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MyTeslaWeekend & James Stephenson debunk a lot of nonsense surrounding Tesla
MyTeslaWeekend and James Stephenson shared a deep dive into the nonsense and misinformation surrounding Tesla. And they debunked each one. There always seems to be Tesla critics who take things a bit too far. MyTeslaWeekend didn’t hold back. In the video’s description, he said,
“These guys use some really dishonest math. They deduct from one side without accounting for the other. They count something for GM or Stellantis, but not Tesla. They move numbers between columns as if that’s how accounting works. They’re lying liars. Not James’ words, but mine.”
Some of the topics they covered included zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV) credits not being taxpayer money, General Motors (GM) only selling 26 Evs in the last quarter of 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s actual compensation accounting, the pump and dump myth, and so much more.
ZEV Credits Are Not Taxpayer Money
James pointed out that some people seem to think ZEV credits are taxpayer money when this is not the case.
“Some people get the wrong-headed notion that regulatory credits are a stipend from the government; that governments are giving you taxpayer money. And that is not what’s going on at all. The money you’re making is from selling to your competitors who did not produce enough electric vehicles to comply with applicable law.”
The money, he added is for competitors who don’t want to pay fines to the government for non-compliance.
GM Only Sold 26 Evs In Q4 2021
Despite President Biden’s claim that GM is the EV leader, the automaker only sold 26 EVs in Q4 2021.
“In Q4 of 2021, General Motors sold 26 electric vehicles. They sold 25 Volts and they sold one electric Hummer, I believe, to Mary Barra. I think she was the buyer of the one electric Hummer.”
Tesla, he added, sold over 300,000 electric vehicles.
Elon Musk’s Compensation
Elon Musk as CEO of Tesla doesn’t take a salary and James added that he doesn’t get any cash bonus.
“Most CEOs do have either or both of those as part of their compensation package.”
“What Elon said was, ‘hey if I can’t grow the revenue and the market capitalization of this company, the value of people’s investments in this company by tremendous amounts, you don’t owe me anything. I’ll make zero dollars if I can’t do those things.”
James further explained how the gap accounting treatment works.
“As Elon made progress towards achieving those aggressive goals that I just outlined, Tesla had to record expense relative to the proportion to the twelves tranches that Elon was making progress towards achieving.”
“This is not widely understood. So, another thing that we saw in Q1 of 2022, the most recently reported quarter was ‘Tslaq’ crying foul over the reduction in SG&A year-over-year”
He pointed out that this group, ‘Tslaq’ which is mostly responsible for a lot of the misinformation against Tesla, said that last year, the number was larger than this year. So by the logic of this group, Tesla must be committing fraud.
“‘It has to be fraud. There’s no way your SG&A could have come down by that much year-over-year.’ Well, it’s because a year ago, Elon was still making tons of progress towards achieving these market cap and revenue and even milestones. And this year, the work’s done already. It was almost completely achieved by the end of 2021. So there’s almost nothing left to pay against it.”
‘Elon Musk is a Pump and Dump’ Myth
MyTeslaWeekend shared his biggest pet peeve that he sees all the time which is the constant claim that Elon Musk is nothing but a pump and dump. James shared his thoughts.
“He owns more shares now than he did a year ago or two years ago. And he’s probably going to buy more shares if he can extricate himself from the Twitter situation. So, he still owns more Twitter stock than anybody else does right now. Far more than the people on Twitter’s board combined.”
Elon Musk is also often accused of pumping and dumping Dogecoin however he hasn’t sold his Doge. In fact, he’s recently reaffirmed his support of Doge. In addition to Doge, and Tesla, some critics have claimed Elon has pumped and dumped SpaceX stock and MyTeslaWeekend pointed out that this isn’t a publicly traded stock.
Debunking the nonsense is something that is done on a regular basis and the video, I think is a gem in the treasure box. You can watch the full video below.
Tesla Cybercab is using a unique strategy for picking up the correct rider, which is a crucial part of ride-hailing to ensure people end up in the right place and are charged the correct price.
Cybercab will utilize an RGB strip in its front light bar that will illuminate in a variety of different colors to mark itself.
This identifying mark will also appear in the Robotaxi app, giving riders in the same location a notable distinction in an effort to avoid any confusion regarding who should get in each vehicle.
🚨 Tesla is using different light bar colors to help riders understand which vehicle is theirs
Pretty cool strategy pic.twitter.com/eGMpEMeRpc
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 27, 2026
Other ride-hailing services use similar strategies: Lyft and Uber rides are recognizable through driver identity, vehicle type and color, as well as license plate. Waymo will display the rider’s initials on top of the vehicle, letting them know that the specific vehicle for them has arrived.
Tesla’s strategy is unique and interesting, but there are some flaws. Cybercab’s main purpose is aimed toward being an autonomous ride for all, including those who have disabilities like being blind or even color blind.
Tesla will likely have something in the pipeline for those who cannot see colors or have limited vision. There will definitely be multiple ways to identify which vehicle is the one that “you” specifically ordered.
Cybercab is set to start giving public rides next Thursday, September 3, in Austin, as it announced a dedicated event last week and invited many members of the Tesla community.
Additionally, members of the public will be invited as well. Tesla has been offering employee rides in Cybercab for nearly two months.
Tesla has said goodbye to one customization option for its vehicles: the wrap service it launched several years ago.
After launching an in-house wrap service in August 2020 for the first time in China. In the U.S., it launched in October 2023. Tesla continued to expand the program and adjust it with better pricing and fewer options for the Cybertruck.
By December 2023, it was giving owners of the Model 3, Model Y, and the Cybertruck the opportunity to give their vehicle a fresh look with a vinyl wrap.
Tesla revamps in-house vinyl wrap service with better pricing
It was only available in five locations: Costa Mesa, Oceanside, Santa Clara, West Covina, all in California, and Seattle, Washington.
However, Tesla made some big adjustments to its shop, and the wrap service is officially gone:
Tesla has made a LOT of changes to its online shop recently — price increases, price cuts, new options, and several products being removed entirely.
Some of the biggest increases are wheel covers. 👀
📈 PRICE INCREASES
• 2017-2023 | Model 3 Aero Wheel Cover — Style: Refresh…— Phoenix Self-Driving 🐦🔥 (@PhoenixFSD) August 25, 2026
Wraps are very popular across the Tesla lineup, especially since the company offers relatively few colors. Many choose to wrap their Teslas with interesting colors, patterns, or even finishes, turning their cars from glossy to satin or matte.
However, Tesla’s wrap service was so limited geographically that it never really had a chance to get off the ground or compete with local shops. Every area in the United States is now overflowing with detailing shops, mobile detailers, and other automotive specialists, many of whom perform wrap services.
Tesla’s service was confined to the Pacific time zone and only spanned across two states. It was never going to be something Tesla was a major competitor in, nor was it going to disrupt the wrapping industry. Now that the program has ended, it seems pretty ideal to believe it was always going to be a short-term thing.
Along with the wrap service, Tesla removed several other products, but nothing too crazy. The Model 3 Door Pocket and Cupholder Liners, the Model S 19″ Magnetite Wheel and Winter Tire Package, Model X/Y Ski/Snowboard Carrier for Hitch Rack, Tesla’s Electric Summer Party Tee, and the Electric Summer Tee were the other items the company totally eliminated from its online shop.
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Tesla Robotaxi fleet gets a brain upgrade ahead of Cybercab launch event
Tesla’s Robotaxi service now runs longer hours nationwide as its unsupervised fleet quietly grows larger.
Tesla’s Robotaxi service just got easier to catch, with the company’s official Robotaxi account noting that rides are now available from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, across its operating footprint. The account also said its unsupervised fleet is “a lot bigger” than before, though without specifics. The bigger change is what Tesla says upgraded intelligence in vehicle distribution and routing is what’s actually cutting wait times, not a new Full Self-Driving version.
While Tesla did not name the team behind the upgrade, the language points to its AI and fleet software group rather than the driving stack itself. Vehicle distribution and routing in Robotaxi has functioned mostly as a dispatch problem with the software deciding which idle car goes to which rider, and how far it has to travel to get there. “Upgraded intelligence” suggests a smarter version of that dispatch logic, likely using demand forecasting to position idle cars near where riders are about to request them rather than reacting once a request comes in. Tesla’s AI division has built similar prediction systems for other parts of the business, including the neural networks that power FSD itself, so applying that same approach to fleet logistics would be a natural extension rather than a new discipline for the team.
Robotaxi now runs 6am to 10pm, 7 days/week
Unsupervised fleet is a lot bigger
Also, upgraded intelligence in vehicle distribution & routing means you wait less pic.twitter.com/UFZ4bqg2dZ
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) August 26, 2026
Tesla is also about a week away from a separate robotaxi milestone. The company plans to launch Cybercab, its purpose built two seat robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals, in Austin on September 3. Cybercab has been giving employees rides on public and private roads for weeks, and the September event is expected to fold those vehicles into the existing Robotaxi fleet within days of the launch.
Thank you so much @Tesla for inviting us to the Cybercab launch in Austin! 🤠 pic.twitter.com/F1rAR8zd5O
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 22, 2026
Austin previously ran Robotaxi from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. as of last September, a schedule set before the service expanded into Dallas, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Orlando and the Bay Area. Wednesday’s post did not specify whether that extended overnight window still applies in Austin specifically or whether 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. is now the standard across every market. Tesla’s post, visible on its official Robotaxi account, framed the change simply as fewer riders waiting around for a car.
Whether the wider hours hold once Cybercab enters the fleet next week is the next thing worth watching. Tesla has tended to expand Robotaxi in increments, first geofence, then hours, then fleet size, and each step so far has arrived without much advance notice.
Tesla Cybercab uses a unique strategy for picking up the right rider
Tesla ends in-house wrap service that always seemed like a short-term program
