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Tesla Gigafactory 3 is what happens when Elon Musk’s vision is taken seriously
To say that the buildout of Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in China is fast is a gross understatement. Within a few months, Tesla’s 864,885-square meter lot in Shanghai’s Lingang Industrial Area has been transformed from a large, muddy field into a site where a massive electric car factory is taking shape. Every update of Gigafactory 3 shows the facility making visible progress. This week alone, footage from the site revealed that workers have practically completed the roof of Tesla’s general assembly building, and walls are already being set built.
Back in March, Shanghai official Chen Mingbo stated that the initial buildout of the factory should be completed by May. Considering the speed of the facility’s construction, this insane timeframe seems to be on track. If this target is accomplished, Tesla could start Model 3 trial production as early as September. That’s significantly ahead of Elon Musk’s own estimates, which pointed to initial production starting near the end of 2019. Reports from China also indicate that Gigafactory 3 could set a record for fastest factory buildout in the country.
The original timeline for Gigafactory 3 was actually far more conservative, with Tesla noting that it expected vehicle manufacturing to start roughly two years after construction begins. The timeframe, which was classic Elon Musk in the way that it is optimistic and ambitious, faced relentless skepticism in the United States. Consumer Edge Research senior auto analyst James Albertine, in a segment of Bloomberg Markets, flat-out stated that Tesla’s targets for Gigafactory 3’s construction were simply “not feasible.”
The reaction to Gigafactory 3’s initial timetable is quite reflective of the amount of skepticism and criticism thrown at Tesla and Elon Musk on a rather consistent basis. In the United States, Musk pretty much faces opposition at every turn. It is not uncommon to see reports about Tesla having a negative slant. People betting on Tesla’s failure such as short-sellers consistently accuse Musk of being a fraud as well, while mocking him on social media platforms such as Twitter for his alleged shortcomings. One particularly passionate short-seller actually received a restraining order after allegedly trespassing, harassing, and causing harm to Tesla employees.
With the drama surrounding Tesla, it is no wonder that Elon Musk wanted to take the company private last year. When Musk pitched the idea to investors, he argued that it would be a lot easier for Tesla to pursue its goals if it could operate without the short-term pressures of Wall St and the constant barrage of noise from critics that stand to receive financial gain if the electric car maker were to fall. The take-private attempt ultimately fell through after Elon Musk backed out of a ~$30 billion deal from investors that included Volkswagen AG. In the Q1 2019 earnings call, the CEO noted that a non-public Tesla will not be happening anytime soon. “Unfortunately, that ship had sailed,” Musk said.
It could be said that the nearly unbelievable pace of Gigafactory 3’s construction is what happens when Elon Musk’s ambitious vision is embraced without noise or unnecessary drama. There were no controversies among China’s workforce when Elon Musk noted that he expects electric car production to begin by the end of the year. Instead, the company’s construction partner took the CEO’s ambitious timeframe seriously and did what was necessary to build Gigafactory 3 as quickly as possible, including adopting 24/7 work. Going a step further, the country even pursued a target completion date that exceeds Elon Musk’s already ambitious timeframe. Today, Model 3 trial production is expected to start as early as September.
If there is a lesson that can be learned from Gigafactory 3, it is that visionaries such as Elon Musk could accomplish great things if their targets are supported and taken seriously. This is something that China seems to be all too willing to give Elon Musk, as could be seen when he met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing last January. During his meeting with Li, Musk acted like his usual self, throwing out grand ideas about Gigafactory 3 and mentioning his vision of creating a facility that acts almost like a “living being.” Li proved quite open to Musk’s ideas, even offering the CEO a ‘Chinese Green Card’ so he could openly pursue his plans in the country.
Demonstrating this point, here’s the Gigafactory 3 site in early March.
And here’s a flyby of Gigafactory 3 on May 7, 2019, roughly two months later.
Tesla made a dramatic change to the Online Design Studio to show its plans for Full Self-Driving, a major part of the company’s plans moving forward, as CEO Elon Musk has been extremely clear on the direction moving forward.
With Tesla taking a stand and removing the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright next month, it is already taking steps to initiate that with owners and potential buyers.
On Thursday night, the company updated its Online Design Studio to reflect that in a new move that now lists the three purchase options that are currently available: Monthly Subscription, One-Time Purchase, or Add Later:
🚨 Check out the change Tesla made to its Online Design Studio:
It now lists the Monthly Subscription as an option for Full Self-Driving
It also shows the outright purchase option as expiring on February 14 pic.twitter.com/pM6Svmyy8d
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
This change replaces the former option for purchasing Full Self-Driving at the time of purchase, which was a simple and single box to purchase the suite outright. Subscriptions were activated through the vehicle exclusively.
However, with Musk announcing that Tesla would soon remove the outright purchase option, it is clearer than ever that the Subscription plan is where the company is headed.
The removal of the outright purchase option has been a polarizing topic among the Tesla community, especially considering that there are many people who are concerned about potential price increases or have been saving to purchase it for $8,000.
This would bring an end to the ability to pay for it once and never have to pay for it again. With the Subscription strategy, things are definitely going to change, and if people are paying for their cars monthly, it will essentially add $100 per month to their payment, pricing some people out. The price will increase as well, as Musk said on Thursday, as it improves in functionality.
I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve.
The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD). https://t.co/YDKhXN3aaG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2026
Those skeptics have grown concerned that this will actually lower the take rate of Full Self-Driving. While it is understandable that FSD would increase in price as the capabilities improve, there are arguments for a tiered system that would allow owners to pay for features that they appreciate and can afford, which would help with data accumulation for the company.
Musk’s new compensation package also would require Tesla to have 10 million active FSD subscriptions, but people are not sure if this will move the needle in the correct direction. If Tesla can potentially offer a cheaper alternative that is not quite unsupervised, things could improve in terms of the number of owners who pay for it.
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Tesla Model S completes first ever FSD Cannonball Run with zero interventions
The coast-to-coast drive marked the first time Tesla’s FSD system completed the iconic, 3,000-mile route end to end with no interventions.
A Tesla Model S has completed the first-ever full Cannonball Run using Full Self-Driving (FSD), traveling from Los Angeles to New York with zero interventions. The coast-to-coast drive marked the first time Tesla’s FSD system completed the iconic, 3,000-mile route end to end, fulfilling a long-discussed benchmark for autonomy.
A full FSD Cannonball Run
As per a report from The Drive, a 2024 Tesla Model S with AI4 and FSD v14.2.2.3 completed the 3,081-mile trip from Redondo Beach in Los Angeles to midtown Manhattan in New York City. The drive was completed by Alex Roy, a former automotive journalist and investor, along with a small team of autonomy experts.
Roy said FSD handled all driving tasks for the entirety of the route, including highway cruising, lane changes, navigation, and adverse weather conditions. The trip took a total of 58 hours and 22 minutes at an average speed of 64 mph, and about 10 hours were spent charging the vehicle. In later comments, Roy noted that he and his team cleaned out the Model S’ cameras during their stops to keep FSD’s performance optimal.Â
History made
The historic trip was quite impressive, considering that the journey was in the middle of winter. This meant that FSD didn’t just deal with other cars on the road. The vehicle also had to handle extreme cold, snow, ice, slush, and rain.
As per Roy in a post on X, FSD performed so well during the trip that the journey would have been completed faster if the Model S did not have people onboard. “Elon Musk was right. Once an autonomous vehicle is mature, most human input is error. A comedy of human errors added hours and hundreds of miles, but FSD stunned us with its consistent and comfortable behavior,” Roy wrote in a post on X.
Roy’s comments are quite notable as he has previously attempted Cannonball Runs using FSD on December 2024 and February 2025. Neither were zero intervention drives.
Elon Musk
Tesla removes Autopilot as standard, receives criticism online
The move leaves only Traffic Aware Cruise Control as standard equipment on new Tesla orders.
Tesla removed its basic Autopilot package as a standard feature in the United States. The move leaves only Traffic Aware Cruise Control as standard equipment on new Tesla orders, and shifts the company’s strategy towards paid Full Self-Driving subscriptions.
Tesla removes Autopilot
As per observations from the electric vehicle community on social media, Tesla no longer lists Autopilot as standard in its vehicles in the U.S. This suggests that features such as lane-centering and Autosteer have been removed as standard equipment. Previously, most Tesla vehicles came with Autopilot by default, which offers Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer.
The change resulted in backlash from some Tesla owners and EV observers, particularly as competing automakers, including mainstream players like Toyota, offer features like lane-centering as standard on many models, including budget vehicles.
That being said, the removal of Autopilot suggests that Tesla is concentrating its autonomy roadmap around FSD subscriptions rather than bundled driver-assistance features. It would be interesting to see how Tesla manages its vehicles’ standard safety features, as it seems out of character for Tesla to make its cars less safe over time.
Musk announces FSD price increases
Following the Autopilot changes, Elon Musk stated on X that Tesla is planning to raise subscription prices for FSD as its capabilities improve. In a post on X, Musk stated that the current $99-per-month price for supervised FSD would increase over time, especially as the system itself becomes more robust.
“I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve. The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (Unsupervised FSD),” Musk wrote.
At the time of his recent post, Tesla still offers FSD as a one-time purchase for $8,000, but Elon Musk has confirmed that this option will be discontinued on February 14, leaving subscriptions as the only way to access the system.
Tesla makes big Full Self-Driving change to reflect future plans
Tesla Model S completes first ever FSD Cannonball Run with zero interventions
