Future Tesla Vehicles to Feature Bi-Directional Charging, 48V & 800V Architectures, Steer-by-Wire, and More

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

The Cybertruck brought a lot of technological advances to Tesla vehicles, and even with the launch of the refreshed Model Y, they’ve remained relatively exclusive to it. Tesla has yet to launch the vast majority of Cybertruck tech on any other vehicle, but as part of the Q4 2024 Tesla Earnings Call deck, Tesla revealed that future vehicles will leverage features that are exclusive to the Cybertruck today.

Let’s take a look at what Tesla introduced with the Cybertruck and what it expects to introduce to the rest of its line-up

Cybertruck Exclusives

There are a pair of features that are staying Cybertruck exclusive, but this isn’t surprising at all.

Stainless Steel Exoskeleton - The Cybertruck’s cold-rolled stainless steel exoskeleton is unique, strong, and heavy. And that weight really just orientates it towards a truck rather than other vehicle classes. As such, we doubt Tesla will bring it to another type of vehicle anytime soon - unless they actually have a CyberSUV planned.

Air Bending Manufacturing Process - Related to the cold-rolled stainless steel exoskeleton, Tesla utilizes a unique air-bending process that can bend the stainless steel - without touching it. Those bends are how Tesla builds the unique and distinctive shape of the Cybertruck. 

Cybertruck Tech That Will Be Used In Future Models

With that being said, let’s move on to the features that Tesla said will be used in future models. Since the Model Y has already launched and doesn’t include these features, we expect these to potentially be in new vehicles such as the Cybercab, the next-gen model, and Tesla’s upcoming bus. Tesla likely left these features out of the redesigned Model Y for simplicity, but expect most of these features to define the future of Tesla.

Manufacturing & Design

Giga Castings - The Model Y uses a 6,000-ton Gigapress to build its castings - the Cybertruck, on the other hand, uses a 9,000-ton press to make the front and rear vehicle structures. This reduces the number of parts and final assembly complexity, creating savings while also resulting in an even more repairable vehicle.

Integrated Audio with Body Structure - Interestingly, the Giga Castings are actually designed to channel sound from the Cybertruck’s subwoofers - they’re reactive volume - which helps to channel the audio towards the vehicle’s occupants, improving clarity and response.

Powertrain and Electrical Architecture

48-Volt Electrical Architecture - The Cybertruck’s 48V Low Voltage Architecture is unique - and it reduces the overall cost of electrical wiring within the vehicle. This is because the current required is reduced by 4 times, while the heat generated is reduced by 16 times compared to traditional 12V wiring. Overall, that means a reduction in weight, simplifying electrical systems, and an increase in energy efficiency.

800-Volt Battery System - On the High Voltage side, Tesla is using a higher voltage powertrain - which is more energy efficient for larger vehicles that require more power. Just like the Low Voltage counterpart - this new system enables smaller cables, less thermal generation, and reduces the cost of electrical wiring. This also enables Cybertruck to be the first Tesla capable of 325kW Supercharging, and soon - a speedy 500kW.

Etherloop Communication Architecture - the new Low-Voltage architecture also enables communication through the LVCS - or Low-Voltage Connector Standard - a new industry standard introduced by Tesla to optimize wiring. LVCS enables communications throughout the vehicle - which means you can also create interactive wiring diagrams that can automatically determine where faults are or help technicians find the correct connector to replace.

Bi-directional Charging (Powershare) - Powershare is Tesla’s bi-directional charging, also known as Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) or Vehicle-to-Home (V2H). This is the first time Tesla has confirmed they plan to bring Powershare to vehicles other than the Cybertruck, which is going to be interesting. That means you’ll be able to use other Tesla vehicles to either power your home in a blackout, or to power your tools or camping equipment - or really anything else when you’re not near a grid.

Ride and Comfort

Custom Laminated Glass - Tesla included a new laminated glass for the windshield, side windows, and the tiny little rear window in the Cybertruck. This laminated window helps to improve noise isolation - and also blocks quite a bit of the UV spectrum, which is helpful to keep the vehicle cooler.

Adaptive Air Suspension - The adaptive air suspension in the Cybertruck provides an astounding 12” of ground clearance. While the Model S and Model X also have adaptive air suspension, this Cybertruck’s suspension feels smoother and more comfortable going up or down, especially on rough terrain. We’d love to see more air suspension in Tesla’s lineup. While this may not arrive in all models, it may be included at higher price points or in Tesla’s upcoming bus.

Steer-by-Wire - Steer-by-wire is a Cybertruck feature that you have to try to understand. It fully replaces the regular steering column with an electronic column that automatically adjusts the steering ratio based on vehicle speed. This feature is made possible by the 48V low-voltage system, so we’re excited to see this in future vehicles. At low speeds, the wheel requires much less movement to turn, while it is the opposite at higher speeds. This makes it exceptionally comfortable and easy to maneuver, especially in combination with the next feature.

Rear Wheel Steering - The second half of the driving equation with the Cybertruck is the rear wheel steering. It enables improved turning at low speeds - far tighter than you’d expect for a truck - more comparable to the far shorter Model 3 and Model Y. Plus, it also increases vehicle stability at high speeds by crabbing over when you’re changing lanes.

Feature

Use in Future Vehicles

Stainless Steel Exoskeleton

-

Air Bending Manufacturing

Process

-

Giga-castings

Integrated Audio with Body

Structure

48-Volt Electrical Architecture

800-Volt Battery System

Etherloop Communication

Architecture

Bidirectional Charging (Powershare)

Custom Laminated Glass

Adaptive Air Suspension

Steer-by-Wire

Rear Wheel Steering

Wrap-Up

While the Cybertruck itself may not appeal to everyone, the technology inside is groundbreaking. While Tesla hasn’t said exactly which vehicles they’ll be using these features on or whether some features will be destined for more premium cars like, we expect most vehicles to leverage these new systems which reduce costs and enable faster charging.

We’re excited about what 2025 will be bringing - next on the horizon is Project Redwood - Tesla’s more affordable car model - which is supposed to be launching in the first half of this year. Do you think it’ll use any of these features? Let us know on social media or in the forums.

Elon: Tesla Robotaxi Ahead of Schedule, First Autonomous Delivery Next Month

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Following yesterday’s news that the Tesla Robotaxi network is ahead of schedule and set to launch on June 12th, overnight, Elon confirmed that the Robotaxi network is far ahead of expectations.

With Elon back and working full-time at Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, we’ll likely receive a lot more updates on what these companies are working on. In this case, Elon confirmed that Tesla has been running autonomous Model Ys with no one in the driver’s seat on Austin’s public seats, with no incidents. According to yesterday’s report, there is still someone in the passenger seat just in case something comes up, but essentially “driverless.”

Elon also confirmed that Tesla’s ambitious plans to have a Model Y deliver itself directly from the factory to a customer, presumably in Austin, will also occur next month.

Autonomous Deliveries

Tesla’s vehicles already drive themselves off the production line and to the delivery lot, and driving themselves to a customer’s home would be the logical next step, but as we covered before, there could be some issues with this model.

While this will likely be geographically limited to the areas around Giga Texas, and potentially, Tesla’s Fremont factory in the future, it is still a great step toward reducing the cost of vehicles.

Public Access by End of June

In a reply, Elon also confirmed that anyone would be able to test out the Robotaxi network by the end of June. While in typical Elon fashion, he didn’t answer the question of whether the network will be invite-only at first, we expect this will likely be the case and it won’t just be anyone who can open the Tesla app and summon a robotaxi.

At the Q1 2025 Earnings Call, Elon stated that the Robotaxi service would only be available to the public in late June or early July, giving Tesla enough time to test with internal audiences, as well as invited testers. This timeline seems to be fairly concrete, but if you’re planning a trip to Austin to check out Robotaxi, we suggest looking at early July, as timelines can still shift.

Tesla’s Optimus Is Now Learning by Watching — First Person Today, Third Person Tomorrow [VIDEO]

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla’s Optimus X account recently dropped another video, following up on its previous dance routines. Previously, Optimus demonstrated impressive footwork, along with a level of agility and balance that has improved immensely since Optimus was first unveiled.

In a new video posted to X, Optimus is seen doing actual work. While it’s still in the early days, Tesla shows off how the robot is learning to perform small tasks.

Learning by Watching

The real focus of the video isn’t on the tasks Optimus is performing but on how it’s learning to perform these tasks. Optimus is learning by watching humans perform the work through a first-person view.

The video demonstrates Optimus tackling daily tasks that require a good degree of dexterity and environmental awareness, including vacuuming, cooking, and even taking out the trash. While the previous demonstrations were more of a showcase of Optimus’ physical capabilities, this one is more about the learning process.

The key breakthrough, which was emphasized by members of Tesla’s Optimus AI team, is the robot’s new ability to learn complex, bi-manual tasks largely from watching videos of humans performing them. This results in a reduction in direct teleoperation, where real humans control Optimus remotely to generate training data.

Murtaza Dalal, a member of Tesla’s Optimus AI team, shared his excitement about the development - and noted that while teleoperation doesn’t scale, training by watching video does scale — extremely fast.

First-Person Perspective

The ability to learn from human video (while currently focused on a first-person perspective) means Optimus can bootstrap new tasks much faster than before and with less human interaction required. Milan Kovac, an Optimus Engineering team member, elaborated on this, stating: 

“We recently had a significant breakthrough along that journey, and can now transfer a big chunk of the learning directly from human videos to the bots... Many new skills are emerging through this process, are called for via natural language (voice/text), and are run by a single neural network on the bot (multi-tasking).”

What’s Next for Optimus?

The road doesn’t stop here. The Optimus team is already looking to see where they can push the barriers of learning, and is looking at having Optimus learn directly from internet videos of humans doing tasks. This means learning from third-person views rather than the more optimized first-person views that it is currently learning from today.

Once Optimus can translate the third-person perspective to the first-person, much like humans do, then it opens up a whole new world of training data. Optimus will be able to learn simply by watching the world around him.

All this rapid advancement is critical for Tesla. Elon has doubled down on Optimus being Tesla’s key to unlocking the biggest market in the world, and it is key to pushing Tesla’s new vision of sustainable abundance.

This is just the first step in a long process - we’re still years away from Optimus making its way to customer homes, but the journey has to start somewhere. For now, it’ll be working hard in Tesla’s labs and factories, and we expect to hear more about Optimus later this year once the production line is up and running.

Latest Tesla Update

Confirmed by Elon

Take a look at features that Elon Musk has said will be coming soon.

More Tesla News

Tesla Videos

Latest Tesla Update

Confirmed by Elon

Take a look at features that Elon Musk has said will be coming soon.

Subscribe

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter