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Elon Musk dubbed as ‘Industry Newsmaker of the Year’ in All-Stars Awards
Elon Musk is being honored as the Industry Newsmaker of the Year by industry publication Automotive News, which recognized the Tesla CEO as one of the few people who found a way to gain momentum in a year that was challenging for the automotive industry.
Tesla and SpaceX both have used 2020 as a year of “no excuses,” marking incredible surges in valuation and momentum as other companies failed to grow in their respective sectors. Musk’s 2020 has gone far beyond cars and rocketships, and the Tesla CEO has released an EDM track, a bottle of highly-popular Tequila, fathered a newborn, launched a worldwide satellite internet service, and propelled his Neuralink project into relevancy with new developments that were detailed in a company event earlier this year. It has been anything but an off-year for Musk, who has used the pandemic as motivation to get the world into the future and develop new technology that will increase the efficiency of our lives in every facet.
Perhaps Musk’s biggest win in 2020 was Tesla’s constant and consistent growth on Wall Street, which has made company investors extremely wealthy. After the company’s first trading day in 2020, TSLA’s price per share was just over $86 apiece. Now, the stock has surged to over $600 a share at its highest point, and its momentum all has to do with the influence that the once-failing company that struggled to keep its doors open 12 short years ago has on the rest of the automotive sector.
Elon Musk’s astonishing life accomplishments to be recognized by award in Berlin
Tesla has managed to show that electric cars will eventually be the only way to travel, and legacy car companies are beginning to realize that their production lines need to transition to sustainable forms of transportation. Musk is certainly aware of his company’s influence and has noted during some interviews that Tesla’s success in the automotive sector speaks for itself.
“I must be doing something right, as far as my managing style’s concerned. Tesla’s worth twice as much as the rest of the U.S. auto industry combined,” he said to Automotive News.
Tesla’s valuation has been fueled by its constant improvements in automotive technology, including batteries, and its ever-growing appearance in foreign markets. To keep up with demand outside of the United States, Tesla is building the second phase of its already-operational Giga Shanghai facility and is moving closer to the first production push at the Giga Berlin plant in Germany. While those two facilities will supply vehicles to some of the most populous automotive markets globally, Tesla is also building a new facility in Texas to help with increasing demand in its home country of the United States.
Other than that, Tesla has introduced its first versions of the “zero-intervention” Full Self Driving suite in a Beta release to a small group of owners. The release has solidified Tesla’s identity as the leader in semi-autonomous driving functions. The company plans to release more confident and detailed versions of the software as it improves, thanks to the work of the Autopilot and Artificial Intelligence teams.
Musk’s constant and tireless work to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy has made Tesla the most valuable car company on Earth. With more developments on the way, which include a $25,000 vehicle in the next few years, a more affordable battery through in-house manufacturing, and increasingly accurate FSD releases, Tesla holds the keys to become the most valuable company on Earth as every portion of the company aims to change life as we know it, for the better.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk highlights one of Tesla FSD Supervised’s most underrated features
In his post on X, Musk wrote, “Tesla self-driving now recognizes hand signals.”
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is able to recognize and respond to hand signals, as highlighted recently by CEO Elon Musk.
In his post on X, Musk wrote, “Tesla self-driving now recognizes hand signals.”
Musk shared the update in a quote reply to a video posted by Tesla Europe, which showed a vehicle operating with Full Self-Driving (Supervised) navigating a tight lane in the Netherlands while responding to hand gestures from a person directing traffic.
Hand signal recognition is an important capability for advanced driver-assistance and autonomous systems. In real-world driving, pedestrians, construction workers, parking attendants, and other drivers frequently use hand gestures to direct traffic, yield right of way, or indicate when it is safe to proceed. For a self-driving system operating in mixed environments, interpreting these non-verbal cues is critical.
Musk’s post comes as Tesla owners have surpassed 8 billion cumulative miles driven with FSD (Supervised) engaged. “Tesla owners have now driven >8 billion miles on FSD Supervised,” the company wrote in a post on X.
Annual FSD (Supervised) miles have increased sharply over the past five years. Roughly 6 million miles were logged in 2021, followed by 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and 4.25 billion in 2025.
In the first 50 days of 2026 alone, Tesla owners logged another 1 billion miles. At the current pace, the fleet is trending toward approximately 10 billion FSD (Supervised) miles this year.
Tesla’s latest North America safety data, covering all road types over a 12-month period, also indicates that vehicles operating with FSD (Supervised) were recorded one major collision every 5,300,676 miles. By comparison, the U.S. average during the same period was one major collision every 660,164 miles.
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Tesla hiring for Commercial Charging role hints at Semi push in Europe
The job opening was highlighted by David Forer, Senior Project Developer for Charging at Tesla, on LinkedIn.
Tesla appears to be expanding its Commercial Charging efforts in Central Europe. The job opening was highlighted by David Forer, Senior Project Developer for Charging at Tesla, on LinkedIn.
In a post on LinkedIn, Forer stated that Tesla is looking for a “high-energy executer to own Commercial Charging Sales in Central Europe.” He added that the role will involve closing commercial deals across Tesla’s “entire product range (Supercharging & Megacharging).”
The job listing specifies that the hire will lead the sale of Tesla’s high-power charging products, including Supercharger and Heavy Duty Charging, to major partners such as charge point operators, real estate owners, and retail companies. The role requires fluency in German and English and is based onsite in Munich.
Tesla already operates more than 75,000 Superchargers globally, though the Semi’s Megacharger network is still in its early stages. The inclusion of Heavy Duty Charging in the job description is notable, then, as it aligns with Tesla’s Megacharger infrastructure, which is designed to support the Tesla Semi.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently confirmed that the Tesla Semi is moving into high-volume production this 2026. In a post on X, Musk noted that “Tesla Semi starts high volume production this year.”
Aerial footage of the Tesla Semi Factory near Giga Nevada also shows that the facility looks nearly complete, with work now underway inside the facility.
Tesla has also refreshed the Semi lineup on its official website, listing two variants: Standard and Long Range. The Standard trim offers up to 325 miles of range with an energy consumption rating of 1.7 kWh per mile, while the Long Range version provides up to 500 miles.
Both variants support fast charging and can recover up to 60% of range in 30 minutes using compatible infrastructure such as the Megacharger Network.
The presence of Heavy Duty Charging in a Central Europe-focused sales role could indicate that Tesla is preparing charging infrastructure ahead of wider Semi deployment in the region. While Tesla has not formally announced a European launch timeline for the Semi, the vehicle, particularly its range, makes it an ideal fit for the area.
Tesla Full Self-Driving is set to get an awesome new feature in the near future, CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X.
Full Self-Driving is the company’s semi-autonomous driving program, which is among the best available to the general public. It still relies on the driver to ultimately remain in control and pay attention, but it truly does make traveling less stressful and easier.
However, Tesla still continuously refines the software through Over-the-Air updates, which are meant to resolve shortcomings in the performance of the FSD suite. Generally, Tesla does a great job of this, but some updates are definitely regressions, at least with some of the features.
Tesla Cybertruck owner credits FSD for saving life after freeway medical emergency
Tesla and Musk are always trying to improve the suite’s performance by fixing features that are presently available, but they also try to add new things that would be beneficial to owners. One of those things, which is coming soon, is giving the driver the ability to prompt FSD with voice demands.
For example, asking the car to park close to the front door of your destination, or further away in an empty portion of the parking lot, would be an extremely beneficial feature. Adjusting navigation is possible through Grok integration, but it is not always effective.
Musk confirmed that voice prompts for FSD would be possible:
Coming
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 21, 2026
Tesla Full Self-Driving is a really great thing, but it definitely has its shortcomings. Navigation is among the biggest complaints that owners have, and it is easily my biggest frustration with using it. Some of the routes it chooses to take are truly mind-boggling.
Another thing it has had issues with is being situated in the correct lane at confusing intersections or even managing to properly navigate through local traffic signs. For example, in Pennsylvania, there are a lot of stop signs with “Except Right Turn” signs directly under.
This gives those turning right at a stop sign the opportunity to travel through it. FSD has had issues with this on several occasions.
Parking preferences would be highly beneficial and something that could be resolved with this voice prompt program. Grocery stores are full of carts not taken back by customers, and many people choose to park far away. Advising FSD of this preference would be a great advantage to owners.
Elon Musk highlights one of Tesla FSD Supervised’s most underrated features
Tesla hiring for Commercial Charging role hints at Semi push in Europe
