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Tesla owner gets surprise Model Y sighting on snowy mountain pass in California

Credit: YouTube/Christopher Radoff

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A Tesla Model Y prototype was spotted on a snowy portion of the Donner Pass in Northeastern California. The car was navigating with relative ease through the unpleasant road conditions during the nighttime.

Reddit user and Tesla owner Christopher Radoff spotted the Model Y after his wife had given him a heads up that a fellow Tesla was traveling in front of them. He initially thought it was a Model X SUV, but he quickly came to realize that it was not the case. “Yeah, my wife realized it was a Tesla before me. I had figured it was too tall and did not have X tail lights. Once, she said it was a Tesla it clicked for me and I was like, ‘quick get the camera’,” Radoff said on Reddit.

It seems that this vehicle was likely an All-Wheel Drive variant that is recommended for navigating in rough terrain. This includes excessive snowfall. While Tesla vehicles in the past have shown their ability to drive through large collections of rainwater and excessive snow on the road, the Model Y seems to be showing the same ability ahead of its initial productions and deliveries.

While the All-Wheel Drive trim is ideal for traveling in snow, Tesla’s vehicles have performed well in the past in snowy conditions. Tesla also released a “Winter Protection Kit” for drivers in regions where winters were harsher. This kit was free to Model 3 owners and featured mudflaps to protect the paint from road salt and improve performance in snowy weather.

The Model Y has been the talk of many Tesla enthusiasts since its first sighting outside the company’s Fremont factory in early 2019. While the car has been tested in real-world and track settings as of late, it seems Tesla is beginning to make its final adjustments to the Model Y.

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A compilation of every Model Y sighting was recently compiled by Tesla enthusiast Ryan Shaw. The video shows the Model Y in a variety of settings and gives a great look at how the vehicle has developed over the past year.

The Model Y may be coming sooner than expected after the vehicle received its certification from the California Air Resources Board (CARB). This is a huge development as the Model 3’s CARB certification came three and a half weeks before initial deliveries began. The Model Y will be produced in Fremont, but Shanghai will also build the crossover after Tesla announced Gigafactory 3’s plans to manufacture the vehicle. It will also be the main focus of Gigafactory 4 in Berlin when it is completed in July 2021.

Watch Christopher Radoff’s video of the Model Y navigating flawlessly through a snowy mountain road below.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Energy

Tesla’s new Megablock system can power 400,000 homes in under a month

Tesla also unveiled the Megapack 3, the latest iteration of its flagship utility scale battery.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has unveiled the Megablock and Megapack 3, the latest additions to its industrial-scale battery storage solution lineup. 

The products highlight Tesla Energy’s growing role in the company, as well as the division’s growing efforts to provide sustainable energy solutions for industrial-scale applications.

Megablock targets speed and scale

During the “Las Megas” event in Las Vegas, Tesla launched Megablock, a pre-engineered medium-voltage block designed to integrate Megapack 3 units in a plug-and-play system. Capable of 20 MWh AC with a 25-year life cycle and more than 10,000 cycles, the Megablock could achieve 91% round-trip efficiency at medium voltage, inclusive of auxiliary loads.

Tesla emphasized that Megablock can be installed 23% faster with up to 40% lower construction costs. The platform eliminates above-ground cabling through a new flexible busbar assembly and delivers site-level density of 248 MWh per acre. With Megablock, Tesla is also aiming to commission 1 GWh in just 20 business days, or enough to power 400,000 homes in less than a month. 

“With Megablock, we are targeting to commission 1 GWh in 20 business days, which is the equivalent of bringing power to 400,000 homes in less than a month. It’s crazy. How are we planning to do that? Like most things at Tesla, we are ruthlessly attacking every opportunity to save our customers time, simplify the process, remove steps, (and) automate as much as we can,” the company said. 

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Megapack 3 is all about simplicity

The Megapack 3 is Tesla’s next-generation utility battery, designed with a simplified architecture that cuts 78% of connections compared to the previous version. Its thermal bay is drastically simplified, and it uses a Model Y heat pump on steroids. The battery weighs about 86,000 pounds and holds 5 MWh of usable AC energy. Tesla engineers incorporated a larger battery module and a new 2.8-liter LFP cell co-developed with the company’s cell team.

The Megapack 3 is designed for serviceability, and it features easier front access and no roof penetrations. About 75% of Megapack 3’s total mass is battery cells, with individual modules weighing as much as a Cybertruck. It’s also tough, with an ambient operating temperature range from -40C to 60C. This should allow the Megapack 3 to operate optimally from the coldest to the hottest regions on the planet.

Production is set to begin at Tesla’s Houston Megafactory in late 2026, with planned capacity of 50 GWh per year. Additional supply will come from Tesla’s 7 GWh LFP facility in Nevada, which is expected to open in 2025, as well as with third-party partners.

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Tesla China sales rise 48% quarter over quarter in August

The automaker sold 57,152 vehicles locally, as per data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

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Credit: Tesla Asia/X

Tesla China’s retail sales showed a rebound in August, rising 48.1% compared to May, the second month of the previous quarter, and 41% compared to July 2025. 

The automaker sold 57,152 vehicles locally, as per data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), while Giga Shanghai sold 83,192 units wholesale during the month. 

Tesla’s wholesale deliveries

August 2025 marked Tesla China’s best wholesale month of 2025 so far. Giga Shanghai recorded 83,192 wholesale units in August, up 22.6% from July’s 67,886 units. Of these, 24,304 were Model 3 sedans and 58,888 were Model Ys, with 26,040 vehicles exported. 

The Model Y remained Tesla’s standout product in China, accounting for 69% of local sales and ranking as the country’s second best-selling vehicle. The brand itself was ninth among all automakers in August, which is impressive considering the company’s BEV-only lineup.

Balancing growth against year-over-year declines

While August showed strong sequential gains, Tesla’s sales in China remain 10% lower compared to the same month last year. Year-to-date, Tesla is also down 7% against 2024 levels. That being said, over the past three months, sales have grown 12.6% compared to March through May, highlighting improved momentum in the second half of the year, as per industry estimates.

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A notable portion of this momentum could very well be attributed to the introduction of the Tesla Model Y L, an extended wheelbase six-seat version of the Model Y, which also happens to be the company’s best-selling vehicle. The Model Y L’s domestic deliveries in China are already starting, so it would be interesting to see where the company’s results are in the final month of the third quarter.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk confirms Tesla has never shown Optimus V3 design yet

Optimus is a cornerstone of the company’s pursuit towards sustainable abundance.

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Credit: Tesla Optimus/X

Elon Musk has clarified that the next iteration of Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus V3, has yet to be revealed publicly. His comments were posted on social media platform on X as Tesla enthusiasts discussed recent images of Optimus V2 and V2.5. 

Musk’s comment followed a recent video shared by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, which showed Musk demonstrating an updated Optimus prototype equipped with Grok AI.

Updated Optimus V2

The short video posted by Benioff showed a gold-colored Optimus unit answering questions through Tesla’s Grok AI assistant and taking tentative steps. The addition of Grok suggests Tesla is seeking to integrate conversational AI directly into Optimus, expanding its potential applications beyond mechanical movement to include workplace and consumer interaction.

The Optimus in the video was quite different from the V2 units that have been showcased by the company in the past. Its hands looked more human (though they appeared to be mannequin placeholders) and its body was painted gold. In a follow-up post, the official Tesla Optimus account teased the updated design with functional hands with the caption “I’ve been working on my figure.” 

Future versions

It was then no surprise that some in the Tesla community had the impression that the refined version of the prototype featured in the new images was Optimus V3. With its more advanced hands, forearms, and sleek new paint job, after all, the unit could very well be a whole new evolution of the humanoid robot. As per Musk, however, this was not the case. 

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In a response to an X user who compared the progress of Optimus to Starship’s Raptor V1, V2, and V3 engines, the CEO clarified that Tesla has not shown Optimus V3 yet. He also noted that the new images of the humanoid robot were of Optimus V2.5. “We haven’t shown Optimus V3 yet. It is sublime. The second two images are V2 and V2.5,” Musk wrote in his response.

Optimus plays a huge role in Tesla’s future, with the robot expected to be a high-volume product that is a cornerstone of the company’s pursuit towards sustainable abundance. Elon Musk’s 2025 pay package also directly involves Optimus, with one of his targets being the delivery of 1 million Optimus robots.

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