News
Tesla’s million mile battery: Veteran auto’s ‘fake it till you make it’ strategy is perfectly fine
It is no secret that Tesla is actively pursuing a million-mile battery. With such an innovation, Tesla hopes to make its electric cars outlast gasoline-powered vehicles several times over, while ensuring that its energy storage devices are capable of lasting literal decades while being actively deployed. But if recent news is any indication, it appears that Tesla is not the only company that is closing in on a million-mile battery.
During a recent online investor conference, GM Executive Vice President Doug Parks stated that the veteran American automaker is also working on a million mile battery solution. Beyond this, Parks suggested that GM is “almost there” in developing a battery that’s far above the Ultium batteries that were announced last March. Unfortunately, the GM executive did not specify a solid timeline for the introduction of its own million mile battery, only stating that multiple teams were working on it.
GM’s rather sudden announcement of its million-mile battery echoes the company’s overall strategy with its electric vehicle program. Back in March, the automaker unveiled a sweeping electric vehicle strategy that will involve $20 billion in investments and about 20 EVs for practically every market. But despite the grandiose plans and announcements, the veteran automaker did not really disclose a lot of concrete details about its EV push, such as pricing, specifications, and timing.
GM’s approach to electric vehicles almost seems like a “fake it till you make it” strategy. Back in March, there was a lot of talk about Tesla’s upcoming Battery and Powertrain Day, which was speculated to involve discussions and announcements about the company’s next-generation of electric vehicles and energy solutions. GM’s “EV Day” seemed to be a response to this. In the same light, the previous weeks have involved updates about the impending release of Tesla’s million mile battery, an innovation that is apparently “almost there” in GM.
While this may at times feel like veteran automakers like GM are simply following Tesla’s EV playbook, it must be noted that every step made by legacy carmakers towards electric vehicles is a step towards the wider adoption of sustainable transport. Thus, despite the fact that GM’s EV strategies today are more smoke and mirrors and concept vehicles, the American automaker’s focus on electric cars is still admirable. This is a pretty big point for GM, considering that it is the very company that practically stopped the first coming of the modern electric car with its controversial cancellation of the EV1.
Besides, it is difficult to deny that legacy automakers such as GM are making an effort towards electrification now. Despite the fact that leaked production plans accessed by Reuters indicated that GM and Ford only intend to produce 320,000 EVs in 2026 for the North American market, the company is still investing heavily in EVs. For its Ultium batteries, for example, GM has stated that it is working with Korean firm LG Chem to find ways to reduce costs and improve overall performance. Adam Kwiatkowski, executive chief engineer of GM’s electric propulsion systems, noted that the automaker and LG Chem are also looking at investments in mines, hedging metals prices, and potential partnerships with metal refiners.
The next few years will definitely be one for the record books, as Tesla enters its next phase with its million mile battery and Plaid powertrain, and legacy automakers such as GM take a serious stance on electric vehicles. It’s easy to forget, after all, that less than a decade ago, the pervading narrative in the auto industry was that electric cars are still intended to be stuck as niche products, glorified golf cars for the wealthy and not much more.
The landscape today is very different, and there’s no bigger symbol of this change than GM’s own Hummer EV, a vehicle that’s the spiritual successor of the gas-guzzling monster SUV that pretty much killed the EV1. Other vehicles like the Tesla Cybertruck, which is expected to break the stereotypes of EVs as vehicles that cannot be used for real work and utility, further shows the steady trend forward for electric cars.
Tesla is a leader in the electric vehicle movement. That much is sure. But the company itself has noted that it cannot transition the world towards sustainability on its own. For true sustainability to happen, other companies, legacy carmakers like GM included, have to go all-in on the EV movement as well. One can only hope that this time, announcements such as GM’s million mile battery initiative are more on the “make it” side than on the “fake it” side.
H/T @ajtourville.
Tesla has expanded its Tesla Assisted Driving (TAD) suite to its tenth European country, as Latvia joined a growing list of European Union member states authorizing the company’s advanced driver assistance technology.
Tesla Europe announced this morning that the system is now approved in Latvia, with a software rollout to begin soon.
The approval and rollout follow recognition of a provisional European type approval originally granted by the Netherlands’ RDW authority on April 10.
🚨 Latvia has just received approval for Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised)
This is the 10th country in the EU to gain approval:
1. Netherlands — 10 April 2026 (original RDW approval)
2. Lithuania — 20 May 2026
3. Estonia — 29 May 2026
4. Denmark — 9 June 2026
5. Belgium — 10 June 2026
6. Slovenia — 7 September 2026
7. Czechia — 21 September 2026
8. Croatia — 29 September 2026
9. Slovakia — 16 October 2026— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 26, 2026
Latvia’s Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD) evaluated the Dutch documentation, coordinated with the other national authorities, and reviewed updates from Tesla. These included tightened limits on speed offsets, automatic resets of any manual speed adjustments after each trip, and stronger driver monitoring.
In Europe, the feature is marketed as Tesla Assisted Driving after a recent rule change that labeled the name “Full Self-Driving” as misleading.
The system remains an SAE Level 2 driver assistance tool, not unsupervised autonomy. It can control speed, steering, braking, lane changes, and intersections while following a navigation route. Drivers need not keep their hands on the wheel at all times, yet they must continuously monitor the road and be prepared to intervene immediately.
The sequence of EU recognitions began with the Netherlands in April and continued through Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Belgium, Slovenia, Czechia, Croatia, and Slovakia. Most have relied on mutual recognition of the single Dutch provisional approval rather than independent national testing.
These national clearances do not yet constitute bloc-wide authorization. An EU-wide decision requires a qualified majority in the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles: at least 15 of 27 member states representing 65 percent of the EU population. Larger markets, like Germany, France, and Italy, remain under review, and a vote is expected this December.
However, for Latvian Tesla owners with compatible vehicles and software, the imminent rollout expands access to the supervised system while underscoring that attentive human oversight remains essential.
Tesla expanded its Robotaxi geofence in Houston, Texas, today, enlarging the service area and drawing a new rocket-shaped boundary across the city’s northwestern and central parts.
Although CEO Elon Musk said it was just a coincidence, the expansion seems to be an ode to SpaceX and its potential merger with Tesla.
🚨 Tesla has just expanded its Robotaxi geofence in Houston
It looks a lot like a rocket — we all remember the shape in Austin 🤣 https://t.co/cFOPEuiJ4u
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 26, 2026
The official Tesla Robotaxi account announced the change with the lines “Houston, we have liftoff” and “Bigger service area now live,” pairing them with a map overlay.
The prior white geofence, roughly 25 square miles covering Jersey Village, Harvest Bend, and the Willowbrook corridor along U.S. 290 and State Highway 249, now sits inside a larger blue zone that stretches southeast toward Bellair and closer to central Houston.
Houston’s Robotaxi service launched on April 18, 2026, the same day as Dallas, as Tesla’s first unsupervised public expansion beyond Austin. From the start, the vehicles were Model Ys running without anyone in the front seats, booked through the dedicated Tesla Robotaxi app and open to the public inside the geofence.
Trackers measured the initial zone at about 25 square miles; by late September it had not grown substantially. Community and registry data indicated a modest local fleet of unsupervised Model Ys, while dozens to nearly 200 Cybercabs, the purpose-built, steering-wheel-free two-seaters, have been spotted staging and testing in Houston lots, though public Cybercab rides remain limited to Austin for now.
Across the broader Robotaxi program, Tesla began public Robotaxi rides in Austin in June 2025, as a small geofence and vehicles with safety monitors became available for a ride-hailing service. Later on, Tesla removed the monitors and steadily expanded the service area until it covered most of the Austin metro area.
Unsupervised Robotaxi services now run in six cities: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. Cumulative driverless miles reported by the company have reached several million. The Cybercab entered public service in Austin in early September 2026 and has scaled rapidly there. The company has also said that Dallas is next for Cybercab rides in November, with further cities and 24/7 hours targeted by year-end, plus fleet-operator sales of the vehicle.
Waymo also operates a fully driverless service in Houston, which has been open to the public since August of this year.
The Houston expansion continues Tesla’s pattern of starting with tightly controlled validation zones before widening coverage as real-world data accumulates, while the rocket motif on the map underscores the company’s habit of injecting visual flair into its autonomy rollout.
Riders inside the new boundary can request unsupervised Model Y trips in the Robotaxi app; exact operating hours and further Cybercab availability remain subject to app updates and company statements.
News
Tesla Cybercabs take over Austin’s F1 weekend
Tesla Cybercabs swarmed Austin’s F1 Grand Prix as sightings hit a record during race weekend.
Tesla’s driverless Cybercabs used the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin as their biggest public stress test yet. On Sunday afternoon, Tesla head of AI software Ashok Elluswamy quoted a photo from X user Ben Steindl showing a long line of gold Cybercabs and Model Y Robotaxis stacked up on a road near Circuit of the Americas. “Robotaxis as far as the eye can see!” Elluswamy wrote. Steindl’s original post was more matter of fact: “@Tesla @robotaxi is busy for the Austin F1.”
The fleet also handled the trip home. The race started at 3 p.m. Central, and once it ended, Cybercab Spotter, an account that logs Cybercab sightings around Austin, posted that “People are requesting Cybercabs to get home.”
Robotaxis as far as the eye can see! 🤩
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) October 25, 2026
Tesla set this up days in advance without announcing it. Late on October 22, rider David Moss posted Robotaxi app screenshots showing the Austin service area wrapping around the track toward Elroy and FM 812, with ride requests open until 1 a.m. A banner in the app read “Last call is 1am · Limited to nearby dropoffs.” Austin rides ended at 11 p.m. as recently as early October, as Teslarati reported, before moving to midnight on October 17.
Not every rider got dropped at the gate. Early app searches showed spots like COTA Karting as “Service blocked,” and one rider who took a Cybercab to the track Friday said the rideshare area was less than a 20 minute walk from the front gate.
The weekend also produced a new activity record. Cybercab Spotter counted 1,250 Cybercab sightings in Austin on Saturday, qualifying day. The previous high was 1,072 on October 16. Sightings count the same car more than once, so they measure how busy the fleet is rather than how big it is. For size, the Texas automated vehicle registry listed 463 Cybercabs at midday Sunday, up from the 300+ Tesla claimed on October 10, when Elluswamy also said Dallas is next for Cybercab.
The track was out of reach for Tesla’s main rival. Waymo runs in Austin only through Uber, and its service area stops well short of COTA. Waymo did not announce any race day service.
Tesla has not said how many rides it gave to and from the circuit, or whether the expanded zone and 1 a.m. cutoff will stay after race weekend. On the third quarter earnings call, Elluswamy said 2 a.m. service is coming “pretty soon” and that Tesla plans to run Robotaxi around the clock before the end of the year. The company is also aiming to hand the first Cybercabs to customers before 2026 ends, which would put cars like these outside Tesla’s own fleet for the first time.
Tesla Assisted Driving expands to tenth EU country
Tesla expands Robotaxi geofence in Houston with an ode to SpaceX merger
