Elon Musk
Trump’s auto tariff delay might benefit Tesla & the Big 3
Wedbush backs shifting Trump’s auto tariffs to finished cars vs. parts. Tesla & Big 3 could dodge a bullet here.

According to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, Tesla and Detroit’s Big Three—General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis—could benefit from a potential delay in President Trump’s auto tariffs.
In late March, President Trump announced 25% tariffs on imported vehicles, effective April 3, 2025. The U.S. President also announced tariffs for auto parts, slated for May. Ives previously criticized Trump’s auto tariffs, calling them a source of “pure chaos” for the auto industry.
“A U.S. car made entirely with U.S. parts is a fictional tale,” he said, warning that tariffs could spike car prices by $5,000 to $10,000.
Ives emphasized that dismantling a decades-old global supply chain overnight is impractical. He predicts the delay could shift the May tariffs’ focus on fully assembled vehicles rather than parts, a move the Wedbush analyst sees as less disruptive.
“Wedbush firmly believes that the more practical and effective approach would be to impose tariffs on finished vehicles rather than on auto parts, which are still essential to U.S.-based car production,” he added.
A shift to fully assembled vehicles from auto parts could ease immediate pressures on U.S. automakers, preserving production stability. For Tesla and the Big Three, the auto tariff shift offers a strategic advantage in a turbulent trade landscape, though global market reactions remain a key variable.
The Wedbush analyst believes Tesla is well-positioned to handle Trump’s auto tariffs due to its robust U.S. production footprint.
“When it comes to the tariff issue, they are actually best positioned relative to the Detroit Big Three and others and obviously foreign automakers. Still impacted, Musk has talked about that, in terms of just auto parts,” Ives noted.
Wedbush maintains a $315 price target for Tesla’s stock, reflecting confidence in its resilience. However, Ives cautioned that China’s response to Trump’s auto tariff looms over Tesla. The next few quarters will be critical for Tesla to navigate these challenges while capitalizing on its domestic manufacturing edge.
Meanwhile, The Big Three is reliant on imported parts but builds many vehicles domestically. As such, GM, Ford, and Stellantis would also gain from avoiding an auto parts tariffs.
Elon Musk
Tesla Full Self-Driving gets an offer to be insured for ‘almost free’
“If @elonmusk is game, we’d be happy to explore insuring Tesla FSD miles for (almost) free.”

Tesla Full Self-Driving just got an insurance offer from Lemonade Co-founder and President Shai Wininger that might be too good to pass up, as he wants to insure vehicles on FSD for “almost free.”
Traditionally, Tesla vehicles are slightly more expensive to insure with traditional companies because of higher repair costs that stem from their technology and state-of-the-art structural battery design.
However, the development of the Full Self-Driving suite by Tesla has certainly pulled some tech entrepreneurs and others to believe the vehicles should be much cheaper to insure.
While there are certainly people on both sides of the spectrum, a handful of notable tech figures believe the data shows that Teslas operating on FSD are safer than human drivers.
Tesla Q2 2025 vehicle safety report proves FSD makes driving almost 10X safer
One of the tech figures who believes that is Shai Wininger, President and Co-founder of Lemonade, an insurance company that has nearly two million customers.
On X, Wininger recently announced the direct integration with Tesla vehicles that would roll out to Lemonade customers. The integration would “remove the need for a UBI device in our Pay Per Mile product. This makes activating Lemonade Car on Teslas effortless and lets us cut hardware and shipping costs, helping lower prices for Tesla drivers even further.”
He said the Tesla API complemented Lemonade’s platform because it provides “richer and more accurate driving behavior data than traditional UBI devices.”
He then proposed an idea to CEO Elon Musk, stating that Lemonade would “be happy to explore insuring Tesla FSD miles for (almost) free.”
If @elonmusk is game, we’d be happy to explore insuring Tesla FSD miles for (almost) free. https://t.co/VDcKX1JzSi
— Shai Wininger (@shai_wininger) October 17, 2025
It would provide Tesla drivers with stable and accurate insurance, while also incentivizing owners to utilize the Full Self-Driving suite for their miles, making the semi-autonomous driving platform extremely cost-effective to use.
Wininger said it would be available in states where Tesla’s in-house insurance program is not available. Tesla Insurance is available in twelve states, and is looking to expand in Florida, as we reported earlier this week. However, it has not expanded to a new state in about three years.
The thought of Lemonade being able to insure FSD miles for almost nothing is an extremely attractive offer from Wininger, and could potentially be a new outlet to make Teslas even less expensive to own and operate throughout their lifetime.
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package hits first adversity from proxy firm
ISS said the size of the pay package will enable Musk to have access to “extraordinarily high pay opportunities over the next ten years,” and it will have an impact on future packages because it will “reduce the board’s ability to meaningfully adjust future pay levels.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package, which was proposed by the company last month, has hit its first bit of adversity from proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS).
Musk has called the firm “ISIS,” a play on its name relating it to the terrorist organization, in the past.
“ISIS”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 27, 2021
The pay package aims to lock in Musk to the CEO role at Tesla for the next decade, as it will only be paid in full if he is able to unlock each tranche based on company growth, which will reward shareholders.
However, the sum is incredibly large and would give Musk the ability to become the first trillionaire in history, based on his holdings. This is precisely why ISS is advising shareholders to vote against the pay plan.
The group said that Musk’s pay package will lock him in, which is the goal of the Board, and it is especially important to do this because of his “track record and vision.”
However, it also said the size of the pay package will enable Musk to have access to “extraordinarily high pay opportunities over the next ten years,” and it will have an impact on future packages because it will “reduce the board’s ability to meaningfully adjust future pay levels.”
The release from ISS called the size of Musk’s pay package “astronomical” and said its design could continue to pay the CEO massive amounts of money for even partially achieving the goals. This could end up in potential dilution for existing investors.
If Musk were to reach all of the tranches, Tesla’s market cap could reach up to $8.5 trillion, which would make it the most valuable company in the world.
Tesla has made its own attempts to woo shareholders into voting for the pay package, which it feels is crucial not only for retaining Musk but also for continuing to create value for shareholders.
Tesla launched an ad for Elon Musk’s pay package on Paramount+
Musk has also said he would like to have more ownership control of Tesla, so he would not have as much of an issue with who he calls “activist shareholders.”
Elon Musk
SpaceX posts Starship booster feat that’s so nutty, it doesn’t even look real
The Super Heavy booster’s feat was so impressive that the whole maneuver almost looked like it was AI-generated.

SpaceX has shared a video of a remarkable feat achieved by Starship’s Super Heavy booster during its 11th flight test.
The Super Heavy booster’s feat was so impressive that the whole maneuver, which was captured on video, almost looked like it was AI-generated.
Super Heavy’s picture perfect hover
As could be seen in the video shared by SpaceX, Starship’s Super Heavy booster, which is nearly 400 feet tall, smoothly returned to Earth and hovered above the Gulf of America for a few seconds before it went for its soft water landing. The booster’s picture-perfect maneuver before splashing down all but capped a near-flawless mission for Starship, which is about to enter its V3 era with Flight 12.
The booster’s balance and stability were so perfect that some users on X joked that the whole thing looked AI-generated. Considering the size of Super Heavy, as well as the fact that the booster was returning from space, the hovering display all but showed that SpaceX is dead serious about keeping its dominant lead in the spaceflight sector.
Starship V2’s curtain call
As noted in a Space.com report, Flight Test 11 achieved every major goal SpaceX had set for the mission, including deploying Starlink mass simulators, relighting Raptor engines in space, and executing a stable reentry for both the Starship Upper Stage and the Super Heavy booster. The feat also marked the second time a Super Heavy booster has been reflown, a milestone in SpaceX’s quest to make the entire Starship system fully reusable.
Starship’s V2 vehicle will now give way to the upgraded Starship V3, which is designed for faster turnaround and higher payload capacity. The Starship program is expected to pursue even more aggressive targets in the coming months as well, with Elon Musk stating on social media platform X that SpaceX will attempt a tower catch for Starship Upper Stage as early as spring 2026.
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