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Tesla driver who drove Model Y off a cliff with family onboard will not stand trial
A California doctor who drove his family’s Tesla Model Y off Devil’s Slide in January last year will not stand trial. As per Judge Susan Jakubowski, Dharmesh Patel is suitable for mental health diversion. All criminal charges filed against Patel have also been indefinitely suspended.
The incident surrounding Patel and his family shocked social media, particularly since the family’s Tesla Model Y ended up falling over 250 feet at Devil’s Slide. The area is dangerous, and rescuers noted that they were expecting the worst since the all-electric crossover fell from such a great height. Thanks in no small part to the Model Y’s safety, Patel, his wife, and his two children were able to survive the fall.
As per previous reports, Patel’s wife informed authorities that the incident was not an accident. Patel himself admitted that he intentionally drove his Model Y off Devil’s Slide while his family was inside, as noted in a KRON4 report. In a comment to the news outlet, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe stated that prosecutors made a “very strenuous objection” to the idea of Patel receiving a mental health diversion.
During the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Dominique Davis stated that Patel has schizoaffective disorder. Davis also noted that Patel should stand trial because he attempted to kill his family. The lawyer also argued that Patel would pose a danger to society.
UPDATE: California radiologist who drove car off cliff with family inside will not face trial because he was granted a mental health diversion by a court due to "evidence that he has major depressive disorder," according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.… https://t.co/A1z0tuegm3— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 25, 2024
“(Patel) was hearing footsteps at night. He feared his children would be sold into sex slavery. He carried a knife around for three days. None of this was based on reality… and the defendant felt compelled to act. He drove his entire family over a cliff. It’s a very high and deathly drop. What is most frightening is, no one saw this coming,” the attorney said.
While the case against Patel seemed strong, his wife testified that she did not want her husband to be prosecuted. She also noted that her children miss their father and they want Patel to come back home. Defense attorney Joshua Bentley took such an angle during the case, arguing that “not everyone who commits a crime is a criminal.”
Following a three-day trial in Mental Health Diversion Court, Judge Susan Jakubowski ruled in Patel’s favor. She also agreed that the right diagnosis for Patel’s mental illness was major depressive disorder. The District Attorney’s Office described Judge Jakubowski’s decision in the following.
“Weighing all factors, the court determined the defendant was suitable and granted the defense request for mental health diversion. Judge Jakubowski also ruled that the defendant will remain in the county jail for several weeks for what was called a ‘bridging period’ before release in the community,” the District Attorney’s Office wrote.
Following his release from jail, Patel will be required to wear a GPS monitor. He is also expected to live in his parents’ house in Belmont and test twice every week to show medication compliance. He must also abstain from alcohol and drugs, and surrender his driver’s license and passport. Patel is expected to return to court on July 1, 2024.
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Tesla confirms Robotaxi expansion plans with new cities and aggressive timeline
Tesla plans to launch in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas. It lists the Bay Area as “Safety Driver,” and Austin as “Ramping Unsupervised.”
Tesla confirmed its intentions to expand the Robotaxi program in the United States with an aggressive timeline that aims to send the ride-hailing service to several large cities very soon.
The Robotaxi program is currently active in Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area, but Tesla has received some approvals for testing in other areas of the U.S., although it has not launched in those areas quite yet.
However, the time is coming.
During Tesla’s Q4 Earnings Call last night, the company confirmed that it plans to expand the Robotaxi program aggressively, hoping to launch in seven new cities in the first half of the year.
Tesla plans to launch in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas. It lists the Bay Area as “Safety Driver,” and Austin as “Ramping Unsupervised.”
These details were released in the Earnings Shareholder Deck, which is published shortly before the Earnings Call:
🚨 BREAKING: Tesla plans to launch its Robotaxi service in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas in the first half of this year pic.twitter.com/aTnruz818v
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 28, 2026
Late last year, Tesla revealed it had planned to launch Robotaxi in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston, but Tampa and Orlando were just added to the plans, signaling an even more aggressive expansion than originally planned.
Tesla feels extremely confident in its Robotaxi program, and that has been reiterated many times.
Although skeptics still remain hesitant to believe the prowess Tesla has seemingly proven in its development of an autonomous driving suite, the company has been operating a successful program in Austin and the Bay Area for months.
In fact, it announced it achieved nearly 700,000 paid Robotaxi miles since launching Robotaxi last June.
🚨 Tesla has achieved nearly 700,000 paid Robotaxi miles since launching in June of last year pic.twitter.com/E8ldSW36La
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 28, 2026
With the expansion, Tesla will be able to penetrate more of the ride-sharing market, disrupting the human-operated platforms like Uber and Lyft, which are usually more expensive and are dependent on availability.
Tesla launched driverless rides in Austin last week, but they’ve been few and far between, as the company is certainly easing into the program with a very cautiously optimistic attitude, aiming to prioritize safety.
Investor's Corner
Tesla (TSLA) Q4 and FY 2025 earnings call: The most important points
Executives, including CEO Elon Musk, discussed how the company is positioning itself for growth across vehicles, energy, AI, and robotics despite near-term pressures from tariffs, pricing, and macro conditions.
Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Q4 and FY 2025 earnings call highlighted improving margins, record energy performance, expanding autonomy efforts, and a sharp acceleration in AI and robotics investments.
Executives, including CEO Elon Musk, discussed how the company is positioning itself for growth across vehicles, energy, AI, and robotics despite near-term pressures from tariffs, pricing, and macro conditions.
Key takeaways
Tesla reported sequential improvement in automotive gross margins excluding regulatory credits, rising from 15.4% to 17.9%, supported by favorable regional mix effects despite a 16% decline in deliveries. Total gross margin exceeded 20.1%, the highest level in more than two years, even with lower fixed-cost absorption and tariff impacts.
The energy business delivered standout results, with revenue reaching nearly $12.8 billion, up 26.6% year over year. Energy gross profit hit a new quarterly record, driven by strong global demand and high deployments of MegaPack and Powerwall across all regions, as noted in a report from The Motley Fool.
Tesla also stated that paid Full Self-Driving customers have climbed to nearly 1.1 million worldwide, with about 70% having purchased FSD outright. The company has now fully transitioned FSD to a subscription-based sales model, which should create a short-term margin headwind for automotive results.
Free cash flow totaled $1.4 billion for the quarter. Operating expenses rose by $500 million sequentially as well.
Production shifts, robotics, and AI investment
Musk further confirmed that Model S and Model X production is expected to wind down next quarter, and plans are underway to convert Fremont’s S/X line into an Optimus robot factory with a capacity of one million units.
Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet has surpassed 500 vehicles, operating across the Bay Area and Austin, with Musk noting a rapid monthly expansion pace. He also reiterated that CyberCab production is expected to begin in April, following a slow initial S-curve ramp before scaling beyond other vehicle programs.
Looking ahead, Tesla expects its capital expenditures to exceed $20 billion next year, thanks to the company’s operations across its six factories, the expansion of its fleet expansion, and the ramp of its AI compute. Additional investments in AI chips, compute infrastructure, and future in-house semiconductor manufacturing were discussed but are not included in the company’s current CapEx guidance.
More importantly, Tesla ended the year with a larger backlog than in recent years. This is supported by record deliveries in smaller international markets and stronger demand across APAC and EMEA. Energy backlog remains strong globally as well, though Tesla cautioned that margin pressure could emerge from competition, policy uncertainty, and tariffs.
Tesla is bringing closure to its flagship Model S and Model X vehicles, which CEO Elon Musk said several years ago were only produced for “sentimental reasons.”
The Model S and Model X have been light contributors to Tesla’s delivery growth over the past few years, commonly contributing only a few percentage points toward the over 1.7 million cars the company has handed over to customers annually since 2022.
However, the Model S and Model X have remained in production because of their high-end performance and flagship status; they are truly two vehicles that are premium offerings and do not hold major weight toward Tesla’s future goals.
On Wednesday, during the Q4 2025 Earnings Call, Musk confirmed that Tesla would bring closure to the two models, ending their production and making way for the manufacturing efforts of the Optimus robot:
“It is time to bring the Model S and Model X programs to an end with an honorable discharge. It is time to bring the S/X programs to an end. It’s part of our overall shift to an autonomous future.”
Musk said the production lines that Tesla has for the Model S and Model X at the Fremont Factory in Northern California will be transitioned to Optimus production lines that will produce one million units per year.
Tesla Fremont Factory celebrates 15 years of electric vehicle production
Tesla will continue to service Model S and Model X vehicles, but it will officially stop deliveries of the cars in Q2, as inventory will be liquidated. When they’re gone, they’re gone.
BREAKING: Tesla will wind down Model S and Model X production next quarter, Elon Musk confirms.
“It is time to bring the Model S and Model X programs to an end with an honorable discharge.” pic.twitter.com/Czn7aQjJE1
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 28, 2026
Tesla has been making moves to sunset the two vehicles for the better part of one year. Last July, it stopped taking any custom orders for vehicles in Europe, essentially pushing the idea that the program was coming to a close soon.
Musk said back in 2019:
“I mean, they’re very expensive, made in low volume. To be totally frank, we’re continuing to make them more for sentimental reasons than anything else. They’re really of minor importance to the future.”
That point is more relevant than ever as Tesla is ending the production of the cars to make way for Optimus, which will likely be Tesla’s biggest product in the coming years.
Musk added during the Earnings Call on Wednesday that he believes Optimus will be a major needle-mover of the United States’ GDP, as it will increase productivity and enable universal high income for humans.
Tesla confirms Robotaxi expansion plans with new cities and aggressive timeline
Tesla (TSLA) Q4 and FY 2025 earnings call: The most important points
