Andrew J. Hawkins

Transportation editor

Andrew J. HawkinsFeb 25, 2025

Tesla’s stock is dropping, but not because of the protests.

The company’s value dropped below $1 trillion for the first time since last November, causing anti-Elon Musk protesters to celebrate on Bluesky. But the losses don’t appear to have much to do with the demonstrations, which only started earlier this month.

Tesla’s sales numbers in Europe are down-right atrocious, thanks to inventory shortages after an all-out sales push at the end of 2024 and factory changes for the Model Y, its most popular vehicle. This is not to say that Musk’s advocacy for far-right political parties in Europe isn’t also having an effect. People really seem to hate that!

Tesla's market value tumbles below $1 trillion as its Europe sales slump

[reuters.com]

Tesla reportedly launches FSD in China — or has it?

Andrew J. HawkinsFeb 25, 2025

‘Tesla Takedown’ wants to hit Elon Musk where it hurts

It started with a handful of demonstrations that have now reached 65 cities. But can these rallies actually take down Tesla?

Andrew J. HawkinsFeb 25, 2025

Andrew J. HawkinsFeb 24, 2025

Tesla inching closer to FSD launch in China.

The company has been laboring for years to get the permissions in place to launch its Full Self-Driving system in its largest customer market, and now it seems like that work is finally about to pay off. Bloomberg reports that Tesla has a software update ready to push in a couple of days. It’s not clear whether FSD will be as expansive as it is in the US. But Tesla is facing some real competition in China, including from BYD’s recently announced God’s Eye driver assist feature.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

[bloomberg.com]

The GSA is shutting down its EV chargers, calling them ‘not mission critical’

Andrew J. HawkinsFeb 21, 2025

DOGE is axing federal employees in charge of regulating robotaxis.

The federal team in charge of overseeing the safety of autonomous vehicles was already pretty small: only about seven people total, according to the Washington Post. But now the Elon Musk-led cuts have eliminated three of the seven. That’s probably good for Tesla, which aims to launch a robotaxi service this summer.

“If the question is, will this affect the federal government’s ability to understand the safety case behind Tesla’s vehicles, then yes, it will,” said one terminated engineer. “The amount of people in the federal government who are able to understand this adequately is very small. Now it’s almost nonexistent.”

DOGE employee cuts fall heavily on agency that regulates Musk’s Tesla

[washingtonpost.com]