Missed Tesla's Q2 Earnings Call? Read Our Bullet-Point Summary of Everything Announced

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Did you miss Tesla’s Earnings Call, or just want to see a summarized version? We’ve got you covered. Below is an outline of everything talked about during Tesla’s earnings call and Q&A session.

EV Market and Giga Factories

• Strong EV adoption, despite short-term challenges.

  • Positive long-term outlook

• Future vision for an all-electric future, including boats and planes.

• Possible vehicle tariffs for Mexico means that Giga Mexico is on hold.

• Giga Berlin could serve as a new export point as tariffs are placed on Chinese-built vehicles in Europe.

Production

• Affordable Tesla model expected to be revealed in the first half of 2025.

• Expansion of vehicle lineup, including new trims and paint options in 2024 has helped sales

• Cybertruck production has tripled so far – 1,400 per week, and ramping continues.

  • Expected to be profitable by the end of 2024.

• Model 3 and CT are still being impacted by tariffs as they scale up.

• 4680 cell production improvements

  • 51% more 4680 cells in Q2 over Q1, with a COGS reduction.

  • 1,400 CTs per week on 4680.

  • Tesla is reaching cost-parity with other cells by the end of 2024.

  • First Validation Cybertruck on dry-cathode process has been built and is being tested.

  • Production launch for dry-cathode process in Q4, should drive costs down by up to 50%.

• Tesla Semi factory on track for large-scale production by the end of 2025.

• Giga Berlin has begun producing and delivering RHD vehicles, including to the UK.

• Roadster engineering is complete and expected to see production sometime in 2025.

• Tesla’s guideline for production is 300mi on a single charge.

  • Tesla expects to expand its Supercharging network globally to meet this goal.

  • This seems to be the data-driven distance that Tesla has found most suitable for general driving uses.

FSD, Autonomy, AI

• Tesla continues to work towards unsupervised FSD. Aiming to see unsupervised FSD by the end of 2024, if not the end of 2025.

  • Elon has admitted he’s been overly optimistic in the past.

  • This new estimate is based on current trends in miles per intervention growth.

• Robotaxi event to take place on 10/10/2024.

  • Elon wanted to improve Robotaxi a bit more, and also show off “some other things”

• Tesla is looking to seek FSD approval with V12.5 or V12.6 in Europe, China, and other countries, hopefully by the end of the year.

• Tesla is in talks with multiple OEMs for FSD licensing.

  • OEMs will need 360* camera coverage, a gateway, and Tesla’s AI computers at minimum.

  • Tesla is looking for OEMs to produce over 1m vehicles per year.

  • Disclosure of an agreement will happen in conjunction with the signing OEM.

• Optimus is working in Tesla’s factories in a limited capacity.

  • Limited initial production to begin at Giga Texas in early 2025.

  • Tesla expects to use V1 to iron out bugs internally.

  • V2 is expected through 2026 and will be sold to outside customers.

• Tesla will continue working on DOJO, as acquiring Nvidia GPUs is becoming more and more difficult.

  • Tesla aims to be competitive with Nvidia in the AI GPU space in the future.

• Tesla aims to launch distributed compute alongside its AI5 hardware (formerly HW5).

  • AI5 is expected to launch in late 2025 and be in mass production by early 2026.

  • Distributed compute could use about 100 hours of idle time per week to generate income.

• Grok in Tesla could be a thing of the future, Tesla has learned a lot from xAI.

  • A proposed shareholder vote on investing in xAI could happen soon.

Tesla’s Financial Performance in Q2 2024

• Record quarter for regulatory credits.

• High interest rates globally have impacted sales and revenue per unit.

  • Tesla has offset rates in the US through competitive financing rates and expects to continue this into Q3 2024.

• Service and Merchandise profits have improved incrementally this quarter.

• Energy Storage deployments doubled between Q1 to Q2, leading to record revenue and profits.

• Tesla has a positive cash flow of $1.3 billion after restructuring this year.

  • Restructuring cost approximately $622m

  • Total free cash float of $30B.

• Capital expenditures of approximately $10B this year but beginning to come down.

  • This includes the money already spent on the new AI supercomputer cluster.

Energy Storage and Deployment

• Tesla’s Megapack factory production continues to ramp up, new Shanghai Megafactory is well in progress.

  • After the completion, current production is expected to double or triple.

  • Tesla is currently constrained by production.

• Powerwall 3 is now available in multiple countries, and demand is exceptionally high.

• There is a long pipeline between purchase and delivery for Megapack, Tesla has good pricing leverage and is working with global energy providers.

• Chinese OEMs are competitive, but Tesla offers a full software stack, including Auto Bidder with its Megapacks.

• New Megapack demand lines:

  • Buffer for power plants – Megapack can buffer power plants so they can run at a steady state, improving power production and efficiency by 2-3x.

  • AI and Data Center backup – AI compute is power-hungry, and data centers are now looking to Megapack to provide battery backup.

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Tesla Activates Sentry Mode on Vehicles at Service Centers and Showrooms to Deter Vandalism

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Following the recent spate of misguided violence against Tesla - which has targetted both private owners, as well as Tesla’s showrooms, service centers, and Supercharger sites, owners have been requesting Tesla to improve Sentry Mode and enable the B-pillar cameras. Tesla is now also looking to Sentry Mode to help protect their showrooms and service centers.

Service Mode Sentry Mode

In response to violence being directed at customer vehicles awaiting repairs at collision centers or awaiting delivery at showrooms, Tesla will now enable Sentry Mode on any vehicles that are parked at a Tesla service or Tesla collision location. They will also enable Sentry Mode on vehicles that are being prepared for delivery or are in delivery holding lots.

This change was announced by Elon Musk, following requests from many owners and followers on X for improvements to Sentry Mode following increased Tesla-focused vandalism.

This could put some additional stress on Tesla employees since Sentry Mode uses additional energy when active, meaning that employees will be required to plug in each vehicle about once per week, based on the amount of energy Sentry Mode uses. Tesla is still planning on improving the power efficiency of Sentry Mode in a future update.

While enabling Sentry Mode won’t directly prevent vandalism, such as vehicles honking or playing music when a threat is detected by Sentry Mode, this could help reduce the continued violence by making it easier for Tesla and Tesla owners to get video footage of the vandals.

By doing so, Tesla can ensure that they’re able to press charges against vandals, which will help to dissuade this misguided behavior. Hopefully, just the news that these cars are always recording - even when parked and awaiting repair or delivery - will give these would-be vandals a second thought before committing a crime.

While Elon didn’t mention whether this change would be limited to the United States, we expect that, at the very minimum, it will also include Canada, where 80 cars were recently damaged by vandals overnight at a service center while awaiting repairs. Ideally, this change will be rolled out globally and will help improve security at Tesla’s locations throughout the world.

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The Backlash Against Tesla: Who’s Really Paying the Price?

Chicago Police stand outside a Tesla Showroom.

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Elon Musk has always been a bit of a celebrity and not always one that has been well received. With his many different companies - including Tesla, SpaceX, Boring, Neuralink, X, and xAI, he’s spread throughout many high-tech fields and has a massive say in the way technology impacts the lives of many.

Most recently, Elon has taken to the fore of the US government under the Trump Administration and is running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Here, he’s been tasked with reducing government spending.

These moves, in addition to what looked like an inappropriate hand gesture at a Republican rally last year, have led to him being labeled a Nazi - and those who own his cars or support his companies - as Nazi sympathizers. This is particularly true for Cybertruck owners.

We’re not calling for Elon to step down or stop - that’s beyond the scope of this opinion piece. Instead, we’re hoping that we make a point - harming real people and their property is a step too far, especially when they haven’t done anything other than spend their money or choose their place of employment.

Boycotts and Protests

Few CEOs are as active in politics as Elon is - and that’s made him and his companies the targets of protestors who don't agree with the changes and policies. This has led to boycotts of Tesla, protests outside factories, Supercharger sites, and showrooms.

Interestingly, some protestors at several locations throughout the United States have admitted they are being paid to protest. This isn’t surprising or new -  political activist organizations sometimes bring in paid protestors to pad crowd numbers or guide the protestors toward their goals. While we can’t say whether this is true or not at this time, Elon appears to believe so, as per a post on X on the 8th of March.

Some of the protests have descended into violence, which has likely been escalated by people in a crowd mentality. An example of this is the incident at Tesla’s NYC Meatpacking showroom - where the crowd attempted to break down the doors and enter the showroom, putting the lives of innocent employees and customers at risk.

While protesting is a right, harming others and harming private property is not, regardless of personal beliefs or political opinions. This is what we’d like to emphasize here - harming or threatening Tesla’s employees and their customers isn’t making for a better world - it is hurting real people - members of your community. Some of them may have stood in solidarity with you just mere months ago at the voting booths, but now the simple ownership of a Tesla vehicle is considered extreme.

Vandalism and Who It Impacts

The protests are really just the tip of the iceberg. There have been ongoing and escalating incidents of vandalism - both at Tesla’s showrooms and Superchargers, as well as of private vehicles.

Vandalism is a crime - full stop. Attacking others and their private property with the intent to harm them isn’t an effective means to portray a message - it is political violence. Harming others is never the correct option - and is the worst way to push your message.

Vandalism of a private vehicle doesn't hurt Tesla. That vehicle will be repaired with parts sold by Tesla, paid for by the owner’s insurance. Those insurance costs will be passed down to customers everywhere - whether they’re Tesla-specific or not. Tesla will have made money replacing parts or replacing a vehicle because nearly 70% of Tesla’s customers continue to buy Tesla.

The vandalism isn’t focused on just private vehicles either - much of it has hit Tesla’s showrooms - which have been shot at in the US - and one was even burned down overnight in France. These vandals have also been targeting Tesla’s lots - and damaging cars on their way to customers. Once again, Tesla is insured against all of this - and will only be making replacement vehicles and fixing the damage - just like they did with the arson incident at a Supercharger site - where they replaced the Supercharger in under 48 hours.

Superchargers are public charging infrastructure. Damaging them doesn’t just affect Tesla owners - it impacts all EV drivers. Many Supercharger sites are open to other electric vehicles and serve as a vital charging option, especially in remote areas where charging options may be limited.

Additionally, some Supercharger stations are sometimes partially or fully funded by government grants aimed at expanding EV infrastructure. Acts of vandalism only harm local communities by undermining efforts to build essential public resources.

Sales and Stock

Tesla’s stock and sales have also been hit hard by the recent boycotts and response to Elon’s political activity.

Several analysts are predicting that Tesla’s deliveries in Q1 2025 are expected to be the lowest in the last three years - which will likely be a big hit. On the flipside, Elon is still optimistic about the stock - and has mentioned that the long-term benefits of holding Tesla far outweigh the short-term tensions.

However, Tesla’s stock also swings heavily with the market and is one of the most actively traded stocks by retail investors - both regular stocks and options included. The US markets have been on a relatively downward trend, with the Trump administration telling people to tighten their belts and prepare for a potential recession in the coming months.

These indicators aren’t very clear - and the ramp of the refreshed Model Y will have an impact on sales as Tesla won’t be able to deliver as many vehicles as they normally do.

Musk Owns Only 12% of Tesla

At the end of the day, these protests and all this vandalism only serve one purpose. It hurts hardworking citizens of the countries these events are happening in - whether the United States, Canada, Germany, France, or others.

They don’t impact Elon as much because he owns a small percentage of Tesla. Elon owns 12.8% of Tesla as of February 28, 2025. There are several other large stakeholders who own nearly as much as he does - and hundreds of thousands of retail shareholders. His fortune is so large that even if he lost his entire stake in Tesla today, he’d still be worth over $200 billion.

This amount of money is almost unimaginable. If you were to be given $400,000 every single day since 0 BC - until today - you still wouldn’t be worth as much as Elon Musk. That amount of money is absolutely insane and ridiculous—when you consider how little it affects him and how much real harm it causes to everyday people, it’s clear it’s not the correct approach.

Tesla employs about 130,000 people worldwide. That’s 129,999 people who aren’t Elon Musk that are directly harmed by these actions, all for choosing to work at one of the most innovative tech companies - whose mission is to electrify the world.

Putting all that together - the protests, boycotts, and vandalism aren’t hurting Elon as much as they’re hurting everyone else. They’re hurting regular people. And these people who have been threatened or hurt are never going to look in the same direction as these misguided activists.

Instead, these would-be vandals would be better off redirecting their efforts to reach out to the political leaders in their regions and working on getting better representation - and ensuring that people come to the stands to vote next time there is an election. There is a proper, legal, and moral way to change someone’s mind - with discussion. Threats to damage their property and hurt them are not the way.

Wrapping it all up - harming people and their property is a crime - and it isn’t the way to change people’s minds in a democratic society. It does nothing to harm Elon Musk, and all it hurts are your neighbors and friends.

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