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Tesla Model 3 Mania: 1 year and 400k reservations later

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March 31, 2016, the day otherwise known as Model 3 Mania drew thousands of eager Tesla enthusiasts worldwide who lined up during predawn hours at their local Tesla showroom, in hopes to become one of the very first to reserve Tesla’s highly anticipated mass market sedan. Many went as far as to camp out overnight in front of the storefront to get an early jump on placing their $1,000 reservation deposit when stores opened the following day.

The day of Model 3 Mania also saw Elon Musk making a surprise visit to the Century City Tesla Store and giving high fives to the hundreds of eager Model 3 reservation holders that were waiting in line. What followed that evening was Tesla’s official Model 3 reveal event. Invited guests were given the opportunity to test ride in the Model 3, but also witness arguably the most significant product launch in automotive history.

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Now, one year later and with a presumed reservation count well north of 400,000 vehicles, Model 3 is set to take stage again at Tesla’s final ‘Part 3’ launch event.

We’ve outlined some of the milestones Tesla has been able to achieve for Model 3 in the short year following the vehicle’s debut.

Release Candidate video – The most recent Model 3 teaser came in the form of a video that Elon shared via Twitter. No new details were revealed other than the fact that this was the closest near production-ready Model 3 we have seen thus far. In true Tesla form, the release candidate looks similar to the vehicle the company showcased on March 31st of last year. There doesn’t seem to be any major updates on the aesthetics of the car other than a slightly revised nose.

Right Hand Drive Model 3 – Elon confirmed over Twitter that right-hand drive Model 3 won’t be arriving until the summer 2018.

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Dual motor all-wheel drive option arriving later – Initial production run will be for the rear-wheel drive Model 3 with all-wheel drive models following 6 to 9 months after. It was communicated that this is to keep production as simple as possible from the outset.

Battery Size estimates – Model 3 battery will max out at 75kWh and have likely a 300+ mile range based on the current physical limitations of the chassis size.

Model 3 outside Gigafactory

Capital raise in preparation for Model 3 – Tesla kicked off another capital raise to rake in an additional $1.3 billion ahead of the start of Model 3 production. This was in addition to a $2 billion stock sale several months back.

Warehouse Expansion – Tesla signed a lease for 1.3 million square feet of warehouse space northeast of the Fremont factory. We expect that this warehouse will be used to store battery pack inventory moving from Gigafactory 1 in Spark, Nevada to the Fremont factory.

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Gigafactory starts Model 3 battery cell production – Gigafactory 1 will begin production of Model 3’s high performance ‘2170 cell’ in Q2. Tesla is currently mass producing 2170 lithium ion cells for the company’s commercial and home battery storage systems.

Heads Up Display – Model 3’s gauge-less cluster has led many to believe that Tesla had plans for a HUD. However, that was quickly put to rest after Elon confirmed over Twitter that Model 3 will not have heads up display.

Supercharging congestion a concern in advance of Model 3 – Model 3 will add a significant number of Tesla vehicles to roads around the world, leaving many to wonder about the type of impact this will have on the Supercharger network. Mainly, how long do I need to wait before I can charge?

Tesla addressed these fears by implementing a new annual cap on Supercharging for all owners that purchased a Model S or Model X this year.

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Model 3 Ludicrous Mode – For the performance junky out there, Ludicrous mode will indeed be available for Model 3, though Elon did note that it’s not going to be as fast as Model S.

All eyes are on the start of production for Model 3 that’s scheduled to take place in July. Employees will have the ultimate first shot at taking delivery of a new Model 3.

Happy 1 yr old birthday Model 3 Mania.

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I'm passionate about clean technology, sustainability and life. I've worked in manufacturing, IT, project management and environmental...and enjoy unpacking complex topics in layman's terms. TSLA investor. Find more of my words on my website or follow me on Twitter for all the latest. Tesla Referral link: http://ts.la/kyle623

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Tesla FSD (Supervised) fleet passes 8.4 billion cumulative miles

The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system has now surpassed 8.4 billion cumulative miles.

The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.

Tesla has long emphasized that large-scale real-world data is central to improving its neural network-based approach to autonomy. Each mile driven with FSD (Supervised) engaged contributes additional edge cases and scenario training for the system.

Credit: Tesla

The milestone also brings Tesla closer to a benchmark previously outlined by CEO Elon Musk. Musk has stated that roughly 10 billion miles of training data may be needed to achieve safe unsupervised self-driving at scale, citing the “long tail” of rare but complex driving situations that must be learned through experience.

The growth curve of FSD Supervised’s cumulative miles over the past five years has been notable. 

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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.

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.

With the fleet now past 8.4 billion cumulative miles, Tesla’s supervised system is approaching that threshold, even as regulatory approval for fully unsupervised deployment remains subject to further validation and oversight.

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Elon Musk fires back after Wikipedia co-founder claims neutrality and dubs Grokipedia “ridiculous”

Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”

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UK Government, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk fired back at Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales after the longtime online encyclopedia leader dismissed xAI’s new AI-powered alternative, Grokipedia, as a “ridiculous” idea that is bound to fail.

Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”

Wales made the comments while answering questions about Wikipedia’s neutrality. According to Wales, Wikipedia prides itself on neutrality. 

“One of our core values at Wikipedia is neutrality. A neutral point of view is non-negotiable. It’s in the community, unquestioned… The idea that we’ve become somehow ‘Wokepidea’ is just not true,” Wales said.

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When asked about potential competition from Grokipedia, Wales downplayed the situation. “There is no competition. I don’t know if anyone uses Grokipedia. I think it is a ridiculous idea that will never work,” Wales wrote.

After Grokipedia went live, Larry Sanger, also a co-founder of Wikipedia, wrote on X that his initial impression of the AI-powered Wikipedia alternative was “very OK.”

“My initial impression, looking at my own article and poking around here and there, is that Grokipedia is very OK. The jury’s still out as to whether it’s actually better than Wikipedia. But at this point I would have to say ‘maybe!’” Sanger stated.

Musk responded to Sanger’s assessment by saying it was “accurate.” In a separate post, he added that even in its V0.1 form, Grokipedia was already better than Wikipedia.

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During a past appearance on the Tucker Carlson Show, Sanger argued that Wikipedia has drifted from its original vision, citing concerns about how its “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” framework categorizes publications by perceived credibility. As per Sanger, Wikipedia’s “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” list leans heavily left, with conservative publications getting effectively blacklisted in favor of their more liberal counterparts.

As of writing, Grokipedia has reportedly surpassed 80% of English Wikipedia’s article count.

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Tesla Sweden appeals after grid company refuses to restore existing Supercharger due to union strike

The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons.

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Credit: Tesla Charging

Tesla Sweden is seeking regulatory intervention after a Swedish power grid company refused to reconnect an already operational Supercharger station in Åre due to ongoing union sympathy actions.

The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons. A temporary construction power cabinet supplying the station had fallen over, described by Tesla as occurring “under unclear circumstances.” The power was then cut at the request of Tesla’s installation contractor to allow safe repair work.

While the safety issue was resolved, the station has not been brought back online. Stefan Sedin, CEO of Jämtkraft elnät, told Dagens Arbete (DA) that power will not be restored to the existing Supercharger station as long as the electric vehicle maker’s union issues are ongoing. 

“One of our installers noticed that the construction power had been backed up and was on the ground. We asked Tesla to fix the system, and their installation company in turn asked us to cut the power so that they could do the work safely. 

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“When everything was restored, the question arose: ‘Wait a minute, can we reconnect the station to the electricity grid? Or what does the notice actually say?’ We consulted with our employer organization, who were clear that as long as sympathy measures are in place, we cannot reconnect this facility,” Sedin said. 

The union’s sympathy actions, which began in March 2024, apply to work involving “planning, preparation, new connections, grid expansion, service, maintenance and repairs” of Tesla’s charging infrastructure in Sweden.

Tesla Sweden has argued that reconnecting an existing facility is not equivalent to establishing a new grid connection. In a filing to the Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, the company stated that reconnecting the installation “is therefore not covered by the sympathy measures and cannot therefore constitute a reason for not reconnecting the facility to the electricity grid.”

Sedin, for his part, noted that Tesla’s issue with the Supercharger is quite unique. And while Jämtkraft elnät itself has no issue with Tesla, its actions are based on the unions’ sympathy measures against the electric vehicle maker. 

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“This is absolutely the first time that I have been involved in matters relating to union conflicts or sympathy measures. That is why we have relied entirely on the assessment of our employer organization. This is not something that we have made any decisions about ourselves at all. 

“It is not that Jämtkraft elnät has a conflict with Tesla, but our actions are based on these sympathy measures. Should it turn out that we have made an incorrect assessment, we will correct ourselves. It is no more difficult than that for us,” the executive said. 

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