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Tesla Giga Berlin is looking to secure $100 million in subsidies to help fund construction

(Credit: @Gf4Tesla/Twitter)

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Tesla submitted its initial application to the Brandenburg Investment Bank (ILB)  for subsidies that will fund the construction of Giga Berlin in Grunheide.

“The documents are now being successively completed,” ILB chief executive Tillmann Stenger told German publication Spiegel. The application also requires an investment plan and the documents will now be completed step by step.

According to government spokesperson Florian Engels, the electric car maker could get over 100 million euros (about $109 million). For companies investing up to 50 million euros, subsidies can be up to 20%.

Businesses investing 51 million to 100 million euros could get up to 10%, while those investing 100 million euros or more may get a subsidy of around 6.8%. German media estimated that Tesla’s investment will be around 4 billion euros (around $4.4 billion) for Giga Berlin.

The ILB will also have to notify the EU Commission in Berlin about the requested funding.

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Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that Tesla must meet certain criteria for the sustainability and performance of its products, particularly the vehicles’ batteries.

“In my conversations with Elon Musk, I always pointed out that there is no privilege, but there is also no discrimination,” said Altmaier.

Aside from these, the German government also requires research and development, among others, to increase the chances of receiving such funding. The German government wants to promote battery cell manufacturing in the country that will not only help push the shift to greener mobility options but also generate thousands of jobs in the country.

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Amid the news of Tesla’s grant application for Giga Berlin, heavy machines used for tree cutting and clearing were spotted in the forest where the car factory will be built.  Tesla aims to start construction on Giga Berlin’s first phase by mid-March and s begin vehicle production by July next year. Tesla plans to produce 150,000 vehicles per year initially, then later ramp to an output of about 500,000 vehicles annually.

Tesla has also applied for federal subsidies for its Giga Berlin battery cell production. This fulfills the government requirement for a multi-million grant for the construction of Tesla’s Berlin-based factory and sets the stage for the quick ramp of Model 3 and Model Y production in Germany.

A curious soul who keeps wondering how Elon Musk, Tesla, electric cars, and clean energy technologies will shape the future, or do we really need to escape to Mars.

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Tesla Australia Exec: No regulatory barriers for FSD release

Tesla’s FSD demonstrations have been quite impressive as of late.

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Credit: Tesla AI/X

Recent comments from Tesla’s Country Director for Australia and New Zealand Thom Drew have provided an exciting update for Full Self Driving’s upcoming release in Australia. As per the executive, there is currently no regulatory barrier to FSD being rolled out to Australian roads.

Drew’s comments came on the heels of a video demonstration featuring FSD Supervised navigating Melbourne’s central business district.

Tesla FSD’s Australia Demo

Shared by the Tesla AI team’s official account on social media platform X, FSD Supervised’s demonstration in Melbourne’s central business district sparked a lot of conversations online. Electric vehicle enthusiasts on X were quite impressed with the system’s capabilities to handle the city’s busy and crowded streets. Even more were pleasantly surprised when FSD Supervised performed a smooth hook turn in its demonstration.

In a comment to News.com.au, Drew emphasized that FSD’s global expansion is a priority for Tesla. “That’s Elon’s push. We have a global engineering team that are working across markets around a lot of FSD… actively working across all our markets to roll it out,” the executive noted.

No Regulatory Barriers 

Interestingly enough, Drew also stated that there is no regulatory barrier to FSD hitting Australia’s roads. This suggests that FSD may be released in Australia once Tesla is satisfied with the local calibration and performance of the system on the country’s inner city streets.

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“There’s currently no blockers in Australia to releasing Full Self Driving Supervised, as we have in North America. It’s something our business is working on releasing. I don’t have a timeline currently for you, but it’s certainly very exciting to be able to bring that to a market that doesn’t have a regulatory blocker,” Drew stated.

Tesla’s FSD demonstrations have been quite impressive as of late, with the company also publishing a video showing the system navigating France’s Arc de Triomphe, one of Europe’s most complicated roundabouts, recently. Over in China, a Tesla Model 3 owner also used FSD to travel almost 2,485 miles from the Henan Province to the base camp of Mt. Everest.

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Tesla China registrations bounce back to 11.1k vehicles in May’s 2nd full week

Tesla China’s domestic vehicle registrations have been volatile in recent weeks.

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Credit: Tesla China

Tesla reported 11,130 insurance registrations in China in the week of May 12-18, 2025. These represent a 262.5% increase from 3,070 registrations that the company saw in the week ending May 11.

Tesla China’s domestic vehicle registrations have been volatile in recent weeks, suggesting that Giga Shanghai may still be exporting Model 3 and Model Y vehicles to foreign territories this month.

Tesla China’s Registrations

In the week ending May 4, Tesla China saw 7,300 new vehicle registrations. This was not that surprising considering that Tesla may still be allocating Gigafactory Shanghai’s output to vehicle exports. In the week ending May 11, however, industry watchers were quite surprised to see just 3,070 registrations from Tesla China. 

The 262.54% bounce in vehicle registrations in the week ending May 18 is thus a pleasant update from the world’s biggest and most competitive electric vehicle market. Even with these results, however, industry watchers still note that Tesla China’s registrations this 2025 are still down 6.5% year-over-year.

Tesla China does not report its weekly sales figures, though the company’s overall performance in the domestic automotive sector can be inferred through new vehicle registration data. Fortunately, these registrations are closely tracked by industry watchers, as well as local automakers such as Li Auto.

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Domestic Sales and Exports

Following the start of domestic deliveries of the new Model Y in China, expectations were high that the company would see a steady rise in registrations this second quarter. Giga Shanghai does not only supply vehicles to the domestic Chinese market, after all, as the facility also serves as the company’s primary vehicle export hub, providing Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossovers to several territories.

Tesla China sold 28,731 vehicles domestically and exported 29,728 vehicles in April. In comparison, the company saw 74,127 domestic registrations and 4,701 exports in March 2025, as per data compiled by CNEV Post. Considering Tesla China’s registrations this May, it would not be surprising if the company’s exports this month would exceed March’s 4,701 units.

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xAI receives more Tesla Megapacks for Colossus 2

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xAI is bolstering its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis with 168 Tesla Megapacks, enhancing the energy infrastructure for its ambitious AI supercomputer expansion. The deployment underscores xAI’s push to lead AI innovation while addressing environmental concerns.

The first Colossus site is connected to a 150 megawatts (MW) substation powered by MLGW and TVA. It is supported by approximately 156 Megapacks, providing 150 MW of stored energy backup to xAI’s supercomputer. The 168 Tesla Megapacks recently delivered to xAI’s Memphis site will provide battery storage backup to Colossus 2.

In December 2024, xAI doubled the capacity of Colossus to 200,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs, which consumes 250 MW of power–enough to energize 250,000 homes. In March 2025, the AI company bought a 1-million-square-foot site in Whitehaven, Memphis, for $80 million. xAI’s Whitehaven site could host up to 350,000 GPUs with the potential to deploy the largest number of Tesla Megapacks for backup power.

xAI plans to scale Colossus up to 1 million GPUs to create the world’s largest AI supercomputer. A 1-million-GPU setup would require over 1 gigawatt, about one-third of Memphis’s peak summer demand.

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Initially reliant on natural gas turbines, Colossus faced criticism for nitrogen oxide emissions. The 150 MW substation, completed in early 2025, reduced turbine use by half, with Megapacks providing cleaner backup power. By fall 2025, xAI expects the second substation to come online. Once the second substation is online, the remaining turbines will only be used for backup, reducing the project’s carbon footprint.

Tesla Energy’s Q1 2025 performance, with a 156% year-over-year increase and 10.4 GWh of storage deployed, supports xAI’s needs. Tesla’s Megapack factory in Waller County, Texas, set to create 1,500 jobs, signals further commitment to scaling energy solutions for projects like Colossus.

xAI’s rapid expansion, backed by Tesla Megapacks, positions it to rival AI leaders like OpenAI and Google. The Colossus 2 deployment reflects a strategic blend of cutting-edge AI and sustainable energy. As Memphis’ infrastructure adapts to unprecedented power demands, xAI and Tesla are reshaping the AI landscape with a focus on efficiency and environmental responsibility.

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