Tesla Earnings Call: Top Investor Questions and What to Expect

By Cláudio Afonso
Render of a possible Model 2 approved by Elon Musk in December 2023 commenting on X “Good Design”
Render of a possible Model 2 approved by Elon Musk in December 2023 commenting on X “Good Design”
@Teslaconomics

Tuesday, April 23, marks one of the most expected events for Elon Musk-led company Tesla. No, it is not yet the unveil of the Robotaxi — which is planned for August 8th — but the first quarter earnings results followed by a 1-hour earnings call answering questions from analysts and shareholders.

As of today, more than 2,300 queries have been submitted by both individual and institutional investors using the Say Technologies Platform. A total of over 8,680 shareholders have engaged in the Q&A sessions, representing approximately 7.13 million shares.

Top Investor Questions

Key areas of interest among shareholders on the Say Platform include updates on Tesla's next-generation platform, advancements in Robotaxi development, progress on Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology, and the scaling up of production for the 4680 cells.

The most prominent queries, based on votes, center around the 4680 cells initiative, followed by inquiries regarding the Optimus project and updates on Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology, particularly in anticipation of the upcoming Robotaxi reveal scheduled for August. Here’s the list of the most up-voted questions.

  1. What is the status of 4680? What is the current output?

  2. What is the current status of Optimus? Are they currently performing any factory tasks? When do you expect to start mass production?

  3. What is Tesla's current assessment of the pathway toward regulatory approval for unsupervised FSD in the US, and how should we think about the appropriate safety threshold compared to human drivers?

  4. Following Tesla's Robotaxi unveil on 8/8, what is the realistic timeline for launching a revenue generating robotaxi network?

  5. What is the progress on the cheaper next generation vehicle?

  6. Can we make FSD transfer permanent? (until FSD is fully delivered / Level 5 autonomy)

  7. Have any of the legacy automakers contacted Tesla about possibly licensing FSD in the future?

  8. What is gating the production ramp at Lathrop? Where do you see the Megapack run rate by the end of the year?

Source: Say Platform as of April 20, 9AM ET

4680 Cells

The top-voted question, currently tallying 1,500 votes and representing 3.3 million shares, seeks insights into the development status and specifics of Tesla's 4680 battery cells.

In late January 24, Tesla said it was "running one production line and one assembly line" with "four more to be installed in the third quarter" adding that it expected "to ramp order from our suppliers". 

At the time, the world's largest EV manufacturer said the 4680 production was "ahead of the ramp, with weeks of finished cells in inventory". Six weeks later, in mid-March, Tesla said it produced over 1,000 Cybertrucks’ worth of 4680 cells at its Giga Texas. Given that each Cybertruck uses 1,366 4680 cells, Tesla produced in that week 1.366 million 4680 cells.

Optimus 

The second most popular query, trailing closely behind the first by a margin of 3.2 million versus 3.3 million shares represented, pertains to an update from Tesla's CEO regarding the status of Tesla's robot, Optimus.

Elon Musk garnered attention last January when he shared a video showcasing Optimus within a Tesla factory, demonstrating the robot folding a shirt. The video swiftly gained traction, prompting inquiries, including one from Marques Brownlee, one of the most popular YouTubers, who queried Musk: "Is this video authentic or computer-generated?”. The question was not answered by Elon. 

Approximately 30 minutes later, Musk clarified that Optimus is currently unable to autonomously fold a shirt, hinting at future developments. He asserted that it will be capable of doing so "certainly," further noting that it won't be limited to a fixed environment, such as a table with a single shirt.

One month later, Elon posted a new video of Optimus walking faster and in a closer human-like way when compared to the previous walkdown video posted on the last day of January.

After these developments, Tesla shareholders and enthusiasts have been questioning Musk for a precise timeline of when these robots can support the manufacturer and turn it faster and more efficient.

Robotaxi + $25k Model

According to three sources and company messages seen by Reuters in early April, Tesla was abandoning its plan to launch the $25,000 model. Yet, Tesla‘s CEO Elon Musk quickly dismissed the report without specifying any further details. 

Later in the day, Elon Musk announced that Tesla is set to unveil its highly anticipated robotaxi on August 8th which is expected to be constructed upon Tesla's next-generation vehicle platform.

Two weeks ago, Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen commented on the rumors saying "I would just say stay tuned. Don’t always believe what you read".

In recent weeks, scrutiny has intensified among shareholders and enthusiasts regarding the accuracy of reports surrounding Tesla's $25,000 model, and whether it has been canceled or deprioritized as the company shifts its focus towards autonomous driving technology.

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives, in a note released on Friday, remarked that the debate between the Model 2 and Robotaxi has gained significant attention, with investors eagerly anticipating an announcement from Tesla CEO Elon Musk regarding the Model 2 within the next 12 to 18 months.

Deutsche Bank analyst Emanuel Rosner echoed similar sentiments earlier in the week, expressing a belief in the "high likelihood" of a delay in the Model 2 release, citing Tesla's strategic pivot towards Robotaxi technology. Rosner emphasized that the firm's Buy rating hinged on the arrival of Tesla's next-generation vehicle, originally anticipated for late next year.

On Friday, Tesla's stock plunged to a new 15-month low of $145.05 per share during pre-market trading, resulting in a market capitalization dip below $480 billion.

Earlier this week, Tesla expanded its 0 percent interest financing program to the German market, mirroring a similar initiative launched in China earlier this month. This financing option is now available for the Model Y Long Range Dual Motor or Performance variants in Germany, with the Performance model starting at €59,990 and the Long Range dual motor variant priced at €54,990.

In a significant internal announcement on Monday, Tesla disclosed a workforce reduction exceeding 10%, affecting over 14,000 employees globally.

Despite Tesla's recent announcement of the production of 433,371 vehicles, with 386,783 delivered, the figures fell short of Wall Street's expectations of 431,000 units delivered.

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Tesla Smoking While Supercharging? A Look at What's Actually Happening

By Karan Singh
Hot_Engineering3140 on Reddit

Winter is here, and temperatures are dropping, so one of the most common Tesla questions is about to resurface.

If you’ve landed here after frantically searching about “smoke” coming from your Tesla while Supercharging, take a deep breath—it’s completely normal.

Tesla Smoking While Charging

If you’re Supercharging in freezing weather—even with preconditioning—you might notice steam rising from your Tesla. But rest assured, your car isn’t smoking.

Your Tesla’s heat pump is hard at work warming both the cabin and battery to keep you comfortable and ensure optimal charging temperatures. Over time, condensation and ice build-up in the heat exchanger coils.

Why Does It Happen?

When you reach a Supercharger with your vehicle, the heat pump is still running hot, but without the cold air from driving to keep the heat exchanger coils cool, the ice and condensation quickly start to evaporate—creating what looks like smoke.

Since this typically happens near the front of the vehicle, where a car would traditionally have an engine, new vehicle owners can be startled by the discovery. However, rest assured that it’s just water vapor and it’s completely normal in cold weather.

In fact, this behavior can be experienced in any EV with a heat pump in cold climates. So, if you saw steam coming out of your vehicle and panicked, don’t worry—you’re not alone.

Now that you know what’s happening, go ahead and Supercharge with confidence.

Tesla Improves YouTube App With Smoother Playback

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla made a lot of improvements in the 2024 Holiday Update, including more than 15 undocumented improvements that were included in the release. One of these was a stealthy performance improvement to the YouTube app.

Several people have mentioned they’ve seen improved performance on YouTube since this year’s Holiday Update - and there’s an interesting reason why.

YouTube Improvements

The improved YouTube performance in Tesla vehicles comes from an unexpected source—Tesla actually rolled back support for YouTube’s newer AV1 video encoding. Instead, vehicles now default to the older VP9 encoding standard.

While AV1 is highly efficient in terms of bandwidth, it requires considerably more processing power to decode and display videos. VP9, on the other hand, is less computationally demanding but uses more bandwidth to achieve the same video quality. This trade-off means smoother playback and better overall performance, even if it comes at the cost of slightly higher data usage.

Intel Inside

The VP9 video codec that the YouTube app is now using is much easier to decode, making it less taxing on the vehicle’s processor. This change is particularly beneficial for Tesla vehicles with Intel processors, which previously struggled to stream video at just 720p. When using AV1, these vehicles often experienced stuttering, sometimes forcing the YouTube app to automatically downgrade playback to 480p.

With this update, Intel-based Teslas should now be able to stream at 1080p smoothly. Streaming at 1440p is also possible, although occasional stutters still occur as the system keeps up with the decoding process.

Intel-based vehicles are the big winners with this change, but this appears to affect AMD Ryzen-based infotainment units as well, providing even smoother playback.

Chromium Web App

Tesla’s Theater apps aren’t native applications; instead, they run as chromeless web apps, leveraging the open-source browser built into Teslas known as Chromium (the open-source version of Chrome). Although this works quite well, there is a severe limitation - Chromium hardware acceleration isn’t supported on Linux, the operating system Tesla uses for their OS.

As a result, Tesla vehicles rely on software decoding instead of hardware decoding, which would otherwise handle video playback far more efficiently. A potential solution could be for Tesla to transition away from Chromium-based web apps in favor of a Mozilla Firefox-based browser, as Firefox does support hardware acceleration on Linux. This switch could also open the door to better streaming performance and the possibility of expanding Tesla’s in-car entertainment options.

However, Tesla’s choice of Chromium likely stems from Digital Rights Management (DRM) requirements for streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix, which rely on DRM-enabled playback. Firefox on Linux has had inconsistent support for DRM due to codec availability and variations in operating system versions.

We’re hopeful that Tesla will either adopt Firefox or develop a fully native application to improve video streaming, rather than continuing with the current web-based Tesla Theater. This shift could also pave the way for additional in-car applications built on Tesla’s native Linux environment—perhaps even reviving the long-rumored Tesla App Store.

Regardless, this update is a welcome improvement, particularly for YouTube, which remains one of the most widely used Theater Mode apps due to its accessibility, free content, and mix of short and long-form videos. It remains to be seen whether similar improvements are made for Netflix, Disney+, or other streaming platforms.

If you’ve noticed improved performance in Theater Mode, now you know why.

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