Musk Confirms Tesla's Robotaxi Event is Pushed Back

Updated: July 15, 2024

By Karan Singh

Sugar Design

In a report that originally appeared from Bloomberg, it was claimed that Tesla will be delaying its much-anticipated 8/8 Robotaxi event by two months to October 2024.

While sources other than Bloomberg hadn’t confirmed the report at the time. Musk has now announced the delay on X.

Tesla’s stock dropped nearly 8.5% on the day of Bloomberg’s article, but this delay is only a couple of months and doesn’t change Tesla’s strategy. The drop in Tesla’s stock ended back-to-back gains over the previous two weeks. It had hit a high of $270 earlier in the day before the news broke.

Update: Musk just took to X a few minutes ago to confirm that the event is delayed. Although he didn’t provide a new timeline, it appears that it may indeed be October according to the original Bloomberg article. What Musk did reveal in his post is why it’s being delayed. Musk said he requested an important design change to the front of the vehicle. It’s not clear what the change is or whether it’s completely cosmetic or plays a more important role, possibly having to do the front camera or the additional of additional cameras.

Musk went on to say it also gives Tesla some extra time to show off a “few other things.” With Musk commenting on the situation and the design change, he basically confirms what we already expected, that Tesla will be showing off the robotaxi vehicle at the event. If you’re curious about what the vehicle will look like, take a look at Rimac’s robotaxi to get an idea of what to expect from Tesla’s version.

Requested what I think is an important design change to the front, and extra time allows us to show off a few other things
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2024

Why the Delay?

The delay – of approximately two months – has been communicated internally, but not publicly announced just yet. Bloomberg goes on to mention that the design team was told to rework certain elements of the Cybercab, necessitating the delay.

If Bloomberg’s report is correct, it sounds like Tesla’s unveil event will be largely focused on showing off the vehicle, instead of demoing how it will work. Of course, it could still be both, but given past events, Tesla has always shown off the vehicle years before it hits production.

Rimac recently showed off their version of robotaxi vehicle named Verne, and surprisingly, it could almost pass for Tesla’s own robotaxi. A lot of design cues in Rimac’s version are elements we have already seen or expect to see in Tesla’s autonomous taxi.

A recent Tesla patent revealed that Tesla is incorporating a sanitation system into their robotaxi that will be responsible for analyzing and cleaning the vehicle’s interior, although the delay itself is likely tied more to a physical feature rather than software.

Another element we know almost nothing about is how Tesla plans to charge these robotic taxis. Will they rely on the existing charge port and adapt a solution like the robotic charging arm (video below) we saw almost eight years ago, or will wireless charging or a dock finally become realized?

While the delay for Tesla’s event appears to be related to the vehicle’s design itself and not further development of FSD, Tesla is wasting no time in getting FSD working for the upcoming vehicle. Model 3 vehicles have already been spotted with camera locations that resemble a robotaxi.

Is the Delay Accurate?

We expect that this delay might actually be true – Elon Musk usually takes to X within hours of such news breaking if it's false to refute it and hasn’t done so yet.

Tesla has delayed several of their events in the past, and a delay of a couple of months seems plausible. We should hear from Musk himself soon on whether this report is accurate.

Tesla Semi Coming to Europe According to New Job Listing

August 10, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

According to a new Tesla job listing posted to Tesla’s European job board, Tesla intends to bring the Tesla Semi truck to Europe.

The new Tesla Semi factory has begun construction recently and is expected to be online in late 2025 – bringing higher-volume production of the Tesla Semi sometime in 2026.

Semi in Europe

The Semi is a fantastic truck and one that is well fit for European roads. According to the European Commission, the average Semi tractor-trailer in the EU traveled approximately 141.3km (~88mi). The Tesla Semi has a range of roughly 800km (500 mi), which means it could do several of those trips back and forth without stopping and charging.

It would be feasible, after the installation of MCS (Megawatt Charging System) Infrastructure at commercial hubs to mostly replace the entire European Semi fleet with the Tesla Semi. With the MCS, the Tesla Semi can recharge up to 80% of its range in under 30 minutes – that’s 640km (400 mi).

When you combine the distinct advantages of the Semi: fast charging, effective range, quick to accelerate, reduced driving costs, reduced maintenance, and reduced overall cost of ownership, it becomes an easy value proposition. Additionally, Tesla eventually intends to introduce FSD to the Tesla Semi – which would make highway driving for truck drivers a much simpler and safer task.

Job Listing

The job listing is for the Head of Business Development for the Tesla Semi in Europe – located in either Amsterdam or Berlin. Tesla is looking for this position to build customer relationships and plan for Tesla’s future Semi deployments, as well as pitch the Semi to major road shipping companies.

In the future, the position will be expected to work alongside governments to coordinate funding, as well as working with customers to coordinate the onboarding of the Semi, as well as installations of the MCS at locations. Essentially, this is a C-suite leadership position meant to sell the Tesla Semi and its associated systems in Europe – leading the push for electrification of trucking.

If you’re interested in applying, Tesla is looking for someone with experience in fleet management and commercial vehicles, as well as someone proficient in German.

We’re excited to see the Tesla Semi hit the roads in both North America and Europe – it is a promising vehicle in both cases.

A Deep Dive into Battery Tech: LFP, NMC and New Solid-State Batteries and Their Advantages

August 10, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Samsung SDI, who already produces some of Tesla’s 4680 battery cells, has recently begun testing new solid-state batteries.

Solid-state batteries are expected to be smaller, lighter, cooler, and safer than current cell formats that are used in electric vehicles. There’s a lot of potential and possibilities in solid-state batteries.

Let’s dig into exactly what these new batteries are, and why everyone seems to fuss all over them on the big news channels every time a company makes an announcement.

Regular Batteries

The biggest thing to understand about solid state battery is how they’re different from regular batteries is terms of materials and design. We’ll dig into regular batteries first, and then get to solid state batteries.

Today, Tesla’s EVs – and EVs in general, use one of two types of batteries – LFP or NMC. LFP batteries are composed of Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFP on the periodic table), while NMC is composed of Nickle Manganese Cobalt (NiMnCo). Tesla uses LFP batteries in its standard range vehicles, while their longer-range or performance siblings use NMC battery composition.

The biggest difference here is price and performance – LFP has a more stable chemistry and less degradation but also has a lower energy density. Meanwhile NMC performs better, outputs more energy, has a higher energy density, but isn’t as chemically stable and will degrade faster.

These chemical differences also aid with temperatures – NMC batteries perform better in more extreme weather conditions such as extreme cold or extreme heat – much better than their LFP siblings.

Both of these types of batteries also contain a liquid electrolyte – a wet medium that is electrically conductive and enables the movement of the ions in the battery pack, but won’t conduct electricity. So, with all that aside, let’s take a look at what solid state batteries bring to the table.

Solid State Batteries

Solid State Batteries don’t contain that liquid electrolyte. That’s already a huge change – because a large portion of the weight and density increases in regular battery packs actually originate from that heavy liquid. The replacement of that liquid is a stable, solid electrolyte, generally in the form of glass or ceramics.

Essentially, that frees up space and makes it easier to cool the batteries – so much so that solid state batteries today are used in smartwatches and other wearable devices – even pacemakers. In fact, that space saving is so large, that a solid-state equivalent of an LFP or NMC battery would use up 1/10^th of the space, with a similar reduction in weight.

Additionally, solid state batteries don’t need all the additional equipment for monitoring, controlling, and cooling the liquid electrolyte – the pack is a solid block that can be cooled similar to a PC part – like a CPU.

The removal of the liquid electrolyte can also improve vehicle safety. We’re sure you’ve been told never to puncture a battery pack – that’s because when the electrolyte is removed, LFP and NMC batteries can experience thermal runaway – they have no way to cool themselves, and this heat reaction spreads throughout the battery, leading to a fire. In addition, the electrolyte tends to be flammable and toxic – making battery fires a truly dangerous, but still rare, phenomenon.

The electrolyte liquid – even though it does the important job of moving the ions around – actually can and will do permanent damage to the components of the battery, causing corrosion or build up over exceptionally long times. That’s exactly how you get battery degradation!

A solid electrolyte solves all these problems. Mostly. Even the solid electrolyte can degrade over time but will last an exceptionally long time. That’s why many companies advertise 20-year lifespans, and with considerable energy density.

Samsung’s recent solid-state breakthrough has them mentioning a 20-year lifespan with 500Wh/kg. Tesla’s newest 4680 cell is 244 to 296Wh/kg right now. Samsung has also mentioned a massive charging speed improvement – 9 minutes. That’s probably a 20% to 80% number, rather than a 0% to 100% number – as charge speeds at the far end of the curve tend to slow down considerably to protect the battery, while exceptionally low states of charge are uncommon.

Where is the Solid State?

We did say we already use solid state batteries elsewhere, like in wearable devices. But why not cars? They’re expensive. In fact, very, very expensive to manufacture at the size and scale needed to power EVs. Tesla and its battery suppliers, including Samsung, CATL, and LG, have been prototyping and working on their own solid state battery projects over the years.

Once they figure out how to scale these up, we could see drastic improvements in vehicle range and longevity, alongside improved charging times. But I wouldn’t expect them to show up right around the corner – it may take several years for engineers and scientists to work everything out, and another few to figure out to mass produce it.