Just as the first Tesla Diner opens its doors in Hollywood, Elon Musk has confirmed that this is the beginning of a larger vision for the retro-futuristic Supercharger and Diner sites. If the first location is successful, Tesla plans to roll out the Diners globally to major destinations.
The second location for a Tesla Diner has already been confirmed. Tesla will be building its second diner at Starbase, Texas - home of SpaceX. That means that this isn’t a one-off project anymore, but instead something that could become a new side business for Tesla Energy - integrating food and entertainment options at major Supercharger sites in urban cores.
An Island of Good
The future vision of the diner concept is fairly clear. Tesla plans to create fun, inviting environments around some of its biggest Superchargers, removing some of the stigma around charging an EV.
If our retro-futuristic diner turns out well, which I think it will, @Tesla will establish these in major cities around the world, as well as at Supercharger sites on long distance routes.
An island of good food, good vibes & entertainment, all while Supercharging! https://t.co/zmbv6GfqKf
The Tesla Diner in Hollywood is already drawing a steady flow of street traffic, including non-Tesla owners, who come to try the food and enjoy the entertainment. There’s a lot to like about what Tesla is doing. Tesla is using healthier ingredients, serving food on roller skates, and even including tips with each purchase, helping alleviate the ‘tip-everything’ culture in the U.S.
That’s not to mention Tesla’s impressive integration of the Tesla Diner with its own app and the vehicles. For example, not only can you order from within your vehicle and pay with your Tesla account, but if you choose a pickup order, the diner will know when you arrive and which Supercharger stall you’re in.
With an experience like that, the Diner is becoming a tourist destination, more than just a simple charging spot.
Starbase and Beyond
For the next expansion, Elon said ‘Ok’ to adding a location to Starbase, Texas. If you’re not familiar with Musk’s OK responses, you’ll know that’s his way of agreeing to something. However, it likely won’t just be Starbase. If the diner is successful, then Tesla will expand the diner concept globally, adding them to major cities.
This is the Tesla way of advertising. Instead of traditional advertising that yields a low return, Tesla invests its money in ways that improve the Tesla ownership experience, while also helping to spread the word. The same can be said about adding games or ambient light features to Tesla vehicles. Tesla spends time developing features that will get people talking about the company and its cars.
Thousands of space enthusiasts travel to Cyber Beach and the surrounding areas of Starbase to witness SpaceX launches every year, making it an easy decision to capitalize on this opportunity.
With the Hollywood location now finally open, its success will be the determining factor for the pace at which Tesla builds additional Drive-In Diners. But with the next location already planned, it’s clear this is more than just a small side quest now - it’ll be about turning some Supercharger sites into a one-of-a-kind experience around the world, letting many experience Tesla for the first time.
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In a real-world validation win for Semi, Tesla has seen two major companies, ArcBest and “thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Services,” complete extensive, multi-week pilot programs for the Tesla Semi.
The results were overwhelmingly positive as these companies used the Semi for thousands of miles over challenging terrain.
ArcBest Conquers Donner Pass
Logistics company ArcBest announced that it has completed a three-week pilot program with the Tesla Semi. Over that period, the truck logged an impressive 4,494 miles, averaging 321 miles per day. The pilot also showed off a remarkable energy efficiency of just 1.55 kWh per mile, a figure confirmed by Tesla Semi Program Head, Dan W. Priestley. For comparison, a Model 3, Tesla’s most efficient vehicle, uses approximately 0.250 kWh per mile, making the Semi use roughly six times more energy.
Most importantly, the vehicle was tested in difficult, real-world trucking conditions, successfully navigating the 7,200-foot climb over Donner Pass. Arcbest stated that Semi “generally matched the performance of its diesel counterparts”. The company also noted that driver feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Operators highlighted Semi’s comfort, safety, and ease of use. There was a lot of specific praise for the center seat configuration, wide field of visibility, and intuitive controls, which made it an enjoyable experience.
Thyssenkrupp Calls Semi a “Natural Fit”
In a separate but related announcement, thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Services also revealed that it had recently completed a successful three-week demo of the Tesla Semi at one of its logistics hubs in California. During its winter trial, the truck delivered goods for nearly 5,000 miles in a variety of conditions, which included regularly traversing the steep Altamont Pass.
Working with our suppliers and logistics partners to electrify Tesla’s supply chain. With lower cost and higher reliability, it just makes sense. thyssenkrupp pushed the truck hard over this demo and now plans to integrate Semi into their fleet.https://t.co/ATER6ktaer
The results were so positive that the company announced that plans are already underway to integrate a fleet of Tesla Semis into its operations soon. That is another huge win for the Semi Program as volume production is expected to begin by the end of 2025.
The Tesla Semi aligns with our ongoing commitment to sustainability and operational excellence. Its efficiency and diagnostic features, and low environmental impact make it a natural fit for our evolving logistics strategy.
Bob Denehy, Chief Commercial Officer, thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Services
A Win for Tesla
According to Dan, these partnerships are just part of Tesla’s strategy. Working with its own suppliers and logistics partners helps electrify Tesla’s own supply chain, and with lower costs and higher reliability, it just makes sense for all parties involved.
The successful completion of these two rigorous, real-world pilot programs is a sign that the Semi has proven its efficiency, reliability, and performance to many major players in the logistics industry. Next up for Semi will be volume production and sales to companies outside of Tesla’s pilot programs.
Following the first major service area expansion, Tesla is already pushing another update to the Robotaxi app and service as a whole. The new version includes more quality-of-life improvements, and most importantly, a big change to Robotaxi’s pickup logic that makes the entire experience much smoother.
Robotaxi App Update
This latest update is another one focused on polishing the user experience before Tesla adds more vehicles to the fleet and more riders to the network. The most significant change here is that Robotaxi will now navigate more dynamically. Instead of strictly travelling to the designated pickup point, the vehicle will stop where you are or navigate directly to you if you are nearby, making the pickup just that much easier.
Tesla also introduced a small batch of improvements to improve the app, which is still only available for early testers. First up is a vehicle finder arrow - which is shown in the Robotaxi app to help you find your approaching or parked Robotaxi.
This should be a big help in crowded situations, as visually distinguishing a Model Y Robotaxi from a regular Model Y is nearly impossible, barring the small Robotaxi logos and lack of a driver.
Tesla has also added in automatic dark/light mode switching to match system settings and some other minor design tweaks and bug fixes. It seems that Tesla is close to their final iterations on the Robotaxi app and will hopefully add it to the official app stores soon. However, an Android version is still MIA, and using the Robotaxi itself is still also limited to invitees, so Tesla may be waiting for those to be available before adding the app to the Apple App Store.
The full release notes for this 25.7.6 app update are listed as:
I am pointing the way! Find your vehicle with an arrow
Automatic light/dark mode setting to follow the system
Design tweaks
Bug fixes
This will be huge and make summon even better.
I didn't get to fully test it, but Robotaxi no longer strictly navigates to the pickup point. I noticed it stops right where I am if I am ahead of the pickup point.
The most exciting part of the update isn’t the piece for Robotaxi - but what it implies for Smart Summon instead. The new dynamic pickup logic could be a huge improvement to how Summon works. At the end of the day, it is exceptionally similar - homing in on the user or a targeted location, and then parking nearby.
Summon currently requires a line of sight, and the range is exceptionally limited, meaning you can’t use it in most larger parking lots without having to walk out halfway to meet the vehicle. It’s also slow enough that by the time you get your vehicle rolling - even with Summon Standby active - you’ll probably have walked most of the way there yourself.
A true come-to-me Summon feature that can navigate both city streets and parking lots is definitely the goalpost for customer vehicles - one that doesn’t need to be directly supervised. Robotaxi is the first real-world deployment of the same technology that future builds of Smart Summon will eventually run on.
Sometime in the near future, you’ll be able to Summon your Tesla directly to you - having it navigate the streets from wherever it found parking. All the learnings from Robotaxi are going to come fast - and they’ll all be amazing to finally get on customer cars.
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