According to an article published by The Information in early October, Tesla intends to introduce four new types of 4680 batteries in 2026. We already know that Tesla has been working hard on new batteries. The Cybercell - the upgraded 4680, is already a new design meant specifically to get the Cybertruck and future vehicles off the ground.
Tesla has also been working on Solid-State Batteries, but even with Tesla’s technological and engineering prowess, that technology is still quite far out.
The 4680 Cell
To put things in context, the 4680 cell is Tesla’s replacement for the older 2710 cells present in most Model 3s and Model Ys. Tesla has been producing these cells for a long time and has optimized them considerably, both in terms of scale of manufacturing and engineering.
But the tech behind the 2170 cell is old, and 4680 will be Tesla’s next leap forward. They previously tried with the much-maligned 4680 Model Y, but it was quickly pulled from sale. They tried again with the Cybercell—and that went much better. So much better, in fact, that Tesla is working on enhancing the Cybercell even further—using a Dry Cathode Process to make the cell easier and cheaper to manufacture.
The Trouble with 4680
According to The Information, an inside source at Tesla has said that Tesla is losing 70-80% of its anodes—one of the two parts that move electrons from the cell to the vehicle—in test production. Tesla has been working hard to solve this, and they recently demoed a Dry Cathode Process Cybertruck.
First prototype Cybertruck with in-house dry cathode 4680 cells – making it an all dry electrode vehicle pic.twitter.com/NzJxKQrRBp
The 4680 cell is the next leap in large battery packs, but it's a difficult leap to make. Tesla is having trouble moving its research and development to engineering, but it's just a matter of time. Today, the 4680 is primarily made at the Fremont factory in California, but Tesla intends to move parts of its future battery chain production to a new area outside Giga, Texas.
With that new zone, they intend to establish the 4680’s dry cathode process production facility—to produce the 4680D Cell. According to Musk, that move will cut the 4680's production costs by nearly 30%.
The New Batteries
The four cells that Tesla plans to introduce in 2026 have some interesting code names. The first is “NC05.” The NC stands for New Cell, but we’re sure Tesla will come up with a witty name once it comes out of R&D.
NC05 Battery
This cell is intended to be the easy-to-manufacture cell that will power the Cybercab and will likely also power the lower-cost $25,000 model—which we’re still expecting to see sometime next year.
NC20 Battery
The next size up, the NC20, is intended to power Tesla’s SUV lineup and the Cybertruck. This will be a larger-format cell intended for moving larger and heavier vehicles and possibly optimized for towing—a constraint the Cybertruck, on its current 4680s, can find challenging in harsh winter conditions.
NC30 & NC50 Batteries
The NC30 and NC50 are the other two cells that The Information lists, but they’ll be drastically different. They won’t be using the standard cell materials that we’ve seen used up to this point. This is where the focus of Tesla’s R&D likely lies - they intend to introduce cells using silicon carbon into the anodes. Silicon Carbon, or SiC, can hold and move electrons faster than traditional anode materials.
These cells are likely where Tesla will make significant strides in both faster charging times and improved energy output. The advanced anode design, which allows for greater energy transfer, is poised to play a crucial role in Tesla's push for ultra-fast Supercharging.
The NC30 will eventually end up in the Cybertruck and Tesla’s future SUV lineup - maybe a refreshed Model X or Model Y.
The NC50, on the other hand, will be focused on performance and a smaller cell. It’ll power the new Tesla Roadster and likely Tesla’s performance models, such as the Plaid, Performance, and Beast variants.
The Information didn’t provide any information on whether Tesla will utilize this tech on its Powerwalls or Megapacks just yet, but it's likely that both of those two products will see further cost optimization and efficiency gains as well.
We’re excited to see where Tesla takes its battery tech in the future, as charging times and vehicle range are still one thing preventing the mass adoption of electric vehicles.
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Another quarter has passed, and that means it’s time to submit questions and vote for Tesla’s Q2 2025 Earnings Call. While Q1 was a tough quarter for the company, Q2 saw some recovery in sales, although there’s still some work to be done.
However, there’s always a lot to be excited about during Tesla’s Q&A session, where we usually learn a lot about future software improvements and upcoming vehicles. We may hear more about FSD Unsupervised, Robotaxi, or the more affordable vehicle, or its upcoming larger 6-seater Model Y, the Model Y L. Tesla also mentioned a potential FSD price hike back in the Q1 2025 Earnings Call, so that could be something that is brought up as well.
Tesla’s Q2 So Far
Tesla has already released their Q2 2025 Production and Delivery numbers, which were up from Q1 of this year, but still down compared to Q2 last year.
Production
Deliveries
Model 3/Y
396,835
373,728
Model S, X, and Cybertruck
13,409
10,394
Total
410,244
384,122
How to Submit & Vote
Tesla lets shareholders submit a question that will be voted on and may be answered during the Q&A session. To submit your own question or vote on an already submitted question, you’ll need to be a verified shareholder. You can go to Say’s platform and link your brokerage accounts.
Once it is verified, you’ll be able to log in and vote your shares on your own question, or on someone else’s question.
Here’s the link to get started on Say’s Tesla Q&A. You must submit your questions and votes by July 23rd, 2025, at 4:00 PM EDT.
Top Questions So Far
Unsurprisingly, people have already been submitting questions, and here are the top ones so far.
Can you give us some insight how robotaxis have been performing so far and what rate you expect to expand in terms of vehicles, geofence, cities, and supervisors?
What are the key technical and regulatory hurdles still remaining for unsupervised FSD to be available for personal use? Timeline?
What specific factory tasks is Optimus currently performing, and what is the expected timeline for scaling production to enable external sales? How does Tesla envision Optimus contributing to revenue in the next 2–3 years?
Can you provide an update on the development and production timeline for Tesla’s more affordable models? How will these models balance cost reduction with profitability, and what impact do you expect on demand in the current economic climate?
Are there any news for HW3 users getting retrofits or upgrades? Will they get HW4 or some future version of HW5?
When do you anticipate customer vehicles to receive unsupervised FSD?
And here are some other ones we found interesting:
Have any meaningful Optimus milestones changed for this year or next and will thousands of Optimus be performing tasks in Tesla factories by year end?
Are front bumper cameras going to be necessary for unsupervised full self driving? If so, what is the companies plan to retrofit vehicles that do not have them?
Will there be a new AI day to explain the advancements the Autopilot, Optimus, and Dojo/chip teams have made over the past several years. We still do not know much about the HW4.
Earnings Call Details
Tesla will hold its earnings call on Wednesday, July 23rd, at 4:00 PM EDT. It's still early for an access link, but we’ll make sure we have a link up on the site before the earnings call that day.
If you do miss the earnings call, no worries. We will provide a full recap following the call, and we’ll also do some in-depth dives into what was said and what we know.
Tesla’s Summer Update, 2025.26, has finally launched, bringing with it a batch of interesting new features for some, and a bunch of quality-of-life improvements for everyone else.
Grok AI Assistant
The star of the Summer Update is Grok, xAI’s conversational AI assistant, which has now landed in Tesla vehicles. For now, it's available in any Tesla that has an AMD processor and is potentially coming to Intel-based vehicles in the near future. The feature is also only available in the U.S., but it’s expected to expand to other regions — hopefully soon.
Grok is in its first iteration as an in-vehicle assistant, and for now, cannot control the vehicle, which means that Tesla’s voice command system is still intact. However, there is a lot it can do already. Grok is activated by pressing and holding the voice button (right scroll wheel on older vehicles), while a short press of the button is still reserved for voice commands. Grok will support a wake word in the future, letting you activate it without pressing a button.
You don't need to sign into Grok to use it in your Tesla!
It can't currently control anything in the car, but it does seem context aware that it is in a vehicle. pic.twitter.com/IpatR7sjiJ
Once Grok is open, which can also be done by tapping the Grok app icon, users can tailor the AI personality according to their preferences by selecting a persona and voice of their choice.
There are also several other settings for Grok under the settings button. You can enable NSFW mode, Kids Mode, or disable access to your vehicle’s location.
Grok has contextual awareness of your vehicle location, which means it can provide relevant answers to questions like “Where should I go for dinner?”
Logging In Not Required
Grok is free with Premium Connectivity, or if you’re using your phone’s hotspot feature or connected to WiFi, so anyone can try it for free. In fact, you don’t even need to log in to start using Grok. However, logging in adds some additional features.
If you’d like to log in, you can do so by scanning the QR code in the vehicle, which will provide chat management and transcripts, SuperGrok access (if you pay for a subscription), and better privacy control.
Tesla has added a new Light Sync feature that pulses the vehicle’s ambient lighting in sync with the music being played. This option is turned on under Toybox > Light Sync. There are also a few options, including the ability to match the ambient light colors to the album’s artwork, instead of using your selected color.
In addition, in Park you can enable Rave Cave when parked, which cranks up the ambient lighting brightness to the maximum.
Dashcam App Update
The Dashcam app now allows you to adjust playback speeds, just like the older Dashcam Viewer, which is still used on Intel-based vehicles.
In addition to adjusting playback speed, you can now adjust the video view so that it’s displayed without being obstructed by the buttons at the top (video below). The difference is small, but could be useful if you’re trying to see something slightly out of view or that’s hidden behind the top Dashcam buttons.
While the Cybertruck has also received the updated Dashcam Viewer with this update, it does not have the new B-pillar camera recordings like other HW4 cars.
Sentry Mode is getting one of the best uses of the vehicle’s ambient lighting that we’ve seen so far. The ambient lighting will now slowly pulse red while Sentry Mode is activated to grab someone’s attention, instead of just relying on the vehicle’s display.
While you can disable Sentry Mode sounds, we’d love to see an even more stealthy Sentry Mode that also disables the ambient lighting and screen, allowing the vehicle to record without anyone being aware.
Since the ambient lighting is being used in this case to make people more aware of a feature, Tesla could also use it in other modes, such as Dog Mode.
There are a lot of potential uses for ambient lighting. Tesla can make it glow while the vehicle is charging, with the brightness potentially related to the vehicle's charge level.
When you navigate to a Supercharger, new icons in the charger list will indicate locations that require valet service or pay-to-park access.
Upon arrival at the location, a notification will appear on your screen, displaying important details such as access codes, parking restrictions, level/floor information for parking garages, and restroom availability. This information will also be available on the site card in the navigation.
Equalizer Presets
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Tesla has moved the audio settings from the music player, directly into the vehicle settings — making them much easier to find. In addition to creating a new “Audio” section in settings, you can now create and save equalizer presets.
Each preset can have a name, custom EQ settings, and a setting for immersive audio.
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Onboarding Guide
Not a Tesla App
Tesla has introduced a new Onboarding Guide for new owners. The guide covers driver settings, touchscreen use, steering wheel and seat setup, and how to control key portions of the vehicle, including lights, wipers, and Autopilot features.
The Onboarding Guide is automatically initiated when a new owner accepts delivery of a Tesla, or can be manually initiated at any time by going to Controls > Service > Onboarding Guide.
This appears to only be available for the new Model 3 and new Model Y.
In typical Tesla fashion, this 2025.26 update is rolling out gradually in small waves initially. Three waves have already gone out, so all signs are looking good for it going into a wide release soon.
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