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NIO’s new Formula E race car represents a turning point for the EV industry

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At a flashy unveiling in East London on Monday night, NIO, the Chinese-based electric vehicle startup, unveiled their Gen2 Formula E car for Season 5 of the all-electric racing series. The extravagant fanfare wasn’t unwarranted, as the new car marks a historic point for the Formula E racing series and, more broadly, electric cars in general.

Up until this point, Formula E has been an exciting sporting event that, despite its best efforts, has struggled to overcome one of the longtime disadvantages of electric vehicles: range. This season, range anxiety is taking a back seat as battery improvements move the series forward. Advancements in the battery cells and the overall pack technology have allowed the cars to run the entire 45-minute race on a single charge. In prior seasons, each driver swapped into a second fully charged vehicle mid-race. The battery capacity has doubled, from 26 kWh to 54 kWh, while maintaining nearly the same size and weight.

NIO’s Formula E Season Five Launch in London, England (Photo: Drew Gibson/NIO)

The new vehicles will not only aide in the teams’ performance on the track but will also serve as a testbed for NIO’s most advanced technologies. “We are working on the cutting edge, whatever we learn here, may go down into the NIO production cars. Currently, the components we use are too expensive, but that’s a matter of time. The actual software that we use to program the inverter and everything that can all be used in the future,” said Paul Fickers, Performance Program Engineering Director at NIO.

The new technological advancements signify a much larger change in the entire EV industry: the impending dominance over internal-combustion engines. Allowing companies to go head-to-head, on a technological and skill-based level, by leaving range concerns behind and upping the maximum power output in the cars, will heat up competition between the teams to a truly exciting level.

With nearly all the teams entering or nearing production of their own electric roadcars, Season 5 of Formula E will be the most important yet. NIO began production of their first vehicle earlier this year in China, Audi announcing the e-Tron, Jaguar’s brand new i-Pace, Nissan’s long-time Leaf, and BMW’s i-Series. NIO’s Fickers told Teslarati that he especially believes NIO’s motor and inverter will best the competition.

Outside of technological changes to the vehicles, NIO is switching up their driver roster by adding Tom Dillmann to the team, joining long-time NIO driver, Oliver Turvey. Dillmann tells Teslarati that the driving experience of a Formula E vehicle is like no other, “I don’t compare it to a normal single seater, I just see it as Formula E. It is 900kg, it has a driver, this amount of power, different tires. Formula E for me is separate.”

Dillmann also highlighted the increased power on the new generation vehicle, with peak power rising from 200 kW to 250 kW. “On the tracks we are racing on, very narrow, twisty, it’s fast,” Dillmann noted, going on to state the power capacity boost will be especially noticeable in the qualifying races (when speed is the number one objective), “it’s going to be fast.”

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In addition to a new vehicle and driver, NIO added Switzerland-based, cybersecurity firm Acronis as a long-term partner. The company will also be providing NIO with technology services.

In September, NIO listed on the New York Stock Exchange and became the second all-electric automaker to go public, after Tesla in 2010. With over 6,000 employees across the world, NIO is making a large bet on the world’s largest electric vehicle market in China.

While the Formula E races do help the company’s branding, they are looking to eventually bring the cutting-edge technology into their production vehicles, the NIO ES8 and ES6 (both crossovers). The vehicles have prices ranging from $55,000-$65,000, far less than Tesla’s Model X, which costs more than double that in China.

While only time will tell if NIO can meet their sales targets in China, we will be able to see NIO’s racing technology in action shortly. Formula E’s first race of Season 5 is being held in Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia on December 15th. With larger batteries and more powerful motors, the new season will surely be the most exciting yet.

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Christian Prenzler is currently the VP of Business Development at Teslarati, leading strategic partnerships, content development, email newsletters, and subscription programs. Additionally, Christian thoroughly enjoys investigating pivotal moments in the emerging mobility sector and sharing these stories with Teslarati's readers. He has been closely following and writing on Tesla and disruptive technology for over seven years. You can contact Christian here: christian@teslarati.com

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Elon Musk

Tesla analyst issues stern warning to investors: forget Trump-Musk feud

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Credit: Tesla

A Tesla analyst today said that investors should not lose sight of what is truly important in the grand scheme of being a shareholder, and that any near-term drama between CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump should not outshine the progress made by the company.

Gene Munster of Deepwater Management said that Tesla’s progress in autonomy is a much larger influence and a significantly bigger part of the company’s story than any disagreement between political policies.

Munster appeared on CNBC‘s “Closing Bell” yesterday to reiterate this point:

“One thing that is critical for Tesla investors to remember is that what’s going on with the business, with autonomy, the progress that they’re making, albeit early, is much bigger than any feud that is going to happen week-to-week between the President and Elon. So, I understand the reaction, but ultimately, I think that cooler heads will prevail. If they don’t, autonomy is still coming, one way or the other.”

This is a point that other analysts like Dan Ives of Wedbush and Cathie Wood of ARK Invest also made yesterday.

On two occasions over the past month, Musk and President Trump have gotten involved in a very public disagreement over the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which officially passed through the Senate yesterday and is making its way to the House of Representatives.

Tesla analysts believe Musk and Trump feud will pass

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Musk is upset with the spending in the bill, while President Trump continues to reiterate that the Tesla CEO is only frustrated with the removal of an “EV mandate,” which does not exist federally, nor is it something Musk has expressed any frustration with.

In fact, Musk has pushed back against keeping federal subsidies for EVs, as long as gas and oil subsidies are also removed.

Nevertheless, Ives and Wood both said yesterday that they believe the political hardship between Musk and President Trump will pass because both realize the world is a better place with them on the same team.

Munster’s perspective is that, even though Musk’s feud with President Trump could apply near-term pressure to the stock, the company’s progress in autonomy is an indication that, in the long term, Tesla is set up to succeed.

Tesla launched its Robotaxi platform in Austin on June 22 and is expanding access to more members of the public. Austin residents are now reporting that they have been invited to join the program.

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Tesla surges following better-than-expected delivery report

Tesla saw some positive momentum during trading hours as it reported its deliveries for Q2.

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) surged over four percent on Wednesday morning after the company reported better-than-expected deliveries. It was nearly right on consensus estimations, as Wall Street predicted the company would deliver 385,000 cars in Q2.

Tesla reported that it delivered 384,122 vehicles in Q2. Many, including those inside the Tesla community, were anticipating deliveries in the 340,000 to 360,000 range, while Wall Street seemed to get it just right.

Tesla delivers 384,000 vehicles in Q2 2025, deploys 9.6 GWh in energy storage

Despite Tesla meeting consensus estimations, there were real concerns about what the company would report for Q2.

There were reportedly brief pauses in production at Gigafactory Texas during the quarter and the ramp of the new Model Y configuration across the globe were expected to provide headwinds for the EV maker during the quarter.

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At noon on the East Coast, Tesla shares were up about 4.5 percent.

It is expected that Tesla will likely equal the number of deliveries it completed in both of the past two years.

It has hovered at the 1.8 million mark since 2023, and it seems it is right on pace to match that once again. Early last year, Tesla said that annual growth would be “notably lower” than expected due to its development of a new vehicle platform, which will enable more affordable models to be offered to the public.

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These cars are expected to be unveiled at some point this year, as Tesla said they were “on track” to be produced in the first half of the year. Tesla has yet to unveil these vehicle designs to the public.

Dan Ives of Wedbush said in a note to investors this morning that the company’s rebound in China in June reflects good things to come, especially given the Model Y and its ramp across the world.

He also said that Musk’s commitment to the company and return from politics played a major role in the company’s performance in Q2:

“If Musk continues to lead and remain in the driver’s seat, we believe Tesla is on a path to an accelerated growth path over the coming years with deliveries expected to ramp in the back-half of 2025 following the Model Y refresh cycle.”

Ives maintained his $500 price target and the ‘Outperform’ rating he held on the stock:

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“Tesla’s future is in many ways the brightest it’s ever been in our view given autonomous, FSD, robotics, and many other technology innovations now on the horizon with 90% of the valuation being driven by autonomous and robotics over the coming years but Musk needs to focus on driving Tesla and not putting his political views first. We maintain our OUTPERFORM and $500 PT.”

Moving forward, investors will look to see some gradual growth over the next few quarters. At worst, Tesla should look to match 2023 and 2024 full-year delivery figures, which could be beaten if the automaker can offer those affordable models by the end of the year.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla delivers 384,000 vehicles in Q2 2025, deploys 9.6 GWh in energy storage

The quarter’s 9.6 GWh energy storage deployment marks one of Tesla’s highest to date.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has released its Q2 2025 vehicle delivery and production report. As per the report, the company delivered over 384,000 vehicles in the second quarter of 2025, while deploying 9.6 GWh in energy storage. Vehicle production also reached 410,244 units for the quarter.

Model 3/Y dominates output, ahead of earnings call

Of the 410,244 vehicles produced during the quarter, 396,835 were Model 3 and Model Y units, while 13,409 were attributed to Tesla’s other models, which includes the Cybertruck and Model S/X variants. Deliveries followed a similar pattern, with 373,728 Model 3/Ys delivered and 10,394 from other models, totaling 384,122.

The quarter’s 9.6 GWh energy storage deployment marks one of Tesla’s highest to date, signaling continued strength in the Megapack and Powerwall segments.

Credit: Tesla Investor Relations

Year-on-year deliveries edge down, but energy shows resilience

Tesla will share its full Q2 2025 earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, with a live earnings call scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CT / 5:30 p.m. ET. The company will publish its quarterly update at ir.tesla.com, followed by a Q&A webcast featuring company leadership. Executives such as CEO Elon Musk are expected to be in attendance.

Tesla investors are expected to inquire about several of the company’s ongoing projects in the upcoming Q2 2025 earnings call. Expected topics include the new Model Y ramp across the United States, China, and Germany, as well as the ramp of FSD in territories outside the US and China. Questions about the company’s Robotaxi business, as well as the long-referenced but yet to be announced affordable models are also expected.

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