TSLA today $382.70 ▲ $7.70 (2.1%) |
| Tesla ended Solar Roof sales after installing roughly 3,000 units against a 1,000-per-week target. |
Top 12 News Items
- Tesla quietly stopped selling Solar Roof tiles in August 2026 — Intelligent Living
| The product page now redirects to standard solar panels with no announcement. Reuters confirmed the decade-long program ended after roughly 3,000 US installations over seven years. Tesla had aimed for 1,000 installs per week and claimed the tiles would cost less than a conventional roof plus panels. The shortfall exceeded 95 percent of the volume goal. The category still faces physics, trade, money, and policy hurdles even as some of those factors shift. Solar roof tiles invert the usual relationship by making the tile itself the roof covering with photovoltaic cells laminated inside. Almost all other rooftop solar uses building-applied photovoltaics where panels sit on top of an existing roof held by racking. The integrated approach requires the product to satisfy roofing codes, electrical codes, structural loads, fire ratings, and waterproofing simultaneously in sizes that vary from roof to roof. Industry estimates put the total at roughly 3,000 US installations in seven years. Source: intelligentliving.co |
- Tesla engineer confirms Cybercab camera-view update is in development — Teslarati
Rider Dan Burkland requested on-demand access to rear and repeater cameras for peace of mind in the mirrorless vehicle. UI software engineer Evan replied that the feature is already in development. The change would let passengers view surroundings on the cabin screen without mirrors or a driver. More than 300 Cybercabs now operate in Austin, with Dallas named as the next city. Tesla sent riders a survey after paid service opened that asked them to rate the touchscreen, the app and the cabin and to pick the features they wanted most. A camera view is the kind of small software change Tesla can push quickly if riders keep asking. The hardware is clearly built for camera awareness from the repeater cameras to the rear camera. Letting a passenger look through those same cameras would give a nervous first-time rider a way to confirm what is around the car. Source: teslarati.com - Pilot and Tesla opened the first joint Megacharger site in Ellabell, Georgia — Bryan County News
Six heavy-duty posts each deliver up to 1.2 megawatts and can bring a Semi to 80 percent in half an hour. Two Semis were displayed: one with 325-mile range and one with 500-mile range. Tesla plans 100 posts in the US by year-end and 700 in 2027. The site sits at the I-16 and Highway 280 interchange. The posts came from a recently opened 1.7 million square foot manufacturing facility in Sparks, Nevada, capable of turning out 50,000 such trucks a year. Shannon Sturgil, vice president of alternative fuel for Pilot, said the site represents an investment in infrastructure that will help support the future of freight movement in the United States. Jason Gies from Tesla’s semi team said the company will be putting semis all over the United States and that this is just the beginning. Pilot has some 900 travel centers across the US and is investing across traditional fuels, renewable fuels, passenger EV charging and heavy duty industry charging solutions. Source: bryancountynews.com - Tesla enables V2H bidirectional charging and Europe completes EV4EU trial — CleanTechnica
The update allows vehicles to supply power back to homes through compatible hardware. The European trial tested vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid scenarios across multiple countries. No specific rollout timeline or supported models were detailed in the report. The firmware change pairs with existing Powerwall and Wall Connector systems to manage bidirectional flow. Source: cleantechnica.com - Tesla rolls out smart charging firmware for Powerwall and Wall Connector — Not A Tesla App
Version 26.34 adds Low-Cost Charging and Charge on Solar modes. The features direct charging to the cheapest grid periods or available solar production. Both Powerwall and Wall Connector receive the update. The firmware lets owners set preferences so the vehicle charges when energy is cheapest or directly from solar output. Source: notateslaapp.com - XPeng relaunches G6 to compete directly with Tesla Model Y — Drive
The updated G6 targets the same premium rear-wheel-drive segment as the Model Y. The review compares range, charging speed, ride quality, and pricing between the two vehicles in the Australian market. The G6 offers a long-range rear-wheel-drive variant positioned against the Model Y Premium RWD. Real-world efficiency, infotainment differences, and build quality form the core of the head-to-head evaluation. Source: drive.com.au - Essex owner’s custom bubble-blowing Model Y gains entry into car culture — BBC
Jo King and her husband spent more than 100 hours modifying the pink Model Y with heart-shaped exhausts, bubble number plates, unicorn valve caps, and flower-petal wheel covers. The car now appears at shows across the UK. King says the bold design started conversations and helped her feel accepted in a male-dominated scene. She purchased the Model Y to save money on petrol when commuting to London. Bubbles can be pumped out of its heart-shaped exhausts and it features road-legal bubble number plates as well as unicorn valve caps. The car also boasts flower petal wheel covers and stylised mirror caps. King described the look as very bold and very feminine and noted that women and children in the cars usually love it while some people are not 100 percent sure about the colour. Source: bbc.com · bbc.co.uk - Tesla will design and test about 10 chip designs yearly at Terafab’s Giga Texas research fab — TradingView
Major designs typically take roughly two years to reach volume production. TSLA and TSMC resumed talks in early 2026 including Texas visits. Musk said discussions continue and raised that Terafab could be built or run by Tesla and SpaceX with TSMC possibly subleasing space. The effort aims to speed chip development for vehicle and robotics applications. Source: tradingview.com
Tesla X Takeover: What's Hot Right Now
Tesla X Takeover - What's breaking in the Tesla world today! Here are the most interesting, fresh Tesla developments that have everyone talking.
- Musk calls for chip engineers to join Tesla and SpaceX — Elon Musk
The post seeks hardware talent to support internal silicon work at both companies. Discussions around Terafab at Giga Texas include the possibility that the facility could be built or run by Tesla and SpaceX with TSMC possibly subleasing space. Source: tech-insider.org - Teslarati editor announces personal milestone — @Teslarati
The editor posted that he is now a happily married man. The announcement appeared on X on October 11. Source: x.com
Short Spot
Tesla First Principles
Solar roof tiles must satisfy roofing codes, electrical codes, structural loads, fire ratings, and waterproofing simultaneously in custom sizes that vary from roof to roof. That multi-code requirement raises per-unit engineering and certification costs compared with separate panels mounted on a conventional roof. When volume stays low, those fixed costs never spread across enough units to reach the original price target. Tesla’s experience showed the gap between claimed economics and real output. The company aimed for 1,000 installs per week yet delivered roughly 3,000 total over seven years. At that scale the integrated product could not compete on cost with standard panels plus a separate roof, even before policy or installer-skill constraints entered the picture.
The remaining market for building-integrated photovoltaics now depends on whether other manufacturers can solve the same integration problem at higher volume or whether the category stays limited to niche historic-district and design-driven projects where appearance commands a premium. Two of the four hurdles of physics, trades, money, and policy have shifted since 2024, which changes the math for any new entrant. The category still requires a product that simultaneously meets multiple regulatory regimes while delivering acceptable energy yield and long-term durability. Manufacturers chasing the same goal now include solar facades, solar glazing, and flexible panels that adhere to any rooftop.
Tesla’s decade-long experiment ended without a press release or farewell blog post. The product page simply redirects to ordinary solar panels. Industry estimates put the total at roughly 3,000 US installations in seven years against a target that would have produced more than 350,000 units if the weekly pace had been met. The honest answer for why more roofs are not made of solar tiles has four parts and none of them is that the technology is bad. The remaining players must now decide whether the economics can close at any volume or whether the segment remains a premium niche.
Tesla’s daily developments keep the picture moving. Share your thoughts at @teslashortstime. |
