In its Q1 2025 Update letter, Tesla shared that all Model Y and Model 3 units delivered in America use 100% U.S.-built battery packs. The announcement reveals Tesla’s forward-thinking strategies and showcases how prepared it is to take on President Trump’s auto tariffs.

“Gigafactory Nevada achieved record battery pack production. Model 3 and Model Y deliveries in the U.S. are now made with 100% U.S.-built battery packs,” noted Tesla in its recent update letter.

During the TSLA Q1 2025 earnings call, Tesla’s Supply Chain Executive, Karn Budhiraj, noted that the company is regionalizing its batteries to mitigate supply chain risks.

“Building on our efforts to reduce supply risk, we have developed our 4680 supply to ensure each component is sourced from at least two countries of origin.” added Tesla in its letter.

Karn clarified that Tesla adopted its regionalization strategy before the pandemic and accelerated efforts after the pandemic. Tesla’s strategy to mitigate supply chain risks includes supply diversification, dual sourcing, vertical integration, advanced analytics, and local partnerships.

Elon Musk commented that Tesla might be the most vertically integrated car company since Henry Ford’s time. He pointed out that Tesla already has a lithium refinery in South Texas and a cathode refinery in Austin. He added that Tesla could have an anode refinery or figure out how to eliminate that part of the cell.

“That’s the dream, [for] lithium batteries to not have an anode. But either way, we better have the anode, the cathode, the lithium, and the electrolytes, and the separator to make a cell. But, there’s no other car company that is building lithium refineries and cathode refineries. Were ridiculously vertically integrated. And that’s our best position to protect against supply chain disruptions,” Musk said.

In its update letter, Tesla noted that its lithium refining and cathode production plants are on track to start production this year. The two Tesla refineries will on-shore production of critical battery materials in the United States, an essential task considering Trump’s auto tariffs.

A study from insurance agency Guardian Service has suggested that a notable number of Tesla owners in the United States have experienced intentional damage to their vehicles. 

Despite this, the majority of Tesla owners who participated in the study were still willing to recommend the company’s vehicles to their friends.

The Study

The insurance agency’s study was conducted in April 2025. As per Guardian Service, the study was aimed at determining how vandalism and targeted hostility, among other factors, are reshaping the EV ownership experience in the United States.

A total of 508 Tesla owners participated in the study. The generational breakdown of respondents was 28% Gen Z, 31% Milennials, and 31% Gen X and Baby Boomers combined.

Intentional Attacks

Reports of intentional damage were widespread among the study’s respondents, with 44% of the study’s participants stating that their vehicle had been keyed, slashed, or otherwise vandalized. Average repair costs for vehicles that experienced intentional damage were almost $1,900.

A total of 43% of the study’s respondents also stated that they had received rude gestures and negative comments from strangers while they were driving their Teslas. A total of 72% of the study’s respondents also believed that they were more likely to be targeted for vandalism compared to other drivers. This may be part of the reason why 66% also stated that they feel anxious leaving their Teslas unattended.

Still Recommended, But Some Are Second-Guessing

Despite their concerns about vandalism, the majority of Tesla owners still seem to be happy with their vehicles. While 19% of the study’s respondents stated that they regretted their Tesla purchase, and while 34% stated that they were considering selling or trading in their Tesla within the next year, 66% of the study’s respondents stated that they were still likely to recommend Tesla to a friend.

The Tesla owners who participated in the study seem more cautious than before, however, with 37% stating that they are now avoiding posting content about their Teslas on social media out of fear of backlash or judgment.

Guardian Service’s full findings of its study can be accessed here.

A first glance at the Tesla Optimus pilot production line was shared by the company during its Q1 2025 Update letter. Tesla noted that its Optimus production timeline remains intact with the company aiming to produce its first humanoid robots capable of useful work soon.

Tesla’s Optimus pilot production line is in the Fremont factory, a fitting place for the company to start any project. Tesla hopes for a wider deployment of the Optimus bots across its factories by the end of the year.

“And we’ve got Optimus. We’re making good progress in Optimus. We expect to have thousands of Optimus robots working in Tesla factories by the end of this year. And we expect to scale Optimus up faster than any product, I think, in history to get to millions of units per year as soon as possible. I feel confident in getting to a million units per year in less than five years, maybe four years,” shared Elon Musk during TSLA’s first quarter earnings call.

Musk later noted that Tesla’s Optimus production is still “very much a development program.” He clarified that Tesla will not jump right into large-volume production. Instead, Tesla will focus on producing a few thousand Optimus bots with most of the production taking place at the tail end of the year.

“So, almost everything in Optimus is new. There’s not an existing supply chain for the motors, gearboxes, electronics, actuators, really almost anything in the Optimus apart from the the AI for Tesla, the Tesla AI computer, which is the same as one in the car. So when you have a new complex manufactured product, it’ll move as fast as the slowest and least lucky component in the entire thing,” elaborated Musk.

Tesla is working with China to get a license to use rare earth magnets for Optimus. Earlier this month, China’s Ministry of Commerce imposed restrictions on the export of rare earth elements and magnets, responding to U.S. President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products.

“So we’re working through that with China. Hopefully, we’ll get a license to use the rare earth magnets. China wants some assurances that these are not used for military purposes, which, obviously, they’re not. They’re just going into a humanoid robot. So that’s not a weapon system,” Musk explained.

Musk shared that actuators in Optimus arms use permanent magnets. He stated that Tesla did not need to use permanent magnets.

“Now Tesla as a whole does not need to use permanent magnets, but when something is volume constrained, like an arm of the robot, then you wanna try to make the motors as small as possible. And then so we did the design in permanent magnets for those motors, and those were affected by the supply chain,” the Tesla CEO commented.