Danielle Wright, the social media influencer who became famous for the wrong reason, is not just laughing off her mistake but also wants to advise the mastermind behind her electric car, Elon Musk himself. “Elon, I’d love to meet you and share some ideas on the next Tesla. Hit me up!” she said, brushing off the recent incident where she tried to fill her Tesla Model Y with gas.
Danielle, 22, from Sheffield, UK, found herself in the spotlight when a video was shared on Instagram showing her confusedly trying to find a gas tank on her Tesla - an electric car that not only does not need gas, it's the most efficient SUV ever built! The video quickly became a viral hit, collecting nearly 40 million views and causing quite a stir.
To her surprise, the incident even caught the attention of Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, who light-heartedly tweeted about it, saying, "Old habits die hard."
Was it Staged? Danielle Defends Herself
Despite accusations that she staged the incident for publicity, Danielle defended herself firmly. She had just been tired after a long day and made an honest mistake. "People online can say what they want, but it was an embarrassing mistake," Danielle confessed.
The Daily Star chatted with Danielle about the incident and her newfound fame. She admits she had no idea what she was doing at the gas station but laughed it off saying, "Haha, I mean Elon Musk even said it himself, habits die hard."
Though some people laughed at her mistake and trolled her on social media, Danielle does not seem to mind. She's used to people judging her, she said, for everything from her appearance to her lifestyle.
Danielle's Invitation to Elon Musk
The most interesting part of this saga? Even as people laughed at her mistake, Danielle had a supportive voice in Elon Musk, who she mentioned has "the biggest brain in the world."
Danielle used this experience to remind others not to be quick to judge. "I've earned every penny to buy this [Tesla], and I love cars. It's a dream come true to own a Tesla," she said. Despite the incident, Danielle's popularity only increased, and she is now making over $500,000 a year as an adult content creator.
"People are just so jealous when you've worked hard and achieved something, and they turn nasty because of it," she noted, proving that she won't let the incident or people's opinions bring her down.
Whether it was a genuine mistake or a brilliantly planned publicity stunt, Danielle's viral gas station trip made the world laugh, brought her attention, and even got a comment from Elon Musk himself.
For the first time in quite a while, Tesla has increased the price of one of its vehicle offerings. The Model S Long Range and the Model S Plaid have both received a hefty price increase. However, not all is bad - as Tesla also added a new benefit for buyers.
Price Increase
The price increase for the Model S is $5,000 - currently only in the United States. This price increase will likely impact other markets, including Canada, in the coming days.
The Model S Long Range now starts at $79,990, while the Model S Plaid now starts at $94,990. The Model S and Model X now have the same starting price. Interestingly, that’s also the same pricing point for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast Trimotor non-Foundation Series.
The vehicle configuration does not appear to have changed, so the new pricing is simply an increase rather than the addition or removal of features. Tesla previously cut the price of the Model S and Model X by 15% in 2023, so this could simply be an adjustment to ensure that the vehicle pricing stays in line with inflation and other factors.
Free Lifetime Supercharging
For those on the fence about ordering a Model S, Tesla has brought back Free Lifetime Supercharging when you order a new Model S on or after December 13, 2024. As always, Free Lifetime Supercharging is restricted to the buyer’s Tesla account and to that specific vehicle. It cannot be transferred to another vehicle or another owner after ownership transfer. It’s worth noting, that it also doesn’t exclude the owner from receiving Supercharger idle fees or congestion fees. There is currently no end date for this promotion.
There are currently no changes to the Model X, neither a price increase nor the addition of Lifetime Superchargering. However, when Tesla makes changes to one of their premium vehicles, it usually affects the other one as well. So be on the lookout for potential changes to the Model X offering in the coming days.
We’ve seen Tesla value Lifetime Supercharging at $5,000, so this falls in line with the price increase we’re seeing. It’s possible that Tesla will begin to bring back Lifetime Supercharging as a perk for buying into their more premium Model S and Model X cars, or this could be another temporary promotion to get buyers who are on the fence to go ahead and make their purchase while this promotion lasts.
Tesla recently showed off a demo of Optimus, its humanoid robot, walking around in moderately challenging terrain—not on a flat surface but on dirt and slopes. These things can be difficult for a humanoid robot, especially during the training cycle.
Most interestingly, Milan Kovac, VP of Engineering for Optimus, clarified what it takes to get Optimus to this stage. Let’s break down what he said.
Optimus is Blind
Optimus is getting seriously good at walking now - it can keep its balance over uneven ground - even while walking blind. Tesla is currently using just the sensors, all powered by a neural net running on the embedded computer.
Essentially, Tesla is building Optimus from the ground up, relying on as much additional data as possible while it trains vision. This is similar to how they train FSD on vehicles, using LiDAR rigs to validate the vision system’s accuracy. While Optimus doesn’t have LiDAR, it relies on all those other sensors on board, many of which will likely become simplified as vision takes over as the primary sensor.
Today, Optimus is walking blind, but it’s able to react almost instantly to changes in the terrain underneath it, even if it falls or slips.
What’s Next?
Next up, Tesla AI will be adding vision to Optimus - helping complete the neural net. Remember, Optimus runs on the same overall AI stack as FSD - in fact, Optimus uses an FSD computer and an offshoot of the FSD stack for vision-based tasks.
Milan mentions they’re planning on adding vision to help the robot plan ahead and improve its walking gait. While the zombie shuffle is iconic and a little bit amusing, getting humanoid robots to walk like humans is actually difficult.
There’s plenty more, too - including better responsiveness to velocity and direction commands and learning to fall and stand back up. Falling while protecting yourself to minimize damage is something natural to humans - but not exactly natural to something like a robot. Training it to do so is essential in keeping the robot, the environment around it, and the people it is interacting with safe.
We’re excited to see what’s coming with Optimus next because it is already getting started in some fashion in Tesla’s factories.
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