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SpaceX on track with Crew Dragon program despite thin NASA budget

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, and NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken stand in from of the Crew Dragon capsule set to launch astronauts to the ISS early next year. (Teslarati - Pauline Acalin)

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On Thursday (Oct. 10th) NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and NASA Demo-2 astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley spoke at the company’s Hawthorne, CA headquarters after the NASA and SpaceX heads toured the factory and spoke with company engineers.

While discussing NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) and SpaceX’s ongoing development, Musk revealed – among other things – one particularly impressive detail: the company’s Crew Dragon program is almost perfectly sticking to NASA’s budget.

During an audience Q&A session, Bridenstine touched on the impact federal funding has had on the NASA Commercial Crew Program, partially correctly stating that “the timelines never changed*, but the budget got cut. So, there are consequences when the budget doesn’t meet the vision.” The objective of returning to NASA the ability to launch its own astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), however, was and still is a central priority. 

*Bridenstine’s claim that “the timelines never changed” is explicitly false. In reality, Boeing and SpaceX launch schedules almost immediately changed as a direct result of systematic Congressional underfunding, slipping at least two years after egregious budget cuts from 2011-2014.

Musk further clarified that “the SpaceX Commercial Crew Program is within 1% of the (federal) budget”, meaning that Crew Dragon’s development costs have almost exactly matched the $2.6B NASA awarded SpaceX to build the spacecraft. He went on to reinforce that SpaceX has continuously operated within the confines of that overarching budget, while the three or so years of delays Crew Dragon has suffered can in many ways be traced directly back to the fact that “the NASA [budget] request for Commercial Crew for several years was substantially reduced by congress, I think in some cases by 50%.”

Technicians swarm around Crew Dragon capsule C204 in a bid to prepare the spacecraft for SpaceX’s first astronaut launch. (Teslarati – Pauline Acalin)

As Musk notes, in response to such a dramatic lack of funding, SpaceX impressively “didn’t spend more money, it just took longer”. He also politely hinted at his awareness of the political machinations that caused those shortfalls, stating that in “the same years that commercial crew was dramatically underfunded, some other unmentioned programs were overfunded.” The “unmentioned programs” that Musk alluded to are, of course, NASA’s own Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft, both of which are infamously behind schedule and over budget

As previously reported on Teslarati:

“Former NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver noted that over the ~5 years Congress consistently withheld hundreds of millions of dollars of critical funds from Commercial Crew, NASA’s SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft were just as consistently overfunded above and beyond their budget requests. From 2011 to 2016 alone, SLS and Orion programs requested $11B and received an incredible $16.3B (148%) from Congress, while Commercial Crew requested $5.8B and received $2.4B (41%).” 

Beyond the simple fact that there hasn’t been enough federal funding, Bridenstine also mentioned that CCP has suffered from misaligned – and completely unattainable – timelines given the underfunding. He continued to push his platform that, as the NASA Administrator, he has been focused on returning to “realism when it comes to terms of cost and schedule.” He stated that there needs to be more “realism built into the development timelines.” 

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Crew Dragon capsule C203 and Falcon 9 booster B1046 arrived in Florida around October 3rd ahead of SpaceX’s critical In-Flight Abort (IFA) test. (SpaceX)

In an effort to ensure that the safety of the NASA astronauts remains the top priority for Commercial Crew, Bridenstine clarified that the timeline is a “developmental timeline,” and one which may see further delays should something not go as planned or other safety issues arise. Musk assured that SpaceX is more than capable of supporting CCP and upholding its end of the bargain by stating that “we’re going to get this done. We’re going to get [this] done soon and we’re going to get [this] done right.”

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Tesla China breaks 8-month slump by selling 71,599 vehicles wholesale in June

Tesla China’s June numbers were released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Tuesday.

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Credit: Tesla Asia/X

Tesla China was able to sell 71,599 vehicles wholesale in June 2025, reversing eight consecutive months of year-over-year declines. The figure marks a 0.83% increase from the 71,599 vehicles sold wholesale in June 2024 and a 16.1% jump compared to the 61,662 vehicles sold wholesale in May. 

Tesla China’s June numbers were released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Tuesday.

Tesla China’s June results in focus

Tesla produces both the Model 3 and Model Y at its Shanghai Gigafactory, which serves as the company’s primary vehicle export hub. Earlier this year, Tesla initiated a changeover for its best-selling vehicle, the Model Y, resulting in a drop in vehicle sales during the first and second quarters.

Tesla’s second-quarter China sales totaled 191,720 units including exports. While these numbers represent a 6.8% year-over-year decline for Tesla China, Q2 did show sequential improvement, rising about 11% from Q1 2025, as noted in a CNEV Post report.

For the first half of the year, Tesla sold 364,474 vehicles wholesale. This represents a 14.6% drop compared to the 426,623 units sold wholesale in the first half of 2024.

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China’s competitive local EV market

Tesla’s position in China is notable, especially as the new Model Y is gaining ground in the country’s BEV segment. That being said, Tesla is also facing competition from impressive local brands such as Xiaomi, whose new YU7 electric SUV is larger and more affordable than the Model Y. 

The momentum of the YU7 is impressive, as the vehicle was able to secure 200,000 firm orders within three minutes and over 240,000 locked-in orders within 18 hours. Xiaomi’s previous model, the SU7 electric sedan, which is aimed at the Tesla Model 3, also remains popular, with June deliveries surpassing 25,000 units for the ninth straight month.

While China’s EV market is getting more competitive, Tesla’s new Model Y is also ramping its production and deliveries. Needless to say, Tesla China’s results for the remaining two quarters of 2025 will be very interesting.

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Tesla reveals it is using AI to make factories more sustainable: here’s how

Tesla is using AI in its Gigafactory Nevada factory to improve HVAC efficiency.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has revealed in its Extended Impact Report for 2024 that it is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enable its factories to be more sustainable. One example it used was its achievement of managing “the majority of the HVAC infrastructure at Gigafactory Nevada is now AI-controlled” last year.

In a commitment to becoming more efficient and making its production as eco-friendly as possible, Tesla has been working for years to find solutions to reduce energy consumption in its factories.

For example, in 2023, Tesla implemented optimization controls in the plastics and paint shops located at Gigafactory Texas, which increased the efficiency of natural gas consumption. Tesla plans to phase out natural gas use across its factories eventually, but for now, it prioritizes work to reduce emissions from that energy source specifically.

It also uses Hygrometric Control Logic for Air Handling Units at Giafactory Berlin, resulting in 17,000 MWh in energy savings each year. At Gigafactory Nevada, Tesla saves 9.5 GWh of energy through the use of N-Methylpyrrolidone refineries when extracting critical raw material.

Perhaps the most interesting way Tesla is conserving energy is through the use of AI at Gigafactory Nevada, as it describes its use of AI to reduce energy demand:

“In 2023, AI Control for HVAC was expanded from Nevada and Texas to now include our Berlin-Brandenburg and Fremont factories. AI Control policy enables HVAC systems within each factory to work together to process sensor data, model factory dynamics, and apply control actions that safely minimize the energy required to support production. In 2024, this system achieved two milestones: the majority of HVAC infrastructure at Gigafactory Nevada is now AI-controlled, reducing fan and thermal energy demand; and the AI algorithm was extended to manage entire chiller plants, creating a closed-loop control system that optimizes both chilled water consumption and the energy required for its generation, all while maintaining factory conditions.”

Tesla utilizes AI Control “primarily on systems that heat or cool critical factory production spaces and equipment.” AI Control communicates with the preexisting standard control logic of each system, and any issues can be resolved by quickly reverting back to standard control. There were none in 2024.

Tesla says that it is utilizing AI to drive impact at its factories, and it has proven to be a valuable tool in reducing energy consumption at one of its facilities.

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Tesla analysts believe Musk and Trump feud will pass

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump’s feud shall pass, several bulls say.

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The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

Tesla analysts are breaking down the current feud between CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump, as the two continue to disagree on the “Big Beautiful Bill” and its impact on the country’s national debt.

Musk, who headed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump Administration, left his post in May. Soon thereafter, he and President Trump entered a very public and verbal disagreement, where things turned sour. They reconciled to an extent, and things seemed to be in the past.

However, the second disagreement between the two started on Monday, as Musk continued to push back on the “Big Beautiful Bill” that the Trump administration is attempting to sign into law. It would, by Musk’s estimation, increase spending and reverse the work DOGE did to trim the deficit.

President Trump has hinted that DOGE could be “the monster” that “eats Elon,” threatening to end the subsidies that SpaceX and Tesla receive. Musk has not been opposed to ending government subsidies for companies, including his own, as long as they are all abolished.

How Tesla could benefit from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that axes EV subsidies

Despite this contentious back-and-forth between the two, analysts are sharing their opinions now, and a few of the more bullish Tesla observers are convinced that this feud will pass, Trump and Musk will resolve their differences as they have before, and things will return to normal.

ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood said this morning that the feud between Musk and Trump is another example of “this too shall pass:”

Additionally, Wedbush’s Dan Ives, in a note to investors this morning, said that the situation “will settle:”

“We believe this situation will settle and at the end of the day Musk needs Trump and Trump needs Musk given the AI Arms Race going on between the US and China. The jabs between Musk and Trump will continue as the Budget rolls through Congress but Tesla investors want Musk to focus on driving Tesla and stop this political angle…which has turned into a life of its own in a roller coaster ride since the November elections.”

Tesla shares are down about 5 percent at 3:10 p.m. on the East Coast.

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