This podcast, hosted by Dylan Loomis, was published on 2026-09-23.
Dylan began by thanking viewers for liking yesterday's video, stating that this habit would allow him more time for Electrified, potentially leading to more videos and deep-dive research. He noted it would also help spread the word about Tesla.
**Update on Yesterday's Video (Zooks and Tesla Cybercab):**
- Dylan thanked Michael for a comment clarifying that Zooks and Tesla Cybercab are very different vehicles, meaning Zooks's exemption needs were more extensive than Tesla's might be.
- Dylan clarified his previous argument: both companies made the same argument regarding the single line item of the brake pedal, where Zooks initially tried to self-certify that the physical brake pedal with foot control did not apply to them.
- Nyssa denied Zooks's self-certification, requiring an exemption from the brake pedal rule (FMVSS), which has not officially changed.
- Dylan reiterated his stance that there is "at least a chance that Tesla's self-certification fails," not a "dogmatic claim" of 100% failure.
- He highlighted Nyssa's public statements days before the Cybercab audit query, noting that while new rulemakings were underway (including for brake pedals) to remove "unnecessary barriers," existing standards remain in force until completed.
- Question 19 in the audit query specifically asked how Tesla determined compliance with the first sentence of FMVSS 135, which states: "The service brakes shall be activated by means of a foot control."
- Dylan mentioned the potential for murkiness if Tesla argued it self-certified initial production versions with a brake pedal and steering wheel.
- He cited US code 30122, which prohibits knowingly making inoperative any part or device used to comply with safety standards.
- Question 7 in the Cybercab audit query directly asked Tesla how the removal of temporary human driver controls aligns with this US code.
- Dylan considered that 34 days before the Cybercab launch, NHTSA amended the part 555 exemption to retroactively cover older vehicles once granted, suggesting it might have been made with Tesla in mind.
- Other possible outcomes include Tesla adding a hidden, foot-operated brake pedal, though Dylan believes Tesla "would not want to do that."
- Dylan speculated that Tesla might have anticipated NHTSA's challenge as a "cat and mouse game," aiming to "kick the can down the road." He noted that fines are relatively small ($27,000 per vehicle, totaling about $27 million for 1,000 Cybercabs, which is "nothing" for Tesla), allowing them to delay until FMVSS changes.
- He floated the idea of a membership option for his channel for more "deep dive, heavy research type" and "reckless type of speculation" videos for members only.
- Tesla has eight days to respond to the audit query.
**Sponsor - Cove Pure:**
- Dylan introduced Cove Pure, a reverse osmosis water filtration system, noting it uses the same technology as SpaceX's ultra-pure water systems.
- He highlighted its countertop design, no installation, four-stage filtration eliminating up to 99% of contaminants (heavy metals, microplastics, forever chemicals, arsenic), and its unique ability to instantly dispense hot, cold, or warm water.
- He claimed the water "just seems to taste better," attributing it possibly to placebo.
- Viewers can get $250 off at covepure.com/electrified.
**Tesla Semi Order (ZET Scale Alliance):**
- A new Tesla Semi order was announced from the US Shippers Alliance ZET Scale, totaling 2,500 Class 8 trucks.
- Tesla was named the "primary truck maker," but Volvo, Ride, and Kenworth are also options, meaning not all 2,500 units are confirmed Tesla Semis.
- This is the "biggest electric truck order in US history" and is for US roads, with no specific timeline given.
- The ZET Alliance is a new private sector alliance operated by Catalyst Mobility (formerly CalStart) and the Smart Freight Center, with an ambition to expand to "10,000 trucks and beyond."
- This deal "nearly doubles the country's Class 8 fleet," though Dylan noted potential debate on vehicle classification.
- The president of Catalyst stated ZET Scale organized demand so manufacturers could "price at scale," helping "clean trucks leave the pilot phase."
- Shippers like Microsoft, Pepsi, and Red Bull are pooling demand through the alliance, which will buy trucks and lease them back to shipping companies.
- This setup is significant because operators (shipping companies) do not hold the "residual value risk," which has kept many carriers "parked on the sidelines."
- The CEO of Smart Freight emphasized that sharing risk across the chain allows the industry to move "at scale."
- Tesla won its slot through an independently run competitive Request for Purchase (RFP), with bids scored on price, range, charging capability, and production capacity.
- Initial deployments will be concentrated around 10 freight hubs in California, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, the Chicago area, Atlanta, and Northern New Jersey/Newark/New York City.
- This blueprint allows manufacturers like Tesla to bid to multiple fleets simultaneously, potentially leading to higher volumes, while end customers can lease without residual value concerns.
- The question remains about the ZET alliance's capitalization and financials, with no current details on leasing rates.
- Dylan estimated that even if Tesla Semi orders only accounted for half the headline number (1,250 units), it would "basically be doubling Tesla's entire list of verified Tesla Semi orders to date," according to his Tesla Semi dashboard tracker.
- The official Tesla Semi account confirmed the news, and Dan Priestley stated, "just the start," reinforcing the idea that this blueprint could encourage more shippers to electrify.
**Grok 4.7 & Grok in Tesla Vehicles:**
- Grok 4.7 is rolling out to some users (Dylan has access via Cursor's Ultra plan).
- Initial feedback on Grok 4.7 is "very mixed"; Dylan's limited experience "has not been great," with Grok 4.7 initially incorrectly stating GrokBot was not a live feature in Tesla vehicles and admitting a "factual error."
- Theo, an AI expert, provided "much harder to forgive" feedback: Grok 4.7 is less token efficient (30-80% less), scores worse than 4.6 in benchmarks, is slower, less pleasant, and has real-world costs over twice that of Grok 4.6, exceeding Astra's costs.
- Dylan expressed skepticism about benchmarks for 95% of users, preferring models that are fast, accurate, and efficient, acknowledging models excel in different domains.
- Theo described Grok 4.7 as a "very disappointing release."
- Elon Musk had hyped Grok 4.7 on August 12th, saying it would "exceed all current models," but later backtracked, stating it should be "roughly on par with Opus 5, not 5.1," and better in some ways, worse in others, needing multimodal performance fixes.
- Elon emphasized using 4.7 with "our build harness for the best results," which Dylan explained using a pilot/cockpit analogy, highlighting that model performance depends heavily on the specific "harness" or tools it uses.
- Tesla announced that "Grok and your Tesla can now do meaningful work" with connectors, allowing hands-free management of inbox, calendar, files, chat, and tasks.
- GrokBot enables "complex tasks" like coffee orders or scheduling.
- This feature is currently only available to "Super Grok Heavy" subscribers ($300 a month), with more tiers expected.
- Dylan's opinion: Grok in the vehicle acts as a "proxy for a prompter for GrokBot." He stated there's "no reason to upgrade to Super Grok Heavy" yet, as users can directly prompt GrokBot on their phone while supervising FSD.
- He demonstrated using his GrokBot integrated with WAVE to check and mark invoices as paid.
- He advised listeners to download GrokBot now to set up a bot team, as the in-car feature is "useless" otherwise.
- This is seen as groundwork for more robust future iterations, currently requiring an AMD chip and premium connectivity.
- Yuntasai commented that Grok in Tesla can handle DoorDash, OpenTable, and Uber Eats, and help with work tasks like spinning up pull requests or prepping documents.
- Dylan reiterated that the in-car integration is currently Grok acting as a middleman, passing voice prompts to the GrokBot team, suggesting using a phone directly is currently more cost-effective.
- He advised waiting for "normal people" to test the feature and to "push the limits" beyond specific platforms.
- He believes this is the "worst this feature will ever be" and envisions a future where humans become "managers and delegators" for agentic bot teams.
- He raised concerns about privacy, security, and liability, noting he hasn't (yet) given GrokBot access to his bank accounts.
- He expressed excitement about Tesla vehicles transforming into "productivity pod shuttles."
**Other Tesla News:**
- Yuntasai mentioned that Grok build teams optimized the harness for 4.7 and that FSD/CyberCab features were shipped using "overnight agents."
- Yuntasai also admitted the Tesla camera cleaning issue was "a bit too sensitive" and has been addressed, with the nag potentially disappearing with 14.3.10.
- A Carsauce video showed a sample CyberCab user interface in a Tesla showroom, which resembles customer-owned Tesla UIs. Dylan stated this indicates that Tesla selling Cybercabs to customers is a "matter of when, not if," even if years away.
- Tesla added nine CyberCabs to the registered fleet in Austin late last night, bringing the total to 67 in Austin and 476 total registered Tesla vehicles (now 478 after a real-time tracker found two more CyberCabs, making 69 in Texas).
- VINs now go up to 3,354, meaning Tesla likely has over 3,000 Cybercabs (a mix of production and Farzads) across the country.
**Mercedes-Benz/WAVE Partnership:**
- Mercedes-Benz chose to integrate WAVE for autonomous efforts instead of partnering with Tesla for FSD.
- This global partnership will integrate WAVE's AI driver into future Mercedes-Benz vehicles starting in the next two years.
- Dylan called WAVE's claim of being the "global leader in embodied AI" an "egregious statement."
- He noted WAVE previously aligned with Tesla's approach by claiming its AI driver learns like humans, without HD maps, generalizing to new cities without geofences or city-specific retraining.
- Dylan counter-argued that, based on Tesla's experience, "that is really not how it plays out in the real world," and 100% validation will be required for each new city.
- The press release was "very short on detail."
- Mercedes is pursuing two parallel autonomy tracks: Nvidia's Alpamayo for models like the CLA and S-Class, and WAVE for other vehicles.
- This is a "hedge" by Mercedes, acknowledging that "no one's strategy has won yet."
**Stock Performance:**
- Tesla stock closed at $378.90, up 0.96%.
- SpaceX closed at $154.72, up 1.89%.
- The NDX was up 0.82%.
Dylan concluded by reminding listeners about CovePure and thanking his Patreon supporters.