December 31, 2019 held significance for Tesla, as it marked the end of another quarter. The day determined if the company could follow its momentum from Q3 2019 and turn in another profit. It also marked the final day when the $1875 federal tax credit could be applied. Yet, perhaps more importantly, the end of 2019 marked the day when Tesla potentially gained thousands upon thousands of new supporters and future influencers.
On New Year’s Eve, numerous dedicated Tesla owners decided to help out the electric car maker in its push to deliver as many cars as possible. Some provided orientations to new owners about the basic features and functions of their new electric vehicles. Others provided pointers about configuring their Teslas. Just like the past year, Tesla’s end-of-year deliveries were powered, at least to some degree, by regular owners who just happen to be passionate about their vehicles.
In Fremont, for example, large groups of people gathered on New Year’s Eve to take delivery of their cars. Unfortunately, the DMV caused a delay with issuing out license numbers, creating a backlog for many would-be owners. As the wait times turned to hours, Tesla owner-volunteers stepped up. Tesla Raj, a Model 3 owner who started a YouTube channel about his ownership experience, described how owner-volunteers contributed.
“We helped by pulling groups of people from the showroom to do orientations where we covered the car inside and out. This helped ease the stress and pain in the wait… Lots were very pleased that we were volunteering, and they were interested in who we are and why we were doing it. We had a member following customers to their car for 1-on-1 training, and I was in the lobby gathering groups of people for a walkthrough-orientation. They loved it. They felt a sense of the Tesla community and what we stand for,” Raj said.
True to his tweets, Tesla CEO Elon Musk also dropped by the Fremont site to help deliver cars to new owners. His mom, Maye, also paid a visit to the delivery center. Amidst all the waiting that resulted mostly from the DMV delay, Musk’s presence helped boost the morale of the Tesla employees. It also eased the patience of many owners looking to receive their cars. Arash Malek, a Model 3 owner-videographer who also volunteered his time on New Year’s Eve, described the atmosphere after the CEO’s arrival.
“Before Elon came, people were getting really frustrated. Some people had been waiting all day. But soon as Elon arrived, you could feel the energy change. I heard an employee behind me say, ‘This is why we love working for Tesla.’ It was pretty awesome and inspiring to see the CEO eager to help deliver cars. Raj and I along with other members of the (Tesla Owners) club were giving future Model 3 owners full tutorials on how to use their cars. Everyone was genuinely soo excited! I had some people ask me why am I volunteering to help on New Years’ Eve. I told them that if it was any other car company, I wouldn’t, but the Tesla community is so awesome that I felt honored to be able to help the mission,” Malek said.
Tesla would go on to deliver cars to new customers until the final moments of 2019, and reports from the community on social media suggested that deliveries happened even after midnight. Some have mentioned that their deliveries were pushed to the next few days as well. Yet, despite these challenges and tests of patience, the Tesla community did grow significantly on the 31st of December, and a lot of it was due to the thousands of volunteers who dedicated their time to help out newcomers to the Tesla community. Thousands, after all, saw a glimpse of the Tesla community and how it functioned, and that’s really what matters the most.
Seeing such a close-knit community of owners-enthusiasts and a driven CEO who spends a holiday with his employees is a pretty unique experience. Very few companies in the world have experienced something similar. The latest iPhones from Apple may invite long lines of waiting customers, but rarely does one see a longtime iOS user volunteering their time to help new owners with their devices. This is even more notable with other car brands. When was the last time avid Ford or GM enthusiasts volunteered at a dealership to help hand over cars? Such events would be difficult to recall.
From the Tesla volunteer-powered delivery push to Elon Musk’s contribution to the year-end deliveries, there is a good chance that a couple dozen of new owners in Fremont were inspired enough to be passionate community members themselves. Perhaps some would start their own Tesla-themed YouTube channels. Maybe some with start Tesla aftermarket businesses. Perhaps some will love their car enough to the point where they recommend Tesla to their close friends and family members. This is pretty much how the Tesla community has grown over the years. It’s just happening now at a far quicker rate, with the adoption of higher-volume vehicles like the Model 3.
EVgo has tapped Tesla Superchargers for its most recent efforts to expand its charging presence in the United States, a move that seems logical based on the effectiveness of the automaker’s own infrastructure.
EVgo opened its first Supercharger site in Illinois, a 12-stall station near downtown Chicago at 3145 South Ashland Avenue in the Riverside Square & River’s Edge center, right beside a grocery store. This marks the start of the company’s plan to deploy hundreds of Supercharger stalls across the United States, primarily at grocery-anchored Regency Centers properties where drivers can shop, eat, or run errands while they charge.
We’ve opened our first EVgo Supercharger location in Illinois, marking the start of our plan to add hundreds of Supercharger stalls across the U.S.
Designed for both NACS and CCS vehicles with Magic Dock technology, these new sites help make fast charging more accessible and convenient for all EV drivers. Learn more: https://t.co/V92t5FDryQ
— EVgo Fast Charging Network (@evgonetwork) November 5, 2026
The new location uses Tesla’s Magic Dock technology so both NACS and CCS vehicles can plug in natively without drivers needing to carry their own adapters. Peak power reaches 325 kW at this site, with pricing set between $0.25 and $0.35 per kWh depending on the hour—the same rate for Tesla and non-Tesla drivers.
The stalls also appear in Tesla’s in-car navigation and Trip Planner, making them easy for Tesla owners to find and route to. Illinois has seen EV registrations rise nearly 60 percent over the past two years, and EVgo’s broader network has experienced more than 700 percent growth in charging demand over three years, so the timing fits the market’s trajectory.
Choosing Tesla hardware through the Supercharger for Business program turns out to have been a smart, practical move.
Tesla’s V4 stalls and cabinets deliver high, reliable power with a proven track record of strong uptime, while Magic Dock delivers true dual-standard compatibility in one package. Because the sites show up in Tesla’s navigation tools, EVgo instantly gains visibility among millions of existing Tesla drivers, which should raise utilization and help the company double its addressable market as more vehicles adopt NACS. EVgo still owns the stations and sets pricing, yet benefits from Tesla’s established hardware, longer cables, and operational support.
The result is faster, lower-risk infrastructure expansion that serves every EV driver—Tesla or otherwise—with convenient, high-power charging at everyday retail locations. For drivers, that means fewer adapters, more predictable stops, and a denser network just as electric vehicles become everyday transportation.
Tesla’s Austin Gigafactory is reportedly shifting to round-the-clock vehicle production through the end of 2026, according to longtime drone observer Joe Tegtmeyer.
In his November 2 update, Tegtmeyer, widely regarded as one of the most reliable independent sources on Giga Texas activity (we call him the Drone GOAT), stated that the plant has added a night shift, creating two 12-hour production shifts.
Tegtmeyer said in his video:
“Now, I do have some interesting news about that when it comes to the production schedule here at Giga Texas, and things are actually looking pretty good, especially when you think about what the demand is and the delivery numbers that they’re looking for and what they’re expecting. So, normally they have shifts Monday through Friday. It’s a day shift and it’s about 10 hours long or so, give or take. But now they’re on day and night shifts and they’re going to 12-hour days. So they’re going to be adding or they have another shift. They have 12 hours for both of them. In addition to that, the typical downtime that we’re going to be seeing around the holidays, specifically Thanksgiving and Christmas to the New Year time frame is actually changed. And we’re not going to see those big several day events where there is no production. At least that’s what the plan is right now. So, it’s really a great sign, I think, when we consider what they’ve done in the past and what production and the deliveries have been so far. So, maybe it’s shaping up to be a really strong quarter.”
Previously, General Assembly typically operated on a single roughly 10-hour day shift, Monday through Thursday or Friday. The new arrangement keeps General Assembly on its Monday-to-Thursday schedule while adding overnight capacity, and most other areas of the factory continue working the full week with some weekend activity.
Notably, the plant is also forgoing the multi-day shutdowns around Thanksgiving and the Christmas–New Year period that have occurred in prior years
Giga Texas currently builds the Model Y, the larger Model Y L, the Cybertruck, and the Cybercab robotaxi. Tesla has not confirmed the shift change or specified which lines will receive the extra output. Recent comments suggest Cybercab production has been constrained by the pace at which the Robotaxi fleet can absorb new vehicles, making the Model Y and Model Y L the more likely beneficiaries as the company works through order backlogs.
Tegtmeyer’s November 2 footage and commentary also highlighted broader site progress. Cortex 2 continues to expand, with additional compute coming online, a roughly 25 percent lengthening of the structure on the north end, and work on a third cooling plant.
The Boring Company tunnel site showed increased activity in the large launch pit, while the Advanced Technology Chip Fab (a SpaceX–Tesla joint R&D facility) continued steel superstructure and heavy truss installation, along with concrete pours.
The reported capacity increase arrives as Tesla aims for a strong fourth quarter following solid third-quarter results. While unconfirmed by the company, the information aligns with Tegtmeyer’s consistent track record of accurate on-site observations.
If Tesla makes the decision to sustain the all-day production plans, the dual 12-hour shifts would meaningfully raise weekly output potential at one of Tesla’s most important manufacturing hubs.
News
Tesla opens new “Cybaer” Engineering Center in Berlin
Tesla opened its Berlin Engineering Center, uniting four sites and 30 labs near Giga Berlin.
Tesla has opened a new engineering hub in Berlin, putting the teams that design and test its European parts about 30 minutes from the factory that builds them.
The Berlin Tesla Engineering Center, or BTEC, opened Wednesday in the Köpenick district. Tesla Europe said on X that the project went from permit to operational in under a year and consolidates four engineering sites and 30 labs onto a single campus. It is the company’s third hub of this kind, after Fremont and Shanghai.
“We’re combining materials, powertrain, vehicle engineering & validation under one roof, enabling a short feedback loop between development & ramp,” Tesla Europe wrote.
Berlin Tesla Engineering Center opens today From permit to operational in under a year, it brings 4 engineering sites onto 1 campus w/ 30 different labs in Köpenick, 30 minutes from Giga Berlin With our 3rd hub of this kind after Fremont & Shanghai, we’re combining materials, powertrain, vehicle engineering & validation under one roof – enabling a short feedback loop between development & ramp — Tesla Europe, Middle East & Africa (@teslaeurope) November 4, 2026
Tesla converted the former production halls of a cable factory for the site. About 250 engineers and technicians are starting there, most of them relocated from existing Tesla facilities such as Tilburg in the Netherlands. Tesla has already applied for approval of a second phase that would take the headcount to roughly 500, and it put the total investment at €100 million.
The labs cover battery cells, motors, materials and complete vehicles, and a large hall is set aside for safety testing of components, including airbags. During the opening, staff demonstrated a pedestrian leg impact test on the front of a Tesla using a catapult rig, Tagesspiegel reported. The center’s logo is a cubist Berlin bear that employees call the “Cybaer.”
Tesla said its Berlin design and engineering teams already contributed to the Model Y, Semi and Roadster, and that the work continues at BTEC. The center will handle technical problem solving for Giga Berlin in Grünheide while also developing and validating parts for vehicles built in China and the United States.
“We came here to stay,” BTEC head Brückner told dpa. “We serve all of Europe via Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg.” He said a site close to the plant was a priority, and that the old industrial building allowed Tesla to move quickly.
That proximity matters more now that Giga Berlin is growing again. In June, Tesla said it would raise Model Y output at the plant to 7,500 vehicles per week and hire 1,000 more workers after a record first quarter of more than 61,000 units. The factory recently built 7,000 Model Ys in a single week for the first time. Tesla also more than doubled the planned 4680 cell capacity at the site to 18 GWh per year in May, and has talked about eventually taking Grünheide to one million vehicles annually.
Sales are giving Tesla reason to invest. KBA data released the same day showed Tesla’s German registrations nearly quadrupled year over year in October to 2,932 units, bringing the total for the first ten months of 2026 to 47,742.
EVgo taps Tesla Superchargers for mass charging expansion
Tesla Giga Texas reportedly moves to 24/7 production
