News
The Tesla Model 3 is driving the chip industry’s transition into the post-silicon age
The winds are changing in the global chip industry, and the Tesla Model 3 may very well be one of the catalysts for the impending shift. Tesla became one of the first automakers to use silicon carbide (SiC) chips in a mass-produced vehicle. And by incorporating SiC chips into the Model 3, the American automaker ended up giving the material some momentum in the EV supply chain
Tesla’s use of silicon carbide in the Model 3 was a bold move, considering that silicon has long been the material of choice in the semiconductor industry. Since replacing germanium crystals in the 1960s, silicon has effectively ushered in a golden age of semiconductors. But today, other materials such as silicon carbide have emerged to challenge silicon for its throne.
Silicon carbide contains silicon and carbon, and with chemical bonds that are stronger than those in plain silicon, it holds the title of the world’s third-hardest substance. As noted in a Nikkei Asia report, processing silicon carbide requires advanced technology, but its stability, among its other properties, allows chipmakers to cut energy loss by more than half compared to conventional silicon wafers. SiC chips are also good at dissipating heat, paving the way for smaller inverters.
Masayoshi Yamamoto, a professor at Nagoya University in Japan, noted that these advantages are well represented in the Tesla Model 3’s design. “The Model 3 has an air resistance factor as low as a sports car’s. Scaling down inverters enabled its streamlined design,” Yamamoto said.
The runaway success of the Tesla Model 3 effectively sent shockwaves in the chip industry. And these shockwaves have started to inspire a wave of commitments on silicon carbide chips. In June alone, German chipmaker Infineon Technologies unveiled an SiC module for EV inverters. Hyundai later announced that these Infineon-made SiC chips would be used in its next-generation electric cars. The South Korean automaker added that by using Infineon’s SiC chips, its EVs could see a 5% improvement in range compared to vehicles equipped with plain silicon chips.
Kazuhide Ino, chief strategy officer at Japanese chipmaker Rohm, noted that at this stage, makers of silicon carbide chips have reached a point where they are already competing with each other. “Thus far, chipmakers have worked together to build up the silicon carbide market, but we’ve reached the stage of competing with each other,” he said.
French market research firm Yole Developpement noted in a forecast that the market for silicon carbide chips would likely grow sixfold by 2026 compared to 2020. This should make the SiC chip segment into a $4.48 billion market. A lot of this would rely on whether production costs for SiC chips could be reduced adequately, however, as SiC chips are still more expensive than conventional silicon chips today. That being said, the gap between silicon and SiC chips has been narrowing. Five years ago, SiC chips were about 10X more expensive than traditional silicon. Today, they’re only twice as expensive.
*Quotes courtesy of Nikkei Asia.
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Cybertruck
Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes
According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:
Tesla’s new Cybertruck offering has had its delivery date pushed back once again. This is now the second time, and deliveries for the newest orders are now pushed well into 2027.
According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:
🚨 Tesla has updated the $59,990 Cybertruck Dual Motor AWD’s estimated delivery date to April 2027.
First deliveries are still slated for June, but if you order it now, you’ll be waiting over a year.
Demand appears to be off the charts for the new Cybertruck and consumers are… pic.twitter.com/raDCCeC0zP
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 26, 2026
Just three days ago, the initial delivery date of June 2026 was pushed back to early Fall, and now, that date has officially moved to April 2027.
The fact that Tesla has had to push back deliveries once again proves one of two things: either Tesla has slow production plans for the new Cybertruck trim, or demand is off the charts.
Judging by how Tesla is already planning to raise the price based on demand in just a few days, it seems like the company knows it is giving a tremendous deal on this spec of Cybertruck, and units are moving quickly.
That points more toward demand and not necessarily to slower production plans, but it is not confirmed.
Tesla Cybertruck’s newest trim will undergo massive change in ten days, Musk says
Tesla is set to hike the price on March 1, so tomorrow will be the final day to grab the new Cybertruck trim for just $59,990.
It features:
- Dual Motor AWD w/ est. 325 mi of range
- Powered tonneau cover
- Bed outlets (2x 120V + 1x 240V) & Powershare capability
- Coil springs w/ adaptive damping
- Heated first-row seats w/ textile material that is easy to clean
- Steer-by-wire & Four Wheel Steering
- 6’ x 4’ composite bed
- Towing capacity of up to 7,500 lbs
- Powered frunk
Interestingly, the price offering is fairly close to what Tesla unveiled back in late 2019.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt
Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.
Elon Musk has clarified when SpaceX will first attempt to catch Starship’s upper stage with its launch tower. The CEO’s update provides the clearest teaser yet for the spacecraft’s recovery roadmap.
Musk shared the details in recent posts on X. In his initial post, Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.
“Starship V3 SN1 headed for ground tests. I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability,” Musk wrote.
In a follow-up post, Musk addressed when SpaceX would attempt to catch the upper stage using the launch tower’s robotic arms.
“Should note that SpaceX will only try to catch the ship with the tower after two perfect soft landings in the ocean. The risk of the ship breaking up over land needs to be very low,” Musk clarified.
His remarks suggest that SpaceX is deliberately reducing risk before attempting a tower catch of Starship’s upper stage. Such a milestone would mark a major step towards the full reuse of the Starship system.
SpaceX is currently targeting the first Starship V3 flight of 2026 this coming March. The spacecraft’s V3 iteration is widely viewed as a key milestone in SpaceX’s long-term strategy to make Starship fully reusable.
Starship V3 features a number of key upgrades over its previous iterations. The vehicle is equipped with SpaceX’s Raptor V3 engines, which are designed to deliver significantly higher thrust than earlier versions while reducing cost and weight.
The V3 design is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability, a critical step if SpaceX intends to scale the spacecraft’s production toward frequent launches for Starlink, lunar missions, and eventually Mars.
News
Tesla FSD (Supervised) could be approved in the Netherlands next month: Musk
Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared that Full Self-Driving (FSD) could receive regulatory approval in the Netherlands as soon as March 20, potentially marking a major step forward for Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance rollout in Europe.
Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin, noting that the date was provided by local authorities.
“Tesla has the most advanced real-world AI, and hopefully, it will be approved soon in Europe. We’re told by the authorities that March 20th, it’ll be approved in the Netherlands,’ what I was told,” Musk stated.
“Hopefully, that date remains the same. But I think people in Europe are going to be pretty blown away by how good the Tesla car AI is in being able to drive.”
Tesla’s FSD system relies on vision-based neural networks trained on real-world driving data, allowing vehicles to navigate using cameras and AI rather than traditional sensor-heavy solutions.
The performance of FSD Supervised has so far been impressive. As per Tesla’s safety report, Full Self-Driving Supervised has already traveled 8.3 billion miles. So far, 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.
If approval is granted on March 20, the Netherlands could become the first European market to greenlight Tesla’s latest supervised FSD (Supervised) software under updated regulatory frameworks. Tesla has been working to secure expanded FSD access across Europe, where regulatory standards differ significantly from those in the United States. Approval in the Netherlands would likely serve as a foundation for broader EU adoption, though additional country-level clearances may still be required.
Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes
Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt
