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Tesla’s Gigafactory formula rose from a humble “tent” at the Fremont Factory
Back in 2018, Tesla was in a very different place. The company was struggling to release the Model 3, and it was behind on Elon Musk’s aggressive self-imposed vehicle production targets. The Fremont Factory’s assembly lines were not producing enough Model 3s, and it seemed like the company was poised to fail. Critics and shorts circled Tesla like sharks smelling blood in the water. But something unexpected happened, and things were never the same after.
Throwing convention out the window, Tesla built another Model 3 line inside a massive sprung structure at the Fremont Factory grounds, which CEO Elon Musk fondly called a “tent” online. The structure, dubbed as GA4, was mocked to the highest degree, used as a joke by critics, and dismissed outright by skeptics. However, what was almost unknown at the time was that Tesla might have actually stumbled into something special with its sprung structure-based line. By building a simple, straight, Model 3 line inside a “tent,” Tesla seems to have effectively created a solid Gigafactory formula.
No standard automotive solution could be built in time, so we created a new solution. It is working & has slightly higher quality than the more traditional general assembly line. Perhaps most surprising is that the total cost of production in the Sprung tent is lower.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 27, 2018
A Practical Concept
The sprung structure-based Model 3 line was the brainchild of Automotive President Jerome Guillen, widely known as Elon Musk’s “problem solver” back in the Model S’ early days. The “tent”-based line followed a relatively simple system, with vehicles being assembled progressively the further they moved into the tent. Even GA4’s loading bays were placed on the sides of the structure, allowing Tesla to take deliveries into the line efficiently. Musk was enthusiastic about the sprung structure on Twitter, noting not long after the “tent” was built that the vehicles produced in the site had “slightly higher quality” than cars made elsewhere.
These humble but creative beginnings appear to have become the heart of Tesla’s Gigafactory formula, one used in Giga Shanghai and Giga Berlin, and seemingly improved further with Gigafactory Texas. This could be seen in the design and processes that Tesla has adopted so far in its Shanghai and Berlin plants, both of which invoke the image of a scaled-up, refined, and optimized version of Fremont’s “tent.”
A Gigafactory Formula
Tesla critics typically overlook the fact that the Fremont Factory is a legacy car plant at its core. It’s an expansive facility, and it is impressive in its own right, but it’s not a site developed specifically to produce all-electric cars. Thus, for the Model S, Model X, and the Model 3’s early days, Tesla was essentially developing a system that makes EVs at scale using a facility designed initially to manufacture cars equipped with the internal combustion engine.
Of course, Tesla has made numerous adjustments to make the Fremont Factory into one of the most advanced electric vehicle plants in the market. However, it is difficult not to be impressed with Tesla’s quick production ramp and flexibility in Gigafactory Shanghai, arguably the first EV factory that the company built using its GA4 formula, with its simple production lines to its numerous loading bays at its side. This concept seems to have been carried over to Gigafactory Berlin, which is expected to ramp its operations at a rate that rivals even that of Giga Shanghai.
A Matter of Scale
Ultimately, it appears that GA4 was Tesla’s “eureka” moment of sorts, at least for its electric vehicle factories. By scaling up and refining the sprung structure-based concept, Tesla was able to create monster factories like Giga Shanghai, and later this year, Gigafactory Berlin as well. However, this is not all as Tesla seems to be adopting an updated design for Gigafactory Texas, with its three main buildings built parallel with each other. Little is known about the reasons behind Giga Texas’ design, but there’s little doubt that the expansive facility will be very impressive when completed nonetheless.
Prior to the Model 3’s “production hell,” Elon Musk spoke about Tesla’s “Alien Dreadnought” factories, which are supposed to be so automated and advanced that they would resemble alien facilities featured in sci-fi fiction. Tesla seems to have shelved this idea following the Model 3’s challenges in its initial production ramp. With an established Gigafactory formula of sorts in its repertoire, however, and coupled with innovations such as the Model Y’s megacasts, Elon Musk’s dreadnoughts may not be too far into the future at all.
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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.
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
