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Tesla Giga Texas ‘Bobcat Project’: What we know so far

Credit: Tesla

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Tesla recently purchased another plot of land to the East of the Giga Texas facility that the company is currently working on constructing. Documents from the Austin, Texas Public Database show that Tesla purchased another slice of land, but what are the company’s plans for it? Here is what we know so far.

According to documents from the Austin, Texas Public Database, Tesla has purchased another plot of land that is 150.21 acres in size and measures to be 6,543,147.6 square feet. It was purchased by the Colorado River Project, Tesla’s subsidiary in Texas that also purchased the land under the same name for what eventually became known as the Giga Texas facility. Sources in Texas told Teslarati that the property sits directly to the East of the main Giga Texas property, so it’s almost directly connected to Tesla’s main vehicle production operation.

Tesla’s Elon Musk gives production update for Giga Texas, but it’s not for the Cybertruck

According to the filings, Tesla has submitted Site Plans and an Environmental Review, but several other documents are waiting for submittal.

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Currently, there are no plans in place, nor is there any confirmation from Tesla regarding what the facility could be used for. However, there is plenty of speculation regarding what could be going on.

Rumors circulating through the Tesla community seem to point toward a battery cell production facility. It makes sense considering the automaker is set on producing its own 4680 cells in-house. Currently being produced at Tesla’s Kato Road facility in Northern California, the 4680 cells were unveiled by Tesla last year at the company’s Battery Day event in September. Interestingly, Tesla has had battery projects in the past that have used code names of cats, as Project Tiger was used for the Gigafactory Nevada plant in Sparks, Nevada. The facility, known as the Tesla Gigafactory, produces electric motors for the Model 3, along with battery packs. Tesla’s Powerwall and Powerpack energy products are also produced at the site.

The idea to use a cat in Tesla’s plans could ultimately derive from Li-ion, a common abbreviation for Lithium-Ion battery cells, which are used in electric vehicles. Li-ion, or Lion, may have been the inspiration for Tesla’s Project Tiger, which ultimately culminated in the Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. Now, if consistency means anything, the Bobcat Project could point toward the same use, just in Texas where Musk, along with other Tesla executives, have moved to after vacating California.

Terafactory Texas posted a breakdown of the current progress of the Bobcat Project on YouTube on May 5th.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH15wXJGUXk

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla wins FCC approval for wireless Cybercab charging system

The decision grants Tesla a waiver that allows the Cybercab’s wireless charging system to be installed on fixed outdoor equipment.

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Credit: Tesla AI/X

Tesla has received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to use Ultra-Wideband (UWB) radio technology in its wireless EV charging system. 

The decision grants Tesla a waiver that allows the Cybercab’s wireless charging system to be installed on fixed outdoor equipment. This effectively clears a regulatory hurdle for the company’s planned wireless charging pad for the autonomous two-seater.

Tesla’s wireless charging system is described as follows in the document: “The Tesla positioning system is an impulse UWB radio system that enables peer-to-peer communications between a UWB transceiver installed on an electric vehicle (EV) and a second UWB transceiver installed on a ground-level pad, which could be located outdoors, to achieve optimal positioning for the EV to charge wirelessly.”

The company explained that Bluetooth is first used to locate the charging pad. “Prior to the UWB operation, the vehicular system uses Bluetooth technology for the vehicle to discover the location of the ground pad and engage in data exchange activities (which is not subject to the waiver).”

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Once the vehicle approaches the pad, the UWB system briefly activates. “When the vehicle approaches the ground pad, the UWB transceivers will operate to track the position of the vehicle to determine when the optimal position has been achieved over the pad before enabling wireless power charging.”

Tesla also emphasized that “the UWB signals occur only briefly when the vehicle approaches the ground pad; and mostly at ground level between the vehicle and the pad,” and that the signals are “significantly attenuated by the body of the vehicle positioned over the pad.”

As noted by Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt, the FCC ultimately granted Tesla’s proposal since the Cybercab’s wireless charging system’s signal is very low power, it only turns on briefly while parking, it works only at very short range, and it won’t interfere with other systems.

While the approval clears the way for Tesla’s wireless charging plans, the Cybercab does not appear to depend solely on the new system.

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Cybercab prototypes have frequently been spotted charging at standard Tesla Superchargers across the United States. This suggests the vehicle can easily operate within Tesla’s existing charging network even as the wireless system is developed and deployed. With this in mind, it would not be surprising if the first batches of the Cybercab that are deployed and delivered to consumers end up being charged by regular Superchargers.

DA-26-168A1 by Simon Alvarez

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Tesla posts updated FSD safety stats as owners surpass 8 billion miles

Tesla shared the milestone as adoption of the system accelerates across several markets.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has posted updated safety stats for Full Self-Driving Supervised. The results were shared by the electric vehicle maker as FSD Supervised users passed more than 8 billion cumulative miles. 

Tesla shared the milestone in a post on its official X account.

“Tesla owners have now driven >8 billion miles on FSD Supervised,” the company wrote in its post on X. Tesla also included a graphic showing FSD Supervised’s miles driven before a collision, which far exceeds that of the United States average. 

The growth curve of FSD Supervised’s cumulative miles over the past five years has been notable. As noted in data shared by Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt, annual FSD (Supervised) miles have increased from roughly 6 million in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and 4.25 billion in 2025. In just the first 50 days of 2026, Tesla owners logged another 1 billion miles.

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At the current pace, the fleet is trending towards hitting about 10 billion FSD Supervised miles this year. The increase has been driven by Tesla’s growing vehicle fleet, periodic free trials, and expanding Robotaxi operations, among others.

Tesla also recently updated the safety data for FSD Supervised on its website, covering North America across all road types over the latest 12-month period.

As per Tesla’s figures, vehicles operating with FSD Supervised engaged recorded one major collision every 5,300,676 miles. In comparison, Teslas driven manually with Active Safety systems recorded one major collision every 2,175,763 miles, while Teslas driven manually without Active Safety recorded one major collision every 855,132 miles. The U.S. average during the same period was one major collision every 660,164 miles.

During the measured period, Tesla reported 830 total major collisions with FSD (Supervised) engaged, compared to 16,131 collisions for Teslas driven manually with Active Safety and 250 collisions for Teslas driven manually without Active Safety. Total miles logged exceeded 4.39 billion miles for FSD (Supervised) during the same timeframe.

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The Boring Company’s Music City Loop gains unanimous approval

After eight months of negotiations, MNAA board members voted unanimously on Feb. 18 to move forward with the project.

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(Credit: The Boring Company)

The Metro Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) has approved a 40-year agreement with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company to build the Music City Loop, a tunnel system linking Nashville International Airport to downtown. 

After eight months of negotiations, MNAA board members voted unanimously on Feb. 18 to move forward with the project. Under the terms, The Boring Company will pay the airport authority an annual $300,000 licensing fee for the use of roughly 933,000 square feet of airport property, with a 3% annual increase.

Over 40 years, that totals to approximately $34 million, with two optional five-year extensions that could extend the term to 50 years, as per a report from The Tennesean.

The Boring Company celebrated the Music City Loop’s approval in a post on its official X account. “The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority has unanimously (7-0) approved a Music City Loop connection/station. Thanks so much to @Fly_Nashville for the great partnership,” the tunneling startup wrote in its post. 

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Once operational, the Music City Loop is expected to generate a $5 fee per airport pickup and drop-off, similar to rideshare charges. Airport officials estimate more than $300 million in operational revenue over the agreement’s duration, though this projection is deemed conservative.

“This is a significant benefit to the airport authority because we’re receiving a new way for our passengers to arrive downtown at zero capital investment from us. We don’t have to fund the operations and maintenance of that. TBC, The Boring Co., will do that for us,” MNAA President and CEO Doug Kreulen said. 

The project has drawn both backing and criticism. Business leaders cited economic benefits and improved mobility between downtown and the airport. “Hospitality isn’t just an amenity. It’s an economic engine,” Strategic Hospitality’s Max Goldberg said.

Opponents, including state lawmakers, raised questions about environmental impacts, worker safety, and long-term risks. Sen. Heidi Campbell said, “Safety depends on rules applied evenly without exception… You’re not just evaluating a tunnel. You’re evaluating a risk, structural risk, legal risk, reputational risk and financial risk.”

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