Why Tesla Needs Bigger EVs [Featured]


Elon Musk recently gave his approval for Tesla vehicles for bigger families. 

A few people on X recently brought Tesla’s need to roll out bigger cars for bigger families to Elon Musk. X user @realpeteyb shared the story of his latest visit to a Tesla store. 

“I was at my neighborhood Tesla store yesterday and wanted to make sure again, that the X model is not big enough for my family… It isn’t,Petey B said in his X post. 

Another X user @SeibtNaoimi shared Petey B’s post, commenting:We need big Teslas for big families!”

“Tesla has proven to be the most efficient and popular car on the market. But if we want more babies and repopulate the West, we need bigger models to support the lifestyle,she added, tagging Elon Musk. 

Musk read Naomi Seibt’s X post and simply replied,OK. 

Bigger Teslas for Everyone

Petey B and Naomi Seibt perfectly explained why Tesla needs to launch bigger cars. However, Western countries aren’t the only ones that need bigger Teslas. Bigger Teslas would be in demand in other regions worldwide as well. 

When Musk first mentioned the Tesla van, I knew it would be the Tesla I aimed to buy. Coming from a Filipino-American family, I knew I’d need a bigger Tesla. While growing up in New Jersey, I was surrounded by family, and it just kept growing through the years with more babies, cousins, visiting relatives, etc. 

Needless to say, we never really fit in one car. We liked taking big family trips, and it would take at least three vehicles to transport all of us. At one point, we tried renting one big van to head to the Poconos, and it wasn’t big enough because of everyone’s luggage. We celebrated each others milestones too and often showed up for each other on special occasions, so we also took up a lot of parking space during graduations, family dinners, etc.

So, the idea of a bigger Tesla is great for more people than Musk might think. It isn’t just about having more babies, either. Now that I have a family, I realize that more babies also takes more people to care for them. In the Philippines, where I live now, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and even cousins are more involved in family activities—and they all need to fit in at least one or two cars. 

Last year, my parents and two sisters visited the Philippines, and we totaled seven people, including my husband, our son, and myself. Our car fit approximately seven people, but I had to borrow my uncle’s van during my parents and sisters’ stay so we could travel the Philippines AND carry our belongings. 

When Tesla launched the Robovan, I was a little sad because it was more like a Tesla bus. A Tesla that’s a little bigger than the Tesla Model X or Model Y and smaller than the Tesla Robovan with plenty of cargo space would be great for all Tesla customers with bigger families anywhere in the world.

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via Twitter @Writer_01001101.

Check out the TESLARATI Marketplace!

Head on over for more TESLARATI on TikTok!

Why Tesla Needs Bigger EVs [Featured]





Source

Tesla’s 4680 battery cell will ‘never be successful’: CATL chairman


A chairman from China-based battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) recently cast doubt on Tesla’s 4680 battery cell, saying that he didn’t think it would be successful in the long run.

In a conversation earlier this year, CATL Chairman Robin Zeng told Elon Musk that the cylindrical 4680 battery “is going to fail and never be successful,” according to a report from Reuters this week. Zeng made the statements to Musk in a meeting with the Tesla CEO on his Beijing visit in April, and the chairman also said that the Tesla CEO was better equipped to handle other technologies than battery cells.

“We had a very big debate, and I showed him,” Zeng said. “He was silent. He doesn’t know how to make a battery. It’s about electrochemistry. He’s good for the chips, the software, the hardware, the mechanical things.”

Tesla working on four dry cathode 4680 battery variants: The Information

Tesla’s 4680 battery cell and CATL licensing

In September, Tesla announced that it had produced its 100 millionth 4680 battery cell at Gigafactory Texas, after reaching 50 million units in June. The company is also in the process of expanding its Gigafactory Nevada to add a dedicated 4680 cell production facility, expected to ramp up to 500 GWh in the long term.

The report also highlights a licensing deal Tesla has with CATL for technology related to producing batteries in Nevada, expected to officially launch in 2025, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke to Reuters under the condition of anonymity.

Zeng on FSD Supervised and Musk’s promise timelines

In addition to discussing battery technology, the chairman said that he and Musk talked about the company’s focus on autonomy, adding that he agrees with Tesla’s overall approach to the topic. Unlike other companies that are developing self-driving systems, Tesla’s Supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) only utilizes cameras as sensors, rather than using multiple layers of different redundant technologies.

“He’s all in,” Zeng told Reuters regarding Musk and Tesla’s FSD strategy in a statement earlier this month. “I think it’s a good direction.”

Despite his support for the company’s approach to FSD Supervised, Zeng also noted that he thinks Musk tends to set unrealistic timelines for new vehicle technologies, and he even asked the Tesla CEO during the April conversation, saying two-year timelines may as well be “infinity.”

“His problem is overpromising. I talked to him,” the chairman added. “Maybe something needs five years. But he says two years. I definitely asked him why. He told me he wanted to push people.”

Musk has addressed criticisms of his timelines before, pointing to his optimism as a necessary part of his accomplishments.

“Now, admittedly I’m a little optimistic sometimes,” Musk said during this year’s Annual Shareholders Meeting. “You know, I don’t have a complete lack of self awareness. But if I wasn’t optimistic, this wouldn’t exist this factory wouldn’t exist.”

The CEO later went on to add that he believes he’s been “pathologically optimistic from birth.”

CATL hopes for U.S. factory under Trump

CATL also told Reuters that it would build a U.S. production facility if President-elect Donald Trump would allow it.

“Originally, when we wanted to invest in the U.S., the U.S. government said no,” Zeng said. “For me, I’m really open-minded.”

“I do hope that in the future they are open to investments,” the chairman added.

In August, Trump expressed that he would be open to Chinese companies building factories in the U.S., despite the country’s recent passage of a 100-percent tariff on electric vehicle (EV) imports.

“We’re going to give incentives, and if China and other countries want to come here and sell the cars, they’re going to build plants here, and they’re going to hire our workers,” Trump said in a statement to the publication in August.

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

CATL’s new LFP cell has 620+ miles of range and ultra-fast charging

Check out the TESLARATI Marketplace!

Head on over for more TESLARATI on TikTok!

Tesla’s 4680 battery cell will ‘never be successful’: CATL chairman





Source

Tesla sells out of Optimus bot action figure in under 24 hours


Tesla launched an Optimus robot action figure on its web store this week, though the model went on to sell out in under a day after its debut.

On Friday, Tesla launched the 1:10-scale Optimus bot action figure in its online shop, featuring over 40 individual parts and 20 points of articulation. Less than 24 hours later, the action figure is already sold out, though users can have the company email them when it’s back in stock.

“Your mini autonomous assistant and humanoid friend,” Tesla writes in the product’s description. “The Tesla Bot Action Figure is a 1:10-scale collectable and playable figurine precision engineered with over 40 individual parts and 20 points of articulation to look—and move—like our Gen 2 humanoid robot.”

Credit: Tesla

Credit: Tesla

Credit: Tesla

Credit: Tesla

The Tesla bot action figure comes with the figurine itself, as well as a mini charging stand model and a Cyberhammer, with the robot model’s dimensions being 2.16 inches wide and 7.16 inches tall and weighing in at 1.7 ounces. Tesla has also launched several to-scale models of its vehicles, but this is the first time it has shared a model for one of its non-vehicle products. You can see Tesla’s diecast Cybertruck, Model Y, Model 3, and other to-scale vehicle models on its web store here.

Tesla initially unveiled the Optimus robot at its AI Day in 2022, and the company has been making steady progress on the development of the product in the years since, as highlighted in semi-regular updates. According to statements from CEO Elon Musk during the company’s first-quarter earnings call, Tesla is aiming to start external deliveries of the robot by 2025, and it’s expected to decrease in price over time, eventually dipping as low as $25,000 or $30,000. Tesla also already has Optimus robots performing simple tasks in its factories.

In the last several months, Tesla has been using Optimus to serve drinks in public appearances in order to show off the robot’s developing capabilities. A series of videos shared on the company’s social media platforms has also provided regular updates about the product’s ability to perform tasks autonomously, walk long distances, and more.

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Elon Musk says Tesla is improving Optimus robot’s design for one reason

Check out the TESLARATI Marketplace!

Head on over for more TESLARATI on TikTok!

Tesla sells out of Optimus bot action figure in under 24 hours





Source