Two million people watched Tesla deliver its all-electric Class 8 Semi trucks to its first customers live on Twitter. The Tesla Semi, which is a non-consumer product targeted at business-to-business customers, was received by Frito-Lay and PepsiCo on Thursday night at the company’s Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada.
Tesla always live streams its events on its YouTube channel, and its Cyber Rodeo event topped 3 million views. However, Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, is now the owner and CEO of Twitter, and he promoted Tesla’s live stream on the platform.
Tesla Semi Truck launch in 5 mins! https://t.co/jG3s9wuVGb
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2022
Aside from YouTube influencers who held their own live-streamed watch parties for the delivery events and Tesla’s own channel, many watched the event right on Twitter.
-->Tesla has over 2 million followers on its YouTube account, but as you can see in the screenshot below, the live stream had 974,702 views at this time. That number is expected to go up over time when more people watch the replay.
Tesla’s other live stream events, such as the Cyber Rodeo at Giga Texas and AI Day part 2, crossed the one-million view mark. Some of its other live-streamed events, such as its Q3 2022 financial results and Q&A webcast, received under 500,000 views.
On Twitter, Tesla’s live stream topped 2 million views. Although Tesla’s live stream on Twitter had higher views, there is a lot of feedback and room for improvement. There were a few tweets asking for the ability to stream from Twitter to the TV.
Other feedback and requests included allowing to set the live stream as a background with some transparency so users can tweet while watching the event.
-->https://twitter.com/DarnellTheGeek/status/1598480616978350086
Gail Alfar, the owner of the WhatUpTesla blog, told Teslarati, “I almost always watch SpaceX launches on Twitter live, so I was super happy to hear that a Tesla event will be live on Twitter! And watching Tesla events is a family event for us, so we all wanted to gather together, and the TV does not have a Twitter app (yet), so we all watched it on YouTube. We are looking forward to a possible Twitter app for TVs!”
Al Shen told Teslarati that he also watched the live stream on YouTube.
“I decided to live stream the Tesla Semi delivery event via Youtube for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to share the live stream experience with a few Youtube personalities that were conducting virtual “watch parties” and allowing for more engaged interaction in real-time. Live streaming on Twitter still has room to evolve.”
“If there’s a designed live stream watch party feature where a more controlled group of guests could view, comment, and still readily and easily tweet from their accounts, that would be exciting. Half the fun is the engagement with others.”
-->Twitter’s live stream feature does have a lot of room for improvement, and given Elon Musk’s openness to feedback from his followers, we may begin to see those improvements over time. Did you watch the event on Twitter or on YouTube? What are your thoughts?
Disclosure: Johnna is a $TSLA shareholder and believes in Tesla’s mission.
Your feedback is welcome. If you have any comments or concerns or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter at @JohnnaCrider1.
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News
Waymo driverless taxi drives directly into active LAPD standoff
No injuries occurred, and the passengers inside the vehicle were safely transported to their destination, as per a Waymo representative.
A video posted on social media has shown an occupied Waymo driverless taxi driving directly into the middle of an active LAPD standoff in downtown Los Angeles.
As could be seen in the short video, which was initially posted on Instagram by user Alex Choi, a Waymo driverless taxi drove directly into the middle of an active LAPD standoff in downtown Los Angeles.
The driverless taxi made an unprotected left turn despite what appeared to be a red light, briefly entering a police perimeter. At the time, officers seemed to be giving commands to a prone suspect on the ground, who looked quite surprised at the sudden presence of the driverless vehicle.
People on the sidewalk, including the person who was filming the video, could be heard chuckling at the Waymo’s strange behavior.
The Waymo reportedly cleared the area within seconds. No injuries occurred, and the passengers inside the vehicle were safely transported to their destination, as per a Waymo representative. Still, the video spread across social media, with numerous netizens poking fun at the gaffe.
-->Others also pointed out that such a gaffe would have resulted in widespread controversy had the vehicle involved been a Tesla on FSD. Tesla is constantly under scrutiny, with TSLA shorts and similar groups actively trying to put down the company’s FSD program.
A Tesla on FSD or Robotaxi accidentally driving into an active police standoff would likely cause lawsuits, nonstop media coverage, and calls for a worldwide ban, at the least.
This was one of the reasons why even minor traffic infractions committed by the company’s Robotaxis during their initial rollout in Austin received nationwide media attention. This particular Waymo incident, however, will likely not receive as much coverage.
Tesla Model Y demand in China is through the roof, and new delivery dates show the company has already sold out its allocation of the all-electric crossover for 2025.
The Model Y has been the most popular vehicle in the world in both of the last two years, outpacing incredibly popular vehicles like the Toyota RAV 4. In China, the EV market is substantially more saturated, with more competitors than in any other market.
However, Tesla has been kind to the Chinese market, as it has launched trim levels for the Model Y in the country that are not available anywhere else. Demand has been strong for the Model Y in China; it ranks in the top 5 of all EVs in the country, trailing the BYD Seagull, Wuling Hongguang Mini EV, and the Geely Galaxy Xingyuan.
The other three models ahead of the Model Y are priced substantially lower.
Tesla is still dealing with strong demand for the Model Y, and the company is now pushing delivery dates to early 2026, meaning the vehicle is sold out for the year:
NEWS: New orders for all four Tesla Model Y trims in China are now officially sold out for 2025, as the factory’s remaining production capacity for the year has been fully allocated.
Estimated delivery dates for new orders now show January-February 2026. pic.twitter.com/Dfnu7yY58N
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 1, 2025
Tesla experienced a 9.9 percent year-over-year rise in its China-made EV sales for November, meaning there is some serious potential for the automaker moving into next year despite increased competition.
There have been a lot of questions surrounding how Tesla would perform globally with more competition, but it seems to have a good grasp of various markets because of its vehicles, its charging infrastructure, and its Full Self-Driving (FSD) suite, which has been expanding to more countries as of late.
Tesla Model Y is still China’s best-selling premium EV through October
Tesla holds a dominating lead in the United States with EV registrations, and performs incredibly well in several European countries.
With demand in China looking strong, it will be interesting to see how the company ends the year in terms of global deliveries.
News
Tesla Europe rolls out FSD ride-alongs in the Netherlands’ holiday campaign
The festive event series comes amid Tesla’s ongoing push for regulatory approval of FSD across Europe.
Tesla Europe has announced that its “Future Holidays” campaign will feature Full Self-Driving (Supervised) ride-along experiences in the Netherlands.
The festive event series comes amid Tesla’s ongoing push for regulatory approval of FSD across Europe.
The Holiday program was announced by Tesla Europe & Middle East in a post on X. “Come get in the spirit with us. Featuring Caraoke, FSD Supervised ride-along experiences, holiday light shows with our S3XY lineup & more,” the company wrote in its post on X.
Per the program’s official website, fun activities will include Caraoke sessions and light shows with the S3XY vehicle lineup. It appears that Optimus will also be making an appearance at the events. Tesla even noted that the humanoid robot will be in “full party spirit,” so things might indeed be quite fun.
“This season, we’re introducing you to the fun of the future. Register for our holiday events to meet our robots, see if you can spot the Bot to win prizes, and check out our selection of exclusive merchandise and limited-edition gifts. Discover Tesla activities near you and discover what makes the future so festive,” Tesla wrote on its official website.
-->This announcement aligns with Tesla’s accelerating FSD efforts in Europe, where supervised ride-alongs could help demonstrate the tech to regulators and customers. The Netherlands, with its urban traffic and progressive EV policies, could serve as an ideal and valuable testing ground for FSD.
Tesla is currently hard at work pushing for the rollout of FSD to several European countries. Tesla has received approval to operate 19 FSD test vehicles on Spain’s roads, though this number could increase as the program develops. As per the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), Tesla would be able to operate its FSD fleet on any national route across Spain. Recent job openings also hint at Tesla starting FSD tests in Austria. Apart from this, the company is also holding FSD demonstrations in Germany, France, and Italy.
Waymo driverless taxi drives directly into active LAPD standoff
Tesla Model Y demand in China is through the roof, new delivery dates show
