Founded in 2003, Tesla is the top manufacturer of electric vehicles in the US. Led by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, the automaker upended the industry with the futuristic designs and technology of the Gigafactory, the Model S sedan, the Model X SUV, the mass-market Model 3, and soon, the Model Y compact SUV and the unconventional, Blade Runner-inspired pickup Cybertruck. The company has also experienced a number of growing pains on the path to that status as a leader, including public clashes with government agencies, and it commonly faces questions about its technology, issues with its manufacturing, and the treatment of its workforce. The Verge covers all of Tesla’s product launches and ambitions, including energy generation and storage, and the push towards autonomous cars.
In 2011, the Tesla CEO didn’t see BYD as a competitor, laughing out loud at the mere suggestion, just like Steve Ballmer did in response to the iPhone. Microsoft no longer makes phones, and the Chinese auto giant is expected to officially surpass Tesla in global annual sales for the first time.
According to Not A Tesla App, one owner shared a service message saying there’s an Engineering Investigation ongoing, and some service staff have said a third revision of the wiper is in testing.
The extra-long blade apparently has issues with improper stowage at high speeds, contact issues that leave the windshield dirty, and problems spraying wiper fluid, even after a software update. Also, Bloomberg reports NHTSA is expanding its investigation into passenger-trapping Tesla door handles to include Model 3 vehicles, along with the Model Y.
[Not a Tesla App]
China sees humanoids as an economic engine and Musk wants a ‘robot army.’
Footage of Tesla’s humanoid Optimus robot falling over at the company’s Autonomy Visualized event is raising questions over its, well, autonomy. We can’t be sure, but it certainly looks like a teleoperator removing a VR headset.
It wouldn’t be the first time Tesla disguised humans as robots.
The biggest names in autonomy, from Waymo to Tesla, want to sell privately owned autonomous taxis. Who asked for this?
Last month Musk promised there would be “500 or more” of the (supervised) Robotaxis in Texas by the end of the year. Today he told an X user the fleet should “roughly double next month.” But given best estimates put the current number of cars around 30, double that is... nowhere near 500.
October sales are down 48.5 percent across Europe compared to 2024, according to data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association on Tuesday. For the year, Tesla’s sales are down about 30 percent in the region, while industrywide EV sales jumped 26 percent. While the company’s car business struggled, Elon Musk was focused on robots and winning shareholder approval for his newly minted $1 trillion pay package.
[ACEA - European Automobile Manufacturers' Association]
A woman died and her husband was seriously injured after first responders struggled to retrieve them from a burning Model 3, according to a new lawsuit filed against the company. The crash took place January 2023 in Washington state and is the latest to allege that Tesla’s door handle design is trapping people inside their vehicles.
The company was awarded a ridehailing permit by the state’s Department of Transportation, which clears the way for Tesla to launch a robotaxi service — potentially without safety drivers. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said he wants to launch in 8-10 new markets before the end of 2025.
It’s without a head chef, as Eric Greenspan cuts ties after his 15 minutes of fame (infamy?) to open Jewish deli Mish.
The diner opened in July, drawing protests, and scrapped half its menu within a month. More changes are coming, with plans to convert to a full-service restaurant by January.
[Los Angeles Times]
Tesla might be about to give in and adopt Apple’s CarPlay system in its cars. It’s a welcome change, but somehow I suspect this commenter isn’t the only one holding out on a Model Y purchase for slightly different reasons.
Brian Ford:
Unfortunately, the addition of CarPlay won’t erase the other dealbreaker for me.
Get the day’s best comment and more in my free newsletter, The Verge Daily.
It’s been almost two years since the German automaker said it was adopting Tesla’s NACS standard for its electric vehicles. And at last, long after pretty much all the other automakers have already adopted the standard, VW is following through. Starting November 18th, VW ID.4 and ID Buzz owners can buy a NACS adapter online or from their local dealer for $200, which they can then use to fast charge at any of the 25,000 Supercharger outlets in North America. That’s super!
Just hours after Tesla’s former Cybertruck chief announced he would be stepping down, Model Y program manager Emmanuel Lamacchia said on LinkedIn that he’s also leaving the company, Electrek reports.
Siddhant Awasthi, who was also in charge of the Model 3 program, announced his departure on LinkedIn after three years overseeing the Cybertruck’s dismal rollout. A recent recall notice shows that just 63,619 have been sold in the US since its 2023 launch — far from the 250,000 annual sales that Elon Musk once predicted.
The long-delayed, next-gen Roadster is maybe, finally going to see the light of day, Elon Musk said during the company’s shareholder meeting Thursday.
Production is scheduled to start 12-18 months after the demo, or sometime in mid-to-late 2027. The seemingly interminable delays have already caused MKBHD and Sam Altman to cancel their reservations. And Musk hedged on whether the April demo will actually take place. I’m sure the fact that Musk is planning the demo on April 1st isn’t a big red flag.
Elon Musk just floated the idea of a chip fabrication facility, or “tera-fab,” to keep up with Tesla’s own demand for semiconductors. He was speaking during the company’s annual shareholder meeting, where he just was awarded a $1 trillion pay package tied to growing Tesla’s value by orders of magnitude.
Tesla is holding its annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, today, where investors will decide the fate of CEO Elon Musk’s enormous $1 trillion compensation package. The meeting starts at 4 pm ET and will be livestreamed on X.com.
The proposal is widely expected to pass, considering Musk’s popularity with retail shareholders, and his ability to vote his own extensive holdings. Polymarket currently has its likely passage at 94 percent, same as Kalshi.
Yes. The answer is yes.
The suit alleges that the company’s vehicle design trapped five people inside a burning Model S following a 2024 crash in Wisconsin, killing all of them. Tesla is already facing a federal investigation into complaints that its door handles, which sit flush against the vehicle and are electronically controlled, can trap people inside their vehicle during a crash. The company has said it would redesign the handles.
Just like MKBHD in September, the OpenAI CEO has now canceled his Roadster preorder — or tried to, at least, given his email request bounced back. Altman said he understands delays, “but 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait.” Using it to advance his feud with Elon Musk was probably a bonus.
This one seems pretty minor, all things considered. It’s for a possible issue with the installation of an off-road light bar accessory that could detach while driving. But it’s notable given that the truck has already racked up a whopping 10 recalls in just two years on the road. Most have been related to poor build quality, which could also be a factor in the truck’s dismal sales record.
Elon Musk’s political activities — buying Twitter, renaming it X, and letting election deniers and white supremacists back on; donating nearly $300 million to elect Donald Trump; heading DOGE — have dramatically harmed Tesla’s financial fortunes, according to a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research by Yale University economists. Musk’s polarizing behavior likely cost the company up to 1.26 million vehicle sales in the US alone, the group estimates. Meanwhile, EV sales from other automakers popped 17-22 percent, as Musk-disgusted shoppers spent their cash elsewhere.
This is the same robot that couldn’t handle popcorn distribution at Tesla’s diner, and was revealed to be remote controlled at the company’s Cybercab event. In a Q3 earnings call, Musk said he would “of course” ensure that “Optimus is safe” before allowing it to perform surgery on anyone. Volunteers?
