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Tesla Top 5 Week in Review: Model 3, Gigafactory, a brush with the law, and more
The Tesla Model 3 was big news again this week, as Tesla announced a February date for pilot production. Also, no longer will occupied Supercharger stations be so stress-inspiring, as Tesla has an onboard map update that shows Supercharger location availability. With news of a proposed federal import tax a topic of serious discussion, Tesla seemed on the winning side, with its prominent domestic manufacturing. The Gigafactory construction costs rose above $1 billion this week as noted through permits that Tesla filed. And a story emerged in which another Model S driver was detained by police who investigated reports of an abduction, only to quickly ascertain that rear-facing seats were the real culprit. Here are those stories in review.
Tesla to begin pilot production of Model 3 on February 20
Red Tesla Model 3 at the vehicle unveiling event on March 31, 2016 from the company’s Hawthorne, CA Design Center.
As the more affordable all-electric vehicle in the Tesla catalog, the announcement of Model 3 pilot production staring on February 20 brought smiles to a lot of faces. The Model 3 will have a base price of $35,000, and that’s before government tax incentives. The appealing Model 3 price point is just a start: it will offer a range of at least 215 miles. The Model 3 pilot production creates a vehicle that is targeted for demonstration and evaluation, as pilot manufacturing is used to calibrate the assembly line, assess the car against design standards, and confirm quality of outside suppliers’ components. Some Model 3 pilot vehicles will be destined for safety crash tests, while others will generate media visibility. Importantly, strong demand for the Model 3 will push Tesla’s production capabilities, already exceeding 373,000 pre-orders.
Tesla unlocks real-time Supercharger occupancy data on vehicle map
Any Tesla owner will attest to the frustration that happens when you pull up to a Supercharger stall and find that it’s occupied. Knowing what’s happening at Superchargers ahead is newly improved. Tesla owners can now see Supercharger stall availability at a particular moment in time. Owners have already begun to report that data has appeared via the map app in the form of little bars over Supercharger stations that display availability. This is a very important component of Tesla’s overall goal to reduce range anxiety for its customers and to provide the smoothest and easiest vehicle experience of any currently available on the market.
Tesla on the winning end of proposed U.S. import tax
A new study suggests that Tesla would be well-positioned if a proposed federal tax on imports is implemented. Baum & Associates LLC determined that most automakers would need to add thousands of dollars to vehicle sticker prices to compensate for costs incurred with the import tax. Jaguar’s Land Rover would experience the worst case scenario with price increases near to $17,000, as it imports all its vehicles. Companies with significant domestic manufacturing would absorb only the smallest price increases among major automakers, with Ford accruing about $282 per vehicle and General Motors Co. at about $995. With its extensive domestic manufacturing, Tesla is the sole automaker that may be able to keep prices level. The study’s goals were to expose the relative impact of the tax plan on each automaker, according to Alan Baum, founder of Michigan’s Baum & Associates.
Tesla Gigafactory surpasses $1 billion in construction costs: Section D/E addendum filed
Tesla, Inc. has been granted a total of 153 building permits for its Gigafactory to date from the Storey County Community Development Department. In sum, the permits correlate with an estimated $1.03 billion in construction costs. Storey County remitted these permits after receiving $5.58 million in fees from Tesla. Twenty-nine permits are mentioned in an addendum, which total $542.65 million of construction work. Many of the other permits relate to the installation and anchoring of the equipment needed for the factory. Other permits include a nitrogen yard, a thermal energy storage tank, and the Panasonic equipment installed in Section B and C. In addition, the installation and expansion of the contractor accommodation indicated the number of construction workers on site has increased.
Tesla Model S rear-facing child seats lead to false kidnapping report
Tesla Model S owners who have opted for additional, rear-facing seats are aware that their size and location offers a fun and efficient place for youngsters to sit. The Sheriff’s Department in Newhall, California, who responded to reports of an abduction, didn’t have this same background knowledge about the Tesla Model S. It turns out that “it was not a kidnapping,” according to Lt. Rob Hahnlein, who spoke on behalf of the Sheriff’s Deparment, but, rather, an individual assisting a child into a Tesla. “The new Teslas have a weird back seat,” Hahnlein acknowledged, “and when they put the (child) in the back seat it looked like they were putting them in the trunk.” The Sheriff’s Department noted how they are obliged to investigate every kidnapping report until the situation is resolved. They also detained the Tesla driver at gun point with the child observing from the seats in question.
Tesla has reached a notable benchmark in its autonomous driving program after its Robotaxi fleet surpassed one million miles of unsupervised operation. The company made the announcement during its Cybercab event in Austin on September 3.
Tesla Vice President of AI Ashok Elluswamy told attendees he was happy to report the fleet had achieved one million miles of unsupervised Robotaxi operation as a testament to safety.
The new total marked a sharp increase from the 380,000 unsupervised miles Tesla disclosed during its second-quarter 2026 earnings update in late July.
In roughly six weeks, the company added about 620,000 miles. That acceleration followed Tesla’s decision to remove in-vehicle safety monitors from most of its operations outside the San Francisco Bay Area.
Credit: Tesla
Tesla first launched Robotaxi service in Austin in June 2025 with safety drivers present. It later began fully unsupervised rides and expanded into Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. The San Francisco Bay Area remains the exception, where a safety monitor still rides in the vehicle under California permitting rules.
The company has not released a city-by-city breakdown of the one million unsupervised miles.
The milestone arrived as Tesla began offering public Cybercab rides in Austin. The purpose-built vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals and is designed only for autonomous ride-hailing. Production versions joined the existing fleet of modified Tesla vehicles already operating in the service.
Tesla’s unsupervised mileage is growing at a double-digit weekly rate according to earlier company comments, yet its fleet size remains modest compared with established competitors. Waymo has accumulated more than 200 million fully autonomous rider-only miles. Tesla has described its own unsupervised operations as having recorded zero notable incidents in the period leading up to the July update.
The one-million-mile figure reflects Tesla’s shift from supervised testing to broader driverless service in multiple states. It also highlights the company’s strategy of using both existing Model Y vehicles and the new Cybercab to scale its network.
Credit: Tesla
Whether the rapid recent growth continues will depend on further city expansions, regulatory approvals, and the performance of the purpose-built Cybercab in everyday paid rides. Tesla has not specified how many of the latest miles involved the new vehicle versus the rest of the fleet.
The announcement underscores Tesla’s progress toward a larger robotaxi network while illustrating the remaining gap in total autonomous experience relative to longer-operating rivals.
Tesla AI lead Ashok Elluswamy said this week that 24-hour Robotaxi service is close. Replying on X to a rider who wanted Cybercab trips all night, he wrote that the capability would arrive “next month or so” once “the next tech to merge on the v15 plan” is ready.
The comment landed on September 4, one day after Tesla opened public Cybercab rides in Austin. It is the clearest near-term timeline yet for overnight unsupervised operation. Tesla’s paid Robotaxi network currently runs from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week across Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa.
next month or so. the next tech to merge on the v15 plan will enable it.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) September 4, 2026
That 16-hour window is shorter than the 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. schedule the company used for much of the prior year.
Elluswamy did not name the specific feature or say whether the change would apply first to purpose-built Cybercabs, the existing Model Y fleet, or both. He also offered no city-by-city rollout list. The link to Full Self-Driving v15 is nevertheless significant.
Tesla has described v15 as a step-change architecture with seven parallel improvement tracks and roughly ten times more parameters than earlier builds. Early versions of that software already operate on the Robotaxi fleet and contain about 40 percent of the planned gains.
By July 2026, the unsupervised fleet had logged more than 380,000 miles across six cities in two states with what the company called an impeccable safety record and no notable incidents caused by the vehicles themselves. Tesla has repeatedly argued that camera-based end-to-end neural networks, rather than extra sensors, are the core of the solution.
Overnight service would test that claim in lower-light conditions and would also raise vehicle utilization, a key variable for Robotaxi unit economics. The company has already begun using public Superchargers at night and is building dedicated Robotaxi charging sites.
Riders have asked why software must change if the cars already drive in the dark. The practical answer appears to be reliability and scale: Tesla has held back mass expansion until more of the v15 stack is merged, citing the need for higher confidence before putting thousands of unoccupied vehicles on streets around the clock.
If the next module arrives on the timetable Elluswamy sketched, 24-hour service could begin in October 2026 in at least some markets.
That would mark a shift from a daytime-bounded pilot to a service that can run whenever demand exists, including the late-night hours that have so far remained out of reach.
Tesla is beginning to roll out Full Self-Driving Supervised v14.3.9 with a new active safety layer that can take control even when the driver is operating the car manually.
Tesla AI said the software can activate FSD on the driver’s behalf when an imminent collision is detected and Automatic Emergency Braking may not be enough. It may also engage if the system detects heavy distraction or an accidental FSD disengagement.
FSD Supervised v14.3.9 starting to roll out shortly
This release includes a new active safety feature set: FSD Supervised can now activate on your behalf when an imminent collision is detected and Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) may not be enough.
It may also engage if we…
— Tesla AI (@Tesla_AI) September 4, 2026
The capability is essentially Automatic Collision Evasion. However, unlike conventional AEB, which mainly applies the brakes in a straight line, this feature can use steering, braking, and acceleration together if the car calculates that stopping alone will not prevent impact and a safer path exists. The system may change lanes or move toward a shoulder when conditions allow, then continue driving after the immediate threat is handled rather than simply coming to a stop.
The intervention is meant as a last-resort safety net, not a replacement for attentive driving.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.7 early review: FSD saved me from an accident
Tesla’s own description still frames FSD as supervised assistance. Secondary reports on internal release notes say the feature can fire while the car is being driven manually if cabin-camera monitoring suggests the driver is not sufficiently attentive, such as reaching toward the back seat, or if FSD appears to have been turned off unintentionally.
After the emergency maneuver, the car is expected to alert the driver and request a return to manual control.
The safety case is straightforward. Many collisions happen in the last second because a driver is looking away, fumbles a control, or faces an obstacle that braking cannot fully solve. A system that can both recognize that AEB is insufficient and execute a coordinated evasive path can reduce those remaining high-severity events.
Re-engaging after accidental disengagement also addresses a practical failure mode: a small steering nudge that drops FSD at the worst moment. The advantage is a background safety net that uses the same vision stack already running in v14, instead of leaving the car solely to emergency braking once the driver is no longer in command.
The feature still depends on FSD being enabled and, according to reports, an active FSD purchase or subscription. It does not make the vehicle unsupervised. Drivers remain responsible, and Tesla has not published how often the system is expected to intervene or how it will handle false positives.
If the rollout is conservative and the false-alarm rate stays low, the update is a meaningful step: FSD is no longer only a feature the driver turns on. In the rare moments when disaster is already forming, it can step in.
Tesla crosses major Unsupervised Self-Driving milestone
Tesla Robotaxi will be a 24/7 service: here’s when
