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Tesla immerses itself in Chinese culture as Gigafactory 3 sees machinery setup
On the heels of the near-completion of Gigafactory 3’s factory shell, Tesla appears to be setting itself up as an electric car maker that is down-to-earth and respectful of China’s culture. As Tesla joins China in celebrating a national holiday, reports have emerged pointing to machinery in Gigafactory 3 already being set up inside the facility.
China recently celebrated its Dragon Boat Festival, a national holiday that is largely connected to the death of Qu Yuan, one of the country’s most notable poets who was accused of treason by the ruling class. Legend states that the poet committed suicide by drowning instead of allowing himself to be captured by the authorities, but his body was saved after locals raced out in boats (hence the Dragon Boats) to scatter rice in the water, preventing fish from desecrating his corpse.
References to this legend were present in greetings that Tesla sent out to everyone on the company’s mailing list in the days leading up to the national holiday. One poster, in particular, featured the unmistakable figure of a Dragon Boat, while another resembled the sticky rice dumplings that are eaten to celebrate the holiday.
Also notable was Tesla’s initiative to tap into the younger Chinese demographic. This Friday and Saturday, China is holding its national college entrance examination called the Gaokao, which is widely considered as one of the toughest tests in the world. Considering that the scores of students taking the Gaokao all but determine their chances at higher education (such as where they are allowed to study or what courses they could take), high schoolers are known to face a ton of stress when preparing for the nationwide test.
In the days leading up to the Gaokao, Tesla shared a number of fun Physics reviewers on Chinese social media, giving students a refresher on concepts that are relevant to the company. While these campaigns might seem minor to territories outside China, such a strategy all but ensures that Tesla becomes a familiar brand to the country’s teens, who will be the nation’s car buyers in a few years.
Tesla’s recent gestures all but suggest that the company is taking careful steps to ensure that it immerses itself in Chinese culture without making any missteps. China is a substantial market for automobiles, and other, more established companies have made mistakes of their own in the past. Mercedes-Benz, for one, simply entered China under the brand name “Bensi” (a direct translation of its Western name), only to realize later on that the name they chose literally meant “rush to die.”
Peugeot ended up committing a notable blunder as well, naming itself “Biāozhì” in China. The name generally translated to “beautiful,” which was not bad, but the carmaker ended up neglecting the fact that in some areas of the country, the word “biǎozi” was the word for “prostitute.” This resulted in Peugeot becoming the subject of immense ridicule online.
As the country celebrated its Dragon Boat Festival, work in Gigafactory 3 seemingly continued as well. As noted by China-based Tesla owner Dennis Chang, who visited the Gigafactory 3 site at night, machinery was already being set up in the facility’s interior. Workers at the factory have reportedly noted that initial operations are set to begin sometime in August at the earliest.
Gigafactory 3 has exceeded expectations in terms of the speed of its buildout. When Elon Musk participated in the facility’s groundbreaking ceremony in January, he noted that he expects Model 3 production to start at the end of the year. Considering the speed of the facility’s buildout so far, Musk’s timeframe might actually end up being conservative.
Tesla’s Automatic Collision Evasion feature can be seen in one of the first owner videos of it in action.
Tesla owner Spencer (@scotsrule08) posted on Monday that the feature “worked flawlessly,” saying FSD reengaged itself just as he was about to hit a curb. Ashok Elluswamy, who leads Tesla’s AI team, shared the clip and wrote, “A guardian angel always looking out for you.”
The video arrives in the middle of a staged rollout. Tesla first shipped Automatic Collision Evasion with FSD (Supervised) v14.3.9 in software update 2026.27.6 earlier this month, which Teslarati covered as it reached cars. Update 2026.27.10, which began going out on September 19, carried the feature improvements with FSD v14.3.10, according to release notes tracked by Not a Tesla App. The newer 2026.27.11 build is now reaching another wave of vehicles.
The new Automatic Collision Evasion feature worked flawlessly! FSD reengaged itself just as I was about to hit a curb.
Kudos @Tesla_AI team! 👏 pic.twitter.com/Fbp15HhpL2
— Spencer (@scotsrule08) September 28, 2026
The feature only runs on HW4 vehicles, and it requires an active FSD purchase or subscription with both FSD (Supervised) and Automatic Emergency Braking enabled. HW3 owners receive FSD v14.2 Lite in the same updates, but that build does not include collision evasion.
Tesla’s release notes describe two triggers. The first is an imminent frontal collision that braking alone may not prevent, in which case the car can activate FSD to steer, brake or accelerate around the hazard. That scenario is limited to highways below 85 mph, with no pedestrians or cyclists detected and no slippery road surface. The second covers a driver who appears inattentive, such as reaching into the back seat, or who seems to have switched off FSD by accident. Spencer’s curb clip appears to fall into that second category.
Tesla plans big safety improvements for Full Self-Driving v15
Once the system takes over, the accelerator is muted and light brake input will not cancel the maneuver. Drivers need to apply firm, deliberate steering force to take back control, and the car chimes to hand control back once the danger has passed.
Elluswamy recently noted that earlier hazard prediction, faster reaction time and better collision avoidance would arrive with FSD v15, the next major version.
Tesla is delaying its event for the Roadster, moving it from this Thursday, October 1, to Thursday, October 15, due to unfavorable weather.
The company has said it has been tracking the weather for this Thursday closely with local meteorologists, and because the event can only be held outside, Tesla is making the call to delay it:
“We’ve been tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists, but given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we’ve made the difficult decision to reschedule. New date is October 15. Additional details to follow.”
Roadster event update
We’ve been tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists, but given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we’ve made the difficult decision to reschedule.
New date is October 15. Additional details to…
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 28, 2026
We are sure that this is bringing back PTSD for some Tesla fans, and we know it is not ideal, but this also reveals some things about the event. Tesla said that this can only be held outdoors, meaning it bodes well for the rumors that the vehicle could potentially hover.
Some believe that this was essentially confirmed by the FAA airspace restriction they were granted, but this could have been for a drone show or to keep drones from spying on the event.
Tesla Roadster is available for order once again following brief hold
The Roadster event has been long-awaited, and it is unfortunate that the weather is going to keep us all waiting a little bit longer.
The Tesla Roadster will be unveiled in Waco, Texas.
Elon Musk
SpaceX turned a heralding moment for Starship into its greatest
Starship reached orbit despite losing an engine, deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites on Flight 14.
SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit for the first time on Monday, and for a few nail-biting minutes it looked like it wouldn’t. During ascent on Flight 14, one of Ship 41’s six Raptor engines shut down early, and SpaceX’s livestream host Dan Huot told viewers the team had decided not to commit to orbit. Minutes later, after what Huot described as a lot of conversation in the control room, the final poll came back in favor, and a roughly 19 second burn of a single Raptor pushed the ship into orbit about 170 miles up.
The reversal matters because SpaceX had written the exit ramp into the mission plan. The company said it would only fire the orbital insertion burn if flight controllers confirmed enough backup hardware remained for the deorbit burn, a condition Teslarati laid out ahead of the flight. Losing an engine was exactly the scenario that rule was built for.
Pressing forward fits Elon Musk’s history. Falcon 1 failed three straight times before its fourth launch reached orbit in 2008, with SpaceX nearly out of money, and Starship was developed by flying prototypes until they broke. What changed this year SpaceX going public, and with $SPCX sliding below its IPO price in July when Flight 13 slipped, the short interest climbed significantly, as Teslarati reported at the time. A Starship potentially lost today with revenue generating next-gen Starlink satellites aboard would have landed directly on shareholders.
Splashdown confirmed. Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the first orbital flight of Starship! pic.twitter.com/urjmiwnvNl
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 28, 2026
That pressure showed up after orbit. SpaceX cut a flight planned to last nearly 10 hours to about three, moving splashdown from west of Chile to the North Pacific near Hawaii. SpaceX gave no reason, though Musk said this month the company was being extremely cautious about debris risk. The single Raptor for deorbit worked, and Ship 41 completed its flip and landing burn before breaking apart in the water, an outcome SpaceX expected. Musk has structured SpaceX’s governance to shield long term bets from market pressure.
The payload is the bigger business story. Musk posted that all 26 Starlink V3 satellites deployed and are “operating nominally.” Each V3 is rated for about 1 Tbps of downlink and 160 Gbps of uplink, so this single launch adds roughly 26 Tbps, about 10 times what a Falcon 9 load of V2 Mini satellites adds. The V3 is too large for Falcon 9, making Starship the only vehicle that can build out the planned 100,000 satellite constellation, at up to 60 per flight once it reaches routine service. Unlike the 20 V3 units on Flight 13, which reentered on a suborbital path, these will raise their orbits and could begin serving customers within weeks and bring in hundreds of millions of additional dollars in projected Starlink revenue.
SpaceX has already begun winding down Falcon 9 Starlink launches from Florida in favor of Starship. Reported targets put Flight 15 as early as October 19, leaving about three weeks to diagnose Monday’s engine shutdown before the next orbital attempt.
Starship’s 14th flight is set to launch on Monday, Sept 28. The 75-minute launch window opens at 7:15 a.m. CT. Live coverage of the mission starts ~35 minutes before launch → https://t.co/uQKQvgaTmJ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 27, 2026
Watch Tesla’s “guardian angel” FSD feature take over for collision evasion
Tesla Roadster event gets delayed due to unfavorable weather
