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Tesla vehicles with 4680 battery cells on track for testing next year

Credit: Tesla Inc.

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Tesla aims to start testing vehicles equipped with 4680 battery cells by next year.

During the Q3 2021 earning call, Drew Baglino—Tesla’s Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Engineering—answered an investor question about 4680 battery cells.

“Early next year, from a non-cell perspective, structural, battery, crash, range, and reliability testing are on track to be complete this quarter. Testing is—to date has gone well, and the Fremont manufacturing line is on track to support,” said Baglino.

Baglino’s response hinted that Tesla’s 4680 production line on Kato Road saw some promising results, specifically in terms of performance. However, Tesla still appears to be moving forward with caution, choosing to prioritize quality to produce safe battery cells.

“However, similar to what Zach said before, this is a new architecture, and unknown unknowns may exist still. Our top priority is ensuring quality in what we deliver. And from a cell perspective, we are comfortable with the design maturity and manufacturing readiness, matching the pack timeline I just mentioned,” Baglino added.

Baglino’s update bodes well for the rollout of vehicles like the Cybertruck and the Tesla Semi, both of which are heavily speculated to be equipped with 4680 cells due to their large size and substantial power requirements. Considering the Tesla executive’s statement, it would not be surprising if more prototypes of the Cybertruck and the Semi would be sighted on the roads in the coming year.

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At the earnings call, Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Zach Kirkhorn mentioned that commodity prices were rising. Kirkhorn confirmed that Tesla was affected by the spike in raw materials for batteries. He explained that Tesla’s primary exposure to the almost 40% spike in raw materials centered around nickel and aluminum.

Kirkhorn elaborated that Tesla has a mixture of contracts with various suppliers for raw materials. For instance, earlier this month, Tesla signed a supply deal with Prony Resources to purchase 42,000 tonnes of nickel in a multi-year deal.

Kirkhorn predicted more cost headwinds for raw materials, resulting from volatility and substantial price increases.

“And as contracts expire there or we have to renew and extend them, we’ll have to return to negotiations. And so, you know, what we have to do as a company and what we are intensely focused on is we need to be continuing to drive down the cost of our products, which we have been doing. And we have to overcome cost increases that are outside of our control,” Kirkhorn elaborated.

“So whether that’s resourcing components or redesigning components or finding ways to be more efficient in manufacturing, we have no choice but to continue on that path and be even more aggressive in the light of the macroeconomics here,” he said.

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Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package hits first adversity from proxy firm

ISS said the size of the pay package will enable Musk to have access to “extraordinarily high pay opportunities over the next ten years,” and it will have an impact on future packages because it will “reduce the board’s ability to meaningfully adjust future pay levels.”

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tesla elon musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package, which was proposed by the company last month, has hit its first bit of adversity from proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS).

Musk has called the firm “ISIS,” a play on its name relating it to the terrorist organization, in the past.

The pay package aims to lock in Musk to the CEO role at Tesla for the next decade, as it will only be paid in full if he is able to unlock each tranche based on company growth, which will reward shareholders.

However, the sum is incredibly large and would give Musk the ability to become the first trillionaire in history, based on his holdings. This is precisely why ISS is advising shareholders to vote against the pay plan.

The group said that Musk’s pay package will lock him in, which is the goal of the Board, and it is especially important to do this because of his “track record and vision.”

However, it also said the size of the pay package will enable Musk to have access to “extraordinarily high pay opportunities over the next ten years,” and it will have an impact on future packages because it will “reduce the board’s ability to meaningfully adjust future pay levels.”

The release from ISS called the size of Musk’s pay package “astronomical” and said its design could continue to pay the CEO massive amounts of money for even partially achieving the goals. This could end up in potential dilution for existing investors.

If Musk were to reach all of the tranches, Tesla’s market cap could reach up to $8.5 trillion, which would make it the most valuable company in the world.

Tesla has made its own attempts to woo shareholders into voting for the pay package, which it feels is crucial not only for retaining Musk but also for continuing to create value for shareholders.

Tesla launched an ad for Elon Musk’s pay package on Paramount+

Musk has also said he would like to have more ownership control of Tesla, so he would not have as much of an issue with who he calls “activist shareholders.”

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Tesla is adding an interesting feature to its centerscreen in a coming update

In a recent dissection of coding, Tesla hacker green noticed that the company is bringing in screenshare with Software Update 2025.38

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is adding an interesting feature to its center touchscreen in a coming update, according to a noted hacker.

In a recent dissection of coding, Tesla hacker green noticed that the company is bringing in screenshare with Software Update 2025.38. Details on the use case are slim, but he said the feature would export the car screen so it could be viewed remotely.

It would bring up a notification on the screen, along with a four-digit pin that would link the two together:

As previously mentioned, the use case is unclear, but there are some ideas. One of which is for remote support, which is something Apple has used to help resolve issues with its products.

Support staff and employees routinely tap into customers’ screens to help resolve issues, so this could be a way Tesla could also use it.

This seems especially relevant with Robotaxi, as the screen might be a crucial part of resolving customer complaints when there is no employee in the car.

Additionally, it seems as if it will not be exclusive to those owners who have newer vehicles that utilize the AMD chip. Intel will get support with the new feature as well, according to what green has noticed in the coding.

Finally, it could also be used with all sorts of content creation, especially as Full Self-Driving videos and what the vehicle sees in Driver Visualization.

As it is released, Tesla will likely release more information regarding what the screensharing mode will be used for.

For right now, many owners are wondering where it could actually work and what advantages it will offer for owners as well as the company itself.

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Elon Musk

SpaceX posts Starship booster feat that’s so nutty, it doesn’t even look real

The Super Heavy booster’s feat was so impressive that the whole maneuver almost looked like it was AI-generated.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

SpaceX has shared a video of a remarkable feat achieved by Starship’s Super Heavy booster during its 11th flight test.

The Super Heavy booster’s feat was so impressive that the whole maneuver, which was captured on video, almost looked like it was AI-generated.

Super Heavy’s picture perfect hover

As could be seen in the video shared by SpaceX, Starship’s Super Heavy booster, which is nearly 400 feet tall, smoothly returned to Earth and hovered above the Gulf of America for a few seconds before it went for its soft water landing. The booster’s picture-perfect maneuver before splashing down all but capped a near-flawless mission for Starship, which is about to enter its V3 era with Flight 12.

The booster’s balance and stability were so perfect that some users on X joked that the whole thing looked AI-generated. Considering the size of Super Heavy, as well as the fact that the booster was returning from space, the hovering display all but showed that SpaceX is dead serious about keeping its dominant lead in the spaceflight sector.

Starship V2’s curtain call

As noted in a Space.com report, Flight Test 11 achieved every major goal SpaceX had set for the mission, including deploying Starlink mass simulators, relighting Raptor engines in space, and executing a stable reentry for both the Starship Upper Stage and the Super Heavy booster. The feat also marked the second time a Super Heavy booster has been reflown, a milestone in SpaceX’s quest to make the entire Starship system fully reusable.

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Starship’s V2 vehicle will now give way to the upgraded Starship V3, which is designed for faster turnaround and higher payload capacity. The Starship program is expected to pursue even more aggressive targets in the coming months as well, with Elon Musk stating on social media platform X that SpaceX will attempt a tower catch for Starship Upper Stage as early as spring 2026.

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