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Tesla Model Y production at Giga Berlin will redefine ‘Elon Time’
Tesla has made strides in terms of adjusting the timeline of Model Y deliveries. From Fall of 2020, Elon Musk and his team moved it up to Summer this year. During the company’s Q4 2019 earnings call, the carmaker announced that the initial delivery of the much-awaited electric crossover will actually happen this March. This says a lot on how the Silicon Valley-based carmaker has matured through the years.
Tesla began limited production of the Model Y at its Fremont factory and it has also started building the next phase of Giga Shanghai meant for the production of the crossover SUV. Giga Berlin would be the next big thing and with its learnings from the Model Y program in Fremont and Shanghai, the production of the Model Y in Germany may help Tesla redefine “Elon Time.”
Biggest Room For Improvement
Tesla is undeniably the leader in the electric vehicle industry. Even automotive giants have acknowledged that Tesla is the standard that they need to catch up to.
Tesla has great products and a CEO with great vision but if there’s one aspect of business all loyal followers would love to see, it’s in the timely delivery of its vehicles. Depending on how efficient ongoing production is and how many standing preorders are to be served, waiting times could be a few weeks, to a month, to a few months, or even a year or so for products that are yet to be produced. Delays, such as those experienced by reservation holders of the Model X, have even inspired the meme-worthy moniker of “Elon Time,” a reference to the CEO’s optimistic target timeframes.
Tesla’s logistics does not depend on any third-party franchise dealerships like other automakers but rather its own stores and delivery centers. Elon Musk has continually strived to improve delivery times and part of the strategy is by bringing Tesla’s car factories to its customers. Thus, Giga Shanghai is set to give a strong foothold in the biggest automotive market in the globe. Then, there’s Giga Berlin that would cater to Germany and the rest of Europe.
“It kind of makes sense. But what we’re doing — or have been doing in the past was really pretty silly in making cars in California and then shipping them halfway around the world to Asia and Europe. And this created a lot of cost, because you got to ship those cars, so they got lot of finished goods, sitting on the order or waiting at the port or going through customs, you got tariffs, transport,” said Musk. This also addresses the complexity of fulfilling the build according to the regulations of different regions.
Tesla’s Transformation as a Mature Car Manufacturer
The Tesla Giga Berlin groundbreaking is expected to happen this March and Elon Musk hopes to flick the switch on of the first Gigafactory in Europe by July 2021 to begin the production of the Model Y for Germany and the rest of Europe.
Tesla has proven itself capable of sticking to timelines when it comes to building its Gigafactories. For example, It practically turned a muddy field in China into an operational car factory in 10 months. In Germany, it has been cooperating with federal and local authorities and has addressed concerns of environmental groups to get closer and closer to laying the first brick of Giga Berlin in Grunheide.
The more interesting thing to take note of is how Tesla outlined its goals for Giga Berlin.
“Phase 1 will focus on production of Model Y, with a target capacity of 10,000 vehicles per week. We estimate that during Phase 1, we will employ up to 12,000 people, with roles being filled by local residents and employees from wider Europe,” the Giga Berlin website reads.
Manufacturing cars is far from making pancakes. Tesla’s Fremont factory has a current capacity of producing 400,000 combined Model 3 and Model Y units per year. Giga Shanghai, meanwhile, aims to do 150,000 vehicles annually. To do 10,000 units per week is a gargantuan task but realizing that Elon Musk has been underpromising and over-delivering when it comes to the Model Y, perhaps Tesla has indeed started using advanced manufacturing techniques that the CEO hinted at during a Model 3 event in Shanghai.
“Model Y will also have some advanced manufacturing technology that we will reveal in the future. I think it will be exciting to show the kind of manufacturing technology associated with the Model Y and it will be exciting to learn about these technologies,” Musk said.
No one exactly knows what these manufacturing technologies are but there are speculations that the Model Y will heavily rely on casting to quickly and efficiently produce the vehicle’s essential parts. This is also what’s suggested by earlier patents of the company.
The Model Y could be the first vehicle that demonstrates the company’s improving efficiency. It unveiled the Model Y prototype in March 2019 and it’s delivering the first units this month to consumers. This could partly be due to the Model Y sharing about 75% of its DNA with its Model 3 sibling, but it reflects Tesla’s manufacturing advancements nonetheless.
New Elon Time
If Giga Berlin remains on schedule and Tesla starts Model Y production in Germany, a country that highly values punctuality, on time, it could give its sales books a good boost as the vehicle is perfectly timed for Europe’s crossover growth. Sales of compact SUVs are forecasted to be flat this year with LCM Automotive predicting only about 2 million units in the segment as carmakers transition from older vehicles to electric vehicles. As Giga Berlin begins production of the Model Y, there is an expected uptick in demand with sales rising to 2.4 million units per year to about 2.8 million by the mid-2020s.
Beyond earnings, the redefinition Elon Time by a timely Model Y production and delivery will help Tesla gain the respect of other car manufacturers, the market, and investors. The new Elon Time would further prove why Tesla has the loyal following, and why it will be like that for a foreseeable future.
News
Tesla gives HW3 owners another massive update
It was an “at last” moment for HW 3 owners, who have waited for an update on the capabilities of their vehicles for some time. After CEO Elon Musk finally admitted last week that the HW3 vehicles would not be capable of unsupervised FSD, it appears Tesla is bringing a new, more transparent tone to those owners.
Tesla is giving Hardware 3 vehicle owners another massive update, the second major communication the company has given to those drivers after what seemed like years of being left out to dry.
The company, which plans to launch a Full Self-Driving version 14 iteration that is compatible with these cars, which have older chips, is now planning to expand the rollout of the v14 Lite offering to other markets, it said on X.
Tesla said:
“Following future rollout of FSD V14 Lite for HW3 vehicles in the US, we plan on expanding V14 Lite to additional international markets. This update ensures that HW3 vehicle owners will continue to benefit from ongoing software updates. Since international rollout is subject to several factors (completion of technical verification, regional adaptation & relevant regulatory approvals), we can’t provide definitive dates at the moment, but will provide updates on a rolling basis.”
This announcement comes at a critical time for HW3 owners, many of whom purchased Full Self-Driving (FSD) capability years ago with promises of ongoing support and future-proofing.
Following future rollout of FSD V14 Lite for HW3 vehicles in the US, we plan on expanding V14 Lite to additional international markets.
This update ensures that HW3 vehicle owners will continue to benefit from ongoing software updates.
Since international rollout is subject to…
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 29, 2026
HW3, introduced in 2019, powers vehicles from roughly 2019 to early 2023 models. While newer AI4 hardware has advanced rapidly, HW3 owners have felt increasingly left behind, with their last major update stuck around version 12.6 since early 2025.
It was an “at last” moment for HW 3 owners, who have waited for an update on the capabilities of their vehicles for some time. After CEO Elon Musk finally admitted last week that the HW3 vehicles would not be capable of unsupervised FSD, it appears Tesla is bringing a new, more transparent tone to those owners.
V14 Lite represents a significant optimization effort. Tesla has confirmed it will bring many core features of the full V14 release, currently running on more powerful hardware, to the more constrained HW3 platform.
Expected capabilities include improved handling of complex urban scenarios, better reverse driving, enhanced parking features, and smoother overall autonomy, albeit in a “lite” form tailored to HW3’s compute limits. Tesla’s head of Autopilot, Ashok Elluswamy, noted during the Q1 2026 earnings call that the update is targeted for late June in the U.S.
Tesla is releasing a modified version of FSD v14 for Hardware 3 owners: here’s when
The international expansion is particularly meaningful for owners in Europe, Asia, Australia, and other regions where FSD rollout has lagged due to regulatory hurdles.
Tesla emphasized that timing remains fluid, dependent on “technical verification, regional adaptation & relevant regulatory approvals.” No firm dates were provided, but the company pledged rolling updates as milestones are achieved.
This move addresses growing concerns that Tesla might abandon legacy hardware. With the recent admission that its capabilities are limited and not capable of Tesla’s grand autonomy ambitions, owners are finally in the light of truth, with more honesty being put forth as the company navigates this chapter.
For Tesla, keeping HW3 relevant strengthens customer loyalty and protects the value of older vehicles. It also buys time as the company pushes toward broader regulatory approvals and unsupervised autonomy on newer platforms.
While V14 Lite isn’t the full unsupervised experience once promised, it delivers tangible improvements and signals that HW3 owners are not being forgotten.
As Tesla continues its rapid AI and autonomy evolution, this update underscores a key principle: software can breathe new life into existing hardware. For tens of thousands of HW3 drivers worldwide, V14 Lite could mark the beginning of a renewed era of confidence in their vehicles.
Elon Musk
SpaceX Board has set a Mars bonus for Elon Musk
SpaceX has given Elon Musk the goal to put one million people on Mars.
SpaceX’s board approved a compensation plan for Elon Musk that ties his pay directly to colonizing Mars and building data centers in outer space. The details surfaced this week after Reuters reviewed SpaceX’s confidential registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, making it one of the first concrete looks inside the company’s financials ahead of a public offering.
The pay package will reportedly award Musk 200 million super-voting restricted shares if the company hits a market valuation milestone, with the most ambitious targets going further. To unlock the full award, SpaceX would need to reach a $7.5 trillion valuation and help establish a permanent human settlement on Mars with at least one million residents. Additional incentives are tied to developing space-based computing infrastructure capable of delivering at least 100 terawatts of processing power.
SpaceX wins its first MARS contract but it comes with a catch
Long before SpaceX filed anything with the SEC, Elon Musk had already spent years framing Mars colonization as an insurance policy against human extinction. The philosophy traces back to at least 2001, when Musk first began researching Mars missions independently, before SpaceX even existed. By 2002 he had founded the company with Mars as the stated long-term goal.
In a 2017 presentation at the International Astronautical Congress, Musk outlined the specific vision that still underpins SpaceX’s architecture today. He described a self-sustaining city on Mars requiring roughly one million people to become viable, the same number now written into his compensation package.
SpaceX’s Starship, still in active development, was designed from the ground up to support the eventual colonization of Mars. Musk has stated publicly that getting the cost per ton to Mars below $100,000 is necessary to make mass migration economically feasible. Everything from Starship’s payload capacity to its full reusability targets flows from that single constraint. One can say that Musk’s latest compensation package has put a formal valuation on Mars for the first time.
SpaceX is targeting an IPO around June 28, Musk’s birthday, at a valuation of approximately $1.75 trillion. Between the Mars rover contract, the Golden Dome software group, Space Force satellite launches, and now a pay structure built around interplanetary colonization, SpaceX has become the single most consequential contractor in American space and defense. The IPO will put a public price tag on all of it for the first time.
Earlier this week, we wrote a story on how Tesla is launching a new Supercharging Queue system to mitigate problems between drivers when there is a wait to charge.
Rather than potentially having people end up in a physical conflict, Tesla’s approach is to determine who is next to charge based on geographic data.
Tesla launches solution to end Supercharger fights once and for all
But some companies, notably Tesla’s biggest rival in China, BYD, are taking a different approach, focusing on charging speeds rather than how they will manage delays.
BYD’s approach, especially with its tests of ultra-fast “Flash Charging” technology, is to eliminate the length of a charging session. At the heart of this strategy is BYD’s second-generation Blade Battery paired with 1,500-kW Flash Chargers.
Real-world FLASH Charging in action.
⚡ 10% → 70% in 5 minutes
⚡ 10% → 97% in 9 minutesIntroducing BYD’s 2nd Generation Blade Battery + FLASH Charging Technology.
20,000 stations will bring faster, safer, and smarter EV charging across China by the end of 2026. pic.twitter.com/uzQC8q1xGf
— BYD (@BYDCompany) March 9, 2026
Unveiled earlier this year, the system charges compatible vehicles from 10 percent to 70 percent state of charge in just five minutes and from 10 percent to 97 percent in nine minutes.
Real-world demonstrations on models like the Yangwang U7 and Denza Z9 GT have shown the tech delivering roughly 250 miles (400 kilometers) of range in just five minutes. This would essentially match or beat the time it takes to fill a gas tank.
Sometimes, gas pumps get congested, and there are lines. You rarely see conflicts at pumps because filling up a tank rarely takes more than five minutes.
Tesla’s fastest Supercharger build currently is the v4, which can deliver up to 325 kW for Cybertruck and 250 kW for other models, but there are “true” sites that are capable of up to 500 kW. This enables speeds of up to 1,000 miles per hour, or 1,400 miles for 350 kW-capable vehicles.
The breakthrough stems from BYD’s vertically integrated ecosystem: a new 1,000-volt architecture, 10C charging rates, and proprietary silicon-carbide chips that minimize internal resistance while protecting battery health.
The company plans to install 20,000 Flash Charging stations across China by the end of 2026, with thousands already operational and global expansion eyed for Europe and beyond later this year.
Early rollout targets popular models, including upgrades to high-volume sellers like the Seal and Sealion series, bringing five-minute charging to mainstream prices around 100,000 yuan (about $14,000).
This approach contrasts sharply with Tesla’s software solution. Tesla’s Virtual Queue uses geofencing and the app to assign turns at crowded sites, addressing driver disputes and idle time. It’s a clever fix for today’s network realities.
Yet, BYD’s philosophy is simpler: make charging so fast that waits barely exist. A five-minute stop becomes as convenient as a gas-station visit, reducing station dwell time, easing grid strain, and lowering range anxiety for long trips.
For consumers, the difference is potentially tangible. They’ll spend more time driving and less time parked. It is just another way Tesla and BYD are pushing one another to improve the overall experience of EV ownership.
Tesla gives HW3 owners another massive update
SpaceX Board has set a Mars bonus for Elon Musk
