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Tesla Model Y snags five-star crash safety rating from NHTSA
The Tesla Model Y has snagged five-star crash safety ratings from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration in all categories and subcategories.
With Tesla holding five-star ratings for its other three currently-produced vehicles, the Model Y had a tall task ahead of itself. However, the compact SUV from Tesla kept the tradition of five-star ratings alive by capturing the perfect grade in Frontal Crash, Side Crash, and Rollover assessments from the NHTSA.
Safety has always been a focus of Tesla’s, and the company has highlighted its reputation for well-above-average collision ratings ever since the Model S rolled out in 2012. One of the most interesting things about Tesla’s commitment to safety is that after the company has captured so many top safety awards and ratings, it still looks for ways to make cars safer through engineering and design improvements.
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- Credit: NHTSA
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- Credit: NHTSA
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- Credit: NHTSA
The Model Y was a marvel of modern manufacturing in many ways. Tesla has focused in on manufacturing efficiencies to help scale production of its vehicles through the past few years, and one of the most obvious ways is through a casting machine that the company is utilizing to reduce the number of parts in the vehicle’s chassis.
CEO Elon Musk detailed the casting machine’s importance in an interview with Ryan McCaffrey of the Ride the Lightning podcast.
Musk said:
“When we get the big casting machine, it’ll go from 70 parts to 1 with a significant reduction in capital expenditure on all the robots to put those parts together.”
The reduction in parts not only decreases the time of manufacturing and eliminates unnecessary parts from the vehicle’s build. It also improves the structural integrity of the car overall. In Sandy Munro’s teardown of the Model Y last year, the automotive industry veteran showed that Tesla added a series of welding improvements, foam reinforcements, and an “aluminum crush plate” to the Model Y in a bid to move its already impressive safety rating forward.
The crush plate was what impressed Munro the most because of its ability to save owners perhaps hundreds of dollars in the event of an accident. “If I hit a pole, it will cost me a few bucks, but it won’t cost me the whole damn car,” Munro joked.
Even after the vehicle had already proven its safety with the performance of the three crash tests, the NHTSA also commended the Model Y for outfitting all of the “Recommended Safety Technologies,” which include Forward Collision Warning, Lane Departure Warning, and Automatic Emergency Braking. Tesla is one of only two companies to fulfill the NHTSA’s wish for all automakers to outfit vehicles with AEB systems to prevent crashes or reduce their severity. The other is Volvo.
The full Model Y crash test video from the NHTSA is available below, thanks to RealSafeCars on YouTube.
Elon Musk
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets.
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets. The company also completed deployment of its first-generation Direct to Cell constellation, launching over 650 satellites in just 18 months to enable cellular connectivity.
SpaceX highlighted Starlink’s impressive 2025 progress in an extensive report.
Key achievements from Starlink’s 2025 Progress
Starlink connected over 4.6 million new customers with high-speed internet while bringing service to 35 more regions worldwide in 2025. Starlink is now connecting 9.2 million people worldwide. The service achieved this just weeks after hitting its 8 million customer milestone.
Starlink is now available in 155 markets, including areas that are unreachable by traditional ISPs. As per SpaceX, Starlink has also provided over 21 million airline passengers and 20 million cruise passengers with reliable high-speed internet connectivity during their travels.
Starlink Direct to Cell
Starlink’s Direct to Cell constellation, more than 650 satellites strong, has already connected over 12 million people at least once, marking a breakthrough in global mobile coverage.
Starlink Direct to Cell is currently rolled out to 22 countries and 6 continents, with over 6 million monthly customers. Starlink Direct to Cell also has 27 MNO partners to date.
“This year, SpaceX completed deployment of the first generation of the Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, with more than 650 satellites launched to low-Earth orbit in just 18 months. Starlink Direct to Cell has connected more than 12 million people, and counting, at least once, providing life-saving connectivity when people need it most,” SpaceX wrote.
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Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.
Tesla’s Giga Nevada has reached an impressive milestone, producing its 6 millionth drive unit as 2925 came to a close.
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.
6 million drive units
The achievement was shared by the official Tesla Manufacturing account on social media platform X. “Congratulations to the Giga Nevada team for producing their 6 millionth Drive Unit!” Tesla wrote.
The photo showed numerous factory workers assembled on the production floor, proudly holding golden balloons that spelled out “6000000″ in front of drive unit assembly stations. Elon Musk gave credit to the Giga Nevada team, writing, “Congrats on 6M drive units!” in a post on X.
Giga Nevada’s essential role
Giga Nevada produces drive units, battery packs, and energy products. The facility has been a cornerstone of Tesla’s scaling since opening, and it was the crucial facility that ultimately enabled Tesla to ramp the Model 3 and Model Y. Even today, it serves as Tesla’s core hub for battery and drivetrain components for vehicles that are produced in the United States.
Giga Nevada is expected to support Tesla’s ambitious 2026 targets, including the launch of vehicles like the Tesla Semi and the Cybercab. Tesla will have a very busy 2026, and based on Giga Nevada’s activities so far, it appears that the facility will be equally busy as well.
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Tesla Supercharger network delivers record 6.7 TWh in 2025
The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets.
Tesla’s Supercharger Network had its biggest year ever in 2025, delivering a record 6.7 TWh of electricity to vehicles worldwide.
To celebrate its busy year, the official @TeslaCharging account shared an infographic showing the Supercharger Network’s growth from near-zero in 2012 to this year’s impressive milestone.
Record 6.7 TWh delivered in 2025
The bar chart shows steady Supercharger energy delivery increases since 2012. Based on the graphic, the Supercharger Network started small in the mid-2010s and accelerated sharply after 2019, when the Model 3 was going mainstream.
Each year from 2020 onward showed significantly more energy delivery, with 2025’s four quarters combining for the highest total yet at 6.7 TWh.
This energy powered millions of charging sessions across Tesla’s growing fleet of vehicles worldwide. The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets. This makes the Supercharger Network loved not just by Tesla owners but EV drivers as a whole.
Resilience after Supercharger team changes
2025’s record energy delivery comes despite earlier 2024 layoffs on the Supercharger team, which sparked concerns about the system’s expansion pace. Max de Zegher, Tesla Director of Charging North America, also highlighted that “Outside China, Superchargers delivered more energy than all other fast chargers combined.”
Longtime Tesla owner and FSD tester Whole Mars Catalog noted the achievement as proof of continued momentum post-layoffs. At the time of the Supercharger team’s layoffs in 2024, numerous critics were claiming that Elon Musk was halting the network’s expansion altogether, and that the team only remained because the adults in the room convinced the juvenile CEO to relent.
Such a scenario, at least based on the graphic posted by the Tesla Charging team on X, seems highly implausible.
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
