News
Tesla’s Elon Musk isn’t worried about media negativity: ‘Enough people have the product’
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that media negativity isn’t something that he worries about because “enough people have the product” that it doesn’t resonate.
“Fud still happening a little, but doesn’t resonate when enough people have the product,” Musk said in a Tweet on Wednesday.
FUD is an acronym for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt and is commonly used within the Tesla community to refer to media negativity. Unfortunately, Tesla is all too familiar with the negativity spread in the news and falsified, or stretched truths are often reported as fact, which then skews public perception of the company in a negative way. From things as simple as unconfirmed delays in production to things as severe as Elon Musk’s rumored “emerald mine” that apparently financed his entire life, many media outlets take these stories and run with them.
Thanks 🙂 Seriously, it was so insane! Fud still happening a little, but doesn’t resonate when enough people have the product.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2021
One of the most common pieces of FUD that the entire electric car industry has had to deal with is the rumor that EVs cause more emissions than gas cars. Although this has been debunked and proven to be false on numerous occasions, it is still a commonly used argument tactic that is often communicated by people who do not believe in electrification.
In recent times, most of Tesla’s media negativity has been portrayed in the form of production delays or construction projects that are being prolonged. One of the most notable was a report from German media outlet Automobilewoche, who stated that a member of Elon Musk’s inner circle said the Giga Berlin plant would be delayed six months. Many media outlets took this as fact and reported it, not doing their due diligence and finding facts or talking to knowledgeable sources.
Teslarati reached out to Brandenburg Economic Minister Jörg Steinbach, who said that Tesla Giga Berlin could begin production as soon as late-Summer or early-Autumn. He was confused about the reports of an early 2022 start.
He told Teslarati:
“I don’t have the faintest idea of how anyone can come up with a six-month delay. If nothing happens out of the ordinary, I still expect a start of production in late Summer or Early Autumn.”
Since its announcement, Steinbach has been close to the Giga Berlin project and has been a vocal supporter of the company’s presence in Germany. Despite being identified in the article and having credibility because of his relationship to the project, media outlets did not report Steinbach’s quote.
Tesla has also been the subject of numerous attacks in China, especially a recent campaign that alleged a Model X of having faulty brakes. This was recently revealed to be a concerted effort to defame Tesla’s image, and an apology was issued recently by the perpetrator. The incident was revealed to be a skit on TikTok.
Tesla owners are certainly a breed in their own right. A group that loves their all-electric cars and all that comes with them, they are very aware of the media’s constant efforts to derail the company’s momentum and Tesla’s Wall Street performance. Despite an extended string of seven straight quarters of profitability, Tesla stock has not performed well in 2021. In 2020, the stock rose over 700%.
Tesla’s sub-par market performance could be attributed to the media’s coverage of the company in 2021. Despite profitability, record deliveries, and refreshed vehicle designs, Tesla remains a main source of criticism from many media outlets.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or be sure to email me at joey@teslarati.com or on Twitter @KlenderJoey.
News
Tesla FSD Supervised wins MotorTrend’s Best Driver Assistance Award
The decision marks a notable reversal for the publication from prior years, with judges citing major real-world improvements that pushed Tesla’s latest FSD software ahead of every competing ADAS system.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system has been named the best driver-assistance technology on the market, earning top honors at the 2026 MotorTrend Best Tech Awards.
The decision marks a notable reversal for the publication from prior years, with judges citing major real-world improvements that pushed Tesla’s latest FSD software ahead of every competing ADAS system. And it wasn’t even close.
MotorTrend reverses course
MotorTrend awarded Tesla FSD (Supervised) its 2026 Best Tech Driver Assistance title after extensive testing of the latest v14 software. The publication acknowledged that it had previously criticized earlier versions of FSD for erratic behavior and near-miss incidents, ultimately favoring rivals such as GM’s Super Cruise in earlier evaluations.
According to MotorTrend, the newest iteration of FSD resolved many of those shortcomings. Testers said v14 showed far smoother behavior in complex urban scenarios, including unprotected left turns, traffic circles, emergency vehicles, and dense city streets. While the system still requires constant driver supervision, judges concluded that no other advanced driver-assistance system currently matches its breadth of capability.
Unlike rival systems that rely on combinations of cameras, radar, lidar, and mapped highways, Tesla’s FSD operates using a camera-only approach and is capable of driving on city streets, rural roads, and freeways. MotorTrend stated that pure utility, the ability to handle nearly all road types, ultimately separated FSD from competitors like Ford BlueCruise, GM Super Cruise, and BMW’s Highway Assistant.
High cost and high capability
MotorTrend also addressed FSD’s pricing, which remains significantly higher than rival systems. Tesla currently charges $8,000 for a one-time purchase or $99 per month for a subscription, compared with far lower upfront and subscription costs from other automakers. The publication noted that the premium is justified given FSD’s unmatched scope and continuous software evolution.
Safety remained a central focus of the evaluation. While testers reported collision-free operation over thousands of miles, they noted ongoing concerns around FSD’s configurable driving modes, including options that allow aggressive driving and speeds beyond posted limits. MotorTrend emphasized that, like all Level 2 systems, FSD still depends on a fully attentive human driver at all times.
Despite those caveats, the publication concluded that Tesla’s rapid software progress fundamentally reshaped the competitive landscape. For drivers seeking the most capable hands-on driver-assistance system available today, MotorTrend concluded Tesla FSD (Supervised) now stands alone at the top.
News
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia surges to 5.6M articles, almost 79% of English Wikipedia
The explosive growth marks a major milestone for the AI-powered online encyclopedia, which was launched by Elon Musk’s xAI just months ago.
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia has grown to an impressive 5,615,201 articles as of today, closing in on 79% of the English Wikipedia’s current total of 7,119,376 articles.
The explosive growth marks a major milestone for the AI-powered online encyclopedia, which was launched by Elon Musk’s xAI just months ago. Needless to say, it would only be a matter of time before Grokipedia exceeds English Wikipedia in sheer volume.
Grokipedia’s rapid growth
xAI’s vision for Grokipedia emphasizes neutrality, while Grok’s reasoning capabilities allow for fast drafting and fact-checking. When Elon Musk announced the initiative in late September 2025, he noted that Grokipedia would be an improvement to Wikipedia because it would be designed to avoid bias.
At the time, Musk noted that Grokipedia “is a necessary step towards the xAI goal of understanding the Universe.”
Grokipedia was launched in late October, and while xAI was careful to list it only as Version 0.1 at the time, the online encyclopedia immediately earned praise. Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger highlighted the project’s innovative approach, noting how it leverages AI to fill knowledge gaps and enable rapid updates. Netizens also observed how Grokipedia tends to present articles in a more objective manner compared to Wikipedia, which is edited by humans.
Elon Musk’s ambitious plans
With 5,615,201 total articles, Grokipedia has now grown to almost 79% of English Wikipedia’s article base. This is incredibly quick, though Grokipedia remains text-only for now. xAI, for its part, has now updated the online encyclopedia’s iteration to v0.2.
Elon Musk has shared bold ideas for Grokipedia, including sending a record of the entire knowledge base to space as part of xAI’s mission to preserve and expand human understanding. At some point, Musk stated that Grokipedia will be renamed to Encyclopedia Galactica, and it will be sent to the cosmos.
“When Grokipedia is good enough (long way to go), we will change the name to Encyclopedia Galactica. It will be an open source distillation of all knowledge, including audio, images and video. Join xAI to help build the sci-fi version of the Library of Alexandria!” Musk wrote, adding in a later post that “Copies will be etched in stone and sent to the Moon, Mars and beyond. This time, it will not be lost.”
News
Tesla Model 3 becomes Netherlands’ best-selling used EV in 2025
More than one in ten second-hand electric cars sold in the country last year was a Tesla Model 3.
The Tesla Model 3 became the most popular used electric car in the Netherlands in 2025, cementing its dominance well beyond the country’s new-car market.
After years at the top of Dutch EV sales charts, the Model 3 now leads the country’s second-hand EV market by a wide margin, as record used-car purchases pushed electric vehicles further into the mainstream.
Model 3 takes a commanding lead
The Netherlands recorded more than 2.1 million used car sales last year, the highest level on record. Of those, roughly 4.8%, or about 102,000 vehicles, were electric. Within that growing segment, the Tesla Model 3 stood far ahead of its competitors.
In 2025 alone, 11,338 used Model 3s changed hands, giving the car an 11.1% share of the country’s entire used EV market. That means more than one in ten second-hand electric cars sold in the country last year was a Tesla Model 3, Auto Week Netherlands reported. The scale of its lead is striking: the gap between the Model 3 and the second-place finisher, the Volkswagen ID3, is more than 6,700 vehicles.
Rivals trail as residual values shape rankings
The Volkswagen ID.3 ranked a distant second, with 4,595 used units sold and a 4.5% market share. Close behind was the Audi e-tron, which placed third with 4,236 registrations. As noted by Auto Week Netherlands, relatively low residual values likely boosted the e-tron’s appeal in the used market, despite its higher original price.
Other strong performers included the Kia Niro, the Tesla Model Y, and the Hyundai Kona, highlighting continued demand for compact and midsize electric vehicles with proven range and reliability. No other model, however, came close to matching the Model 3’s scale or market presence.
Tesla FSD Supervised wins MotorTrend’s Best Driver Assistance Award
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia surges to 5.6M articles, almost 79% of English Wikipedia
