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Tesla rivals Rivian and Lucid receive harsh prediction from Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s Tesla has survived through a tough, long, and treacherous road to profitability and electric vehicle dominance. Unfortunately for rivals Rivian and Lucid, Musk does not see the same bright light at the end of the tunnel, based on comments made on his social media platform X last night.
As both Rivian and Lucid reported earnings for Q4 2023 last night, Musk took to Twitter to discuss his impressions of both companies and how long they might last before things could come to a crashing halt.
In short, it does not look like an optimistic sentiment shared by Musk was in the plans. Both predictions seem to indicate eventual bankruptcy and potentially the end of operations, which would bring Tesla’s lead in the EV movement in the U.S. to a point of overwhelming dominance. Rivian and Lucid are two pure EV companies that continue to fight through tough economic times and challenging growth periods.
Rivian
Rivian and Tesla are somewhat complementary to one another, both contributing to the EV movement with a focus on expanding product lines, offering cheaper vehicles, and creating somewhat of a “brand,” specifically catering to those interested in supporting companies hellbent on bringing EVs to the forefront.
While the two have had a tumultuous past, including an employee poaching lawsuit, Tesla and Rivian are widely considered the two best EV companies in the United States, and there seems to be mutual respect there.
Rivian sets 2024 goals, including a 57,000 production target
However, Rivian is still navigating through tough times, ramping production and trying to race to profitability as fast as possible.
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During its earnings call last night, it did indicate that it is still losing money on every car it builds, which is not uncommon in early operations. Musk believes, based on data, that Rivian would have roughly six quarters left before bankruptcy would have to be considered:
Current trajectory has them bankrupt in ~6 quarters. Maybe that trajectory will change, but so far it hasn’t. pic.twitter.com/tNNijQ3KwT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2024
The problem with Rivian, according to Musk, is not their product.
“Their product design is not bad,” Musk said, “but the actual hard part of making a car company work is achieving volume production with positive cash flow.”
Lucid
Lucid and Tesla are a different story entirely.
Evident from comments made by Musk for several years about Lucid CEO/CTO Peter Rawlinson’s job title with the Model S program at Tesla, there is still hostility between the two.
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Musk has said that Rawlinson left Tesla when things got truly difficult, and it seems he still holds a bit of a grudge because of it.
Lucid posts Q4 2023 results, posts conservative FY 2024 target
Rawlinson’s Lucid is still alive mostly due to a strong investor in the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, or PIF, which is the reason the company built a production facility in the country. It also is building cars for certain government organizations in Saudi Arabia.
Musk was sure to point out that Lucid’s survival is purely because of the PIF’s involvement:
Their Saudi sugar daddy is the only thing keeping them alive
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2024
What if Rivian and Lucid actually do shut their doors?
While Tesla fans might see it as a way to dominate EV sales figures once again, and as a feather in their cap that the company they invested in survived, it would be bad to see both of these companies cease operations.
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In reality, competition in the market is a positive. It pushes companies to innovate and creates product diversity, giving a wide variety of options for customers.
Additionally, the EV movement would take a huge blow if two major companies could not stay afloat. Rivian is the company with the better outlook because it is showing growth and progress in its EV efforts, but Lucid has heavy financial backers with essentially limitless money.
Tesla has launched a new Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y vehicles in the United States, meaning you can now power devices like laptops or light strings with your vehicle’s battery.
It appears the capability will be available for any Model Y Premium trim, including those that were purchased prior to the Adapter being launched. It will also only impact Juniper Model Y vehicles, so the first-gen owners will unfortunately not have access to this capability.
If your Model Y was purchased before Tesla renamed the trim levels to “Premium” and “Standard,” it does not seem to be compatible. My Model Y is technically a Premium build, as it is the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive. However, Tesla says it is not compatible with my vehicle.
🚨 Tesla has launched the Outlet Adapter for Model Y Premium in the U.S., enabling V2L capability for all Premium trims (that’s what it appears to be as it is available for purchase with all Premium trims)
It’s available for $80. 2.4kW max power and rated for 120v, 20A pic.twitter.com/lDxlVIk5s8
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 14, 2026
For $80, you can now utilize your car as a portable charger for small appliances or devices. This is perfect for things like tailgates, concerts, or camping, as you can now plug in devices that you might use. Those string lights for camping? That laptop for the other games that are on at the tailgate?
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They’ll both utilize energy from your Tesla’s battery to be powered. This is the first time Tesla has expanded the capability to vehicles outside of the Model Y Performance and Cybertruck. However, this feature has been highly requested by owners for an extended period of time.
Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter in China last year:
Tesla China rolls out Model Y L V2L adapter, and it’s free for early owners
You will need the Mobile Connector to operate the Outlet Adapter: the Outlet Adapter will plug into the main housing of the Mobile Connector, where the appropriate adapter to charge your vehicle will plug in.
It is rated for 120 volts and 20 amps, and has a max power rating of 2.4kW.
You can buy it here from Tesla for $80.
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Tesla is nearing its long-awaited unveiling of the all-electric Tesla Roadster, a new report from The Information claims, as the company has said several times this year that the event would take place “soon.”
Now, it appears there is movement on Tesla’s end regarding when it will happen.
The report says that Tesla will unveil the Roadster as soon as this month with a SpaceX version that will utilize cold-gas thrusters to help the vehicle float for a short period of time. This is something CEO Elon Musk has talked about with the Roadster for years.
🚨 The Information is reporting this morning that Tesla is ready to unveil the “flying” Roadster as soon as this month
It’s almost here, folks. pic.twitter.com/IdL4atsucQ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 14, 2026
Additionally, due to the delays, Tesla explored “a variety of designs” for the Roadster, potentially planning to abandon the design it showed off for the first time in 2017 and adopting an entirely new aesthetic.
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According to The Information, Tesla considered utilizing a repurposed Model S Plaid and even wanted to upgrade the look to something like a Lamborghini Countach.
We’ve heard all of these things before, including teases about the date and how “soon” the Roadster will finally be ready to be shown off to the world (for the second time). Musk said that the event would occur in April, then May, then Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen continued to say it would be coming “soon.”
We do expect to see the Roadster by the end of the year, and now with this new report swirling, it appears it could be sooner rather than later.
The wait has been incredibly long, but there is likely a good reason for it. Tesla’s desire to make the Roadster the craziest vehicle on the road was non-negotiable, and it likely took a lot of time and resources to develop and perfect into something that was safe and suitable for a vehicle like this.
Featured
Tesla finally got its Nevada Robotaxi Permit but with a few catches hard to miss
Nevada granted Tesla’s robotaxi permit, but capped the fleet at just ten vehicles for now.
Tesla has received its robotaxi permit in Nevada, more than two months after regulators closed the public comment period on the company’s application. News of the approval surfaced Wednesday night when Tesla investor and longtime company watcher Sawyer Merritt posted a copy of the interim order, and the Nevada Transportation Authority’s own carrier registry now lists the permit, AVNC Permit 002 under Docket 26-05015, as active for Tesla Robotaxi, LLC.
Tesla asked Nevada in June for authority to run up to 5,000 vehicles in Clark County within a year, however the permit the NTA issued is initially capping Tesla at ten fully autonomous vehicles and confines them to a defined geofence along the Las Vegas Strip corridor. Any expansion of that operating area, or any increase to the fleet size, requires the NTA’s approval first.
Tesla has received its Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit in Nevada.
The Nevada Transportation Authority says that operations are limited to a maximum fleet of 10 fully autonomous vehicles and shall be conducted only within the Authority-approved Operational Design… https://t.co/Cxfd6GIfDk pic.twitter.com/iOO6wSZkHF
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 13, 2026
The order also sets rules that look more restrictive than what Tesla runs in Austin. Rides are barred on roads with posted speed limits above 45 miles per hour, pickups are off limits within a quarter mile of Harry Reid International Airport without separate authorization, and every vehicle has to carry visible “Robotaxi” markings while notifying riders before each trip that no one is driving. The order also requires “appropriate human supervision”, language that suggests Nevada isn’t ready to let Tesla offer the rides without a safety monitor that it has run in parts of Austin since January. As with standard protocol with robotaxi services, Tesla must report any accident, system failure, or vehicle that becomes stranded on a Nevada road within five business days.
Tesla is entering a market Nevada already knows well. Zoox, the Amazon owned robotaxi company, has run its own autonomous vehicle permit in the state since last year, building up to roughly 100 vehicles and 350,000 rides along the Strip. That history likely explains why the NTA started Tesla at ten cars rather than the fleet size the company asked for. The agency has a template for scaling a permit up once a company proves out its safety record.
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Tesla’s Nevada application first surfaced in June, when the company filed for the permit alongside plans for a maintenance hub in southwest Las Vegas. The company has said it won’t meaningfully scale its robotaxi fleet anywhere until FSD v15 ships, expected in late 2026 or early 2027, which makes the ten vehicle cap less of a constraint today than it might look on paper. For now, Tesla has the legal right to start Nevada rides. Whether it starts before FSD v15 arrives is a separate question the permit doesn’t answer.
Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.
Tesla Roadster unveiling nears, and it will fly: The Information
