A recent episode of Sandy Munro’s Tesla Model Y teardown series has revealed that the electric car company utilized friction stir welding (FSW) for the crossover’s thermal management system. The welding technique is commonly used among aerospace companies, like SpaceX, as a way to maintain the strength of aluminum parts while securing a reliable bond between pieces.
Munro’s analysis of the Octovalve coolant system revealed Tesla’s techniques for the revised thermal management portion of the Model Y. Munro discovered the Octovalve on April 4 after digging into the Model Y’s internal build. The new coolant assembly seemed to be a revised version of the Model 3’s “Superbottle,” which served as the heart of the sedan’s thermal management system.
A car’s thermal management apparatus is responsible for controlling and maintaining proper temperatures in critical portions of the vehicle. In the case of the Model Y, the Octovalve is responsible for motor, battery, and cabin cooling, according to Munro. The Detroit auto veteran said that typically, these systems should not be cooling the cabin if they are controlling battery or motor temperature. The thermal management system in the Model Y seems to be controlling the cabin, the battery, the electronics, and the motor nonetheless.
The Octovalve seems to be a state-of-the-art system as it uses, “some clever little ball valves that open and close to make sure that everything’s getting heated or everything’s being cooled to where it needs to be,” Munro said.
With the assembly overlooking the temperature for these many parts of the vehicle, the system is subjected to drastic and sharp temperature changes. Over time, the difference between heat and cold can begin to weaken portions of the car part, especially if it was exposed to excessive temperatures during manufacturing. This is where some SpaceX-grade solutions come into play.
Tesla chose to utilize friction stir welding for its aluminum portions of the coolant assembly. “This is a cool way of putting two parts of aluminum together, some other materials as well, but aluminum is kind of the most suited for it. And in essence, what happens is you have a stylus that spins around very very quickly. It pokes through the two pieces of metal that you want to friction stir weld. Then, it goes around the outside edge, and what it does is it uses the plastic state or thixotropic state of the aluminum to bind it together,” Munro said.
Simply put, the process allows aluminum to reach a temperature that allows two pieces of metal to come together with a strong bond, but it never turns the metal into a soft, liquid-like state. “It’s like soft butter, butter that you could see is firm, but you could cut it with a knife.”
The advantage of using this process is that the heat from the welding process only applies to the outer edges of the metal. The additional material that is not bonded to anything does not see the heat and is not weakened by the welding process. Stir welding is also time effective as it can be completed in a short period, but it is a careful process that does not apply unneeded stress upon the rest of the assembly.
SpaceX uses friction stir welding for its rockets, as it increases strength by exposing only the bonded portions of two pieces of metal to each other. Friction stir welding was used by SpaceX back in 2008 when the company was combining barrel sections of the Falcon 9’s second stage. “The FSW joins metal without flames, sparking, inert gasses, or fumes, and produces a far superior weld in aluminum-lithium alloys as compared to traditional methods,” SpaceX said in a news update.
In the spirit of humor, Tesla and Elon Musk saw the Octovalve as a perfect opportunity to not only improve the performance of the vehicle temperature regulation system but also as an appropriate time to sprinkle in some additional humor in the form of an Easter Egg. The Model 3 donned a cape-wearing bottle-figured superhero for its “Superbottle” system, while the Model Y includes a snowflake-stamped Octopus as an Easter Egg.
Tesla has increased the effectiveness of its thermal management with the introduction of the Model Y’s Octovalve system. Elon Musk stated that it was some of the best engineering he had ever seen. The welding process could increase the longevity of the machine through its lack of exposure to excessive heat and stress during manufacturing.
Watch Munro’s video on the Model Y’s Octovalve welding below.
News
Tesla is using a redesigned Cybertruck battery cell to mitigate Semi challenges
It is perhaps the most recent example of Tesla using unique engineering prowess and cross-pollinating vehicle elements to solve common problems, something it does better than most companies out there.
Tesla revealed that it is utilizing redesigned Cybertruck battery cells in its Long Range Semi to mitigate some pertinent challenges that come with long-haul logistics.
It is perhaps the most recent example of Tesla using unique engineering prowess and cross-pollinating vehicle elements to solve common problems, something it does better than most companies out there.
Tesla’s long-awaited Semi truck is entering production at its Nevada Gigafactory, and fresh factory footage reveals a clever evolution in its battery technology.
The Long Range variant, designed for up to 500 miles of real-world range, relies on a structural battery pack that uses the same 4680-form-factor cells found in the Cybertruck.
However, Tesla engineers have completely redesigned the pack’s architecture—shifting from the flat, pancake-style modules typical in passenger vehicles to a compact, vertical cubic layout. This change isn’t just about cramming more energy into the chassis; it’s a targeted solution to one of electric trucking’s biggest headaches: range loss in cold climates.
Dan Priestley, Head of the Tesla Semi program, said:
“We’re using essentially the same cell out of Cybertruck, but our cars packs are more like a pancake. Whereas these are more like a cube. You get a lot of energy stored in a small space. You can only do this if you design the vehicle to be electric from the ground up.”
Here, in all its glory, is the exclusive first look at the massive @Tesla Semi factory.
Our @corememory crew went to Nevada to see the line come to life, as it gets ready to pump out thousands of all-electric trucks. We saw the new cab and went on a drive too. Wunderbar! pic.twitter.com/a0S5zVEr87
— Ashlee Vance (@ashleevance) April 10, 2026
In conventional EVs, battery packs are laid out horizontally in wide, flat arrays to fit under the floor. While this works for cars and even the Cybertruck’s structural pack, it exposes a large surface area to the elements.
Heat escapes quickly, especially overnight when the truck is parked. Cold temperatures slow chemical reactions inside lithium-ion cells, reducing available energy and forcing the vehicle to expend extra power warming the battery and cabin.
Real-world tests on vehicles like the Cybertruck show winter range losses of 20-40 percent, depending on conditions. For long-haul truck drivers operating in Canada, Scandinavia, or the northern U.S., this “silent killer” means unplanned stops, reduced payloads, and higher operating costs.
From personal experience, cold weather still impacts EV batteries even with various inventions and strategies that companies have come up with. In the cold Pennsylvania winter, charging was much more frequent for me due to range loss due to temperatures.
Tesla’s cubic battery pack flips the script. By arranging the 4680 cells in tall, dense vertical stacks, the pack minimizes external surface area relative to its volume—essentially turning the battery into its own thermal blanket.
Factory video from the Semi assembly line shows these large, yellow-green structural modules mounted directly onto the chassis, forming a near-cube shape.
The reduced exposure helps the pack retain heat generated during operation, keeping cells closer to their optimal temperature even after hours in sub-zero conditions.
The design doesn’t stop there. Tesla pairs the cubic pack with an advanced heat pump system that actively recycles thermal energy from the motors, brakes, and even ambient air.
Tesla reveals various improvements to the Semi in new piece with Jay Leno
Unlike passive systems in earlier EVs, this architecture transfers waste heat back into the battery, maintaining readiness for morning departures without draining the pack.
Executives have noted that the combination, cubic geometry plus intelligent thermal management, dramatically cuts overnight cooldown and range degradation, making the Semi viable for 24/7 fleet operations in harsh winters.
Beyond cold-weather performance, the redesigned pack integrates structurally with the truck’s frame, enhancing rigidity while simplifying assembly. Production footage shows workers installing the massive modules early in the line, signaling that the Semi’s battery is now a core chassis component rather than an add-on.
Using proven 4680 cells keeps costs down and leverages Tesla’s scaled manufacturing know-how from Cybertruck and Model Y lines.
Tesla’s focus on ramping up Semi output will lean on small innovative steps like this one. Truckers are not immune to traveling in cold weather conditions, and changes like this one will help make them more effective while also increasing output by logistics operators who choose to go all-electric with the Tesla Semi.
Elon Musk
SpaceX is keeping the Space Station alive again this weekend
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launches Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus NG-24 to the ISS with 11,000 pounds of cargo Saturday.
SpaceX is targeting April 11 for the launch of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station, carrying over 11,000 pounds of supplies, science hardware, and equipment for the Expedition 73 crew aboard. Liftoff is set for 7:41 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with a backup window available April 12 at 7:18 a.m. ET.
The mission, officially designated NG-24 under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program, names its spacecraft the S.S. Steven R. Nagel in honor of the NASA astronaut who flew four Space Shuttle missions and logged over 723 hours in space before his death in 2014. Unlike SpaceX’s own Dragon capsule, which docks autonomously, Cygnus relies on NASA astronauts to capture it using a robotic arm before it is berthed to the space station’s module for unloading. When the mission wraps up around October, the Cygnus will depart loaded with station trash and burn up on reentry.
Countdown: America is going back to the Moon and SpaceX holds the key to what comes after
This is the second flight of the Cygnus XL configuration, which debuted on NG-23 in September 2025 and offers a roughly 20% increase in cargo capacity over the previous design. Northrop Grumman switched to Falcon 9 launches after its own Antares 230+ rocket was retired in 2023 following supply chain disruptions from the war in Ukraine.
The upcoming cargo includes a new module to advance quantum research, and an investigation studying blood stem cell production in microgravity with potential therapeutic applications on Earth.
The NG-24 mission is one piece of a much larger picture for SpaceX and the U.S. government. As Teslarati reported, SpaceX has become an indispensable launch provider for U.S. national security missions, picking up a $178.5 million Space Force contract in April 2026 to launch missile tracking satellites, while also holding roughly $4 billion in NASA contracts tied to the Artemis lunar program.
At a time when no other American rocket can match the Falcon 9’s combination of reliability, cost, and launch cadence, Saturday’s mission is a straightforward reminder of how much the U.S. government now depends on a single commercial provider to keep its astronauts supplied and its satellites flying.
News
Tesla hits FSD hackers with surprise move
In recent weeks, the company has begun remotely disabling FSD capabilities on affected vehicles, and in some instances, permanently revoking access even for owners who paid thousands of dollars for the feature.
Tesla is cracking down on hackers who have figured out a way to utilize third-party programs to activate Full Self-Driving (FSD) in their vehicles — despite the suite not being approved for use in their country.
Tesla has launched a sweeping enforcement campaign against owners using third-party hardware hacks to activate FSD software in countries where the advanced driver-assistance system remains unregulated or unapproved.
In recent weeks, the company has begun remotely disabling FSD capabilities on affected vehicles, and in some instances, permanently revoking access even for owners who paid thousands of dollars for the feature.
Tesla has started remotely disabling Full Self-Driving on cars fitted with third-party CAN bus hacks in countries where the software is not yet approved.
This crackdown began after the hacks started spreading widely last month. 👇 pic.twitter.com/wL8VqZuTlK
— PiunikaWeb – helpful, and breaking tech news (@PiunikaWeb) April 9, 2026
Reports of the crackdown have surfaced across Europe, China, Japan, South Korea, and the UK, marking a significant escalation in Tesla’s efforts to enforce regional software restrictions.
FSD is Tesla’s flagship supervised autonomy package, which is available in several countries across the world. Currently limited by regulatory hurdles, it has not received full approval in most markets outside of the United States due to various things, such as safety standards, data privacy, and local traffic laws.
However, the company is working to expand its availability globally. Nevertheless, Tesla has installed the necessary hardware on vehicles globally, but locks the features based on geographic location.
Some owners have taken accessing FSD into their own hands, using jailbreak or bypass devices.
These “jailbreak” tools, typically €500 USB-style modules that plug into the vehicle’s Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, intercept signals to spoof approvals and unlock FSD, including advanced navigation, Autopark, and Summon features.
Hackers in Poland, Ukraine, and elsewhere have distributed the devices, with some claiming they work on HW3 and HW4 vehicles and can be unplugged to restore stock settings. In China alone, over 100,000 owners reportedly installed such modifications.
Tesla’s response has been swift and uncompromising. Recently, the company began sending in-car notifications and emails warning owners that unauthorized modifications violate terms of service, compromise vehicle safety systems, and expose cars to cybersecurity risks.
The email communication read:
“Your vehicle has detected an unauthorized third-party device. As a precaution, some driver assistance functions have been disabled for safety reasons. A software update will be available soon. Once you install the update, some features may be enabled again.”
Vehicles detected using the hacks have had FSD capabilities remotely disabled without refund. In some cases, owners report permanent bans, even if they had legitimately purchased the software package.
Tesla’s hardline stance underscores its commitment to regulatory compliance and safety.
Tesla has long argued that unsupervised FSD requires rigorous validation, and premature activation could endanger drivers and bystanders.
The crackdown sends a clear-cut message to those who are bypassing the FSD safeguards, but there are greater implications for Tesla if something were to go wrong. This is an understandable way to protect the company’s reputation for its FSD suite.
Tesla is using a redesigned Cybertruck battery cell to mitigate Semi challenges
SpaceX is keeping the Space Station alive again this weekend
