bob O., Angelica V., Pete P., Tabeles, Mike H., Free Range Pig, Saran P., Pat, D.J., Stephen L., R. Derek, Jaguar

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10. As far as I can tell, Elon Musk genuinely challenged Vladimir Putin to a duel on Twitter. The prize is Ukraine. “Did you think this through?” one concerned Twitter user asked. “I am absolutely serious,” replied Musk. There are so many layers to this that make my brain explode. The richest man in the world fighting a war-mongering despot would be a fantastic political cartoon. Maybe you could even get an Adult Swim cartoon out of it. But determining a country's fate through a bizarre display of wealth and physical strength is too depressing to exist in real life. 

9. If playing G.I. Joe IRL doesn’t work, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is raising money to build a rocket that will send Putin to Jupiter. (The money is actually going to the Ukraine army and rebuilding efforts).

8. After another breakup, the mother of two Musk babies and musician Grimes is reportedly dating whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Good for them.

7. Also, comedian and target of Kanye West’s ire Pete Davidson is scheduled to fly on Blue Origin’s fourth passenger flight. Good for him.

6. I need to recuperate from the last few things listed in today’s countdown with some pie. Thank God it’s Pi Day. Scientific American suggests a way to celebrate.

5. NASA is collecting civilian names to store on a flash drive which will “fly aboard Artemis I.” Add your name here.

4. And the NASA Tournament Lab wants you to figure out if Mars has ever had “environmental conditions that could have supported life.” The Mars Spectrometry challenge asks participants to “build a model to automatically analyze mass spectrometry data collected for Mars exploration” — the first place prize is $15,000, and the competition wraps on April 18. America’s Next Top Mars Exploration.

3. Future Mars settlers might end up farming oxygen. There’s reactive oxygen hidden in Martian soil.

2. SpaceX’s presence in Cameron County has led to a booming housing market and a bonafide case of Musk fever (murals and SpaceX-themed burgers abound), but some longtime residents question how beneficial its presence will be in the long run. They’re being priced out of their neighborhood. 

1. And a piece of Musk history: Musk has never been safe from inflation, and Tesla prices have routinely risen to reflect that. In 2013, Tesla posted a blog explaining the 2013 Model S price increase. “Increasing prices on an annual basis is standard practice in the automobile industry and almost every industry for that matter,” wrote then-Vice President George Blankenship.

The ultra-fine print

This has been Musk Reads #289, the weekly rundown of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. I’m Ashley Bardhan, newsletter writer at Inverse.

• Email Ashley directly at ashleybardhan@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter at @ashleybardhan.

• Follow Inverse on Twitter at @inversedotcom.

• Have thoughts on today’s newsletter? Send us your questions and feedback at muskreads@inverse.com.

Musk Reads+ is a fully independent operation. We are not Elon Musk, nor are we employed by him. Our job is to report the events we find worthy of a story, giving you an inside look at the worlds of space rockets, electric cars, clean energy, and more. It means firsthand accounts of a SpaceX rocket launch, Tesla insights from third-party analysts, and more. 

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And for our premium subscribers — last week, you heard from Jeroen Cappaert, Spire chief technology officer and co-founder, to find out more about how the company is helping to clear up space debris. This week, you’ll hear from Harvard University professor Jill Lepore about the ideology of "Muskism."

Musk quote of the week:

“You are my favorite hello, / And my hardest goodbye.” — Elon Musk tweeted on March 7 at 2:49 a.m. Eastern time. It doesn’t seem like commenters know who Musk is referring to in the tweet, and Musk himself hasn’t given any hints. I can only assume the tweet is about Musk Reads.

Tesla: Defeating traffic

Musk’s past few days marked another tweet-spree, but this one focused mostly on discussing various big-picture questions and offering his solution to them. One big theme was traffic, which Musk wrote on March 6 “is the ultimate boss battle. Even the most powerful humans in the world cannot defeat traffic.”

Musk also emphasized his belief that fully autonomous vehicles and tunnels will help alleviate traffic, though the Boring Company’s Tesla tunnel in Las Vegas is also afflicted by soul-sucking traffic. 

In any case, Musk has thoughts. That same day, Musk mused about Tesla making an A.I. “vision device that plugs into these legacy traffic lights. It could just look at traffic & automatically maximize throughput.” Earlier, Musk had wrote that even “some of the best AI software engineers in the world don’t realize how advanced Tesla AI has become.” So, what do you say — are you ready for Tesla Traffic? 

SpaceX: Jamming Starlink

Musk also shared an important Starlink update on March 4, tweeting that SpaceX has “reprioritized to cyber defense & overcoming signal jamming,” which will “cause slight delays in Starship & Starlink V2.” 

As a reminder, Starlink is currently operational in Ukraine, and Musk describes terminals near conflict zones as being susceptible to jamming “for several hours at a time.” 

Controversially, Musk has also taken a hard stance against blocking Russian news sources, which he says “some governments” have asked him to do. “We will not do so unless at gunpoint,” Musk said. “Sorry to be a free speech absolutist.”

We wanted to give a heartfelt thank you to all of our readers! Let’s welcome some of our newest Musk Reads members:

Dia, Ross H., Christina C., Live Life, Dishea C., Now for Louise, Alec U., Christer V., Franetta, Mani D., John L., The Atmove, Vani, Top Fuel, Rajdeep, Adrian R., Bereche., Davinder, S.K.Z., Ash T., Mary R., Kiarie, Daniel M., Walk, Martyn D., Dawn R., Gouache, R. Flynn

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10. Interestingly, Elon Musk is calling for an immediate increase in gas and oil output. Do you agree with him?

9. Because of an issue in the “back-end systems of some vehicles,” said Tesla, one Supercharger user in China was hit with a $608,708 charging bill, banning him from further Supercharger use until the bill got paid. InsideEVs reports that the issue “will be fixed.”

8. Journalist Cory Doctorow created an informative Twitter thread on March 7 diving into the U.S.’ relationship to broadband. He calls it “horrific.”

7. Good news for people who hate Tesla’s yoke, which used to have its horn function attached to a small button on the side  — Musk says that all cars “made since November [...] have push center for horn – just waiting on firmware update.” No more side horn.

6. One of Musk’s favorite video games, Cyberpunk 2077, was issued a giant refresh in February. Read Inverse’s guide to playing. Nomad, street kids, and corpos, oh my.

5. To celebrate just over a year on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover crunching on some more rocks. It’s looking for ancient life. 

4. In Russian, former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly told the head of Russia’s Roscosmos space program to “get a job at McDonald’s, if McDonald’s still exists in Russia.” The girls are fighting.

3. Currently, experts do not believe that Putin poses a nuclear threat. But if Russia does eventually decide to utilize its nuclear stockpile, the world would be devastated. Don’t worry about it just yet.

2. Musk wants Europe to use more nuclear energy. He’ll even happily travel to the current “worst location” for radiation and “eat locally grown food on TV.” Mutant banana pancakes.

1. And a piece of Musk history: Notably, Elon Musk visited Fukushima, Japan in 2011, shortly after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was severely damaged by an earthquake and tsunami and began to leak radiation. To help the area recover, Musk donated $250,000 to help build a solar energy system in the ruined city. “We are grateful to Elon Musk,” said then-Soma City mayor Hidekiyo Tachiya.

The ultra-fine print

This has been Musk Reads #288, the weekly rundown of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. I’m Ashley Bardhan, newsletter writer at Inverse.

• Email Ashley directly at ashleybardhan@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter at @ashleybardhan.

• Follow Inverse on Twitter at @inversedotcom.

• Have thoughts on today’s newsletter? Send us your questions and feedback at muskreads@inverse.com.

Musk Reads+ is a fully independent operation. We are not Elon Musk, nor are we employed by him. Our job is to report the events we find worthy of a story, giving you an inside look at the worlds of space rockets, electric cars, clean energy, and more. It means firsthand accounts of a SpaceX rocket launch, Tesla insights from third-party analysts, and more. 

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And for our premium subscribers — last week, you heard from author Jimmy Soni about what Musk's earliest success reveals about his management style. This week, you will hear from Jeroen Cappaert, Spire chief technology officer and co-founder, to find out more about how the company is helping to clear up space debris.

Musk quote of the week:

“Hollywood refuses to write even one story about an actual company startup where the CEO isn’t a dweeb and/or evil” — Elon Musk tweeted on February 25, forgetting about Boss Baby and the fact that he made a cameo in Iron Man 2.

SpaceX: Sharing Starlink

It’s unclear whether Elon Musk’s resistance to being a “dweeb and/or evil” CEO had anything to do with SpaceX’s outreach in Tonga, but the private space company was able to provide rural homes in Tonga with Starlink internet connection last week. 

Though Elon Musk says that Starlink connection in Tonga is currently “a little patchy,” it will  “improve dramatically as laser inter-satellite links activate.” The same day as Musk made that statement, SpaceX launched 50 Starlink satellites from blue-skies California. 

It’s a good thing that SpaceX is continuing to push on Starlink deployments and providing countries in need with free service. Now, moving through its hellish last few days, Ukraine is also in need of robust internet connection. 

“While you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine!” said Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on Twitter. “We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.” 

In response, Musk wrote that “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.” Musk has not confirmed if Starlink will be free to Ukrainians, how the satellites will be delivered and installed in besieged areas, or how many Ukraine households are now able to use Starlink, if any. 

Tesla: Battery refresh

A February 28 report from Reuters shares that Panasonic Corp will “begin mass production of a new lithium-ion battery for Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) before the end of March 2024 at a plant in Japan.” 

“Unveiled by the Japanese company in October, the 4680 format (46 millimeters wide and 80 millimeters tall) battery is around five times bigger than those currently supplied to Tesla, meaning the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker will be able to lower production costs,” Reuters wrote. The 4680 format is also expected to charge faster and add 16 percent to the car’s total range. Read more on Inverse.

Back in Europe, Tesla is now enabling EV owners in Trzebownisko, Poland, Košice, Slovakia, and Miskolc and Debrecen, Hungary to use Tesla Superchargers for free, reports Electrek. According to a Tesla email obtained by the publication, starting today, February 28, Tesla is “temporarily enabling free Supercharging for both Tesla and Non-Tesla vehicles at sites in areas impacted by the recent situation in Ukraine.” 

“We hope that this helps give you the peace of mind to get to a safe location,” the company writes.

We wanted to give a heartfelt thank you to all of our readers! Let’s welcome some of our newest Musk Reads members:

Paul P., Kabeth, Michael M., Nick D., Dana P., Brooke R., G. Trav, Barronian, Paul J., Rekon Graphics, Triznad, Joshua O., Kurt B., Marcelino, Hector L., Hen H., P. Edwards, D. Scott, Zoom Zoom, Abidele, Burt, Visit Angels, Shane D., Young Sic Music, Jill P., Lap, James P., M. Danenberg, Hoeven, Jan P., N. Glazer, Maria A., Gloria C., Joe B., Rick W., Mike, Kelikina

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10. SpaceX is no longer implicated in a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit; though a driver was killed by an 18-wheeler blocking a public Texas highway to deliver supplies to SpaceX, a U.S. District Judge dismissed the case. It was the 18-wheeler’s fault, not SpaceX, the judge said. 

9. High above normal people problems, Orlando Bloom loves his new Lucid Air electric sedan. Good to know.

8. Axios posted a rundown of all the accessories currently available to purchase for Tesla’s Cybertruck, which does not yet exist. Wish you could turn your nonexistent Cybertruck into a boat? I have great news.

7. NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover snapped a picture of a little sand blob that kind of looks like a flower or brain-sucking organism. It’s not — it’s a tiny mineral cluster.  

6. To save it from megadrought, California is testing out 4,000 miles of solar panel-covered canals. “Covering these canals with solar panels would reduce evaporation of precious water,” writes engineer Roger Bales.

5. California spaceflight company, Rocket Lab, recently finished building its second launch pad at its private New Zealand launch site. The company wasted no time in using the pad, breaking it out for its “The Owl’s Night Continues” mission (not to be confused with “The Owl’s Night Begins”) on February 28. The entire mission is available to watch on YouTube. The Owl is on YouTube.

4. New research suggests that lower gravity levels are still conducive to the water electrolysis process, which would help Mars rockets return to Earth. Read more on Inverse.

3. Due to sanctions placed on Roscosmos by the European Union, the Russian space organization is ceasing to launch from French Guiana. It’s pulling personnel from the area, too.

2. On Twitter, NASA Spaceflight International Space Station editor Pete Harding imagined what the ISS would look like “without the Russian Segment attached.” In a very detailed Twitter thread, Harding suggests “a Dragon could be docked to provide reboost capability and attitude control.” What do you think?

1. And a piece of Musk history: Remember when Elon Musk won a defamation case against Vernon Unsworth, a cave diver who helped save 13 people trapped in a Thailand cave, in 2019? And remember how Musk was the one that actually triggered the defamation case by calling Unsworth “pedo guy” on Twitter because Unsworth had criticized his idea of saving the people with a SpaceX submarine? That was pretty bad.

The ultra-fine print

This has been Musk Reads #287, the weekly rundown of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. I’m Ashley Bardhan, newsletter writer at Inverse.

• Email Ashley directly at ashleybardhan@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter at @ashleybardhan.

• Follow Inverse on Twitter at @inversedotcom.

• Have thoughts on today’s newsletter? Send us your questions and feedback at muskreads@inverse.com.

Musk Reads+ is a fully independent operation. We are not Elon Musk, nor are we employed by him. Our job is to report the events we find worthy of a story, giving you an inside look at the worlds of space rockets, electric cars, clean energy, and more. It means firsthand accounts of a SpaceX rocket launch, Tesla insights from third-party analysts, and more. 

If you want to support us in our mission, and receive exclusive interviews and analysis, consider contributing with a subscription.

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And for our premium members — last week, you learned about Moon Bikes. This week, you will hear from author Jimmy Soni about what Musk's earliest success reveals about his management style.

Musk quote of the week:

“They will be fine” — Elon Musk tweeted in response to a user wondering “How can I feel good about bringing kids into the world given climate change?” The real answer is much more complicated; the next few decades are fraught, and some children are already experiencing the worst of what climate change has to offer. Read more on Inverse.

Tesla: Against the law

Tesla is having some trouble with law and order (dun dun!). According to a publicly available court record, Elon Musk has accused a Securities and Exchange Commission staff member of “illegally leaking the results of an investigation,” reports CNN.

“The allegations in a court filing did not disclose the contents of the alleged leak, the name of the staff member who is alleged to have leaked the information or where it was reported,” CNN continues. But the allegations are a new page in Tesla’s four-year old clash with the SEC, which started when Musk wrongfully claimed he was taking Tesla private in 2018. Musk ended up settling, stepping down as Tesla chairman, and signing a consent decree. 

Tesla has some localized swelling, too. Tesla is urging its Oklahoma fans to oppose the state’s House Bill 3994, which “could force Tesla to close its existing locations in Oklahoma and prevent Tesla from shipping cars to anyone in the state,” the company says. Tesla could face additional issues in West Virginia, which now “wants to ban Tesla and other automakers from sending out over-the-air updates, among other things, to vehicle owners,” reports CleanTechnica.

But some states are still friends with Tesla — Giga Texas will host its highly anticipated, invite-only homecoming on April 7. 

SpaceX: Stacking Starship

Take a look at this impressive 360-degree video SpaceX shared of unstacked Starship.

The video captures the dusty beaches surrounding SpaceX’s South Texas launch site and the behemoth size of not only Starship but also the massive silver launch tower, which is too tall to fit in frame. 

But Starship’s massive size and its existence as a symbol of hope for the new era of spaceflight are what really sparks South Texan pride. The Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport recently requested its own Starship prototype to display, fittingly, on the nearby Starship Road. 

“Sounds good,” replied Musk. “We will send one over.”

We wanted to give a heartfelt thank you to all of our readers! Let’s welcome some of our newest Musk Reads members:

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10. Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that Tesla plans to open a “futuristic diner/drive-in theater” in the “Hollywood area.” “And, of course, you can pay in Doge,” he said.

9. Musk jumps, and the world says, hey, I like jumping too. Quincy University in Illinois will now accept donations in cryptocurrency, including Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. Invest in Mark Zuckerberg’s future.

8. Brownsville climate change activist, Bekah Hinojosa, allegedly spray-painted the words “gentrified” and “Stop SpaceX” below a mural some Brownsville residents find to be distasteful. Last week, she was woken up to a terrible surprise — Hinojosa was punished for the graffiti (a Class B misdemeanor that requires no arrest) by being put in jail, having her glasses removed, and getting her mug shot plastered across the internet by Brownsville mayor Trey Mendez. The graffiti is already gone. 

7. A recently published opinion piece in CarBuzz suggests that overzealous Tesla fans are “hurting the shift towards electric vehicles.” Ideas, not brands!

6. InsideEVs published a list of the “cheapest EVs with over 250 miles of range,” a useful list for any prospective electric vehicle owners concerned they have to spend a lot to get a lot. Tesla’s Model 3 wins the “cheapest sedan” spot.

5. Car engineer Sandy Munro continues his YouTube series taking Tesla vehicles apart little by little to discover their most minute secrets. He’s not too happy with what he found in Tesla’s Plaid doors, though. Too many weird holes.

4. Virgin Hyperloop slashed 111 employees — half of its staff — as it pushes a shift from “passenger transport to freight,” reports Business Insider. It’s not looking good.

3. NASA recently posted amazing black-and-white footage of clouds tumbling over Mars, courtesy of the Perseverance rover. Toto, we’re not on Earth anymore.

2. A team of researchers is working on getting to Mars via laser. It could reduce travel time from Earth to Mars by 45 days.

1. And a piece of Musk history: Engineer and SpaceX fan Pranay Pothole shared a 2003 newspaper clipping sharing how a curious “new rocket” backed by “Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk” could save people some money. Although a modern-day Musk saw the clipping and groused about how it is “taking longer than expected to make the upper stage not expendable,” it demonstrates how far a company can go in nearly 20 years. Here’s to the next 20.

The ultra-fine print

This has been Musk Reads #286, the weekly rundown of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. I’m Ashley Bardhan, newsletter writer at Inverse.

• Email Ashley directly at ashleybardhan@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter at @ashleybardhan.

• Follow Inverse on Twitter at @inversedotcom.

• Have thoughts on today’s newsletter? Send us your questions and feedback at muskreads@inverse.com.

Musk Reads+ is a fully independent operation. We are not Elon Musk, nor are we employed by him. Our job is to report the events we find worthy of a story, giving you an inside look at the worlds of space rockets, electric cars, clean energy, and more. It means firsthand accounts of a SpaceX rocket launch, Tesla insights from third-party analysts, and more. 

If you want to support us in our mission, and receive exclusive interviews and analysis, consider contributing with a subscription.

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Last week, Musk Reads+ members heard from Valentina Contini, founder of the Innovation Lab at Porsche Engineering, about how flying cars could help us reach zero emissions. This week, members will hear about Moon Bikes.

Musk quote of the week:

“The duty of a leader is to serve their people, not for the people to serve them” — Elon Musk tweeted on February 11, 2022, seemingly unprompted. I’m inclined to agree. Musk might keep this in mind when approaching a new lawsuit alleging racial discrimination at Tesla, which you can learn more about in this newsletter.

Tesla: What’s going on?

A lot is going on, allegedly. Some of it is small-fry, like Tesla’s Boombox “recall.” According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 578,607 Tesla vehicles manufactured between 2020 and 2022 are being recalled for… making fart noises.

“The Boombox functionality allows a customer to play preset or custom sounds through the PWS external speaker when the vehicle is parked or in motion,” writes the NHTSA. Those preset sounds included goat bleats and farts. This is potentially distracting, so “Tesla will deploy an OTA firmware release to affected vehicles that will disable the Boombox functionality when the vehicle is in Drive, Neutral and Reverse modes.” 

Moving on to much bigger things, California’s civil rights agency is suing Tesla over its reportedly-toxic workplace culture. According to the lawsuit, Tesla’s Fremont factory is allegedly a center of “rampant racism unchecked for years.” You can read the lawsuit in its entirety, but please be warned that it includes instances of racist language and imagery that readers might find upsetting. Musk has not yet publicly commented on the lawsuit, but alleged racism in Tesla factories is something of an open secret. We’ll keep you updated with developments as they occur.

SpaceX: Starshipping

Elon Musk led SpaceX’s first Starship presentation in three years on Thursday, February 10, 2022. Though Starship is Earth-locked until the Federal Aviation Administration reaches a conclusion on its environmental assessment (that decision will be released February 28, 2022), Musk still gave the public a few — albeit vague — updates on the ambitious project.

Here’s an abridged version of the presentation: 

1. Starship’s specifications are not finalized, but Musk would like the rocket to carry 200 tons of payload.

2. Musk wants to fly relatively soon — around the conclusion of the FAA environmental assessment if possible — but production times and government regulations make an exact date impossible to disclose 

3. Musk stands by previously-announced Starship missions, which include NASA’s Artemis Moon mission and Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa’s private trip around the Moon 

Read more about SpaceX’s presentation on Inverse.

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10. A new lawsuit against UC Davis and Neuralink filed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine calls out Neuralink for killing and maiming the animals it uses to test the tech. Teslarati has the full timeline of events.

9. Some better news: it turns out that Falcon 9 will not pummel the Moon after all. A Chinese rocket launched in 2014 will.

8. Billionaire Jared Isaacman (you might remember him from SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission) has purchased three more SpaceX flights. Good for him.

7. Elon Musk will pay $11 billion in personal income tax. Tesla will pay $0 in federal taxes because “all of its pre-tax net income stemmed from overseas operations.” Capitalism is weird.

6. Anyway, would you want to attend the Super Bowl on Mars? A touchdown is extra-impressive with 63 percent less gravity.

5. In its Super Bowl ad, the Swedish car company Polestar says its electric vehicles involve “no empty promises” and “no conquering Mars.” I wonder who they’re referencing… 

4. Sometimes I forget that you can just follow astronauts on Instagram. NASA astronaut Kayla Barron is posting from space.

3. What happens to the solar panels left to rot in landfills? German researchers want them to experience a better death. Reduce and reuse.

2. The Center for Space Science at New York University Abu Dhabi has put together an 88-slide “Atlas of Mars,” which uses “observations from the Emirates Mars Mission” to offer “readers a holistic view of the planet.” The team behind the project plans to update it as more information becomes available.

1. And a piece of Musk history: You may love Elon Musk, but his workplaces need to change. At the end of 2021, Tesla and SpaceX were caught in a wave of sexual harassment allegations. Read more on Inverse.

The ultra-fine print

This has been Musk Reads #285, the weekly rundown of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. I’m Ashley Bardhan, newsletter writer at Inverse.

Why subscribe to Musk Reads+? You’ll be supporting in-depth, high-quality journalism about the world’s most ambitious change-maker, Elon Musk. Tesla investors, SpaceX critics, and anyone with an interest will find something they love in our offerings. Independent journalism is essential now more than ever, and your contributions will help us continue in our mission to deliver interviews and analysis you won’t find anywhere else.

• Email Ashley directly at ashleybardhan@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter at @ashleybardhan.

• Follow Inverse on Twitter at @inversedotcom.

• Have thoughts on today’s newsletter? Send us your questions and feedback at muskreads@inverse.com.

Musk Reads+ is a fully independent operation. We are not Elon Musk, nor are we employed by him. Our job is to report the events we find worthy of a story, giving you an inside look at the worlds of space rockets, electric cars, clean energy, and more. It means firsthand accounts of a SpaceX rocket launch, Tesla insights from third-party analysts, and more. 

If you want to support us in our mission, and receive exclusive interviews and analysis, consider contributing with a subscription.

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Valentina Contini is the founder of the innovation lab at Porsche Engineering, a Porsche subsidiary that develops technologies for vehicles of the future. She tells Inverse that future flying machines moving people around cities will be connected and autonomous. It could be faster than existing transport modes and cut down on two key pollutants: gas and noise.

“[It would be] electric vehicles that are flying above the city,” she says. “Inter-city or intra-city, depending on the technology that they use.”

Vertical-takeoff-and-landing, or VTOL, could be the technology that brings it to life. That means instead of using long runways to take off like a jet plane, these flying machines can take off and land on helipads, like those found on the top of buildings. That makes them ideal for congested cities where space is limited.

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Last week, Musk Reads+ members heard from astronaut Ron Garan about how art is helping to spread the overview effect. This week, members will hear from Valentina Contini, founder of the Innovation Lab at Porsche Engineering, about how flying cars could help us reach zero emissions.

Musk quote of the week:

“Becoming multiplanetary is essential to extending dramatically the probable lifespan of civilization” — Elon Musk tweeted on February 3, repeating his favorite claim. He’s probably right, but do we really want Jeff Bezos to live forever? 

SpaceX: Congrats, SpaceX 

Ars Technica reported on February 3 that SpaceX has “completed a record-setting run of 111 successful Falcon 9 missions in a row,” possibly making the Falcon 9 the “safest rocket ever launched.” 

“What seems remarkable about all of this is that the Falcon 9 amassed this safety record at the very same time SpaceX was experimenting with and demonstrating reuse,” wrote senior editor Eric Berger. That same day, the Falcon 9 launched a new assortment of 49 Starlink satellites to space, keeping the momentum of SpaceX’s busy new year rolling. 

And it’s rolling, all right. Also on February 3, Elon Musk announced that he would conduct a Starship presentation on Thursday, February 10 at 9 p.m. Eastern. This Starship presentation will be the first since 2019, and since Musk said that Starship “aspires to be [...] the holy grail of rocketry,” it’s sure to be a good one.

Tesla: Goodbye rolling stops 

While I’m using the word “rolling,” I might as well use it in one more, slightly more controversial context: rolling stop. Call it what you want — the “California roll,” the “no cop, no stop,” “illegal,” Tesla has allowed its vehicles equipped with Full-Self Driving to breeze through stop signs since 2020. As fans of this feature like to say, the automated rolling stop made FSD software more human, but lawmakers aren’t convinced. Read more on Inverse.

On February 3, Tesla began removing the rolling stop with the Beta 10.10 software update. Do you think the company should have fought to keep it? 

We wanted to give a heartfelt thank you to all of our readers! Let’s welcome some of our newest Musk Reads+ members:

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10. Elon Musk has big plans, on and off Twitter. On February 3, he wrote that “Falcon will launch about once a week on average in 2022, delivering ~2/3 of all Earth payload to orbit.” Let’s go!

9. In his YouTube video series exploring the tricked-out innards of the Tesla Model S Plaid, engineer Sandy Munro likes what he sees. You might, too.

8. Indie video game site Itch.io agrees with Musk — “NFTS are a scam,” the company wrote on Twitter. “If you think they are legitimately useful for anything other than the exploitation of creators, [...] we ask that please reevaluate your life choices.” Okay, but what about this one?

7. Outside the Metaverse, the amateur spaceflight group Copenhagen Suborbitals is making moves in their goal to launch a completely DIY rocket. Mads Stenfatt, skydiver and Copenhagen Suborbitals volunteer, talked to Futurism about building a rocket on a tiny budget and why you probably shouldn’t do it. “You’re going to break your neck in no time,” Stenfatt said.

6. Maybe, instead, you should work for Blue Origin, which is now hiring in Denver. I hear Jeff Bezos is great at maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

5. We could escape the neverending crush of Amazon’s warehouses in an electric plane, which might eventually exist with a new battery. Lithium-ion won’t cut it. 

4. But sometimes lithium-ion is just good enough. Recently, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized electric vehicle owner Wayne Gerdes’ fantastic journey from New York to Los Angeles; Gerdes made the cross-country trip in an electric Porsche, spending just under two-and-a-half hours charging it. This is the future Cars 2 wants.

3. SpaceX is attempting to restore volcano-wrecked Tonga’s internet using Starlink. “Any improvement in communications is likely to be a relief for Tongans,” writes Reuters.

2. Nuclear power is perhaps the most contentious form of clean energy. In any case, the European Union is ready to call it “green.” Some countries are considering legal action.

1. And a piece of Musk history: Ahead of this week’s Starship presentation, revisit November 2018, when Musk announced SpaceX was renaming its “Big Falcon Rocket” (or “BFR”) to “Starship.” A Starship by any other name, etc.

The ultra-fine print

This has been Musk Reads #284, the weekly rundown of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. I’m Ashley Bardhan, newsletter writer at Inverse.

Why subscribe to Musk Reads+? You’ll be supporting in-depth, high-quality journalism about the world’s most ambitious change-maker, Elon Musk. Tesla investors, SpaceX critics, and anyone with an interest will find something they love in our offerings. Independent journalism is essential now more than ever, and your contributions will help us continue in our mission to deliver interviews and analysis you won’t find anywhere else.

• Email Ashley directly at ashleybardhan@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter at @ashleybardhan.

• Follow Inverse on Twitter at @inversedotcom.

• Have thoughts on today’s newsletter? Send us your questions and feedback at muskreads@inverse.com.

Musk Reads+ is a fully independent operation. We are not Elon Musk, nor are we employed by him. Our job is to report the events we find worthy of a story, giving you an inside look at the worlds of space rockets, electric cars, clean energy, and more. It means firsthand accounts of a SpaceX rocket launch, Tesla insights from third-party analysts, and more. 

If you want to support us in our mission, and receive exclusive interviews and analysis, consider contributing with a subscription.