Tesla supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) has established a new electric vehicle (EV) battery production facility in China, which the company says can produce one battery cell every second.
The production facility is located in the Guizhou province in the Guian New District, and it officially entered operation on Friday, according to a report from CnEVPost. The production facility will produce energy storage batteries and will eventually feature an annual capacity of 60 GWh.
The factory’s opening represents the first of two construction phases planned at the site, with the first officially entering production and featuring about 885 mu (9,526 sq. ft.) of total land area. CATL reportedly invested around RMB 7 billion (~$960 million) into phase one of construction, and the site becoming operational is expected to have an annual production capacity of 30 GWh while the second phase will add another 30 GWh of output.
Tesla supplier CATL reveals LFP battery that can charge up to 250 miles in 10 mins
The speed of the factory’s production is largely due to the facility having an automation rate of about 95 percent, according to CATL. The company also added that, from the point of feeding raw materials to the output of the finished product, the factory will take roughly two and a half minutes to produce a full battery pack.
CATL is one of Tesla’s many suppliers, and it’s the world’s largest battery manufacturer, with around a 36.9-percent global market share between January and August. No other battery maker had above a 30 percent market share in that time period.
In Q3, CATL reported net profits of RMB 10.43 billion (~$1.4 billion), representing a 4.3 percent drop from Q2 but a 10.7 increase year over year.
The news comes after the U.S. Congress asked Tesla to provide details about its relationship with CATL last month, citing concerns about the company partnering with U.S. companies. One letter on the topic cites an agreement with Ford, in which the automaker disclosed that it planned to open a $3.5 billion plant in Michigan with licensed technology from CATL.
Earlier this year, reports also suggested that Tesla could be considering a U.S. plant built jointly with CATL, though the automaker did not confirm whether the reports are valid or not.
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News
Tesla vs China on the final frontier in humanoid robot development
Chinese companies are going all-in on dexterous robot hands, heating up the competition for the Tesla Optimus bot.

China’s robot industry is heating up as companies prepare to conquer the final frontier in humanoid robot development. The Tesla Optimus bot team is working to do the same on the other side of the world. Which humanoid robot developer will come out on top?
Dexterous hands are said to be the last frontier in humanoid robot development. Robotic hands have become essential to humanoid robots taking on human workloads. As such, companies are increasingly focused on developing the most dexterous robotic hands.
Linkerbot Technology recently debuted its Linker hand for humanoid robots. The Chinese company claims its Linker Hand has the highest dexterity on the market.
“Our Linker Hand research version has the world’s highest 42 degrees of freedom (DOF), surpassing the 26 of the world’s leading product, Shadow Hand. Each finger could independently have up to 7 DOF, which means it has surpassed human fingers. It is also equipped with an advanced multi-sensor system, including cameras and electronic skin,” said Gao Gang, Deputy General Manager of Linkerbot Technology at the 27th China Beijing International High-tech Expo (CHITEC).
Last year, Elon Musk shared that Tesla’s new Optimus hand would have 22 degrees of freedom. In May 2024, Tesla released a new video of Optimus in the company’s facilities. The Tesla video featured Optimus performing several tasks in a factory, including those requiring precision. In a comment about the Optimus video, NVIDIA Sr. Research Manager & Lead of Embodied AI (GEAR Lab), Jim Fan, noted that Optimus’ hands are among the best in the industry.
It would be interesting to see Tesla’s improvements on the Optimus hand. The video from last year already showed Optimus handling delicate tasks, which would improve its functionality in factories. Linkbot expects to showcase the capabilities of its own dexterous robotic hand in the future as well.
“In years to come, Linkerbot aims to deploy 1 million humanoid robots equipped with dexterous hands in the real world to collect data. Including, but not limited to, playing with a Rubik’s Cube. Putting on makeup is included in our fine motor standardized test scenarios,” noted Gao.
Linkerbot isn’t the only Chinese company developing humanoid robots. A few companies in China are creating robots that can work in factories.
Tesla Optimus is expected to perform menial, monotonous, repetitive tasks that could harm humans. PaXini Tech, another Chinese company, is also planning to release a humanoid robot to perform work tasks. Similar to Linkbot, PaXini Tech emphasized its humanoid robot’s dexterous hands and its capabilities.
“Our DexH13 GEN2 is the first four-finger bionic dexterous hand in the domestic market that integrates multi-dimensional tactile + AI visual dual-modal capabilities, which can perfectly simulate various complex movements of human hands such as welding, grasping, rotating, and pinching,” said Dr. Xu Jincheng, founder and CEO of PaXini Tech, a leading haptic technology and humanoid robotics company in China.
News
Tesla Semi gets new adoptee in latest sighting
Tesla is continuing to increase the number of companies that have access to the Semi.

The Tesla Semi looks to have its newest adoptee as US Foods, the second-largest foodservice distributor in the United States, was seen with its badging on the all-electric Class 8 truck.
US Foods trails only Sysco Corporation in terms of foodservice distributors by volume in the United States. The company joined several other massive food industry entities, such as PepsiCo, and its subsidiary, Frito-Lay, have both utilized the Tesla Semi in their fleets.
Tesla Semi futuristic sci-fi acceleration sound will never get old
The Semi in question was spotted by X user Zanegler, a prominent tracker of the Tesla Semi and its factory, which sits near the company’s Gigafactory Nevada plant in Reno:
**Breaking Tesla Semi News: US Foods branded Tesla semi seen near Giga Nevada**
The program continues to show positive momentum with multiple new customers receiving the clean air vehicles.
I believe this to be a training run with a with Tesla driver/instructor showing the US… pic.twitter.com/x3Nlw7H2c7
— Zanegler (@HinrichsZane) May 9, 2025
US Foods also has a distribution center in Reno, which could have something to do with its decision to start using the Semi in regional logistics.
With an influx of EV semitrucks hitting the market from many different manufacturers, it is evident that companies are taking the idea of making their fleets more environmentally friendly very seriously.
Tesla is still very close to unloading the Semi in a more volumized fashion, as the company’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, said in January:
“We just closed out the Semi factory roofing walls last week in Reno…but we’re prepping for mechanical installation of all the equipment in the coming months… The first builds of the high-volume Semi design come late this year in 2025 and begin ramping early in 2026.”
First Tesla Semi high-volume production builds expected this 2025
With the latest addition of US Foods, Tesla increases its list of companies that are planning or are already using the Semi to help with local logistics and transportation. Among them are:
- PepsiCo
- Walmart
- Sysco
- Costco
- Martin Brower
- Saia Inc.
- UPS
- Anheuser-Busch
- DHL
Many other companies have plans to use the Semi in their fleets. Currently, Tesla appears to be hand-picking those who have access to the vehicle as the pilot program continues.
Lifestyle
Tesla Cybertruck takes a bump from epic failing Dodge Charger
The Cybertruck seemed unharmed by the charging Charger.

There comes a time in a driver’s life when one is faced with one’s limitations. For the driver of a Dodge Charger, this time came when he lost control and crashed into a Tesla Cybertruck–an absolute epic fail.
A video of the rather unfortunate incident was shared on the r/TeslaLounge subreddit.
Charging Charger Fails
As could be seen in the video, which was posted on the subreddit by Model Y owner u/Hammer_of_something, a group of teens in a Dodge Charger decided to do some burnouts at a Tesla Supercharger. Unfortunately, the driver of the Charger failed in his burnout or donut attempt, resulting in the mopar sedan going over a curb and bumping a charging Cybertruck.
Ironically, the Dodge Charger seemed to have been parked at a Supercharger stall before its driver decided to perform the failed stunt. This suggests that the vehicle was likely ICE-ing a charging stall before it had its epic fail moment. Amusingly enough, the subreddit member noted that the Cybertruck did not seem like it took any damage at all despite its bump. The Charger, however, seemed like it ran into some trouble after crashing into the truck.
Alleged Aftermath
As per the the r/TeslaLounge subreddit member, the Cybertruck owner came rushing out to his vehicle after the Dodge Charger crashed into it. The Model Y owner then sent over the full video of the incident, which clearly showed the Charger attempting a burnout, failing, and bumping into the Cybertruck. The Cybertruck owner likely appreciated the video, in part because it showed the driver of the Dodge Charger absolutely freaking out after the incident.
The Cybertruck is not an impregnable vehicle, but it can take bumps pretty well thanks to its thick stainless steel body. Based on this video, it appears that the Cybertruck can even take bumps from a charging Charger, all while chilling and charging at a Supercharger. As for the teens in the Dodge, they likely had to provide a long explanation to authorities after the incident, since the cops were called to the location.
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