Everything Tesla Announced During Its Earnings Call - Robotaxi Details, HW3 Support, FSD and More

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Did you miss Tesla’s Q3 2024 Earnings Call, or just want to review everything Tesla announced? Either way, we’ve got an outline of everything Tesla announced during the call.

This call was strongly focused on autonomy and revealed a lot more details about Tesla’s plans for its ride sharing service and the Cybercab.

Below is a section-by-section outline of both the actual earnings call and Q&A session and the investor slide deck.

Autonomy and FSD

  • Tesla is still focusing hard on autonomy

  • There were 50 autonomous vehicles at the We, Robot event

    • Carried thousands of people with no incidents or issues

    • 20 were Cybercabs and 30 were regular Model Ys

  • Cybercab will reach volume production by 2026

    • Expected to reach 2 million units per year for initial capacity

    • Tesla could see expanding it to 4 million units per year

  • There have been significant improvements in FSD year-to-date

    • FSD launched in the Cybertruck, FSD V12.5 launched most recently

    • Actually Smart Summon is a taste of Unsupervised FSD

    • Single Stack for Highway and City, all end-to-end, all neural nets coming soon in V13

    • 100x improvement in miles per intervention between FSD v11.4.9 and FSD v12.5

    • Tesla expects a 5-6x improvement in miles per intervention between FSD v12.5 and FSD v13

    • By Q2 next year Tesla expects FSD to have higher miles per critical intervention than the average human’s miles per collision

      • This is the “safer than a human” mark Tesla is aiming for

    • Hardware 4 has made significant strides in helping progress FSD due to the available processing power

  • Tesla will continue to roll out more 30-day trials with every significant FSD improvement

    • FSD has seen an increased take-rate after We, Robot

Internal Testing for Robotaxi

  • Tesla employees in the California Bay Area have already been testing Tesla’s Robotaxi service, which is run with Model Y’s

    • These vehicles have a safety driver

    • Tesla is also testing the Robotaxi / ridesharing app internally

Ride Hailing

  • Ride Hailing/Robotaxi network’s initial rollout will begin in Texas and maybe California next year

    • California’s regulatory approvals will be challenging, and Texas may happen sooner.

    • California may be delayed to 2026

    • Other states that follow Texas could come sooner

  • Driverless Teslas will be offering paid rides sometime next year

  • Some recently released features were designed for the Robotaxi, but went to every Tesla

    • Robotaxis will automatically load and adopt your Tesla profile, logging you into media apps, adjusting the vehicle’s climate and seat settings for comfort

    • Navigation can be done with the phone app, and you can also track progress of Robotaxis on-route

  • Cybercab, Models S3XY, already meet federal vehicle regulations for autonomy

  • State vehicle regulations are all over the place, each state has different (or no) process for autonomy

Hardware 3

  • “Vast Majority” of Tesla’s vehicles on the road today will be capable of autonomy

  • Tesla will continue to iterate FSD on HW4 first, and then backport to HW3

  • HW3 does not “fundamentally support” kernel features, and Tesla has to use tricks and additional work to get it to function

  • Elon admits he is not 100% sure HW3 will be capable of autonomy

  • If HW3 cannot do the job, Tesla will upgrade HW3 computers for owners who have purchased FSD.

    • Tesla has previously said multiple times this was not possible, this is big news

    • Upgrade will only cover the inference computers, not cameras or other parts

Affordable Model - 25K

  • Tesla’s more affordable model is still on track for the first half of 2025.

  • It will be built on the same next-gen platform as Cybercab, with an estimated 5.5mi/kWh.

    • This will be Tesla’s most efficient powertrain.

  • Tesla will continue to innovate to reduce the cost of its current lineup (S, 3, X, Y, CT).

    • CT is now profit neutral/approaching profitability

Semi

  • Semi factory is well under construction, CapEx for the factory is complete

  • Pilot builds of the updated Semi begin next year

  • Production ramp begins in 2026

  • Lots of signaled demand from trucking companies

    • Tesla is not expecting a demand issue

  • Cost per mile per ton is far lower than diesel trucks

    • Companies that don’t adopt Semi won’t be able to keep up

  • Pepsi’s drivers don’t want to go back to their old vehicles, fight to stay on Tesla’s Semis

  • “Couple hundred” already deployed this year

    • Tesla is training the Semi fleet on FSD, will deploy FSD to the Semi when its ready.

Roadster

  • Roadster is the “cherry on the icing on the cake”

  • Not a priority for the Tesla mission

  • Will come after other items that have a bigger impact on the mission (25K Model, etc.,)

  • Design is close to finalization

Service

  • Tesla is trying to fix issues upstream - at the factory level - to reduce service wait times

  • Tesla is looking to establish dedicated service facilities where they have dedicated lanes and technicians for certain specific issues

  • Throughput of service matters

  • Tesla, unlike other auto manufacturers, services cars

    • Normally, car dealers, not manufacturers make money on service

    • Tesla does not make money on service

    • Tesla has an incentive to reduce servicing costs as much as possible

  • Tesla is working on automating vehicle diagnostics and prep work

    • Vehicle self-diagnoses, information is provided to Tesla

    • Parts arrive, lift is booked and tools prepared

    • Vehicle arrives, technician is fully aware of the issue and can immediately fix the problem without wasting time

    • Already, most of the time Tesla doesn’t need to diagnose the issue, the car diagnoses itself and reports potential problems to Service.

4680 Cell

  • Tesla has produced the 100 millionth 4680 cell in Q3 2024.

  • Rapidly becoming the most competitive cell in terms of price

    • Tesla’s internally produced 4680 will be the most cost-competitive cell in North America

  • Continued progress on the dry-cathode line and expanding past the initial test batch

  • Tesla will continue to rely upon external cell providers

    • Lots of capacity is needed for both vehicles and stationary storage that can’t be achieved internally

AI and Optimus

  • AI training capacity is still expanding

  • Tesla is not compute constrained right now, especially with Cortex coming online

    • FSD is getting good enough that it is hard to find and figure out issues

    • Can see 10,000 miles of FSD video and not find an issue in current builds

  • Tesla is testing both virtually and physically

    • Real-life physical testing offers additional benefits, interacting with real humans, etc.,

  • Optimus’ new hand has 22 DoF, and is extremely humanlike

    • Tesla is likely the only company that can scale humanoid robots

    • This is likely due to Tesla’s extreme vertical integration, including batteries, actuators, sensors, software, and inference

    • FSD provides the humanlike brain, while Tesla’s factories can provide volume production capabilities

  • Grok in Tesla / Infotainment

    • Tesla will keep expanding what’s available for infotainment, will include AI support

    • Will also include browser improvements, movies, games, productivity

Energy

  • Energy is still doing well, lots of space to continuing scaling this business sector

  • Megafactory Lathrop is doing 200 Megapacks a week, for 40GWh a year

  • Shanghai will begin doing 20GWh per year, starting Q1 2025

  • Tesla wants to ship at least 100GWh per year by the end of 2025

  • Tesla wants to meet the stationary energy demands for a sustainable energy future

    • This includes the delivery of multiple terawatt hours per year

  • No material limitations on stationary battery business expansion

    • No rare materials or complex procedures are involved in the production process

Financial & Deliveries

  • Tesla has pushed out record deliveries this quarter.

  • No other EV company or EV section of another automaker is profitable

  • Tesla’s future is the world’s future - autonomous and fully electric

  • As Tesla executes on its objectives, Tesla will become the most valuable company in the world.

  • Tesla has done an excellent job executing in a difficult fiscal and regulatory environment so far

  • As cyclic fiscal and standing regulatory challenges are overcome, Tesla can continue to expand and grow in value

  • Automotive revenue grew Quarter over Quarter

    • Financial incentives have hurt direct profit numbers, but increased overall sales considerably

    • Tesla will continue to offer compelling financing options, but sparingly

    • Tesla has a compelling overall package - safety, autonomy, features, total cost of ownership

    • Tesla acknowledges there is an awareness gap about these items with new and old buyers alike

  • Tesla has had their vehicle margins grow Quarter over Quarter due to optimizations

  • Tesla continues to squeeze costs without compromising on the customer experience

  • Tesla has benefitted from lower freight and duties by delivering vehicles locally in markets where possible

    • North American vehicles from North America, European vehicles from Giga Berlin, Asian vehicles from China

  • Decline in interest rates as economy steadies will have a drastic impact on automotive demand

    • Due to interest rates, people have been holding onto cars longer, especially in North America

    • This has impacted new vehicle sales, as people are hesitant to spend money

    • Tesla sees an opportunity to educate and find new buyers in this market sector

  • Energy saw a decline in Q3, due to cyclic conditions

    • Projects are long term, and many begin in Q3, while ending in other quarters

    • Q4 will show growth for Energy

    • Q3 has been Tesla’s off-quarter for Energy (2021, 2022, 2023)

  • Tesla’s Q2 restructuring continuing to impact the company, will have no more impacts after Q4

  • GPU deployments continue, and Tesla will continue making quarterly investments, but sparingly

    • As it stands, Tesla has more GPU capacity than they can work with now - not compute constrained

  • Fragmented regulatory landscape will cause issues for the rollout of the Robotaxi Network and Unsupervised FSD

  • Most automotive companies have not internalized autonomy or EVs, and Tesla is a leader in both sectors

If you’d like to listen to the earnings call, it’s available below.

Plus, Tesla put out a highlight list of some of their biggest achievements for this quarter here on X.

https://x.com/Tesla/status/1849180540408041859

Tesla FSD in Europe: June Update

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

The road to bringing FSD to Europe has been a long and complex one and filled with regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles. Elon Musk, as well as other members of Tesla’s AI team, have previously voiced their grievances with the regulatory approval process on X.

However, it appears that there is finally some progress in getting things moving with recent changes to upcoming autonomy regulations, but the process still seems slow.

Waiting on the Dutch

Elon commented on X recently, stating that Tesla is waiting for approval from Dutch authorities and then the EU to start rolling out FSD in Europe. Tesla is focusing on acquiring approvals from the Dutch transportation authority, which will provide them with the platform they need to gain broader acceptance in Europe. Outside of the Netherlands, Tesla is also conducting testing in Norway, which provides a couple of avenues for them to obtain national-level approval.

The frustration has been ongoing, with multiple committee meetings bringing up autonomy regulation but always pulling back at the last second before approving anything. The last meeting on Regulation 157, which governs Automated Lane Keeping Systems, concluded with authorities from the UK and Spain requesting additional time to analyze the data before reaching a conclusion.

Tesla, as well as Elon, have motioned several times for owners to reach out to their elected representatives to move the process forward, as it seems that Tesla’s own efforts are being stymied. 

This can seem odd, especially since Tesla has previously demoed FSD working exceptionally smoothly on European roads - and just did it again in Rome when they shared the video below on X.

DCAS Phase 3

While the approval process has been slow, Kees Roelandschap pointed out that there may be a different regulatory step that could allow FSD to gain a foothold in Europe.

According to Kees, the European Commission is now taking a new approach to approving ADAS systems under the new DCAS Phase 3 regulations. The Commission is now seeking data from systems currently operational in the United States that can perform System-Initiated Maneuvers and don’t require hands-on intervention for every request.

This is key because those are two of the core functionalities that make FSD so usable, and it also means that there may not be a need to wait years for proper regulations to be written from scratch. Now, the Commission will be looking at real-world data based on existing, deployed technology, which could speed up the process immensely.

What This Means

This new, data-driven regulatory approach could be the path for Tesla to reach its previous target of September for European FSD. While the cogs of bureaucracy are ever slow, sometimes all it takes is a little data to have them turn a bit faster in this case.

Alongside specific countries granting approval for limited field testing with employees, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for FSD in Europe, and hopes are that a release will occur by the end of 2025. With Europe now looking to North America for how FSD is performing, Tesla’s Robotaxi results could also play a role.

Tesla Launches 'TeslaVision' Contest With Big Prizes — See Last Year’s Winner [VIDEO]

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla’s marketing has always been relatively unconventional, relying on word-of-mouth rather than traditional advertising. The passion of the owner’s community is always massive, but it is especially high now with the launch of the Robotaxi network just around the corner.

Tesla is now tapping into that spring of fan creativity and announced the TeslaVision video contest, with some seriously impressive prizes up for grabs.

The Contest

The core of the contest is simple. Create a video that shows how your Tesla gives you more in life. Tesla is looking for submissions that highlight themes of freedom, safety, fun, and convenience.

Prizes

The prizes definitely make this contest worth entering if you’re good with a camera and have some basic video editing abilities.

For North America, the prizes include a brand new Model Y AWD Long Range, alongside an all-expenses-paid trip to Austin for a tour of Giga Texas. The grand prize winner will also be able to custom order their Model Y, allowing them to select their preferred wheels and color.

The two runners-up won’t get a Model Y, but they’ll also enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip to Giga Texas for a tour of the factory.

The travel and tour include lodging in Austin for 2 nights, as well as economy-class round-trip tickets from anywhere in North America. Tesla will also provide a vehicle for use during the trip.

Hopefully, these winners will also have the opportunity to experience the Robotaxi network while they’re in Austin, as it’s expected to be opened to the public later this month.

Project Loveday

For long-time followers of Tesla, this contest may feel familiar. The contest is a direct throwback to the 2017 Project Loveday contest, which was inspired by a letter to Tesla from a 10-year-old aspiring marketer. That contest was won by MKBHD, with his submission below:

How to Enter

If you’re ready to start filming, here are the key pieces of information you’ll need to know:

  • Video must be 90 seconds or less

  • Video must be uploaded to YouTube with a public URL

  • Make a post on X and Instagram tagging “@Tesla” and include the words “TeslaVision contest” in the post.

  • Provide links to both social media posts in your submission to Tesla’s form

  • Provide your personal details in the form

  • You have until July 17th, 2025, or until Tesla receives 10,000 entries, whichever comes first.

You can find the official submission form and all region-specific details on Tesla's website.

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