Contestant wins Tesla Model Y on The Price is Right
Not a Tesla App
In January 18th, 2023’s “Geniuses” episode of The Price is Right, they unveiled a Tesla Model Y and a 220v connector as a showcase prize, alongside a virtual game room.
In order for a contestant to win the showcase prize on The Price is Right, they must bid as close to the actual retail price as possible without going over. If their bid is closer to the retail price than the other contestant’s bid, they win.
The contestant, named David, put in a bid of $77,000 for the Model Y and gaming chairs. The price came in at $78,500, so David won!
The Model Y David won is a white Long Range model with 331 miles of range and Enhanced Autopilot, a $6,000 upgrade option.
How does 'The Price is Right' obtain their prizes?
Tesla spends no money on advertising or commercials. This is on purpose and has worked well in Tesla’s favor because they’ve ballooned to becoming one of the most sought-after, respectable, and valuable automotive companies in the world. Tesla’s products speak for themselves… literally.
According to Chris Johnson, a former IRS lawyer, on Quora, The Price is Right doesn’t purchase prizes. Instead, they’re all given to the show by various manufacturers to give away to the contestants. “At the end of the day, giving away these prizes is essentially glorified advertising,” Johnson writes on Quora. “Did you notice how each and every prize is described in intimate detail? The companies giving the prizes to the show hope that the millions of people watching [will] like what they see, and go out and buy the very same items themselves. If a company ends up selling just one of the same items that was featured on the show, they recoup most of what they gave away.”
The Price is Right has been giving away cars and high-expense products for many years. The most expensive prize was, according to CBS, an Audi R8 V8 Spyder Quattro S Tronic.
Not the first or second Tesla on 'The Price is Right'
This Tesla Model Y is the third Tesla that has appeared on the popular game show. On April 22nd, 2010, The Price is Right gave away a first-generation Tesla Roadster. Drew Carey, the show’s host, said that it was worth more than $112,000. Adjusted for inflation, that’s roughly $152,500 today, which is about the price of a spec’d out Plaid Model X.
Carey also mentioned that he has a friend that has a Tesla Roadster, and it drives like a slot car. “It’s fantastic!” he said with a smile.
At the time of that airing, Tesla had just started mass-producing the Roadster. It was based on the chassis for the Lotus Elise and was the first highway-legal serial production all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells, according to CleanTechnica.
In May 2019, a contestant won a black Tesla Model 3. Before unveiling the vehicle, Carey asked Gregory, the contestant, if he was going to share his winnings with his friend Michael. “We’re splitting everything,” Gregory responds. “Ah, man, I don’t know,” Carey answers with a laugh.
Watch the full “Geniuses” episode of The Price is Right on CBS.
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In this article, we’ll cover Tesla’s updates on Optimus, batteries, and Tesla Energy.
Optimus
Tesla has been working away on their humanoid robot and continues to make progress in software and hardware.
First, Tesla is preparing the Fremont factory for the Optimus pilot production line, which is scheduled for completion later this year. Once it is, wider deployments of Optimus for internal use within Tesla’s facilities are expected as well. Tesla aims to have several thousand Optimus units working in its North American factories by the end of the year once the pilot production line is operational.
Tesla’s goals for production remain extremely lofty - 1 million units per year by 2030. However, they could face some challenges when ramping production.
Key components like the shoulder actuators use specialized permanent and rare-earth magnets, which are currently sourced from China. Due to recent Chinese restrictions on the overseas sale of these magnets, Tesla is seeking an exemption or alternative suppliers. They have not yet looked into modifying the shoulder actuator but will likely do so if they cannot obtain the necessary materials.
Batteries
Batteries are another item that Tesla’s teams have been working on behind the scenes for years now. The second generation of the 4680 - the Cybercell - has been IRA-compliant for some time now. This means that the Cybertruck is eligible for the US Federal EV rebate.
Tesla also achieved the lowest cost-per-kWh of any of its cells with the 4680 battery - and it is potentially one of the cheapest cells being manufactured by any vehicle battery manufacturer at this point. With dry-cathode still being worked on, Tesla may be able to squeeze more optimizations and cost efficiencies from the 4680 cells.
Additionally, Tesla is progressing with its plans for lithium refining and cathode production in the US, both of which are scheduled to commence in 2025. While the company says they’re no longer supply-constrained for non-LFP vehicle batteries, on-shoring production and sourcing critical minerals from nations outside of China will be key.
LFP batteries continue to be supplied-constrained - namely for the Tesla Energy division. LFP batteries and their materials are sourced from China. Due to tariffs and limited exports, Tesla is can’t obtain enough and is considering potentially building an LFP production facility in North America.
Energy
Tesla’s energy division is still experiencing some of the highest growth of any of its divisions. Year over year, Tesla saw a 154% increase in energy storage deployments, including both Megapack and Powerwall - for a total of 10.4 GWh deployed in just Q1 2025. While deliveries in energy storage remain volatile due to the nature of Megapack installations, Tesla expects growth to continue rapidly in this segment.
Tesla also deployed 1GWh of Powerwall 3 residential storage this quarter, marking its strongest quarter. Powerwall 3 has received positive feedback from customers, many of whom appreciate its new capabilities with its built-in inverter for solar.
Megapack is continuing to see demand increases, currently highlighted by utility-scale Megapack systems, as well as data centers requiring stable power delivery. Megafactory Shanghai is also online now and producing Megapacks - with an annual production capacity of 20GWh today and up to 40GWh in the future. The site has also produced over 100 Megapacks this quarter, which are all awaiting delivery.
There was a lot of interesting news from Tesla’s Q1 2025 Earnings Call, covering everything from FSD and Robotaxi - to the less glamorous but equally important Megapack and Powerwall.
Tesla is heavily leaning into artificial intelligence, and its insurance offering is just another example of how it’s improving its product or lowering costs by leveraging AI.
Tesla recently started offering an insurance discount in select states when drivers use FSD for at least 50% of their drives and now it’s introducing an AI to help handle customer claims.
Tesla has developed an in-house voiced AI agent that can assist customers in handling simple support requests for Tesla Insurance.
For customers calling in from those states, the new AI agent provides a unique way to address the most common support calls. And it’s not just answering common questions but actually making requested changes to the owner’s account.
Policy Changes
The first key item is that it automates policy changes. Simple policy updates, including adjusting your deductible or coverage limits, are now done via AI. For policyholders who are simply looking to make quick changes and don’t have any questions, this makes the process a lot quicker by not having to wait for a representative. Tesla isn’t eliminating representatives, but this could reduce the number of representatives required or reduce wait times.
Continue Where You Left Off
The second item here, highlighted by Raj Jegannathan from Tesla’s internal IT team, is that Tesla’s AI agent is able to offer summaries of the user’s last interaction with Tesla Insurance. It will summarize your last interaction and provide assistance on that particular topic if you need to continue it. That means that you don’t have to wait for a human to review your file - the AI will kick off right where you left off.
Tesla appears to be focused on improving efficiency and making support more accessible. While actual items like claims are left up to humans due to their inherently complex nature, this helps free up employees to handle more complex items. While there’s no doubt Tesla will continue to develop this AI like they do everything else, we may soon see it take on even more tasks.
More AI
This isn’t the first AI agent that Tesla has demoed - there is now a chat-based AI sales agent available on the front page of Tesla’s website, which is able to answer common questions on Tesla vehicles.
Tesla has also been improving their AI support tool available in the Tesla App is able to provide feedback on common issues and also guide users towards either solving the problem or placing a support request.
Tesla’s strategy here is to influence the cost-heavy areas associated with having humans address simple requests and instead leverage AI, which can offer instant answers and reduce support costs.
Roll Out to More States
While this new AI is currently limited to just 12 states, it is likely to follow Tesla Insurance’s expansion. Insurance seems to have been at a bit of a standstill lately. Tesla continues to improve features such as the improvements to Safety Score V2.2, but we haven’t seen Tesla roll out support to new states since it added Minnesota in November of 2022.
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