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SpaceX Starship V3 gets launch date update from Elon Musk

Tesla will increase its Full Self-Driving subscription price, meaning it will eventually be more than the current $99 per month price tag it has right now. Already stating that the ability to purchase the suite outright will be removed, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this week that the Full Self-Driving subscription price would increase when its capabilities improve: “I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve. The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD).” This was an expected change, especially as Tesla has been hinting for some time that it is approaching a feature-complete version of Full Self-Driving that will no longer require driver supervision. However, with the increase, some are concerned that they may be priced out. $99 per month is already a tough ask for some. While Full Self-Driving is definitely worth it just due to the capabilities, not every driver is ready to add potentially 50 percent to their car payment each month to have it. While Tesla has not revealed any target price for FSD, it does seem that it will go up to at least $150. Additionally, the ability to purchase the suite outright is also being eliminated on February 14, which gives owners another reason to be slightly concerned about whether they will be able to afford to continue paying for Full Self-Driving in any capacity. Some owners have requested a tiered program, which would allow people to pay for the capabilities they want at a discounted price. Unsupervised FSD would be the most expensive, and although the company started removing Autopilot from some vehicles, it seems a Supervised FSD suite would still attract people to pay between $49 and $99 per month, as it is very useful. Tesla will likely release pricing for the Unsupervised suite when it is available, but price increases could still come to the Supervised version as things improve. This is not the first time Musk has hinted that the price would change with capability improvements, either. He’s been saying it for some time. In 2020, he even said the value of FSD would “probably be somewhere in excess of $100,000.”

Wind & Solar Surpassed Fossil Fuels In EU In 2025

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe. Or support our Kickstarter campaign! The numbers are close, but the trend is clear. In its latest report on renewable energy in the European Union, Ember found that wind and solar provided 30% of all the electricity consumed all across the Continent in 2025. Fossil fuels were close behind at 29%. Does that mean renewables and fossil fuels are tied? No, it does not. For renewables, the trajectory is trending up; for fossil fuels, it is trending down. Here is the Executive Summary from this year’s report: In 2025, the EU took an enormous step forward towards a clean power system backed by wind and solar. For the first time, wind and solar produced more electricity than fossil fuels in the EU. Homegrown renewables remained nearly half of EU power, as record-breaking solar worked in tandem with wind. In 2025, the EU’s energy priorities focused on cutting energy costs for households and businesses. The European Commission’s Affordable Energy Action Plan correctly diagnoses the root cause of Europe’s high energy prices — its dependence on costly imported fossil fuels. [Emphasis added.] In the power sector, coal is nearly on its way out, reaching a new historic low in 2025 after years of steep decline. However, the EU is still significantly dependent on gas. An increase in gas generation amid a decline in hydro in 2025 pushed up the EU’s fossil gas import bill by 16 percent and led to price spikes in electricity markets. The stakes of the EU continuing to make progress on energy transition remain starkly clear. For the EU, risks of energy blackmail from fossil fuel exporters loomed large in 2025. Investing in homegrown renewables is a key strategy to lower that risk, as geopolitics continue to destabilize. The EU agreed on legislation to ban imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027 in December 2025. However, new fossil dependencies have emerged with a rise in imported US LNG. Heavy reliance on a single supplier threatens EU security and weakens bargaining power in geopolitical negotiations and trade disputes. Expanding batteries, enhancing the grid and scaling up demand flexibility can unlock greater shares of solar and wind in the mix. Not only will this improve security, they are also crucial to ensure predictable and stable prices. In this case, pictures may be worth 10,000 words. Check out these graphs from the Ember report. Credit: Ember Destabilized Geopolitics Ember analyst Beatrice Petrovich was the lead author of this year’s report. She told The Guardian it was a “major tipping point” that was of strategic importance to the EU, which has grown increasingly panicked about its reliance on other countries for energy. “The importance of this goes beyond the power sector,” she said. “The danger of relying on fossil fuels looms large in destabilized geopolitics.” Gosh, who on Earth could she be talking about? Could it be the US, which is sending flotillas of minions to pressure officials in EU countries to buy its LNG or face punishing tariffs? Could be. Just this week, commerce secretary Howard Nitwit Lutnick was in Davos to add fuel to the political dumpster fire created by US demands to take over Greenland. Lutnick criticized European leaders for adopting pro solar and wind policies, arguing that its lack of domestic battery factories risked making it “subservient” to China. “If you are going to be dependent on someone, it had better be your best allies,” he said in a justification of the “America first” approach that he encouraged other countries to emulate. How anyone could see the US as their “best ally” when the alleged president insulted every world leader at Davos and threatened massive tariffs as punishment if they did not toe the line drawn by the US is hard to understand. Actions have consequences, and for Lutwick and his bloviating mentor, there will be consequences aplenty. Solar Increase In 2025 A significant increase in the amount of solar power available in Europe was largely responsible for the upward trend in 2025, according to analysts who spoke with The Guardian. Solar generated 13% of all the electricity in the EU last year. In five countries — including the Netherlands, which is not known for being particularly sunny — it provided more than 20%. Wind turbines generated slightly less than the previous year, the report found, but remained the second-largest source of electricity, responsible for 17% of EU power. Methane-powered thermal generation increased by 8%, primarily because of a weather-related drop in hydropower output. Nevertheless, it remained well below its most recent peak that occurred in 2019. Coal-fired thermal generation fell to an historic low, accounting for less than 10% of EU power, most of it in Germany and Poland. Solar and wind were “becoming the backbone” of Europe’s power system, Petras Katinas, an analyst at the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, told The Guardian. “Solar alone grew by more than 20 percent in a single year, proving that clean power can scale faster than any conventional technology. The challenge now is not generation, but how quickly Europe can deploy grids, batteries, and flexibility,” he said. Battery Storage Is Key The researchers at Ember found signs that evening peaks in electricity demand — which typically require using methane-fired peaker plants that add significant cost to consumers — are starting to be met by battery energy storage systems instead. In fact, 20% of the BESS systems in the EU are located in Italy. It has a large number of planned projects, which means it could follow in the footsteps of California, where batteries routinely cover 20% of evening demand and are crowding out gas. Petrovich said this could smooth price spikes. “If I were a policymaker or investor, I would seriously start questioning if plans for new gas plants are inflated and act to avoid a burden for taxpayers and risk of stranded assets.” Together with hydropower, renewables accounted for nearly half of

Digital BESS services M&A: Quinbrook sells optimiser Flexitricity, Fortescue's analytics provider buys Zitara

Digital BESS services M&A: Quinbrook sells optimiser Flexitricity, Fortescue's analytics provider buys Zitara - Energy-Storage.News Skip to content

Tesla Europe builds momentum with expanding FSD demos and regional launches

Tesla has been notably active across Europe in recent weeks, expanding its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) ride-along program, entering a new market, and showcasing its newest vehicles across multiple regions. Needless to say, it appears that Tesla is putting in some serious effort into boosting sales in Europe this year. Tesla Europe recently announced the expansion of its FSD (Supervised) ride-along experiences, inviting the public to experience the system on local roads. Initially available in Italy, France, and Germany when it launched, the program has now expanded to Hungary, Finland, and Spain. The ride-along program allows participants to ride in the passenger seat and observe how FSD Supervised handles real-world traffic scenarios, including dense urban driving and other challenging conditions. Tesla has positioned the initiative as a way to familiarize European drivers and regulators with the system’s capabilities in everyday use. The program has received positive reviews so far, with many being impressed by FSD’s real-world capabilities. Tesla also recently launched operations in Slovakia with a pop-up store and multi-day public event in Bratislava, as noted in an EV Wire report. The launch, held from January 16 to 18 at the Eurovea Mall Promenade, featured test drives, vehicle displays, including the Cybertruck, as well as family-focused attractions such as a mini-Tesla racetrack. Local observers noted that Tesla Optimus was also shown at the event, while the Tesla Owners Slovakia club welcomed the brand with a coordinated light show near the Slovak National Theater. Tesla Europe later shared its appreciation for Slovakia in a post on its official social media account on X, stating, “Thanks, Slovakia, for the amazing last 3 days & for giving us such a warm welcome!” Tesla’s Slovakia entry follows a familiar pattern used by the company in other European markets. Tesla opened a pop-up store in Bratislava as an initial step, with plans for a permanent showroom and a potential service center at a renovated site previously occupied by a Jeep and Dodge dealership. Tesla has used a similar approach in markets such as Czechia and Lithuania, where permanent facilities followed within a few months of pop-up launches. Slovakia already has six Supercharging sites totaling 46 Superchargers, including two locations in Bratislava, providing early infrastructure support for Tesla owners. Tesla staff program manager Supratik Saha described the Slovakia launch as a strategic expansion in the heart of the EU, citing the country’s strong automotive manufacturing base and appetite for advanced technology. Beyond the EU, the company also marked another milestone with the first Cybertruck deliveries in the United Arab Emirates, signaling continued geographic expansion for Tesla’s newest vehicle. Just like Tesla Slovakia, the Cybertruck also received a warm welcome from the UAE’s EV community.

CATL Wins World Economic Forum’s MINDS Award for AI-Driven Next-Generation Battery Design

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe. Or support our Kickstarter campaign! Davos, Switzerland — CATL has been honored with the World Economic Forum’s 2026 MINDS (Meaningful, Intelligent, Novel, Deployable Solutions) Award, recognizing its groundbreaking project “Augmented Intelligence Leading Next-Generation Lithium-ion Battery Design,” which has been acclaimed as a global benchmark for AI-driven industrial application. This project revolutionizes the lithium-ion battery R&D paradigm with augmented intelligence, delivering virtual batteries with superior performance, increased reliability, and higher efficiency while transforming human design into co-design between AI and customers. The MINDS programme, spearheaded by the World Economic Forum’s Centre for AI Excellence, accelerates the responsible adoption of AI, data, and intelligent technologies to drive safe, fair, and collaborative transformation across industries, economies, and societies. Applicants are rigorously evaluated across five key dimensions—strategy, talent, data, technology, and governance—with only 15 organizations worldwide selected for this recognition this year. In the official report, WEF highlighted: “By transforming battery cell design into a fully data-driven process, CATL is changing how next-generation EV batteries are developed … CATL turned a deep reservoir of proprietary, multimodal data into a sustained AI advantage.” As penetration of the new energy vehicle (NEV) market surpasses 50 percent and electric vehicle development cycles compress to just 18 months, batteries with superior performance, higher quality and enhanced safety have become a decisive source of competitive advantage for automakers. Yet traditional lithium-ion cell design has long depended on individual engineers’ experience and extensive manual testing, leading to prolonged evaluation cycles, high prototyping costs and repeated trial-and-error iterations across the industry. CATL’s Intelligent Cell Design project addresses these constraints by shifting the development model from reverse design and experimental trial-and-error to forward design and prediction before production. By integrating CATL’s strengths across materials science, cell design, manufacturing processes and equipment, the company has built an intelligent design platform that redefines lithium-ion battery development. The platform combines physics‑based electrochemical models with machine learning to deliver scientifically reliable predictions and speed up key steps in cell design. Running on an on‑premises private cloud, it draws on more than 50 million data records to strengthen its models. With physics‑informed machine learning and agentic AI, it works like a “digital engineer,” automatically generating, evaluating and refining design options. This closed loop of data, physics and computation moves battery development beyond manual trial‑and‑error toward a more rigorous and automated process. Trained on more than 100,000 battery design cases, 600TB of test data, and aftermarket data drawn from a broad range of NEVs, the platform can accommodate highly customised performance requirements, dynamically adjusting design priorities while achieving prediction accuracy of up to 95 percent. Compared with manual approaches, it delivers higher performance alongside improved reliability and efficiency. By evaluating designs against electrochemical constraints and applying AI-driven optimisation, it generates design recommendations in seconds and virtual cell designs in minutes. “The MINDS Award is a significant recognition of our exploration in intelligent battery design,” said Ni Jun, Chief Manufacturing Officer and Co-President of Engineering Manufacturing System of CATL. “In complex industrial scenarios like battery production, relying solely on ‘Artificial Intelligence’ can’t solve core problems—I advocate more for ‘Augmented Intelligence’. By integrating our intelligent design system with engineers’ in-depth understanding of material properties, process principles and system engineering, we can strengthen the human–AI partnership and therefore ensure consistent, reliable product quality.” As the conversation around AI has shifted from potential to performance, organizations are increasingly looking for concrete examples of how the technology creates real value. In response, the World Economic Forum launched MINDS — Meaningful, Intelligent, Novel, Deployable Solutions — a global initiative designed to highlight high‑impact AI use cases, clarify practical adoption pathways, and support responsible, scalable deployment across industries. CATL will continue to be driven by technological innovation, shouldering its responsibility as an industry leader. It will keep advancing AI from “enabling” to “creating,” and from solving known problems to discovering new frontiers, building a cornerstone for the global energy transition. Support CleanTechnica via Kickstarter Sign up for CleanTechnica's Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott's in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and follow us on Google News! Advertisement Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here. Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day. 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Gore Street closes EU fund, sees 'improved economics of LDES'

“The Fund is well timed to take advantage of the sharp declines in battery costs, driven by technology improvements and economies of scale, reduced entry costs, and improved economics of longer-duration systems,” Gore Street said. The firm is mainly known for the UK-focused Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (GSF), which has invested primarily in GB and Ireland with a handful of smaller assets in Germany and Texas, plus a 200MW/400MWh system in California. But now the wider European market beyond UK and Germany has emerged as an attractive avenue for large-scale energy storage investment, often driven by long-term government-backed capacity procurement schemes enabling longer durations of projects. Examples are MACSE in Italy and the capacity markets (CM) in Italy, Poland and Belgium. Most projects are 4-hours in those countries, sometimes going to 8-hours. Spain and numerous other Southern and Eastern European countries benefit from capex support schemes supported by EU-wide funding schemes including Recovery and Resilience. The Baltics and Nordics meanwhile are a more merchant business case driven by high ancillary service prices. Alex O’Cinneide, CEO of the Portfolio Manager, commented: “The European market is entering a period of significant growth, and we look forward to continuing to play a leading role in shaping its future.” O’Cinneide spoke to Energy-Storage.news when the company first started expanding BESS activities abroad, in 2022. Energy-Storage.news publisher Solar Media is hosting the Energy Storage Summit EU 2026 in London, UK, on 24-25 February 2026 at the InterContinental London – The O2. See the official website for more details, including agenda and speaker lists. Plus, ESN Premium users can get a 30% discount on tickets.

Tesla starts removing outright Full Self-Driving purchase option at time of order

Tesla made a dramatic change to the Online Design Studio to show its plans for Full Self-Driving, a major part of the company’s plans moving forward, as CEO Elon Musk has been extremely clear on the direction moving forward. With Tesla taking a stand and removing the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright next month, it is already taking steps to initiate that with owners and potential buyers. On Thursday night, the company updated its Online Design Studio to reflect that in a new move that now lists the three purchase options that are currently available: Monthly Subscription, One-Time Purchase, or Add Later: Check out the change Tesla made to its Online Design Studio: It now lists the Monthly Subscription as an option for Full Self-Driving It also shows the outright purchase option as expiring on February 14 pic.twitter.com/pM6Svmyy8d — TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026 This change replaces the former option for purchasing Full Self-Driving at the time of purchase, which was a simple and single box to purchase the suite outright. Subscriptions were activated through the vehicle exclusively. However, with Musk announcing that Tesla would soon remove the outright purchase option, it is clearer than ever that the Subscription plan is where the company is headed. The removal of the outright purchase option has been a polarizing topic among the Tesla community, especially considering that there are many people who are concerned about potential price increases or have been saving to purchase it for $8,000. This would bring an end to the ability to pay for it once and never have to pay for it again. With the Subscription strategy, things are definitely going to change, and if people are paying for their cars monthly, it will essentially add $100 per month to their payment, pricing some people out. The price will increase as well, as Musk said on Thursday, as it improves in functionality. I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve. The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD). — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2026 Those skeptics have grown concerned that this will actually lower the take rate of Full Self-Driving. While it is understandable that FSD would increase in price as the capabilities improve, there are arguments for a tiered system that would allow owners to pay for features that they appreciate and can afford, which would help with data accumulation for the company. Musk’s new compensation package also would require Tesla to have 10 million active FSD subscriptions, but people are not sure if this will move the needle in the correct direction. If Tesla can potentially offer a cheaper alternative that is not quite unsupervised, things could improve in terms of the number of owners who pay for it.

Private sector needed for next phase of Middle East energy storage market

The projects announced so far have been driven or financed by a handful of state-owned bodies, and supplied exclusively (so far) by Chinese companies, spelt out in the table below. In Saudi Arabia, it has been the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), responsible for procuring power from IPPs. In the UAE, two utilities – Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) – have been driving projects alongside investment firm Masdar. The projects are generally either directly-owned by these companies or are being procured under build-own-operate (BOO) whereby the state-owned company will procure the energy from the owner (via an SPV). However, it is the directly-owned projects which have progressed the furthest, with the big tenders in both countries still ongoing. The exception is projects in Saudi by power generation firm ACWA Power, for the NEOM and AMAALA mega-infrastructure projects, but ACWA is still state-controlled. “The government does want private sector projects to come in for the next phase of the market,” says Hammad Rabbani, managing partner at investment and financial services firm Burj Capital. Project Commercial model / owner BESS Supplier BESS Capacity Commercial operation date / target Saudi Arabia Five projects across the country SEC BYD 12.5GWh Not clear Najran, Madaya, Khamis Mushait BESS projects SEC Sungrow 7.8GWh 2025/26 First large-scale tender Build-own-operate for SPPC Procurement ongoing – shortlist in January 2025 2GW/8GWh 2026 Tabuk and Hail BESS Projects SEC Hithium 1GW/4GWh 2026 Bisha BESS SEC BYD 2GWh 2025 AMAALA BESS EDF, Masdar Sungrow 760MWh 2027 NEOM BESS ACWA Power-owned Sungrow 600MWh Not clear Red Sea BESS ACWA Power-owned Huawei 1.3GWh 2024 Total: c.37GWh United Arab Emirates World’s Largest Solar and Battery Storage Project Masdar and EWEC CATL 19GWh 2027 EWEC 400MW BESS Project Build-own-operate for EWEC Procurement ongoing 800MWh 2026 MBR Solar Park Phase 7 Build-own-operate for DEWA Procurement ongoing 8.4GWh 2027 Total: c.28GWh Saudi Arabia’s projects would get it well on its way to its 48GWh large-scale BESS target for 2030, while the UAE has not announced a specific number. Government-financing the first phase, independent international players the next There are two main challenges for international independent power companies and developers wishing to launch projects in the region, explains Rabbani. “One is on the EPC side. The market is changing so quickly in terms of technology and pricing that quotations are very short-lived. By the time due diligence is done things have changed drastically. That is one element that has to be managed,” Rabbani told Energy-Storage.news. “It can take 3-4 months to get to financial close and project lenders want to see a full turnkey proposal, which makes things hard.” The other challenge, he explains, is around policy frameworks. “The projects have been sovereign wealth fund or local bank-financed, and they have not been electricity market-based but more financed on availability-based payments. Arrangements have been bespoke, as there’s been no such framework built in the region,” Rabbani says. “There are a lot of things that need to be managed for lenders, around ESG, but also degradation as BESS technology has not really been tested yet at scale in the region. There are a lot of balls being juggled.” Progress in solar could kickstart progress in BESS Rabbani says the next phase of BESS projects in the region will be those big established private companies that are already advanced in building and operating solar projects in the region, possibly by adding BESS to those projects. He doesn’t see it as likely that a company will come in and do BESS on its own. “But it’s very important for those international developers and IPPs to start taking a view on having storage,” he says. That phased market development whereby generation comes first followed by storage is fairly typical elsewhere in the world. And announcements in late 2024/25 show that international power firms making strong progress on the solar side. In November 2025, France-based EDF Renewables secured financing for two Saudi solar projects totalling 1.4GW in partnership with SPIC Huanghe Hydropower Development (SPIC HHDC) and Saudi Aramco Power Company (SAPCO). The 400MW Al Henakiyah-2 and 1GW Al Masa’a solar PV projects have 25-year PPAs with SPPC and will come online in 2027. So far EDF had been the only outside company we are aware of to have finalised solar projects in the region, also securing financing for late 2020 and 2024. EDF was said at the time to hold 20% stakes in those projects. Its stake for the recent one wasn’t revealed, but it could be more, even a majority. Then in January 2026, Masdar and another French firm, Engie, reached financial close on the 1.5GW Khazna solar project in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The project has a 30-year PPA with EWEC, and is scheduled for operation in 2028. Both companies manage to secure financing from consortiums of local, East Asian and Western banks and financing institutions. BESS technology and local climate The local region has a very particular hot, dry climate, and Sungrow explains to Energy-Storage.news what this meant for its BESS technology provision. “The frequent sandstorms and extreme climate conditions present significant challenges to the site project, necessitating that the product be equipped with the highest level of protection. Our product is designed with a C5 anti-corrosion rating, an IP55 protection level, and has successfully passed over 770 field tests. It is the industry’s first to achieve full-chain safety certification for both AC and DC sides,” a spokesperson says. Rabbani points out that you obviously need very good cooling technology for BESS. But, the harsh climate means non-lithium technologies are being considered too, he says. One possibility is supercapacitors which have better temperature and charging time performance than lithium-ion. Solar Media will host its first Energy Storage Summit Middle East this year on 7-9 April, in the Dubai World Trade Center. See here for more info and tickets.

Tesla to increase Full Self-Driving subscription price: here's when

Elon Musk shared an incredible detail about Tesla Cybercab’s potential efficiency, as the company has hinted in the past that it could be one of the most affordable vehicles to operate from a per-mile basis. ARK Invest released a report recently that shed some light on the potential incremental cost per mile of various Robotaxis that will be available on the market in the coming years. The Cybercab, which is detailed for the year 2030, has an exceptionally low cost of operation, which is something Tesla revealed when it unveiled the vehicle a year and a half ago at the “We, Robot” event in Los Angeles. Musk said on numerous occasions that Tesla plans to hit the $0.20 cents per mile mark with the Cybercab, describing a “clear path” to achieving that figure and emphasizing it is the “full considered” cost, which would include energy, maintenance, cleaning, depreciation, and insurance. ARK’s report showed that the Cybercab would be roughly half the cost of the Waymo 6th Gen Robotaxi in 2030, as that would come in at around $0.40 per mile all in. Cybercab, at scale, would be at $0.20. Credit: ARK Invest This would be a dramatic decrease in the cost of operation for Tesla, and the savings would then be passed on to customers who choose to utilize the ride-sharing service for their own transportation needs. The U.S. average cost of new vehicle ownership is about $0.77 per mile, according to AAA. Meanwhile, Uber and Lyft rideshares often cost between $1 and $4 per mile, while Waymo can cost between $0.60 and $1 or more per mile, according to some estimates. Tesla’s engineering has been the true driver of these cost efficiencies, and its focus on creating a vehicle that is as cost-effective to operate as possible is truly going to pay off as the vehicle begins to scale. Tesla wants to get the Cybercab to about 5.5-6 miles per kWh, which has been discussed with prototypes. Additionally, fewer parts due to the umboxed manufacturing process, a lower initial cost, and eliminating the need to pay humans for their labor would also contribute to a cheaper operational cost overall. While aspirational, all of the ingredients for this to be a real goal are there. It may take some time as Tesla needs to hammer the manufacturing processes, and Musk has said there will be growing pains early. This week, he said regarding the early production efforts: “…initial production is always very slow and follows an S-curve. The speed of production ramp is inversely proportionate to how many new parts and steps there are. For Cybercab and Optimus, almost everything is new, so the early production rate will be agonizingly slow, but eventually end up being insanely fast.”

US startup Noon Energy unveils ‘multi-day baseload' energy storage tech demonstration

US startup Noon Energy unveils ‘multi-day baseload' energy storage tech demonstration - Energy-Storage.News Skip to content

Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature not available on typical Model Ys

Tesla made a dramatic change to the Online Design Studio to show its plans for Full Self-Driving, a major part of the company’s plans moving forward, as CEO Elon Musk has been extremely clear on the direction moving forward. With Tesla taking a stand and removing the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright next month, it is already taking steps to initiate that with owners and potential buyers. On Thursday night, the company updated its Online Design Studio to reflect that in a new move that now lists the three purchase options that are currently available: Monthly Subscription, One-Time Purchase, or Add Later: This change replaces the former option for purchasing Full Self-Driving at the time of purchase, which was a simple and single box to purchase the suite outright. Subscriptions were activated through the vehicle exclusively. However, with Musk announcing that Tesla would soon remove the outright purchase option, it is clearer than ever that the Subscription plan is where the company is headed. The removal of the outright purchase option has been a polarizing topic among the Tesla community, especially considering that there are many people who are concerned about potential price increases or have been saving to purchase it for $8,000. This would bring an end to the ability to pay for it once and never have to pay for it again. With the Subscription strategy, things are definitely going to change, and if people are paying for their cars monthly, it will essentially add $100 per month to their payment, pricing some people out. The price will increase as well, as Musk said on Thursday, as it improves in functionality. Those skeptics have grown concerned that this will actually lower the take rate of Full Self-Driving. While it is understandable that FSD would increase in price as the capabilities improve, there are arguments for a tiered system that would allow owners to pay for features that they appreciate and can afford, which would help with data accumulation for the company. Musk’s new compensation package also would require Tesla to have 10 million active FSD subscriptions, but people are not sure if this will move the needle in the correct direction. If Tesla can potentially offer a cheaper alternative that is not quite unsupervised, things could improve in terms of the number of owners who pay for it.

CATL Begins Commercial Production Of Sodium-Ion Batteries

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe. Or support our Kickstarter campaign! How many times have we said here at CleanTechnica that the batteries for electric vehicles in 2030 haven’t been invented yet? A dozen? A hundred? More? People think the EV revolution sprang full blown from the brow of Elon Musk, but that is not so. Elon may have lit the fuse, but he built on decades of work that happened long before he came on the scene — from people like John Goodenough, who many consider to be the father of the lithium-ion battery. The world of internal combustion vehicles has seen a few improvements since Henry Ford built his first assembly line — automatic transmissions, self starters, electronic ignitions, fuel injection, disc brakes, and air conditioning being among the most prominent. Why do we assume electric vehicles will not follow a similar evolution? One of the weaknesses of today’s NMC-based batteries is their reduced performance in cold weather. LFP batteries are better at handling it, but sodium-ion batteries pretty much laugh it off. This week, CATL, the largest battery manufacturer in the world, announced it has started producing sodium-ion battery packs for light commercial vehicles that can be plugged in and charged in extreme cold conditions down to -30°C (-22°F). Even at -40°C, the battery retains 90% of its usable capacity, CATL claims. Techtrans II The company calls its new battery platform for commercial vehicles Techtrans II, and it includes batteries for heavy-duty trucks and buses. Now the industry’s first mass produced sodium battery for light commercial vehicles has been added to the mix. The sodium battery pack has a capacity of 45 kWh and is intended for small vans and trucks. Obviously, long range is not the highest priority for the new battery chemistry. Tectrans II has several variations, some of which utilize lithium-ion technology. One features an ultra-fast charging variant capable of charging from 20 to 80 percent in 30 minutes at -15°C. Another is a high temperature ultra-fast charging version that adds 60 percent range in 18 minutes with a cell life of 5,000 cycles at 45°C. The series also offers a long-range version with a battery pack capacity of up to 253 kWh, delivering 800 kilometers of range. The new sodium-ion battery is said to have a lifespan of over 10,000 charge cycles and is certified under the new Chinese national standard GB 38031-2025. In addition, CATL is also introducing swappable battery packs as part of the Techtrans series. In addition to the #20 battery swap block with 42 kWh capacity, there is the #25 block with 56 kWh, and the #35 block with 81 kWh. In 2026, sodium batteries will see large-scale adoption in battery swapping, passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and energy storage, CATL said at a supplier conference held in its headquarters in Ningde on December 28. According to multiple Chinese news sources, sodium-ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries are expected to be part 0f a new “dual-star” trend at CATL. In April of 2025, CATL introduced its first sodium-ion battery called Naxtra at its Tech Day and has since been marketing it for use in passenger cars with an energy density of up to 175 Wh/kg. Notably, the same energy density is now specified for the Tectrans II sodium battery. Why Sodium-Ion? Why the sudden focus on sodium-ion batteries? For years, the price of lithium-ion batteries has been falling steadily, reaching just over $100 per kWh late last year. Much of that price decrease was related to lower prices for the lithium carbonate that is essential to those batteries. But a funny thing happened on the way to the lithium-ion future. Due to an oversupply, prices tumbled, so lithium producers did what any business would do — they limited lithium production. In some cases, mining and processing facilities were closed. What happens when demand exceeds supply? Prices go up. According to Investing News Network, benchmark prices for battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide have increased sharply so far this year, with prices pushing above $20,000 per metric ton. Spodumene also climbed above $2,000 per metric ton for the first time since October 2023. Momentum has been particularly strong in China, where lithium prices jumped after Beijing announced changes to export tax rebates for battery products. The finance ministry said value-added tax rebates on battery exports will be reduced from 9 percent to 6 percent beginning in April and will be eliminated on January 1, 2027. Lithium Futures Soar Last week, lithium carbonate futures on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange closed at 156,060 yuan per metric ton ($22,300), its highest level since November 2023, and up more than 160 percent from last year’s lows. “With the recent surge in spot prices and market activity it’s great to see that volumes are following the price trend,” said Przemek Koralewski, Fastmarkets’ global head of market development. “What a year ago was considered a very strong month, in volume terms, can now be traded in a week, pointing to an increase in available liquidity in the market.” Prior to the start of 2026, lithium prices endured a prolonged downturn due to oversupply, weaker than expected demand for electric vehicles, and sustained price pressure that forced producers to cut output and delay projects. By December 2025, lithium carbonate had risen roughly 56 percent from its low point in January 2025. Whether the rally will be sustained will depend on how quickly new supply comes online and whether demand growth meets expectations, INN said. Some of those closed mines and production facilities may take a year or more to ramp back up. Sodium Is Cheap And Abundant Sodium batteries don’t use ordinary table salt, but the raw material — sodium — is cheap and abundant. The implications for the transition to electric vehicles is clear. Lithium-ion battery pack prices have declined by over 50 percent in the past few years. Sodium-ion prices are not all that much lower then lithium-ion today, but that is mostly

EV slowdown as lifeline for US energy storage amid FEOC, tariffs

Overall, it means that on 1 January, 2026, tariffs on Chinese batteries and BESS went from around 37.5% to around 55%. Era of uncertainty While the industry has been aware of these coming changes, the unpredictability of the Trump administration’s additional announced tariffs over the past year has caused uncertainty and a need for careful planning. Speaking with Energy-Storage.news, Justin Johnson, COO of renewable energy developer-operator Arevon Energy, explains of the BESS industry, “The combination of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and then all these tariffs and FEOC restrictions have just been another impetus to continue to bring more domestic supply online. The slower uptake of EVs is freeing up battery cell capacity for BESS to use. They’re now retooling those production lines and creating cells specifically for the energy storage space.” He continues, “The short answer is it’s creating even more impetus to use domestic production as much as possible. We saw the same movie with modules over the last three years when the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) went into effect – there was a big impetus to try to source domestic or US-compliant modules.” This view is consistent with a consultant’s statement to ESN in December, suggesting that changing trends in the US BESS industry might eliminate the need for Chinese batteries in the near future. “EV demand is going to decrease because of the removal of the EV consumer tax credit. The battery manufacturing capacity from those is now being repurposed to BESS. It’s not cheap to repurpose, but there’s a lot of sunk cost with a gigafactory, so it’s happening,” they said. “The South Korean battery manufacturers’ announcements could even be enough to meet domestic demand for BESS. You might not even need Chinese batteries online at all, once those are all online.” Repurposing EV battery facilities LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, and SK On have all increased local manufacturing and announced domestic supply agreements with BESS integrators. Similarly, US-based system integrators like Fluence and non-lithium battery companies such as Eos are also expanding their local supply chains. Johnson says, “Maybe it’s bad for climate change, but the slower uptake of EVs is kind of saving our asses a bit. We did have a domestic BESS supply coming online, but it wasn’t going to be enough. But the fact that LG, Samsung, SK On, and a bunch of others are retooling factories and sending that capacity into the stationary storage market, most of the forecasts I’ve looked at show us in an oversupply scenario by late 2026, so through 2027, 2028, throughout the foreseeable future. There will be excess cell capacity to meet our needs.” This also comes with uncertainties, though. In September, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), along with multiple other law enforcement organisations, raided Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution’s EV battery cell plant in Ellabell, Georgia. Although that specific factory was not converting EV manufacturing lines, the work involved in EV and BESS cells is similar because workers from outside the US possess skills that US workers lack in large numbers. These foreign workers are expected to train US workers. Several aspects of that incident are still unresolved, but Donald Trump has adopted a firmer position against the raid, emphasising the significance of the South Korean worker’s skills. Johnson notes, “(Trump’s sentiments) give me some hope that you won’t see that sort of activity in the future. I went to LG’s cell factory in Holland, Michigan. It is a massive factory; I think they have a couple of billion dollars invested there. It’s a sprawling campus that covers acres and acres. There are thousands of people who work there.” He continues, “The vast majority of people I saw working there are just Americans, people born and raised in Michigan, everyone you’d see in the town. I did see some Korean folks, and they were spooling up the factory for training. But everyone I talked to who was leading their individual areas was young, 30-ish college graduates from America pursuing a manufacturing career.” Speaking to immigration raids or other potential delays in building out manufacturing, Johnson says, “I hope we don’t see that sort of stuff recur, because that runs contrary to something that’s popular on both sides of the aisle, which is bringing manufacturing jobs back into the US.” BESS cost considerations Johnson says that Chinese-manufactured BESS are still the cheapest option in the industry, but “not by much”. And further, that customers are willing to pay more to avoid the possibility of tariff changes. He explains, “Most of the people you would sign power contracts with, whether you’re Arevon or one of our competitors, our customers appreciate and are typically willing to pay a little bit more if they have certainty that you’re not going to need to come back and renegotiate with them on the delivery date or the price if you end up being impacted by tariffs or some other thing associated with a really long, extended supply chain. So, they’re often willing just to pay a little bit more for the certainty that domestic provides.” Johnson adds, “You have extended timelines on logistics that end up being way more expensive. The combination of those two things – shorter logistics tails and domestic supply – really reduces a lot of the uncertainty. People are usually willing to pay for that. You can’t pay twice as much for it, but if it costs 10% more, maybe you’re willing to pay for that because of the certainty it provides.” The Energy Storage Summit USA will be held from 24-25 March 2026, in Dallas, TX. It features keynote speeches and panel discussions on topics like FEOC challenges, power demand forecasting, and managing the BESS supply chain. ESN Premium subscribers receive an exclusive discount on tickets. For complete information, visit the Energy Storage Summit USA website.

Tesla makes big Full Self-Driving change to reflect future plans

Tesla has initiated Cybertruck deliveries in a new region for the first time, as the all-electric pickup has officially made its way to the United Arab Emirates, marking the newest territory to receive the polarizing truck. Tesla launched orders for the Cybertruck in the Middle East back in September 2025, just months after the company confirmed that it planned to launch the pickup in the region, which happened in April. I took a Tesla Cybertruck weekend Demo Drive – Here’s what I learned By early October, Tesla launched the Cybertruck configurator in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, with pricing starting at around AED 404,900, or about $110,000 for the Dual Motor configuration. This decision positioned the Gulf states as key early international markets, and Tesla was hoping to get the Cybertruck outside of North America for the first time, as it has still been tough to launch in other popular EV markets, like Europe and Asia. By late 2025, Tesla had pushed delivery timelines slightly and aimed for an early 2026 delivery launch in the Middle East. The first official customer deliveries started this month, and a notable handover event occurred in Dubai’s Al Marmoom desert area, featuring a light and fire show. Around 63 Cybertrucks made their way to customers during the event: As of this month, the Cybertruck still remains available for configuration on Tesla’s websites for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other Middle Eastern countries like Jordan and Israel. Deliveries are rolling out progressively, with the UAE leading as the first to see hands-on customer events. In other markets, most notably Europe, there are still plenty of regulatory hurdles that Tesla is hoping to work through, but they may never be resolved. The issues come from the unique design features that conflict with the European Union’s (EU) stringent safety standards. These standards include pedestrian protection regulations, which require vehicles to minimize injury risks in collisions. However, the Cybertruck features sharp edges and an ultra-hard stainless steel exoskeleton, and its rigid structure is seen as non-compliant with the EU’s list of preferred designs. The vehicle’s gross weight is also above the 3.5-tonne threshold for standard vehicles, which has prompted Tesla to consider a more compact design. However, the company’s focus on autonomy and Robotaxi has likely pushed that out of the realm of possibility. For now, Tesla will work with the governments that want it to succeed in their region, and the Middle East has been a great partner to the company with the launch of the Cybertruck.

CATL Sodium-Ion Batteries in Passenger Vehicles in July!

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe. Or support our Kickstarter campaign! A lot of people have been skeptical about CATL’s new Naxtra sodium-ion batteries, wondering when they would appear in passenger vehicles. The wait is over. We have the answer. Following up on earlier announcements that sodium-ion batteries would be introduced to a wide range of products this year, CATL announced that the GAC Aion will enter mass production using CATL sodium-ion batteries in July, and JAC vehicles have also completed winter testing with with sodium batteries. The move was announced yesterday in China. The big news is that CATL sodium-ion batteries will start getting put into mass-market vehicles in Q2, starting with the GAC Aion. That’s according to CATL CTO Gao Huan. Production capacity will expand more broadly to other areas as well, including passenger vehicles, construction machinery, and energy storage. Added to that, CATL just announced a battery system called Tectrans, which provides solutions for a range of commercial vehicles. And, for the first time, it revealed a 45 kWh sodium-ion pack for light commercial vehicles. According to CATL, the battery pack can charge at temperatures as low as -30°C, and maintains 90% of capacity at -40°C. Versions of this battery pack will be available for vehicles and for swap use. JAC completed winter testing in light trucks and mid-sized vans. Gao said that sodium batteries are ideal for high power discharge, with temperature rise no more than 5 degrees Celsius at a 5C charging rate, reducing thermal management needs. CATL is on its third-generation sodium-ion batteries. Several pack variants have been revealed, including ones for: High-speed charging at -15°C Charging at 45°C A 253 kWh pack good for 800 km of range Swap packs of 42, 56, and 81 kWh At its tech day event in April 2025, CATL introduced its Naxtra series sodium-ion batteries, with an energy density of 175 Wh/kg. It might be just in time, as lithium prices are on the rise again. Several Chinese battery makers are now manufacturing sodium-ion batteries — like HiNa, BYD, and CATL, and more — and there are other companies in Europe and the US, like Unigrid, doing so. CATL’s move toward sodium-ion technology has drawn more attention toward the technology since it’s the largest battery producer in the world. Additionally, leading battery manufacturer LG is starting a sodium-ion pilot line in China. Support CleanTechnica via Kickstarter Sign up for CleanTechnica's Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott's in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and follow us on Google News! Advertisement Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here. Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one on top stories of the week if daily is too frequent. CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here. CleanTechnica's Comment Policy

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