Musk names a Twitter CEO, allowing him to devote more time to Tesla
Elon Musk's foray into Twitter leadership has been a topic of considerable debate among Tesla's shareholders. Many have expressed concerns about the possible dilution of his focus from Tesla, the electric vehicle behemoth he has built from the ground up. With Linda Yaccarino's appointment, Musk is set to devote more time to Tesla, allaying shareholders' concerns.
Musk's Reinforced Commitment to Tesla Sparks Investor Enthusiasm
Investors have welcomed the commitment to rechannel his efforts towards Tesla. Despite Musk's extraordinary ability to manage multiple ventures, the recent downturn in Tesla's stock price had sparked calls for him to focus more on the automaker. This latest move has led to a fresh wave of optimism among investors who believe Musk's undivided attention could rejuvenate Tesla's fortunes.
Enhanced Control over Tesla's Hiring Process: Musk's New Directive
In parallel to this development, Musk has enacted a new hiring policy at Tesla. As per the new directive, all potential hires, including contractors, require his personal approval. This extends Musk's control over the operations of Tesla and, according to him, ensures that every addition to the team aligns with the company's vision and objectives.
While some see this as a potential slowdown in Tesla's hiring rate, others view it as a strategic move that could sharpen the company's focus on quality over quantity. As Musk settles back into the driver's seat at Tesla, the world will watch with bated breath to see how these developments impact the automaker's trajectory.
The recent events reaffirm Musk's determination to guide Tesla through the turbulent waters of the automotive industry. As the new era at Tesla unfolds, stakeholders can expect renewed vigor and innovative strategies to bolster the company's standing in the global EV market.
Musk's Tweet Approval Legal Battle Continues Amidst New Developments
As Musk navigates these recent changes, he also continues to face legal issues related to his Twitter activity. Musk's 2018 settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over his controversial tweets, which required all of his posts to be approved by a Tesla attorney, is still a matter of contention.
The agreement followed a turbulent period in which Musk's tweet about taking Tesla private at $420 per share led to a significant surge in the company's share price, despite funding not being secured. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan recently upheld the requirement for Musk's tweets to be approved first by a Tesla attorney, dismissing his claims that the decree violates his First Amendment rights.
The ongoing legal battle adds another layer of complexity to Musk's leadership dynamics. While his recent decisions signal a refocusing of his energies on Tesla, his Twitter-related legal challenges underline the intertwined nature of his roles across the technology and automotive sectors.
This heightened scrutiny of his leadership comes at a pivotal moment for Tesla as it navigates a competitive EV landscape and strives to maintain its position as a global industry leader.
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Tesla has invested billions of dollars over the years toward vehicle autonomy. The mission continues as Elon Musk and Tesla now prepare to unveil their ride-hailing product, Robotaxi this August. Or, as Musk called it on Tuesday, Tesla CyberCab.
Early Days
Five years ago, during Tesla’s Autonomy Investor Day in April 2019, Elon Musk said he felt “very confident predicting autonomous robotaxis for Tesla in the following year [2020]”. At the time, Musk added a bolder claim, predicting that Tesla wouldn’t even make cars with steering wheels or pedals by 2022. While timeliness may not be Musk’s strong suit, he has a track record for getting things done that others were unwilling to try or thought were impossible. Musk later admitted he can be overly optimistic and said “sometimes I am not on time, but I get it done.”
Now, 5 years later, we have the robotaxi unveiling scheduled for August 8th. After the release of FSD v12, it’s clear that we’re much closer to autonomy than we were in 2019, although FSD v12 is still a far cry from full autonomy.
While Tesla still has the robotaxi unveiling scheduled for August, Tesla announced yesterday that it’d be prioritizing a simpler “next-gen” model that could be released by early 2025.
Latest Updates
On the conference call, Musk added that Tesla now has over 300 million miles driven with FSD v12 since it was launched just last month. He added that it's becoming “very clear that the vision-based approach with end-to-end neural networks is the right solution for scalable autonomy”.
Tesla said it has been investing in the hardware and software ecosystems necessary to achieve vehicle autonomy and a ride-hailing service. The company is confident that it can establish a scalable and profitable autonomous driving business by employing a vision-only architecture.
think of it [Tesla] as combination of Airbnb and Uber meaning that there will be some number of cars that Tesla owns itself and operates
Tesla = Uber + AirBnb
Later on, Elon Musk unveiled that the new service will operate and result in a mix between Uber and Airbnb where the Tesla driver decides if and when he wants his Tesla to be used and by whom. Tesla stated:
“We believe the Tesla software experience is best-in-class across all our products, and plan to seamlessly layer ride-hailing into the Tesla App.”
Tesla’s CEO clarified that the owners will be able to add or remove their car from the fleet “whenever they want” adding that it will be up to them to decide if they want to only let the car be used “by friends and family or only by five-star users or by anyone at any time”. The flexible program will, just like Airbnb, allow the owners to take the car out of the market when they want.
The upcoming ride-hailing service will enable users to easily request a Tesla vehicle, control the car's temperature, monitor its real-time location, and adjust the audio system. The only question is when.
“We have updated our future vehicle line-up to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of our previously communicated start of production in the second half of 2025”. This was one of the key sentences that were part of Tesla’s deck shared on Tuesday directly before its financial results.
Since Reuters’ report a few weeks ago saying Tesla had “scrapped” the highly expected cheaper model— which Elon quickly denied on X —retail and institutional shareholders started asking for more details on Tesla’s product roadmap for 2024 and beyond.
In the earnings conference call, Elon Musk reiterated that Tesla expects to launch the next model in “early 2025, if not late this year”.
“We've updated our future vehicle lineup to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of previously mentioned start of production in the second half of 2025. So, we expect it to be more like the early 2025, if not late this year. “
Over concerns of temporary production halts to update the factories for these new models, Musk said that Tesla will produce new models with certain aspects from their next-generation platform and current models. This will reduce the number of changes needed on production lines and allow Tesla not only to ramp up production faster but also to get the vehicles to market quicker.
Model Y Redesign
Tesla appears to hit that their next-gen vehicle will be less “next-gen” than they were initially aiming for, but to get a new vehicle out the door by late 2024, the process would already have to be in motion. Tesla may likely be referring to the redesigned Model Y, which is expected to reuse many parts from the new Model 3. Earlier this year, Tesla said that the redesigned Model Y will not be released this year, so it makes sense that they’re looking to speed up that production.
Tesla CEO concluded by saying that these measures will allow Tesla to reach a capacity of over 3 million units. Tesla produced 1.84 million vehicles in 2023. However, this year they’re ramping up Cybertruck production and introduced the new Model 3 into new markets.
And we think this should allow us to get to over 3 million vehicles of capacity when realized to the full extent.
Tesla reported on Tuesday its earnings results followed by a conference call where it teased its upcoming Robotaxi and its next-generation platform saying its “purpose-built Robotaxi product will continue to pursue a revolutionary ‘unboxed’ manufacturing strategy”.
Earlier in the day, Tesla announced the new Performance variant of its sedan Model 3 with deliveries in the United States starting already next month. The new version starts at $45,490 (after applying the $7,500 Federal EV tax credit) and goes from 0 to 60mph in 2.9 seconds.
TeslaFi logs your drives and charging sessions, letting you keep a log of your vehice's activity. We highly recommend checking them out if you use your car for business trips and would like to keep track of reimbursements, if you like to see how much you spend on charging or if you just love statistics. Visit their site and see everything they have to offer!
Tesla Android Project enables you to run Android apps in your Tesla. The platform is Open Source and you can deploy it on your own Raspberry Pi 4. Consider supporting the initiative by donating or purchasing the Compute Module 4 Bundle that delivers the best experience. Get $20 off by using the code: NotATeslaApp
The official Tesla app only notifies you if your car is broken into. By installing Sentry Pro on your phone, you will be notified for all Sentry Mode events. Stay connected and avoid potential surprises by receiving notifications. Stop constantly checking the cameras to ensure safety. Check only when necessary, save battery and get peace of mind. Get a 7 day free trial here!
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