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Tesla Gigafactory 3 construction in China begins with rapid buildout of perimeter fence
Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai is beginning to take shape, with construction work on the facility entering its first phases. Drone footage taken last Wednesday, for one, recently revealed that workers have seemingly finished laying a perimeter fence around Tesla’s 864,885-square meter plot of land in Shanghai’s Lingang Industrial Zone, paving the way for more work to be done.
The drone footage of Gigafactory 3’s perimeter fence comes just over a week after Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong and Vice Mayor Wu Qing met with Tesla’s leaders in China to check out the company’s new vehicles like the Model 3. During their visit, the officials urged Tesla and other parties involved in the facility’s construction to expedite the buildout of Gigafactory 3.
Tesla’s timeframe for Gigafactory 3 has always been ambitious. When the company initially announced that it plans to start vehicle production in the facility roughly two years after the site’s construction begins, many were dismissive. Tesla critics were quick to note that such a timeframe is too ambitious. Wall Street was equally skeptical, with Consumer Edge Research senior auto analyst James Albertine dubbing Gigafactory 3’s timeline as simply “not feasible.”
Tesla, for its part, eventually opted to change its initial timeline for the facility. Instead of taking a more conservative stance, though, Tesla did the opposite, stating in its Q3 2018 vehicle production and deliveries report that it would be accelerating the construction of Gigafactory 3 even more. Tesla further noted that it expects the project to be a “capital efficient and rapid buildout, using many lessons learned from the Model 3 ramp in North America.”
While the timeframe for Gigafactory 3 is undoubtedly ambitious, the company does enjoy the favor of the Chinese government, allowing Tesla to tap into local resources and manpower. Seemingly as a response to questions about Tesla’s ability to gain funding for the project, for example, reports emerged that local Shanghai banks have given the electric car maker low-interest loans amounting to 30% of the factory’s estimated costs. Tesla’s bid for the 864,885-square meter plot of land also went unchallenged, enabling the company to quickly prepare for the facility’s construction. With this in mind, it appears that the rapid buildout of Gigafactory 3’s perimeter fence is simply yet another sign that the government fully supports the project.
Chinese Media: After Tesla China announced the new pricing structure of Model S and X, many potential customers rush to their nearest Tesla stores to check out the vehicles, many of them were ordered right at the stores, demand largely increased. $TSLA #Tesla #China #TeslaChina pic.twitter.com/NnYUbvsbg4
— vincent (@vincent13031925) December 16, 2018
Gigafactory 3 will play a considerable role in Tesla’s expansion into the Chinese market. By producing vehicles locally, Tesla would be able to avoid the import tariffs placed on its vehicles coming from the United States, while allowing Tesla to release competitively priced cars to go against lower-priced EVs being produced by local carmakers.
China stands as the world’s largest market for electric cars, being a country that is aggressively pushing for sustainable transportation. With this in mind, Tesla’s success in the country would likely be dependent on how it could target the greater Chinese auto industry with its lower-priced vehicles. While the Model S and Model X are mostly seen as status symbols for the successful and wealthy, the luxury sedan and SUV nonetheless cater to the country’s upper class, which represents a much smaller market. With vehicles such as the Model Y and the Model 3 saturating the country from Gigafactory 3, Tesla could tap into China’s ever-growing mainstream electric car market, which is on pace to hit a milestone of 1 million EVs sold in 2018.
Watch the progress of Gigafactory 3 in the video below.
https://youtu.be/rx3mXjQg46U
Tesla has scaled back driver monitoring to be less naggy with the latest version of the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite, which is version 14.3.3.
The latest version is already earning praise from owners, who are reporting that the suite is far less invasive when it comes to keeping drivers from taking their eyes off the road. The first to mention it was notable Tesla community member on X known as Zack, or BLKMDL3.
14.3.3 nags less too https://t.co/IuiWzuYO6O
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2026
Musk confirmed that v14.3.3 was made to nag drivers significantly less, something that Tesla has worked toward in the past and has said with previous versions that it is less likely to push drivers to look ahead, at least after looking away for a few seconds.
This refinement aligns with Tesla’s ongoing push toward unsupervised FSD. The update also brings faster Actual Smart Summon (now up to 8 mph), reliable “Hey Grok” voice commands, richer visualizations, smoother Mad Max acceleration, and an intervention streak counter that rewards consistent use. Reviewers describe the drive as more human-like and confident, with fewer twitches or unnecessary maneuvers.
Musk has repeatedly signaled this direction. In late 2025, he stated that FSD would allow phone use “depending on context of surrounding traffic,” noting safety data would justify relaxing rules so drivers could text in low-risk scenarios like stop-and-go traffic.
We tested this, and even still, the cell phone monitoring really seems to be less active in terms of alerting drivers:
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2.1 texting and driving: we tested it
Earlier, ahead of v14, Musk promised the system would “nag the driver much less” once safety metrics improved.
In 2023, he confirmed the steering wheel torque nag would be “gradually reduced, proportionate to improved safety,” shifting reliance to the cabin camera. Subsequent updates like v13.2.9 and v12.4 further loosened monitoring, cracking down on workarounds while easing legitimate distractions.
These steps reflect Tesla’s data-driven approach: FSD’s safety record—reportedly averaging millions of miles per crash—now outpaces human drivers in many scenarios, giving the company confidence to dial back interventions. Reduced nags improve usability and trust, encouraging more drivers to rely on the system rather than disengaging out of frustration.
However, there are certainly still some concerns. In many states, it is illegal to handle a cell phone in any way, requiring the use of hands-free devices. In Pennsylvania, it is illegal to use your cell phone at stop lights, which is definitely a step further than using it while the car is actively in motion.
v14.3.3 represents tangible progress. Making FSD less adversarial and more seamless is definitely a step forward, but drivers need to be aware of the dangers of distracted driving. FSD is extremely capable, but it is in no way fully autonomous, nor does its performance warrant owners to take their attention off the road.
Tesla has officially expanded its Full Self-Driving (FSD) suite in Europe once again, as it will now be offered to customer vehicles in Lithuania, marking a significant milestone as the second European Union country to offer the system.
Tesla confirmed FSD’s rollout in Lithuania this morning:
FSD Supervised now rolling out to Teslas in Lithuania 🇱🇹!
Making European roads safer, one by one pic.twitter.com/Uuj0bNG7pP
— Tesla Europe, Middle East & Africa (@teslaeurope) May 20, 2026
Tesla showed several clips of Full Self-Driving navigation in Lithuania to mark the announcement, while Lithuanian Transport Minister Juras Taminskas highlighted the system’s potential to assist with lane-keeping, speed adjustment, and traffic tasks on longer drives, while emphasizing that drivers must stay alert and ready to intervene.
Just a few weeks ago, Tesla officially entered Europe with Full Self-Driving in the Netherlands. The expansion of FSD on the continent is now officially underway.
Full Self-Driving’s European Journey
Europe has long posed one of the toughest regulatory challenges for Tesla’s autonomy ambitions due to stringent safety standards under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) framework, particularly UN Regulation 171 for Driver Control Assistance Systems.
The Netherlands’ RDW authority granted the pioneering approval after over 18 months of rigorous testing, including 1.6 million kilometers on European roads and extensive data submissions.
This approval enables mutual recognition across the EU, allowing other member states to adopt it nationally without full re-testing. Lithuania quickly leveraged this mechanism, becoming the second adopter. Tesla positions FSD Supervised as a tool to incrementally improve road safety, with the company claiming it reduces incidents when used properly.
Bottlenecks slowing broader European deployment include fragmented national regulations, varying levels of regulatory skepticism, and requirements for robust driver monitoring. Some EU officials have raised concerns about performance in adverse conditions like icy roads or speeding scenarios, alongside frustrations over Tesla’s public advocacy approach.
Additional hurdles involve data privacy, liability frameworks, and the need for EU-wide harmonization. While countries like Belgium appear to be fast-tracking adoption, larger markets such as Germany, France, and Italy are expected to follow in the coming months, with potential EU-wide progress targeted for later in 2026.
Tesla Full Self-Driving Across the World
As of May, Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is available in approximately ten countries.
In North America, it has been live for years in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Asia-Pacific additions include Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea, while China utilizes what Tesla calls “City Autopilot.” In Europe, the Netherlands and now Lithuania join the list, with more countries mulling the possibility of also approving FSD.
Tesla offers FSD via monthly subscriptions (around €99 in Europe) or one-time purchases (with deadlines approaching in many markets), shifting toward recurring revenue models. Today is the final day Europeans will be able to purchase the suite outright.
This expansion underscores Tesla’s push for global autonomy, starting with supervised and building toward greater capabilities. With Lithuania now online, momentum is building across Europe, though regulatory caution will continue shaping the pace. Owners in approved regions report smoother highway and urban driving, but the system remains Level 2, which requires human oversight.
Elon Musk
Tesla ditches India after years of broken promises
Tesla has ditched its plans to build a factory in India after years of failed negotiations.
Tesla’s long-running effort to establish a manufacturing presence in India is officially over. India’s Minister of Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy confirmed on May 19, 2026 that Tesla has informed authorities it will not proceed with a manufacturing facility in the country.
Tesla first signaled serious interest in India around 2021, when it began hiring local staff and lobbying the Indian government for lower import tariffs. The ask was straightforward: reduce duties enough for Tesla to test the market with imported vehicles before committing capital to a local factory. India’s position was equally firm, with an ask of Tesla to commit to manufacturing first, then receive tariff relief. Neither side moved, and the talks quietly collapsed.
Tesla to open first India experience center in Mumbai on July 15
India had offered a policy that would reduce import duties from 110% down to 15% on EVs priced above $35,000, provided companies committed at least $500 million toward local manufacturing investment within three years. Tesla declined to participate. The tariff standoff was only part of the problem. Analysts pointed to significant gaps in India’s local supply chain, inadequate industrial infrastructure, and a mismatch between Tesla’s premium pricing and the purchasing power of India’s automotive market as additional factors that made the investment difficult to justify.
First signs of an unraveling relationship came in April 2024, when Musk abruptly cancelled a planned trip to India where he was set to meet Prime Minister Modi and announce Tesla’s market entry. By July 2024, Fortune reported that Tesla executives had stopped contacting Indian government officials entirely. The government at that point understood Tesla had capital constraints and no plans to invest.
The more fundamental issue is that Tesla’s existing factories are currently operating at approximately 60% capacity, making a commitment to building new manufacturing capacity in a new market difficult to defend to investors. Tesla will continue selling imported Model Y vehicles through its existing showrooms in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru, but local production is no longer part of the plan.
Tesla scales back driver monitoring with latest Full Self-Driving release
Tesla Full Self-Driving expands in Europe, entering its second country
