Musk Reads: Elon Musk's 'Teslaquila' has arrived

Musk hints at an electric VTOL and a right to repair bill passes in Massachusetts. Giga Canada? It’s Musk Reads: Tesla Edition #218.

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Musk quote of the week

“Will be worth it”

• Read more about Musk teasing the second-generation Tesla Roadster.

Tesla

Teslaquila is here. Musk debuted the long-rumored tequila last week, which comes in a distinctive lightning bolt-shaped bottle. The $250 bottle was limited to two per customer and sold out within hours. The liquor is “premium 100% de agave tequila añejo aged in French oak barrels,” with “a dry fruit and light vanilla nose with a balanced cinnamon pepper finish.” Eagle-eyed fans noted that the bottle was already present in marketing images for Tesla’s power products.

It’s the latest in a line of Tesla products that references Musk and the company’s history. Back on April Fools’ Day 2018, in the midst of Tesla Model 3 “production hell,” Musk joked that he was bankrupt and surrounded by “Teslaquila” bottles. In October 2018, Tesla trademarked the name. In July, Tesla released short shorts as a reference to stock short sellers.

Speaking of non-car Tesla products, Musk again hinted about the possibility of Tesla making an electric jet. He revealed that, while he could “maybe one day” do an electric jet prototype, Musk has “enough already on my plate.” The problem, he explained, is that “volume production with high reliability & low cost & passing all regulations is 100X harder.” Hints at electric jet plans date back over a decade. Read more.

What’s next for Tesla: Tesla is expected to roll out updates to the ongoing full self-driving beta “every five to 10 days.”

In other Tesla news…

• A new right to repair measure in Massachusetts, passed with a landslide, could include Tesla. The company urged owners ahead of the vote to reject “Question 1,” which it said “potentially jeopardizes vehicle and data security.” YouTuber and mechanic Rich Benoit explained to Motherboard that the successful vote means that from 2022, automakers must make the same tools available to dealerships available to third parties, too.
• New York City has got its first electric yellow cab in the form of a Tesla Model 3.
• The Boring Company has started hiring for jobs in Austin, Texas.
• Giga Shanghai has already reached 91 percent of its 2021 production targets.

Musk Reads mailroom

Gary Blokhuis writes:

I recently received a download that contained the wonderful side camera monitors when I back up. Being able to detect what’s beside me is fantastic. Now if only those cameras could be connected to my directional signals so that I can see what’s in “my blind spot” when I wish to change lanes. That would an excellent safety feature Does anyone agree

You’re in luck – Musk gave the thumbs-up to this feature via Twitter back in July!

Florence Robson writes:

Hey Elon, Why don’t you set up a manufacturing facility in Canada. We are crying for jobs up here. There’s the GM plant in Oshawa and probably lots of incentive from the government here. They are throwing money at anything these days. After all, we educated you here - to an extent. With lots of respect from many in Canada, Florence

The Oshawa plant announced this week that it would build trucks again after reaching an agreement with the Unifor union.

Tesla has experience in Canadian manufacturing, as it purchased battery manufacturing specialist Hibar Systems last year. The Ontario-based firm touted its ability to offer innovative solutions to automation. Tesla has no public plans for a full-blown Gigafactory in Canada, but maybe that’s one for the future?

Got any comments or queries? Don’t forget to send them over to muskreads@inverse.com.

Video of the week

Matthias Schmid sent in this week’s video of the Model X giving a demonstration in the Swiss mountains.

Beautiful sunset. Thanks for your contribution, Matthias!

Got a photo or video you’d like to see featured? Send it over to muskreads@inverse.com!

The ultra-fine print

This has been Musk Reads: Tesla Edition #218, the weekly rundown of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. I’m Mike Brown, an innovation journalist for Inverse.

• Email me directly at mike.brown@inverse.com and follow me on Twitter @mikearildbrown.
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• Got any comments or queries? Don’t forget to send them over to muskreads@inverse.com.

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