Elon Musk's Upcoming Visit to China: A Boon for Tesla's Future Growth

By Kevin Armstrong
Elon Musk is planning a visit to China next month
Elon Musk is planning a visit to China next month
Ted

Tesla's CEO Elon Musk is reportedly planning a visit to China as early as April, with intentions to meet China's Premier Li Qiang, according to sources familiar with the matter. This marks Musk's first visit to the country since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and since President Xi Jinping secured a third term in office.

Although Tesla and China's State Council Information Office have not yet commented on the matter, the potential benefits of Musk's visit to Tesla are significant.

Strengthening Government Relations for Preferential Treatment

China is Tesla's second-largest market, following the United States, and the Shanghai Gigafactory is the company's largest production hub. As the Chinese government continues to promote the adoption of electric vehicles in its bid to reduce carbon emissions and tackle air pollution, the country represents an increasingly lucrative market for Tesla. Musk's visit can potentially strengthen Tesla's position in the Chinese EV market by fostering closer ties with the government and exploring further collaboration opportunities.

Firstly, a meeting between Musk and Premier Li Qiang could pave the way for preferential treatment and greater support for Tesla in China. This may translate to additional incentives for the company, such as tax breaks, subsidies, or streamlined regulatory approval processes, which would, in turn, encourage further investment and expansion in the Chinese market.

Enhancing Supply Chain Management and Supplier Relations

Secondly, the visit may provide opportunities for Tesla to enhance its supply chain management and improve relationships with local suppliers. As the global chip shortage continues to impact the automotive industry, strengthening relationships with Chinese suppliers could help Tesla secure a more stable supply of essential components, mitigating production delays and ensuring timely delivery of vehicles to customers.

Collaborating with Chinese Tech Giants for Innovation

Thirdly, Musk's visit could lead to increased collaboration between Tesla and Chinese tech giants, such as Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba, which are actively investing in the EV space. Joining forces with these companies could drive innovation, particularly in the realms of autonomous driving, battery technology, and charging infrastructure, ultimately boosting Tesla's competitive advantage in the market.

Lastly, by establishing a more robust presence in China, Tesla may be able to tap into the country's growing talent pool of engineers and researchers in the EV industry. Access to this skilled workforce could accelerate research and development initiatives and further solidify Tesla's position as a leader in electric vehicle technology.

In conclusion, Elon Musk's anticipated visit to China carries the potential for numerous benefits for Tesla. By fostering closer ties with the Chinese government, local suppliers, and tech giants, the company can strengthen its position in the market and accelerate its growth. As the world's largest EV market, China's importance to Tesla's future success cannot be overstated, making Musk's upcoming visit a critical juncture for the electric automaker.

Tesla Software Update 2025.2 -- The Lesser Known Features (Undocumented Changes)

By Not a Tesla App Staff
@TeslaNewswire

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.

All vehicles with AMD Ryzen.

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.

Update 2025.8.3

FSD Supervised 12.6.4 & 13.2.8
Installed on 2.5% of fleet
0 Installs today
Last updated: Mar 25, 1:55 pm UTC

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.

Tesla Reveals Number of Cybertrucks Sold in Trim Replacement Recall

By Karan Singh
@TeslaTruckClub on X

Tesla has issued a voluntary recall for all Cybertrucks built to date, for an issue with the Cant Rail - the upper trim piece on the sides of the vehicle that sits above the window glass. This is a pretty big deal that it reveals some key information - in fact, it is the Cybertruck’s first full-blown recall that will impact all vehicles.

The Issue

The Cant Rail, being a thin piece of metal attached to a narrow portion of the vehicle, is currently held down by a single bolt and automotive-grade adhesives. Tesla has noted that the adhesives are becoming brittle due to heat and cold cycles over time, resulting in some vehicles having the trim pieces either break or fall off.

This has been an ongoing issue with the Cybertruck - but was previously considered resolved as the issue mostly went away as Tesla improved their adhesive application. 

As of March 20th, Tesla issued a voluntary recall to address the problem after conducting an engineering survey to determine a fix.

Tesla Reveals Number of Cybertrucks Sold

Tesla doesn’t break out Cybertruck sales on their earnings report, instead lumping it into an “Other Models” category that includes Model S, Model X, and Semi sales in addition to the Cybertruck. Since Tesla needs to reveal how many Cybertrucks are affected by this issue, this is our first official glimpse into how many Cybertrucks Tesla has sold.

The recall shows that Tesla has sold 46,096 Cybertrucks to date, which is the number of vehicles recalled. An estimated 1% of vehicles (approximately 460) have the defect, and Tesla has had 151 warranty claims to date in relation to the Cant Rail issue, which have already been remedied. As usual, no fatalities, collisions, or other injuries are related to this issue have been noted.

You can review the recall notice here if you’re interested.

The Fix

The fix to this issue is to fully replace the Cant Rail. That means that Tesla will be removing the existing Cant Rail from the vehicle - which is attached with adhesives - and then replacing it with a new part that uses a new structural adhesive that will not face environmental embrittlement, alongside being reinforced with a nut that will clamp the panel to the vehicle’s structure. Tesla will also weld the panel with an interior stud, solidifying the whole assembly.

Overall, it doesn’t sound like it’ll be a quick and easy fix, but it will be a very solid fix that should make sure that no more of these trim pieces fly off.

Wraps and Coatings

Those who have wrapped, coated, or otherwise treated the surface of their Cybertrucks will be in for a bit of a problem with this particular recall. The existing Cant Rail will be entirely removed from the vehicle, and replaced with a new piece, as mentioned above.

Because of this, the old Cant Rail exterior will no longer be on your vehicle - which includes your wrap or coating. When you go in for this recall, you will need to get the Cant Rails on your vehicle re-wrapped or re-coated, at your own expense.

Tesla is not providing reimbursement at this time for wraps or coatings done by third parties. If Tesla has installed your wrap due to a wrap promotion or through the in-house Tesla Wrap Program, you’ll want to confirm with your local service department if they can source and replace the wrap. 

At this time, there’s been no official guidance from Tesla on in-house wraps, but we expect that because this is a recall and the wrap is a service from Tesla. Hopefully, we’ll hear something officially soon.

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