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Tesla Factory Robots Named After X-Men Superheroes
Tesla factory upgrade reveals dedicated production center for dual motor Model S, faster overseas deliveries and robots named after X-Men superheroes.
We knew Tesla was hard at work on expanding the Fremont factory in California but the details have been fuzzy at best. The expansion efforts were rumored to be groundwork for future production of the Model X and Tesla’s ultimate vision, the affordable mass-market Model 3. But all was confirmed today when Tesla outlined the details of the factory upgrade in their latest blog post.
Seeing the time-lapse video of Tesla’s recent factory upgrade further brings to light why Tesla Motors has been able to elevate itself to a status that no other automaker has been able to achieve in the last century – reinvent the auto industry’s sales and manufacturing paradigm while laying a path to the future of automotive transportation.
Like any great Silicon Valley start up, albeit this one sits on a healthy $32 billion dollar market cap, life and death often teeters between a well-positioned move that may catapult a company into instant success or a deathblow due to inefficiencies, slow time to market and an excessive cash burn. Tesla Motors is no different, yet … so different.
Highlights from the Tesla factory upgrade:
- A dedicated section for production of the Dual Motor Model S.
- Model S batteries will be installed by robots; cuts installation time by 50% over human labor.
- Production capacity of over 50k cars by end of 2015.
- New export docks to increase delivery speed to overseas buyers.
- Traditional overhead mechanical steel structures replaced by robots capable of moving entire cars.
- Robots have been elevated to superhero statuses (my personal favorite). According to Tesla Motors,
“Rather than refer to these robots by technical descriptions, we named them after X-Men characters. Xavier stands at the entrance to the trim line, lifting cars down to the floor from an electrified rail, while Iceman, Wolverine, and Beast do more heavy lifting nearby. Storm and Colossus can be found at the end of the chassis line, and Vulcan and Havok work as a team to lift cars back onto the rail. To us, these robots are like superheroes, so we figured they deserved superhero names.”
And finally we’re all reminded that even in a factory predominantly occupied by complex machinery and robots, Tesla Motors is a human company. A photo wall pays homage to the evolving auto industry pioneered by some of the largest automakers (GM and Toyota) who occupied the same space 26 years prior to Tesla’s arrival.
News
Tesla FSD V14.2 starts rolling out to initial batch of vehicles
It would likely only be a matter of time before FSD V14.2 videos are posted and shared on social media.
Tesla has begun pushing Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.2 to its initial batch of vehicles. The update was initially observed by Tesla owners and veteran FSD users on social media platform X on Friday.
So far, reports of the update have been shared by Model Y owners in California whose vehicles are equipped with the company’s AI4 hardware, though it would not be surprising if more Tesla owners across the country receive the update as well.
Based on the release notes of the update, key improvements in FSD V14.2 include a revamped neural network for better detection of emergency vehicles, obstacles, and human gestures, as well as options to select arrival spots.
It would likely only be a matter of time before FSD V14.2 videos are posted and shared on social media.
Following are the release notes of FSD (Supervised) V14.2, as shared on X by longtime FSD tester Whole Mars Catalog.
Release Notes
2025.38.9.5
Currently Installed
FSD (Supervised) v14.2
Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.2 includes:
- Upgraded the neural network vision encoder, leveraging higher resolution features to further improve scenarios like handling emergency vehicles, obstacles on the road, and human gestures.
- Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, in a Parking Garage, or at the Curbside.
- Added handling to pull over or yield for emergency vehicles (e.g. police cars, fire trucks, ambulances.
- Added navigation and routing into the vision-based neural network for real-time handling of blocked roads and detours.
- Added additional Speed Profile to further customize driving style preference.
- Improved handling for static and dynamic gates.
- Improved offsetting for road debris (e.g. tires, tree branches, boxes).
- Improve handling of several scenarios including: unprotected turns, lane changes, vehicle cut-ins, and school busses.
- Improved FSD’s ability to manage system faults and improve scenarios like handling emergency vehicles, obstacles on the road, and human gestures.
- Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, in a Parking Garage, or at the Curbside.
- Added handling to pull over or yield for emergency vehicles (e.g. police cars, fire trucks, ambulances).
- Added navigation and routing into the vision-based neural network for real-time handling of blocked roads and detours.
- Added additional Speed Profile to further customize driving style preference.
- Improved handling for static and dynamic gates.
- Improved offsetting for road debris (e.g. tires, tree branches, boxes).
- Improve handling of several scenarios, including unprotected turns, lane changes, vehicle cut-ins, and school buses.
- Improved FSD’s ability to manage system faults and recover smoothly from degraded operation for enhanced reliability.
- Added alerting for residue build-up on interior windshield that may impact front camera visibility. If affected, visit Service for cleaning!
Upcoming Improvements:
- Overall smoothness and sentience
- Parking spot selection and parking quality
The Tesla Model X has always been one of the company’s most loved vehicles, despite its low sales figures, which can be attributed to its high price tag.
However, the Model X has been a signature item on Tesla’s menu of cars, most notably recognized by its Falcon Wing Doors, which are aware of its surroundings and open according to what’s around it.
But recent improvements to the Model X were looking slim to none, but it appears most of the fixes actually happened under the body, at least according to Tesla’s Vice President of Powertrain, Lars Moravy.
In a recent interview with Car and Driver, Moravy detailed all of the changes to the 2026 iteration of the vehicle, which was about 400 pounds lighter than it was originally. The biggest change is a modification with the rear motor, switching from an induction-type motor to a permanent-magnet design and optimizing the half-shafts, which shed about 100 pounds.
Tesla also got “almost 80 pounds out of the interior bits and pieces,” which “included making parts thinner, different manufacturing process choices, and incorporating airbag-deployment requirements into the headliner fabric,” the report said.
Additionally, the standard five-passenger, bench seat configuration saved 50 pounds by ditching pedestal mounting. This also helped with practicality, as it helped the seat fold flat. Engineers at Tesla also saved 44 pounds from the high-voltage wiring through optimizing the wiring from the charge-port DC/DC converter and switching from copper to aluminum wiring.
Tesla makes a decision on the future of its flagship Model S and Model X
Tesla also simplified the cooling system by reducing the number of radiators. It also incorporated Nürburgring cooling requirements for the Plaid variant, which saved nearly 30 pounds.
Many Tesla fans will be familiar with the megacastings, manufactured in-house by presses from IDRA, which also saves more than 20 pounds and boosts torsional stiffness by around 10 percent. Tweaks to the suspension also saved 10 pounds.
People were truly disappointed with what Tesla did with the Model S and Model X, arguing that the cars needed a more severe exterior overhaul, which might be true. However, Tesla really did a lot to reduce the weight of the vehicle, which helps increase range and efficiency. According to Grok, every 200 pounds removed adds between 7 and 15 percent to range estimations.
This makes sense considering the range estimations both increased by 7 percent from the Model X’s 2025 configuration to the 2026 builds. Range increased on the All-Wheel-Drive trim from 329 miles to 352 miles, while the Plaid went from 314 miles to 335 miles.
Tesla has officially launched its first branded Supercharger just months after initiating a new program that allows third-party companies to brand their own charging piles.
The site opened in Land O’ Lakes, Florida, and features eight V4 Supercharging stalls offering up to 325 kW of charging speed. It appears it was purchased by a company called Suncoast Credit Union. This particular branch is located Northeast of Tampa, which is on the Gulf of Mexico.
It features graphics of Florida animals, like alligators:
Here’s a video of the graphics being installed on the Tesla Superchargers at this site: https://t.co/oIfEPNZjAH pic.twitter.com/ENWakZ2qT9
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 20, 2025
Tesla launched this program back in September, and it basically was a way to expand its Supercharger presence and also allow companies to pay for the infrastructure. Tesla maintains it. When it announced the “Supercharger for Business,” it said:
“Purchase and install Superchargers at your business. Superchargers are compatible with all electric vehicles, bringing EV drivers to your business by offering convenient, reliable charging.”
The program does a few things. Initially, it expands EV charging infrastructure and makes charging solutions more readily available for drivers. It can also attract people to those businesses specifically.
Tesla launches new Supercharger program that business owners will love
The chargers can also be branded with any logo that the business chooses, which makes them more personalized and also acts as an advertisement.
The best part is that the customers do not have to maintain anything about the Supercharger. Tesla still takes care of it and resolves any issues:
“We treat your site like we treat our sites. By providing you with a full-service package that includes network operations, preventative maintenance, and driver support, we’re able to guarantee 97% uptime–the highest in the industry.”
It appears the Superchargers will also appear within the in-car nav during routing, so they’ll be publicly available to anyone who needs to use them. They are still available to all EVs that have worked with Tesla to utilize its infrastructure, and they are not restricted to people who are only visiting the business.
Tesla FSD V14.2 starts rolling out to initial batch of vehicles
Tesla Model X lost 400 pounds thanks to these changes
