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Mercedes-Benz launches new battery plant ahead of 2030 all-EV commitment
Mercedes-Benz has announced the launch of a new battery production plant in Bibb County, Alabama, as the German automaker prepares for a commitment to make all of its vehicles electric by 2030.
The Alabama battery facility is just one of eight total cell factories worldwide Mercedes plans to launch with partners, such as Envision AESC, by the end of the decade. The EQ family of EVs from Mercedes will spearhead the company’s effort to go all-electric by the end of the decade.
“The opening of our new battery plant in Alabama is a major milestone on our way to going all-electric,” Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management for Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said. “With our comprehensive approach including a local cell sourcing and recycling strategy, we underline the importance of the U.S., where Mercedes-Benz has been successful for decades. We’re proud to create new, future-proof jobs to build all-electric SUVs ‘Made in the USA’ at a plant that is such an established part of our production family since 25 years.”
Mercedes-Benz’s roots in Alabama go back to 1997 when the company opened a plant in Tuscaloosa for large SUVs. In the 25 years since, four million vehicles have rolled off production lines. However, Mercedes has transitioned the plant to go electric on some lines, starting with the production of the EQS SUV, which will make its world premiere on April 19, 2022.
More than $7 billion has been invested by Mercedes-Benz in Alabama since the 1990s. $1 billion of this has been invested into the new Bibb County battery plant. The plant will supply an additional 600 jobs, contributing to the efforts of the automaker in the region.
The Tuscaloosa plant features a “highly-flexible” production system, allowing the plant to adapt to different demand levels for each vehicle when it needs to. In addition to the GLE, GLE Coupe, GLS and Mercedes-Maybach GLS two electric models will be added to the production line, powered by batteries from the new Bibb County battery production facility.
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“The global Mercedes-Benz production network is digital, sustainable, efficient, and flexible. Now the new battery plant, with its highly qualified and motivated U.S. workforce, will be a crucial driver of our electric vehicle roll-out plan. Team USA will play a major role in the continued success of Mercedes-Benz and we are proud that our new electric SUVs will also be built here in Alabama for global markets,” Jörg Burzer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said.
Mercedes-Benz is also working to transition the company’s portfolio to include the EQS lineup even faster. “To be the leading luxury brand also in an all-electric future, Mercedes-Benz is accelerating the roll-out of its EQ models,” Markus Schaefer, Mercedes-Benz CTO and Boardmember, said.
“This year our portfolio will include nine fully-electric Mercedes-EQ models globally, and we have further exciting new products in the pipeline. Establishing a strong battery cell partner network in accordance with our global production strategy is a very important milestone on our way to CO 2- neutrality,” Schaefer added. “Envision AESC will be a major supplier securing capacity for the next generations of our Mercedes-EQ products built in the U.S. in the years to come. With Envision AESC’s net-zero carbon solutions and battery technology, this new cooperation underlines our holistic approach regarding our sustainable value chain and allows us to secure supplies, to take advantage of economies of scale, and to provide our customers with superior battery technology.”
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News
Tesla Model 3 gets perfect 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating
Tesla prides itself on producing some of the safest vehicles on the road today.

Tesla prides itself on producing some of the safest vehicles on the road today. Based on recent findings from the Euro NCAP, the 2025 Model 3 sedan continues this tradition, with the vehicle earning a 5-star overall safety rating from the agency.
Standout Safety Features
As could be seen on the Euro NCAP’s official website, the 2025 Model 3 achieved an overall score of 90% for Adult Occupants, 93% for Child Occupants, 89% for Vulnerable Road Users, and 87% for Safety Assist. This rating, as per the Euro NCAP, applies to the Model 3 Rear Wheel Drive, Long Range Rear Wheel Drive, Long Range All Wheel Drive, and Performance All Wheel Drive.
The Euro NCAP highlighted a number of the Model 3’s safety features, such as its Active Hood, which automatically lifts during collisions to mitigate injury risks to vulnerable road users, and Automatic Emergency Braking System, which now detects motorcycles through an upgraded algorithm. The Euro NCAP also mentioned the Model 3’s feature that prevents initial door opening if someone is approaching the vehicle’s blind spot.
Standout Safety Features
In a post on its official Tesla Europe & Middle East account, Tesla noted that the company is also introducing new features that make the Model 3 even safer than it is today. These include functions like head-on collision avoidance and crossing traffic AEB, as well as Child Left Alone Detection, among other safety features.
“We also introduced new features to improve Safety Assist functionality even further – like head-on collision avoidance & crossing traffic AEB – to detect & respond to potential hazards faster, helping avoid accidents in the first place.
“Lastly, we released Child Left Alone Detection – if an unattended child is detected, the vehicle will turn on HVAC & alert caregivers via phone app & the vehicle itself (flashing lights/audible alert). Because we’re using novel in-cabin radar sensing, your Tesla is able to distinguish between adult vs child – reduced annoyance to adults, yet critical safety feature for kids,” Tesla wrote in its post on X.
Below is the Euro NCAP’s safety report on the 2025 Tesla Model 3 sedan.
Euroncap 2025 Tesla Model 3 Datasheet by Simon Alvarez on Scribd
Elon Musk
USDOT Secretary visits Tesla Giga Texas, hints at national autonomous vehicle standards
The Transportation Secretary also toured the factory’s production lines and spoke with CEO Elon Musk.

United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Sean Duffy recently visited Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas complex, where he toured the factory’s production lines and spoke with CEO Elon Musk. In a video posted following his Giga Texas visit, Duffy noted that he believes there should be a national standard for autonomous vehicles in the United States.
Duffy’s Giga Texas Visit
As could be seen in videos of his Giga Texas visit, the Transportation Secretary seemed to appreciate the work Tesla has been doing to put the United States in the forefront of innovation. “Tesla is one of the many companies helping our country reach new heights. USDOT will be right there all the way to make sure Americans stay safe,” Duffy wrote in a post on X.
He also praised Tesla for its autonomous vehicle program, highlighting that “We need American companies to keep innovating so we can outcompete the rest of the world.”
National Standard
While speaking with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the Transportation Secretary stated that other autonomous ride-hailing companies have been lobbying for a national standard for self-driving cars. Musk shared the sentiment, stating that “It’d be wonderful for the United States to have a national set of rules for autonomous driving as opposed to 50 independent sets of rules on a state-by-state rules basis.”
Duffy agreed with the CEO’s point, stating that, “You can’t have 50 different rules for 50 different states. You need one standard.” He also noted that the Transportation Department has asked autonomous vehicle companies to submit data. By doing so, the USDOT could develop a standard for the entire United States, allowing self-driving cars to operate in a manner that is natural and safe.
News
Tesla posts Optimus’ most impressive video demonstration yet
The humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network.

When Elon Musk spoke with CNBC’s David Faber in an interview at Giga Texas, he reiterated the idea that Optimus will be one of Tesla’s biggest products. Seemingly to highlight the CEO’s point, the official Tesla Optimus account on social media platform X shared what could very well be the most impressive demonstration of the humanoid robot’s capabilities to date.
Optimus’ Newest Demonstration
In its recent video demonstration, the Tesla Optimus team featured the humanoid robot performing a variety of tasks. These include household chores such as throwing the trash, using a broom and a vacuum cleaner, tearing a paper towel, stirring a pot of food, opening a cabinet, and closing a curtain, among others. The video also featured Optimus picking up a Model X fore link and placing it on a dolly.
What was most notable in the Tesla Optimus team’s demonstration was the fact that the humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network. The robot’s actions were also learned directly from Optimus being fed data from first-person videos of humans performing similar tasks. This system should pave the way for Optimus to learn and refine new skills quickly and reliably.
Tesla VP for Optimus Shares Insight
In a follow-up post on X, Tesla Vice President of Optimus (Tesla Bot) Milan Kovac stated that one of the team’s goals is to have Optimus learn straight from internet videos of humans performing tasks, including footage captured in third person or by random cameras.
“We recently had a significant breakthrough along that journey, and can now transfer a big chunk of the learning directly from human videos to the bots (1st person views for now). This allows us to bootstrap new tasks much faster compared to teleoperated bot data alone (heavier operationally).
“Many new skills are emerging through this process, are called for via natural language (voice/text), and are run by a single neural network on the bot (multi-tasking). Next: expand to 3rd person video transfer (aka random internet), and push reliability via self-play (RL) in the real-, and/or synthetic- (sim / world models) world,” Kovac wrote in his post on X.
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