Hardware
Hardware news — revisions, part changes and what actually ships on new builds.
Hardware
Tesla Now Lets You View All Camera Feeds While Driving
Tesla has unlocked its multi-camera grid view so it now works while driving, not just in Park. The feed layout shows all the car's cameras live at road speed, with tap-to-expand full-screen views.
21 Jun 2026
Hardware
Tesla Patents an Active Suspension That Lifts Wheels to Dodge Potholes
A newly granted Tesla patent describes a motor-driven strut that can retract a wheel before it strikes a pothole, working alongside the company's fleet road-roughness mapping to smooth the ride and trim energy use.
18 Jun 2026
Hardware
UK Police Seize a Tesla Cybertruck Because It Is Not Road-Legal
Greater Manchester Police seized a Tesla Cybertruck in Whitefield because the vehicle has never been type-approved for UK or EU roads. The case is a reminder that the few Cybertrucks in Europe are private US imports that cannot be legally registered or driven here.
17 Jun 2026
Hardware
Tesla Cybercab Specs Revealed in EPA Filing: 219 HP, 48 kWh Battery, 3,113 lbs
EPA certification documents reveal the production Cybercab's full specifications for the first time: a single front-mounted 219 HP motor, a 48 kWh battery, a 3,113 lb curb weight and class-leading 165 Wh/mi efficiency. Tesla separately cleared a key US regulatory hurdle that readies the two-seat robotaxi for public roads.
16 Jun 2026
Hardware
BMW iX3 Wins Norway's Biggest Range Test at 781 km — With No Tesla on the Start Line
NAF and Motor drove 24 EVs from Oslo until empty on 3 June 2026. BMW iX3 went furthest at 781 km (+1.4% vs WLTP), Xpeng X9 over-delivered by 11.4%, MG IM6 under-delivered by 11.7% — and for the first time in years Tesla didn't enter a single car.
12 Jun 2026
Hardware
Apple's New Route Sharing Feature Clears the Last Hurdle for Tesla CarPlay
At WWDC 2026 Apple unveiled Route Sharing, a feature that lets an iPhone feed live navigation straight into a car's screen — removing the FSD map-sync problem that had stalled Tesla CarPlay. It ships in iOS 26.4, so Tesla need not wait for iOS 27.
12 Jun 2026
Hardware
Tesla Model 3 Voted UK's Best Car to Own in 2026 Driver Power Survey
UK owners have voted the Tesla Model 3 the best car to own in Auto Express's 2026 Driver Power survey. It scored 88.55% overall, won Engine & Gearbox, Safety Features and Quality & Reliability, and took the survey's only 100% rating for drivetrain smoothness.
12 Jun 2026
Hardware
Tesla Patents a Cheaper, Replaceable Matrix Headlight
A newly surfaced Tesla patent replaces the electronics inside a matrix headlight with a thin light-reactive film, a design that could slash the cost of both building and repairing adaptive headlights.
11 Jun 2026
Hardware
Tesla Opens Its First Center in Slovakia as the Brand Enters the Market Directly
Tesla has opened its first full Center in Slovakia, combining sales and service in Bratislava and ending years in which Slovak owners had to drive to Vienna for official support.
10 Jun 2026
Hardware
Tesla Model 3 RWD Beats Its Rated Range and Tops Edmunds' Efficiency Chart
In Edmunds' independent real-world test, the entry-level 2026 Model 3 RWD drove 393 miles (about 632 km) — 30 miles beyond its EPA rating — and posted the best efficiency figure of any production EV the outlet has tested, beating the Mercedes CLA 350 and Audi A6 e-tron on the same route.
9 Jun 2026
Hardware
Tesla Pushes Next-Gen Roadster Reveal to August
Tesla has reportedly pushed its long-awaited next-generation Roadster demonstration to August or later, blaming continued work on the SpaceX cold-gas thruster system. It is the latest in a string of slipped dates for a car first shown in 2017.
8 Jun 2026
Hardware
Tesla Adds Coastal Blue Paint to the Base Model Y in Europe
Tesla has added a new metallic shade, Coastal Blue, to the entry rear-wheel-drive Model Y in Europe. Built at Gigafactory Berlin, it costs €1,300 in the configurator and is the fourth paint choice for the base car.
6 Jun 2026
Hardware
All Tesla Model Y Trims Now Get Black Headliner and 16-Inch Screen
Tesla has made the 16-inch centre touchscreen and the darker Alcantara-style headliner standard across every Model Y trim in North America, and the refreshed interior has also reached the entry European RWD car — with no price increase attached.
5 Jun 2026
Hardware
Tesla Breaks Ground on Dedicated Optimus Factory at Giga Texas
Drone footage on 27 May 2026 captured the first standing steel of Tesla's dedicated Optimus humanoid-robot factory at the Giga Texas North Campus. Tesla is adding more than 5.2 million square feet of new building space by end of 2026 at an estimated $5–10 billion investment, with high-volume Optimus production targeted for 2027.
1 Jun 2026
Hardware
Tesla Issues Service Bulletins for Refreshed Model Y Suspension Noise
Tesla has issued two service bulletins, SB-26-31-003 and SB-25-31-005, dated 8 May 2026, to address persistent front suspension creaks and knocks on the refreshed Model Y. The fix replaces front upper control arm mounts and, on Premium and Performance trims, the front dampers, and removes wiper-bracket braces that were channelling noise into the cabin.
29 May 2026
Hardware
Xiaomi YU7 Standard Edition Undercuts Tesla Model Y in China by RMB 30,000 With 50 km More Range
Xiaomi launched the YU7 Standard Edition in China on 21 May 2026 at RMB 233,500 (~$32,400) — RMB 30,000 ($4,350) cheaper than the Tesla Model Y RWD and with 50 km more CLTC range. The same launch unveiled a 1,003 PS YU7 GT that took the Nürburgring SUV lap record from the Audi RS Q8 by 14 seconds.
21 May 2026
Hardware
Tesla Delivers Final Model S and Model X Signature Editions at Fremont Farewell
Tesla handed over the last-ever Model S and Model X Signature Editions in Garnet Red at a Fremont farewell event on 20 May 2026. Elon Musk, Franz von Holzhausen and Lars Moravy walked owners through the cars' 18-year history before confirming the Fremont line will now pivot to Cybercab and Optimus production.
21 May 2026
Hardware
Tesla Picks Brookshire Texas for First Solar Panel Factory in 100 GW Push
Electrek reported on 19 May 2026 that Tesla is building its first solar panel manufacturing operation at Empire West Business Park in Brookshire, Texas, about 35 miles west of Houston and co-located with its Megapack Megafactory. Tesla already leases Buildings 9 and 10 totalling 1.65 million sq ft and is planning a further 600,000 sq ft. It is the first concrete site tied to Musk's January 2026 Davos target of 100 GW per year of US solar manufacturing capacity at Tesla.
19 May 2026
Hardware
Tesla Semi's Dual-Screen Cockpit Breaks With the Single-Display Tesla Playbook
New cabin footage of the production Tesla Semi reveals a two-display cockpit unlike any other Tesla — a dedicated instrument cluster on the left, and a navigation and media display on the right. The split is a clean break from the single-centre-screen layout Tesla has stuck to since 2012.
The footage surfaced 5 May 2026, two weeks before Tesla kicked off high-volume production at its Sparks, Nevada plant on 18 May 2026.
19 May 2026
Hardware
Tesla Parental Controls Will Soon Block In-Car Browser, Arcade, and Theater
An app decompile spotted by Not a Tesla App reveals Tesla is preparing per-profile toggles to block the in-car web browser, Arcade games and Tesla Theater. The new flags — a browser flag, an Arcade flag, a Theater flag — sit alongside the existing Parental Controls system and the recently added rule that disables Track Mode whenever Parental Controls are engaged.
19 May 2026
Hardware
Tesla Revives Laser Windshield Wiper Patent — and Lists FSD Cameras as Cleaning Targets
The USPTO granted Tesla a divisional patent on 31 March 2026 for a pulsed-laser system that vaporises debris off glass. The filing names the FSD camera array — not just the windshield — as a cleaning target, hinting at a future without rubber wipers and with self-cleaning sensors.
18 May 2026
Hardware
Tesla Patent: Electromagnetic Suspension Seats Aim at Semi and Roadster
Tesla has won a US patent for a sliding suspension seat that uses electromagnetic springs and a built-in belt retractor, with the Tesla Semi and the next-generation Roadster as the most likely target vehicles.
18 May 2026
Hardware
Kazakhstan's State Guard Service Puts Tesla Cybertruck Into Field Use at Turkic States Summit
Kazakhstan's State Guard Service deployed a Tesla Cybertruck as a mobile command-and-staff vehicle for the Informal Organization of Turkic States summit in Turkistan on 15 May 2026 — one of the first known uses of the electric pickup in an official state security role.
17 May 2026
Hardware
Tesla Model Y Premium LR RWD: How the 4680 Battery Pulls Range and Charging Speed Down
European reviewers warn that the Model Y Premium Long Range RWD silently switched to in-house 4680 cells in early 2026: WLTP range fell from 661 km to 609 km and DC fast-charging now starts tapering at 31% state of charge, leaving a 10–80% stop noticeably slower than the outgoing supplier-cell pack.
17 May 2026