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Tesla is breaking the 'Made-in-China' stereotype with the GF3-made Model 3
Elon Musk and the Tesla team revel in busting stereotypes. This was evident in the Cybertruck’s unveiling, where Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen literally took a sledgehammer to emphasize the point that EVs can be stronger than conventional rough-and-tough vehicles. In China, Tesla is doing the same thing, but this time, the electric car maker is breaking a stereotype that has been around for a long time: the myth of bad “Made in China” quality.
A study from the Iowa State University reported via Futurity noted that before the words “Made in China” were perceived in the United States as a reference to low-cost and low-quality goods, the perception for Chinese-made products was actually quite positive. Gang (Kevin) Han, an associate professor at Iowa State University’s Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, noted that things started changing when China became the manufacturing powerhouse that it is today.
“People really enjoyed products from China. They viewed products, such as tea, furniture, or dishware, as unique. It was a quality product and there was a cultural value. But when China became a world factory and produced so many items for so many brands, people changed their views,” he said, adding that the prominent media coverage about issues with China-made products also added to the stereotype. “We see a lot of framed messages in these stories and receive the message subconsciously,” Han remarked.
These stereotypes were promptly invoked by Tesla critics as soon as the electric car maker announced its plans to build a factory in China. Over the course of Gigafactory 3’s construction, it was not rare to find a Tesla critic mocking the alleged quality issues that would most likely plague the MIC Model 3. This point, as with many criticisms thrown at Tesla, appears to have been taken as a challenge by the electric car maker’s team in China. When the company invited the media to experience the Made-in-China Model 3 for the first time, Tesla was serious. It wanted to break another stereotype. And they did.
Reviews of the Made-in-China Model 3 were notably positive, even if the vehicles being produced in the Shanghai-based site are only the Standard Range Plus variants of the all-electric sedan. Despite not having Tesla’s stunning white interior or more fancy 19″ Sports Wheels, the locally-made Model 3s were built with near-surgical precision. The vehicles’ panel gaps were meticulously aligned, their trimmings fit to a tee. In the United States, former GM executive Bob Lutz eventually praised Tesla’s build quality for the Model 3, but only after Tesla mastered the production of the vehicle, which took over a year to achieve. The MIC Model 3 units in China were first production cars, which means that they’ll likely only get better with time.
It’s a bit humorous, but Tesla China’s press images for the MIC Model 3 featured numerous close-ups of the locally-made electric car, and many of them showcased the cars’ smooth paint and consistent panel lines, aspects of the car that proved difficult for the company in the United States. In a way, Tesla China’s MIC Model 3 press images seem to be a direct response against the stereotype, proving that any vehicle made in Shanghai’s Gigafactory 3 matches the quality of a car built in Fremont.
Perhaps most telling of these observations came from local auto journalists who were among the first to review the locally-made Model 3. Tencent Auto editor 常岩, who happens to be a Model 3 owner himself, was invited to check out the locally-made version of his electric car. Much to the auto editor’s surprise, he noted that the build quality of the Gigafactory 3-made Model 3 was actually better than his car, which was imported from the United States. With this conclusion, the auto journalist noted that Tesla’s MIC Model 3 will likely prove successful in the Chinese market, as it offers great quality and features for its price. The locally-made Model 3 is proudly Made in China, and it is just as good, if not better, than other Model 3 in the market.
Tesla’s Made-in-China Model 3 is poised to make waves in the Chinese EV segment, with the massive Shanghai-based Gigafactory 3 now mass manufacturing the all-electric sedan. Recent flyovers of the Gigafactory 3 complex have revealed hundreds of MIC Model 3 just ready for delivery. Car carrier trucks loaded with Model 3s have also been photographed leaving the Gigafactory 3 premises. With these sightings in mind, it may only be a matter of time before deliveries of the locally-made electric car begins in the country.
Watch an existing Tesla Model 3 owner review the MIC Model 3 in the video below.
H/T Ray4Tesla/Twitter
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Tesla Robotaxi app update now tells riders if Cybercab is the better choice
Tesla’s Robotaxi app now shows ETAs, wait times and availability for Cybercab and Model Y.
Tesla has rolled out a new vehicle selection screen in its Robotaxi app, and it puts the numbers riders care about most in front of them before they book.
Version 26.11.0 of the app shows the estimated arrival time, the expected wait and current availability for each vehicle option on a single screen, according to a video shared by @gheeunit on X on November 7. Riders deciding between a Cybercab and a Model Y Robotaxi can now compare those figures side by side instead of picking a car first and learning how long it will take afterward.
Tesla first gave riders that choice on September 3, the day paid Cybercab rides began in Austin. The original version of the screen listed the Cybercab, which seats two, next to the Model Y, which seats four. A later build, 26.8.2, added a seating capacity indicator so groups knew which car would fit them. What it did not show was whether choosing the Cybercab meant standing on the curb a few extra minutes.
Newest version of @robotaxi app has a new vehicle selector UI for choosing between Cybercab and Model Y and shows you the fare for both simultaneously! https://t.co/7qoDQ0vACX — mantequilla 🧈 (@gheeunit) November 7, 2026
That question matters more now than it did two months ago. Tesla had 45 Cybercabs on the Texas DMV roster when rides started. By late October the state listed 573, alongside 631 Model Ys, and community trackers logged a record 1,576 Cybercab sightings across Austin on Halloween alone. With two large fleets sharing one service area, the closest car and the quickest pickup are not always the same vehicle.
Inline availability also changes what happens when demand spikes. If no Cybercab is free nearby, the rider sees that on the selection screen rather than after trying to book one.
For now the comparison is mostly an Austin feature. Riders in Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth and the Florida markets are still matched with Model Y vehicles, though Tesla said on its third quarter earnings call that Cybercab rides would launch in Dallas this month.
The update follows a steady run of smaller changes to the rider experience. Late last month Tesla brought a quiet mode that blacks out the cabin screen to Model Y Robotaxis after first testing it in the Cybercab, and it has stretched Austin service to run from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m.
The Cybercab side of that selection screen is about to get much busier. Elon Musk said this week that Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of 2027 to make room for more Cybercab output, and Tesla has said it is aiming to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of this year.
Tesla has not published official release notes for version 26.11.0.
Tesla is ending Cybertruck production sometime in mid-2027, according to CEO Elon Musk.
Musk made the announcement on X last night, which came as a shock to many. He said that the Cybertruck will end production “to make room for increased Cybercab production” at Gigafactory Texas.
It is a huge blow to the fans of Tesla who have come to love the Cybertruck and identify with it as a symbol of their fandom. It has been the best-selling electric pickup, but it has had an underwhelming sales performance in terms of what was expected. This is mostly due to Tesla not meeting the prices it planned to offer the Cybertruck, as its unveiling and actual release were four years apart.
Tesla will be winding down production of the Cybertruck at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of next year to make room for increased Cybercab production
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2026
Overall, the responses were mixed. Some fans understood the move toward Cybercab production, especially as Tesla is truly pushing the autonomous future through its Robotaxi platform. However, others did not understand it.
“Damn, how many Cybercabs do you guys need?” one response read. Another said it was “Sad but understandable.”Even analyst Gary Black had responded to the news, stating he hoped Tesla planned to replace it with a traditional pickup design.
It doesn’t seem like that will be the case.
Tesla is so hell-bent on delivering autonomy and eventually providing a driverless service that owning a car seems like an arbitrary idea, according to their thesis. Instead, Cybercabs will be available to pick you up and drop you off on demand, safely, without any human help.
As a result, Tesla has thinned its lineup considerably, and one can only ask where the vehicle lineup goes from here. Eventually, it seems like Cybercab could be the only vehicle that Tesla will sell.
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s next Starship flight set to make history on Friday the 13th
SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15 and its first ship catch.
SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15, the mission the company plans to use for its first attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower.
SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev shared the date on stage at the UP.Summit on Thursday, according to Ars Technica’s Eric Berger, who was in attendance. It is the first launch target to come directly from a SpaceX executive. Until now, the public schedule had relied on FAA air traffic planning slides, which listed Flight 15 for no earlier than November 8 and later November 12. SpaceX has not posted an official mission page yet, and no launch time has been shared.
The date lands inside the window Elon Musk sketched out last month. Speaking at Giga Texas on October 10, Musk said the flight would “probably launch a little bit before Thanksgiving,” as Teslarati reported. On SpaceX’s third quarter earnings call ten days later, he confirmed that Flight 15 would try to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the ship, and put the odds of a successful ship catch at “more likely than not.” SpaceX also aired an animation of the maneuver during that webcast, showing the ship swinging vertical over Starbase before dropping into the tower’s chopsticks.
The hardware is ready. Booster 22 fired all 33 of its Raptor engines for a full duration static fire at Pad 2 on October 25. Ship 42 followed with a single engine burn simulating a deorbit maneuver on October 26 and a 60 second firing of all six engines the next day, according to NASASpaceflight. Ship 42 had already rehearsed the catch in September, when the Pad 2 arms lifted it into position and crews connected the quick disconnect arm while the vehicle hung from the tower.
The remaining hurdle is regulatory. The FAA’s Starship page does not yet list a Flight 15 license. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in October that, after “significant constructive engagement with the FAA,” she expects the license to cover a return to the launch site and a tower catch for both stages. Bringing the ship home means a reentry path that heads toward land, rather than ending over open ocean as every Starship flight so far has.
SpaceX has caught Super Heavy three times, on Flights 5, 7 and 8, but the ship comes back from orbital velocity and has never been caught. Flight 14 on September 28 was the first Starship to reach orbit, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites before splashing down despite an early engine shutdown that Musk blamed on engine computer software.
Musk has called a successful ship catch “the first time that there’s been full recovery of an orbital class rocket,” and he has already named the step after it: a Flight 16 where both the booster and the ship fly again. NASASpaceflight reports that Ship 43, the next vehicle in line, is set for static fire testing in December.
Tesla Robotaxi app update now tells riders if Cybercab is the better choice
Tesla is ending Cybertruck production
