When will that ‘light bulb moment’ happen with the car buying public? When will they pivot en masse from fossil fuel powered cars to electric vehicles? Australia’s chief scientist, Alan Finkel, owns two electric cars and says, “You just touch the accelerator and the car responds, whereas in a petrol car there is a lag of two tenths of a second… There is something magical about the responsiveness of it.” And it’s not just EV performance that’s so compelling.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said in the past, “If somebody said you’re gonna pour the liquid remains of dinosaurs into your vehicle and burn them in order to move from one place to another, releasing toxic fumes – and by the way, you better not have your car on in a closed room cause you’re gonna die – you’d say, ‘Why are we doing that?’ People drive basically parked in traffic with the air inlet [open] for their cabin right in front of the exhaust pipe of another car. It’s insane. You’re sucking up the toxic gas from the car in front of you.”
Finkel puts this all in historical perspective, he reminds us, “In the 1880s, the idea of electric street lights seemed absurd. If you had to light the streets, you did it with gas. Gas lamps were a fire hazard, smelled terrible and were barely an improvement on total darkness. Apart from that, they were fine… The problems were obvious, the potential was only visible to those with the courage to look.”
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Above: Before electric lights started to illuminate the world, the dominant form of lighting was gas lamps (Image: Eaton)
Finkel admits that early on, “gas-lamp defenders were right: the first generation electric lights were undeniably more expensive. The technology was untested at scale. Above all, it was unfamiliar. How could you picture a street lit up with 50 times the brilliance of the only lamps you had ever known? How could you project ahead to the night-time economy – the world of cinemas and bars, of night-time shopping and safe city transport, made possible by cheap and abundant electric light?”
As EV battery costs plummet, there are similar parallels to be drawn with today’s auto industry. Finkel notes, “I think of the gas lamp when I hear arguments against electric cars… [and] let’s look at lifestyle and convenience. Imagine if you couldn’t charge your smartphone at home – if you had to schedule time in your day to ‘fill up’ at a public charger. You’d be outraged. So what’s so bad about a car you never have to take to a petrol station? It’s convenient!”
Perhaps Finkel is onto something. Once cars like the Tesla Model 3, Chevy Bolt, and Nissan Leaf begin to hit the mainstream, the car buying public might (finally) envision a brighter future. As these cars move beyond the early adopters, electric cars will boast inherent advantages that will (in retrospect) seem obvious to the masses — zero dirty tailpipe emissions, addictive on-demand torque, and a “gas station” (ahem, charger) in your own garage. Soon, the dark days of dinosaur-juice cars could come to a close… it’s time to turn on the lights.
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Note: Article originally published on evannex.com, by Matt Pressman
Investor's Corner
Tesla (TSLA) Q4 and FY 2025 earnings results
Tesla’s Q4 and FY 2025 earnings come on the heels of a quarter where the company produced over 434,000 vehicles, delivered over 418,000 vehicles, and deployed 14.2 GWh of energy storage products.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has released its Q4 and FY 2025 earnings results in an update letter. The document was posted on the electric vehicle maker’s official Investor Relations website after markets closed today, January 28, 2025.
Tesla’s Q4 and FY 2025 earnings come on the heels of a quarter where the company produced over 434,000 vehicles, delivered over 418,000 vehicles, and deployed 14.2 GWh of energy storage products.
For the Full Year 2025, Tesla produced 1,654,667 and delivered 1,636,129 vehicles. The company also deployed a total of 46.7 GWh worth of energy storage products.
Tesla’s Q4 and FY 2025 results
As could be seen in Tesla’s Q4 and FY 2025 Update Letter, the company posted GAAP EPS of $0.24 and non-GAAP EPS of $0.50 per share in the fourth quarter. Tesla also posted total revenues of $24.901 billion. GAAP net income is also listed at $840 million in Q4.
Analyst consensus for Q4 has Tesla earnings per share falling 38% to $0.45 with revenue declining 4% to $24.74 billion, as per estimates from FactSet. In comparison, the consensus compiled by Tesla last week forecasted $0.44 per share on sales totaling $24.49 billion.
For FY 2025, Tesla posted GAAP EPS of $1.08 and non-GAAP EPS of $1.66 per share. Tesla also posted total revenues of $94.827 billion, which include $69.526 billion from automotive and $12.771 billion from the battery storage business. GAAP net income is also listed at $3.794 billion in FY 2025.
Below is Tesla’s Q4 and FY 2025 update letter.
TSLA-Q4-2025-Update by Simon Alvarez
Tesla has rolled out a new Supercharging safety feature in the United States, one that will answer concerns that some owners may have if they need to leave in a pinch.
It is also a suitable alternative for non-Tesla chargers, like third-party options that feature J1772 or CCS to NACS adapters.
The feature has been available in Europe for some time, but it is now rolling out to Model 3 and Model Y owners in the U.S.
With Software Update 2026.2.3, Tesla is launching the Unlatching Charge Cable function, which will now utilize the left rear door handle to release the charging cable from the port. The release notes state:
“Charging can now be stopped and the charge cable released by pulling and holding the rear left door handle for three seconds, provided the vehicle is unlocked, and a recognized key is nearby. This is especially useful when the charge cable doesn’t have an unlatch button. You can still release the cable using the vehicle touchscreen or the Tesla app.”
The feature was first spotted by Not a Tesla App.
This is an especially nice feature for those who commonly charge at third-party locations that utilize plugs that are not NACS, which is the Tesla standard.
For example, after plugging into a J1772 charger, you will still be required to unlock the port through the touchscreen, which is a minor inconvenience, but an inconvenience nonetheless.
Additionally, it could be viewed as a safety feature, especially if you’re in need of unlocking the charger from your car in a pinch. Simply holding open the handle on the rear driver’s door will now unhatch the port from the car, allowing you to pull it out and place it back in its housing.
This feature is currently only available on the Model 3 and Model Y, so Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck owners will have to wait for a different solution to this particular feature.
News
LG Energy Solution pursuing battery deal for Tesla Optimus, other humanoid robots: report
Optimus is expected to be one of Tesla’s most ambitious projects, with Elon Musk estimating that the humanoid robot could be the company’s most important product.
A recent report has suggested that LG Energy Solution is in discussions to supply batteries for Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot.
Optimus is expected to be one of Tesla’s most ambitious projects, with Elon Musk estimating that the humanoid robot could be the company’s most important product.
Humanoid robot battery deals
LG Energy Solution shares jumped more than 11% on the 28th after a report from the Korea Economic Daily claimed that the company is pursuing battery supply and joint development agreements with several humanoid robot makers. These reportedly include Tesla, which is developing Optimus, as well as multiple Chinese robotics companies.
China is already home to several leading battery manufacturers, such as CATL and BYD, making the robot makers’ reported interest in LG Energy Solution quite interesting. Market participants interpreted the reported outreach as a signal that performance requirements for humanoid robots may favor battery chemistries developed by companies like LG.
LF Energy Solution vs rivals
According to the report, energy density is believed to be the primary reason humanoid robot developers are evaluating LG Energy Solution’s batteries. Unlike electric vehicles, humanoid robots have significantly less space available for battery packs while requiring substantial power to operate dozens of joint motors and onboard artificial intelligence processors.
LG Energy Solution’s ternary lithium batteries offer higher energy density compared with rivals’ lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are widely used by Chinese EV manufacturers. That advantage could prove critical for humanoid robots, where runtime, weight, and compact packaging are key design constraints.
Tesla (TSLA) Q4 and FY 2025 earnings results
Tesla rolls out new Supercharging safety feature in the U.S.
