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Tesla CEO Elon Musk receives rockstar welcome in first visit to Giga Berlin

Credit: @tobilindh | Twitter

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Elon Musk has arrived in Brandenburg, Germany, and is taking his first visit to Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin. It is Musk’s first visit since the future production plant has started construction in January 2020.

Musk is in Germany for the week for a series of meetings, but one item on his agenda is to check out the progress of the electric automaker’s new European production factory.

Musk arrived at the Giga Berlin site around noon on September 3rd, and photographs of the CEO at the future European plant were shared by numerous Twitter accounts.

Credit: @tobilindh | Twitter

Musk was expected to arrive at the site yesterday on September 2nd. However, due to scheduling conflicts, his trip was delayed until earlier today. Today, the Tesla CEO was greeted by several people who will likely introduce him to the site, showing him where the company’s electric vehicles will be produced beginning next year.

Credit: @AndreasOpperman | Twitter

Fans of the electric automaker waited anxiously for Musk to arrive yesterday. People lined the streets near Giga Berlin, hoping to catch a glimpse of Musk as he entered the facility for the first time.

Earlier this week, Tesla seemed to be preparing for the arrival of its CEO in Brandenburg at the facility. A music truck was even spotted in the area, seemingly to give Musk the “rockstar introduction” that he deserved.

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It is Musk’s first visit to the facility since construction began in May 2020. He originally had plans to attend a groundbreaking ceremony that was planned. However, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down U.S. Borders, and if Musk were to travel to Germany, he would have extreme trouble getting back into the United States.

 

Not wanting to delay the production of the company’s electric vehicles, Tesla’s construction crews began setting the foundation for Giga Berlin’s numerous buildings earlier this year. Foundational work was completed after the land leveling processes were wrapped up in April, and Tesla has accelerated its efforts to complete the factory in record time.

Crews on the site are utilizing a pre-fabricated construction method to decrease the amount of time that it will take to put the factory’s buildings together. Using this strategy has paid dividends, as several buildings have been erected quickly. The Drive Unit facility is an excellent example of this. The roof was placed on the completed walls on September 1st, just a month after beginning construction.

Earlier today, Musk met with German Economic Minister Peter Altmaier to discuss the advantages that Giga Berlin could provide the country’s economy.

Musk’s arrival at Giga Berlin is long overdue. Now, the man responsible for bringing Tesla to the pinnacle of automotive manufacturing can see the factory that will be responsible for stepping up the company’s presence in the European market.

H/t: @Tobilindh and @AndreasOpperman on Twitter

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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SpaceX reaches incredible milestone with Starlink program

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX reached an incredible milestone with its Starlink program with a launch last night, as the 3,000th satellite of the year was launched into low Earth orbit.

On Monday, SpaceX also achieved its 32nd flight with a single Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

The mission was Starlink 6-92, and it utilized the Falcon 9 B1067 for the 32nd time this year, the most-used Falcon booster. The flight delivered SpaceX’s 3000th Starlink satellite of the year, a massive achievement.

There were 29 Starlink satellites launched and deployed into LEO during this particular mission:

SpaceX has a current goal of certifying its Falcon boosters for 40 missions apiece, according to Spaceflight Now.

The flight was the 350th orbital launch from the nearby SLC-40, and the 3,000 satellites that have been successfully launched this year continue to contribute to the company’s goal of having 12,000 satellites contributing to global internet coverage.

There are over five million users of Starlink, the latest data shows.

Following the launch and stage separation, the Falcon 9 booster completed its mission with a perfect landing on the ‘Just Read the Instructions’ droneship.

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The mission was the 575th overall Falcon 9 launch, highlighting SpaceX’s operational tempo, which continues to be accelerated. The company averages two missions per week, and underscores CEO Elon Musk’s vision of a multi-planetary future, where reliable connectivity is crucial for remote work, education, and emergency response.

As Starlink expands and works toward that elusive and crucial 12,000 satellite goal, missions like 6-92 pave the way for innovations in telecommunications and enable more internet access to people across the globe.

With regulatory approvals in over 100 countries and millions of current subscribers, SpaceX continues to democratize space, proving that reusability is not just feasible, but it’s also revolutionary.

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Tesla expands new Full Self-Driving program in Europe

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Credit: Tesla Europe & Middle East/X

Tesla expanded its new Full Self-Driving program, which gives people the opportunity to experience the company’s suite, in Europe.

Tesla recently launched an opportunity for Europeans to experience Full Self-Driving, not in their personal vehicles, but through a new ride-along program that initially launched in Italy, France, and Germany back in late November.

People could experience it by booking a reservation with a local Tesla showroom, but timeslots quickly filled up, making it difficult to keep up with demand. Tesla expanded the program and offered some additional times, but it also had its sights set on getting the program out to new markets.

It finally achieved that on December 9, as it launched rides in Denmark and Switzerland, adding the fourth and fifth countries to the program.

Tesla confirmed the arrival of the program to Denmark and Switzerland on X:

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The program, while a major contributor to Tesla’s butts in seats strategy, is truly another way for the company to leverage its fans in an effort to work through the regulatory hurdles it is facing in Europe.

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Tesla has faced significant red tape in the region, and although it has tested the FSD suite and been able to launch this ride-along program, it is still having some tremendous issues convincing regulatory agencies to allow it to give it to customers.

CEO Elon Musk has worked with regulators, but admitted the process has been “insanely painful.”

The most recent development with FSD and its potential use in Europe dealt with the Dutch approval authority, known as the RDW.

Tesla says Europe could finally get FSD in 2026, and Dutch regulator RDW is key

Tesla said it believes some regulations are “outdated and rules-based,” which makes the suite ineligible for use in the European jurisdiction.

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The RDW is working with Tesla to gain approval sometime early next year, but there are no guarantees. However, Tesla’s angle with the ride-along program seems to be that if it can push consumers to experience it and have a positive time, it should be easier for it to gain its footing across Europe with regulatory agencies.

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Tesla ramps hiring for Roadster as latest unveiling approaches

Tesla published three new positions for the Roadster this week, relating to Battery Manufacturing, General Manufacturing, and Vision Engineering.

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Tesla Roadster at Tesla Battery Day 2020 Credit: @BLKMDL3 | Twitter

Tesla is ramping up hiring for positions related to the Roadster program, the company’s ultra-fast supercar that has been teased to potentially hover by CEO Elon Musk.

The company seems to be crossing off its last handful of things before it plans to unveil the vehicle on April Fool’s Day, just about four months away.

Tesla published three new positions for the Roadster this week, relating to Battery Manufacturing, General Manufacturing, and Vision Engineering. All three are located in Northern California, with two being at the Fremont Factory and the other at the company’s Engineering HQ in Palo Alto.

Technical Program Manager, Battery Manufacturing

Located in Fremont, this role specifically caters to the design of the Roadster to factory operations. It appears this role will mostly have to do with developing and engineering the Roadster’s battery pack and establishing the production processes for it:

“You will foster collaboration across design engineering, manufacturing, quality, facilities, and production to align with company priorities. Additionally, you will understand project opportunities, challenges, and dependencies; translate scattered information into concise, complete messages; and communicate them to every team member. As the business process development lead, you will develop, maintain, and implement tools and processes to accelerate battery manufacturing execution, achieve cross-functional alignment, and deliver highly efficient systems.”

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Manufacturing Engineer, Roadster

Also located in Fremont, this role also has to deal with the concept development and launch of battery manufacturing equipment. Tesla says:

“In this role, you will take large-scale manufacturing systems for new battery products and architectures from the early concept development stage through equipment launch, optimization, and handover to local operations teams.”

Manufacturing Vision Engineer, Battery Vision

This position is in Palo Alto at Tesla’s Engineering Headquarters, and requires the design and scale of advanced inspection and control systems to next-generation battery products:

“You’ll work on automation processes that directly improve battery performance, quality, and cost, collaborating with world-class engineers in a fast-paced, hands-on environment.”

Developing and deploying 2D and 3D vision and measurement systems from proof-of-concept to deployment on high-volume battery manufacturing lines is part of the job description.

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Roadster Unveiling

Tesla plans to unveil the Roadster on April 1, and although it was planned for late this year, it is nice to see the company put out a definitive date.

Musk said on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast in late October:

“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one…I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever.”

Production should begin between 12 to 18 months after unveiling, so we could see it sometime in 2027.

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