Another busy year comes to an end, closing another chapter in Tesla's journey to advance sustainability. As we prepare for what is expected to be an eventful 2024, it is also worth looking back at Tesla's 2023 to highlight some of the company's many important developments.
Tesla's major achievements in 2023 included the introduction of the highly anticipated Cybertruck and the redesigned Model 3 “Highland,” as well as the widespread adoption of the automaker's charging hardware across the North American automotive industry.
Other key developments not highlighted in the following list included Tesla's industry-breaking price cuts earlier this year and the company's increasing production of giant megapack batteries.
The year was somewhat quiet in solar and powerwall deployment as well as in semi-finished product production, but what Tesla lacked in these areas, the company was able to make up for with several other key developments.
Below is a list of some of Tesla's most notable stories in 2023.
Tesla announced Gigafactory Mexico
At its Investor Day event earlier this year, Tesla officially announced plans to build a new Gigafactory in Mexico to help build its next-generation electric vehicle platform. Tesla is set to be built in the state of Nuevo León and recently received federal land use approval, allowing it to begin construction on the site.
Tesla detailed its master plan part three
In April, Tesla unveiled its master plan part three, detailing the company's proposal for a path to a sustainable global energy economy. The plan followed parts one and two of the Tesla master plan, which the company released in 2006 and 2016, respectively.
Ford adopted the North American Charging Standard (NACS), and others followed
On a Spaces call on The news meant that Ford electric vehicles would one day gain access to the Supercharger network, marking the first step in Tesla's plans to open the charging network to all electric vehicles.
Since then, every startup and major automaker has followed suit, with the exception of Chrysler-Dodge parent company Stellantis.
Tesla began producing the Dojo supercomputer
Tesla began production of the Dojo supercomputer in July after initially unveiling the project during AI Day in 2021. The supercomputing cluster is expected to be able to process large streams of data to perform advanced AI and machine learning calculations and is expected to be one of the best supercomputers in the world in the coming months, launching applications the beta version of Full Self-Driving (FSD) and beyond.
Elon Musk live streamed FSD Beta v12 and later rolled out early versions to employees
Speaking of FSD beta: In August, Musk shared a livestream of the then-upcoming FSD version 12, which the CEO touted as an important key to unlocking fully autonomous driving. Recently, Musk confirmed that the FSD beta v12 will begin rolling out to employees, and it was confirmed that it will be available in over 15,000 employee-owned vehicles before a wider release to the public.
Tesla's FSD beta program also reached a total of 500 million miles driven in October, representing a huge amount of real-time data for the automaker's AI to learn from.
Tesla launched the redesigned Model 3 “Highland”.
After several months of speculation that Tesla would release a redesigned version of its popular Model 3 sedan, the automaker held a debut event in Norway in late August and officially unveiled the refreshed “Highland” design. The first customer deliveries of the redesigned Model 3 have since occurred across much of Europe, Asia and other markets such as Australia and New Zealand.
While the Model 3 Highland is not yet available in North American markets, it is widely expected to launch in early 2024.
Further development of Tesla's Optimus program
While there was no breaking news or official release for Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus, the company highlighted its continued development of the product. Tesla has ramped up hiring for the Optimus team, showing videos showing how the robot can now autonomously sort objects, perform yoga poses, dance and more.
Recently, Musk predicted that Optimus will be able to thread a needle in just a year, telling a manufacturing expert Sandy Munro He assumes that the humanoid robot will be used in Tesla's factories as early as 2024.
Tesla has launched the BP Supercharger partnership
In the first deal of its kind, Tesla sold $100 million worth of Supercharger equipment to BP (formerly British Petroleum) in October, paving the way for future commercial deals that could lead to a major revenue stream in the future – especially in the With regard to Tesla's NACS, it will become the charging standard in the next few years.
Tesla launched Cybertruck with delivery event
Last but not least, Tesla hosted the Cybertruck delivery event late last month after debuting the vehicle over four years ago in November 2019. The first deliveries of Tesla's “Foundation Series” launch edition Cybertrucks went to employees this month. and many reservation holders were invited to place their own orders for the vehicle.
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What are your thoughts? Did I miss something important Tesla did in 2023? Let me know at [email protected], find me on X at @zacharyviscontior send us your tips to [email protected].