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Tesla China gets golden opportunity to break new ground with Model 3 Long Range
Just recently, Tesla updated its Model 3 configurator in China to include the locally-produced Long Range RWD and Dual Motor Performance. With this, Tesla has begun an initiative to transition its entire Model 3 sales in China to vehicles that are produced locally. Such a strategy could pay off in spades for the electric car maker, especially considering an ongoing push from the Chinese government to boost the country’s automotive market.
China’s auto market has taken a beating this year, and the lockdowns due to the coronavirus outbreak did not help one bit. As noted by CNN Business in a recent report, China would have sold over 6 million cars by now on an average year, but so far, the country has only sold 3.7 million this 2020. This drop was highlighted by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), which stated that Q1 auto sales have declined 42% year-over-year.
A huge culprit for this, of course, is the coronavirus outbreak. The country saw a massive 79% drop in February, primarily because of multiple cities going on mandatory lockdowns due to the pandemic. The decline in the local automotive sector was felt by China as a whole, as the industry plays a crucial role in the country’s economy. Over 40 million people rely on the car market for jobs, and the automotive segment generates about 10% of China’s manufacturing output.
Amidst these challenges, the CAAM emphasized in a statement on Friday that while automakers restart production, the industry’s “primary issue” and “urgent need” is to boost raw vehicle sales. The country aims to accomplish this in several ways. Beijing, for example, announced last month that it would extend subsidies and tax breaks for new energy vehicles. At least a dozen provinces have also ramped up their cash subsidies for auto purchases, with some offering as much as $1,400 per car.
If Tesla can take advantage of this momentum, the electric car maker’s China division would have the potential to significantly soften the blow that the company will be experiencing this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tesla’s American plants like the Fremont factory and Gigafactory New York have been temporarily shut down, after all, but Gigafactory Shanghai, which produces the Made-in-China Model 3, is already back to full operations. Even more impressive is the fact that Giga Shanghai is actually hitting new milestones, with the facility recently reaching a production rate of 3,000 vehicles per week.
China’s auto market is a highly competitive arena, and only carmakers that are aggressive enough thrive. Fortunately, Tesla China seems to be up to the task, pricing the new Model 3 Long Range RWD variant at about $48,000. The Model 3 Standard Range Plus has also made quite an impact since starting consumer deliveries earlier this year. Tesla China’s sales rose to 10,160 cars in March thanks to the locally-made Model 3 SR Plus, up from the 3,900 units that were sold in February.
While the year will be challenging for China’s auto market, it may be far too early to discount the country’s chances this year just yet. As noted by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), the need to drive children to and from school is a significant motivator for consumers to purchase cars. Fortunately, schools are expected to reopen in the country this spring and summer. Apart from this, CPCA Secretary General Cui Dongshu also mentioned that the country’s Labor Day holiday in May will last longer than it has been in over a decade. This presents an opportunity for more car sales, as potential buyers may have a desire to travel over the upcoming long holiday. Both of these opportunities are ripe for the picking for Tesla, provided that the electric car maker is up for the challenge.
News
Tesla Cybercab includes this small but significant feature
The Cybercab is Tesla’s big plan to introduce fully autonomous ride-sharing in a seamless fashion. In fact, the Full Self-Driving suite was geared toward alleviating the need to manually drive vehicles.
Tesla Cybercab manufacturing is strikingly close, as the company is still aiming for an April start date. But small and significant features are still being identified for the first time as production units appear all over the country for testing and for regulatory events, like one yesterday in Washington, D.C.
The Cybercab is Tesla’s big plan to introduce fully autonomous ride-sharing in a seamless fashion. In fact, the Full Self-Driving suite was geared toward alleviating the need to manually drive vehicles.
This was for everyone, including the disabled, who are widely reliant on ride-sharing platforms, family members, and medical shuttles for transportation of any kind. Cybercab aims to change that, and Tesla evidently put a focus on those riders while developing the vehicle, evident in a small but significant feature revealed during its appearance in the Nation’s Capital.
Tesla Cybercab display highlights interior wizardry in the small two-seater
Tesla has implemented Braille within the Cybercab to make it easier for blind passengers to utilize the vehicle. On both the ‘Stop/Hazard Lights’ button and the Door Releases, Tesla has placed Braille so that blind passengers can navigate their way through the vehicle:
The hazard lights button will be used as an emergency stop. Smart pic.twitter.com/vkYBioqmKm
— Whole Mars Catalog (@wholemars) March 10, 2026
We have braille on the interior door releases as well
— Eric (@EricETesla) March 11, 2026
This is a great addition to the Cybercab, especially as Full Self-Driving has been partially pointed at as a solution for those with disabilities that would keep them from driving themselves from place to place.
It truly is a great addition and just another way that Tesla is showing they are making this massive product inclusive for everyone out there, including those who have not been able to drive due to not having vision.
The Cybercab is set to enter mass production sometime in April, and it will be responsible for launching Tesla’s massive plans for an autonomous ride-sharing program.
Elon Musk
Tesla and xAI team up on massive new project
It is the latest move by a Musk company to automate, streamline, and reduce the manual, monotonous, and tedious work currently performed by humans through AI and robotics development. Digital Optimus will be capable of processing and actioning the past five seconds of a real-time computer screen video and keyboard and mouse actions.
Elon Musk teased a massive new project, to be developed jointly by Tesla and xAI, called “Digital Optimus” or “Macrohard,” the first development under Tesla’s investment agreement with xAI.
Musk announced on X that Digital Optimus will “be capable of emulating the function of entire companies.”
Macrohard or Digital Optimus is a joint xAI-Tesla project, coming as part of Tesla’s investment agreement with xAI.
Grok is the master conductor/navigator with deep understanding of the world to direct digital Optimus, which is processing and actioning the past 5 secs of…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2026
It is the latest move by a Musk company to automate, streamline, and reduce the manual, monotonous, and tedious work currently performed by humans through AI and robotics development. Digital Optimus will be capable of processing and actioning the past five seconds of a real-time computer screen video and keyboard and mouse actions.
Essentially, it will be an AI version of a desk worker in many capacities, including accounting, HR tasks, and others.
Musk said:
“Grok is the master conductor/navigator with deep understanding of the world to direct digital Optimus, which is processing and actioning the past 5 secs of real-time computer screen video and keyboard/mouse actions. Grok is like a much more advanced and sophisticated version of turn-by-turn navigation software. You can think of it as Digital Optimus AI being System 1 (instinctive part of the mind) and Grok being System 2. (thinking part of the mind).”
Its key applications would be used for enterprise automation, simulating entire companies, high-volume repetitive tasks, and potentially, future hybrid use with the Optimus robot, which would handle physical tasks, while Digital Optimus would handle the clerical work.
The creation of a digital AI suite like Digital Optimus would help companies save time and money, as well as become more efficient in their operations through massive scalability. However, there will undoubtedly be concerns from people who are skeptical of a fully-integrated AI workhorse like this one.
From an energy consumption perspective and just a general concern for the human workforce, these types of AI projects are polarizing in nature.
However, Digital Optimus would be a great digital counterpart to Tesla’s physical Optimus robot, as it would be a hyper-efficient addition to any company that is looking for more production for less cost.
Musk maintains that there is no other company on Earth that will be able to do this.
Elon Musk
Tesla China posts strong February wholesale growth at Gigafactory Shanghai
The update was shared by Tesla observers on social media platform X, citing monthly China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data.
Tesla China sold 58,599 vehicles wholesale in February, reflecting strong year-over-year growth. The figure includes both domestic deliveries in China and vehicles exported to international markets.
The update was shared by Tesla observers on social media platform X, citing monthly China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data.
Tesla’s February wholesale result represents a 91% increase year over year, compared with 30,688 vehicles in February 2025. Month over month, the result was down 15.2% from January, when Tesla China recorded 69,129 wholesale units.
The February total reflects combined sales of the Model 3 and Model Y produced at Gigafactory Shanghai. The facility produces the two vehicles for both domestic sales and exports.
Gigafactory Shanghai continues to serve as Tesla’s primary vehicle export hub, supplying vehicles to markets across Asia and Europe. Data compiled by Tesla watchers shows that 18,485 vehicles were sold domestically in China in January 2026, while exports accounted for 50,644 units during the same period.
Tesla has also been extending financing programs in China as it pushes to strengthen domestic demand. The company recently extended its seven-year ultra-low-interest and five-year interest-free financing programs through March 31, marking the second extension of the promotion this year.
The financing initiative was first introduced on January 6 as a strategy aimed at offsetting higher ownership costs ahead of China’s planned 5% NEV purchase tax in 2026. The promotion was originally scheduled to expire at the end of January before being extended to February and then again through the end of the first quarter.
Tesla’s efforts come amid growing competition in China’s EV market. According to data compiled by CNEV Post, Tesla’s 2025 retail sales in China reached 625,698 vehicles, representing a 4.78% year-over-year decline. Part of that decline was linked to the Model Y changeover to its updated variant in early 2025, which temporarily reduced deliveries during the transition period.
Tesla Cybercab includes this small but significant feature
Tesla and xAI team up on massive new project
