News
Elon Musk aims for October final approval during recent Giga Berlin visit
Elon Musk seemed to be in high spirits during his recent visit to Gigafactory Berlin, which is currently conducting the initial tests of its Model Y production equipment. During his visit, Musk candidly remarked that he is hoping for Giga Berlin’s final approval to be granted sometime in October this year. He also poked some fun at hydrogen cars.
Musk’s visit to Giga Berlin included a meeting with German chancellor candidate Armin Laschet, who drew some facepalms among electric vehicle advocates after he asked the Tesla CEO if the future of cars would be electric or hydrogen. The question seemed a bit silly considering Musk’s previous statements about hydrogen cars, and the CEO did not disappoint in his response. Musk stated that the future of cars is “definitely electric” because hydrogen is a “waste of time” before laughing out loud for several seconds.
Later videos of Musk and Laschet inside Gigafactory Berlin involved the CEO being asked about his opinion of the chancellor candidate. Musk was polite, noting that Laschet seems like a “great guy,” though he noted that it would ultimately be “up for the German people to judge” whether the politician wins the esteemed chancellor position or not. When asked when he expects Giga Berlin’s final approval to be released, Musk was pretty open.
“I don’t know; we’re hoping to get the final approval in October. Or “Oktoberfest.” An “Oktoberfest” approval,” Musk said before heading into the factory.
Interestingly enough, the majority of Oktoberfest typically happens in late September to early October. Musk may then be hinting at Giga Berlin securing its final approval in early October, which should give the facility most of the fourth quarter to ramp its Model Y production. Expectations should be tempered for Giga Berlin, however, as the factory, similar to Giga Shanghai, would likely be spending its first months calibrating its equipment and refining its manufacturing process. This is especially important for Giga Berlin since the Model Y that would be built on the site would be quite different compared to its American-made counterparts.
Gigafactory Berlin may already be delayed, but opposition surrounding the factory’s construction seems to be settling down as of late. Together with the recent failures of the Brandenburg Nature Protection Association (NABU) and the Green League in the Higher Administrative Court Berlin-Brandenburg (OVG), Giga Berlin’s plans have also received far fewer objections from the public. Compared to the 373 that were received after Tesla posted Giga Berlin’s first plans last year, the latest iteration of the facility’s plans received only 44 objections to date.
UPDATE:
Elon Musk has announced that Tesla would be holding a Giga Berlin “county fair and factory tour” on October 9, 2021.
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Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
