**Tesla Time News – Episode 629 Summary**
- **Tesla Patent:** A newly‑published lens‑cleaning system (patent 12,636,684 B1) uses eyelid‑like wipers to keep car cameras (and Optimus sensors) clear in rain or snow, and can be retrofitted to existing vehicles.
- **New Orleans Tunnel:** Mayor Helena Moreno proposes the “Nola Loop,” a one‑mile boring tunnel from near City Hall to the Convention Center, estimated to serve 75‑125 k riders yearly and save ~20 min per trip. The Boring Company will fund the first phase as a contest win.
- **U.S. Electricity Mix:** For the first time, wind and solar generated more electricity than coal in the United States, marking a continued shift toward renewables.
- **Optimus Factory:** Construction is underway on the northern side of Giga Texas. The new Optimus plant will be roughly the length of the Gigafactory but narrower, with a projected capacity of **10 million Optimus robots per year**.
- **Supercharger Noise Fix:** Tesla issued a software update for the San Francisco Lombard‑Street Supercharger that lets users lower volume with a single tap, addressing resident complaints about loud music during night‑time charging.
- **Starlink on Airlines:** Starlink will be installed on American Aircraft, bringing the total to ~38 airlines with the service; rollout expected early 2027 for most domestic fleets.
- **Space Force Contract:** The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a **$2.29 billion** contract to develop and operate the “Star Shield” satellite network—a resilient, high‑bandwidth space‑based data system intended to resist jamming and support battlefield communications by 2027.
- **Community Segment:** Viewers guessed locations from photos (e.g., Bologna, Italy; Portland, Oregon; Thailand; Yuma, AZ; Philadelphia) in a interactive “where in the world?” game.
- **Patreon Giveaway:** Patrons can enter to win a Model Y front cooler (frunk cooler) for as little as $1/month.
The episode also featured Elon Musk’s tweets on AI hardware, a tongue‑in‑cheek “Hungry Hippo” Starship concept, lunar base ambitions, and various light‑hearted community interactions.
1. Tesla filed patent 12,636,684 B1 for a lens‑cleaning system in May; it was made public two days ago.
2. The patent describes a system that wipes car cameras clean, works like eyelids, and can be retrofitted to existing vehicles.
3. New Orleans Mayor Helina Moreno proposed a one‑mile boring tunnel called the Nola Loop, running from near city hall to the convention center.
4. The mayor estimates 75,000–125,000 riders per year would use the tunnel, saving about 20 minutes per trip.
5. The Boring Company has pledged to fund the first phase of the Nola Loop as part of winning a contest.
6. In the first year on record, wind and solar generated more electricity than coal in the United States.
7. Construction of the Optimus factory on the northern side of Giga Texas is underway; the factory will be as long as the Gigafactory but a few hundred feet narrower.
8. The Optimus factory will have the capacity to produce 10 million Optimus robots per year.
9. Tesla released a software update for the Supercharger at 1965 Lombard Street, San Francisco, allowing users to lower volume with one tap after noise complaints.
10. Starlink will be provided on American Airlines; Elon Musk said 38 airlines will have Starlink, with rollout expected in early 2027 for most domestic fleets.
11. The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $2.29 billion contract to develop and deploy the Star Shield space‑data network by the end of 2027.
12. Mario Nefal said Tesla quietly filed a patent that could cut battery production costs by nearly half.
13. The patent covers a new cathode‑making process that uses a microscopic spiderweb structure instead of toxic liquid solvents.
14. The process triples manufacturing speed and could reduce the physical footprint of battery factories by up to 50 %.
15. Gigafactory Texas is already mass‑producing these cells for select Model Y vehicles, with Cybertruck, Cyber Cab, and Semi rollout expected in 2026‑2027.
16. Elon Musk stated the patent will not halve battery costs but will significantly reduce cathode production costs.
17. Elon Musk suggested a “Hungry Hippo” version of Starship to collect and de‑orbit spent rocket stages and space junk.
18. Elon Musk said it is time to build a major base on the Moon.
19. The FBI arrested a senior CIA official after uncovering over $40 million in gold bars and $2 million in cash at his Virginia home.
20. The official, David Rush, allegedly requested large quantities of gold and foreign currency for work‑related expenses from November 2025 to March 2026, much of it unaccounted for.
21. $40 million in gold bars weighs approximately 620 lb.
22. Elon Musk posted that SpaceX has nearly finished version V1 of an in‑house AI training stack in C, achieving speed improvements over an order of magnitude versus previous systems.
23. Elon Musk confirmed the AI training stack will be used for Grok V5.