Tesla is looking for a Chief Designer to oversee its production of China-specific model releases in the country. The company’s efforts to open a Design Studio in China have been well-known, but the search for someone to help design cars that will be geared toward the Chinese market in specific continues.
Tesla has been manufacturing its electric vehicles in China since late 2019, while the first public deliveries began in January 2020. Since then, the automaker has seen overwhelming growth, which has been driven by incredible demand in China. The Tesla Model 3 is coming off of a highly-successful 2020 where it dominated sales figures for the full year. The Model Y also began production in late 2020 in Shanghai at its manufacturing plant, but the two cars are not all the company has in its plans.
Sources familiar with Tesla’s operation in China told Reuters that the company had started a full-fledged search to find the person who will design China-geared designs moving forward. According to the sources, recruiters and human resources representatives have worked diligently for four months to find a “bi-cultural” candidate with at least 20 years of experience. It will require a subjective sense of automotive design and familiarity with Chinese tastes. Even though Tesla has done relatively well in the Chinese market with its cars, the company plans to attack the market with designs that will speak to local citizens, which should drive sales figures through the roof.
A handful of potential candidates have been interviewed by Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s Chief Designer, but it is unknown how many people Tesla has talked to thus far.
In June 2020, Teslarati reported that Tesla was requesting that everyone, regardless of design experience or automotive craftsmanship, design an all-electric car that would appeal to China’s masses. “Even if you are not a car designer, you are welcome to submit. It’s more than just a car designed for you,” Tesla stated. “Please think of China in your Tesla design work.”
This request from the automaker followed a January 2020 Reuters report that revealed Tesla’s plans to design a “Chinese-style” vehicle.
Tesla is coming off its biggest year as a company, successfully delivering 499,650 of its over 509,000 produced cars. Q4 2020 was the company’s biggest quarter yet in terms of production and deliveries, as the company worked diligently to attain the 500,000 vehicle guidance it set for itself well before the COVID-19 pandemic slowed production lines.
Chinese-Style Tesla Vehicles (Source: Tesla China WeChat)
The mission to increase the number of EVs on the road is far from over for Tesla. Now, it seems the automaker will begin adapting body styles to every market, looking to cater to each consumer base individually, instead of planning to release a universally-accepted vehicle that doesn’t require revisions. While Tesla’s cars have been successful in countries other than the U.S., there is still work to be done. With more cars on the road in China than any other country globally, focusing on China could ultimately lead to long-term success for Tesla and may lead to a more prolonged domination of the sector than originally anticipated. CEO Elon Musk has openly stated that other companies will catch up in terms of EV development, but Tesla would be able to remain in their lead due to manufacturing efficiencies.
Once a Chief Designer is hired, Tesla will begin to build a team that will turn renderings into clay models. This will eventually lead to new EV designs being built and a broader range of body styles for consumers to choose from.
It is unclear if the development of new Chinese designs has anything to do with the $25,000 vehicle that Tesla plans to manufacture in China soon. Tesla detailed this vehicle at the company’s Battery Day event in September, where Musk stated that a $25k, fully autonomous car would be available in 3-5 years.
Right now, China is swallowing up demand for small, compact cars, even if they are not electric. The Toyota Corolla and Volkswagen Golf are two of the most popular, and Shanghai-based consultancy group Automotive Foresight says that a compact vehicle could be Tesla’s key to dominating the country and beyond. “A compact Tesla car would do well in China, as well as the rest of Asia and Europe,” Automotive Foresight’s Yale Zhang said. “It could potentially put a serious dent in sales of cars like Toyota’s Corolla and the Volkswagen Golf.”
Tesla is updating Cybertruck owners on its timeline of a massive feature that has yet to ship: Powershare with Powerwall.
Powershare is a bidirectional charging feature exclusive to Cybertruck, which allows the vehicle’s battery to act as a portable power source for homes, appliances, tools, other EVs, and more. It was announced in late 2023 as part of Tesla’s push into vehicle-to-everything energy sharing, and acting as a giant portable charger is the main advantage, as it can provide backup power during outages.
Cybertruck’s Powershare system supports both vehicle-to-load (V2L) and vehicle-to-home (V2H), making it flexible and well-rounded for a variety of applications.
However, even though the feature was promised with Cybertruck, it has yet to be shipped to vehicles. Tesla communicated with owners through email recently regarding Powershare with Powerwall, which essentially has the pickup act as an extended battery.
Powerwall discharge would be prioritized before tapping into the truck’s larger pack.
However, Tesla is still working on getting the feature out to owners, an email said:
“We’re writing to let you know that the Powershare with Powerwall feature is still in development and is now scheduled for release in mid-2026.
This new release date gives us additional time to design and test this feature, ensuring its ability to communicate and optimize energy sharing between your vehicle and many configurations and generations of Powerwall. We are also using this time to develop additional Powershare features that will help us continue to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
Owners have expressed some real disappointment in Tesla’s continuous delays in releasing the feature, as it was expected to be released by late 2024, but now has been pushed back several times to mid-2026, according to the email.
Foundation Series Cybertruck buyers paid extra, expecting the feature to be rolled out with their vehicle upon pickup.
Cybertruck’s Lead Engineer, Wes Morrill, even commented on the holdup:
As a Cybertruck owner who also has Powerwall, I empathize with the disappointed comments.
To their credit, the team has delivered powershare functionality to Cybertruck customers who otherwise have no backup with development of the powershare gateway. As well as those with solar…
— Wes (@wmorrill3) December 12, 2025
He said that “it turned out to be much harder than anticipated to make powershare work seamlessly with existing Powerwalls through existing wall connectors. Two grid-forming devices need to negotiate who will form and who will follow, depending on the state of charge of each, and they need to do this without a network and through multiple generations of hardware, and test and validate this process through rigorous certifications to ensure grid safety.”
It’s nice to see the transparency, but it is justified for some Cybertruck owners to feel like they’ve been bait-and-switched.
Tesla has opened its northernmost Supercharger in Fairbanks, Alaska, with eight V4 stalls located in one of the most frigid cities in the U.S.
Located just 196 miles from the Arctic Circle, Fairbanks’s average temperature for the week was around -12 degrees Fahrenheit. However, there are plenty of Tesla owners in Alaska who have been waiting for more charging options out in public.
There are only 36 total Supercharger stalls in Alaska, despite being the largest state in the U.S.
Eight Superchargers were added to Fairbanks, which will eventually be a 48-stall station. Tesla announced its activation today:
North America’s northernmost Supercharger Fairbanks, AK (8 stalls) opened to public. https://t.co/M4l04DZ6B5 pic.twitter.com/zyL6bDuA93
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) December 12, 2025
The base price per kWh is $0.43 at the Fairbanks Supercharger. Thanks to its V4 capabilities, it can charge at speeds up to 325 kW.
Despite being the northernmost Supercharger in North America, it is not even in the Top 5 northernmost Superchargers globally, because Alaska is south of Norway. The northernmost Supercharger is in Honningsvåg, Norway. All of the Top 5 are in the Scandanavian country.
Tesla’s Supercharger expansion in 2025 has been impressive, and although it experienced some early-quarter slowdowns due to V3-to-V4 hardware transitions, it has been the company’s strongest year for deployments.
🚨🚨 Tesla Supercharging had a HUGE year, and they deserve to be recognized.
🍔 Opened Tesla Diner, a drive-in movie theater with awesome, Chef-curated cuisine
🔌 Gave access to Superchargers to several EV makers, including Hyundai, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, Lucid, Toyota,… pic.twitter.com/yYT2QEbqoW
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 10, 2025
Through the three quarters of 2025, the company has added 7,753 stations and 73,817 stalls across the world, a 16 percent increase in stations and an 18 percent increase in stalls compared to last year.
Tesla is on track to add over 12,000 stalls for the full year, achieving an average of one new stall every hour, an impressive statistic.
Recently, the company wrapped up construction at its Supercharger Oasis in Lost Hills, California, a 168-stall Supercharger that Tesla Solar Panels completely power. It is the largest Supercharger in the world.
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Tesla shocks with latest Robotaxi testing move
Why Tesla has chosen to use a couple of Model S units must have a reason; the company is calculated in its engineering and data collection efforts, so this is definitely more than “we just felt like giving our drivers a change of scenery.”
Tesla Model S vehicles were spotted performing validation testing with LiDAR rigs in California today, a pretty big switch-up compared to what we are used to seeing on the roads.
Tesla utilizes the Model Y crossover for its Robotaxi fleet. It is adequately sized, the most popular vehicle in its lineup, and is suitable for a wide variety of applications. It provides enough luxury for a single rider, but enough room for several passengers, if needed.
However, the testing has seemingly expanded to one of Tesla’s premium flagship offerings, as the Model S was spotted with the validation equipment that is seen entirely with Model Y vehicles. We have written several articles on Robotaxi testing mules being spotted across the United States, but this is a first:
🚨 Tesla is using Model S vehicles fitted with LiDAR rigs to validate FSD and Robotaxi, differing from the Model Ys that it uses typically
Those Model Y vehicles have been on the East Coast for some time. These Model S cars were spotted in California https://t.co/CN9Bw5Wma8 pic.twitter.com/UE55hx5mdd
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 11, 2025
Why Tesla has chosen to use a couple of Model S units must have a reason; the company is calculated in its engineering and data collection efforts, so this is definitely more than “we just felt like giving our drivers a change of scenery.”
It seems to hint that Tesla could add a premium, more luxury offering to its Robotaxi platform eventually. Think about it: Uber has Uber Black, Lyft has Lyft Black. These vehicles and services are associated with a more premium cost as they combine luxury models with more catered transportation options.
Tesla could be testing the waters here, and it could be thinking of adding the Model S to its fleet of ride-hailing vehicles.
Reluctant to remove the Model S from its production plans completely despite its low volume contributions to the overall mission of transitioning the world to sustainable energy, the flagship sedan has always meant something. CEO Elon Musk referred to it, along with its sibling Model X, as continuing on production lines due to “sentimental reasons.”
However, its purpose might have been expanded to justify keeping it around, and why not? It is a cozy, premium offering, and it would be great for those who want a little more luxury and are willing to pay a few extra dollars.
Of course, none of this is even close to confirmed. However, it is reasonable to speculate that the Model S could be a potential addition to the Robotaxi fleet. It’s capable of all the same things the Model Y is, but with more luxuriousness, and it could be the perfect addition to the futuristic fleet.
Tesla updates Cybertruck owners about key Powershare feature
Tesla’s northernmost Supercharger in North America opens
