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Tesla’s Q1 ’21 Deliveries prove Elon Musk was right about the Model S and X in 2019
Tesla released its Production and Delivery figures for the first quarter of 2021 earlier today, and it proved that CEO Elon Musk was right about the Model S and Model X not being crucial to the company’s ultimate long-term growth. During Tesla’s Q3 2019 Earnings Call, New Street Research analyst Pierre Ferragu asked what Musk thought about the S and X moving forward and how Tesla planned to deal with the cannibalizing effects of the Model 3, the car that overtook the popularity of the company’s flagship vehicles.
Referring to the Model S and Model X as “niche products,” Musk always seemed to know that Tesla’s flagship vehicles wouldn’t take the company into “mass-market” growth. “I mean, they’re very expensive, made in low volume. To be totally frank, we’re continuing to make them more for sentimental reasons than anything else. They’re really of minor importance to the future,” Musk said.
He was right. Looking at Tesla’s Q1 2021 delivery figures, there is a simple dash under the Model S and X category. Symbolic of the shutdown S and X production lines that are being retooled at the Fremont factory in preparation for the production of the refreshed vehicles, Tesla only delivered S and X vehicles in the company’s inventory. Despite the absence of 50% of the company’s all-electric models, Tesla reported nearly 100,000 more vehicles in Q1 2021 than it did in Q1 2020, moving from 88,400 to 184,800.
This is where Musk’s outlook becomes incredibly accurate, proving that his 2019 quotation regarding the Model S and Model X’s importance to the future is relatively minuscule. Tesla doesn’t need its two flagship vehicles to grow or sustain demand. The Model 3 and the Model Y do that.
It’s evident that Musk holds high regard for his two flagship vehicles. “They’re great cars. I mean, the Model S literally won MotorTrend’s best car ever in history, by the way. It’s incredible, especially the new one with variable damping suspension, hospital operating room, HEPA filter for air purification, the raven powertrain. It’s the fastest car in the world, and it’s just so easy to drive. It makes you feel like Superman driving that car. It’s incredibly safe. It’s just an amazing vehicle,” Musk said. However, he also realizes that the Model 3 and Model Y are just better vehicles, while the Model S and Model X are “art pieces, basically.”
Tesla has never been about making fancy, amazing, eye-catching vehicles, at least not in the long term. The Model S and Model X were both head-turners: the S, with its sporty look, was not the stereotypical electric car. Musk once said that driving an electric car didn’t have to be a boring, slow, or golf cart-like experience. It was supposed to be fun, fast, exhilarating, and it was (and still is). The X, with its falcon-wing doors and comparable performance to the Model S, only solidified this. But they were ultimately just the bait for the average car buyer. In the mid-2010s, if people saw a Tesla, you can bet their heads gravitated toward it. They were rare, and in some areas, it was probably pretty close to seeing a Lamborghini or a Ferrari for some people.
This was all a part of Musk’s Master Plan. While it describes the capital-raising efforts of the S and X to welcome in a line of affordable vehicles like the 3 and the Y, the Master Plan also involved catching consumers’ attention by offering unbelievable cars that were not powered by gas. The S and X simply opened the doors for the 3 and the Y, eventually opening the doors for another line of even more affordable models.
Musk was always right about the Model S and Model X. They were never going to take Tesla into the stratosphere. They were only going to be the first two steps in the plan that made Tesla the most valuable car company in the world. Without the Model S and Model X, Tesla would be just fine. The company’s Q1 2021 delivery and production figures only solidified the fact that the two flagship vehicles that brought Tesla to its initial popularity were never going to be the vehicles that expanded the movement of electrification, nor made Tesla the household name that it has become in a period of three short years.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk handed Grok something no other AI company can get their hands on
Elon Musk says SpaceX will feed engineering data into Grok’s next model, avoiding restricted material.
Elon Musk said Tuesday that SpaceX will feed its internal engineering data into the next major training run for Grok, the AI model now folded into SpaceX following February’s merger. In a post on X, Musk wrote that SpaceX’s “massive corpus of world-class engineering data,” excluding anything restricted under U.S. arms export law, will be added during supplemental training of what he called the “2T run,” a reference to a roughly two trillion parameter model that would nearly double the parameters behind the latest Grok 4.5 that’s rolling out.
SpaceX’s massive corpus of world-class engineering data (excluding material blocked by ITAR) will be added during supplemental training of the 2T run.
This will dramatically improve Grok’s engineering capabilities. https://t.co/BbQEViFByn
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2026
The excluded material that Musk is referring to would fall under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which restricts export of technical data tied to defense and space hardware. That likely rules out propulsion specifics for Merlin and Raptor engines along with guidance and control details for SpaceX’s launch vehicles, but leaves manufacturing knowledge, materials science, and Starlink hardware design on the table.
The announcement extends a pattern that has been building since SpaceX’s Nasdaq debut in June, when the company went public with Grok and xAI’s Colossus supercomputer folded into the pitch to investors.
Days after that listing, SpaceX closed its $60 billion all stock acquisition of coding startup Cursor, giving xAI both enterprise software distribution and a stream of real world developer data to train on. Grok 4.5 launched July 8 running partly on that Cursor training data, with Musk describing it as roughly comparable to Anthropic’s Opus 4.7 but faster and cheaper to run.
Feeding SpaceX’s own engineering data into the next AI model follows the same logic Musk has applied across xAI’s sister companies. Tesla supplies real world driving data and manufacturing expertise, X supplies conversational data, and now SpaceX supplies aerospace engineering data built up since 2002.
Musk did not give a release date for the upcoming AI model, referred to elsewhere as Grok 4.6. He has said the two trillion parameter run is in its final training phase and expected to wrap this week.
Tesla has extended its Bay Area ride-hailing service to include pickups and drop-offs at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The update, shared via the company’s official channels on July 21, allows users in the region to request rides directly to and from one of California’s busiest airports.
The expansion builds on Tesla’s secured limousine permit for SFO operations. Public records show the permit became effective March 20, 2026, and remains active through January 31, 2027. Tesla vehicles operating the service now display authorized limousine permits issued by the City and County of San Francisco.
Our Bay Area rideshare service now goes to SFO ✈️
— Tesla AI (@Tesla_AI) July 21, 2026
Tesla’s ride-hailing program in California relies on Model Y vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving (Supervised) technology. Human safety drivers remain present in compliance with state regulations, distinguishing the service from fully driverless operations.
The Bay Area geofence covers a broad area spanning north of San Francisco to south of San Jose, offering extensive connectivity across the region.
UPDATE: Elon Musk reveals why Tesla didn’t say ‘Robotaxi’ upon California launch
This SFO addition follows earlier progress at other Bay Area airports. Tesla previously expanded service to San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) in late 2025. The company had engaged with SFO, SJC, and Oakland International Airport officials as early as September 2025 to secure necessary approvals for passenger transport.
The service provides a new option for travelers seeking electric, app-based transportation integrated with Tesla’s ecosystem. Rides are booked through Tesla’s dedicated ride-hailing application, which handles matching, routing, and payments. Pricing follows standard ride-hailing models, with potential adjustments based on distance, time, and demand.
Tesla’s California ride-hailing program launched in July 2025 with an initial invite-only rollout in the Bay Area. It started alongside operations in Austin, Texas, marking the company’s second major U.S. market.
The Bay Area remains a primary focus in California, with service centered on high-demand corridors connecting residential, commercial, and now major transportation hubs. This latest airport integration represents a practical step in Tesla’s broader mobility ambitions within the state.
Tesla has officially revealed its 2026 Summer Update, which comes with a variety of crazy new features, including Navigation fixes that owners have been wanting for months.
Tesla routinely releases a larger update with the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter updates, where it ships a variety of new features, bug fixes, and other additions to customer cars.
The 2026 Spring Update featured things like “Hey Grok” voice assistance, a redesigned self-driving app, Unreal Engine visual upgrades, and more.
🚨 TESLA’S SUMMER UPDATE FOR 2026 IS HERE:
Featuring:
✅ Self-Driving Stats in Mobile App
✅ Caraoke with Scoring
✅ Automatic Navigation
✅ Preferred Routes
✅ Set Arrival Energy from Mobile App
✅ Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App
✅ Rear Display Lock
✅ Other Improvements
🔌… https://t.co/C9IW3egEhH— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 21, 2026
Tesla’s Summer Release has about ten new features; we’ll show you each and detail them below:
New Grok Voice Commands
“Grok can now make phone calls, search and play music, adjust climate, open the glovebox, and answer questions about your Tesla.”
Self-Driving Stats in Mobile App
“View and share self-driving stats from the mobile app.”
Caraoke With Scoring
“Caraoke now scores your singing while in Park. High scores are saved to your Tesla profile.”
Automatic Navigation
“Automatic Navigation now adapts to your routine.
In addition to Home, Work, and upcoming calendar events, your vehicle can now suggest and route to places you visit regularly – like a school drop-off on the way to work, or the gym on the way home.”
Preferred Routes
“For a more personalized experience, navigation now prioritizes routes that you’ve taken before”
Set Arrival Energy from Mobile App
“Set your desired Arrival Energy from your phone.”
Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App
“Skip the USB drive and upload a custom wrap of your car from the mobile app. Instructions for creating a custom wrap here: https://github.com/teslamotors/custom-wraps.”
Rear Display Lock
“Kids can watch content on the rear screen, but only the front row can control it through the rear screen app.”
Other Improvements
- Find Superchargers by name when searching for a destination
- Add Apple Music songs to queue from search and artist page
- Set your preferred zoom level for the Self-Driving visualization
- Intro animations for new Model 3 and Y
Elon Musk handed Grok something no other AI company can get their hands on
Tesla expands ridesharing service in California to new hotspot
