News
Tesla’s ‘skunkworks lab’ for its custom battery cell pilot production line is growing
Tesla’s Battery Day may still be a couple of months away, but hints about the highly-anticipated event’s details are already abounding. With Elon Musk specifically mentioning that the event will be held in Fremont, and that it will include a tour of the company’s pilot battery cell production line, it appears that previous reports, which point to a “skunkworks lab” in the city, were accurate. What’s more, documents filed by the electric car maker in previous months seem to indicate that its mysterious pilot battery cell facility is growing.
Initial leaks and reports about Tesla’s mysterious “skunkworks lab” were posted as early as June 2019, with a CNBC article stating that the facility is located at Kato Road, just a few minutes away from the Fremont factory, where the Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y are built. Citing former and current Tesla employees, the news agency stated that Tesla’s R&D teams were focused on prototyping and designing advanced lithium-ion batteries, as well as new equipment and processes that could usher in the mass production of the next-gen cells.
These batteries are now widely speculated to be the million-mile battery that has been mentioned by the company. The million-mile battery is a significant part of Tesla’s game plan, being the one defining factor that could help electric vehicles achieve price parity with gas powered cars, and allow battery storage devices to last decades when deployed. Amidst the wait for Battery Day, speculations are abounding that Tesla will be conducting a deep dive into its million-mile batteries during the event, similar to how Autonomy Day included an in-depth discussion on the company’s custom Hardware 3.0 computer.
As it turned out, Tesla’s skunkworks lab at Kato Road has been very busy this year. A proposal submitted last March, for example, outlines plans to redevelop the existing site by adding floors to the facility. According to Tesla, the redesigned building will be housing 45 research and development employees and up to 425 manufacturing workers that are spread through several shifts from Monday through Friday. This appears to suggest that the company, as early as March this year, was looking to ramp the battery cell output of its pilot production line.
Interestingly enough, Tesla has also been posting multiple job listings on its Careers page that were specifically focused on battery cell manufacturing. By May 2020, Tesla had posted job listings for Cell Engineers, Production Process Engineers, and Controls Engineers. A look at these listings would show references to a battery cell manufacturing operations, and as luck would have it, the posts listed Fremont, California as their location.
Further documents show that Tesla had also requested to increase its power demand by 6 MW, further hinting that activities in the site are poised to ramp soon. This proposal, based on a response from PG&E that was recently shared online, was approved.
Based on these filings and job listings, it is evident that Tesla’s pilot battery cell manufacturing line has been ramping, or at least is poised to ramp, its operations. This is particularly impressive, considering that the Kato Road facility, which reportedly hosts the company’s skunkworks lab, is a fairly small site, comprising of two buildings that cover 184,880 sq. ft. combined. This means that even in this relatively small location, Tesla has been able to create a pilot line for a new breed of batteries that can change the EV game. This is quite a significant accomplishment, considering that previous battery lines are known to consume a lot of space.
Tesla’s Gigafactory Nevada facility is the perfect example of this. Giga Nevada primarily produces battery cells, and it is poised to be one of the largest buildings in the world by footprint once it’s complete. If Tesla’s pilot battery cell production line in Kato Road is indeed fully functional and ramped, then one can only imagine how much more batteries facilities like Gigafactory Nevada can produce with the company’s next-generation technology.
Tesla’s proposal for an expansion of its Kato Road facility could be accessed below.
Tesla Kato Road Update by Simon Alvarez on Scribd
H/T JPR007
News
Tesla Model Y sold out in China for 2025
Customers who wish to get their cars by the end of the year would likely need to get an inventory unit.
It appears that the Model Y has been sold out for 2025 in China. This seems to be true for the four variants of the vehicle that are currently offered in the country.
Tesla China’s order page update
A look at Tesla China’s order page for the Model Y shows a message informing customers that those who wish to guarantee delivery by the end of the year should purchase an inventory unit. This was despite the Model Y RWD and Model Y L showing an estimated delivery timeline of 4-8 weeks, and the Model Y Long Range RWD and Model Y Long Range AWD showing 4-13 weeks.
As per industry watchers, these updates on the Model Y’s order page suggest that Tesla China’s sales capacity for the remainder of 2025 has been sold out. The fact that estimated delivery timeframes for the Model Y Long Range RWD and AWD extend up to 13 weeks also bodes well for demand for the vehicle, especially given strong rivals like the Xiaomi YU7, which undercuts the Model Y in price.
Tesla China’s upcoming big updates
What is quite interesting is that Tesla China is still competing in the country with one hand partly tied behind its back. So far, Tesla has only been able to secure partial approval for its flagship self-driving software, FSD, in China. This has resulted in V14 not being rolled out to the country yet. Despite this, Tesla China’s “Autopilot automatic assisted driving on urban roads,” as the system is called locally, has earned positive reviews from users.
As per Elon Musk during the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting, however, Tesla is expecting to secure full approval for FSD in China in early 2026. “We have partial approval in China, and we hopefully will have full approval in China around February or March or so. That’s what they’ve told us,” Musk said.
News
Tesla Full Self-Driving appears to be heading to Europe soon
For years, Musk has said the process for gaining approval in Europe would take significantly more time than it does in the United States. Back in 2019, he predicted it would take six to twelve months to gain approval for Europe, but it has taken much longer.
Tesla Full Self-Driving appears to be heading to Europe soon, especially as the company has continued to expand its testing phases across the continent.
It appears that the effort is getting even bigger, as the company recently posted a job for a Vehicle Operator in Prague, Czech Republic.
This would be the third country the company is seeking a Vehicle Operator in for the European market, joining Germany and Hungary, which already have job postings in Berlin, Prüm, and Budapest, respectively.
🚨Breaking: Tesla is hiring vehicle operators in Prague. pic.twitter.com/CbiJdQLCLj
— Tesla Yoda (@teslayoda) November 19, 2025
This position specifically targets the Engineering and Information Technology departments at Tesla, and not the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence job category that relates to Robotaxi job postings.
Although there has been a posting for Robotaxi Operators in the Eastern Hemisphere, more specifically, Israel, this specific posting has to do with data collection, likely to bolster the company’s position in Europe with FSD.
The job description says:
“We are seeking a highly motivated employee to strengthen our team responsible for vehicle data collection. The Driver/Vehicle Operator position is tasked with capturing high-quality data that contributes to improving our vehicles’ performance. This role requires self-initiative, flexibility, attention to detail, and the ability to work in a dynamic environment.”
It also notes the job is for a fixed term of one year.
The position requires operation of a vehicle for data collection within a defined area, and requires the Vehicle Operator to provide feedback to improve data collection processes, analyze and report collected data, and create daily driving reports.
The posting also solidifies the company’s intention to bring its Full Self-Driving platform to Europe in the coming months, something it has worked tirelessly to achieve as it spars with local regulators.
For years, Musk has said the process for gaining approval in Europe would take significantly more time than it does in the United States. Back in 2019, he predicted it would take six to twelve months to gain approval for Europe, but it has taken much longer.
This year, Musk went on to say that the process of getting FSD to move forward has been “very frustrating,” and said it “hurts the safety of the people of Europe.”
Elon Musk clarifies the holdup with Tesla Full Self-Driving launch in Europe
The latest update Musk gave us was in July, when he said that Tesla was awaiting regulatory approval.
News
Tesla celebrates 75k Superchargers, less than 5 months since 70k-stall milestone
Tesla’s 75,000th stall is hosted at the South Hobart Smart Store on Cascade Road, South Hobart, Tasmania.
Tesla has crossed another major charging milestone by officially installing its 75,000th Supercharger stall worldwide. The electric vehicle maker chose South Hobart, Tasmania, as the commemorative location of its 75,000th Supercharger.
Tesla’s 75,000th Supercharger
Tesla’s 75,000th stall is hosted at the South Hobart Smart Store on Cascade Road, South Hobart, TAS 7004, as noted in a techAU report. The location features four next-generation V4 Superchargers, which are built with longer cables that should make it easy even for non-Teslas to use the rapid charger. The site also includes simplified payment options, aligning with Tesla’s push to make V4 stations more accessible to a broader set of drivers.
For Tasmanian EV owners, the installation fills an important regional gap, improving long-distance coverage around Hobart and strengthening the area’s appeal for mainland travelers traveling by electric vehicle. Similar to other commemorative Superchargers, the 70,000th stall is quite special as it is finished in Glacier Blue paint. Tesla’s 50,000th stall, which is in California, is painted a stunning red, and the 60,000th stall, which is in Japan, features unique origami-inspired graphics.
Accelerating Supercharger milestones
The Tesla Supercharger’s pace of expansion shows no signs of slowing. Tesla celebrated its 70,000th stall at a 12-stall site in Burleson, Texas late June 2025. Just eight months earlier, Tesla announced that it had celebrated the buildout of its 60,000th Supercharger, which was built in Enshu Morimachi, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
Tesla’s Supercharger Network also recently received accolades in the United Kingdom, with the 2025 Zapmap survey naming the rapid charging system as the Best Large EV Charging Network for the second year in a row. Survey respondents praised the Supercharger Network for its ease of use, price, and reliability, which is best-in-class. The fact that the network has also been opened for non-Teslas is just icing on the cake.
Tesla Model Y sold out in China for 2025
Tesla Full Self-Driving appears to be heading to Europe soon
