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Elon Musk meets with South Korean President Yoon to discuss future Tesla investments

(Credit: Tesla)

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met in Washington on Wednesday. The pair discussed potential Tesla investments in South Korea, including possibly constructing a gigafactory. 

It isn’t the first time Musk and President Yoon have discussed the possibility of a Tesla gigafactory in South Korea. In late November 2022, President Yoon’s executive office revealed that the pair talked about Tesla in a video call. At the time, Tesla had not revealed the location of its next gigafactory, but it was clear there would be another EV factory announcement soon. Eventually, Tesla announced the construction of Gigafactory Mexico. 

However, South Korea’s President Yoon doesn’t seem phased by Tesla’s Giga Mexico announcement. President Yoon talked to Musk about what South Korea could offer Tesla. He argued that South Korea was ideal for one of Tesla’s gigafactories, adding that the country had cutting-edge industrial robots and highly skilled workers. 

President Yoon also offered support for Tesla’s investment, including tax benefits. During last year’s discussions, President Yoon was prepared to provide “tailored” support to companies wanting to invest in South Korea. 

“If Tesla, SpaceX, or other companies are considering more investment in [South] Korea, including constructing a gigafactory, the government will do our best to support the investment,” President Yoon said. “We are preparing a tailored approach to grant some advantages to these specified companies.”

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South Koreans might be on board with President Yoon’s efforts. Retail investors in South Korea bought $2.8 billion worth of Tesla stock by the end of 2022. The Korea Securities Depository reported that local day traders bought $160 million worth of Tesla shares up through December 27, 2022, despite TSLA’s downward slide at the time. 

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via Twitter @Writer_01001101.

Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Tesla breaks Norway’s all-time annual sales record with one month to spare

With November alone delivering 4,260 new registrations, Tesla has cemented its most dominant year ever in one of Europe’s most mature EV markets.

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Credit: Grok Imagine

Tesla shattered Norway’s decade-old annual sales record this month, overtaking Volkswagen’s long-standing milestone with over one month still left in the year. Backed by surging demand ahead of Norway’s upcoming VAT changes, Tesla has already registered 26,666 vehicles year-to-date, surpassing Volkswagen’s 2016 record of 26,572 units. 

With November alone delivering 4,260 new registrations month-to-date, Tesla has cemented its most dominant year ever in one of Europe’s most mature EV markets.

Model Y drives historic surge in Norway

Tesla’s impressive momentum has been led overwhelmingly by the Model Y, which accounted for 21,517 of Norway’s registrations this year, as noted in a CarUp report, citing data from Elbil Statistik. The Model 3 followed with 5,087 units, while the Model S and Model X contributed 30 and 19 vehicles, respectively. Even the parallel-imported Cybertruck made the charts with 13 registrations.

Demand intensified sharply through autumn as Norwegian buyers rushed to secure deliveries before the country’s VAT changes take effect in January. The new regulation is expected to add roughly NOK 50,000 to the price of a Model Y, prompting a wave of early purchases that helped lift Tesla beyond the previous all-time record well before year-end. 

With December still ahead, Tesla is positioned to extend its historic lead further. Needless to say, it appears that Norway will prove to be one of Tesla’s strongest markets in Europe. 

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FSD could be a notable demand driver in 2026

What’s especially interesting about Tesla’s feat in Norway is that the company’s biggest selling point today, Full Self-Driving (Supervised), is not yet available there. Tesla, however, recently noted in a post on X that the Dutch regulator RDW has reportedly committed to issuing a Netherlands national approval for FSD (Supervised) in February 2026

The RDW posted a response to Tesla’s post, clarifying the February 2026 target but stating that FSD’s approval is not assured yet. “The RDW has drawn up a schedule with Tesla in which Tesla is expected to be able to demonstrate that FSD Supervised meets the requirements in February 2026. RDW and Tesla know what efforts need to be made to make a decision on this in February. Whether the schedule will be met remains to be seen in the coming period,” the RDW wrote in a post on its official wesbite.

If FSD (Supervised) does get approved next year, Tesla’s vehicles could gain a notable advantage over competitors, as they would be the only vehicles on the market capable of driving themselves on both inner-city streets and highways with practically no driver input. 

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2’s best new feature is not what you think

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Credit: TESLARATI

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2 rolled out late last week to Early Access Program (EAP) members, but its best feature is not what you think.

While Tesla has done a great job of refining the performance of the Full Self-Driving suite with the latest update, there are some other interesting additions, including one that many owners have requested for some time.

Upon the release of v14.2, many owners recognized the Blue Dot next to the Autopilot tab in Vehicle Settings, notifying them of a new feature. What was included as a new feature in the new update was a Full Self-Driving stats feature, which now will show you how many miles you’ve traveled in total, and how many of those miles were driven using FSD:

The feature seems to be more of a bragging rights thing than anything, but it will also give drivers a good idea of how many miles they are using Full Self-Driving for. Those who use telematics-based insurance services will also be able to run experiments of their own, and could determine whether their premiums are impacted by the use of Full Self-Driving, and whether it is more advantageous to use over manual driving.

Tesla rolled out numerous other improvements with Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2, most notably, the company seems to have resolved previous complaints about brake stabbing and hesitation. This was a major complaint in v14.1, but Tesla has seemed to resolve it with this newest branch of the FSD suite.

There were also improvements in overall operation, and it was notably smoother than past versions. Speed Profiles are seemingly refined as well, as they seem much more fixed on how fast they will travel and how aggressive they will be with things like passing cars on freeways and lane changes.

In future updates, Tesla plans to add Parking Spot selection, along with overall operational improvements. However, CEO Elon Musk recently said that the next branch, Full Self-Driving v14.3, will be where the “final piece of the puzzle is placed.” Tesla believes it is close to solving autonomy, so v14.3 could be a major jump forward, but it remains to be seen.

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Tesla adjusts crucial feature as winter weather arrives

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Credit: Tesla Cybertruck Owners Club Forum user CybertruckCovers

Tesla has adjusted the functionality of a crucial climate feature as Winter weather has started to arrive throughout some parts of the United States. The new feature was highly requested by owners.

Tesla has a Cabin Overheat Protection feature that helps keep the temperature regulated if it reaches a certain threshold. Inversely, it can be used in cold weather as well, which will automatically warm the cabin if it sinks to a temperature that is too low for the owner’s comfort.

This is a great way to keep the cabin either warmed up just enough or cooled down just enough so that it never gets too hot or too cold. Extreme temperatures could damage certain parts of the vehicle or damage personal belongings that are kept inside the car.

Overheat protection is a great thing to have in hot climates like Arizona or Texas, especially with the Premium trims of the Model 3 and Model Y, which feature a glass roof.

Many owners appreciate the feature, but they argue that using it at home will utilize too much energy, especially during extreme temperatures. For a while, many Tesla fans have requested an option to disable this feature when the car is parked at home, which the company recently added, according to Not a Tesla App.

The feature is part of Software Version 2025.44.3, and the release notes state:

“You can now choose Exclude Home when Cabin Overheat Protection or No A/C is enabled.”

Tesla has been great at listening to what owners want with new features, and this is one that will reserve some charge and prevent unnecessary utilization of available power, especially as the car is parked at home. If owners want to condition the cabin or get the car ready for operation with a comfortable interior, they can utilize the Tesla app to adjust the climate.

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