

News
Tesla sends Luminar stock upward, but don’t expect Tesla to adopt LiDAR
Tesla’s rumored use of LiDAR systems from Luminar on a Model Y crossover have shot the company’s stock upward. After a Model Y was spotted in Palm Beach, Florida over the weekend sporting a hefty Luminar LiDAR rig, speculation raged on regarding Tesla’s potential use of the system. However, don’t expect Tesla CEO Elon Musk to backtrack on his previous comments on LiDAR, where he called it “a fool’s errand.” The company has other plans for its future self-driving initiatives.
Following the Model Y spotting in Florida on May 20th by Grayson Brulte, there was plenty of speculation regarding Tesla’s potential use of LiDAR systems for its self-driving programs that are still in development. In reality, Tesla has used LiDAR in the past to test its vehicles. The real reasoning behind the testing is not necessarily known, but there are plenty of speculative reasons for the Luminar rig’s installation on top of the Tesla Model Y, and one could be simple benchmarking to test Tesla’s admitted vision-based approach to Full Self-Driving.
Spotted in Palm Beach, Florida. A @Tesla Model Y with #LiDAR and CA Manufacturing (MFG) Plates. Can anyone offer details/insights? pic.twitter.com/5Uh4WU0U41
— Grayson Brulte (@gbrulte) May 20, 2021
To begin, Luminar stock had a healthy boost in value on Monday morning, where it peaked at nearly 9.5% higher than its closing price per share on Friday afternoon. Since the reports this morning, Luminar stock has settled down slightly, trading at only a .37% increase in price. Riding the wave of Tesla’s meteoric influence on stock price, it is probably safe to assume that the news of Tesla utilizing the company’s LiDAR equipment is the reason for the stock surge, but it isn’t expected to stay up there on Tesla’s support alone. Tesla won’t use LiDAR.
Tesla Model X spotted equipped with LiDAR sensors in the wild
Recently, Tesla scrapped its radar and camera-based approach to self-driving in favor of a camera-only system. CEO Elon Musk elaborated on Tesla’s decision to go with a camera-only approach during the Q1 2020 Earnings Call, where he compared the eight exterior cameras on a Tesla to having eight eyes on your head.
“And when your vision works, it works better than the best human because it’s like having eight cameras, it’s like having eyes in the back of your head, beside your head, and has three eyes of different focal distances looking forward. This is — and processing it at a speed that is superhuman. There’s no question in my mind that with a pure vision solution, we can make a car that is dramatically safer than the average person,” Musk said.
Nevertheless, the use of Luminar’s LiDAR systems, in particular, is interesting. Tesla recently lost its Vice President of Legal, Al Prescott, to Luminar. Additionally, Luminar sold the sensors to Tesla as a part of an agreement between the two companies, Bloomberg reported this morning.
Still, despite the use of LiDAR by Tesla as the company continues to refine its self-driving initiatives, there is no indication that Tesla will ever revert its stance on the systems. Earlier today, Tesla removed any reference to radar from its Model 3 and Model Y pages, further solidifying its confidence in camera and vision-based systems for its future rollout of the Full Self-Driving suite.
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Tesla could face emissions credit tax in Washington
Tesla could be subject to a tax on its emissions credit sales in Washington, just ahead of the beginning of the state’s phase-out of gas vehicles.

Tesla could face a new tax on the emissions credits it sells to other automakers, as introduced this month by legislators in the state of Washington.
As detailed in an op-ed from the Wall Street Journal on Monday, Democrats in Olympia have filed two companion bills proposing a 10 percent tax on the electric vehicle (EV) emissions credits Tesla sells, valued at roughly $1.79 billion globally last year. The emission credits market was created out of regulations requiring automakers to start phasing out gas vehicles, allowing Tesla, which only makes EVs, to sell the credits to gas automakers which aren’t able to meet the upcoming phase-out goals.
“The creation of these tradeable and bankable credits creates the opportunity for a financial windfall accruing to firms that are not burdened by the legacy production of internal combustion engine vehicle,” legislators wrote in the proposal. “It is the intent of the legislature to address this unintended outcome by taxing the windfall profits.”
Olympia Republicans went on to file a counter to the bill, which would effectively prohibit such a tax as well as “any other tax that applies to only one individual, business, or entity.”
READ MORE ON TESLA EMISSIONS CREDITS: Tesla to help automakers comply with the EU’s 2025 CO2 emission rules
Washington joined California in 2020 in setting regulations to phase out gas vehicles by 2035, requiring a maximum of 20 percent plugin hybrid vehicles sold in the year along with making 80 percent of the year’s sales fully electric. The initial phase-out regulations kick off in 2026, requiring automakers to make 35 percent of their new vehicles fully electric or plugin hybrids, before that level increases to 51 percent in 2028, and 68 percent in 2030.
Tesla’s vehicle sales in Washington made up just 10 percent of those sold in the state last year, while the company has about 54 percent of all emissions credits in the state, according to the Washington Policy Center.
The Wall Street Journal editorial calls the new proposals “abusive lawmaking,” saying that targeting a single company would be strongly opposed by progressives if it were suggested by the Trump administration. Additionally, the op-ed highlights that Tesla and CEO Elon Musk set the price for the emissions credits, meaning that they could simply charge automakers more for them to make up for money lost on the tax.
U.S. Supreme Court to hear challenge on California emission rule waiver
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Tesla’s Hollywood Diner is finally getting close to opening
Tesla’s construction of the Southern California diner, drive-in, and Supercharger hasn’t exactly been quick, but it appears to be getting close to opening.

Tesla looks to be getting closer to opening its highly anticipated diner, drive-in movie theater, and Supercharger location in Southern California, after the company began construction on the project in the latter part of 2023.
On Sunday, X user BLKMDL3 stopped by the Hollywood Tesla Diner location and shared photos of the site, noting that Superchargers are now lit up, parking lots are fully paved, and construction generally appears to be nearing completion. The news comes after Tesla has been building out the site for around 18 months, which many have pointed out is longer than some of the company’s latest production facilities have taken.
Tesla has yet to disclose when it plans to open the Supercharger location, though it appears to be getting closer than ever, at least as far as construction is concerned. The company also included some code related to integration with the diner in its latest version of the Tesla mobile app in January, along with posting its first job listings for the site in August.
You can see the latest progress on the Tesla Diner below, courtesy of X user BLKMDL3.

Credit: BLKMDL3 | X

Credit: BLKMDL3 | X

Credit: BLKMDL3 | X
Looks like the Tesla diner is about to open. This thing took forever to build, but it seems like it's finally happening! ⚡️🔋🚗
Who's gonna drop by here for a quick (or not so quick) charge and bite?🍽️ https://t.co/r1e6mTrlEF
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 21, 2025
READ MORE ON TESLA SUPERCHARGERS: Tesla is building a new UFO-inspired Supercharger in the heart of Alien country
The user also notes that the adjacent parking lot is being built out to include additional Supercharger stalls, with the actual lots for the diner including around 28 to 32 stalls total, consistent with permits for the project. Next door, the user says the company is building roughly an additional 50 or so stalls, though these aren’t likely to be open when the diner initially opens.
The site is located at 7001 West Santa Monica Boulevard, and according to Elon Musk’s original concepts for the Supercharger discussed on what was then Twitter in 2018, the unique charger is set to include a 1950s-style diner with rock and roll and waiters on roller skates, in addition to drive-in theater screens playing scenes from the best movies in history.
Tesla gained a series of construction permits for the project throughout 2023, before officially beginning construction in September 2023. You can see photos from the site below, taken just weeks after groundbreaking, as well as in January and April of last year.
Tesla’s LA Diner and Supercharger in November 2023

Credit: Ed Howard | X
Tesla’s LA Diner and Supercharger in January 2024

Credit: Fox 11 Los Angeles

Credit: ShorealoneFilms | X
Tesla’s LA Diner and Supercharger in April 2024

Credit: 247Tesla | YouTube

Credit: 247Tesla | YouTube
Tesla exec highlights advantages of prefabricated Superchargers
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Tesla building apparent Cybercab castings ahead of launch
Tesla has been producing what look like some Cybercab castings at Giga Texas, as spotted this week ahead of the vehicle’s upcoming launch.

Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas is building what appear to be castings for the upcoming Cybercab, ahead of the vehicle’s launch and the highly anticipated debut of Unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD).
On Monday, Tesla Giga Texas site observer Joe Tegtmeyer shared photos on X of some unique castings out beside the factory. Notably, Tegtmeyer points out that the castings are quite different from those of the Model Y and Cybertruck, which are currently the only two vehicles being produced at the Austin, Texas plant—at least publicly.
Some viewers noted that the castings appear to have a similar shape to the Cybercab, along with being one single casting, compared to the two-piece Giga casts the factory produces for the Model Y and Cybertruck. The shape appears to be consistent with Tesla’s unboxed production process, which is expected to build single-piece castings and will be used for the upcoming Cybercab.
You can see Tegtmeyer’s photos of the castings below, in comparison with the Cybercab body and castings for the Model Y and Cybertruck.
Giga Texas castings April 21, 2025, compared to Cybercab

Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X
Giga Texas Model Y rear casting

Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X
Giga Texas Cybertruck castings

Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X
🎥: Our FULL first ride in the @Tesla Cybercab pic.twitter.com/6gR7OgKRCz
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 11, 2024
READ MORE ON TESLA’S GIGA TEXAS: Tesla Cybercab no longer using chase vehicles in Giga Texas
In March, Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy confirmed in an interview with manufacturing expert Sandy Munro that Cybercab production would be starting prototype builds this summer, while the automaker is aiming to ramp for volume production in 2026.
While it isn’t summer yet, executives also confirmed in January that Cybercab production lines were already being prepared at Giga Texas, so it’s not unlikely that these castings are some of the upcoming vehicle’s first prototype builds.
The unboxed production process is also expected to revolutionize the automotive manufacturing industry, with CEO Elon Musk emphasizing how different the production line looks compared to its past vehicles during the Q1 2025 All-Hands meeting. Instead, Musk says the production line appears more like a high-speed consumer electronics line, and it’s expected to push Cybercab builds out in less than five seconds.
In a post on X earlier this month, Musk also reiterated that the Cybercab production line and the factory in general are essentially the products on their own, rather than just the cars themselves.
“The Tesla factory, especially our next gen Cybercab line, is the product,” Musk said. “That, autonomy and Optimus, are what matter.”
Tesla is also aiming to launch its first commercial robotaxi services around Austin, Texas this summer, along with launching its first iterations of Full Self-Driving (FSD) Unsupervised. The company is also holding its Q1 earnings call on Tuesday, during which executives are expected to address questions about the Cybercab and the upcoming commercial robotaxi service.
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