26 September 2026 Tesla Lithium Plant Snapshots! The plant is looking pretty good today and the team here has made some massive milestones recently, with the Lithium Day even in July, the announcement that the LiOH monohydrate produced ere is now being used to make cathode materials at the Giga Texas Cathode plant and that the 4680s that are made from this material! Most of the roadways that were under construction on my July video are completed, with a few new ones here and there. I noted another new clearing being prepared too just to the side of the staging yard at the raw materials warehouse, so perhaps that next phase of construction is about to begin!  The new 4680s that use the LiOH from this plant are now featured in the @cybertruck the Cybercab and the newly-unveiled @tesla_semi … and who knows, they may play a big role with the upcoming Roadster, with that announcement coming up on 1 October! 4680s are also planned to be used in the upcoming @Tesla_Optimus robot, so perhaps this plant will be supporting some of that new product at some point in the future. This plant broke ground just over 4 years ago and to see it now operational and contributing to the Tesla mission is really special. Work remains ahead to eventually double the production size, add black-mass battery recycling capabilities and a whole bunch more. I hope you enjoy these snapshots from today’s drone flight!

The @Tesla Lithium plant is looking pretty good today and the team here has made some massive milestones recently, with the Lithium Day even in July, the announcement that the LiOH monohydrate produced ere is now being used to make cathode materials at the Giga Texas Cathode plant and that the 4680s that are made from this material! Work remains ahead to eventually double the production size, add black-mass battery recycling capabilities and a whole bunch more. There is a new clearing being prepared too, so perhaps that next phase of construction is about to begin! Here are just a few select images from my drone flight today!

Changes at Giga Texas never stop & this one is a big efficiency boost that will improve Model Y & Cybercab production. There is a new External Vertical Reciprocating Conveyor (VRC) going up on the east side of Giga Texas Body-in-White ()BIW. What is a VRC? It is an industrial lift that moves heavy pallets/racks between floors & in this case, likely castings (Giga Press parts) from docks/staging into the multi-level BIW shop & Cybercab production line. This system is something @Tesla has been working on for some time to better manage all the castings that are produced and so far, stored outside around the E & NE sides of the Casting section, taking up a lot of space & requiring several steps in handling before they are at the production line. This VRC will cut forklift traffic and speeds inbound flow as Cybercab + higher Model Y/Cybertruck volume ramp further. There are multiple permits (a few attached at images) related to this system, both internal & external and what we see in my short video clip is the steel frame is that is already rising next to the 6 new receiving docks that replaced the former glass secondary entrance. Progress is happening while in the permits, most required inspections still pending, which is typical for active construction. I saw a similar system at Giga Berlin when I visited there in June & it is great to see it finally coming to Giga Texas!

Toyota Motor North America has decades of manufacturing knowledge, but using it with AI came with one requirement: it had to stay inside Toyota’s environment Pinecone BYOC runs there, while we manage upgrades and scaling without inbound access. BYOC is now GA 🔗

23 September 2026 Giga Texas Snapshots! 1 day before the big @tesla_semi unveiling & one is on prominent display at the W main entrance to help celebrate this major milestone for the company and the Semi as a product! We also see many Cybercabs all over the site today including on the top of the multi-level parking garage for the first time, along with more at the factory exit and on W outbound lot. Even more were busy testing on the track again today, along with some Model Y’s. @Cybertruck production was moving along well too, with many over at the EOL sorting lanes & on transport trucks departing the site. We also see a constant stream of tricks pulling many Cybertruck castings being moved from the N sorting lot to the start of the production line. The W clearing and graded area has more Geotextile membranes, top soil and one last large area getting deep reclamation work to finish off the grade for a new construction project. The E side Vertical Recirculating Conveyor (VRC) system being added to the exterior of the main factory is making a lot of progress with more steel and other component assembly onto the main structure. I think this is to help further automate casting deliveries to the factory, possibly both the Model Y’s and the Cybercabs. The Advanced Tech chip fab foundation continues to see large sections of concrete poured with even more new cranes are being set up for work on the next phase of construction at this new facility. Steel assembly & S footing/grade beam final work is well underway at the Optimus Factory on the N Campus part of the overall site. Roof decking is also being added on the N end of the structure while cranes there continue to hoist steel beams for crews to assemble, lengthening the overall build even more. Lots more going on today!