

News
Tesla opts for U.S. battery production, German battery plans take a backseat
Tesla is reportedly prioritizing its plans to build batteries in the United States instead of Germany, as government incentives are more favorable in the U.S.
Tesla originally planned to build battery cells in Germany at Gigafactory Berlin to support electric vehicle production. The automaker had plans for 50 gigawatt hours of production annually when fully ramped, but now Tesla is reportedly switching up the plans as the United States is incentivizing domestic battery production.
Reuters said in its report that the Brandenburg Economy Ministry confirmed Tesla’s plans in a statement:
“Tesla has started its battery system production in Grünheide and is preparing to manufacture battery cell components. The company has prioritized further production steps in the USA because tax incentives make business conditions more favorable there.”
Tesla reportedly started battery production in Berlin last week, according to Economic Minister Jörg Steinbach. Steinbach said last week that Gigafactory Berlin was already “buzzing” with activity and already operational.
Tesla Giga Berlin battery plant starts initial operations: report
In October, the Biden Administration announced $2.8 billion in grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that aims to help manufacturing and processing companies. Additionally, President Biden announced the American Battery Materials Initiative, which wants to secure reliable and sustainable supplies of critical minerals used to build EVs.
Tesla has been attempting to ramp up 4680 production in the United States and had reached enough volume at the end of 2022 to support the manufacturing of 1,000 battery packs. While this is an impressive feat, Tesla is still working to continue the growth of the 4680 program and is building cells in Fremont, California.
Tesla will also build 4680 cells in Austin, Texas, at its Gigafactory Texas facility. Additionally, the automaker announced a $3.6 billion investment in Nevada, where it will expand the Tesla Gigafactory in Sparks.
In late January, Tesla said it would hire an additional 6,500 employees at the Gigafactory and had plans to produce 100 GWh of 4680 cells, which would be enough for 2 million vehicles annually.
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News
“Worthy of respect:” Six-seat Model Y L acknowledged by Tesla China’s biggest rivals
Tesla China’s biggest competitors seem to be welcoming the impending arrival of the upcoming six-seater.

Tesla’s upcoming launch of the Model Y L in China has drawn praise from the CEOs of rival automakers Nio and Li Auto. While the upcoming extended all-electric crossover has the potential to make a huge impact in the domestic Chinese auto market, some of Tesla China’s biggest competitors seem to be welcoming the impending arrival of the upcoming six-seater.
NIO and Li Auto CEO react
Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li responded to Tesla’s announcement on Weibo, stating that with improvements in charging, battery swap infrastructure, and continued innovation in technology and product design, the era of large-space electrified SUVs has fully arrived. He referenced Nio’s sub-brand Onvo and its new L90 SUV as a product born from this shift in the market and encouraged the industry to “power up together,” as noted in a report from CNEV Post.
Li Auto CEO Li Xiang also weighed in, calling the Model Y L a “six-seat pure electric SUV worthy of respect.” He also suggested that consumers interested in vehicles priced between RMB 200,000 and RMB 300,000 should keep an eye on it. He also mentioned his company’s upcoming Li i6, a five-seat all-electric SUV that’s expected to debut in September, as a strong option for buyers not seeking third row seats.
New Model Y L
Tesla confirmed on its official Weibo account that the Model Y L will officially launch in China this fall. The vehicle appeared in China’s MIIT regulatory catalog, which revealed that the Model Y L will feature a longer body and extended wheelbase designed to accommodate its new three-row layout.
The Model Y L measures 4,976 mm in length with a wheelbase of 3,040 mm, compared to the standard five-seat Model Y’s 4,797 mm length and 2,890 mm wheelbase. While Tesla has yet to announce official pricing, industry reports suggest it could be positioned around RMB 400,000. It remains to be seen if the Model Y L will also be produced in the United States and Germany.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk reveals SpaceX’s target for Starship’s 10th launch
Elon Musk has revealed SpaceX’s target timeline for the next Starship launch, which will be the tenth in program history.

Elon Musk has revealed SpaceX’s target timeline for the next Starship launch, which will be the tenth in program history.
Musk says SpaceX is aiming for a timeline of roughly three weeks from now, which would come about ten weeks after the previous launch.
Coincidentally, it would bring the two launches 69 days apart, and if you know anything about Elon Musk, that would be an ideal timeline between two launches.
🚨 Just wanted you to know, Starship 10’s projected test flight date, according to Grok, is August 4.
Starship’s ninth test flight took place on May 27.
August 4 is 69 days after May 27.
Do with that what you will. 🚀 https://t.co/IISpT08rIy
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 16, 2025
SpaceX is coming off a test flight in which it lost both the Super Heavy Booster and the Upper Stage in the previous launch. The Super Heavy Booster was lost six minutes and sixteen seconds into the flight, while SpaceX lost communication with the Ship at 46 minutes and 48 seconds.
Musk is aiming for the tenth test flight to take place in early August, he revealed on X:
Launching again in ~3 weeks
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2025
This will be SpaceX’s fourth test flight of the Starship program in 2025, with each of the previous three flights bringing varying results.
IFT-7 in January brought SpaceX its second successful catch of the Super Heavy Booster in the chopstick arms of the launch tower. The ship was lost after exploding during its ascent over the Turks and Caicos Islands.
IFT-8 was on March 6, and SpaceX caught the booster once again, but the Upper Stage was once again lost.
The most recent flight, IFT-9, took place on May 27 and featured the first reused Super Heavy Booster. However, both the Booster and Upper Stage were lost.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hit SpaceX with a mishap investigation for Flight 9 on May 30.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk confirms Tesla is already rolling out a new feature for in-car Grok
Tesla is already making in-car Grok more robust with a simple but effective feature that CEO Elon Musk says is “coming.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the company will roll out a new feature for in-car Grok as it is rolling out to vehicles for the first time.
Grok was just recently added as a feature to Tesla vehicles within the past week, but owners are already requesting some small changes to make it more convenient to use.
Tesla debuts hands-free Grok AI with update 2025.26: What you need to know
The first is already on the way, Musk confirmed, as WholeMarsBlog requested a simple, but useful feature for Grok as it is used within Tesla vehicles.
Whole Mars requested that “Hey Grok” be used as a wake word, automatically activating the AI assistant without having to touch any buttons. Musk confirmed it is already in development and on the way to vehicles:
Coming
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2025
This feature is incredibly similar to that of “Hey Siri” with iPhones and other iOS devices. The phone will recognize your voice and hear that prompt, automatically activating Siri. Apple’s assistant will then perform whatever task it is asked to perform. It’s a simple but effective performance feature.
Grok is already getting its first reviews from owners as it rolls out to owners for the first time. It is a long time coming, too. Tesla has been hinting that Grok would be enabled in the vehicles for a while now, and it just started its initial rollout last week.
After using @grok in my Tesla tonight, I’m insanely impressed.
I honestly went into it a bit skeptical on how useful it would actually be, but I asked it some real genuine questions and it nailed it every time.
Asked it if I take my Tesla to San Francisco next week, where… pic.twitter.com/R0QrK347vi
— Zack (@BLKMDL3) July 16, 2025
Hey @Tesla_Optimus … @grok wants to know if you’re free tonight pic.twitter.com/xXfSkg8M22
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 12, 2025
Grok is available in vehicles with the AMD chip and requires Premium Connectivity or a WiFi connection to use.
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