Connect with us

News

New aerial photos of Tesla Gigafactory 1 reveal upcoming expansion

Published

on

Tesla Gigafactory expansion

When local flight instructor Josh Mcdonald flew over Tesla Gigafactory 1 yesterday he sighted what appeared to be preparations for its upcoming grand opening party. An enormous party tent was spotted being perched outside of the battery plant. But beyond that, he also noted new footings and foundations adjoining the north and south end of the Gigafactory were being constructed. We’ve outlined these sections in red showing four new sections appearing to have the same if not larger combined footprint equal to the size of the existing Gigafactory.

The four sections seems to encompass approximately 1.9 million square feet of floor space – the size of the existing Gigafactory – representing less than one-sixth the size of the overall factory when completed. According to a report on the Wall Street Journal, the size of the construction crew has more than doubled recently and work is proceeding in double shifts, 7 days a week.

“We have to be ready with cell and pack production well ahead of vehicle production,” CTO JB Straubel, said during a walk through of the factory. “We’re accelerating our construction plans and accelerating our planned ramp up of cell production.”

Tesla wants the factory operational before the launch of the Model 3. Production for that car is now expected to begin in late 2017 with Panasonic being a major partner in the Gigafactory process.  “We are running around like crazy hiring people,” says a Panasonic representative. The Japanese battery company is racing to catch up, after Elon Musk announced he was moving the timeline forward to sell 500,000 cars a year two years sooner than anticipated.

“If you look at where batteries are being made, it’s almost all in Asia,” JB Straubel says. “That was one of the big opportunities we have here, is to close the logistics loop from where cells are made and materials are made and move it closer to where our vehicles are made.”

Advertisement

Sam Jaffe, a principal with Cairn Energy Research Advisors, is skeptical that the reductions in battery costs that Tesla anticipates from building the Gigafactory will happen right away. “What they won’t be able to do from a battery manufacturing perspective is make the cells as cheaply as they hoped. A lot of the price reductions from the Gigafactory model come from the supply chain re-creation that they will be doing in North America. That won’t be ready by 2018.”

One thing often overlooked about Tesla is that it is a US-based company making cars in the US with US workers. It doesn’t get enough credit for its job creation prowess here at home.

Tesla will be holding a Grand Opening party this Friday July 29 at the Gigafactory. Aerial photos reveal a newly painted parking lot large enough to accommodate 2,000 vehicles and possibly a test track around the perimeter of the facility.

Tesla-Gigafactory-July-24-2016-Labels

Aerial photo of Tesla Gigafactory 1 taken on Sunday July 24, 2016

News

Tesla China registrations hit 20.7k in final week of June, highest in Q2

The final week of June stands as the second-highest of 2025 and the best-performing week of the quarter.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla China

Tesla China recorded 20,680 domestic insurance registrations during the week of June 23–29, marking its highest weekly total in the second quarter of 2025. 

The figure represents a 49.3% increase from the previous week and a 46.7% improvement year-over-year, suggesting growing domestic momentum for the electric vehicle maker in Q2’s final weeks.

Q2 closes with a boost despite year-on-year dip

The strong week helped lift Tesla’s performance for the quarter, though Q2 totals remain down 4.6% quarter-over-quarter and 10.9% year-over-year, according to industry watchers. Despite these declines, the last week of June stands as the second-highest of 2025 and the best-performing week of the quarter. 

As per industry watchers, Tesla China delivered 15,210 New Model Y units last week, the highest weekly tally since the vehicle’s launch. The Model 3 followed with 5,470 deliveries during the same period. Tesla’s full June and Q2 sales data for China are expected to be released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) in the coming days.

Tesla China and minor Model 3 and Model Y updates

Tesla manufactures the Model 3 and Model Y at its Shanghai facility, which provides vehicles to both domestic and international markets. In May, the automaker reported 38,588 retail sales in China, down 30.1% year-over-year but up 34.3% from April. Exports from Shanghai totaled 23,074 units in May, a 32.9% improvement from the previous year but down 22.4% month-over-month, as noted in a CNEV Post report.

Advertisement

Earlier this week, Tesla introduced minor updates to the long-range versions of the Model 3 and Model Y in China. The refreshed Model 3 saw a modest price increase, while pricing for the updated Model Y Long Range variant remained unchanged. These adjustments come as Tesla continues refining its China lineup amid shifting local demand and increased competition from domestic brands.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla investors will be shocked by Jim Cramer’s latest assessment

Jim Cramer is now speaking positively about Tesla, especially in terms of its Robotaxi performance and its perception as a company.

Published

on

Credit: CNBC Television/YouTube

Tesla investors will be shocked by analyst Jim Cramer’s latest assessment of the company.

When it comes to Tesla analysts, many of them are consistent. The bulls usually stay the bulls, and the bears usually stay the bears. The notable analysts on each side are Dan Ives and Adam Jonas for the bulls, and Gordon Johnson for the bears.

Jim Cramer is one analyst who does not necessarily fit this mold. Cramer, who hosts CNBC’s Mad Money, has switched his opinion on Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) many times.

He has been bullish, like he was when he said the stock was a “sleeping giant” two years ago, and he has been bearish, like he was when he said there was “nothing magnificent” about the company just a few months ago.

Now, he is back to being a bull.

Cramer’s comments were related to two key points: how NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang describes Tesla after working closely with the Company through their transactions, and how it is not a car company, as well as the recent launch of the Robotaxi fleet.

Jensen Huang’s Tesla Narrative

Cramer says that the narrative on quarterly and annual deliveries is overblown, and those who continue to worry about Tesla’s performance on that metric are misled.

“It’s not a car company,” he said.

He went on to say that people like Huang speak highly of Tesla, and that should be enough to deter any true skepticism:

“I believe what Musk says cause Musk is working with Jensen and Jensen’s telling me what’s happening on the other side is pretty amazing.”

Tesla self-driving development gets huge compliment from NVIDIA CEO

Robotaxi Launch

Many media outlets are being extremely negative regarding the early rollout of Tesla’s Robotaxi platform in Austin, Texas.

There have been a handful of small issues, but nothing significant. Cramer says that humans make mistakes in vehicles too, yet, when Tesla’s test phase of the Robotaxi does it, it’s front page news and needs to be magnified.

He said:

“Look, I mean, drivers make mistakes all the time. Why should we hold Tesla to a standard where there can be no mistakes?”

It’s refreshing to hear Cramer speak logically about the Robotaxi fleet, as Tesla has taken every measure to ensure there are no mishaps. There are safety monitors in the passenger seat, and the area of travel is limited, confined to a small number of people.

Tesla is still improving and hopes to remove teleoperators and safety monitors slowly, as CEO Elon Musk said more freedom could be granted within one or two months.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla launches ultra-fast V4 Superchargers in China for the first time

Tesla has V4 Superchargers rolling out in China for the first time.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla already has nearly 12,000 Supercharger piles across mainland China. However, the company just initiated the rollout of the ultra-fast V4 Superchargers in China for the first time, bringing its quick-charging piles to the country for the first time since their launch last year.

The first batch of V4 Superchargers is now officially up and running in China, the company announced in a post on Chinese social media outlet Weibo today.

Tesla China teases arrival of V4 Superchargers in 2025

The company said in the post:

“The first batch of Tesla V4 Superchargers are online. Covering more service areas, high-speed charging is more convenient, and six-layer powerful protection such as rain and waterproof makes charging very safe. Simultaneously open to non-Tesla vehicles, and other brands of vehicles can also be charged. There are more than 70,000 Tesla Superchargers worldwide. The charging network layout covers 100% of the provincial capitals and municipalities in mainland China. More V4 Superchargers will be put into use across the country. Optimize the charging experience and improve energy replenishment efficiency. Tesla will accompany you to the mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas with pure electricity!”

The first V4 Superchargers Tesla installed in China are available in four cities across the country: Shanghai, Zhejiang, Gansu, and Chongqing.

Credit: Tesla China

Tesla has over 70,000 Superchargers worldwide. It is the most expansive and robust EV charging network in the world. It’s the main reason why so many companies have chosen to adopt Tesla’s charging connector in North America and Europe.

In China, some EVs can use Tesla Superchargers as well.

The V4 Supercharger is capable of charging vehicles at speeds of up to 325kW for vehicles in North America. This equates to over 1,000 miles per hour of charging.

Continue Reading

Trending