Watch Tesla Model Y Spotted Driving Outside Of Giga Austin Plant

It's the first time we can see a locally produced car driving on public roads.

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Jan 24, 2022 at 10:15am ET

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The Tesla Giga Austin plant in Texas is consistently progressing towards the start of series production of all-electric vehicles - probably this quarter.

After seeing some of the first cars parked in front of the plant earlier this month, on Sunday (January 23) Jeff Roberts spotted a Made-In-Austin Model Y, which was driving outside the plant on public roads (see from 13:40).

We assume that it's a pre-production model from the Giga Austin plant, as it's black and with the 19’’ Gemini Wheels (same as some of the previously seen cars) and without plates.

Tesla Model Y at Tesla Giga Austin (source: Jeff Roberts)

It's very likely that the manufacturer is performing some basic tests on the vehicles. In the near weeks, we might actually see up to a three-digit number of newly built cars that will be sent for a variety of tests.

Actually, the higher the scale of testing we see, the more probable it is that Tesla applied significant changes/upgrades to the Model Y, including a new structural battery (with 4680-type cylindrical cells) and other solutions.

At this point, most of the questions remain unanswered and we don't know which version of the car will be produced in the beginning.

What do you think?

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In the longer term, Tesla will produce the Tesla Cybertruck at the plant and most likely, multiple other models - considering the vast size of the site.

Speaking of the Tesla Cybertruck, photos and videos of one at the Giga Texas recently emerged. Together with the ongoing construction of the plant and preparations for local battery cell production (4680) the Tesla Giga Austin is an exciting and pretty busy place.