Tesla Space #48: ⚡ Efficiency is well above 90%

X OF THE WEEK

There’s lots to unpack here (messy, I know), but basically it’s all around the video Tesla shared about robotaxi wireless charging, to which MKBHD cast some uneducated doubt, Tesla put them in place and now we’ve got somewhat of an Elon comment. Phew.

TESLA, GLOBALLY

You got to love the creativity that the Tesla teams so often put into everything they do. It’s especially visible in the Easter Eggs. Here’s the latest: remember Joe Tegtmeyer, the guy we’ve shouted out in the past that produces great drone videos over Giga Texas?

Well, this little note, “hi Joe”, is what he found on top of the flagpole in his latest flyover. How great is this? Both Tesla and Elon just commented with laughing emojis.

🇺🇸 I crunched the numbers of the Q3 EV sales in US and really want to say the clickbaity “the third spot may surprise you” here:

• Tesla Model Y: 86,801 sold

• Tesla Model 3: 58423

• Tesla Cybertruck: 16,692

• Ford Mustang Mach-E 13,392

• Honda Prologue 12,644

Yes, you read that right — Cybertruck is now also outselling all the non-Tesla EVs. Here’s my counter-prediction to someone back in Dec 2023 that said this would happen (receipts).

🇪🇺 Meanwhile, the Tesla’s Model Y took the best-selling vehicle (of any fuel type) spot in Europe for September, outselling its closest competitors by around 8,000 units. Will it be able to repeat the success of the best-selling car of all types globally in 2024?

Meanwhile, in the US, Tesla just launched today a 0% APR offer for Model 3 & Y nationwide, for deliveries before Dec 31st. The same offer also goes for inventory models, which Tesla discounted as much as $4k.

Referral program benefits in the US for M3 and MY have reduced from $1,000 to $500.

Per state, incentives can turn the deals pretty sweet — If you live in Colorado, you can get this brand-new Quicksilver Tesla Model Y LR RWD for as low as $25,350 (excluding gas savings).

Why hasn’t Tesla bought Rivian?

This was asked from Elon Musk on his speech in Philadelphia on Friday night. Here’s Musk’s answer:

Perhaps it’s a good time to surface some of the other times Elon has mentioned Rivian?

2021: “If it possible to start an EV company without shipping any cars & get a valuation less than a billion dollars!?”
2021: “I hope they have a high pain tolerance. Scaling production, supply chain, logistics & service is a world of hurt.”
2022: If they cut their opex & cogs dramatically, then they have a chance, but that hasn’t happened yet
2024: “Inevitable”, on the context of Rivian’s layoffs this April.

It’s Earnings Call Day tomorrow! We’ll get those sweet updates on how Tesla has been doing on Q3 and hopefully a few details on the future plans.

Wednesday, October 23rd, 05:30 pm ET. Here is the link to Youtube livestream. The shareholder deck will pop up at ir.tesla.com, likely ~30min prior.

We’ll report on everything interesting next week, but in the meanwhile, for a teaser, here are the questions the shareholders have voted to be asked on the Q&A on Say.

To be really honest, the questions seem very basic this time around… These are the top voted ones:

Imagine you get to ask ONE question from Elon Musk about Tesla. One only. Would it really be "so... what's the plan for 2025?"

Anyway, you know what else is coming? The Halloween update. Let’s see what Tesla has in store for this year.

Quick bites:

• Giga Berlin produced the 400,000th Model Y. Giga Berlin stage one expansion plans were also (finally) approved last week (!).

• Giga Shanghai produced its 3-millionth vehicle. The factory, which started production in December 2019, has done rather well for “basically an open mud field with some digging going" (referencing this)

• Ashok Elluswamy, previously Director of Autopilot Software, is promoted to Vice President of Software at Tesla. @Cybertruck account comments: “We all know what the deciding contribution was,” joking probably how it was about Cybertruck getting FSD rather than robotaxi event success.

• Omead Afshar is reportedly promoted to oversee Tesla operations in North America and in Europe, taking some of the responsibilities from Tom Zhu (and likely helping the latter focus on China). These two would be considered the two next in line at Tesla after Elon himself, and report directly to him.

• FSD transfer — the “one-time amnesty” Elon said will only be available once — is back. Until the end of the year, when buying a new Tesla, you’ll be able to transfer the old one’s FSD subscription to the new car. If you ask me, this should be always available anyway.

• NHTSA opened a probe on Tesla’s FSD due to four crash reports when Teslas encountered sun glare, fog and airborne dust. The reports talk of one pedestrian death, and one injury.

• Tesla recently transferred $770M worth of Bitcoin holdings to new digital addresses, its entire 11,509 BTC holding. While this isn’t selling, Tesla might be gearing up for one.

• Tesla had its highest sales month of the year in China in September, with 23,998 M3 and 48,202 MY deliveries, making the Q3 its best quarter ever in the country. Tesla made up 11.2% of all-electric sales in September in China.

• A new Tesla job position of “Senior Cell Materials Engineer” for LFP batteries hints at a possible in-house LFP development.

THE VEHICLES

DHL says Tesla Semi is ready

DHL has posted initial results from a two-week 3,000-mile testing period with the Tesla Semi on its normal operating routes based in Livermore, California.

Part of the trial included a 390-mile (625 km) haul with the Semi fully loaded with a gross combined weight of 75,000 pounds (34 metric tons).

DHL confirms what we’re seeing elsewhere: “During the trial, the trial vehicle averaged 1.72 kWh/mile operating at speeds exceeding 50 mph (80 km/h) on average for over half its time on the road.”

Model Y Juniper already starts production?

Per some rumors, Tesla Model Y Juniper is starting production today (Oct 22nd) at Gigafactory Shanghai, at a reduced 12 units/day rate, before full-scale production late next month. Per those reports, “all electronic devices having been banned from the plant to avoid leaks.”

This would match our expectations of Model Y basically becoming available on some regions on 1st of January, much like the refreshed Model 3 did. It would also still make Elon’s “No Model Y ‘refresh’ is coming out this year” true.

A lot of folks anticipating the refreshed Model Y. We do have to consider that it’s likely it will also come at a premium in the beginning, much like with the Model 3 Highland.

Quick bites:

• Tesla Cybertruck is now officially sold in Canada.

• 🇪🇺 Tesla Model Y is now available as a seven-seater in Europe (video from Paris Auto Show)

• Groups like the European Transport Safety Council and the European Cyclists’ Foundation are pushing for the Cybertruck’s accessibility to public streets in Europe to be suspended.

• Updates to Cybertruck Powershare.

• Tesla has released its latest update v4.38.0 for the iOS mobile app, now including the possibility to have some access controls (like lock, flashing headlights, open/close frunk/trunk, climate controls etc) on your iPhone’s swipe-up control center menu. Only available on iOS18.

• Per some code hidden in this same update, Tesla is finally working on a Tesla Apple Watch app.

• Fiat USA made a video ad for its Fiat 500e by showing how different it is of the Cybertruck. It turned out… as a pretty decent Cybertruck ad.

WHAT OUR READERS DRIVE

My favorite section right here. Our 5th and 6th submission of what y’all drive!

#5: meet Sir Crimson Chargealot, a 2024 Ultra Red Model 3. Great name for this from Steve:

#6: meet Stanley, a Model S from Stanley. 🙂 

Thanks guys, love these!

Get your story and EV featured here: send a pic of your EV, its name, and any stories as a reply to this newsletter or at [email protected] and we’ll feature you in this spot soon!

SUPERCHARGING

Tesla installed a milestone 60,000th Supercharger globally! Next to it is the 600th Supercharger in Japan, and also the first V4 deployment in the country. I added a quote from Max de Zegher, Director, Charging globally at Tesla, in the middle there.

For context, Tesla Supercharging network was announced by Elon Musk on this video back on September 24th, 2012. They celebrated reaching 30,000 Superchargers less than just three years ago.

For anyone doubting the progress after the Supercharging team in North America was fully dismissed and then some of it rehirded, here's what they achieved just in the third quarter alone: → opened 2.8K Supercharger stalls, +23% year-over-year network growth → delivered 1.4 TWh, +27% year-over-year growth.

🇨🇱 Last week, Tesla installed its first Supercharger in South America, in Chile. The first country location there makes sense, as this is where Tesla’s only sales presence is at currently, too.

🇦🇺 And Tesla also launched its first pre-fabricated charging site in the APAC region, in Bordertown, Southern Australia. Quick explainer on pre-fab: all the hardware (posts and cabinet) is fitted to a steel base offsite which is then easily slotted into place on site and wired into the grid.