February 11, 2026
By Karan Singh
For over a decade, Elon Musk has famously adhered to a single marketing philosophy: “Tesla does not advertise or pay for endorsements. Instead, we use that money to make the product great.” That rule has applied to more than Tesla; it has also covered SpaceX, The Boring Company, and xAI.
While Tesla has dipped into online advertising on YouTube and Google Ads, and more sparingly on Sunday, it went all out with a 30-second spot for Starlink. It was the first time an Elon Musk company has purchased traditional TV ad space on the world’s biggest stage.
Someone may have agreed with our opinion about PR.
Available Everywhere
The commercial itself was surprisingly conventional. Instead of focusing on Mars colonization, a lunar base, AI datacenters in space, or reusable rockets, the ad focused on a very simple item for many Americans watching the Super Bowl — the utility of Starlink.
The message was simple: tired of your current ISP? You can switch to Starlink in two minutes, and it’s available everywhere.
Starlink Super Bowl ad!
Affordable Internet anywhere. https://t.co/Q1VvqV5G0i
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2026
That’s a drastic shift in the messaging that SpaceX has pushed for Starlink over the last several years. Early marketing targeted the unconnected people in rural areas with zero options, the adventurous, or the (aero)nautical travelers. Instead, this Super Bowl ad is squarely aimed at suburban and urban consumers who are fed up with legacy providers such as Comcast, AT&T, or Spectrum.
It changes the view on Starlink from a niche product for the wilderness to a mainstream utility provider.
Why Now?
The timing of this ad buy, estimated to cost $7 million for the slot, suggests that Starlink is reaching an era of maturity in its business model.
The easy customers, those with no internet or those who had a reason to subscribe, are already converted and signed up. Growth now must come from earning market share from entrenched cable and fiber monopolies that don’t always treat their customers well.
In addition, this is an obvious step ahead of SpaceX’s potential IPO after its absorption of xAI. Running a high-profile brand-building campaign is a classic move for a company looking to become a household name before it goes public.
Finally, it’s also a signal that SpaceX is confident in the constellation’s capacity. You don’t advertise to 100 million Americans on Super Bowl Sunday unless you’re sure you can support a massive influx of new users without speed or signal degradation.
The End of an Era
While Tesla has dabbled in paid marketing via Google Ads and social media spots recently, a Super Bowl commercial is a different beast entirely. It’s a sign that while Elon Musk’s companies are different and don’t conform to the conventional path of PR, they’re no longer just pet tech projects that can keep skating by without reaching out to the mainstream. Word of mouth only goes so far.
With SpaceX becoming a major global utility provider, it is time to play by some ground rules, at least in the public relations space. The No Ads era is starting to come to a close, and we might see the same with Tesla soon, too.
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February 11, 2026
By Karan Singh
While much of the spotlight of the Q4 2025 Earnings Call was on Robotaxi, Optimus, and the end of production for the Model S and Model X, an interesting future direction was announced for Tesla’s last remaining flagship vehicle.
The Cybertruck was originally pitched as the ultimate apocalypse-ready consumer pickup vehicle, able to haul groceries on the streets or go far off the beaten path. However, Tesla appears to be pivoting its iconic triangle to serve as the backbone of its future autonomous logistics fleet.
CyberLogistics
During the investor Q&A, Elon Musk explicitly stated that the Cybertruck production line will eventually transition to a fully autonomous line focused on cargo delivery.
The logic behind the move feels dubious, but there’s a bit of thought behind it. The very features that make the Cybertruck so polarizing and such a fantastic vehicle for offroading – the unpainted stainless steel exoskeleton, dent-resistant durability, and full-size cargo bed with a tight turning circle thanks to four-wheel-steering also make it the perfect urban utility vehicle for last-mile logistics.
In this new role, the Cybertruck isn’t competing with the Ford F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T for driveway space. Instead, it’s competing against the Ford eTransit and Rivian EDVs, but with one critical difference: no driver.
By removing the steering wheel, pedals, and driver-focused interior amenities, Tesla can reduce much of the remaining cost while leveraging a platform that is virtually immune to the dings, scratches, and abuse of commercial city driving.
No Controls, All Cargo
The transition will likely involve much more than a software update. It would involve updating the production line to build a no-control variant of the Cybertruck with potentially a different body for the rear. Instead of a truck bed,
Elon’s described use case is localized cargo delivery within a city. This perfectly fits into the Transport-as-a-Service (TaaS) ecosystem that Tesla is building. While the Cybercab and Robovan move people, the autonomous Cybertruck moves packages. It becomes a dedicated logistics robot, shuttling goods between warehouses and drop-off points without human intervention, leveraging the same FSD stack.
The stark contrast between today’s Blade Runner-esque marketing of the Cybertruck, focused on freedom and rebellion, and the stark new reality of a delivery van is… ironic.
The adventure vehicle that takes you where you want to go in safety appears to be taking a backseat to the ruthless pragmatism of Tesla’s new autonomy and AI-first strategy.
You can view Musk’s comment about the Cybertruck during the earnings call, which is cued up in the video below at the 35:35 mark.
A New Evolution
Ultimately, this move is likely being driven by data. With Cybertruck’s sales softening (with Tesla’s “Other Vehicles”, including the S/X and CT, down 48% in 2025), and the luxury pickup market saturating with other options like the R1T and Sierra EV, Tesla is choosing to not fight a losing battle for consumer market share.
Instead, they’re playing to the Cybertruck’s unique strengths – durability, volume, and maneuverability, along with FSD, to solve a different problem entirely. The Cybertruck may not become the ubiquitous driveway vehicle that Elon once predicted, but it might just become the most common delivery vehicle in a future autonomous city.
February 10, 2026
By Karan Singh
For years, the loudest critique of the Tesla Semi program didn’t concern its range or the futuristic center-seat cockpit. Instead, it was an argument rooted in the mathematics of logistics – EVs are heavy.
Skeptics and legacy manufacturers alike have insisted that to achieve a 500-mile range, an electric Class 8 truck would require a battery so massive that it would effectively cannibalize the vehicle’s payload capacity, rendering it economically useless compared to legacy diesel trucks.
With the latest update to the Tesla Semi website, Tesla has confirmed that they’ve managed to solve both the problems with range and weight. The final production specifications, including curb weight, are now listed ahead of the first major customer delivery slated for later this year.
Tesla Semi Specs
For ease of viewing, we’ve provided a table listing all official specifications for the two currently available variants: Standard Range and Long Range.
Spec
Standard Range
Long Range
Range
~325 mi
~500 mi
Energy Consumption
1.7 kWh/mi
1.7 kWh/mi
Fast Charging
Up to 60% in 30m
Up to 60% in 30m
Charge Type
MCS 3.2
MCS 3.2
Powertrain
3 independent motors on rear axles
3 independent motors on rear axles
Drive Power
Up to 800kW
Up to 800kW
Curb Weight
< 20k lbs
23k lbs
ePTO*
Up to 25kW
Up to 25kW
* – ePTO is the Electric Power Take Off, which can run trailer functions like refrigeration.
The Magic Numbers
In the trucking industry, every pound of curb weight is a pound of revenue-generating cargo lost. A traditional diesel day cab tips the scales between 15,000 and 18,000 pounds. Industry consensus was that an electric equivalent would be lucky to stay below 30,000. Tesla’s final production specs blow that estimate out of the water. The Standard Range trim, with ~325 mi of loaded range at 82,000 lbs gross combination weight (GCW), features a curb weight of less than 20,000 lbs. Even more impressive, the Long Range trim with its ~500 mi of loaded range at 82,000 lbs GCW, has a curb weight of just 23,000 lbs.
When you factor in the additional 2,000 -b allowance granted to ZEV Class-8 trucks in the US and Canada, the payload disparity between the Tesla Semi and a traditional diesel rig effectively evaporates. Tesla has managed to pack so much energy density into its latest battery packs at such a low weight that it has exceeded every industry expectation.
Comparing the Semi to a Model 3
The catalyst for these impressive weight numbers isn’t just the battery energy density, but also how efficient the Semi is. Tesla is now citing an energy consumption of 1.7 kWh/mi while loaded at 82,000 GCW. While that sounds like a boring, dry stat, it’s insane how efficient it is when you compare it to a Model 3. The Model 3 is 20x lighter (4,000 lbs) and uses about 1/7th of the energy of the Semi (0.25 kWh/mi). Tesla has managed to knock it out of the park in terms of efficiency with the Tesla Semi.
To put this in perspective, earlier prototypes and competitor benchmarks often hovered closer to 2.0 kWh per mile for the Semi. By achieving a 1.7 kWh rating at full load, Tesla reduced the battery capacity required to hit the 500-mile mark. Smaller batteries mean less weight, which means more cargo.
Powertrain & Charging
Beyond weight, the updated specs reveal a powertrain that produces up to 800 kW of drive power. In diesel terms, that is over 1,000 horsepower delivered with the instantaneous torque of an EV. For fleet operators and drivers, this translates to maintaining highway speeds even on steep grades—a notorious pain point for heavily loaded diesel trucks that often crawl at 30 mph on inclines.
The inclusion of an ePTO (Electric Power Take Off) capable of up to 25 kW is another big win for logistics companies. This allows the Semi to power specialized equipment, such as refrigerated “reefer” trailers, directly from the main traction battery. This eliminates the need for secondary diesel engines on trailers, further reducing both complexity and emissions across the entire logistics chain.
Both Semi trim lines support a peak charging speed of 1.2 MW (1,200kW). For comparison, even the Cybertruck only charges at a measly 500kW. Being capable of recovering 60% of the vehicle’s range over the duration of a driver’s rest break (30 minutes) means that logistics providers and pay-per-mile drivers aren’t giving up time on the road to charge, and the Semi’s effective daily range rivals that of a diesel semi.
Designed for Autonomy
One of the most interesting items on the spec sheet listing is that both variants are designed for autonomy. We’ve seen Tesla Semis with LiDAR testing rigs, which indicates Tesla intends to eventually introduce FSD to the Semi, but it hasn’t been a priority.
In the future, we could eventually see Unsupervised FSD moving cargo from point to point across North America. But for today, we’re looking forward to seeing Tesla Semis popping up across the continent later this year.