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Tesla’s battery strategy will be key to Cybertruck and Semi’s market disruption
Elon Musk has remarked that Tesla has arguably the most exciting product roadmap of any company today. With vehicles like the Semi and the Cybertruck coming in the pipeline, this statement rings true. But things will not be as easy as simply setting up production lines for the upcoming vehicles. For Tesla to properly ramp the Semi, for example, the company would have to make sure that it can get enough cells for the vehicle first.
Producing electric cars is no easy task, and a lot of the challenges in EV making are connected in one way or another to vehicles’ batteries. This is something that is being learned by veteran carmakers like Jaguar today, as inadequate supply from battery companies like LG Chem has resulted in a halt of production for premium EVs like the I-PACE. Tesla is certainly aware of the battery supply challenges that EV makers face. This is one of the reasons why Gigafactory Nevada was constructed.
Giga Nevada was built to support the company’s Model 3 ramp. Designed to manufacture the 2170 cells of the Model 3 with battery partner Panasonic, the massive facility forms the backbone of Tesla’s first foray into the mass market. But the story lies far beyond the Model 3 today. Tesla has an even higher-volume vehicle coming, the Model Y. The Cybertruck will likely sell in large volumes too, provided that the market embraces it. Just like the all-electric pickup, the Semi might see sufficient demand from the trucking market once it’s released as well, considering the cost benefits that the vehicle offers.
Tesla is in a constant state of change, and this cannot be represented better than the company’s batteries. President of Automotive Jerome Guillen has noted that Tesla’s batteries are never static since they’re always being improved. Today, it is becoming more and more evident that Tesla’s batteries are among the best in the industry, particularly when it comes to energy density. Coupled with its vertically-integrated software, Tesla’s batteries can give vehicles impressive range even if they are not too large.
The Model 3, for example, can squeeze out over 320 miles of range from a 75 kWh battery, and the Model S Long Range Plus can get 390 miles from a 100 kWh pack. This matters a lot, and it shows just how far ahead the company is when it comes to its batteries and their energy density. And this, ultimately, will likely help the company secure enough battery cells to support the ramp of its upcoming EVs, including the Semi and the Cybertruck, both of which are large vehicles that would usually require a massive pack to hit their target range.
Tesla lists the Semi with a range of 300 to 500 miles. The company never announced the size of the Semi’s battery pack, but considering that the vehicle is a Class 8 truck that can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 20 seconds with a full load, speculations for the vehicle’s battery from the EV community included estimates that were as high as 1 MWh. The same concept applies to the Cybertruck. The vehicle is very heavy, and it is expected to have over 500 miles of range. To get this range, a large battery pack would usually be required.

But with Tesla’s constant innovations on its batteries, this does not necessarily have to be the case. Considering that Tesla is closing in on 400 miles per charge on a 100 kWh pack with the Model S, there is a good chance that its next vehicles like the Cybertruck and Semi will be equipped with fewer, but more energy-dense cells than initially expected. Tesla has pretty much developed the skill of drawing out as much range as possible from every cell in an EV, so it’s not too farfetched to infer that the company will be very efficient with the batteries of its upcoming vehicles.
More energy-dense batteries will be key to lowering production costs as well. Tesla may be drastically reducing its battery costs, but the packs themselves still comprise a huge portion of each of its vehicles’ prices. If Tesla can use slightly smaller packs that are still capable of providing optimum range, Tesla can make sure that its EVs like the Semi and the Cybertruck will be as competitive as possible when they enter the market.
The Tesla Semi and the Cybertruck are competing in the trucking and pickup market, two very lucrative segments in the automotive industry. Interestingly, both segments are also ripe for disruption, with most veterans such as Freightliner and the Ford F-150 sticking to tried and tested strategies to thrive today. Tesla needs a key to ensure that it can have a fighting chance when it enters the trucking and pickup segment with the Semi and Cybertruck. If challenges faced by electric car makers today are any indication, it appears that batteries and their energy density will be the difference-maker. Fortunately, these just happen to be two things that Tesla has been obsessively pursuing since the company was founded less than 17 years ago.
Elon Musk
Tesla board reveals reasoning for CEO Elon Musk’s new $1 trillion pay package
“Yes, you read that correctly: in 2018, Elon had to grow Tesla by billions; in 2025, he has to grow Tesla by trillions — to be exact, he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in value for shareholders for him to receive the full award.”

Tesla’s Board of Directors has proposed a new pay package for company CEO Elon Musk that would result in $1 trillion in stock offerings if he is able to meet several lofty performance targets.
Musk, who has not been meaningfully compensated since 2017, completed his last pay package by delivering billions in shareholder value through a variety of performance-based “tranches,” which were met and resulted in the award of billions in stock.
Elon Musk’s new pay plan ties trillionaire status to Tesla’s $8.5 trillion valuation
However, Musk was unable to claim this award due to a ruling by the Delaware Chancery Court, which deemed the payout an “unfathomable sum.”
Now, the company is taking steps to ensure Musk gets paid, as the Board feels that it is crucial to retain its CEO, who has been responsible for much of the company’s success.
This is not a statement to undermine the work of all of Tesla’s terrific employees, but a ship needs to be captained by someone, and Musk has proven he is the right person for the job.
The Board also believes that, based on a statement made by the company in its proxy, various issues will be discussed during the upcoming Shareholder Meeting.
Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson recognized Musk’s contributions in a statement, which encouraged shareholders to vote to approve the payout:
“We’re asking you to approve the 2025 CEO Performance Award. In designing the new performance award, we explored numerous alternatives. Ultimately, the new award aims to build upon the success of the 2018 CEO Performance Award framework, which ensure that Elon was only paid for the performance delivered and incentivized to guide Tesla through a period of meteoric growth. The 2025 CEO Performance Award similarly challegnes Elon to again meet a series of even more aspirational goals, including operational milestones focused on reaching Adjusted EBITDA targets (thresholds that are up to 28 times higher than the 2108 CEO Performance Award’s top Adjusted EBITDA milestone) and rolling out new or expanded product offerings (including 1 million Robotaxis in commercial operation and delivery of 1 million AI Bots), all while growing the company’s market capitalization by trillions of dollars.
Yes, you read that correctly: in 2018, Elon had to grow Tesla by billions; in 2025, he has to grow Tesla by trillions — to be exact, he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in value for shareholders for him to receive the full award.
In addition to these unprecedented performance milestones, the 2025 CEO Performance Award also includes innovative structural features, born out of the special committee’s considered analysis and extensive shareholder feedback. These features include supercharged retention (at least seven and a half years and up to 10 years to vest in the full award), structural protections to minimize stock price volatility due to administration of this award and, thereafter, incentives for Elon to participate in the Board’s continued development of a framework for long-term CEO Succession. If Elon achieves all the performance milestones under this principle-based 2025 CEO Performance Award, his leadership will propel Tesla to become the most valuable company in history.”
Musk will have a lot of things to accomplish to receive the 423,743,904 shares, which are divided into 12 tranches.
However, the Board feels he is the right person for the job, and they want him to remain the CEO. This package should ensure that he stays with Tesla, as long as shareholders feel the same way.
News
Tesla Robotaxi app download rate demolishes Uber, Waymo all-time highs
After two and a half months of testing with a group of hand-picked Tesla influencers and some media, the company has officially launched Robotaxi rides in both Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area to the public.

Tesla launched its Robotaxi app to the general public yesterday, and the number of downloads is a testament to the platform’s high demand for testing.
After two and a half months of testing with a group of hand-picked Tesla influencers and some media, the company has officially launched Robotaxi rides in both Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area to the public.
Tesla Robotaxi makes major expansion with official public app launch
Downloading the app is available to iOS users, so if you have an iPhone, you can get it and join the waitlist. Tesla has not yet launched the Robotaxi app for the Android platform, but did hint that it would be coming soon.
The testing phase with the group Tesla selected has gone well. In Austin, the City has only listed one “Safety Concern” with Robotaxi during the testing phase. For the most part, things have gone extremely well, and riders have had good things to say.
Tesla is still operating with some safeguards in place, such as Safety Monitors and Safety Drivers, but these are precautionary and temporary; CEO Elon Musk has said they should be removed by the end of the year.
Elon Musk says Tesla will take Safety Drivers out of Robotaxi: here’s when
Even still, Tesla Robotaxi is something that many people want to experience, and the app downloads prove it.
The Tesla Robotaxi app was downloaded at a rate that exceeded all rolling 30-day periods of both Uber and Waymo, according to Brett Winton of ARK Invest. Tesla’s Robotaxi’s first day on the App Store exceeded Uber’s by 40 percent and Waymo’s best download day ever by six times:
Today’s Tesla Robotaxi App downloads outpaced Uber across all rolling 30 day periods by 40% and bested Waymo’s best download day ever by >6x pic.twitter.com/s9s1XTsUu2
— Brett Winton (@wintonARK) September 5, 2025
The surge in downloads is a good indication of how in demand the Robotaxi suite was, as many people within the community had vocalized their requests to try the platform, but Tesla was not ready to expand it beyond its handpicked group.
The expansion of the program will result in more rides, provided Tesla continues to expand its fleet of vehicles. It has already admitted many of those who were initially placed on the waitlist.
News
Elon Musk’s xAI expands to Seattle with salaries up to $440,000
The move was announced by the artificial intelligence startup and Elon Musk on social media platform X.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is opening a new office in Seattle as it accelerates its global expansion.
The move was announced by the artificial intelligence startup and Elon Musk on social media platform X. xAI is also hiring for its first positions in the new site.
New Seattle office
As could be seen on xAI’s Careers webpage, the Seattle office is currently hiring for three engineering roles. Each of the three technical roles tied to the new site carry salaries ranging from $180,000 to $440,000.
The new office adds to xAI’s growing presence, which now spans San Francisco, Austin, London, Dublin, New York, and Memphis. The Seattle-based roles focus on video and image generation systems, signaling Musk’s intent to challenge rivals like OpenAI and Meta in generative AI.
Pressures and challenges
Seattle also places xAI within reach of Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond. Microsoft has emerged as a central player in the AI race through its multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI, making xAI’s move into the region notable. The competition for AI specialists has pushed salaries higher across the industry, with filings showing OpenAI staff earning up to $530,000 and Anthropic engineers as much as $690,000 annually, as noted by Insider.
The startup has also seen some high-profile departures in recent months, including cofounder Igor Babuschkin and general counsel Robert Keele. Still, xAI continues to grow aggressively, and its Grok large language model has been gaining momentum among mainstream users. Work also continues to be underway to further build out the company’s Colossus supercomputer cluster. Reports have also suggested that xAI has moved into San Francisco offices in the Mission District, a site Musk initially leased during OpenAI’s early years.
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