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Tesla Model Y from Giga Berlin will utilize 4680 cells and structural battery pack

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Elon Musk has confirmed some interesting details about the vehicles that Tesla will be producing at Giga Berlin. According to the Tesla CEO, the Model Y that will be produced at the facility will be using the company’s custom 4680 cells and structural battery pack. Gigafactory Berlin will also be using single-piece front and rear castings for its vehicles, on top of a new paint shop.

Needless to say, it appears that the Made-in-Germany Model Y will indeed be a completely different animal compared to its siblings that are being produced in the Fremont Factory, and likely later this year, in Gigafactory Shanghai.

Musk shared his recent Giga Berlin updates on Twitter during a conversation with Tesla owner-enthusiast @WholeMarsBlog, who asked the CEO if the new 4680 cells will be heading to the German plant. Musk explained that a lot of new technology will be happening in Berlin, which means that there will be a significant amount of production risk. Once the new tech is proven, however, the innovations in the site will be rolled out to Fremont and Shanghai.

The confirmation of 4680 cells and structural battery packs for the Made-in-Germany Model Y is big news for the electric car community. During Battery Day, after all, Tesla took a very conservative stance when announcing its battery production targets, a strategy that appears to have confounded and disappointed Wall Street. That said, the company did show subtle signs that it may be ready to produce vehicles with its 4680 cells and structural battery pack sooner than expected.

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Among these hints was the Roadrunner line that’s operating close to the Fremont Factory, which would be ramped to an annual output of 10 GWh. A slide during the Battery Presentation also showed what appeared to be a Tesla Model Y frame equipped with 4680 cells and a structural battery pack. Together with the vehicle’s single-piece front and rear casts, the new cells and structural pack should allow Gigafactory Berlin to ramp its vehicle production and optimize its operational costs quickly. This should help Tesla avoid the serious challenges it faced during the initial ramp of the Model 3 in the United States.

Apart from his updates about the Giga Berlin-made Model Y, Musk also noted that Tesla expects to heavily utilize LFP batteries for medium-range cars and stationary storage. This should help the company drive down its costs more while improving its environmental impact even further. LFP batteries, after all, are more affordable. They also utilize zero cobalt, which happens to be a controversial material due to questionable practices in some mines located in the Republic of Congo.

Ultimately, Musk’s recent update about the Model Y in Gigafactory Berlin bodes well for the all-electric crossover. Sandy Munro, a veteran automotive teardown specialist, has remarked that structural batteries will likely make Teslas even safer. This should help the Model Y attract more buyers in Germany and the rest of Europe, as it could very well be one of the most cost-optimized and safest vehicles in the market when it gets released.

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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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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:

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(Credit: Tesla)

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:

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.

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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.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

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. 

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“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. 

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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. 

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Tesla FSD (Supervised) could be approved in the Netherlands next month: Musk

Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin.

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Credit: Tesla

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.”

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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.

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