Investor's Corner
Tesla makes its Gigafactory 3 construction timeline even more ambitious
When Tesla announced its estimated timeline for Gigafactory 3, many were skeptical. The electric car maker’s critics dismissed it as another Elon Musk prediction that won’t come true. From Wall Street, Consumer Edge Research senior auto analyst James Albertine flat-out stated that Tesla’s timeline, which estimated the facility’s vehicle production to commence roughly two years after construction begins, is simply “not feasible.”
Tesla is now aiming to accelerate the timeline of Gigafactory 3’s construction even further.
The electric car maker recently released its Q3 2018 vehicle production and deliveries report, revealing that it produced and delivered more than 80,000 electric cars over the past quarter. The company’s Q3 report also mentioned that its Model S and X vehicles saw increased deliveries despite headwinds from the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China, which add a 40% import tariff on Tesla vehicles entering the country. Tesla notes that overall, it is “operating at a 55% to 60% cost disadvantage compared to the exact same car locally produced in China.” To help address these challenges, Tesla revealed that it is accelerating the construction of Gigafactory 3, which, unlike Gigafactory 1 in Nevada, will be capable of producing electric vehicles.
“We are accelerating construction of our Shanghai factory, which we expect to be a capital efficient and rapid buildout, using many lessons learned from the Model 3 ramp in North America,” Tesla indicated in its Q3 deliveries and production report.
This is something that Tesla teased during its past Q2 2018 earnings call, when CEO Elon Musk and CTO JB Straubel noted that the Shanghai factory would likely be less capital intensive as the company’s facilities in the United States. Musk, for one, noted that Tesla is confident it “can do the Gigafactory in China for a lot less,” adding that the cost of the facility would likely be “closer to $2 billion” at the 250,000 vehicle-per-year rate. Straubel further noted that the company had found several ways to improve efficiency and speed.
“We found a surprising number of ways to improve efficiency and speed and density as well at Gigafactory 1, and all those lessons will absolutely be shared with Gigafactory 3. In just recent weeks and months, we found some – certain areas of production that have been very capital intensive that we’ve been able to speed up with almost no additional CapEx by maybe 20%, even 25% or 30%,” Straubel said.
Tesla did not reveal its updated timeline for Gigafactory 3’s construction, but considering its ambitious initial goal, the new schedule would likely raise even more eyebrows. That said, Tesla’s aim of getting Gigafactory 3 operational within the next couple of years is something that is not as farfetched as the company’s skeptics would assert. The project, after all, has already started moving, with local news site Beijing Business Daily previously noting that around 30% of the facility’s funds are now ready. Reports have also emerged stating that the Shanghai government is assisting Tesla in acquiring loans from local banks to help fund the construction of Gigafactory 3.
Inasmuch as Tesla’s accelerated timeline for Gigafactory 3’s construction is very ambitious, the capability of China to construct large structures quickly could prove to be a strategic advantage for the electric car maker. Chinese construction firms, after all, are responsible for quick, precise feats of engineering, which included projects like setting up a track replacement for a train station in 8.5 hours, and constructing a full-fledged 57-story skyscraper in just 19 days. If Tesla taps into the country’s premier construction workforce, Gigafactory 3 would likely start operations sooner than expected.
Elon Musk
SpaceX Starship Flight 13 aborted at Zero and Musk just told us what broke
Four Raptor engines failed to ignite at T-zero, forcing SpaceX to scrub Starship Flight 13 Thursday.
SpaceX scrubbed the Starship Flight 13 launch attempt Thursday evening at the last possible moment, after four of the Super Heavy booster’s 33 Raptor 3 engines failed to ignite during the startup sequence. The 90-minute window had opened at 6:45 p.m. EDT from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, and the countdown had proceeded without issue all day, with more than 11.5 million pounds of liquid methane and liquid oxygen being fully loaded into the rocket before the automated abort triggered. SpaceX’s launch directors posted on X, “Standing down from today’s flight test attempt,” and shut down the livestream shortly after.
Musk confirmed the root cause within hours. “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” he wrote on X. “To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed and replaced. Most probable launch timing is early next week.” SpaceX engineers began draining propellant tanks immediately and Booster 20 was rolled back to its hangar for inspection.
The timing adds a layer of significance that did not exist during any of the previous 12 Starship flights. This is the first time SpaceX has attempted to launch Starship since the company made its stock market debut in June, listing under ticker SPCX at $135 per share. Public investors are now watching every Starship outcome in real time, and a last-second abort carries more visibility than it would have six months ago.
Flight 13 was designed to be one of the most consequential tests in the program’s history. It was set to carry 20 Starlink V3 satellites, the first operational payload Starship has ever attempted to deploy. Six of those satellites carried external cameras to photograph Starship’s heat shield from the outside during flight, which would act as a self-inspection approach SpaceX has never attempted before. The mission also needed to complete a Raptor engine relight in space, a step SpaceX skipped on Flight 12 in May after losing an engine during ascent. That Flight 12 booster also flipped 90 degrees off course during its boostback burn when five engines failed to reignite.
SpaceX has not announced an official next launch date. Musk’s “early next week” window points to July 21 or 22 at the earliest, pending the engine swap and a return to the pad.
Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli responded to rumors of an imminent bankruptcy that was reportedly being mulled after a report stated the automaker was working with the firm AlixPartners to iron out its next steps.
The company felt a massive loss on Wall Street yesterday, as the report essentially pushed the stock down as much as 55 percent on Tuesday.
The report, published initially by Eletric-Vehicles.com, claimed Lucid was essentially in dire straits and was told by AlixPartners, a commonly used restructuring advisor, to either take shares private or file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Lucid’s head of Communications, Nick Twork, immediately challenged the report and stated the company “has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year.”
Now, the company’s CEO is chiming in as well, stating that the report is “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Napoli said:
“Lucid is not considering bankruptcy or a transaction to take the company private. Those reports are false. The Board did not explore either scenario. Period.
As disclosed in our most recent quarterly filing, Lucid has sufficient liquidity to fund its operations well into next year.
We work with outside advisors to improve operational performance and execution. They are not advising Lucid on a take-private transaction or bankruptcy, and any suggestion that they have recommended either course of action to management or the Board is false.
My priority is clear: turn this company around. That is where the leadership team and I are focused.
I look forward to providing a full update during our quarterly earnings call on August 4th.”
🚨 Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli calls rumors of financial issues “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Read his full remarks here: https://t.co/t3Pg1NHvzy pic.twitter.com/LvHUPhO4Qf
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 15, 2026
It seems pretty clear that Lucid is confident things will be okay, and, to be honest, they should not have much to worry about, especially considering the company has been backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for years. It has solid financial backing, and its sales, while weak, are pretty much right on par with a company of this age.
Lucid also sent a Cease & Desist letter to the publication for their report.
Lucid shares have rebounded nicely and are up nearly 21 percent at the time of publication. As soon as the company dispelled the rumors of bankruptcy yesterday, the stock began to climb back toward more reasonable levels.
Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has denied rumors of an imminent bankruptcy after a report from this morning sent the stock on a dramatic drop on Wall Street, seeing losses of more than 40 percent during trading hours.
Lucid’s Director of Communications, Nick Twork, responded to the report from Eletric-Vehicles.com, which stated the company’s restructuring advisor, AlixPartners, was asked to review two decisions: taking Lucid shares private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The report also claims AlixPartners told the Lucid board to “concentrate on Gravity production while improving its quality, and to temporarily hold back the Lucid Air, the sedan that has defined the company since its launch.”
Twork said:
$LCID The rumors are completely false. The company has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year, as recently published in its last quarterly filings, and it has not formed any special Board committee to explore the scenarios reported today. Our focus is…
— Nick Twork (@ntwork) July 14, 2026
Shares rebounded after the response to the report, halving its losses as the trading day neared 3 p.m. Eastern.
Lucid has struggled to get its sales off the ground and into more respectable numbers, but the company is in its early years, when things are hard to begin with. It is also backed by several notable investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has nearly limitless money and likely would not ditch an investment of this size so soon.
Lucid shares were down just 14 percent at the time of publication, a far cry from the 55 percent its losses topped out at during the day.
Tesla enters two new markets on two different continents in one week
SpaceX announces new Starship 13 test flight target date
