Tesla's Model S and Model X vehicles offer SiriusXM radio through dedicated hardware that includes an antenna to receive the satellite-based signals. This is a premium feature that Tesla only offers in their Model S and X line. The Model 3 and Model Y, unfortunately, lack the SiriusXM hardware and are not capable of streaming the service.
Many fans of the satellite-based network are forced to either buy a car unit and hook it up via the auxiliary jack or stream audio from their phones to the car via Bluetooth. Although, neither situation is ideal.
Cost Cutting
Over the past few years we have seen Tesla take several cost-cutting measures on the Model 3 and Model Y to help keep the cars more affordable. Some design choices have always been there for cost reasons, while others were changed due to efficiencies or to streamline manufacturing. Tesla is extremely agile and always looking for benefits that pay off in the long term. While some of their choices have paid off, some have not.
For example, Tesla chose not to include a dedicated rain sensor in their vehicles and instead relies on cameras and AI to detect rain. Unfortunately, this is one area where Tesla's solution has fallen short. While the vehicle's automated wipers have improved in the last couple of years, they're still not as reliable as a dedicated rain sensor.
It’s a similar case with Tesla’s automatic high beams, where the vehicle turns on and off its high beams automatically based on how dark it is and whether there are any oncoming vehicles. This feature performed rather poorly for several years and only recently has Tesla's auto high beams become more accurate and reliable.
Tesla has always had a long-term vision for their vehicles and has bet heavily on software to be able to make up for missing hardware in the future. With the automatic wipers, Tesla chose to skip a $4 sensor because they felt they could save money and do the same or better job with a software-based solution.
And how does this relate to SiriusXM? When Tesla designed the Model 3, they needed to make a lot of cost-based decisions. The Model S and Model X included SiriusXM hardware, but they chose to exclude it in the Model 3 and Model Y. It’s clear that the hardware was not being provided by SiriusXM for free. There’s no doubt they needed to cut costs to offer the Model 3 at $35,000, but did they remove SiriusXM hardware because Tesla thought they could provide a software-based solution? Maybe. After all, they did it for their automated windshield wipers, high beams and garage door opener support. Why not SiriusXM?
So the question is, why would Tesla leave out the SiriusXM streaming service when it could save them millions of dollars per year by not including the SiriusXM hardware in their more expensive vehicles? Although SiriusXM hardware provides some advantages, such as not requiring an internet connection, it could also fail in certain situations such as when traveling through tunnels. We think we’ll see Tesla add support for SiriusXM's streaming service to all vehicles in a future update.
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The long long wait for FSD (Supervised) in Australia and New Zealand may be coming to an end. Thom Drew, Tesla’s Country Director for Australia & New Zealand, has confirmed on LinkedIn that Tesla has been working with local authorities in both countries and that there are no regulatory blockers for the release of FSD in the region.
The confirmation came in response to questions following Tesla’s FSD demo video in Sydney, Australia.
Hurdles Cleared
For many years, the main question surrounding the release of FSD in other Asia-Pacific countries, especially Australia, has been the status of regulatory approval. Drew’s statement provides the clearest answer yet regarding regulatory barriers, and it appears that the path is clear from a governmental standpoint.
“We have been working with local authorities across AU & NZ and there are no regulatory blockers for release. We are running through the final stages of validation prior to public release. Looking to start with HW4 on certain vehicles and then release in phases from there.”
Thom Drew, Tesla’s Country Director for Australia & New Zealand (LinkedIn)
With the regulatory question answered, the timeline for the release is now entirely in Tesla’s hands. According to his statement, Tesla is in the final phases before a public rollout, likely meaning Tesla is doing some final testing and veritifcation on local roads before flipping the switch.
— Tesla Australia & New Zealand (@TeslaAUNZ) July 17, 2025
The Rollout Plan: HW4 First
Drew also provided the first details on how Tesla plans to launch FSD in the two countries, and it seems to be a similar approach to the one Tesla took in China.
That means that the release will begin with AI4 (HW4) equipped vehicles first. Once those vehicles are up and running, they will slowly begin to phase in older AI3 (HW3) vehicles over the next few releases.
For owners of HW3 vehicles (everything we know about the HW3 upgrade), this phased release means that they’ll be waiting a little longer than other owners, but at least there’s progress and some clear next steps now. A little more waiting isn’t too bad, especially when you consider just how long many owners in Australia and New Zealand have been waiting for any semblance of FSD in their nations. Tesla initially outlined Q2 2025 as the target availability date for FSD in RHD markets, so this timing is roughly on track with what Tesla initially announced in September 2024.
Hopefully, Tesla also opens up the opportunity for FSD transfer for HW3 owners in both countries, as we’re sure many people would upgrade alongside the official release of FSD to the latest hardware.
And just in case you thought the first video wasn’t true because it wasn’t upside down - well, Tesla provided us the original too.
Another quarter has passed, and that means it’s time to submit questions and vote for Tesla’s Q2 2025 Earnings Call. While Q1 was a tough quarter for the company, Q2 saw some recovery in sales, although there’s still some work to be done.
However, there’s always a lot to be excited about during Tesla’s Q&A session, where we usually learn a lot about future software improvements and upcoming vehicles. We may hear more about FSD Unsupervised, Robotaxi, or the more affordable vehicle, or its upcoming larger 6-seater Model Y, the Model Y L. Tesla also mentioned a potential FSD price hike back in the Q1 2025 Earnings Call, so that could be something that is brought up as well.
Tesla’s Q2 So Far
Tesla has already released their Q2 2025 Production and Delivery numbers, which were up from Q1 of this year, but still down compared to Q2 last year.
Production
Deliveries
Model 3/Y
396,835
373,728
Model S, X, and Cybertruck
13,409
10,394
Total
410,244
384,122
How to Submit & Vote
Tesla lets shareholders submit a question that will be voted on and may be answered during the Q&A session. To submit your own question or vote on an already submitted question, you’ll need to be a verified shareholder. You can go to Say’s platform and link your brokerage accounts.
Once it is verified, you’ll be able to log in and vote your shares on your own question, or on someone else’s question.
Here’s the link to get started on Say’s Tesla Q&A. You must submit your questions and votes by July 23rd, 2025, at 4:00 PM EDT.
Top Questions So Far
Unsurprisingly, people have already been submitting questions, and here are the top ones so far.
Can you give us some insight how robotaxis have been performing so far and what rate you expect to expand in terms of vehicles, geofence, cities, and supervisors?
What are the key technical and regulatory hurdles still remaining for unsupervised FSD to be available for personal use? Timeline?
What specific factory tasks is Optimus currently performing, and what is the expected timeline for scaling production to enable external sales? How does Tesla envision Optimus contributing to revenue in the next 2–3 years?
Can you provide an update on the development and production timeline for Tesla’s more affordable models? How will these models balance cost reduction with profitability, and what impact do you expect on demand in the current economic climate?
Are there any news for HW3 users getting retrofits or upgrades? Will they get HW4 or some future version of HW5?
When do you anticipate customer vehicles to receive unsupervised FSD?
And here are some other ones we found interesting:
Have any meaningful Optimus milestones changed for this year or next and will thousands of Optimus be performing tasks in Tesla factories by year end?
Are front bumper cameras going to be necessary for unsupervised full self driving? If so, what is the companies plan to retrofit vehicles that do not have them?
Will there be a new AI day to explain the advancements the Autopilot, Optimus, and Dojo/chip teams have made over the past several years. We still do not know much about the HW4.
Earnings Call Details
Tesla will hold its earnings call on Wednesday, July 23rd, at 4:00 PM EDT. It's still early for an access link, but we’ll make sure we have a link up on the site before the earnings call that day.
If you do miss the earnings call, no worries. We will provide a full recap following the call, and we’ll also do some in-depth dives into what was said and what we know.
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