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Elon Musk was just live on Twitter Spaces talking Tesla: 5 key takeaways

Credit: Tesla

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Elon Musk recently joined a Twitter Spaces talk covering Tesla on Thursday and spoke on several topics such as the lithium refining factory in Corpus Christi, Texas, the recession, his goal of not selling any more Tesla stock for another 18-24 months, and more. The Spaces were hosted by @StockMKTNewz, @WholeMarsBlog, and @StockTalkWeekly.

Although you can go back and listen to the recording, Elon Musk gave a lot of detailed information and reassured Tesla shareholders that he wasn’t; he is still at Tesla. Here are five key takeaways from the live Twitter Spaces.

1. Elon Musk isn’t MIA at Tesla.

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Several shareholders have been worried that Elon Musk’s focus on Twitter has been taking him away from Tesla. Elon Musk told Ross Gerber that he hasn’t missed a single important Tesla meeting.

“I was back in Austin just last week. There is literally not a single important Tesla meeting I have missed this entire time. I’m not MIA.”

He also told Gerber that he doesn’t have plants to sell any more Tesla stock until around 2025.

“I’m not selling any stock for another 18-24 months. Not until around 2025. I needed to sell. I’m not selling any stock until probably two years from now… I’m somewhat paranoid after going through two recessions.”

2. Tesla will weather any economic storms. 

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Regarding any upcoming economic issues, Elon Musk said he believed Tesla would weather it better than any company.

“I think Tesla will weather an upcoming economic storm better than any company. Unless the company is making bread.”

“If you are a ship in the storm, even if you have a great ship, you are still going to be hit. There is latency in the supply chain.”

3. Tesla’s lithium refinery. 

In November, Tesla began negotiating for a battery-grade lithium refinery in Texas and discussed details of its planned $365 million plant with Nueces County commissioners. Elon Musk spoke briefly of the refinery during the Twitter Spaces.

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“Tesla is building a lithium refinery in Texas to relieve the lithium refining choke point.”

“Seven years to build a refinery is insane. We are aiming to have meaningful volume out the factory in 2 years.”

“We are also cathode refining at Giga Texas for nickel-based cathodes.”

4. Next Gigafactory, recession & demand

Elon Musk added that the total automotive demand, especially the demand in China, will cause a reduction in the cost of battery materials. He added that Tesla is deploying capital at the fasted rate possible without being wasteful and then shared a bit of Gigafactory news.

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“Deploying capital at the fastest rate we can without being wasteful. We are making investments, and can’t say too much, but we are close to picking a location for the next Gigafactory. We are being careful and deliberate about that. We are coming into recession in a strong position.”

5. Tesla Electric in Texas & Master Plan Part 3

Tesla recently launched Tesla Electric in Texas, which allows Powerwall owners to participate in virtual power plants (VPPs). This was a major milestone for both Tesla and Texas. Elon Musk said:

“The overarching purpose is to accelerate the advent of sustainable energy. Energy generation, storage of that energy, and electric transport. We are working on all three. The demand for large batteries is quasi-infinite. So long a Tesla battery pack is cheaper than a peaker plant, there will be insatiable demand.”

“1000+ GWh battery packs a year, if not 2000, is the goal. Master plan part 3 is really about scale. One should think of things in terms of tonnage. The fundamental rate limiter is how many gigawatt hours per year of battery packs can we make?”

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“300 TWh of installed capacity for fully sustainable energy globally.”

Elon Musk also pointed out that the Tesla team is doing a phenomenal job and stands by his prediction that Tesla will be the most valuable company in the world.

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.

Teslarati is now on TikTok. Follow us for interactive news & more. Teslarati is now on TikTok. Follow us for interactive news & more. You can also follow Teslarati on LinkedInTwitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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GM takes latest step to avoid disaster as EV efforts get derailed

There was an even larger step taken this morning, as the Detroit Free Press reported that GM was idling its Factory Zero plant in Michigan until late November, placing about 1,200 workers on indefinite layoff status.

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Credit: GM

General Motors has taken its latest step to avoid financial disaster as its electric vehicle efforts have been widely derailed.

GM’s electric vehicle manufacturing efforts started off hot, and CEO Mary Barra seemed to have a real hold on how the industry and consumers were starting to evolve toward sustainable powertrains. Even former President Joe Biden commended her as being a major force in the global transition to EVs.

However, the company’s plans have not gone as they’ve drawn them up. GM has reported some underwhelming delivery figures in recent quarters, and with the loss of the $7,500 tax credit, the company is planning for what is likely a substantial setback in its entire EV division.

Earlier this month, the company reported it would include a $1.6 billion charge in its quarterly earnings results from EV investments. It was the first true sign that things with GM’s EV projects were going to slow down.

There was an even larger step taken this morning, as the Detroit Free Press reported that GM was idling its Factory Zero plant in Michigan until late November, placing about 1,200 workers on indefinite layoff status.

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This is in addition to the 280 employees it has already laid off after production cuts that happened earlier this year at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant.

After November 24, GM will bring back 3,200 people to work until January 5 to operate both shifts. On January 5, GM is expected to keep 1,200 workers on indefinite layoff.

GM is not the only legacy automaker to make a move like this, as Ford has also started to make a move that reflects a cautious tone regarding how far and how committed it can be to its EV efforts.

After the tax credit was lost, it seemed to be a game of who would be able to float their efforts longest without the government’s help. Tesla CEO Elon Musk long said that the loss of these subsidies would help the company and hurt its competitors, and so far, that is what we are seeing.

Elon Musk was right all along about Tesla’s rivals and EV subsidies

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However, Tesla still has some things to figure out, including how its delivery numbers will be without the tax credit. Its best quarter came in Q3 as the credit was expiring, but Tesla did roll out some more affordable models after the turn of the quarter.

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Tesla expands Robotaxi geofence, but not the garage

This has broadened its geofence to nearly three times the size of Waymo’s current service area, which is great from a comparative standpoint. However, there seems to be something that also needs to be expanded as the geofence gets larger: the size of the Robotaxi fleet.

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Tesla has expanded its Robotaxi geofence four times, once as recently as this week.

However, the company has seemingly kept its fleet size relatively small compared to the size of the service area, making some people — even pro-Tesla influencers — ask for more transparency and an expansion of the number of vehicles it has operating.

Over the past four months, Tesla has done an excellent job of maintaining growth with its service area in Austin as it continues to roll out the early stages of what is the Robotaxi platform.

The most recent expansion brought its size from 170 square miles (440.298 sq. km) to 243 square miles (629.367 sq. km).

Tesla sends clear message to Waymo with latest Austin Robotaxi move

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This has broadened its geofence to nearly three times the size of Waymo’s current service area, which is great from a comparative standpoint. However, there seems to be something that also needs to be expanded as the geofence gets larger: the size of the Robotaxi fleet.

Tesla has never revealed exactly how many Model Y vehicles it is using in Austin for its partially driverless ride-hailing service (We say partial because the Safety Monitor moves to the driver’s seat for freeway routes).

When it first launched Robotaxi, Tesla said it would be a small fleet size, between 10 and 20 vehicles. In late August, after its second expansion of the service area, it then said it “also increased the number of cars available by 50 percent.”

Tesla reveals it has expanded its Robotaxi fleet in Austin

The problem is, nobody knows how many cars were in the fleet to begin with, so there’s no real concrete figure on how many Robotaxis were available.

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This has caused some frustration for users, who have talked about the inability to get rides smoothly. As the geofence has gotten larger, there has only been one mentioned increase in the fleet.

Tesla did not reveal any new figures or expansion plans in terms of fleet size in the recent Q3 Earnings Call, but there is still a true frustration among many because the company will not reveal an exact figure.

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Tesla recalls 6,197 Cybertrucks for light bar adhesive issue

On October 20, Tesla issued a voluntary recall of the impacted vehicles and has identified 619 warranty claims and just a single field report that is related to the issue. 

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Credit: Francisco Garcia (via Greggertruck on X)

Tesla has recalled 6,197 Cybertrucks for a light bar adhesive issue that was utilized by Service to install the aftermarket part.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), impacted vehicles may have had the light bar “inadvertently attached to the windshield using the incorrect surface primer.”

Tesla identified an issue with the light bar’s adhesion to glass back in February and worked for months to find a solution. In October, the company performed chemical testing as a part of an engineering study and determined the root cause as the BetaPrime primer it utilized, figuring out that it was not the right surface priming material to use for this specific application.

On October 20, Tesla issued a voluntary recall of the impacted vehicles and has identified 619 warranty claims and just a single field report that is related to the issue.

The component is manufactured by a Romanian company called Hella Romania S.R.L., but the issue is not the primer’s quality. Instead, it is simply the fact that it is not the correct adhesive for this specific type of application.

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Tesla says there are no reports of injuries or deaths due to this issue, and it will be resolved. In the 473 report that the NHTSA released this morning, Tesla said:

“At no charge to customers, Tesla will inspect the service-installed optional off-road light bar accessory for delamination or damage and if either is present, replace the light bar with a new light bar adhered with tape and a positive mechanical attachment. If no delamination or damage is present, Tesla will retrofit the service-installed optional off-road light bar accessory with a positive mechanical attachment.”

This is the third recall applied to Cybertrucks this year, as one on March 18 highlighted the potential for exterior trim panels to detach while driving, and another earlier this month when the NHTSA said its front parking lights were too bright.

Tesla resolved the first with a free assembly replacement, while the headlight issue was fixed with an Over-the-Air software update earlier this week. Owners said there was a noticeable difference in the brightness of the lights now compared to previously.

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