News
Tesla’s Fremont Factory was the most productive auto factory in the U.S. in 2021
New data from Bloomberg states that Tesla’s Fremont Factory in Northern California was the most-productive automotive plant in the U.S., outpacing 70 other plants in the country.
Last year, Tesla’s Fremont Factory averaged a weekly production pace of 8,550 vehicles. That’s about 1,221 cars per day, 51 cars per hour, or about .85 cars per minute. However you break it down, the Fremont Factory’s manufacturing prowess showed its domination in 2021, as it was the most productive automotive factory in the United States in 2021, outpacing Toyota, BMW, and Ford factories that have long created the most robust figures of car production in previous decades.
For comparison, Toyota’s plant in Georgetown, Kentucky built 8,427 cars per week, BMW’s facility in South Carolina managed 8,343 units per week, and Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan hub managed just 5,564 vehicles weekly. All figures were provided by Bloomberg.
The history of the Fremont Factory tells the story of long-standing automotive companies that simply vacated the factory to make way for the next big thing. In the 1960s, GM operated the plant. Then in 1984, Toyota’s New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc partnered with GM to run the plant. Ultimately, GM’s bankruptcy in 2009 left the 5.3 million square foot plant vacant. Tesla took ownership in 2010, renovated several portions of the factory, expanded production availability (a project that continues to this day), and currently has more than 10,000 active employees at the plant. The Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Model Y are all produced at the site.
Teslas charging in front of the Fremont Factory (Credit: @TacosandTeslas/Twitter)
2020 and 2021 were arguably the darkest years of the global automotive market in recent memory. Only rivaled by perhaps the 2008 recession, which brought GM and other automakers to their knees, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic was a dark spot in an emerging sector.
The rebirth of American automotive manufacturing had taken a turn as Tesla had basically influenced an entire sector to rethink its strategies. Instead of continuing to develop powertrains powered from gas or petrol, legacy automakers have transitioned to EVs. The industry’s entire move could basically be hinged on the fact that Tesla has switched a massive amount of drivers to electric cars, and the production figures are proving that.
-->While Tesla has only one operational U.S. plant as Gigafactory Texas nears production soon, its North American customer base has been accepting cars from the Northern California plant. However, this one plant has managed to avoid heavy delivery delays due to bottlenecks in the supply chain and parts shortages and become the most proactive American automotive manufacturing facility in 2021.
Most impressively, Tesla has continued to expand its yearly production capacity as a company. Last year, it was mostly due to Gigafactory Shanghai’s massive production figures, which accounted for a majority of vehicle deliveries as it is Tesla’s main export hub to the extremely competitive European market. Tesla managed 936,172 deliveries in 2021, a 47 percent increase from a year prior.
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News
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
The refreshed Tesla Model 3 has won the DRIVEN Car Guide AA Insurance NZ Car of the Year 2025 award in the Passenger Car category, beating all traditional and electric rivals.
Judges praised the all-electric sedan’s driving dynamics, value-packed EV tech, and the game-changing addition of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) that went live in New Zealand this September.
Why the Model 3 clinched the crown
DRIVEN admitted they were late to the “Highland” party because the updated sedan arrived in New Zealand as a 2024 model, just before the new Model Y stole the headlines. Yet two things forced a re-evaluation this year.
First, experiencing the new Model Y reminded testers how many big upgrades originated in the Model 3, such as the smoother ride, quieter cabin, ventilated seats, rear touchscreen, and stalk-less minimalist interior. Second, and far more importantly, Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
FSD changes everything for Kiwi buyers
The publication called the entry-level rear-wheel-drive version “good to drive and represents a lot of EV technology for the money,” but highlighted that FSD elevates it into another league. “Make no mistake, despite the ‘Supervised’ bit in the name that requires you to remain ready to take control, it’s autonomous and very capable in some surprisingly tricky scenarios,” the review stated.
-->At NZ$11,400, FSD is far from cheap, but Tesla also offers FSD (Supervised) on a $159 monthly subscription, making the tech accessible without the full upfront investment. That’s a game-changer, as it allows users to access the company’s most advanced system without forking over a huge amount of money.
News
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out.
It appears that the Tesla AI team burned the midnight oil, allowing them to release FSD V14.2.1 on Thanksgiving. The update has been reported by Tesla owners with AI4 vehicles, as well as Cybertruck owners.
For the Tesla AI team, at least, it appears that work really does not stop.
FSD V14.2.1
Initial posts about FSD V14.2.1 were shared by Tesla owners on social media platform X. As per the Tesla owners, V14.2.1 appears to be a point update that’s designed to polish the features and capacities that have been available in FSD V14. A look at the release notes for FSD V14.2.1, however, shows that an extra line has been added.
“Camera visibility can lead to increased attention monitoring sensitivity.”
Whether this could lead to more drivers being alerted to pay attention to the roads more remains to be seen. This would likely become evident as soon as the first batch of videos from Tesla owners who received V14.21 start sharing their first drive impressions of the update. Despite the update being released on Thanksgiving, it would not be surprising if first impressions videos of FSD V14.2.1 are shared today, just the same.
-->Rapid FSD releases
What is rather interesting and impressive is the fact that FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out. This bodes well for Tesla’s FSD users, especially since CEO Elon Musk has stated in the past that the V14.2 series will be for “widespread use.”
FSD V14 has so far received numerous positive reviews from Tesla owners, with numerous drivers noting that the system now drives better than most human drivers because it is cautious, confident, and considerate at the same time. The only question now, really, is if the V14.2 series does make it to the company’s wide FSD fleet, which is still populated by numerous HW3 vehicles.
News
Waymo rider data hints that Tesla’s Cybercab strategy might be the smartest, after all
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota Connected Europe designer Karim Dia Toubajie has highlighted a particular trend that became evident in Waymo’s Q3 2025 occupancy stats. As it turned out, 90% of the trips taken by the driverless taxis carried two or fewer passengers.
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota designer observes a trend
Karim Dia Toubajie, Lead Product Designer (Sustainable Mobility) at Toyota Connected Europe, analyzed Waymo’s latest California Public Utilities Commission filings and posted the results on LinkedIn this week.
“90% of robotaxi trips have 2 or less passengers, so why are we using 5-seater vehicles?” Toubajie asked. He continued: “90% of trips have 2 or less people, 75% of trips have 1 or less people.” He accompanied his comments with a graphic showing Waymo’s occupancy rates, which showed 71% of trips having one passenger, 15% of trips having two passengers, 6% of trips having three passengers, 5% of trips having zero passengers, and only 3% of trips having four passengers.
The data excludes operational trips like depot runs or charging, though Toubajie pointed out that most of the time, Waymo’s massive self-driving taxis are really just transporting 1 or 2 people, at times even no passengers at all. “This means that most of the time, the vehicle being used significantly outweighs the needs of the trip,” the Toyota designer wrote in his post.
-->Cybercab suddenly looks perfectly sized
Toubajie gave a nod to Tesla’s approach. “The Tesla Cybercab announced in 2024, is a 2-seater robotaxi with a 50kWh battery but I still believe this is on the larger side of what’s required for most trips,” he wrote.
With Waymo’s own numbers now proving 90% of demand fits two seats or fewer, the wheel-less, lidar-free Cybercab now looks like the smartest play in the room. The Cybercab is designed to be easy to produce, with CEO Elon Musk commenting that its product line would resemble a consumer electronics factory more than an automotive plant. This means that the Cybercab could saturate the roads quickly once it is deployed.
While the Cybercab will likely take the lion’s share of Tesla’s ride-hailing passengers, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover would be perfect for the remaining 9% of riders who require larger vehicles. This should be easy to implement for Tesla, as the Model Y and Model 3 are both mass-market vehicles.
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
