Tesla has recently weighed in on the development of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) and the U.S. regulatory framework, following the company’s rollout of FSD (Supervised) and its announcement of plans to unveil a long-awaited robotaxi later this year.
FSD v12 has been rolling out over the past several months, and with Tesla officially replacing the “beta” moniker with “supervised” and announcing plans to unveil the robotaxi later this year, higher levels of vehicle autonomy have been at the forefront of shareholder and public conversations.
Although some have assumed that the regulatory framework for FSD and other semi-autonomous driving systems would be the most difficult part of bringing FSD and a robotaxi to the market, two Tesla executives have since shared their thoughts, noting the sheer difficulty of developing such a software.
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On Friday evening, CEO Elon Musk shared his thoughts on the matter in response to a thread on X posted last August, which included thoughts on Tesla’s place in the future market of autonomous driving.
In his response, Musk wrote that it has been “staggeringly difficult to make generalized self-driving work,” adding that Tesla’s investments into training compute, data pipelines and video storage will cost more than $10 billion cumulatively this year. Still, Musk says that this figure pales in comparison to the amount of money Tesla will be able to generate using the software:
Pretty much.
It has been staggeringly difficult to make generalized self-driving work, requiring all that you describe above and more.
The investment in training compute, gigantic data pipelines and vast video storage will be well over $10B cumulatively this year.
But that…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 6, 2024
Along with Musk’s thoughts late Friday, fellow Tesla executive Rohan Patel, Vice President of Policy and Business Development, shared his thoughts on how difficult developing FSD has been on Saturday morning. Patel responded to a post from Omar of Whole Mars Blog, in which Tesla followers and FSD enthusiasts pointed out that developing the system was much more difficult than the regulatory side of things.
Patel says that, while the regulatory frameworks and fundamental mindset surrounding general autonomy both need to change, his team’s technology advancements will be what pushes these frameworks forward.
Thanks @WholeMarsBlog. Now all of @Tesla thinks my team’s job is easy!
Joking aside – I think you’re exactly right. We do have to change the fundamental mindset and the regulatory frameworks, but we will 💯 get that done with the right technology advancements. Won’t be an… https://t.co/KwVzwbrUtO
— Rohan Patel (@rohanspatel) April 6, 2024
Tesla’s FSD v12 has long been discussed as a key piece of the puzzle for unlocking higher levels of autonomy in the future. Last week, the FSD system surpassed one billion miles driven by all of its users, and the system is expected to continue improving as human drivers use it more and more.
The past few weeks have indicated significant confidence in FSD (Supervised), from Tesla offering one-month free trials and mandatory test drives with the system, to the company’s plans to detail the highly anticipated robotaxi later this year. They also highlight Tesla’s recent focus on having executives interact directly with fans, shareholders and others on social media, and in other media appearances.
Updated 4/7/24: Fifth paragraph edited for accuracy.
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.
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
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.
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
