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Tesla Investor Day: Five things we’d love to hear (but probably won’t)
Tesla Investor Day is set to kick off later today, and there will surely be plenty of massive developments that CEO Elon Musk and other executives could give us details on. However, there are still some things that Tesla fans and investors would love to know about, but we might not get the opportunity, at least not yet.
Here are five things we’d love to hear about at Tesla Investor Day, but probably won’t:
1. New Paint Colors
It’s already been rumored that the Midnight Cherry Red and Quicksilver paint schemes will make an appearance at Gigafactory Texas for Investor Day. These colors are exclusive to the Giga Berlin operation, and there has not been too much of an update in terms of paint colors in the North American market for years.
Although Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen hinted toward new paint colors for the U.S. earlier this year on the Ride the Lightning podcast, there are a few bottlenecks keeping Tesla from actually doing so. First off, Tesla’s Fremont Factory would have to have its paint facility updated. While the company has taken steps to do this in the past, it was more for ventilation and fire protection than improvements that would improve quality and make way for new colors.
Credit: Photo Credit: @thirionremi / Twitter
Fremont still builds all four Tesla models, while Gigafactory Texas only builds Model Y units. With Tesla’s order log getting longer and longer every day, the company simply cannot afford to shut down Fremont to update the paint shop, but there could be other options in the future that allow the company to do so. Tesla is expanding Fremont and could build an entirely new paint shop, updating the old one upon completion.
2. Tesla’s Strategy for non-Tesla Superchargers
This one is probably the most reasonable to expect details on, but even still, it seems like what Tesla will talk about today will be geared toward more macro topics.
Credit: Branden Flasch | Twitter / Tesla
Tesla hasn’t formally released a specific plan for which Superchargers it will open to all EVs. While it did release a detailed video on how other EV brands can utilize the open Superchargers equipped with the “Magic Dock” last night, it has not detailed how it will determine which chargers it will choose to be open to all brands.
There must be a method to the madness, and owners will likely want to know which chargers are going to be geared toward being open to other EV brands.
3. Plans for Tesla after Elon Musk
Tesla wouldn’t be what it is today without Elon Musk, but unfortunately, nothing lasts forever.
There will be a day when Musk will ultimately step away from his responsibilities as Tesla CEO, and it will be understandable. It’s been a long and stressful tenure as CEO that many of us could never even dream of handling. One day, Musk will need to step aside, and even though it might not be all that soon, it would still be nice to know who could potentially take the reigns.
Whoever takes over the position will have a massive set of shoes to fill, but it won’t be impossible, just an extreme challenge. Musk will likely handpick his replacement, as he is likely the only person who could determine who is fit to run Tesla’s day-to-day operations.
4. Any sort of plan for Tesla’s Public Relations
While notable Tesla bull and recent Board of Directors hopeful Ross Gerber has always talked about Tesla’s need for a PR Department. Tesla abolished the use of one several years ago, which has made it difficult for the company to fend off negativity from media outlets when drastic and challenging stories about the company are published. Elon Musk has usually taken it upon himself to publicly announce what stories are real and which are false, but even still, a dedicated PR department might not be a bad idea to discuss today.
Tesla has utilized a series of posts on its company blog to respond to some negative reports. Most recently, the company responded to allegations that it fired numerous employees who were attempting to unionize at Gigafactory New York in Buffalo.
A PR Department would undoubtedly be a great way for Tesla to deal with negativity in the media, giving journalists and writers people to reach out to directly for anything they might need. Granted, media members still reach out to the company but are met with no response most of the time.
5. Improvements to Tesla Service
Service is still arguably Tesla’s biggest weakness. When I wrote a story about a Model S Plaid owner who had their vehicle totaled by a Service Center employee, people reached out with horror stories regarding issues with getting their vehicles fixed.
The stories still continue to come in, not as regularly, but likely because there has not been a story on it, and people don’t know where to reach out.
Credit: Tesla
Service and Showroom locations grew 19 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, while the Tesla Mobile Service fleet expanded by 24 percent in the same time frame. Unfortunately, there are still many people who complain about the shortcomings of service. Tesla has tried to push a more efficient service strategy using an “F1” method, but with that, they phased out Uber Credits and Loaners in some circumstances.
If anything, this is Tesla’s biggest weakness, and if the company can fix it, it could likely be monumental.
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Tesla has launched a new Model Y configuration in the “Premium” trim, and it comes with three highly requested features that have launched in markets outside of the U.S. and in other trims.
Tesla announced on Monday night that it has officially launched the Model Y Premium in a seven-seat configuration, which also comes standard with a 16″ touchscreen and black headliner, both of which are featured in the Model Y Performance trim.
The seven-seat configuration is highly requested by consumers and helps fill out the more spacious SUV offering that the lineup has missed outside of the Model X, which prices out many consumers. This new upgrade only costs $2,500 extra for all three features, bringing the cash price to $48,990.
This also comes with the larger 16” touchscreen! pic.twitter.com/aiAxWUTKZa
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 13, 2026
The move to add the seven-seat configuration with the black headliner and additional screen size is a welcome addition, as many Tesla fans have asked the company to come out with an SUV with more seating capacity. Although it is not a full-size SUV, the additional seating will certainly attract some buyers with bigger families.
It appears the third row is slightly more spacious than the past iteration of the seven-seat Model Y, which was available in the previous design pre-Juniper:
Credit: Tesla
However, it definitely still appears to be pretty cramped in terms of legroom. It will definitely be a seating arrangement for smaller passengers, mostly reserved for children.
The other two upgrades are the black headliner, which was launched in other markets and in the Model Y Performance. Many owners have wanted this change, and Tesla listened, but is only offering it with the seven-seat configuration. It also has a larger 16″ touchscreen, also present in the Model Y Performance exclusively:
Credit: Tesla
It is a nice touch to add these highly requested features to the all-electric crossover, which was the best-selling vehicle in the world for the third consecutive year.
Tesla has expanded its branded ‘For Business’ Supercharger program that it launched last year, as yet another company is using the platform to attract EV owners to its business and utilize a unique advertising opportunity.
Francis Energy of Oklahoma is launching four Superchargers in Norman, where the University of Oklahoma is located. The Superchargers, which are fitted with branding for Francis Energy, will officially open tomorrow.
It will not be the final Supercharger location that Francis Energy plans to open, the company confirmed to EVWire.
Back in early September, Tesla launched the new “Supercharger for Business” program in an effort to give businesses the ability to offer EV charging at custom rates. It would give their businesses visibility and would also cater to employees or customers.
“Purchase and install Superchargers at your business,” Tesla wrote on a page on its website for the new program. “Superchargers are compatible with all electric vehicles, bringing EV drivers to your business by offering convenient, reliable charging.”
The first site opened in Land O’ Lakes, Florida, which is Northeast of Tampa, as a company called Suncoast launched the Superchargers for local EV owners.
Tesla launches its new branded Supercharger for Business with first active station
The program also does a great job at expanding infrastructure for EV owners, which is something that needs to be done to encourage more people to purchase Teslas and other electric cars.
Francis Energy operates at least 14 EV charging locations in Oklahoma, spanning from Durant to Oklahoma City and nearly everywhere in between. Filings from the company, listed by Supercharge.info, show the company’s plans to convert some of them to Tesla Superchargers, potentially utilizing the new Supercharger for Business program to advertise.
Moving forward, more companies will likely utilize Tesla’s Supercharger for Business program as it presents major advantages in a variety of ways, especially with advertising and creating a place for EV drivers to gain range in their cars.
Tesla Cybercab is perhaps the most highly-anticipated project that the company plans to roll out this year, and as it is undergoing its testing phase in pre-production currently, there are some things to work through with it.
Over the weekend, an image of the Cybercab being loaded onto a tow truck started circulating on the internet, and people began to speculate as to what the issue could be.
Hmmmmmm… https://t.co/L5hWcOXQkb pic.twitter.com/OJBDyHNTMj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 11, 2026
The Cybercab can clearly be seen with a Police Officer and perhaps the tow truck driver by its side, being loaded onto, or even potentially unloaded from, the truck.
However, it seems unlikely it was being offloaded, as its operation would get it to this point for testing to begin with.
It appears, at first glance, that it needs assistance getting back to wherever it came from; likely Gigafactory Texas or potentially a Bay Area facility.
The Cybercab was also spotted in Buffalo, New York, last week, potentially undergoing cold-weather testing, but it doesn’t appear that’s where this incident took place.
It is important to remember that the Cybercab is currently undergoing some rigorous testing scenarios, which include range tests and routine public road operation. These things help Tesla assess any potential issue the vehicle could run into after it starts routine production and heads to customers, or for the Robotaxi platform operation.
This is not a one-off issue, either. Tesla had some instances with the Semi where it was seen broken down on the side of a highway three years ago. The all-electric Semi has gone on to be successful in its early pilot program, as companies like Frito-Lay and PepsiCo. have had very positive remarks.
The Cybercab’s future is bright, and it is important to note that no vehicle model has ever gone its full life without a breakdown. It happens, it’s a car.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that there has been no official word on what happened with this particular Cybercab unit, but it is crucial to remember that this is the pre-production testing phase, and these things are more constructive than anything.
Tesla Model Y gets fresh configuration with three highly requested features
Tesla expands its branded ‘For Business’ Superchargers
