

News
Ford says it is stockpiling batteries for Farley’s electric vehicle scaling operation
Ford said it is stockpiling batteries to achieve CEO Jim Farley’s recently outlined goals of scaling production of 600,000 electric vehicles produced in just 22 months; a lofty goal for the Detroit-based automaker, which held its Q4 2021 Earnings Call last evening.
In late January, Farley stated that he believed Ford could be one of the first legacy automakers to scale electric vehicle production by suggesting the company could manufacture 600,000 units in 22 months. Ford, which has set aside massive budgets for electrification efforts, raised production targets on the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, which has not entered production yet.
Farley bumped Mustang Mach-E production to 200,000 units per year by 2023. F-150 Lightning production was slated for 40,000 annual units at its unveiling event last Spring. This has been essentially quadrupled to 150,000 units per year, bringing Ford’s production targets to unprecedented levels. A bold move for a company with a long and storied history of combustion engines. In the world of EVs, Ford is relatively a newcomer, but it has not stopped the company from performing exceptionally in the U.S. market, falling second to only Tesla in sales figures for Q4 2021.
During last evenings Q4 Earnings Call, Farley gave additional details on the scalability project, indicating that the company’s biggest bottleneck is cell availability:
“Really, the primary lift for us is battery availability. So we’ve actually been securing extra batteries for quite some time now. We have some manning options for Mach-E. So we will move close to 100,000 units this year on Mach-E. That will be our big move this year. Next year, our big move will be Lightning going to 150,000 units. I won’t get into battery chemistries and all the details, but I’m really excited about the progress we’ve made so far in securing batteries. On the F-150 Lightning, we actually had a physical capacity constraint of the facility. And so, we took the decision already to again redesign the facility so that we can accommodate the 150,000 units. We have great capacity on F-150 for the nonelectric components. So this is just a matter of the Mach-E getting the labor in place and getting the batteries and the F-150 getting the batteries out of Georgia and redesigning the facility so we can get the final assembly done. As far as chips are concerned, these battery electric vehicles and the supply chain are a strategic advantage for our company.”
It seems Farley is overwhelmingly confident that the production lines and manufacturing capabilities of Ford throughout its series of facilities can handle the increases in production. However, the only real way Ford would end up falling short is by not having enough cells to place in its battery packs.
One year after Ford confirmed construction of the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Mich., the first Ford F-150 Lightning pre-production units begin leaving the factory. Pre-production model shown. (Credit: Ford)
Ford has been essentially stockpiling these cells to keep bottlenecks at bay. The strategy essentially worked for Tesla when it was accumulating chips preparing for the semiconductor shortage. A supplier executive for Tesla detailed “buffer stock” as a strategy that the automaker used to avoid potential supply limitations. Ford seems to be involving the same strategy to avoid cell bottlenecks.
Ford recently restructured its EV playbook with a $20 billion budget and new talent, including Doug Field, a former Tesla and Apple engineer.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
Quotes provided by The Motley Fool.
Elon Musk
Tesla’s next-gen Optimus prototype with Grok revealed
The video shows a new Optimus prototype answering questions and taking some very robotic steps, evidently revealing that the next-generation version is in its early stages of development.

Tesla’s next-generation Optimus robot with AI assistant Grok has been revealed in a new video shared on X.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk was with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff last night, and it appears the frontman gave Benioff an exclusive look at some upcoming technology.
Tesla talks Semi ramp, Optimus, Robotaxi rollout, FSD with Wall Street firm
The video shows a new Optimus prototype answering questions and taking some very robotic steps, evidently revealing that the next-generation version is in its early stages of development. It features Grok for some additional utility, as it answered questions Benioff asked in the short video.
Here’s what was uploaded to X:
Crazy look at Tesla Optimus from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who was hanging out with Elon Musk yesterday!
Love this gold color on you @Tesla_Optimus https://t.co/NGgDqVVf1g pic.twitter.com/q8286aBNKy
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 3, 2025
It appears that there are several big changes to this next-generation version of Optimus, some of which have been discussed by Musk and Tesla in the past.
The first is purely cosmetic, but the gold color that Optimus is wearing in this is a new and fresh look that we have not seen before.
Perhaps the most interesting change that is evident here is the hands, which are much more detailed than past versions of Optimus:
However, we’re not too sure that these are what will be released with the next-gen Optimus, because they don’t appear to be functional, and they are more reminiscent of mannequin hands than anything.
The hands on Optimus have been a significant part of the program, as they are among the most crucial pieces of equipment on a robot. It needs to be able to perform both delicate and more imposing tasks. Tesla has aimed for Optimus to be able to thread needles or play the piano.
It was one of the most discussed improvements the company mentioned in past comments regarding how it planned to improve from Gen 2 to this next version.
Musk mentioned regarding Optimus:
“Next-generation Optimus hand, which we have in prototype form, has actuators that have moved to the forearm, just like humans, and they operate the fingers through cables, just like human hands.”
Within Optimus lies a significant opportunity for Tesla to gain considerable strength in terms of market share and valuation.
If Tesla can efficiently develop and deploy the humanoid robot over the next several years, the company stands to gain, as companies will utilize it for tasks that require tedious labor.
Musk recently said Optimus will be a major contributor to Tesla’s valuation moving forward. He believes it will make up roughly 80 percent of the company’s value.
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk to provide more details for Master Plan Part IV
Musk stated that he would be adding specifics to the plan in a later update.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk will be adding more specifics to the recently-released Master Plan Part IV. Musk shared the update on social media platform X amidst conversations about the general nature of the Master Plan Part IV.
In a conversation on X, Musk responded to a post from Tesla retail shareholder and bull Dave Lee, who observed that the currently released Master Plan Part IV could really just be the introduction to the real plan due to its absence of specifics.
Elon Musk responded, stating that he would be adding specifics to the plan in a later update. “Fair enough. Will add more specifics,” Musk wrote in his post.
Tesla has been following Elon Musk’s Master Plans for decades. The first Master Plan, released in 2006, outlined the company’s path from the original Tesla Roadster to the Model 3, as well as the first steps for Tesla Energy. Master Plan Part Deux, released in 2016, covered the ramp of Tesla Energy, the expansion of Tesla’s vehicle lineup, and the rollout of a Robotaxi service.
Master Plan Part 3 was more ambitious as it was generally an in-depth proposal for achieving a global sustainable entry economy by transitioning to electricity-powered vehicles, homes, and industry, which will, in turn, be powered by renewable energy sources like solar and wind. Master Plan Part 3 also included a five-step plan to accomplish this, allowing the world to transition to a fully electrified future.
Master Plan Part IV, which was released a few days ago, focused on automation and artificial intelligence to achieve sustainable abundance. But while the first two Master Plans were very clear and specific and Master Plan Part 3 was very in-depth, Master Plan Part IV was quite general and vague in comparison. It was easy to tell that Optimus would play a big role in the pursuit of sustainable abundance, but apart from that, there were no specifics as to how Tesla intended to achieve its goals.
Fortunately, these specifics would be discussed by Musk in a later update to the plan.
News
Tesla just had its best wholesale month this year in China
Tesla China’s wholesale figures include both vehicles that are sold domestically and exported abroad.

Tesla China just had its best wholesale month this 2025 so far. In August, the electric vehicle maker sold 83,192 vehicles wholesale, a 22.55% increase compared to July 2025’s 67,886 units.
Tesla China’s wholesale figures are still down year-over-year, but the company’s momentum seems notable, especially with the arrival of the Model Y L.
August 2025 figures
As noted in a CNEV Post report, August 2025’s 83,192 wholesale figures are 4.04% less than the 86,697 units that were sold in the same period last year. It is, however, a 22.55% improvement from the previous month. From January to August, Tesla China sold 515,552 units wholesale, a 12.24% year-over-year decrease.
It should be noted that Tesla China’s wholesale figures include both vehicles that are sold domestically and exported abroad. With this in mind, August’s results bode well for Tesla China, as it suggests that Gigafactory Shanghai is now hitting its pace with both its domestic deliveries and its exports. Giga Shanghai serves as Tesla’s primary vehicle export hub.
Model Y L factor
Tesla had a challenging first quarter this year, thanks in part to the changeover to the Model Y across the Fremont factory, Giga Texas, Giga Shanghai, and Giga Berlin-Brandenburg. This changeover resulted in low sales in the first quarter. Political controversies surrounding Elon Musk and violence against Tesla stores and vehicles in the first and second quarters in the United States and Europe did not help much either.
This Q3, however, Tesla seems to be hitting its stride, especially in China. The launch of the new Model Y L has allowed Tesla to compete in the six-seat, large SUV segment, a market that was previously closed to the standard Model Y. Reports have suggested that Tesla China has been seeing a lot of demand for the Model Y L, which should help the company achieve higher sales this quarter and the remaining months of the year.
-
News5 days ago
Tesla is overhauling its Full Self-Driving subscription for easier access
-
Elon Musk6 days ago
Elon Musk shares unbelievable Starship Flight 10 landing feat
-
Elon Musk6 days ago
Elon Musk reveals when SpaceX will perform first-ever Starship catch
-
Elon Musk1 week ago
SpaceX Starship Flight 10 was so successful, it’s breaking the anti-Musk narrative
-
News2 days ago
Tesla appears to be mulling a Cyber SUV design
-
News6 days ago
Tesla expands crazy new lease deal for insane savings on used inventory
-
News5 days ago
Tesla talks Semi ramp, Optimus, Robotaxi rollout, FSD with Wall Street firm
-
News7 days ago
Tesla launches Full Self-Driving in a new region