Like it or not, Tesla is driving the movement to EVs. At this point, a majority of the EVs being sold outside of China are made by Tesla and Tesla even has a substantial share of the market in China. So, what’s happening with Tesla. Here are an assortment of facts and rumors.
- A new version of the Model 3 (project Highland) is about to appear in the market. This includes a slight change to the body style and assorted improvements. It is likely to appear on the market in August.
- A similar update of the Model Y (project Juniper) is scheduled for the first quarter of 2024.
- While slightly behind the expected schedule, Tesla Giga Mexico is about to start construction. You will probably see the new small Tesla which many refer to as the Model 2 (but Tesla hasn’t used that name) to start coming out of that factory in early 2025.
- Tesla has been negotiating with India for a factory there. It would likely produce the Model 2 for the Indian market and other countries in Southeast Asia. A point of contention is that India has large import duties. The government wants Tesla to source components from Indian vendors.
- The $7500 US tax rebate on the Model 3 might go away in 2024. This is because the sourcing requirements to qualify change each year.
- Still no prices on the Cybertruck but it appears that production is about to start. Tesla is now saying they will ramp up to producing 375,000 per year. That’s a lot but it is rumored that the order backlog is over 1.5 million.
- A Tesla semi was spotted delivering a car carrier full of Teslas to a service center.
- It appears that Tesla is moving from traditional LFP batteries (in standard range models) to M3P batteries from CATL. M3P is still an LFP battery but with added manganese which gives it a higher energy density but with no increase in cost.
