

News
UPDATE: Tesla Model Q is reportedly coming in first half 2025: Here’s what it will cost
Update 7:37 p.m. ET: The Wall Street Journal’s Becky Peterson reports having a copy of Deutsche Bank’s report. Here’s what she said:
“I got a copy of the Deutsche Bank report. Here’s what it does say: 1. Travis Axelrod met with DB for its Autonomous Driving Day on December 5 in NYC. 2. DB describes “the new Tesla model” which it calls “Model Q”. 3. DB says it will launch in the first half of 2025, and will cost less than $30k with subsidies, or $37,499 if Trump cancels the IRA tax credit. 4. DB says it will be built on Tesla’s existing lines.
The report doesn’t say anything about Redwood, the internal code name for a mass market vehicle, built on a new platform, which Musk paused earlier this year. It also doesn’t say anything about the size or cost, or how it might differ from a Model 3.
A couple of more points of context: Tesla told investors on its Q3 earnings call that its plans to deliver a more affordable model in H1 2025. They said that to do that it will lower the price of its current line up and then eventually sell robotaxis. When asked about a non-robotaxi, $25,000 car Musk said: ‘We’re not making a non-robo…’”
We can encapsulate that the Model Q is Deutsche Bank’s name for the vehicle, not Tesla’s. Model Q is still a label used by those outside of Tesla.
Paragraph 5 has also been updated for accuracy as Tesla China has now appeared to have commented on the Model Q report.
Tesla is reportedly planning to launch the affordable Model Q in the first half of next year, a massive development to the company’s plans as it aims to offer a cheaper car that will help expand its annual growth rate.
One of Tesla’s plans moving past 2024 was to launch a new platform that will enable more cost-effective models, bringing the vehicles to a new demographic and perhaps expanding sales for years to come.
Rumors of the Model Q, Model 2, and others have floated around the community for a very long time, but now it seems we have some substance with a new report out of China.
According to a report from Globalchinaev, Tesla announced during an investor meeting with Deutsche Bank that it has plans to launch the Model Q for less than $30,000, aiming to compete with vehicles like the BYD Dolphin and Volkswagen ID.3.
Earlier today, Tesla China said it had “no information to share about the Model Q,” via MKTnews.net.
Tesla said early this year that investors should expect a lower growth rate in 2024 because of the company’s focus on the next-generation platform that would bring more affordable vehicles.
Tesla’s next-generation platform could mean ‘notably’ lower growth rate in 2024
It also said on more than one occasion that it plans to bring affordable models to market in the first half of 2025.
Both of these things would align with the report, which details the vehicle as part of the rumored “Project Redwood” that we reported on during January of this year.
The report says the vehicle will be 15 percent smaller and 30 percent lighter than the Model 3, bringing a more compact vehicle to the Tesla lineup. With Tesla also focusing on the Robotaxi and its Full Self-Driving efforts, this vehicle will likely be as minimalist as possible.
It will feature a steering wheel and pedals for the time being, but will be geared toward autonomous driving functionality.
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- https://shop.teslarati.com/collections/tesla-model-y-accessories
- https://shop.teslarati.com/collections/tesla-model-3-accessories
Please email me with questions and comments at joey@teslarati.com. I’d love to chat! You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck is getting a big security upgrade
“Cybertruck was not 100% carryover in execution like S3XY, so it required work.”

Tesla confirmed today that a massive Cybertruck security feature is on the way soon, and it is one that owners have been asking about for a long time.
Like all Teslas, Cybertruck has the excellent security feature known as “Sentry Mode.” The feature essentially turns your Tesla into a moving security camera, recording any event that happens nearby.
It has been used to solve crimes such as vandalism and burglary, and even used by police departments to solve other, high-profile crimes.
Tesla quietly added this extra Sentry Mode feature to deter vandals
However, Cybertruck has been missing one key feature of Sentry Mode: the use of the B-Pillar camera has not been enabled, leaving one of the most vandalized and targeted vehicles in the United States with a weakness.
One person who has been vocal about it is Tesla Cybertruck enthusiast Greggertruck, who has been pushing for answers for months. He finally got his answer from Cybertruck Vehicle Program Manager Siddhant Awasthi:
“It will come soon! Cybertruck was not 100% carryover in execution like SX3Y so it required work. Team has finished work on this and just need to make sure it’s validated and runs reliably (which it should for its feature).”
It will come soon! Cybertruck was not 100% carryover in execution like SX3Y so it required work. Team has finished work on this and just need to make sure it’s validated and runs reliably (which it should for its feature)
— Siddhant Awasthi (@siddawa) August 14, 2025
It sounds as if Tesla’s issue was something they similarly experienced when deploying Full Self-Driving to Cybertruck. The other four Tesla vehicles were able to use FSD because they’re all relatively similar in ride height and overall functionality. They share tons of similarities.
Cybertruck did not get FSD right away because Tesla still had to work on the differences between it and the other cars in the lineup. As Awasthi said, “Cybertruck was not 100% carryover in execution like S3XY, so it required work.”
Tesla Cybertruck FSD release expected for Sept, Park Assist to come first
It sounds as if Tesla is close to resolving some of the more intricate details of adding the functionality, and it was just a matter of time before it figured out the issue.
The release of the B-Pillar camera being active during Sentry Mode events on Cybertruck will likely come in a software update in the coming weeks.
Investor's Corner
Tesla investors may be in for a big surprise
All signs point toward a strong quarter for Tesla in terms of deliveries. Investors could be in for a surprise.

Tesla investors have plenty of things to be ecstatic about, considering the company’s confidence in autonomy, AI, robotics, cars, and energy. However, many of them may be in for a big surprise as the end of the $7,500 EV tax credit nears. On September 30, it will be gone for good.
This has put some skepticism in the minds of some investors: the lack of a $7,500 discount for buying a clean energy vehicle may deter many people from affording Tesla’s industry-leading EVs.
Tesla warns consumers of huge, time-sensitive change coming soon
The focus on quarterly deliveries, while potentially waning in terms of importance to the future, is still a big indicator of demand, at least as of now. Of course, there are other factors, most of them economic.
The big push to make the most of the final quarter of the EV tax credit is evident, as Tesla is reminding consumers on social media platforms and through email communications that the $7,500 discount will not be here forever. It will be gone sooner rather than later.
It appears the push to maximize sales this quarter before having to assess how much they will be impacted by the tax credit’s removal is working.
Delivery Wait Time Increases
Wait times for Tesla vehicles are increasing due to what appears to be increased demand for the company’s vehicles. Recently, Model Y delivery wait times were increased from 1-3 weeks to 4-6 weeks.
This puts extra pressure on consumers to pull the trigger on an order, as delivery must be completed by the cutoff date of September 30.
Delivery wait times may have gone up due to an increase in demand as consumers push to make a purchase before losing that $7,500 discount.
More People are Ordering
A post on X by notable Tesla influencer Sawyer Merritt anecdotally shows he has been receiving more DMs than normal from people stating that they’re ordering vehicles before the end of the tax credit:
Anecdotally, I’ve been getting more DMs from people ordering Teslas in the past few days than I have in the last couple of years. As expected, the end of the U.S. EV credit next month is driving a big surge in orders.
Lease prices are rising for the 3/Y, delivery wait times are… pic.twitter.com/Y6JN3w2Gmr
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 13, 2025
It’s not necessarily a confirmation of more orders, but it could be an indication that things are certainly looking that way.
Why Investors Could Be Surprised
Tesla investors could see some positive movement in stock price following the release of the Q3 delivery report, especially if all signs point to increased demand this quarter.
We reported previously that this could end up being a very strong rebounding quarter for Tesla, with so many people taking advantage of the tax credit.
Whether the delivery figures will be higher than normal remains to be seen. But all indications seem to point to Q3 being a very strong quarter for Tesla.
Elon Musk
Tesla bear Guggenheim sees nearly 50% drop off in stock price in new note
Tesla bear Guggenheim does not see any upside in Robotaxi.

Tesla bear Guggenheim is still among the biggest non-believers in the company’s overall mission and its devotion to solving self-driving.
In a new note to investors on Thursday, analyst Ronald Jewsikow reiterated his price target of $175, a nearly 50 percent drop off, with a ‘Sell’ rating, all based on skepticism regarding Tesla’s execution of the Robotaxi platform.
A few days ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company’s Robotaxi platform would open to the public in September, offering driverless rides to anyone in the Austin area within its geofence, which is roughly 90 square miles large.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirms Robotaxi is opening to the public: here’s when
However, Jewsikow’s skepticism regarding this timeline has to do with what’s going on inside of the vehicles. The analyst was willing to give props to Robotaxi, saying that Musk’s estimation of a September public launch would be a “key step” in offering the service to a broader population.
Where Jewsikow’s real issue lies is with Tesla’s lack of transparency on the Safety Monitors, and how bulls are willing to overlook their importance.
Much of this bullish mentality comes from the fact that the Monitors are not sitting in the driver’s seat, and they don’t have anything to do with the overall operation of the vehicle.
Musk also said last month that reducing Safety Monitors could come “in a month or two.”
Instead, they’re just there to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Jewsikow said:
“While safety drivers will remain, and no timeline has been provided for their removal, bulls have been willing to overlook the optics of safety drivers in TSLA vehicles, and we see no reason why that would change now.”
He also commented on Musk’s recent indication that Tesla was working on a 10x parameter count that could help make Full Self-Driving even more accurate. It could be one of the pieces to Tesla solving autonomy.
Jewsikow added:
“Perhaps most importantly for investors bullish on TSLA for the fleet of potential FSD-enabled vehicles today, the 10x higher parameter count will be able to run on the current generation of FSD hardware and inference compute.”
Elon Musk teases crazy new Tesla FSD model: here’s when it’s coming
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