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Tesla Giga Berlin welcomes new graffiti art as battery cell building takes form

Credit: @Gf4Tesla/Twitter

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Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin may still be waiting for its final approval, but this does not mean that work on the Grünheide site has stagnated. As could be seen in recently taken photos and videos of the expansive electric vehicle production facility, Tesla’s Germany team remains hard at work in the buildout of Giga Berlin and its dedicated cell facility. 

Immediately noticeable from recently-shared images of the site was that Giga Berlin’s facade now features more completed graffiti panels. Apart from the Dune-inspired graffiti art showcased in Tesla’s Q4 and FY 2021 Update Letter, pictures taken this week show that the factory’s new graffiti panels have been completed. The newly-completed panels were quite colorful, giving Giga Berlin a distinct look. 

The buildout of Giga Berlin’s battery cell facility is also progressing very well. Videos and images taken of the upcoming facility indicate that facade elements are already being laid at the structure. Deliveries of equipment for the battery production facility also appear to be starting, as hinted at in videos of workers moving large crates of materials inside the cell manufacturing site. 

While the delays surrounding Giga Berlin’s start of vehicle production are notable, expectations are high that the facility’s final permit will be released in the near future. It should also be noted that Tesla is partly responsible for the delay in the release of Giga Berlin’s final permit since the company updated its plans for the site over the course of the facility’s buildout. One of these updates was the addition of a battery cell production facility, which added even more red tape to the project. 

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That being said, Tesla seems to be making the most out of the extra time it has before Giga Berlin formally starts its operations. First production Made-in-Germany Model Ys are now being built in the facility, and some units are even being shipped away from the factory. Tesla has also shared a short video of a Model Y body being dipped in a cleaning bath on its official Instagram page, in what could very well be a hint that Giga Berlin is ready to start operations as soon as its final permits are released. 

Watch a drone flyover of the Giga Berlin site from earlier this week in the video below. 

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Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk reveals date of Tesla Full Self-Driving’s next massive release

Initially planned for a January or February release, v14.3 aims to add some reasoning and logic to the decisions that Full Self-Driving makes, which could improve a lot of things, including Navigation, which is a major complaint of many owners currently.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the date of Full Self-Driving’s next massive release: v14.3.

For months, Tesla owners with Hardware 4 have been utilizing Full Self-Driving v14.2 and subsequent releases. Currently, the most up-to-date FSD version is v14.2.2.5, which has definitely brought out mixed reviews. With releases, some things get better, and other things might regress slightly.

For the most part, things are better in terms of overall behavior.

However, many owners have been looking forward to the next release, which is v14.3, about which Musk has said many great things. Back in November, Musk said that v14.3 “is where the last big piece of the puzzle lands.”

He added:

“We’re gonna add a lot of reasoning and RL (reinforcement learning). To get to serious scale, Tesla will probably need to build a giant chip fab. To have a few hundred gigawatts of AI chips per year, I don’t see that capability coming online fast enough, so we will probably have to build a fab.”

Initially planned for a January or February release, v14.3 aims to add some reasoning and logic to the decisions that Full Self-Driving makes, which could improve a lot of things, including Navigation, which is a major complaint of many owners currently.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2 is a considerable improvement from early versions of the suite, but we have written about the somewhat confusing updates that have come with recent versions.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2.2.5 might be the most confusing release ever

They’ve been incredibly difficult to gauge in terms of progress because some things have gotten better, but there seems to be some real regression on a handful of things, especially with confidence and assertiveness.

Musk confirmed today on X that Tesla is already testing v14.3 internally right now. It will hit a wide release “in a few weeks,” so we should probably expect it by late April.

Overall, there are high hopes that v14.3 could be a true game changer for Tesla Full Self-Driving, as many believe it could be the version that Robotaxis in Austin, Texas, some of which are driverless and unsupervised, are running.

It could also include some major additions, including “Banish,” also referred to as “Reverse Summon,” which would go find a parking spot after dropping occupants off at their destination.

What Tesla will roll out, and when exactly it arrives, all remain to be seen, but fans have been ready for a new version as v14.2.2.5 has definitely run its course. We have had a lot of readers tell us their biggest request is to fix Navigation errors, which seem to be one of the most universal complaints among daily FSD users.

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Chattanooga Charge: Tesla and EV fans ready for the Southeast’s wildest Tesla party

From Cybertruck Convoys to Kid-Friendly Fun Zones: The Chattanooga Charge Has Something for Everyone

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Hundreds of like-minded Tesla and EV enthusiasts are descending on Chattanooga Charge this weekend for the largest Tesla meet in the Southeast. Taking place on March 20–22, 2026 at the stunning Tennessee Riverpark.

If you were there last year, you’ll know that it’s the ultimate experience to see the wildest Teslas in action, see the best in EV tech, and arguably the most fun – finally put a name to the face and connect with those social media buddies IRL! Oh, and that epic night time Tesla light show is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will transform the Riverpark into something out of a sci-fi film that’s remarkably unforgettable and must be seen in person.

This year’s event takes everything up a notch, with over 100 Cybertrucks expected to be on display, many sporting jaw-dropping modifications and custom wraps that push the boundaries of what these stainless steel beasts can look like.

Whether you’re a diehard Tesla fan, EV supporter, or just EV-mod-curious, the sheer spectacle is worth the drive.

The Chattanooga Charge doesn’t wait until Saturday morning to get started. The weekend technically kicks off Friday, March 20th, and the venue sets the tone immediately. Come share roadtrip stories over drinks at the W-XYZ Rooftop Bar on the top floor of the Aloft Chattanooga Hamilton Place Hotel, with sunset views over the city.

Come morning, nurse your hangover with a some good coffee, and convoy with hundreds of other Tesla and EV drivers through Chattanooga to the event for some morning meet and greets before the speaker panel starts and the food trucks fire up.

Tesla owner clubs travel from across the country to be here, not just to show off their vehicles,, but to connect, share, and celebrate a shared passion for the future of driving.

Sounds like a plan to me. See you there, guys. Don’t miss it. Get your tickets at ChattanoogaCharge.com and join the charge. 🔋⚡

Chattanooga Charge is a premier Tesla and EV gathering inspired by the X Takeover, known as one of the largest Tesla event gatherings. What began as a bold idea from the team at DIY Wraps/TESBROS, hosted in their hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee, the event quickly became a movement across social media. The first annual Chattanooga Charge united over 16 Tesla clubs from 16 states, proof that the EV community was hungry for something big in the South. Year after year, the event has grown in scale, ambition, and heart.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving gets latest bit of scrutiny from NHTSA

The analysis impacts roughly 3.2 million vehicles across the company’s entire lineup, and aims to identify how the suite’s degradation detection systems work and how effective they are when the cars encounter difficult visibility conditions.

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Credit: Tesla

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has elevated its probe into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite to an Engineering Analysis.

The analysis impacts roughly 3.2 million vehicles across the company’s entire lineup, and aims to identify how the suite’s degradation detection systems work and how effective they are when the cars encounter difficult visibility conditions.

The step up into an Engineering Analysis is often required before the NHTSA will tell an automaker to issue a recall. However, this is not a guarantee that a recall will be issued.

The NTHSA wants to examine Tesla FSD’s ability to assess road conditions that have reduced visibility, as well as detect degradation to alert the driver with sufficient time to respond.

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) will evaluate the performance of FSD in degraded roadway conditions and the updates or modifications Tesla makes to the degradation detection system, including the timing, purpose, and capabilities of the updates.

Tesla routinely ships software updates to improve the capabilities of the FSD suite, so it will be interesting to see if various versions of FSD are tested. Interestingly, you can find many examples from real-world users of FSD handling snow-covered roads, heavy rain, and single-lane backroads.

However, there are incidents that the NHTSA has used to determine the need for this probe, at least for now. The agency said:

“Available incident data raise concerns that Tesla’s degradation detection system, both as originally deployed and later updated, fails to detect and/or warn the driver appropriately under degraded visibility conditions such as glare and airborne obscurants. In the crashes that ODI has reviewed, the system did not detect common roadway conditions that impaired camera visibility and/or provide alerts when camera performance had deteriorated until immediately before the crash occurred.”

It continues to say in its report that a review of Tesla’s responses revealed additional crashes that occurred in similar environments showed FSD “did not detect a degraded state, and/or it did not present the driver with an alert with adequate time for the driver to react. In each of these crashes, FSD also lost track of or never detected a lead vehicle in its path.”

The next steps of the NHTSA Engineering Analysis require the agency to gather further information on Tesla’s attempts to upgrade the degradation detection system. It will also analyze six recent potentially related incidents.

The investigation is listed as EA26002.

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