Teslas, in the future, may have a century of battery life if Tesla’s research group in Canada can turn their recent research paper into reality. Dr. Jeff Dahn and his team at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada have been working exclusively with Tesla since 2015 to develop new Li-ion batteries.
Tesla described the partnership in 2015 as, “Jeff Dahn is helping to develop Li-ion batteries with improved lifetime, increased energy density, and lower cost. This collaboration is a natural fit.” While it remains to be seen if the research team’s dream will be developed into a working production battery, the partnership appears to have paid off.
Tesla recently renewed their contract with Dahn’s team, ensuring a partnership through 2026. In addition, Dahn has added Dr. Chongyin Yang and Dr. Michael Metzger to his team in order to further enhance the research group’s ability to file for battery patents on behalf of Tesla. Dr. Yang is actually Tesla Canada’s Research Chair. He’s worked in energy storage and conversion for over thirteen years, having come from the University of Maryland in the United States. Dr. Metzger, a former Bosch scientist, brings an interesting background in battery design with an emphasis in desalination uses.
The team recently wrote a research paper called “Li[Ni0.5Mn0.3Co0.2]O2 as a Superior Alternative to LiFePO4 for Long-Lived Low Voltage Li-Ion Cells” in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society. The paper focuses on using a nickel-based battery (NMC) to allow for a greater number of charging cycles. The researchers specifically state, “NMC cells, particularly those balanced and charged to 3.8 V, show better coulombic efficiency, less capacity fade and higher energy density compared to LFP cells and are projected to yield lifetimes approaching a century at 25 °C.”
Maintaining a temperature of 25 °C (77 °F) may be unrealistic in real-world conditions. But, Teslas do have the best battery thermal management systems currently available on the market. It has long been known that relatively stable temperatures result in a prolonged battery life expectancy.
Many prospective EV owners wonder about the life expectancy of Tesla batteries, noting that the replacement cost for a car’s battery pack can range from $12,000 - $22,000. There isn’t a consistent answer to the life expectancy question.
Current Tesla battery life can be affected by factors including temperature, discharge activity, Fast Charger use, and driving habits. It is believed that Tesla batteries typically last approximately 1,500 charge cycles. If Tesla’s research team can implement the new battery design in the future, Tesla battery life expectancy would indeed increase (becoming an heirloom for us to pass on to our children’s children.)
If you’ve got a 3D printer or know a friend who does, this article is for you. We’ve gathered some of the best 3D-printed Tesla accessories and toys for Tesla owners.
We’ll feature some utilitarian accessories for your Tesla and then cover some fun items later. The links provided are all to Prusa’s Printables website and are safe to visit and download.
As a note, mostly everything should be printed in either ASA, PETG, or ABS unless you’re planning to use them indoors. PLA won’t withstand the heat in your vehicle and will warp and break. There are some places you can use PLA without a worry, though, so we’ve gone ahead and made recommendations for each item.
Car Charging
Not a Tesla App
First on our list is a wall-mounted cable organizer that also fits the NACS adapter right in. We recommend using any filament for an indoor mount, but if you’re mounting outdoors and exposed to the sun, ASA or PETG are better choices. Be sure to choose a high infill percentage to keep the organizer sturdy.
Next up is for folks who need to regularly get their cable outside through their garage door. This garage door cable protector keeps the cable from getting squished when the garage door closes.
Not a Tesla App
There’s also this great holder for your J1772 adapter that lets it fit snugly in the door pocket. Tesla actually sells this product too, but you can just print your own instead.
Once again, use ASA or PETG due to sunlight and heat exposure.
Phone and Airpods Charging
Not a Tesla App
There are other accessories that could make charging your phone or wireless headphones easier. Most Teslas feature wireless phone chargers that fit most phones. However, if you’d like to charge your AirPods or a smaller phone, it may not work out so well. You can use these adapters to charge AirPods and Galaxy Buds.
There are even spacers for Tesla’s wireless charger to help position smaller phones in the correct spot. These may work okay in PLA if you don’t leave them exposed to the sun, but PETG is a better option.
Interior
Not a Tesla App
There are also plenty of functional utilities for the inside of your vehicle. The Model 3 and Model Y have large, open vents underneath the front seats to get conditioned air into the back. This vent cover adds a grate to the vents, preventing small things from falling side. It’s applicable for either the Model 3 (non-refresh) and the Model Y, also non-refresh. Any filament will do for this since it won’t be in direct sunlight.
If you need somewhere to hang some bags, here’s a bag hook for the Model Y. You’ll need a cargo shelf mount for this to attach to. Print it in PETG or ASA.
There’s also a variety of console trays to pick from. The author personally uses this center console tray with a J1772 slot, and this second one as the other console tray. If you’ve got a Model S or Model X instead, this console tray would work for you.
Tools & Etc.,
Not a Tesla App
One of the best tools for any owner with a hitch installed – a hitch tool. This tool makes it easy to open up the hitch cover. There are no recommendations on the filament here, but stronger is better.
Here’s another super tool if you don’t have one — a windshield washer fluid funnel. It can be difficult to fill up your washer fluid without spilling, so if you don’t already have a funnel, this could be a good option. You can print this in PLA and just leave it in the frunk, as even a little deformation won’t matter.
Not a Tesla App
Wheels
Not a Tesla App
If you have Tesla’s Aero covers but don’t use them year-round, this is a nice accessory to hang them on the wall. There are also other accessories to cover up the Aero center cap and lug nuts when you do use them. You can print the hangers in PLA, but you’ll absolutely want the center caps and lug nuts in ASA or ABS.
Fun Stuff
Not a Tesla App
Ok, now on to all the fun stuff. There are a ton of different Tesla models to print. There’s an RC Cybertruck (best in ABS) and a Cybertruck model kit card (PLA). If you’re up for something in between, you can check out this model kit instead, which bridges the gap.
There’s also a lot more available on Printables (or your site of choice) than the ones we’ve highlighted here. This is just a small tidbit of some of the cool and unique stuff that’s available.
If you have some other awesome ideas or have designed something yourself, let us know on social media.
Another Tesla update has finished rolling out to the fleet and we once again have a list of undocumented features in this update. Tesla update 2025.2 was the first update of the year and it brought along features such as wiper improvements for the Cybertruck, support for the cabin radar, and third-party charger preconditioning.
However, other changes made it into the release as well but weren’t mentioned in the release notes. If you love following Tesla software changes or just want to be aware of all changes in your vehicle, these will help keep you updated.
Autopilot Warnings
Tesla has now carried over some of the updated warnings from FSD to regular Autopilot.
Warnings such as “Autopilot will not brake” when the accelerator pedal is actively pressed and others will now be presented at the top in a translucent rectangle, instead of near the bottom, where they can be easily missed.
Supercharger Notification
Not a Tesla App
After using a Supercharger, your vehicle will now display a notification with the total cost of the charging session. In addition to the cost, the alert will also display the location, total energy added, and the cost per kW/h.
This is a really nice addition as it brings the price of the charging session front and center when it matters most — as soon as you’re done charging. Previously, you could navigate to Controls > Charging to see the cost of charging.
Recommended Tire Pressure
Not a Tesla App
The Tire Pressure card on the Model 3 and Model Y will now show you the recommended tire pressure in the bottom left corner of the card. It continues to display the tire pressure reading for each wheel.
Service Mode
Max Bracco / X
As usual, Service Mode sees several improvements to make serving your vehicle easier.
Brake Burnishing: The Brake Burnish procedure parameters have been updated to reduce the need for coming to almost a complete stop during each cycle.
Legacy Model S and Model X only.
Charge Port Calibration: The charge port door calibration routine (PROC_CP_X_DOOR-SENSOR-CALIBRATION) and charge port latch calibration route (PROC_CP_X_LATCH-CALIBRATION) have been added to the Charging panel. Those routines are required to be run following the replacement of the charge port or charge port door.
All Model 3s and Model Ys.
Signal Viewer Panel: A new Signal Viewer panel is available to monitor multiple signal values live on a graph. If one or more of the signal values is unavailable, the graph will stop updating. To access the new panel, tap Tools > Signal Viewer.
Noise Recording Panel: To improve the user experience, the recording duration has been decreased to 30 seconds, and reliability of the download routine PROC_ICE_X_FETCH-DIAGNOSTIC-AUDIO-RECORDS has been improved.
Cybertruck only.
Next Update
If you want to read about the official changes in this update, check out our release notes for 2025.2.
Tesla has now started pushing software update 2025.8, but it’s currently only going out to a very small segment of vehicles. It’ll soon go out to more owners in larger waves, but if you’re interested in seeing what’s coming take a look at our 2025.8 update release notes and the undocumented features we’re aware of so far.
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