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Our own anonymous AC has found the following story:
MotorTrend reviews the recent Tesla earnings call, where Musk ended by saying that the new lower cost Tesla will be a stripped version of the Model Y SUV -- rear drive only, spartan interior, smaller (and/or lower cost chemistry) battery, etc.
Sales and earnings haven't looked good this year, I wonder if this will be enough to bring people back to Tesla stores after Elon's time in Washington DC?
While not mentioned in the article, I also wonder how current Model Y owners will feel about their neighbors' ability to get a car that looks the same, without paying the Tesla luxury car price?
The story ends with other Tesla news:
The cheap Tesla news is the big headliner of the earnings call, but there were plenty of other interesting tidbits. Per usual, Musk and Tesla championed autonomy and Tesla's nascent robotaxi service. The automaker plans to expand the size and, well, suggestive shape[*] of its robotaxi service's operating area in Austin, Texas, while also eyeing San Francisco as its next location. Robotaxis are apparently already testing in the bay area, as well as Arizona and Florida. There is also the goal of reducing the cost-per-mile of robotaxi service once the Cybercab is out in the wild. Standard Tesla robotaxi vehicles will remain more expensive than Cybercab, but it will also be built differently from regular Teslas, with longer-life tires, a plusher ride, and a much lower top speed. Tesla also expects its robotaxi service to grow much larger in 2026 and "have significant impact" on Tesla's otherwise poor financials in Q2 2025—auto revenue is down by 16 percent, year-over-year, while income from all operations are down by 42 percent, year-over-year. On top of the robotaxi fleet expansion, Musk stated that he's confident that autonomous vehicle deliveries will also expand with Bay Area driverless deliveries starting by the end of this year.
Tesla's woeful financials in part come down to the upcoming revocation of the Federal EV tax credit, tariffs impacting materials cost, and the revocation of different tax credits impacting Tesla's energy storage business. Surely, Musk's polarizing foray into politics and government is having an impact on sales, too, giving some would-be buyers pause. Musk seems to acknowledge the issue, even admitting that he's worried about being ousted as the CEO, mentioning "activist shareholders" pulling a vote to remove him. With Tesla's recent quarter being its worst since 2021 and Q1 2024, there's plenty for Musk and the company to worry about.
[*] https://www.teslaacessories.com/blogs/news/tesla-expands-robotaxi-service-area-in-austin-texas spoiler, on a map it looks like a dick...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by looorg on Saturday July 26, @06:02PM
Not at all. I merely responded to the statement that he would rather get a BMW then a car from Tesla since one was a company run by a "Nazi", while pointing out that the other company worked with actual nazis but he apparently doesn't have an issue with that. Even tho as you note it was 85ish years ago.
I'd get a BMW over a Tesla to. But not cause I care about if Elon is a "Nazi" or not. I don't think he is one. He might be crazy and eccentric. But I doubt he is an actual Nazi. So I judge the car by its qualities, that Tesla might be lacking. Not for the potential ideology of it's maker. Ford was more or less a Nazi to wasn't he? So we are dwindling the amount of potential cars you can buy then. Lets not even get into other companies or fields ...
I'm fairly sure all the people that actually build the Tesla are not Nazis either. Are the people that designed the car for Elon Nazis? Or are they just Nazi-by-association for working for Elon? I'd say neither. I don't know. There might be one. Does it matter? Not really.
But there is apparently a statute of limitation on your Nazism guilt? And it's somewhere around 85ish years ago. Probably a lot less. The list as noted for German, and other, companies that worked with the Nazis is quite long. It will be hard to find a German mechanical, auto or chemical company that was around at the start of the last century that wasn't working with them. I don't really care if they worked for them, or with them or whatever. As noted it was 85ish years ago. The time to get over that was long ago.
My objection is calling everything you don't like for "Nazi" or "Fascists" even tho your evidence for such is quite limited and highly subjective. You might not like him or agree with Elon, or any of his companies, but that still doesn't make him a Nazi. I don't care for or like Elon. I constantly make fun of him and his companies here. But I still don't think he is a Nazi. No matter how many cameras he waves to in a "Nazi"-way.