News
Tesla prepares Fremont ‘tent’ with new lines
Update: Para 1, 8, 10, and 15 updated for accuracy to show speculation. GA 4 is location of Model Y production, and potentially some Model 3 production.
Tesla is preparing the Fremont Factory for mass production of the either the updated Highland Model 3 or Model Y “Project Juniper” as it continues to refine manufacturing lines on the floor of General Assembly 4, the tent where the all-electric sedan is built.
Tesla has been preparing to launch a newly-refined version of the Model 3 for nearly a year now.
After initial reports late last year indicated the automaker was in the process of revamping the sedan, Teslarati revealed filings that showed the company had already been preparing Fremont for the early manufacturing stages as early as last Summer.
For roughly 11 months, Tesla has been making moves to build the earliest versions of the Highland Model 3, and images of the car finally leaked last month, showing a refined front-end design and several other changes.
Yesterday, we reported that Tesla was planning to demo a line at the Fremont Factory and build a completely new one in the same area. Filings seen by Teslarati showed Tesla was planning to install “Updated” equipment, and while it could be a simple retooling or installation of fresh machines, the automaker hasn’t commonly used “Updated” in its filings.
Tesla will demo and update a production line at Fremont, perhaps for new Highland Model 3
When it retools lines, it explicitly states it is a retool. Tesla has commonly used “Improvements,” “Upgrades,” or “Revisions,” but not “Updates.”
It also only explicitly uses “Demo” when it is planning to completely replace whatever line or machine is being torn out and fitted with something new.
Teslarati viewed filings that appear to indicate the line that is being replaced is located inside General Assembly 4, or GA 4. The filing shows building F-21 is where the new line is being built and the old one is being torn down. Other F-21 building filings are identified as “GA4.”
Tesla flyover captures Model 3 rolling off Fremont’s giant tent assembly line
While it is not necessarily a “tent,” the proper term is “sprung structure,” which are high-performance tension fabric buildings that are quickly built and can handle things like severe weather due to their integrity.
Tesla uses multiple sprung structures on the Fremont Factory property for automotive production, as the main assembly buildings were already filled with equipment for other vehicles. The Model Y is built in GA 4.5, as well.
Tesla is evidently preparing to introduce the Model 3 Highland design relatively soon, and with the company’s Shareholder Meeting happening this evening, there is some speculation the company could come forward with more details regarding the new look.
The timing of Tesla’s revamped line in GA4 is extremely interesting, especially as there has been a lot of talk of new vehicle builds being produced soon. With the vehicle changing, Tesla will need to update lines, and instead of simply retooling or modifying them for a simple equipment change, it has opted to completely demo the line and build a new one.
This points mostly toward a new vehicle design. Additionally, in an attempt to potentially avoid a drastic stoppage in Model 3 production, Tesla’s inventory of the Model 3 has swelled to levels that have reached their highest levels in 2023 thus far.
Early December 2022 was the last time Tesla’s Model 3 inventory has reached these levels, according to Tesla Data.
Tesla has remained relatively tight-lipped surrounding the Model 3 Highland project and Model Y project Juniper and has not explicitly confirmed the effort. Rumors of the vehicle being manufactured at Giga Shanghai in China circulated, but the company quickly denied them.
The recent images of the design, which were leaked on Reddit, seem to indicate something rather drastic is in the works.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
The Tesla Model Y L is arguably the most hyped trim of the all-electric crossover, other than the Performance configuration that comes with white-knuckle speed and sports car-level handling.
However, it is not all perfect. Tesla owners in China who took delivery of the Model Y L, denoted with an L to highlight its longer wheelbase, are experiencing what they are referring to as “collapsing” of the rear wheels, as suspension issues appear to be an issue with some of the builds.
🚨 Model Y L owners in China report rear suspension sag
• Six-seat long-wheelbase Y. Shanghai. On sale since August 2025
• Owners say the rear tire-to-arch gap shrinks after mileage or a full load. Some cases after about 9,000 km loaded. Others near 30,000 km
• Tesla service… pic.twitter.com/Lr6i5Tbi07— Joe Hansen (@joehansen) September 1, 2026
The gap between the wheel arch and tire has narrowed to the point that “not even a single finger” could fit, according to a report from Car News China. The failures are not tied to a specific mileage, as one owner said that after just 9,000 kilometers (5,600 miles), they noticed the suspension issue when their car was fully loaded.
Another one had the issue at 30,000 kilometers (18,640 miles) and noticed that the wheel gap shrank to two fingers, so not as drastic as the person who reported a similar issue at 9,000 km.
Tesla Model Y L is gaining momentum in China’s premium segment
Along with the visual recognition of the issue, others are saying the sagging is causing abnormal wear on the inside of the tires. Extra weight and instant torque already provide additional stress on the tires in electric vehicles during normal operation, so it is no surprise that this is another complaint.
There has been no recall issued by Tesla, and the company has not yet publicly acknowledged the issue.
Some are suggesting that owners use a “finger test” to self-diagnose whether there is an issue with the suspension. There should be four fingers between the tire and the wheel well; anything less than that starts to get dicey.
Tesla is starting to truly tease and hype its groundbreaking Cybercab event, which takes place tomorrow in Austin, Texas. It will be the first time members of the public will be able to ride in a Cybercab, a vehicle without any manual controls, on public roads.
Tesla has been dropping some hype on X over the past several days, but this morning, the excitement has truly started to build up for the event. Although Cybercab has been unveiled before, this is truly Tesla’s announcement that it is ready to start offering autonomous rides for public passengers in its new ride-hailing-geared vehicle for the first time.
The hype has started with a variety of different social media posts that are a true indication that Tesla is preparing for something big. Teasing so much of the potential of Cybercab, including its ability to truly revolutionize how people hail rides for local travel, is what the big idea for the event entails. The time that many Tesla owners, fans, and investors have been waiting for is potentially here:
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 2, 2026
The event has remained slim on details. Even invitees are still awaiting true details about what the event will entail, where they’ll go, and what is in store for the evening. This is pretty typical for an event run by Tesla; they keep things under wraps for the most part until the very last minute.
However, there is no secret about what the real intention of Tesla is for this event: it is going to be a huge reveal party for a vehicle that has no steering wheel and no pedals. It is a truly massive step for the company moving forward.
No steering wheel, no pedals
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) September 2, 2026
Speculation persists as to whether this is going to be an event that simply announces that rides will begin with the Cybercab, or it will be something more substantial. Tesla has said in the past that they plan to sell the Cybercab to the general public in what could become a great way to earn passive income by adding it to a more global fleet of Robotaxi-geared vehicles.
Tomorrow, the show begins in Austin, and the Cybercab goes live at some capacity; we just don’t know exactly how quite yet.
News
SpaceX tells the FCC that Starship Flight 14 is going to orbit
SpaceX filed with the FCC for Starship Flight 14, its first true orbital launch attempt.
SpaceX has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to fly Starlink terminals during Starship’s fourteenth flight test, and the filing lays out a genuine trip to orbit, something the program has never attempted.
Every Starship flight so far, including Flight 13’s successful splashdown in the Indian Ocean on July 24, has flown a suborbital arc that ends with the ship reentering the atmosphere within the same hour it launches. The FCC paperwork describes a mission profile built around an actual orbital insertion instead.
The payload is the other half of the story. Flight 13 carried 20 production Starlink V3 satellites, but because that mission never reached orbit, the satellites reentered along with the ship rather than joining the constellation, something Teslarati covered in detail after SpaceX released footage shot from one of those satellites as it drifted away from Starship in space. Flight 14 is designed to close that gap. If the orbital insertion holds, the roughly 20 V3 satellites onboard would separate into an operational orbit and could eventually go into service, each one rated for about 1 terabit per second of downlink capacity by SpaceX’s own account.
SpaceX announces new Starbase for ‘thousands of Starship launches annually’
Elon Musk first flagged the orbital attempt during SpaceX’s August 4 earnings call, the company’s first as a public entity following its June IPO under the ticker SPCX. He also floated catching the ship with the Starbase tower on the same flight, an idea he walked back on August 20, saying the catch attempt would more likely come “in a few months,” as Teslarati reported at the time. Flight 14 will instead target a splashdown for the ship in the Indian Ocean, the same recovery method used since Flight 12.
Hardware has been catching up to the ambition. Booster 21 completed a full 33-engine static fire on August 28, and Ship 41 finished its own six-engine test the week before. An airspace briefing circulated to pilots on August 20 listed September 15 as the target date, later than the end of August window Musk mentioned on the earnings call, though SpaceX has not confirmed a launch date publicly and Starship schedules routinely slip while hardware and FAA paperwork line up.
The FCC filing itself does not guarantee a launch date. It covers communications authority, and not flight readiness, considering SpaceX still needs Ship 41 fully stacked and cleared by the FAA before Flight 14 can fly. But the filing is a real marker of intent and it puts a specific regulatory process behind what had so far only been Musk’s word on the earnings call.
Tesla Model Y L gets suspension complaints in over odd issue China
Tesla Cybercab event gains steam ahead of massive launch
