News
VW’s “Dirty Diesels” gives life to Rivian’s future EV manufacturing plant
Nothing normal is happening at the newly acquired Rivian Automotive Factory in Normal, IL. Teslarati has discovered a massive stockpile of Volkswagen’s “dirty diesels” being stored on the aspiring electric car startup’s vast factory parking lot. The VWs on site were produced over the course of 6 years between 2009-2015, and are vehicles equipped with an emissions cheating device that became the subject of the global “VW Dieselgate scandal” which took place last year.
The owner of the plant, Rivian Automotive, is looking to make moves in the central Illinois town by developing their first production electric vehicle from the newly acquired ex-Mitsubishi factory. The company is leasing an onsite storage lot to a logistics company that’s responsible for transporting the thousands of affected vehicles to an unknown final destination.
Aerial inspections obtained via drone video by Teslarati, show an estimated 14,000 VWs being stored on the facility lots adjoining Rivian’s main factory. The plant was owned by Mitsubishi Motors until June 2016, before Rivian Automotive purchased the entire facility in January 2017 for $2 million. The facility was built in 1988 and boasts 1.9 million square feet of space, before expanding to 2.4 million square feet in 2003. Mitsubishi’s sales of the Outlander Sport (the sole vehicle produced at the factory) slumped when the Russian recession began in 2014; the vehicle was a massive hit in the country. The plant once employed 3,400 employees and ended production with 1,280 in late 2015.
“We know that the TDI emissions issue has understandably eroded the trust that we have worked so hard to build with you, our customers.” – VW in a pamphlet to affected customers
- VW Diesel vehicles being loaded off of a transport truck (Photo: Christian Prenzler for Teslarati)
- A variety of VW Diesels are being stored at the facility, some from as far as Montana [Credit: Christian Prenzler/Teslarati]
- The VWs are lined up very neatly as Vascor logistics makes use of the large lots [Credit: Christian Prenzler/Teslarati]
- Hundreds of VW 2.0 TDI’s parked awaiting their unknown future [Credit: Christian Prenzler/Teslarati]
- Hundreds of VW 2.0 TDI’s parked awaiting their unknown future [Credit: Christian Prenzler/Teslarati]
- Drone flies closely over the thousands of VW Diesel vehicles being stored at the Rivian Factory. [Photo: Jim Finch]
Images showing thousands of VW diesels on site paint a clear picture of the German automaker’s failure to come up with a real fix for vehicles equipped with emission cheating devices. VW has also been storing affected vehicles at the Pontiac Silverdome but based on our estimates, Rivian’s factory storage lots are approximately two and a half times larger than the Silverdome’s lots.
“These vehicles will be held and routinely maintained until it is determined whether an approved emissions modification becomes available. If approved, the settlement allows Volkswagen to modify affected 2.0L TDI vehicles so they can be returned to commerce or exported. Vehicles that are not modified must be responsibly recycled.” – Jeannine Ginivan, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Uncertain effects from possible fixes
The vehicles stored at the site are expected to be pulled for parts and scrapped, but the company has not released official plans for all of 475,000 vehicles affected in the US as part of “Dieselgate”. VW is in the process of buying some vehicles and working towards solutions for vehicles that have been less affected by the emission devices. The 67,000 2015 3rd generation VW diesels were the first to receive an approved fix earlier this year. The fix does not bring the cars within federal compliance, but the vehicles emit significantly less NOx pollutant. VW is expected to release a phase 2 fix for the 3rd generation vehicles in 2018, which will bring the vehicles into federal compliance.
A spokesperson for Volkswagen Group of America told Teslarati that they have removed or modified more than 25% of the affected vehicles in the US, insinuating that the firm has bought back over 50,000 diesel cars since beginning the program four months ago (~67,000 were modified).
Software fixes to the 3rd generation vehicles will cause the following changes to the cars:
- Reduced performance in sport mode
- Engine sound variation
- 1-14 percent higher diesel exhaust fluid use
Owners of affected vehicles that have been given an approved fix also received two-thirds of the restitution cash that the company is issuing to customers. The last third will be distributed to owners after the phase 2 hardware update is completed. The phase 2 modifications are not designed to cause major differences in consumption or acceleration, but the cars efficiency and driving characteristics may change. Recently, The Daily Mail has reported that fixes to UK cars have resulted in “poor fuel consumption, weak acceleration, and mysterious rattles”.
Aerial Imagery of the Rivian Automotive Plant
While the terms of the deal between Rivian and Vascor Logistics are confidential, we know that revenue from the contract is contributing to the development of Rivian’s electric vehicle lineup. The global logistics company provides significant logistical services to automotive companies, one of which is VW. Rivian took ownership of the factory in January and has received incentive deals from both the State of Illinois and local municipalities.
“We are working hard to utilize the factory leading up to our production launch.” Rivian CEO, RJ Scaringe said in a comment to Teslarati.
The factory has direct access to several nearby interstate routes and has a rail car station directly on the property. Mitsubishi shipped a large portion of its vehicles around the globe from the facility, and to this day still has an operations warehouse near their old plant that’s being used for vehicle parts storage and logistics.
As Rivian continues developing their electric vehicle lineup, the company can make use of the factory by leasing out the vehicle storage lots and generate revenue. It is unclear how many more vehicles will be stored in Normal, IL or how long the vehicles will be retained on site, but Vascor’s operations at the factory appeared to be very active. VW’s polluting diesels are now giving way to the future of the automotive industry.
Vascor Logistics & Wheelan Security did not respond to our request for comment.
Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has denied rumors of an imminent bankruptcy after a report from this morning sent the stock on a dramatic drop on Wall Street, seeing losses of more than 40 percent during trading hours.
Lucid’s Director of Communications, Nick Twork, responded to the report from Eletric-Vehicles.com, which stated the company’s restructuring advisor, AlixPartners, was asked to review two decisions: taking Lucid shares private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The report also claims AlixPartners told the Lucid board to “concentrate on Gravity production while improving its quality, and to temporarily hold back the Lucid Air, the sedan that has defined the company since its launch.”
Twork said:
$LCID The rumors are completely false. The company has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year, as recently published in its last quarterly filings, and it has not formed any special Board committee to explore the scenarios reported today. Our focus is…
— Nick Twork (@ntwork) July 14, 2026
Shares rebounded after the response to the report, halving its losses as the trading day neared 3 p.m. Eastern.
Lucid has struggled to get its sales off the ground and into more respectable numbers, but the company is in its early years, when things are hard to begin with. It is also backed by several notable investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has nearly limitless money and likely would not ditch an investment of this size so soon.
Lucid shares were down just 14 percent at the time of publication, a far cry from the 55 percent its losses topped out at during the day.
A Tesla owner who purchased a Model S Signature Edition, one of the final 250 units of the all-electric flagship vehicle that the company discontinued earlier this year, is attempting to sell the car despite a no-resale clause that prohibits reselling for the first year.
The car is being sold by J&S Autohaus in Ewing, New Jersey, and is priced at $260,490, well above the $159,420 that Tesla sold it for earlier this year.
🚨 The first Tesla Model S Signature Edition is up for sale for $260,490
Tesla placed a no-resale clause on the Model S and X Signature, so it will be interesting to see if the company takes any action. https://t.co/N9rKGHnbD6 pic.twitter.com/6FZhDL1KNR
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 14, 2026
To those who do not know, the Model S Signature was a highly exclusive, limited-run farewell variant of the Model S Plaid that was produced this year to mark the end of production of both the Model S and Model X, Tesla’s two flagship vehicles.
Limited to just 250 units with invite-only sales, it serves as a collector’s item celebrating the legacy of the Model S, which helped pioneer Tesla’s electric vehicle success since its 2012 launch.
It bundles top-tier performance with bespoke cosmetic and luxury upgrades, plus Tesla’s Luxe Package. Here’s what the Model S Signature has over the typical Model S Plaid:
- Exclusive Exterior – Unique Garnet Red Paint, matching door handles, gold Tesla “T” badges upfront, gold Plaid and Signature badging at the rear.
- Premium Interior – White Alcantara upholstery with gold piping/accents, gold Plaid seat badges, Signature-marked door sills, individually numbered dashboard plaque, gold puddle lights, special interior lighting sequence, and a custom Signature key fob.
- Performance Upgrades – Carbon-ceramic brakes with gold calipers
- Bundled Luxe Package – Full Self-Driving (Supervised), four years of Premium Connectivity, free lifetime Supercharging
- Performance Metrics – ~1,020 horsepower, sub-2-second 0-60 MPH, ~390-mile range
Tesla quickly introduced a No Resale Agreement for the Signature Editions of the Model S and Model X, which would penalize the seller for “the amount of $50,000 or the value received as consideration for the sale or transfer, whichever is greater.”
The company continues:
“If you sell or otherwise transfer the ownership of your Model S or Model X, the remainder of the Recommended Maintenance, Wheel and Tire Protection Plan, and Windshield Protection Plan will transfer automatically to the buyer. The Full Self-Driving (Supervised), Free Supercharging and Premium Connectivity will not transfer with the vehicle and will terminate once the ownership of the Model S or Model X is transferred.”
Tesla will likely come after the seller, especially as it has been about two months since Tesla launched deliveries.
Tesla rolled out Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.3.5 yesterday, and about fifty miles of driving on the new version has given me enough time to highlight what seems to be strong about the release and what is not.
Additionally, Tesla has added a few new features with this specific update, which we’ll highlight as well.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 Performance
The new update is business as usual. Things seem to be running completely normal and necessary, but there are a few things that we’ve seemed to pick up on based on our own experience with v14.3.5, as well as what other users are seeing.
Initially, it seems to be more aware of its surroundings, making moves that are incredibly courteous to other drives and operating just a tad more reserved than what the suite might have done previously.
We had two instances where it showed this, the first being FSD needing to pass a Flagger Force vehicle that was placing down signage for the day. Their work truck was right at the front corner of a right-hand turn; typically where most cars travel when they take that turn.
FSD v14.3.5 recognized this, slowed down, and took the turn wide with no issues:
🚨 Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 takes a wide turn as flagger crews set up signage for the day https://t.co/3v0PL9qhlI pic.twitter.com/i4CKqxE16c
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
Additionally, v14.3.5 backed up for a semi truck that was making a wide turn onto a road my car was on. This is not new, but it seemed to be backing up for courtesy; it didn’t seem completely necessary, but it might have put some peace of mind in the truck driver’s head:
🚨 Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 backs up for an oncoming tractor trailer taking a wide turn https://t.co/0WuAqNMpRR pic.twitter.com/s6yZGVm5Te
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
X user Mike P, also a Pennsylvania native like myself, shared three clips of his Tesla running v14.3.5 performing similar maneuvers. He said:
“FSD turns right into a small alley that only fits one car at a time, sees oncoming car, reverses out of alley to make space, realizes oncoming car is actually parking, re-enters alley.”
Check it out here:
Rapidfire epic moments on FSD V14.3.5
1) FSD turns right into a small alley that only fits one car at a time, sees oncoming car, reverses out of alley to make space, realizes oncoming car is actually parking, re-enters alley.
2) Insane speed to vehicle cues. As FSD approaches… pic.twitter.com/bSnySSlFHR
— Mike P (@mikepat711) July 13, 2026
It seems like Speed Profiles are still in need of some tweaking; I am adjusting what Speed Profile I’m in frequently, constantly changing it to get it to travel at the correct speed. This was an issue for me on v14.3.4. It seems like they’re just a little inconsistent.
Terrible Parking
Parking attempts on v14.3.5 were not good. There are quite a few people who have said this:
Yeah it seems like FSD v14.3.5 is having some issues with parking early on https://t.co/Bw5ULfVmDq pic.twitter.com/RHdpjOEpIo
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
David Moss, the Tesla owner who has taken multiple coast-to-coast drives without any interventions, also has had some issues with parking early on with v14.3.5:
Horrible first impression v14.3.5 on my 2025 Tesla Model 3 LR RWD Premium 😭
3 terrible parking jobs in 23 min including parking on a ramp in a business park & parking perpendicular out in the road on street only parking situation.
Wish I had a better drive but I still believe… pic.twitter.com/TtyhRHAFG7
— David Moss (@DavidMoss) July 13, 2026
New Features
Tesla has added the ability to open Camera Preview at any time. Previously, it was only available in Park. Here’s what that feature looks like in action:
🚨 Here’s the new Camera Preview feature on FSD v14.3.5 pic.twitter.com/OodfZgDppy
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
Check back later this week for a longer review of what we’ve noticed on Full Self-Driving v14.3.5.
Lucid denies rumors of bankruptcy after over 40% stock drop
Tesla owner attempts resale of Model S Signature Edition for over $260k
