Battery manufacturer Panasonic released its fourth-quarter operating profit numbers on February 3, and it showed that the Japanese company was able to cut production costs and post a 3% rise in operating profit. Panasonic was able to accomplish this thanks in no small part to its partnership with American electric car maker Tesla.
Panasonic’s profit for the last quarter of 2019 was 100.4 billion yen (about $915.22 million), an increase from the $899.38 million, or 97.6 billion yen profit the company posted a year earlier in Q4 2018, according to Reuters. The Japanese company’s profit numbers beat analyst projections by a considerable margin.
Eight different analysts polled by financial data company Refinitiv put Panasonic’s quarterly earning numbers at only 67.36 billion yen. The company was able to maintain its profit forecast at 300 billion yen through the first three months of the year as well, once again beating analyst predictions who pegged the company at 295.14 billion yen.
After Tesla ramped production at Giga Nevada, Panasonic’s battery business has improved significantly. The company has executed on its goals and increased its production volume due to Tesla’s goal of building more cars every year to match the overwhelming demand for its vehicles such as the Model 3. Expectations are high that Tesla’s vehicles will see even more demand as the company releases the Model Y, which will compete in the lucrative crossover market.
Just a week ago, Tesla released its 2019 Q4 numbers, reporting a revenue of $7.38 billion after delivering a record 112,000 vehicles. The company is also ramping up its production numbers at Giga Shanghai, and breaking ground on Giga Berlin. Giga Shanghai is already operational and catering to the local Chinese market, while Giga Berlin is expected to start operations sometime in late 2021. It remains to be seen if Panasonic will be involved in Tesla’s overseas factories.
Tesla stocks are soaring amidst the company’s success following the company’s Q4 delivery numbers and earnings call. Shareholders of TSLA stock have continued to enjoy regular boosts in stock value, and Panasonic’s success in cutting costs while increasing profits is a residual effect of Tesla’s great start to 2020. So far, Tesla stock has been on a meteoric rise, surging 16.88% at $760.38 per share as of writing.
With Panasonic’s battery business with Tesla stronger than ever, the future seems bright for the two companies. Panasonic’s profits from its auto battery business will likely curb fears of an alleged rift between the two companies, which was hinted at by Tesla critics last year.
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Sweden blocks Tesla FSD-style testing in Stockholm
It looks like FSD testing in Sweden would have to wait some time.

Tesla is putting a lot of effort into getting its Full Self Driving (FSD) system approved in territories outside North America. But while China seems to have embraced FSD fully, other countries like Sweden do not seem to be receiving Tesla’s automated driving system very well.
This became quite evident in a document from Stockholm City, which has started making the rounds online.
FSD Testing Rejected
The document, which was initially shared by X user @KRoelandschap, indicated that the Swedish Traffic Department in Stockholm had rejected Tesla’s request to start FSD testing in the city’s streets. Tesla has been demonstrating FSD in several areas across Europe, so it is not surprising that the company is also attempting to test its automated driving system in Sweden.
Unfortunately for Tesla, Sweden might prove to be a tough nut to crack. As per the City of Stockholm:
“The Traffic Office is currently working on updating its approach to automation. At the same time, the city and the office are under heavy pressure from other ongoing innovation tests. Our ambition is to actively participate in and learn from the continued development in the field of automation.
“Based on this, and in combination with the fact that the current test is the first of its kind, which entails certain risks for both infrastructure and third parties, and that it is planned to be carried out throughout the city, the City of Stockholm considers it is currently not possible to approve the implementation of the test.”


Tesla’s Other Swedish Troubles
Sweden’s FSD testing rejection is not the only roadblock facing Tesla in the country. Since October 2023, Swedish unions have been engaged in an active effort to disrupt Tesla’s operations. The unions’ efforts have been varied, with some resulting in Tesla having difficulty launching more Superchargers in Sweden. Despite this, Tesla has remained stubborn and has refused to bow to the unions’ demands.
Fortunately for Tesla, it seems like its numbers are still strong. Despite the company’s decline in several European countries, the new Model Y is starting to see strong sales figures in Sweden. In early May alone, the new Model Y became the country’s most popular electric vehicle—a notable accomplishment considering the unions’ active efforts to disrupt Tesla.
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Tesla firmware shows new Model Y seat configuration is coming
Tesla could be adding another seating configuration beside the seven-seater to the Model Y lineup later this year.

Tesla firmware has been a great place for some to reveal what the company has in the pipeline, and a new seating configuration for the best-selling Model Y looks to be on the way.
Last week, we reported that Tesla was already hinting toward a 7-seater configuration of the Model Y in a promotional email it sent to those on its contact list.
However, firmware revealed by Tesla hacker greentheonly is showing that a new seating configuration is on the way — a six-seater:
The much rumored about 6-seater Model Y made an appearance in the firmware.
Unlikely to be China-only as some of the speculations said.Some weird “slow down to save energy, people typically drive this much slower here to save %%” nav suggestions.
— green (@greentheonly) June 16, 2025
Green says the configuration would not be available in China-only, and will be potentially for sale in other markets as well.
The six-seat and seven-seat configurations of the Model Y were available in the Legacy version of the vehicle, but were met with mixed reviews, as many complained about the lack of legroom in the third row.
This was something that was a real concern for many of those owners who needed something larger than the traditional five-seat variant, but did not want to buy the much more pricey Model X.
We’ve covered the size of that third row on several occasions.
Some owners even took the idea of having a seven-seater into their own hands:
Tesla Model Y third row seat test explores options for a comfortable 7-seat setup
Tesla did not explicitly announce a six-seater configuration of the Model Y, but Lars Moravy, the company’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said the seven-seater would come to production later in 2025.
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Tesla confirms massive hardware change for autonomy improvement
Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.

Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.
Tesla first introduced a front-facing camera on the front bumper with the Cybertruck.
Then, the Model Y “Juniper” received the hardware update. The Model S and Model X both received the front-facing camera with its latest update, which was officially revealed last week.
Tesla used new language with the release of the front-facing cameras on the Model S and Model X, confirming they will assist with several things, including “using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities”:
“Enhanced visibility when parking or using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities.”
This tiny feature on the new Tesla Model Y is perhaps its biggest addition
This is the first time Tesla has used this sort of language, as it was a completely different description with the launch of the new Model Y in January.
When Tesla launched this vehicle, it said the front bumper camera “provides a wider field of view for automatic assisted driving and advanced Smart Summon.”
Tesla switched from using cameras and sensors to only cameras with the launch of Tesla Vision several years ago. The company’s utilization of cameras comes from Tesla’s belief that Ultrasonic Sensors (USS) are not needed for self-driving efforts:
“Along with the removal of USS, we simultaneously launched our vision-based occupancy network – currently used in Full Self-Driving (FSD) (Supervised) – to replace the inputs generated by USS. With today’s software, this approach gives Autopilot high-definition spatial positioning, longer range visibility and the ability to identify and differentiate between objects. As with many Tesla features, our occupancy network will continue to improve rapidly over time.”
CEO Elon Musk has said that sensors were only a crutch and that self-driving would be solved through the use of cameras:
“When your vision works, it works better than the best human because it’s like having eight cameras, it’s like having eyes in the back of your head, beside your head, and has three eyes of different focal distances looking forward. This is — and processing it at a speed that is superhuman. There’s no question in my mind that with a pure vision solution, we can make a car that is dramatically safer than the average person.”
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