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Inside Tesla’s Marina Del Rey facility where Model 3 deliveries are taking place

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As Tesla continues to ramp up its Model 3 production, the carmaker recently opened the doors of its latest customer delivery center in the town of Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles, CA. Not long after, the facility’s parking lot was spotted with Model S, Model 3 and Model X vehicle inventory, suggesting that customer deliveries were about to take place. Now, a Tesla owner who goes by the Twitter handle @TeslaMS60 has provided a rare look inside the carmaker’s MDR delivery center, revealing some of the most interesting parts of the company’s latest facility.

Teslarati obtained the following images of the delivery area inside the MDR facility, taken on December 22, 2017. Other pictures, particularly those of the quality control (QC) area and the back holding lot, were taken a few days after the facility officially opened for business.

As stated by @TeslaMS60, the interior of the carmaker’s new Marina Del Rey center is similar to other Tesla Service Centers and delivery locations across the country, with a dedicated children’s play area, sofas for waiting customers and a coffee machine that’s made available for customers.

According to TeslaMS60, a QC area occupies roughly half of the ground floor where customer deliveries are also taking place. A series of lightboxes are used to inspect the paint and finish of each car that makes its way to the facility from the company’s Fremont, California factory.

The dedicated quality control area is likely in direct response to complaints made earlier this year by some Tesla owners who expressed their disappointment over the substandard finish of some Model S and Model X units they received, some of which were painted and detailed haphazardly.

While the lightboxes in the QC area were not accessible to customers, @TeslaMS60 did notice that it was adjacent to the loading docks where the Model S, Model X and Model 3 units are unloaded from transport trailers. After rolling through a quality check, the vehicles are moved to the front of the building where they meet their respective owners.

As it appears now, the interior space of the Marina Del Rey facility could accommodate about 100 simultaneous deliveries. The space outside the building seems to be designed to hold around 200-300 cars as well.

From what could be determined in the pictures provided by @TeslaMS60, it seems like Tesla’s new MDR center is specifically designed for quick and efficient deliveries. If any, its dedicated QC area also confirms that Tesla is attempting to avoid future service visits due to quality issues on its vehicles as much as possible.

Tesla Model 3 inventory at the Fremont factory spotted by drone

With the Model 3 ramp-up seemingly underway, keeping the production line and the delivery facilities moving without a hitch is incredibly pertinent. In this respect, Tesla’s latest Los Angeles delivery center seems to be ready to take on the job.

Tesla is currently focusing on the ramp-up of the Model 3, its first mass-market compact sedan. Despite facing battery production challenges in the early manufacturing process, Tesla is expecting to hit a production rate of 5,000 Model 3 units per week by the end of Q1 2018.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla will resolve massive China recall with stickers and a software update

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tesla frozen door handle
Credit: YouTube | HMKARKI

Tesla will resolve its massive recall of nearly three million vehicles in China with stickers and a software update.

On Friday, Chinese regulators filed recall plans against Tesla, Xiaomi, Leapmotor, Xpeng, Chery, Geely, Dongfeng, Arcfox, and FAW to resolve what is essentially a carbon-copy issue throughout each of the companies’ vehicle models: emergency door release latches are simply not visible enough.

Tesla door handle saga gets its latest chapter and a big change is coming

The companies will be required to add things that will make these latches, which will open the door in the event of an emergency, more visible. Of the 7 million vehicles impacted, Tesla accounts for 2,975,910 units. More than 1.9 million of those are Model Y vehicles, with the rest, just over 970,000, being Model 3s.

To resolve the issue, Tesla is going to add warning labels to the emergency latches free of charge, and then utilize an Over-the-Air update to add a post-crash window-lowering strategy, according to CNEVpost.

This massive effort to fix the all-electric Model Y and Model 3’s emergency latch system comes just months after several probes across various markets identified the trouble some had identifying this latch. Those who had gotten involved in car accidents that stripped the vehicle of its power were not aware that every Tesla has emergency door latches.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said that severe crashes that disable a vehicle’s low-voltage system could not only hinder occupants from getting out, but also make it more difficult for emergency response workers to gain entry.

SAMR is starting to tighten the regulations it has on door handles on vehicles. A new mandatory national standard will take effect for all models starting January 1, 2027, and will require all doors to be equipped with mechanical release mechanisms. This will effectively end purely electronic door handles. Models already on sale with type approval have been granted a two-year transition period, which will enable things to change until January 2029.

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Tesla Semi is officially headed to Europe

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially confirmed plans to bring its all-electric Semi truck to Europe, with full specifications and market-launch details set for unveiling at the IAA Transportation trade fair in Hannover, Germany.

The event runs September 15–20, with a possible press preview on September 14. The announcement, shared via Tesla’s Semi account, marks a significant expansion beyond North America nearly nine years after the truck’s original 2017 reveal.

In the United States, the Semi’s path has been gradual. Limited pilot production and customer deliveries began in late 2022, primarily to fleets such as PepsiCo. After years of refinement, high-volume manufacturing started on April 29, 2026, at a dedicated facility adjacent to Gigafactory Nevada.

The plant targets an annual capacity of 50,000 units, though the ramp is expected to be gradual, with “many thousands” of trucks projected by the end of 2026.

Demand is building, with recent orders including 500 units for Einride (deliveries starting September 2026, serving Amazon and others) and hundreds more from operators such as WattEV. Pricing stands at approximately $260,000 for the Standard Range and $290,000 for the Long Range before incentives.

Tesla Semi pricing revealed after company uncovers trim levels

Earlier in 2026, Tesla finalized production specifications that incorporated substantial updates. In February, the company detailed two variants designed for a full 82,000-pound gross combination weight.

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The Standard Range offers about 325 miles of range with a 548 kWh battery and curb weight under 20,000 pounds. The Long Range delivers roughly 500 miles with an 822 kWh pack and a 23,000-pound curb weight. Both use three independent rear-axle motors producing up to 800 kW (about 1,073 horsepower), achieve energy consumption of around 1.7 kWh per mile, and support megawatt-class charging at up to 1.2 MW—recovering about 60 percent of range in 30 minutes through the MCS standard.

Additional refinements include a roughly 1,000-pound weight reduction versus earlier prototypes, improved aerodynamics, a 48-volt electrical architecture, electric power take-off up to 25 kW for refrigerated trailers, and fleet management software with over-the-air updates.

These advances position the Semi as a competitive option against diesel trucks on operating costs and performance. For Europe, adaptations such as lighting, cab configurations (including potential sleeper options), and regulatory compliance are anticipated.

With series production underway in Nevada and major fleet commitments secured, the upcoming IAA reveal will clarify timelines, European-specific specs, and pricing, potentially accelerating electrification of heavy-duty freight on both continents.

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Tesla Robotaxi gets a massive upgrade in Nevada

Nevada regulators just approved a massive expansion of Tesla’s robotaxi fleet across the entire county.

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Concept art of a Tesla Cybercab in Las Vegas Strip as rendered via Grok

Tesla’s robotaxi footprint in Nevada just grew by roughly 500 times in a single regulatory vote.

The Nevada Transportation Authority approved Tesla’s full Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit on Thursday, clearing the way for the company to deploy up to 5,000 driverless vehicles across Clark County over the next 12 months. The decision came during a four hour general session meeting that Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt watched live and reported on X, noting the vote replaces the interim order that had limited Tesla to just 10 robotaxis on a narrow stretch of the Las Vegas Strip.

That earlier cap, covered here after it surfaced on August 13, came with restrictions that looked stricter than what Tesla runs in Austin: a 45 mph speed ceiling, no airport pickups, and a geofence confined to the Strip corridor. The new approval extends Tesla’s operating authority to all of Clark County, with room to request an even wider geofence across the state.

Tesla representatives at the meeting said they have no intention of putting 5,000 cars on the road right away. Commercial rides are expected to start within 30 days, pending vehicle inspections, insurance filings, and fare approval, the standard steps every robotaxi operator in Nevada has had to clear.

Tesla’s own Robotaxi account replied to the news with a short line, The golden future is upon us.

The timing lines up with Tesla’s broader robotaxi push this month. The company is preparing to open Cybercab rides to the public in Austin as soon as this month, and it opened a sweepstakes for riders to win a seat at the launch event. Tesla filed its original application for a 5,000 vehicle Nevada fleet back in June, a request regulators trimmed to 10 vehicles when they issued the interim order in July. Thursday’s vote effectively grants the number Tesla asked for from the start.

Zoox, the Amazon owned robotaxi operator, has run in Nevada since 2025 and was capped at 100 vehicles before Thursday’s decision. Tesla’s new ceiling puts it well ahead of that comparison on paper, though the company has said its actual fleet size will depend on how quickly FSD v15 rolls out, the software update executives have called the gateway to scaling unsupervised robotaxi operations nationwide.

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