News
Tesla’s ‘rotor geometry’ patent hints at more efficient electric motors
Tesla has invented a technique for increasing its all-electric vehicles’ power and torque by simply adjusting the shape of some of its electric motor’s components.
A recently published US patent application titled “Geometry of Rotor End Ring and Stator End Turns” describes how Tesla accomplishes this. According to the application, certain internal parts of an electric motor can be modified to reduce power losses from leaks in the magnetic field that effectively make the motor smaller.
The primary components of electric motors – the rotor and the stator – together generate the motion used to operate a vehicle. Simply, a magnetic field produced by electricity running through copper wires in the stator cause the magnetized bars of the rotor to spin. However, when the motor is operating at high speed, some of the electromagnetic force is lost, reducing the motor’s power.
Tesla has identified two places where this loss can be reduced – the end parts of the stator and rotor. The copper wiring in these parts is wrapped around cutout shapes, and after some testing, Tesla’s engineers learned that different shapes give different results. Per the application, “geometries for rotor end ring and stator end turns can be chosen in a way that improves performance or other characteristics of the motor.”
Overall, electric current flow becomes concentrated in different spots on the motor depending on the ‘geometry’ of these parts, thus an opportunity to limit any losses has presented itself by controlling where the concentrations happen. Tesla has filed this application to protect the process (‘method’) of building a motor with the geometry knowledge made part of the design and testing.
The process is described in the application’s Abstract as follows:
“A method of making an AC induction motor includes: providing a rotor and a stator for the AC induction motor; determining, for different geometries of an end ring of the rotor, a location of a first centroid of current density in the end ring; determining, for end turns of the stator, a location of a second centroid of current density in the end turns; selecting a geometry for at least the endring of the rotor so that an axial distance between the first centroid of current density and the second centroid of current density is minimized; and assembling the AC induction motor, wherein the end turns and the end ring have the selected geometries.”
Although the publication was only recently available to the public, this application is related to another patent that was filed in 2015, meaning that Tesla is likely already implementing the findings and invention into their manufacturing process. This is rather unsurprising considering the company’s tendency to constantly improve its vehicles’ components as soon as the upgrades are available. Elon Musk himself has mentioned this on Twitter, stating that Tesla’s electric cars are “partially upgraded every month as soon as a new subsystem is ready for production.” This was also highlighted by President of Automotive Jerome Guillen last December, when he highlighted that the designs of Tesla’s batteries are always evolving.
Automotive teardown expert Sandy Munro concluded following a thorough analysis of an early-production Model 3 that the vehicle’s electric motors are among the best in the industry today. In an appearance at YouTube’s Autoline TV, Munro noted that the Model 3’s electric motors are more efficient and more cost-effective than the motors found in the Chevy Bolt EV and the BMW i3. “They’ve got magic. The electric motor is smaller and lighter than everybody else, but outperforms everybody,” Munro said.
The full text of Tesla’s “Geometry of Rotor End Ring and Stator End Turns” patent can be accessed here.
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:
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:
🚨 Tesla has updated the $59,990 Cybertruck Dual Motor AWD’s estimated delivery date to April 2027.
First deliveries are still slated for June, but if you order it now, you’ll be waiting over a year.
Demand appears to be off the charts for the new Cybertruck and consumers are… pic.twitter.com/raDCCeC0zP
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 26, 2026
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
News
Tesla FSD (Supervised) could be approved in the Netherlands next month: Musk
Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin.
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.”
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.
Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes
Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt
