Connect with us

News

Tesla battery partner Panasonic’s new Giga Nevada line to start operations in August

Tesla Gigafactory 1, where Model 3 battery cells are produced. (Photo: Tesla)

Published

on

Panasonic is preparing to install a new production line in Tesla’s Gigafactory Nevada, according to its Fiscal 2022 First Quarter Financial Results report. The company expects the new production line for automotive batteries to start operations by August 2021.

Panasonic reported that its automotive sales increased by 77% to ¥373.7 billion ($3.42 billion), mainly due to the rise in Automotive Solution sales caused by a recovering automobile market. The company reported a growing demand for automotive batteries, too.

Panasonic also mentioned the introduction of new cells with higher battery capacity and rationalization. Given Panasonic’s history with Tesla, it is likely referring to Gigafactory Nevada. The batteries with higher capacity are probably the 2170 cells used in the Model 3 and Model Y, two high-volume vehicles that form the backbone of Tesla’s sales today.

Panasonic has previously noted that it is looking to expand its production capacity in Gigafactory Nevada in Fiscal Year 2022. According to the Japanese tech conglomerate, it would be looking to reach a capacity of 38-39 GWh once its new production line is installed in its North American site.

Apart from expanding Gigafactory Nevada’s capacity, Panasonic has also made progress in developing a prototype line for 4680 cells, the same form factor that Tesla is developing in its Kato Road facility. The 4680 cells are a pivotal part of Tesla’s plans for the future. At the second-quarter earnings call, Elon Musk mentioned that Tesla plans to produce Model Ys in Giga Berlin and Giga Texas with a structural battery pack equipped with its 4680 battery cell.

“We’re also aiming to do a structural pack with 4680 cells, which is a mass reduction and a cost reduction, but we’re not counting on that as the only way to make things work. We have some backup plan with a non-structural pack and 2170s essentially,” Elon Musk stated at the last earnings call, which he attended while being in Giga Texas.

Advertisement
-->

Andrew Baglino, Tesla Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Energy Engineering, noted that Tesla has successfully validated the performance and lifetime durability of the 4680 cells produced in the company’s Kato Road facility. Tesla continues to verify the cells’ reliability as well. He noted that the main challenge Tesla is facing with 4680 cell production is not “a science problem, but an engineering problem.”

“We have a challenge with basically what’s called calendaring, or basically squashing the cathode material to a particular height,” explained Elon Musk.

“So it just goes through these rollers and gets squashed like pizza dough, basically, but very hard pizza dough. It’s denting the calendar rolls. This is not something that happened when the calendar rolls were smaller, but it is happening when the calendar rolls were bigger.”

Panasonic’s Fiscal 2022 First Quarter Results could be accessed below.

Panasonic Fiscal Year 2022 Q1 Results by Maria Merano on Scribd

Advertisement
-->

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, reach out to me at maria@teslarati.com or via Twitter @Writer_01001101.

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

News

Tesla FSD v14.2.2 is getting rave reviews from drivers

So far, early testers have reported buttery-smooth drives with confident performance, even at night or on twisty roads.

Published

on

Credit: @BLKMDL3/X

Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.2.2 is receiving positive reviews from owners, with several drivers praising the build’s lack of hesitation during lane changes and its smoother decision-making, among others. 

The update, which started rolling out on Monday, also adds features like dynamic arrival pin adjustment. So far, early testers have reported buttery-smooth drives with confident performance, even at night or on twisty roads.

Owners highlight major improvements

Longtime Tesla owner and FSD user @BLKMDL3 shared a detailed 10-hour impression of FSD v14.2.2, noting that the system exhibited “zero lane change hesitation” and “extremely refined” lane choices. He praised Mad Max mode’s performance, stellar parking in locations including ticket dispensers, and impressive canyon runs even in dark conditions.

Fellow FSD user Dan Burkland reported an hour of FSD v14.2.2’s nighttime driving with “zero hesitations” and “buttery smooth” confidence reminiscent of Robotaxi rides in areas such as Austin, Texas. Veteran FSD user Whole Mars Catalog also demonstrated voice navigation via Grok, while Tesla owner Devin Olsen completed a nearly two-hour drive with FSD v14.2.2 in heavy traffic and rain with strong performance.

Closer to unsupervised

FSD has been receiving rave reviews, even from Tesla’s competitors. Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng, for one, offered fresh praise for FSD v14.2 after visiting Silicon Valley. Following extended test drives of Tesla vehicles running the latest FSD software, He stated that the system has made major strides, reinforcing his view that Tesla’s approach to autonomy is indeed the proper path towards autonomy.

Advertisement
-->

According to He, Tesla’s FSD has evolved from a smooth Level 2 advanced driver assistance system into what he described as a “near-Level 4” experience in terms of capabilities. While acknowledging that areas of improvement are still present, the Xpeng CEO stated that FSD’s current iteration significantly surpasses last year’s capabilities. He also reiterated his belief that Tesla’s strategy of using the same autonomous software and hardware architecture across private vehicles and robotaxis is the right long-term approach, as it would allow users to bypass intermediate autonomy stages and move closer to Level 4 functionality.

Continue Reading

News

Elon Musk’s Grok AI to be used in U.S. War Department’s bespoke AI platform

The partnership aims to provide advanced capabilities to 3 million military and civilian personnel.

Published

on

Credit: xAI

The U.S. Department of War announced Monday an agreement with Elon Musk’s xAI to embed the company’s frontier artificial intelligence systems, powered by the Grok family of models, into the department’s bespoke AI platform GenAI.mil. 

The partnership aims to provide advanced capabilities to 3 million military and civilian personnel, with initial deployment targeted for early 2026 at Impact Level 5 (IL5) for secure handling of Controlled Unclassified Information.

xAI Integration

As noted by the War Department’s press release, GenAI.mil, its bespoke AI platform, will gain xAI for the Government’s suite of tools, which enable real-time global insights from the X platform for “decisive information advantage.” The rollout builds on xAI’s July launch of products for U.S. government customers, including federal, state, local, and national security use cases.

“Targeted for initial deployment in early 2026, this integration will allow all military and civilian personnel to use xAI’s capabilities at Impact Level 5 (IL5), enabling the secure handling of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in daily workflows. Users will also gain access to real‑time global insights from the X platform, providing War Department personnel with a decisive information advantage,” the Department of War wrote in a press release. 

Strategic advantages

The deal marks another step in the Department of War’s efforts to use cutting-edge AI in its operations. xAI, for its part, highlighted that its tools can support administrative tasks at the federal, state and local levels, as well as “critical mission use cases” at the front line of military operations.

Advertisement
-->

“The War Department will continue scaling an AI ecosystem built for speed, security, and decision superiority. Newly IL5-certified capabilities will empower every aspect of the Department’s workforce, turning AI into a daily operational asset. This announcement marks another milestone in America’s AI revolution, and the War Department is driving that momentum forward,” the War Department noted.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla FSD (Supervised) v14.2.2 starts rolling out

The update focuses on smoother real-world performance, better obstacle awareness, and precise end-of-trip routing, among other improvements.

Published

on

Credit: Grok Imagine

Tesla has started rolling out Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.2.2, bringing further refinements to its most advanced driver-assist system. The new FSD update focuses on smoother real-world performance, better obstacle awareness, and precise end-of-trip routing, among other improvements.

Key FSD v14.2.2 improvements

As noted by Not a Tesla App, FSD v14.2.2 upgrades the vision encoder neural network with higher resolution features, enhancing detection of emergency vehicles, road obstacles, and human gestures. New Arrival Options let users select preferred drop-off styles, such as Parking Lot, Street, Driveway, Parking Garage, or Curbside, with the navigation pin automatically adjusting to the user’s ideal spot for precision.

Other additions include pulling over for emergency vehicles, real-time vision-based detours for blocked roads, improved gate and debris handling, and extreme Speed Profiles for customized driving styles. Reliability gains cover fault recovery, residue alerts on the windshield, and automatic narrow-field camera washing for new 2026 Model Y units.

FSD v14.2.2 also boosts unprotected turns, lane changes, cut-ins, and school bus scenarios, among other things. Tesla also noted that users’ FSD statistics will be saved under Controls > Autopilot, which should help drivers easily view how much they are using FSD in their daily drives.  

Key FSD v14.2.2 release notes

Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.2.2 includes:

Advertisement
-->
  • 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 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!
  • Added automatic narrow field washing to provide rapid and efficient front camera self-cleaning, and optimize aerodynamics wash at higher vehicle speed.
  • Camera visibility can lead to increased attention monitoring sensitivity. 

Upcoming Improvements:

  • Overall smoothness and sentience.
  • Parking spot selection and parking quality.
Continue Reading