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Tesla community celebrates 49 years of Elon Musk’s relentless pursuit of dreams and sustainability

Elon Musk during the Falcon Heavy's maiden flight. (Credit: National Geographic/YouTube)

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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is celebrating his 49th birthday today, and both the electric car and space community are celebrating a life that has so far been dedicated to the pursuit of dreams and sustainability. Musk’s journey has been arduous, but his sheer determination has played a notable part in accelerating today’s shift towards renewables and interplanetary endeavors.

It is said that discomfort is something that could harness the best in a person. For Musk, this does seem to be the case. As a teenager, Musk fled to Canada with around $2,000 to his name, and he lived off manual labor for some time to make ends meet. Finishing college, Musk was similar to other graduates, being $100,000 in debt. Yet despite this, Musk was a dreamer, and his fascination with space, tech, and sustainability were intact.

Musk’s first successes came in the tech sector, starting with Zip2, a directory service that could, in a way, be considered as a predecessor of programs like Google Maps. He then went on to online banking with X.com, which, after a merger with Confinity, was sold to eBay as PayPal. Musk’s earnings from the sale of PayPal ultimately helped start SpaceX, a private space company. It did not take long before Musk became the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tesla, an electric vehicle company.

Elon Musk’s successes today prove that hard work is needed for real results. Previous interviews have mentioned Musk remarking that projects such as mass producing the Tesla Model 3 or creating reusable rockets is difficult. And it’s true. Musk is arguably one of the most hands-on CEOs in the industry today, at some points in recent years even bunking on Tesla’s Fremont Factory to help out the company in ramping vehicle production.

But all this hard work also results in a lot of hard-won victories. When Elon Musk joined Tesla as the company’s primary investor, and as he took the reins of the company as its CEO during the financial crisis, the idea of an electric car company being the most valuable automaker in the world by market cap was farfetched. But this is exactly what has happened over the years. It took a ton of hard work with each vehicle release, but there is no denying the fact that Tesla today is a force to be reckoned with in the auto sector.

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The same goes for SpaceX. The private space firm could be considered as Musk’s true labor of love, being a company that is currently pursuing Musk’s personal childhood dream of making humans into an interplanetary species. Just like Tesla, the road has not been easy for SpaceX, with the company teetering over the edge of bankruptcy amidst the multiple failures of its first custom-designed rocket, the Falcon 1. The Falcon 1 was a humble rocket, and it took three failures before it was able to reach orbit nominally.

https://twitter.com/PPathole/status/1277109785549135872?s=20

The victory of the Falcon 1 ultimately paved the way for the emergence of SpaceX’s resident workhorse, the Falcon 9. Equipped with nine Merlin Engines, the Falcon 9 marked its place in space history through its sheer reliability, and later on, its unique reusability. The Falcon 9, as well as its upgraded configuration, the Falcon Heavy, stand as the pinnacle of rockets today, with their capability to be reflown and reused after landing on land and at sea.

If there is one thing that is similar among Elon Musk’s primary companies and the CEO himself, it is the fact that they move very fast. Tesla was able to outpace the EV competition since its vehicles, which were the benchmark in performance and tech to begin with, are moving targets for competitors. SpaceX is the same way. Despite the dominance of the Falcon 9 in terms of reusability and cost, the company is now looking towards its next great project — Starship — a massive rocket that is designed for actual interplanetary travel.

Ultimately, it is quite fascinating to see what Elon Musk has accomplished over his 49 years. But what is even more exciting is that there is more to come. Tesla is only getting started in the energy sector, and SpaceX looking to even higher heights. The next few years for Musk would most definitely be even more compelling.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla called ‘biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen’ by Yale associate dean

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is being called “the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen” by Yale School of Management Senior Associate Dean Jeff Sonnenfeld, who made the comments in a recent interview with CNBC.

Sonnenfeld’s comments echo those of many of the company’s skeptics, who argue that its price-to-earnings ratio is far too high when compared to other companies also in the tech industry. Tesla is often compared to companies like Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft when these types of discussions come up.

Fundamentally, yes, Tesla does trade at a P/E level that is significantly above that of any comparable company.

However, it is worth mentioning that Tesla is not traded like a typical company, either.

Here’s what Sonnenfeld said regarding Tesla:

“This is the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen. Even at its peak, Amazon was nowhere near this level. The PE on this, well above 200, is just crazy. When you’ve got stocks like Nvidia, the price-earnings ratio is around 25 or 30, and Apple is maybe 35 or 36, Microsoft around the same. I mean, this is way out of line to be at a 220 PE. It’s crazy, and they’ve, I think, put a little too much emphasis on the magic wand of Musk.”

Many analysts have admitted in the past that they believe Tesla is an untraditional stock in the sense that many analysts trade it based on narrative and not fundamentals. Ryan Brinkman of J.P. Morgan once said:

“Tesla shares continue to strike us as having become completely divorced from the fundamentals.”

Dan Nathan, another notorious skeptic of Tesla shares, recently turned bullish on the stock because of “technicals and sentiment.” He said just last week:

“I think from a trading perspective, it looks very interesting.”

Nathan said Tesla shares show signs of strength moving forward, including holding its 200-day moving average and holding against current resistance levels.

Sonnenfeld’s synopsis of Tesla shares points out that there might be “a little too much emphasis on the magic wand of Musk.”

Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever

This could refer to different things: perhaps his recent $1 billion stock buy, which sent the stock skyrocketing, or the fact that many Tesla investors are fans and owners who do not buy and sell on numbers, but rather on news that Musk might report himself.

Tesla is trading around $423.76 at the time of publication, as of 3:25 p.m. on the East Coast.

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Tesla makes big change to Full Self-Driving doghouse that drivers will like

Now, it is changing the timeframe of which strikes will be removed, cutting it in half. The strikes will be removed every 3.5 days, as long as no strikes are received during the time period.

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Tesla's Cabin-facing camera is used to monitor driver attentiveness. (Credit: Andy Slye/YouTube)

Tesla is making a big change to its Full Self-Driving doghouse that drivers will like.

The doghouse is a hypothetical term used to describe the penalty period that Tesla applies to drivers who receive too many infractions related to distracted driving.

Previously, Tesla implemented a seven-day ban on the use of Full Self-Driving for those who received five strikes in a vehicle equipped with a cabin camera and three strikes for those without a cabin camera.

It also forgave one strike per week of Full Self-Driving use, provided the driver did not receive any additional strikes during the seven-day period.

Now, it is changing the timeframe of which strikes will be removed, cutting it in half. The strikes will be removed every 3.5 days, as long as no strikes are received during the time period.

The change was found by Not a Tesla App, which noticed the adjustment in the Owner’s Manual for the 2025.32 Software Update.

The system undoubtedly helps improve safety as it helps keep drivers honest. However, there are definitely workarounds, which people are using and promoting for monetary gain, and you can find them on basically any online marketplace, including TikTok shop and Amazon:

People are marketing the product as an FSD cheat device, which the cabin-facing camera will not be able to detect, allowing you to watch something on a phone or look through the windshield at the road.

The safeguards implemented by Tesla are designed to protect drivers from distractions and also protect the company itself from liability. People are still using Full Self-Driving as if it were a fully autonomous product, and it is not.

Tesla even says that the driver must pay attention and be ready to take over in any scenario:

“Yes. Autopilot is a driver assistance system that is intended to be used only with a fully attentive driver. It does not turn a Tesla into a fully autonomous vehicle.

Before enabling Autopilot, you must agree to “keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times” and to always “maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle.” Once engaged, Autopilot will also deliver an escalating series of visual and audio warnings, reminding you to place your hands on the wheel if insufficient torque is applied or your vehicle otherwise detects you may not be attentive enough to the road ahead. If you repeatedly ignore these warnings, you will be locked out from using Autopilot during that trip.

You can override any of Autopilot’s features at any time by steering or applying the accelerator at any time.”

It is good that Tesla is rewarding those who learn from their mistakes with this shorter timeframe to lose the strikes. It won’t be needed forever, though, as eventually, the company will solve autonomy. The question is: when?

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Elon Musk teases the capabilities of the Tesla Roadster once again

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Elon Musk has once again teased the capabilities of the Tesla Roadster, fueling the anticipation that many have for the vehicle, despite it still having no public production or delivery date.

The Roadster is among the most anticipated vehicles in the automotive sector currently, and as Tesla has teased its capabilities, from a lightning-fast 1.1-second 0-60 MPH acceleration to potential hovering with cold-gas thrusters, people are eager to see it.

Although the design seemed to be finalized, there was still more work to be done. Earlier this year, as Tesla was showcasing some of the Roadster’s capabilities to Musk, he stated that it was capable of even more.

This pushed back its production date even further, much to the chagrin of those who have been waiting years for it.

Musk continues to tease us all, and as we sit here waiting hopelessly for it to be revealed, he said today that it is “something special beyond a car.”

Musk’s words were in response to a video posted by Tesla China, showing the Roadster in a new promotional video created by a fan.

The Roadster was planned to be released in 2020, but here we are in 2025, and there is still no sign of the vehicle entering production. However, Tesla did say earlier this year that it would host a demo event for the Roadster, where the company would showcase its capabilities.

Lars Moravy said earlier this year:

“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind-blowing; We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on, and he got a little excited.”

Tesla exec gives big update on Roadster, confirming recent rumor

The delays have been attributed to “radically increased design goals” for the vehicle, which have, without a doubt, improved its capabilities, but at the same time, we just want to know if it’s ever going to come.

Tesla can always make it “better,” but at what point do you say, “Okay, it’s time to show this thing off.” They could always build another, even more capable supercar in the next ten years.

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