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Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives in China for Model 3 delivery event, meets with local employees

Tesla CEO Elon Musk at GF3 in Shanghai (Source: Ray4Tesla | Twitter)

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday a few hours before the scheduled Model 3 delivery event at Gigafactory 3.

The Tesla chief arrived at the Gigafactory in China on a midnight silver Model X and was welcomed by local executives and staff. The ceremony that will deliver the first Made-In-China Model 3 sedans to the general public is set to start at around 3 p.m. local time or 11 p.m. California time.

As of reporting Musk is meeting with Tesla China employees.

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The first 15 Model 3 units were handed over to Tesla employees in a symbolic ceremony on Dec. 30 at Gigafactory 3. Details about the volume of cars to be delivered to customers on Tuesday have not been disclosed but this might also be the greenlight for mass deliveries since hundreds of locally-produced electric sedans were distributed to delivery centers and showrooms across China in previous weeks.

Leaked information about the Tesla event suggests that the electric car manufacturer will also announce the start of its Model Y program in China. This will be an unprecedented move since the electric crossover might be introduced in the country roughly at the same time as in the United States.

The Gigafactory 3 hit a run-rate of roughly 3,000 units a week recently and should be capable to produce the Model 3 alongside the Model Y given the two vehicles share 75 percent of parts. With the two vehicle models spearheading the charge of the brand in China, Gigafactory 3 will be a gamechanger for Tesla.

Just last week, Tesla China lowered the price of the Model 3 sedan from $50,000 to $42,919, a move that practically undercuts BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the entry-level luxury sedan market.

H/T to JayinShanghai and Ray4Tesla

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A curious soul who keeps wondering how Elon Musk, Tesla, electric cars, and clean energy technologies will shape the future, or do we really need to escape to Mars.

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Tesla eyes two new states for Robotaxi

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Credit: @TerrapinTerpene/X

Tesla has officially shown that it is eyeing two new states for Robotaxi operation in the U.S., as it hopes to add the new areas to its ever-growing list of places where the suite is either active or in the testing phase.

Tesla first launched its Robotaxi suite in Austin, Texas, in late June. It expanded the suite to the San Francisco Bay Area just a month later. Since then, it has not launched any public rides in any other states, but it has gained several approvals for early testing.

Tesla officially launches Robotaxi service with no driver

In preparation for operation in new states, Tesla routinely lists job postings on its Careers website, which helps align potential employees with opportunities ahead of regulatory approvals. This is a strategy that allows Tesla to start operations immediately upon licensing for testing.

Tesla started hiring Vehicle Operators for Autopilot in Arizona and Nevada months before the company gained any sort of approvals from state governments for Robotaxi. However, those approvals eventually came in the form of testing licenses, which allow the company to perform validation ahead of its public launch.

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Tesla begins validating Robotaxi in a new area, hinting at expansion

Now, Tesla has posted job listings for Vehicle Operators for Autopilot in two new states: Colorado and Illinois. The Colorado job listing is located in Aurora, a suburb of Denver. Tesla is looking for Robotaxi operators in Chicago as well.

These postings hint toward Tesla’s continuing efforts to expand Robotaxi to new places. Earlier this year, CEO Elon Musk said the company would like to have Robotaxi available to at least half of the U.S. population.

It has expanded significantly since its initial launch in late June, but it is still a far way off from where Tesla would like it to be by year’s end.

So far, Tesla has job listings for Autopilot Vehicle Operators in Arizona, California, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and Illinois.

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Tesla launched an ad for Elon Musk’s pay package on Paramount+

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s advertising strategy has taken a drastic turn as the company’s upcoming Shareholder Meeting will feature perhaps the most crucial vote in its history: the approval of CEO Elon Musk’s new pay package.

For years, the issue of Tesla’s advertising and marketing strategy has been a major point of conversation for investors in fans. It seems to be split right down the middle, with half wanting Tesla to set aside some money for advertising. The other half, just the opposite.

Tesla has been transparent that the money it would spend on advertising, marketing, and public relations is better set aside for the development of future products.

However, it has recently adopted a different tone in advertising, pushing some commercials on social media platforms like X and Instagram.

For the first time, an ad was seen on streaming services like Paramount+, but it wasn’t promoting Tesla’s products directly. Instead, it was more of a message for shareholders to vote on Musk’s pay package, something Tesla feels is a necessity:

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“The future of Tesla is in your hands,” the ad reads at the end. It seems as if Tesla is taking whatever steps it needs to accomplish the task of getting Musk a new pay package and retaining him as its CEO.

On September 5, Tesla officially outlined its plans for a CEO Performance Award for Musk. It would require him to lift Tesla’s market capitalization to about $8.5 trillion, up from the $1.36 trillion it sits at today.

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Elon Musk’s new pay plan ties trillionaire status to Tesla’s $8.5 trillion valuation

It is obvious that Tesla is really hoping to get the pay package passed and is willing to shift some of its budget to encourage shareholders to vote.

However, there are some interesting perspectives on the move, and it’s sort of strange to see Tesla not advertising its vehicles or products, but only its pay package that would get its CEO paid.

Some of those who saw the ad are questioning the strategy:

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Tesla Robotaxi testing in Arizona is ramping up quickly

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is validating Robotaxi in a new area, and as the company has continued to gain some additional permissions to begin testing in new states, it seems its Full Self-Driving-based ride-hailing project is moving toward a larger footprint.

Two Robotaxi units with LiDAR validation equipment were spotted in Gilbert, Arizona, recently, showing that Tesla is aiming to launch its ride-hailing service in the state soon:

Another unit was spotted in Tempe, Arizona:

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These types of validation vehicles have been spotted in several areas ahead of their launch as a public ride-hailing service for passengers. Tesla first launched Robotaxi in Austin, Texas, back in late June, and since then, it has expanded to the Bay Area of California.

However, Tesla has continued to attempt to expand Robotaxi to other areas as well, including Nevada and Arizona. It has also been working toward approvals in other states based on job postings, as Tesla is hiring for Autopilot Vehicle Operators in New York and Florida, as well.

The expansion of the Robotaxi ride-hailing service has been an effort that Tesla has been spending a lot of time on over the past few months. CEO Elon Musk said the expansion aims to bring Robotaxi to at least half of the U.S. population by the end of the year, but there is still plenty of work to be done.

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Tesla Robotaxi heads to a new major Texas city for the first time

Tesla did make its Robotaxi app public in recent months, allowing more members of the public to experience the suite for themselves, as long as they could get to Austin or the Bay Area.

In the coming months, it seems more apparent that Tesla will take a broader focus on expanding Robotaxi, especially with the fact that these validation vehicles are being spotted throughout different parts of the United States.

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