News
How the Chevy Bolt stacks up against Tesla’s production capabilities
With Tesla Model 3 production ahead of schedule, it’s not hard for the mind to wander into how it stacks up against other EVs.
Right now, the Chevy Bolt has been marked as the Model 3’s biggest competition and, with the Bolt in Musk’s crosshairs and new details emerging about Model 3 production, Musk may be hoping that increased volume will act as the trigger-pull needed to beat out the Bolt.
Production volume
As announced early Monday, the Model 3 initial exponential production could result in 10,000 Model 3s produced per week by 2018. This projection could result in 500,000 Model 3s produced in 2018 alone.
The Chevy Bolt, which is being produced at GM’s Orion Assembly Plant in Michigan, is on pace to produce around 90,000 vehicles per year, according to Reuters. This production number is significantly more cautious compared to the Model 3’s, which is aiming to be one of the highest produced electric vehicles in the nation.
In addition to to a high production goal, it’s widely reported that nearly 400,000 pre-orders have already been received for the Model 3, a number that dwarfs the Bolt’s deliveries for April at 1,929.
Production style
What makes the high-volume production of the Model 3 possible is Musk’s idea for vertically integrating both vehicle and battery production. This has resulted in both aspects of production increasing in tandem. As more Model 3s are produced, Gigafactories will continue to output lithium batteries to meet demand.
Musk thinks that that could mean over 500,000 batteries produced in 2018.
In comparison, LG Chem, the supplier of batteries for the Chevy Bolt, estimates that it will produce 30,000 batteries for the vehicle in 2017. So far it seems that the Bolt, while a sustainable and reliable option for a hatchback EV, is on a different playing field in terms of production.
Elon Musk estimates that 500,000 batteries will be produced for vehicles in 2018. Source: Tesla
Challenges
The main challenge for Tesla’s production is clearly meeting the robust goals set by founder Elon Musk. Despite initial speculation pegging 2018 as the company’s roll out for half a million Model 3s, as vehicles are made and logistics tested, the truth will emerge on whether Musk’s vision will be successful.
If you asked Musk (or even Tesla fans), it would seem as though the possibility of reaching the Model 3 production goal is inevitable.
The Bolt’s challenges are almost directly opposite to Tesla’s. While initial sales of the vehicle have been strong, GM has struggled with inventory issues in the past.
As Bolts continue to be sold, GM will have to meet the demand with increased production, something that could be difficult for a company that hasn’t prioritized high-volume logistics as much as Tesla.
Overall, it will be entertaining to watch the Model 3 and Chevy Bolt go toe-to-toe in the coming months. At the very least, it will certainly test Musk’s vertical production ideas. Based on Musk’s track record, he’s not one to shy away from the challenge.
Elon Musk
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
SpaceX’s Starship flew successfully Friday, landing both stages and deploying its first Starlink V3 satellites.
Starship’s thirteenth test flight delivered exactly what SpaceX needed with a clean liftoff, two successful stage recoveries, and the first real payload the vehicle has ever carried to space. Booster 20 and Ship 40 lifted off at 5:51 p.m. CT from Starbase, and by the time the mission wrapped roughly an hour later, both halves of the rocket had done exactly what they were supposed to do.
Booster 20 separated from Ship 40 a few minutes into the flight and stuck a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico about six minutes after liftoff. That is a meaningful turnaround from Flight 12 in May, when the booster lost several engines during its boostback burn before a hard water landing attempt.
Starship as seen from Starlink satellites pic.twitter.com/e2hvfmnewh
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2026
Starship 40’s performance was arguably the bigger win. The vehicle deployed the first 20 operational Starlink V3 satellites Starship has ever carried, then flew a suborbital arc to a landing in the Indian Ocean that SpaceX commentator Dan Huot called the company’s softest splashdown yet. “This is a dream scenario for this team that’s trying to get this heat shield data,” Huot said on the live broadcast, according to Space.com’s live coverage. “I’m a little over the moon right now. Wow. Lucky number 13.”
Unlike the mass simulators SpaceX flew on Flight 12, these were production Starlink V3 satellites, meant to extend solar arrays and antennas and attempt to link with the broader constellation before reentering minutes later. Getting real hardware through a full deploy sequence on only the second flight of the V3 generation keeps Starship on schedule for the payload work NASA is counting on for future Artemis lunar landings.
What an awesome launch, really seems like everything went super well and it was all incredibly smooth.
SpaceX is awesome. Very interested to see how the market will respond on Monday pic.twitter.com/KSHmyBfV55
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 25, 2026
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 25, 2026
The flight also arrives at a moment when SpaceX needed a win. SPCX has traded below its $135 IPO price since mid-July, as Teslarati reported when the mission slipped to Friday, and short interest has climbed to roughly a third of the tradable float. A clean flight will not fix a balance sheet, but it does answer the one question SpaceX absolutely needed answered this week: whether the fixes made after the July 16 abort would hold up under real flight conditions. They did, on both stages, on the first try after the redesign.
SpaceX has not set a target date for Flight 14, though the company has said it wants to push toward an orbital attempt on the next mission. After Friday, that goal looks a lot more within reach.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner in Los Angeles dominated the company’s global usage rankings after just one year, proving the concept is more than just a one-off novelty location that will fade away.
The performance could incite the company to build more locations, something that CEO Elon Musk has hinted at for some time.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner delivered 21.2 GWh of energy in its first year of operation, the company’s head of Charging, Max de Zegher, revealed on X. Of the top 10 most utilized Supercharger locations in Tesla’s global infrastructure, the Diner in Los Angeles was the most used by drivers, and it wasn’t particularly close:
Tesla Diner opened exactly 1 year ago. Inspiring that futuristic places like this exist.
It’s our highest usage Supercharger in the world: 21.2 GWh delivered in a year, 1.6k sessions/day.
Top 10 Superchargers by energy delivered: https://t.co/9YvJ8lw696 pic.twitter.com/koB3AUJHws
— Max (@MdeZegher) July 21, 2026
On its launch day one year ago, nobody was too sure what the Tesla Diner would be about. It seemed like an interesting concept, and considering it had been in the works for years, it was a highly anticipated launch that many were looking forward to.
Based on its success, we could see additional Diners with Superchargers built throughout the United States, and potentially beyond. Musk has said on several occasions that the company would be willing to bring the Diner idea to more markets.
Tesla makes major change at Supercharger Diner amid epic demand
Of the markets that Musk has mentioned, both Palo Alto and Austin have come to be perceived as ideal selections. However, there are no concrete plans as of now to build new Supercharger Diners anywhere; the location on Santa Monica Boulevard will remain the exclusive spot to pick up Tesla-inspired eats, at least for the time being.
Tesla short sellers won big following the company’s massive fall on Wall Street after it reported subpar Earnings on Wednesday.
Tesla short sellers collected about $4.12 billion in single-day profits on Thursday, according to Bloomberg. Shares fell as much as 15 percent during Thursday’s session. It closed as one of the worst days for Tesla on Wall Street in the past three years.
Investors sold off the stock after Tesla said it would aggressively direct its spending toward AI and its Optimus robot project. The company had record revenues, which were driven by one of the strongest quarters in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history.
However, it missed EPS estimates by reporting just $0.33, a far cry from the $0.53 analysts expected.
S3 Partners reported that about 3 percent of Tesla’s outstanding stock is sold short. Managing Director at S3, Ihor Dusaniwsky, provided the short seller’s potential profit, as well as another figure: shorts have likely had paper gains of $8.92 billion this year, as Tesla shares are down 30 percent in 2026.
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla has burned short sellers many times in the past, but the company’s latest Earnings Call was a chance for those skeptics to taste some payback. Although the company gave some very transparent information regarding future projects, the rollout of Robotaxi, Optimus, and Semi, many investors took their profits on Thursday.
Notable short sellers like Michael Burry have been transparent about their skepticism around Tesla shares. Burry just revealed three weeks ago that he had opened up a new short on the stock, stating he shorted Tesla shares at $416.22. “Happy it jumped back to this level,” he said in a blog post.
At the time of publication, Tesla shares were down about 3 percent and the stock was trading at $309.92.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner probably just secured more locations
