Tag Archives: Elon Musk

A brief robotaxi update

Posted on April 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Cruise is back on the streets, but with human drivers for the time being. Cruise has announced that it’s resuming tests for its fleet of self-driving taxis in Phoenix, Arizona , though not with passengers just yet. The autonomous vehicle … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed to stop the Boca Chica land swap

Posted on April 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Okay. A coalition of Rio Grande Valley organizations have filed a lawsuit against the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, seeking to block the state agency from pursuing a land swap with Elon Musk’s SpaceX spacecraft company. Last month, the Texas … Continue reading →

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Boca Chica land swap allowed to proceed

Posted on March 8, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I still dunno, man. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission voted unanimously Monday to pursue an exchange that would give 43 acres of Boca Chica State Park in Cameron County to Elon Musk’s SpaceX spacecraft company. The state park land … Continue reading →

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The Boca Chica land swap

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I dunno, man. Texas Parks and Wildlife commissioners are considering a land swap with SpaceX that would give Elon Musk’s space exploration company about 43 acres from Boca Chica State Park. In exchange for the land in Texas’ southernmost strip … Continue reading →

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RIP, hyperloops

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It was fun while it lasted. Hyperloop One, the futuristic transportation startup that promised to whisk us through nearly airless tubes at airline speeds, is shutting down, according to Bloomberg. The company is selling off its assets, closing down its … Continue reading →

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Another complaint filed over SpaceX launches in South Texas

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Have at it. Several organizations have filed a new complaint about the environmental impacts of SpaceX Starship launches even as government agencies face criticism for delaying such launches for environmental reviews. Several environmental groups announced Dec. 15 that they had … Continue reading →

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Media Matters sues Ken Paxton

Posted on December 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Turnabout is fair play. Whether it’s justiciable or not, we’ll see. Media Matters for America sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in federal court late Monday, alleging that Paxton violated the First Amendment last month and chilled its work when … Continue reading →

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Musk and Paxton versus freedom of speech

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

First there was this. It didn’t quite happen the moment court was open, as Elon Musk the billionaire owner of X/Twitter had promised, but at the end of Monday, the social media platform did file its “thermonuclear” lawsuit against media … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Just say No to blocking a wealth tax

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good call by the Chron. When Elon Musk relocated his business empire from California to Texas in 2021, he likely took billions in state tax revenue with him. Some California lawmakers want to claw back that lost revenue through a … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against FAA over SpaceX launch and explosion

Posted on May 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I can only imagine how Elno feels right now. Conservation groups sued the Federal Aviation Administration [last] Monday, challenging its approval of expanded rocket launch operations by Elon Musk’s SpaceX next to a national wildlife refuge in South Texas without … Continue reading →

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Muskville, Texas

Posted on March 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

What did Bastrop do to deserve this? Elon Musk is planning to build his own town on part of thousands of acres of newly purchased pasture and farmland outside the Texas capital, according to deeds and other land records and … Continue reading →

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Tesla autopilot crash mystery solved

Posted on February 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It wasn’t on autopilot after all. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board apparently have solved the mystery of why no one was found behind the steering wheel of a Tesla that crashed near The Woodlands two years ago, killing … Continue reading →

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Tesla to build a factory in Brookshire

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck, Brookshire. Tesla appears to be preparing a large new industrial facility west of Houston in a project that further deepens the electric vehicle-maker’s investments in Texas about a year after billionaire Elon Musk moved its headquarters to Austin. … Continue reading →

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Don’t Musk my rural Texas

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

For your perusal. In August 2021, a handful of Bastrop County residents noticed something big unfolding on quiet Walker Watson Road. The two-lane road, about a quarter-mile long from end to end, bisects cow pastures, corn fields and woods. It’s … Continue reading →

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Labor complaints filed against Tesla gigafactory in Austin

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some non-Twitter Elon Musk news, in case you felt the need for that. On Tuesday, the Austin-based nonprofit Workers Defense Project announced it was filing complaints with the federal Department of Labor (DOL) alleging wage theft and falsified safety training … Continue reading →

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That’s an awful lot of tunnels

Posted on June 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’d say the over/under for the number of these that actually gets built is 1, and I’d bet the under. On Monday, May 30, Bloomberg reported that it had obtained documents that showed Elon Musk’s Boring Company had pitched eight plans for … Continue reading →

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Is he Elon Musk’s lawyer now?

Posted on June 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Someone please explain this to me. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Monday he is investigating Twitter over its reporting of how many accounts on the platform are from bots and fake users, saying the company may be misrepresenting the … Continue reading →

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Is that San Antonio airport tunnel really going to happen?

Posted on May 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Reality check: In March, the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority unanimously approved a feasibility study for a proposal from billionaire Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to build subterranean “public transit” from the San Antonio International Airport to downtown. At the meeting, RMA … Continue reading →

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San Antonio airport tunnel approved for feasibility study

Posted on March 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This crazy idea keeps finding a way to move forward. A plan by Elon Musk’s Boring Company to build a tunnel between San Antonio’s airport and downtown was selected Wednesday by the local regional mobility authority for a feasibility study. … Continue reading →

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San Antonio airport tunnel update

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This continues to boggle my mind. A plan by Elon Musk’s Boring Company for a project that would connect the San Antonio airport to downtown via twin underground tunnels is among two proposals a local transportation agency is considering. In … Continue reading →

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Elon Musk’s underground adventure

Posted on October 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Say what now? When it surfaced two months ago, the notion of Teslas whizzing through underground tunnels between San Antonio International Airport and downtown seemed fanciful. Now, there’s a sign the idea may have gained some traction. The Boring Co., … Continue reading →

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Tesla crash update

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Federal investigators on Monday released their preliminary assessment of a deadly crash in Spring involving a Tesla, though many details of the incident remain under scrutiny, including whether anyone was in the driver’s seat at the time of the … Continue reading →

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Tesla disputes official account of that autopilot crash

Posted on May 1, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t say I’m surprised. Tesla officials are disputing numerous assertions of local police related to a recent deadly crash in the Spring area, reiterating statements by founder Elon Musk that autopilot was not engaged on the vehicle. Further, company officials … Continue reading →

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What’s up with that Tesla autopilot crash?

Posted on April 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I assume you’ve heard about this. Woodlands Fire department, Montgomery County Hospital District and Cypress Creek EMS were dispatched around 9 p.m. Saturday to a fire in the woods in the Carlton Woods Subdivision on Hammock Dunes Place. Several neighbors … Continue reading →

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Starbase, Texas

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

If you read that title and you thought that Elon Musk must somehow be involved, you would be correct. Elon Musk is attempting to create a city in south Texas. He wants to incorporate Boca Chica Village, where his company … Continue reading →

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It’s the year 2020…

Posted on January 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

But where are the flying cars? And hyperloops? And other things we were promised? Uber will deploy flying cars When Uber Technologies Inc. pledged to deliver on a promise of the Jetsons, it gave itself just three years to do so. The … Continue reading →

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From South Texas to the moon

Posted on December 23, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the plan, anyway. SpaceX founder Elon Musk expects to one day launch people from South Texas to the moon, Mars or beyond — with an update late Saturday that confirmed the company’s long-term presence in a remote area outside … Continue reading →

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Where hyperloops are headed

Posted on June 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Henry Grabar looks at trends in hyperloop development and notes an interesting trend. Last year, I checked in with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, a company that hopes to pioneer terrestrial transit at the speed of sound using a cadre of far-flung … Continue reading →

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The timeline for driverless cars

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We know they’re coming, but how long it takes them to get here really matters. For Elon Musk, the driverless car is always right around the corner. At an investor day event last month focused on Tesla’s autonomous driving technology, the … Continue reading →

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More on flood tunnels

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

They’re a thing, I swear. While it’s far from clear whether it will ever happen, the concept almost immediately generated widespread response when it was announced earlier this spring. Local officials told the Houston Chronicle it’s outside-the-box thinking with benefits that could outweigh … Continue reading →

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Texas remains in hyperloop competition

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

We’re still a long way from anything happening, but if it does it could happen here. There’s still a chance Texans could be some of the first people in the world to whisk along in tubes at 700 mph. Hyperloop … Continue reading →

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In defense of hyperloops

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Eric Holthaus at Grist writes in defense of Elon Musk’s hyperloop idea in general, and the proposal for a New York to Washington, DC hyperloop plan in particular. Assuming hyperloop costs of $100 million per mile, and tunneling costs of … Continue reading →

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A little skepticism about hyperloops

Posted on April 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Streetsblog isn’t having the hyperloop hype. There are no functional, real-world examples of a Hyperloop, Tesla founder Elon Musk’s long-distance transport concept that involves shooting people through vacuum-sealed tubes in pods that travel at up to 760 mph. Anyone who believes … Continue reading →

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Houston hyperlooping

Posted on April 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

How soon can this be built? A Texas plan using the Hyperloop concept envisioned by Tesla founder Elon Musk is one of 35 proposals from around the globe competing this week in Washington for bragging rights as the best initial … Continue reading →

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