Tesla Begins Winding Down Solar Installation Business

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla purchased SolarCity, a large solar and backup installer, back in 2016 and shortly thereafter began installing its unique Tesla Solar Roof, regular Tesla Solar panels, and Tesla Powerwalls for both commercial and residential customers.

However, as the years have passed, Tesla has lost its interest in the actual installation portion of the business. They’re more than happy to continue producing Solar Roofs and expanding Powerwall production, but for the most part, their in-house rate of installations has slowed drastically.

Since Q2 2020, Tesla has seen a 10% or greater drop per quarter in the number of in-house Solar Roof, Solar, and Powerwall installations every quarter.

Third-Party Certification

Tesla has instead begun to certify third-party installers throughout North America and Europe for Powerwall and solar panels and within the United States for Solar Roof.

Tesla launched the Certified Installer Program in 2020 and said it has approximately 2,000 certified installers in over 14 countries—and those certified installers have set up over 1 million installations. James Bickford, Tesla’s Director of Global Sales, Residential Energy Products, announced the expansion of the Certified Installer Program and its new push on LinkedIn.

The Certified Installer Program provides several things to get third parties ready to install and commission Tesla’s home energy ecosystem, including virtual and in-person training, on-site training, custom installation tools, and the Tesla One Software Platform.

In addition to those supports, Tesla’s Partner Platform offers marketing support resources and a dedicated access system for a personal Account Manager from Tesla.

Tesla One Dashboard

The Tesla One dashboard offers third-party installers a one-stop-shop platform for managing quotes, installations, and repairs in one mobile app.

It is a convenient-looking application that lets third-party installers see what tasks they need to perform for specific installations and also helps them scale particular installations to customer requirements.

While this isn’t a new direction for Tesla overall, we’re seeing a distinct move in the energy business from Tesla as a first-party installer of its products to a more hands-off approach where local electricians and contractors will install Tesla products under its auspices.

We’re interested to see where Tesla continues to go with this, as they’ve seen their Powerwall business expanding in the last few years, while Tesla Solar and Solar Roof have dropped off many people’s radars lately.

The Tesla One Dashboard for Installers
The Tesla One Dashboard for Installers
Not a Tesla App

Tesla's Robotaxi Event - We, Robot - Everything Announced

By Karan Singh
Sawyer Merrit on X

Did you miss Tesla’s biggest event since its inception? No worries, we have you covered.

We’ve got a straightforward and easy-to-digest recap below, split and organized by sections. Of course, we’ll dive into some of the bigger subjects in detail over the upcoming days, so stay tuned!

Event Info

  • Tesla’s We, Robot event was centered on the future of autonomy

  • 5 “neighbourhoods” were created

  • Westworld offered Texas BBQ and the stage for the event

  • Metropolis had arcade games, and the ability to take a swing at Cybertruck

  • TSLA Theater had pizza and desserts, as well as a movie on a gigantic screen

  • New York brought a block party with live music and street performers, as well as street snacks

  • Finally, the last area was Merch – which, surprise – offered Tesla Merch, including gear, apparel, posters, and more

  • Elon Musk arrived in style in a Robotaxi to kick off the event

Master Plan Part 4 Reference Poster
Master Plan Part 4 Reference Poster
Jowua on X

General/Master Plan Part 4

  • The event made multiple references to Master Plan Part 4, but we haven’t seen the official document yet

  • Today’s transportation infrastructure is too expensive, not safe, and not sustainable

  • 10 hours a week of use of consumer vehicles out of 168 hours a week

  • Unsupervised Full Self Driving – Fall asleep and wake up at your destination

  • Increased free time for humans

  • Goal is to remove parking lots, as less will be needed in the future of autonomous vehicles

  • Create green space in the cities we live in

AI Poster
AI Poster
Jowua on X

Robotaxi/Cybercab

Not a Tesla App
  • The Cybercab has 2 doors, 2 seats, and is a 4-wheeler, as expected

  • It has a front and rear lightbar, similar to Cybertruck

  • Painted aluminum (not stainless steel)

  • No rear or top glass

  • No steering wheel or pedals

  • Butterfly doors

  • Large center screen

  • Has large, hatch-like trunk

  • 20 vehicles produced and ready at the event, with 30 additional Model Ys

  • Autonomous vehicles will be 10x safer than humans

  • Low cost for autonomous transit; $1/mi for buses, Cybercab around $0.2/mi ($0.4 after taxes and fees)

  • Will be available for purchase

  • Will cost below $30,000 USD

  • One person will be able to take care of a small fleet easily

  • Cybercab production begins before 2027

  • Comes with inductive charging

  • Tesla Social Media mentioned Fleet Management software

  • Tesla showed off an automated cleaning system in the video, vacuuming the vehicle, wiping the seats and screens

  • CyberCab will still be Vision-only, no need for radar or LiDAR

  • Call it once, and its available for you all day, for either quick trips or long trips

Elon Musk Poster
Elon Musk Poster
Sawyer Merrit on X

RoboVan

  • Tesla showed off a fully autonomous RoboVan with no front window

  • Up to 20 people or can be set up for goods transport

  • RoboVan has a Cyber aesthetic as well

  • Large glass sliding doors

  • Tesla seems to be going all-in on this aesthetic for its future vehicles

  • RoboVan can be adapted to school bus or RV use

  • RoboVan can also be adapted for personal use – this suggests it could be outfitted with a steering wheel and pedals

The CyberVan arriving
The CyberVan arriving
Not a Tesla App

AI and Hardware

  • Unsupervised FSD in Texas and California in 2025, with Model 3 and Model Y

  • Unsupervised FSD for S, X, and CT in the future

  • AI has lived “a million lives” so it’s been trained on numerous odd situations

  • Always pays attention and is always fully aware of its surroundings

  • 10-30x safer than humans

  • Focus on Tesla Vision – full autonomy, unsupervised for S, 3, X, Y, and CT

  • Cybercab will have AI5, will have oversized compute compared to what’s required according to Musk

  • Distributed inference compute brought up again

  • No news on inductive charging for other vehicles

The Optimus Poster
The Optimus Poster
Jowua on X

Optimus

  • Optimus was brought out on stage again, walked with remote human assistance

  • Attendees were allowed to interact with Optimus robots

  • Optimus robots served drinks at the bar

  • Expected to cost $20K-$30K USD

  • Will eventually be an autonomous robotic assistant that can help with household tasks

  • It can also be a humanoid friend, teacher, babysitter, etc.

  • Elon mentioned the risks of AI Super Intelligence, and having to address it

  • At the event, people could talk and interact with the Optimus units on the ground. Optimus movements were remotely assisted by humans. The robots voices also appear to have be humans that were in a remote location.

  • Guests were not allowed to touch the Optimus units in the crowd

Another poster referencing Master Plan IV.
Another poster referencing Master Plan IV.
Jowua on X

If you missed the event, you can watch it below.

Tesla 'We, Robot' Robotaxi Event: How and Where to Watch [Updated]

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla’s Robotaxi event is coming up later today, and there’s lots of hype. It’s absolutely going to be a must-see event, so we’ve outlined how you can watch it tonight.

We’re even running a Robotaxi Event Prediction Contest – so go sign up to win some prizes from our fantastic sponsors.

If you weren’t one of the lucky lottery winners who managed to snag a ticket, there are a few ways to watch the Robotaxi event.

When

Tesla says the event will start at 10 PM EST or 7 PM PST. However, expect it to start fashionably late as usual. The agenda Tesla has provided is below.

Watch Live

The event is expected to be available on X, YouTube, and Tesla’s website. The links for X and YouTube are below. We’ll update this as the day goes along and Tesla adds additional sources.

Agenda

This is the agenda Tesla has provided. All times are PST.

3:00 PM: Parking Lot Opens

5:00 PM: Doors Open

5:30 PM: Check-In Begins

7:00 PM: Remarks

Watch in Tesla Showrooms

Tesla is also running events at its local showrooms worldwide. Many of these pop-up events have been organized by the Tesla showrooms or in conjunction with local Tesla Owner’s Club groups.

You can go to Tesla’s Events Page here and see if there are any showrooms open in your region. These events are in-person, and a good way to hang out with local Tesla fans and owners to watch one of the biggest events in Tesla’s history. If you don’t see an event listed, try calling your local Tesla showroom or contacting your local Owner’s Club. Other events may be running locally that you could attend.

Location

Warner Brothers Studios

3499 Warner Blvd, Burbank, CA 90068

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