Hardware

Tesla's Robotaxi account said on 23 September 2026 that the first Cybercab has been built using cathode material from Tesla's own plant at Gigafactory Texas, which it called "the first cathode plant in the Americas". Cathode is the costliest material in a lithium-ion cell, and this is the second in-house battery material Tesla has put into a finished car this month, after Gulf Coast lithium in a Cybertruck on 4 September.

Tesla Energy said on 23 September 2026 that a software update lets Powerwall 2 owners add a Powerwall 3 to the same system, up to 108 kWh across four Powerwall 2s, one Powerwall 3 and three Expansion units. It is live in North America and Australia only. Continental Europe buys the three-phase Powerwall 3P, but the UK sells the same single-phase Powerwall 3 and was still left out.

CATL began trial cell production on the first two lines at its Debrecen plant in Hungary on 22 September 2026, after an occupancy permit in August and the completion of its IPPC pre-conditions. First-phase capacity is 34 GWh; the widely quoted 100 GWh applies only when all facilities are ready. The site has built battery modules since autumn 2024 but had never made a cell.

Tesla launched Grok Bot and Connectors in its vehicles on 22 September 2026, turning the in-car assistant from something that answers questions into something that completes delegated tasks. Connectors link accounts such as Gmail and Google Calendar and are open to all users; Grok Bot itself requires an xAI SuperGrok Heavy subscription. Tesla has said nothing about European availability.

A new shipper alliance called ZET SCALE has ordered 2,500 battery-electric Class 8 trucks and named Tesla its primary manufacturer, with Kenworth, RIDE and Volvo as secondary suppliers. The alliance says the order alone would nearly double the US electric Class 8 fleet, and it is targeting more than 10,000 trucks over time.

GIGA Storage has started construction on Green Turtle in Dilsen-Stokkem, a 700 MW / 2,800 MWh battery park built from 640 Tesla Megapack 3 units. Tesla is the EPC partner and long-term maintenance provider, not just the supplier. Commissioning is planned for the end of March 2028.

Tesla has replaced the Cybertruck's painted mirror caps with textured plastic matching the fenders. Lead engineer Wes Morrill says the change cut cost and improved durability at the same time — the painted caps scratched too easily against brush.

A Model S running as a taxi in Kelowna, British Columbia since 9 February 2017 passed 1,000,000 km, on its original motors and suspension. Across ~45 Teslas and roughly 15 million km, operator Current Taxi reports just four battery replacements.

On 9 September 2026 Sunrun and Tesla discharged 580 MW from more than 140,000 home batteries to California's grid over three hours, the largest residential distributed power plant event on record. About 110,000 Tesla Powerwalls supplied 517 MW of it.

Tesla reopened Roadster reservations in the United States and Canada on 18 September 2026, ahead of the 1 October reveal in Waco. A place costs $50,000 in the US and CA$64,000 in Canada, split into a refundable card payment and a wire transfer due within 10 days. Europe is not included, and Tesla still has not published a purchase price.

Tesla let Top Gear into the Nevada Semi factory, and the resulting details are the first proper look at the production truck rather than the 2017 prototype. It reaches 60 mph in 12.5 seconds empty and 24 seconds at full weight, carries a 548 kWh pack in Standard Range form, is about 3% more efficient than the prototypes, and is powder coated rather than painted. The front bumper is now three pieces so a scrape costs less to fix.

New drone footage from Giga Texas, filmed on 17 September 2026 by Joe Tegtmeyer, shows the steel structure of Tesla's dedicated Optimus factory approaching completion, about five column grids from closing its north perimeter beam, with concrete poured on three upper floors. Ground was broken in late March 2026 and the first steel went up in May. Tesla's stated target remains high-volume Optimus production at Giga Texas in summer 2027. Pilot Gen 3 units have been built at Fremont since January.

IMC Logistics, which calls itself the largest asset-based marine drayage operator in North America, confirmed at the 2026 Intermodal EXPO in Long Beach that it is adding 50 Tesla Semis to its California fleet. Standard Range trucks rated at about 325 miles will handle drayage inside California; Long Range trucks rated up to 500 miles will run from Southern California to inland destinations. IMC already operates battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell trucks alongside vehicles on renewable diesel.

Käppeli Logistik AG, a Swiss construction and bulk-logistics operator running more than 100 trucks, placed an order for a Tesla Semi at IAA Transportation in Hannover in September 2026. An employee had put down a reservation while touring Tesla's Fremont factory in 2019. Delivery is expected in 2027, with a contract signing still to come. The claim that it is Europe's first Semi order is the reporting outlet's, not Tesla's, and needs a qualifier: Einride's 500-truck order came from a European company in August 2026, but none of those trucks are bound for Europe.

Škoda opened Epiq 40 orders on 17 September 2026 from €27,900: 38.5 kWh gross LFP, 99 kW, up to 310 km WLTP and 10–80% in 23 minutes. A cheaper Epiq 35 arrives in October at €25,900. It is roughly half the entry price of a Model 3 in Germany, on a battery less than half the size.

BYD's Fang Cheng Bao launched the Formula S and Formula S GT sedans in China on 16 September 2026, starting at 189,900 yuan. That is 40,100 yuan below the floor of the pre-order range the brand itself announced on 20 August, a cut of 17.4% in under four weeks. The nine variants claim up to 900 km CLTC range and a 10-70% charge in five minutes, and the entry car lands below Tesla's Model 3 in China while being a segment larger.

Tesla has put the production Cybercab on a public display tour running from Japan and China in September through seven Australian cities to December, with Auckland pencilled in for 2027. It is a static display everywhere: the car has no steering wheel, so it cannot legally drive on public roads in any of these markets. No European stop has been announced.

BYD unveiled the ETT 44 at IAA Transportation in Hannover, the same show where Tesla launched the European Semi. The BYD carries a 651 kWh Blade battery, claims nearly 600 km and charges at over 1.5 MW. The Tesla claims 550 km at 40 tonnes and 800 kW — but weighs about 1.9 tonnes less, which in haulage is payload.

NHTSA rates the 2026 Model 3 five stars overall and five in every sub-test — frontal, side barrier, side pole and rollover — with a 6.8% rollover risk, on both rear- and all-wheel drive. The detail Tesla's announcement left out is that the 2024 and 2025 cars were never rated at all, so this is the first federal crash rating for the refreshed Model 3.

SAIC's IM Motors opened pre-sales of the new LS6 on 10 September 2026 and reported more than 8,000 refundable deposits in 45 minutes. The range runs 209,900 to 264,900 yuan against a base Model Y at 263,500, so the whole LS6 line sits at or below where Tesla's starts. It goes on sale 23 September.

Volkswagen's Mission Efficiency concept recorded a 0.158 drag coefficient and ran Wolfsburg to Vienna, 1,278.36 km with one charging stop, at 6.89 kWh/100 km. It undercuts the Mercedes Vision EQXX on both drag and consumption using roughly half the battery.

A 2021 Model 3 Long Range in the UK has covered 250,000 miles (402,000 km) in under five years on its original battery and motors. The pack holds 84% of its rated capacity, and the only unscheduled failure in that time was the external speaker in the front bumper.

Tesla posted a "Go for launch" teaser and sent invitations for a 1 October 2026 Roadster reveal in Waco, Texas, nine years after the prototype. The date is confirmed; the specification, the price, production timing and European availability are not.

Zhero and H1 Holdings signed a framework agreement with Tesla Energy on 10 September 2026 for about 3 GWh of Megapack storage in Italy, starting with 200 MW of shovel-ready plants. The projects will run on long-term purchase agreements rather than Italy's MACSE support scheme. Neither company disclosed a value.