News
Samsung unveils next-gen EV battery: 310 miles from 20 minute charge
Samsung SDI has unveiled a “next generation” lithium-ion battery cell, designed for use in electric vehicles, that’s capable of achieving 373 miles (600 km) on a full charge and can be “fast charged” to 310 miles (500 km) in 20 minutes. The South Korean electronics giant made the announcement at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) today.
According to a statement issued by the company, the new battery innovations aimed at the rising electric vehicle market are “expected to forge the leading position of Samsung SDI in the era of electro mobility” and seen as a means to further reduce range anxiety among EV drivers. “The development of the fast charging technology is making a rapid advancement thanks to its technological know-how in materials and processes that vastly decreased the resistance inside a battery cell. With a 20min charge, you can have a driving range of up to 500km which is 80% of the capacity. This means that only 20min in the highway rest area will be enough for a battery to be charged, eliminating the range anxiety of EV drivers.” says Samsung. By comparison, Tesla’s Superchargers are capable of charging vehicles at up to 120 kW, and replenish roughly 170 miles of range in 30 minutes.
Samsung’s newest fast charging 21700 cylindrical battery cell won’t see mass production until 2021 according to the company. An official from Samsung SDI said, “The high-energy density battery cell with the fast charging capability and the integrated battery module are the innovative technologies with full potentials that can transform the market. Expectations are high that we will be able to accelerate the vehicle electrification utilizing these technologies with improved driving range, manufacturing efficiency and user convenience.”
Despite the promise of long-range EVs produced by automakers looking to gain traction within this new segment: Faraday Future recently announced a 130 kWh battery pack capable of 378 miles per single charge; the three-time award-winning Chevy Bolt is said to have 238 miles of range, and electric car startup Lucid Motors is planning for a 400-mile range electric car, also powered by Samsung SDI battery cells; the biggest challenge is having a charging infrastructure that can support continuous long distance travel. This is something that Tesla has a distinct advantage over other automakers through its global Supercharger network.
Tesla recently announced that it has begun mass production of its high performance lithium-ion ‘2170’ battery cells, built in conjunction with strategic partner Panasonic from Tesla’s $5 billion Gigafactory battery plant in Sparks, Nevada. The company published a video showing the new battery cells being ‘pumped out like bullets out of a machine gun‘.
Cybertruck
Tesla reveals its Cybertruck light bar installation fix
Tesla has revealed its Cybertruck light bar installation fix after a recall exposed a serious issue with the accessory.
Tesla and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) initiated a recall of 6,197 Cybertrucks back in October to resolve an issue with the Cybertruck light bar accessory. It was an issue with the adhesive that was provided by a Romanian company called Hella Romania S.R.L.
Tesla recalls 6,197 Cybertrucks for light bar adhesive issue
The issue was with the primer quality, as the recall report from the NHTSA had stated the light bar had “inadvertently attached to the windshield using the incorrect surface primer.”
Instead of trying to adhere the light bar to the Cybertruck with an adhesive, Tesla is now going to attach it with a bracketing system, which will physically mount it to the vehicle instead of relying on adhesive strips or glue.
Tesla outlines this in its new Service Bulletin, labeled SB-25-90-001, (spotted by Not a Tesla App) where it shows the light bar will be remounted more securely:
The entire process will take a few hours, but it can be completed by the Mobile Service techs, so if you have a Cybertruck that needs a light bar adjustment, it can be done without taking the vehicle to the Service Center for repair.
However, the repair will only happen if there is no delamination or damage present; then Tesla could “retrofit the service-installed optional off-road light bar accessory with a positive mechanical attachment.”
The company said it would repair the light bar at no charge to customers. The light bar issue was one that did not result in any accidents or injuries, according to the NHTSA’s report.
This was the third recall on Cybertruck this year, as one was highlighted in March for exterior trim panels detaching during operation. Another had to do with front parking lights being too bright, which was fixed with an Over-the-Air update last month.
News
Tesla is already expanding its Rental program aggressively
The program has already launched in a handful of locations, specifically, it has been confined to California for now. However, it does not seem like Tesla has any interest in keeping it restricted to the Golden State.
Tesla is looking to expand its Rental Program aggressively, just weeks after the program was first spotted on its Careers website.
Earlier this month, we reported on Tesla’s intention to launch a crazy new Rental program with cheap daily rates, which would give people in various locations the opportunity to borrow a vehicle in the company’s lineup with some outrageous perks.
Along with the cheap rates that start at about $60 per day, Tesla also provides free Full Self-Driving operation and free Supercharging for the duration of the rental. There are also no limits on mileage or charging, but the terms do not allow the renter to leave the state from which they are renting.
🚨🚨 If you look up details on the Tesla Rental program on Google, you’ll see a bunch of sites saying it’s because of decreasing demand 🤣 pic.twitter.com/WlSQrDJhMg
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 10, 2025
The program has already launched in a handful of locations, specifically, it has been confined to California for now. However, it does not seem like Tesla has any interest in keeping it restricted to the Golden State.
Job postings from Tesla now show it is planning to launch the Rental program in at least three new states: Texas, Tennessee, and Massachusetts.
The jobs specifically are listed as a Rental Readiness Specialist, which lists the following job description:
“The Tesla Rental Program is looking for a Rental Readiness Specialist to work on one of the most progressive vehicle brands in the world. The Rental Readiness Specialist is a key contributor to the Tesla experience by coordinating the receipt of incoming new and used vehicle inventory. This position is responsible for fleet/lot management, movement of vehicles, vehicle readiness, rental invoicing, and customer hand-off. Candidates must have a high level of accountability, and personal satisfaction in doing a great job.”
It also says that those who take the position will have to charge and clean the cars, work with clients on scheduling pickups and drop-offs, and prepare the paperwork necessary to initiate the rental.
The establishment of a Rental program is big for Tesla because it not only gives people the opportunity to experience the vehicles, but it is also a new way to rent a car.
Just as the Tesla purchasing process is more streamlined and more efficient than the traditional car-buying experience, it seems this could be less painful and a new way to borrow a car for a trip instead of using your own.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s xAI gains first access to Saudi supercluster with 600k Nvidia GPUs
The facility will deploy roughly 600,000 Nvidia GPUs, making it one of the world’s most notable superclusters.
A Saudi-backed developer is moving forward with one of the world’s largest AI data centers, and Elon Musk’s xAI will be its first customer. The project, unveiled at the U.S.–Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, D.C., is being built by Humain, a company supported by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The facility will deploy roughly 600,000 Nvidia GPUs, making it one of the world’s most notable superclusters.
xAI secures priority access
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that the planned data center marks a major leap not just for the region but for the global AI ecosystem as a whole. Huang joked about the sheer capacity of the build, emphasizing how unusual it is for a startup to receive infrastructure of such magnitude. The facility is designed to deliver 500 megawatts of Nvidia GPU power, placing it among the world’s largest AI-focused installations, as noted in a Benzinga report.
“We worked together to get this company started and off the ground and just got an incredible customer with Elon. Could you imagine a startup company, approximately $0 billion in revenues, now going to build a data center for Elon? 500 megawatts is gigantic. This company is off the charts right away,” Huang said.
Global Chipmakers Join Multi-Vendor Buildout To Enhance Compute Diversity
While Nvidia GPUs serve as the backbone of the first phase, Humain is preparing a diversified hardware stack. AMD will supply its Instinct MI450 accelerators, which could draw up to 1 gigawatt of power by 2030 as deployments ramp. Qualcomm will also contribute AI200 and AI250 data center processors, accounting for an additional 200 megawatts of compute capacity. Cisco will support the networking and infrastructure layer, helping knit the multi-chip architecture together.
Apart from confirming that xAI will be the upcoming supercluster’s first customer, Musk also joked about the rapid scaling needed to train increasingly large AI models. He joked that a theoretical expansion one thousand times larger of the upcoming supercluster “would be 8 bazillion, trillion dollars,” highlighting the playful exaggeration he often brings to discussions around extreme compute demand.