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Tesla’s Elon Musk explains Gigafactory Texas’ unique layout and massive size
Tesla’s Gigafactories have their own distinctive look. Shaped like massive, industrial diamonds, each Gigafactory is a daunting facility that inspires awe. So far, the Gigafactory design appears to have evolved to some degree, with Giga Nevada adopting a monolithic form and Giga Shanghai and Berlin seemingly adopting a more segmented design comprised of several large buildings.
Recently shared plans for Giga Texas suggests that the upcoming facility will not be following either of these themes. Thanks to a copy of the Giga Texas site plan shared by drone operators and Tesla enthusiasts Joe Tegtmeyer and Jeff Roberts, the electric car community has been able to get a pretty solid idea of the upcoming facility’s form. Based on its site plan, Gigafactory Texas will adopt a never-before-seen design, with three massive buildings that are over a kilometer long each.
The three buildings that will comprise Giga Texas will be built in parallel with each other, with the first structure covering about 1.7 million square feet, the second covering 900,000 square feet, and the third one being just over 1 million square feet. Considering that Giga Texas will be building the Cybertruck, Semi, Model Y, and Model 3, it would be quite interesting to see which buildings will produce each vehicle.
Elon Musk has actually provided some comments on the Gigafactory Texas site plan, stating that the entire diamond-shaped structure would be aligned on true north. The Tesla CEO also explained that while Giga Texas will have three main buildings, the open areas in the site plan will actually be covered, creating a monolithic appearance for the entire structure. Remarkably, Musk has noted that the gaps between the buildings will be roads for semi trucks, which means that large machines will be able to drive inside the factory.
What is quite remarkable about the Gigafactory Texas site is that the factory proper, despite being over a kilometer long, only accounts for about 30% of Tesla’s land. With this in mind, it would appear that Giga Texas will definitely have more than enough space for the “ecological paradise” that CEO Elon Musk referenced during the second-quarter earnings call. While discussing the upcoming facility, Musk excitedly stated that Giga Texas will be the first Tesla factory that will have parts of it open to the public.
“It’s about 2,000 acres and we’re going to make it a factory that is going to be stunning. It’s right on the Colorado River. So we’re actually going to have a boardwalk, where there’ll be hiking/biking trail. It’s going to basically be an ecological paradise, birds in the trees, butterflies, fish in the stream, and it’ll be open to the public as well. So not closed and only-Tesla,” Musk said.
Watch a recent drone flyover of the Giga Texas complex in the video below.
Elon Musk
A Tesla just delivered itself to a customer autonomously, Elon Musk confirms
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the first self-delivery occurred today, one day ahead of schedule.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that a vehicle has, for the first time ever, delivered itself to a customer autonomously, one day ahead of the company’s original schedule.
To date, this is the first car to ever roll off a production line at a factory and transport itself to a customer for delivery.
Late last month, Musk announced that the first-ever fully autonomous delivery of a Tesla would take place on June 28. The plan was to have the car roll off the production lines at Gigafactory Texas and drive to a local customer without the assistance of anyone on board or remotely controlling the car through teleoperation.
Teslas will self-deliver to customers, Elon Musk says: here’s when
Musk said on Friday that it has officially happened:
🚨 Elon Musk confirms the first Tesla to self-deliver to a customer has happened, one day ahead of schedule! https://t.co/Zvb9y4m0uu
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 27, 2025
The vehicle traveled as fast as 72 miles per hour, according to Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Head of AI and Autopilot.
Musk continued on X:
“There were no people in the car at all and no remote operators in control at any point. FULLY autonomous! To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fully autonomous drive with no people in the car or remotely operating the car on a public highway.”
He said a video of the delivery would be uploaded soon.
We have seen cars autonomously transport themselves from production line to logistics lot at Gigafactory Texas, but this is a whole new level.
Tesla’s Giga Texas vehicles now drive themselves to outbound lot
Tesla just recently launched its Robotaxi for the first time in Austin on Sunday. Opened to a limited number of people, the company rolled out an Early Access Riders Program, but has been expanding it to more people in recent days. These cars featured a Safety Monitor in the passenger’s seat to ensure safety.
This seems to be something Tesla would like to perform more frequently in the coming months, especially locally. Eventually, it seems that Tesla will plan to have every vehicle it manufactures self-deliver, as a hauler would transport it to local delivery centers, then the car would drive itself to the customer’s house.
This is likely a few years off, but Tesla has already completed one self-delivery, which is an incredible accomplishment.
Yesterday, I wrote about Tesla’s two big milestones that are still planned for launch before the end of Q2. This was one of them. One to go: unveiling of the affordable models.
News
Tesla dispels reports that it hired ex-Cruise Autonomy head Henry Kuang
Tesla has denied reports that it hired former head of GM’s Cruise Henry Kuang.

Tesla has dispelled reports that it has hired ex-Cruise Head of Autonomy Henry Kuang.
This morning, several media outlets reported that Tesla had filled the position of Director of AI and Deep Learning for Autonomous Driving with Kuang, who was the Head of Autonomy at General Motors’ failed autonomous vehicle company, Cruise.
The rumor then circulated to X, but Tesla has now denied that those reports are true.
Tesla’s Head of Autopilot and AI, Ashok Elluswamy, revealed that the reports are false:
fake news
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 27, 2025
It would be easy to see how the hire might have been construed as real. Someone appears to have created a fake LinkedIn profile for Kuang, listing the new role at Tesla as their latest career move. The account appeared legitimate and bore all the hallmarks of a genuine page for Kuang, but it has since been removed from the site.
Additionally, there has been some rather high-level turnover at Tesla in recent days. The company recently let go of Omead Afshar, who was widely recognized as CEO Elon Musk’s right-hand man. Afshar assumed the role of North American sales head and European operations head late last year. He has been relieved of his duties, according to a Bloomberg report.
Tesla’s Omead Afshar, known as Elon Musk’s right-hand man, leaves company: reports
Alongside the loss of Afshar, Tesla’s Human Resources Head in Austin, Jenna Ferrua, also left the company this week.
This past week, Tesla launched its Robotaxi platform to a handful of people, marking the first time the company has given driverless rides to members of the public.
News
JB Straubel’s Redwood launches energy business focused on second-life EV batteries
Redwood stated that many EV battery packs retain more than 50% of their capacity after being retired from vehicles.

Redwood Materials, the battery recycling firm founded by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, has launched a new venture called Redwood Energy. The business aims to repurpose used electric vehicle batteries into large-scale, low-cost energy storage systems.
In a post on X, Redwood revealed that it has already deployed a 12 MW, 63 MWh microgrid powered entirely by second-life EV batteries. The system is currently powering a modular data center for Crusoe AI, and it already operates at a lower cost than conventional solutions.
Repurposed batteries for scalable storage
Redwood Energy is designed to bridge the gap between battery recovery and recycling by extracting value from discarded EV packs that still hold usable charge. In a blog post, Redwood stated that many EV battery packs retain more than 50% of their capacity after being retired from vehicles. That remaining energy is well suited for stationary storage applications even without recycling.
The process begins with Redwood’s collection and diagnostics system, which identifies battery packs that are still suitable for reuse. Those packs are then integrated into modular energy systems that can store energy from solar, wind, or the grid. Once the batteries reach true end-of-life, they are recycled through Redwood’s closed-loop system to recover critical minerals.
Meeting the demands of an AI-driven grid
Redwood estimates that more than 100,000 EVs will be retired this year in the United States, with millions more currently on the road. These vehicles represent hundreds of gigawatt-hours of storage potential. These resources are coming in at the right time, as electricity demand is rising rapidly amid the rise of artificial intelligence, which tends to be power-hungry.
Redwood Energy already has more than 1 GWh of second-life batteries in its deployment pipeline. That figure is expected to grow to 5 GWh in the coming year. Larger 100 MW projects are also in development.
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