One of the most memorable moments in the documentary Revenge of the Electric Car involved then-Jalopnik Editor-in-Chief Ray Wert bluntly dismissing the Tesla Model S as “vaporware.” During the sequence, it was very evident that the idea of Tesla pulling off a vehicle like the Model S seemed to be so farfetched for Wert, that refused to consider the possibility of the car being real.
That scene, in a lot of ways, is symbolic of Tesla’s journey as a whole. For every step that the company took over the years, Tesla has faced countless criticisms and doubt. Yet today, with the company producing its one-millionth electric vehicle, it is becoming more and more evident that critics and naysayers, both to Elon Musk and Tesla as a whole, are steadily losing the narrative. There are now 1 million reasons proving that Tesla is a thriving company, after all, and the number grows by the day.
Elon Musk has stated that starting an electric car company is idiocy squared, mainly due to the sheer amount of work required to thrive in the automotive industry. Couple that with the fact that Musk took over as Tesla’s CEO right in the midst of the US financial crisis, and one could see just how dire the situation was for the electric car maker during its early days. It was dire enough, for one, that its circumstances inspired an actual Tesla Death Watch series from The Truth About Cars, which eventually abandoned the initiative after it became evident that the electric car maker wasn’t going anywhere.
In a way, Tesla attracts a lot of critics because the company and its CEO dreams big without hesitation. With the Model S, Tesla wanted to prove that electric cars could be better than petrol-powered vehicles, period. With the Model 3, the company wanted to show that EVs can be mainstream. These are lofty goals, and they are very difficult to accomplish. It is then no surprise to see why there is so much opposition to the electric car maker. Some of these opposition comes in the form of short-sellers, who are financially incentivized to push TSLA stock down. A look at social media shows a glimpse of just how cruel and tasteless the company’s critics could become.
Yet despite the unwavering ad hominem attacks against Elon Musk, the physical intimidation of company employees testing Autopilot software, and the downright disturbing practice of doxxing Tesla supporters online, the electric car maker has stubbornly refused to stay down. It has fought every day since the days of the original Roadster, and it continues to do so until today, with the production ramp and impending deliveries of the Model Y. And based on the company’s perception, it will likely continue fighting every day for decades to come.
This is one of the reasons why the Tesla story is so compelling. It is difficult to not root for a company that took years to produce its first electric car and is now on track to manufacture about 500,000 vehicles in one year. Tesla, after all, dug deep to produce 20,000 vehicles in 2013, and just last year, the company closed 2019 with just over 410,000 vehicles manufactured. That’s a remarkable growth story, and it doesn’t even include the massive arm that is Tesla Energy, which is now seeing a ramp of its own.
It is not difficult to see why Tesla attracts such passionate support and anger at the same time. The company is different, its mission is ambitious, its CEO is a brazen dreamer, and it does not function like a traditional carmaker. But for Tesla supporters, the company is something that symbolizes something far more. The company represents some degree of optimism, and that is something that is pretty rare these days. Elon Musk and Tesla will likely be polarizing for years to come, but the company has 1 million reasons and counting that prove its naysayers wrong.
Here’s to the next million, and many more to come.
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Tesla hosts Rome Mayor for first Italian FSD Supervised road demo
The event marked the first time an Italian mayor tested the advanced driver-assistance system in person in Rome’s urban streets.
Tesla definitely seems to be actively engaging European officials on FSD’s capabilities, with the company hosting Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and Mobility Assessor Eugenio Patanè for a hands-on road demonstration.
The event marked the first time an Italian mayor tested the advanced driver-assistance system in person in Rome’s urban streets. This comes amid Tesla’s push for FSD’s EU regulatory approvals in the coming year.
Rome officials experience FSD Supervised
Tesla conducted the demo using a Model 3 equipped with Full Self-Driving (Supervised), tackling typical Roman traffic including complex intersections, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings and mixed users like cars, bikes and scooters.
The system showcased AI-based assisted driving, prioritizing safety while maintaining flow. FSD also handled overtakes and lane decisions, though with constant driver supervision.
Investor Andrea Stroppa detailed the event on X, noting the system’s potential to reduce severe collision risks by up to seven times compared to traditional driving, based on Tesla’s data from billions of global fleet miles. The session highlighted FSD’s role as an assistance tool in its Supervised form, not a replacement, with the driver fully responsible at all times.
Path to European rollout
Tesla has logged over 1 million kilometers of testing across 17 European countries, including Italy, to refine FSD for local conditions. The fact that Rome officials personally tested FSD Supervised bodes well for the program’s approval, as it suggests that key individuals are closely watching Tesla’s efforts and innovations.
Assessor Patanè also highlighted the administration’s interest in technologies that boost road safety and urban travel quality, viewing them as aids for both private and public transport while respecting rules.
Replies on X urged involving Italy’s Transport Ministry to speed approvals, with one user noting, “Great idea to involve the mayor! It would be necessary to involve components of the Ministry of Transport and the government as soon as possible: it’s they who can accelerate the approval of FSD in Italy.”
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Tesla FSD (Supervised) blows away French journalist after test ride
Cadot described FSD as “mind-blowing,” both for the safety of the vehicle’s driving and the “humanity” of its driving behaviors.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) seems to be making waves in Europe, with French tech journalist Julien Cadot recently sharing a positive first-hand experience from a supervised test drive in France.
Cadot, who tested the system for Numerama after eight years of anticipation since early Autopilot trials, described FSD as “mind-blowing,” both for the safety of the vehicle’s driving and the “humanity” of its driving behaviors.
Julien Cadot’s FSD test in France
Cadot announced his upcoming test on X, writing in French: “I’m going to test Tesla’s FSD for Numerama in France. 8 years I’ve been waiting to relive the sensations of our very first contact with the unbridled Autopilot of the 2016s.” He followed up shortly after with an initial reaction, writing: “I don’t want to spoil too much because as media we were allowed to film everything and I have a huge video coming… But: it’s mind-blowing! Both for safety and for the ‘humanity’ of the choices.”
His later posts detailed FSD’s specific maneuvers that he found particularly compelling. These include the vehicle safely overtaking a delivery truck by inches, something Cadot said he personally would avoid to protect his rims, but FSD handled flawlessly. He also praised FSD’s cyclist overtakes, as the system always maintained the required 1.5-meter distance by encroaching on the opposite lane when clear. Ultimately, Cadot noted FSD’s decision-making prioritized safety and advancement, which is pretty remarkable.
FSD’s ‘human’ edge over Autopilot
When asked if FSD felt light-years ahead of standard Autopilot, Cadot replied: “It’s incomparable, it’s not the same language.” He elaborated on scenarios like bypassing a parked delivery truck across a solid white line, where FSD assessed safety and proceeded just as a human driver might, rather than halting indefinitely. This “humanity” impressed Cadot the most, as it allowed FSD to fluidly navigate real-world chaos like urban Paris traffic.
Tesla is currently hard at work pushing for the rollout of FSD to several European countries. Recent reports have revealed that Tesla has received approval to operate 19 FSD test vehicles on Spain’s roads, though this number could increase as the program develops. As per the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), Tesla would be able to operate its FSD fleet on any national route across Spain. Recent job openings also hint at Tesla starting FSD tests in Austria. Apart from this, the company is also holding FSD demonstrations in Germany, France, and Italy.
Tesla Optimus showed off its newest capability as progress on the project continues to accelerate toward an ultimate goal of mass production in the coming years.
Tesla is still developing Optimus and preparing for the first stages of mass production, where units would be sold and shipped to customers. CEO Elon Musk has always marketed the humanoid robot as the biggest product in history, even outside of Tesla, but of all time.
He believes it will eliminate the need to manually perform monotonous tasks, like cleaning, mowing the lawn, and folding laundry.
However, lately, Musk has revealed even bigger plans for Optimus, including the ability to relieve humans of work entirely within the next 20 years.
JUST IN: Elon Musk says working will be ‘optional’ in less than 20 years because of AI and robotics. pic.twitter.com/l3S5kl5HBB
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) November 30, 2025
Development at Tesla’s Artificial Intelligence and Robotics teams has progressed, and a new video was shown of the robot taking a light jog with what appeared to be some pretty natural form:
Just set a new PR in the lab pic.twitter.com/8kJ2om7uV7
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 2, 2025
Optimus has also made several public appearances lately, including one at the Neural Information Processing Systems, or NeurIPS Conference. Some spectators shared videos of Optimus’s charging rig, as well as its movements and capabilities, most interestingly, the hand:
You have to hand it to Elon 🤟 pic.twitter.com/fZKDlmGAbe
— Ric Burton · NeurIPS 2025 (@_ricburton) December 2, 2025
The hand, forearm, and fingers have been one of the most evident challenges for Tesla in recent times, especially as it continues to work on its 3rd Generation iteration of Optimus.
Musk said during the Q3 Earnings Call:
“I don’t want to downplay the difficulty, but it’s an incredibly difficult thing, especially to create a hand that is as dexterous and capable as the human hand, which is incredible. The human hand is an incredible thing. The more you study the human hand, the more incredible you realize it is, and why you need four fingers and a thumb, why the fingers have certain degrees of freedom, why the various muscles are of different strengths, and fingers are of different lengths. It turns out that those are all there for a reason.”
The interesting part of the Optimus program so far is the fact that Tesla has made a lot of progress with other portions of the project, like movement, for example, which appears to have come a long way.
However, without a functional hand and fingers, Optimus could be rendered relatively useless, so it is evident that it has to figure this crucial part out first.
Tesla hosts Rome Mayor for first Italian FSD Supervised road demo
Tesla FSD (Supervised) blows away French journalist after test ride
