Connect with us

News

Tesla Energy takes a stand against coal and gas generators in Australia

Published

on

Tesla Energy firmly argued against using coal and gas generators to support a proposed low-cost, reliable, secure, and zero-emissions grid in Australia. 

In March 2019, Australia’s energy ministers tasked the Energy Security Board (ESB) to advise on a national electricity market design, which birthed the Post 2025 Electricity Market Design. The project was aimed at providing a more robust and lower emissions power system for Australians.

In April 2021, the ESB released an options paper and invited companies and innovators to comment on their detailed design thus far. Tesla answered the Board’s invitation. 

In a letter to Dr. Kerry Schott—the Chair of the ESB—Tesla Energy’s Head of Energy Policy and Regulation, Emma Fagan, summarized all of Tesla’s recommendations and feedback on the P2025 Market Design Options Paper. 

Two main points were driven in the letter. First, Tesla is firmly against the idea of extending the life span of existing coal and gas generators. 

Advertisement
-->
(Credit: Tesla Energy)

In the letter, Fagan stated that “Tesla does not support the introduction of PRRO or any other mechanism to artificially extend the life of the existing thermal fleet of generation.”

Tesla attached a White Paper to the letter, highlighting the significant benefits of deploying a battery storage system at a scale that would complement Australia’s growing wind and solar energy intake. 

In the White Paper, Tesla Energy argued that battery storage is capable of replacing essential system services provided by thermal plants. As an example, Tesla recalls the time Tesla Powerpacks from the Hornsdale Power Reserve helped stabilize the grid after Callide’s coal power plant exploded in New South Wales.

Second, Tesla strongly recommended building a market that would incentivize the use of new technology or infrastructure to handle the energy coming from a sustainable grid.

“Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. In Australia, forward looking market design will be critical to achieving this outcome,” Fagan wrote to Dr. Schott. 

In the letter, Tesla Energy proposed a tailored ‘flexibility market,’ arguing that it would address the risk of “disorderly coal plant exits by ensuring new capacity is incentivized to enter the market before old plants are retired.”

Fagan included a list of design principles to consider for a flexibility market, which are listed below. 

Advertisement
-->
  • Eligible assets provide a combination of ‘flexible services,’ such as fast response and fast ramp dispatch.
  • Incentive payments linked to service provision (covering essential system services), as opposed to simply paying based on registered ‘peak MW’ capacity.
  • Provisions for locational and temporal specific needs (e.g., load-side response for low operational demand risks)
  • Co-optimization with existing NEM dispatch of energy and frequency control ancillary services
  • Technology neutral without being prescriptive on technology type or commercial model
  • Low/zero emission requirements to align with existing state targets and goals.

Tesla hopes that Australia takes the opportunity to introduce structural reform to its power grid through this project. 

“As the ESB progresses towards its final recommendations, it should use this rare window of opportunity for structural reform to be visionary and design a future-focused market that facilitates investment in new technologies,” Fagan stated in the letter.

Read Tesla’s White Paper on the benefits of battery storage systems below.

Tesla Energy: Battery Storage as a Key Enabler for 100% Renewables by Maria Merano on Scribd

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com or reach out to me at maria@teslarati.com.

Advertisement
-->

Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s xAI brings 1GW Colossus 2 AI training cluster online

Elon Musk shared his update in a recent post on social media platform X.

Published

on

xAI-supercomputer-memphis-environment-pushback
Credit: xAI

xAI has brought its Colossus 2 supercomputer online, making it the first gigawatt-scale AI training cluster in the world, and it’s about to get even bigger in a few months.

Elon Musk shared his update in a recent post on social media platform X.

Colossus 2 goes live

The Colossus 2 supercomputer, together with its predecessor, Colossus 1, are used by xAI to primarily train and refine the company’s Grok large language model. In a post on X, Musk stated that Colossus 2 is already operational, making it the first gigawatt training cluster in the world. 

But what’s even more remarkable is that it would be upgraded to 1.5 GW of power in April. Even in its current iteration, however, the Colossus 2 supercomputer already exceeds the peak demand of San Francisco.  

Commentary from users of the social media platform highlighted the speed of execution behind the project. Colossus 1 went from site preparation to full operation in 122 days, while Colossus 2 went live by crossing the 1-GW barrier and is targeting a total capacity of roughly 2 GW. This far exceeds the speed of xAI’s primary rivals.

Advertisement
-->

Funding fuels rapid expansion

xAI’s Colossus 2 launch follows xAI’s recently closed, upsized $20 billion Series E funding round, which exceeded its initial $15 billion target. The company said the capital will be used to accelerate infrastructure scaling and AI product development.

The round attracted a broad group of investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and Baron Capital Group. Strategic partners NVIDIA and Cisco also continued their support, helping xAI build what it describes as the world’s largest GPU clusters.

xAI said the funding will accelerate its infrastructure buildout, enable rapid deployment of AI products to billions of users, and support research tied to its mission of understanding the universe. The company noted that its Colossus 1 and 2 systems now represent more than one million H100 GPU equivalents, alongside recent releases including the Grok 4 series, Grok Voice, and Grok Imagine. Training is also already underway for its next flagship model, Grok 5.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla AI5 chip nears completion, Elon Musk teases 9-month development cadence

The Tesla CEO shared his recent insights in a post on social media platform X.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s next-generation AI5 chip is nearly complete, and work on its successor is already underway, as per a recent update from Elon Musk. 

The Tesla CEO shared his recent insights in a post on social media platform X.

Musk details AI chip roadmap

In his post, Elon Musk stated that Tesla’s AI5 chip design is “almost done,” while AI6 has already entered early development. Musk added that Tesla plans to continue iterating rapidly, with AI7, AI8, AI9, and future generations targeting a nine-month design cycle. 

He also noted that Tesla’s in-house chips could become the highest-volume AI processors in the world. Musk framed his update as a recruiting message, encouraging engineers to join Tesla’s AI and chip development teams.

Tesla community member Herbert Ong highlighted the strategic importance of the timeline, noting that faster chip cycles enable quicker learning, faster iteration, and a compounding advantage in AI and autonomy that becomes increasingly difficult for competitors to close.

Advertisement
-->

AI5 manufacturing takes shape

Musk’s comments align with earlier reporting on AI5’s production plans. In December, it was reported that Samsung is preparing to manufacture Tesla’s AI5 chip, accelerating hiring for experienced engineers to support U.S. production and address complex foundry challenges.

Samsung is one of two suppliers selected for AI5, alongside TSMC. The companies are expected to produce different versions of the AI5 chip, with TSMC reportedly using a 3nm process and Samsung using a 2nm process.

Musk has previously stated that while different foundries translate chip designs into physical silicon in different ways, the goal is for both versions of the Tesla AI5 chip to operate identically. AI5 will succeed Tesla’s current AI4 hardware, formerly known as Hardware 4, and is expected to support the company’s Full Self-Driving system as well as other AI-driven efforts, including Optimus.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025

According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025.

Published

on

Credit: ANCAP

The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall safety score of any vehicle tested by ANCAP in 2025. The Tesla Model 3 also delivered strong results, reinforcing the automaker’s safety leadership in Australia and New Zealand.

According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025. ANCAP’s 2025 tests evaluated vehicles across four key pillars: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist technologies.

The Model Y posted consistently strong results in all four categories, distinguishing itself through a system-based safety approach that combines structural crash protection with advanced driver-assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring. 

This marked the second time the Model Y has topped ANCAP’s annual safety rankings. The Model Y’s previous version was also ANCAP’s top performer in 2022.

The Tesla Model 3 also delivered a strong performance in ANCAP’s 2025 tests, contributing to Tesla’s broader safety presence across segments. Similar to the Model Y, the Model 3 also earned impressive scores across the ANCAP’s four pillars. This made the vehicle the top performer in the Medium Car category.  

ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg stated that the results highlight a growing industry shift toward integrated safety design, with improvements in technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and lane support translating into meaningful real-world protection.

Advertisement
-->

“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist. The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.

“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection,” Hoorweg said.

Continue Reading