Investor's Corner
Tesla Mid-Range Model 3 production ramp kicks off with 4.5k RWD VIN registrations
As Tesla heads towards its earlier-than-expected Q3 2018 earnings call, the company’s Model 3 production ramp continues to show signs that it is going smoothly. Just yesterday, Tesla registered another large batch of 4,500 new Model 3 VINs, all of which appear to be RWD versions of the electric sedan. Tesla had also registered 38,211 Model 3 since the beginning of October, setting up the company for what could very well be a record month in terms of new Model 3 VIN registrations.
#Tesla registered 4,500 new #Model3 VINs. ~0% estimated to be dual motor. Highest VIN is 156129. https://t.co/cw9lfjMZDw
— Model 3 VINs (@Model3VINs) October 22, 2018
While Tesla’s VIN registrations do not specifically list the cars’ Long Range or Mid Range battery, the company’s push for the MR version and the absence of the LR variant in the Model 3 configurator do suggest that the latest VIN filings correspond to the Mid Range Model 3 RWD. With this new batch, Twitter’s Model 3 VIN tracking group @Model3VINs notes that Tesla had registered a total of 156,129 Model 3 VINs to date.
Tesla’s new Model 3 VIN filings come at a time when the company is pushing the electric car’s newest variant — the Mid Range Model 3 RWD — to reservation holders. Musk seems to have teased the vehicle on the social media platform a day before it was officially announced, stating that a “lemur” was coming. Neither Tesla nor Elon Musk has announced the reasons behind the lemur reference, though the little primate might be a clever play on the LEMR variation of the electric car (Limited Edition Mid Range, perhaps?).
Considering that the Mid Range RWD variant is a vehicle that puts Tesla one step closer to the $35,000 Standard trim Model 3, the new electric car variant could very well see a lot of demand. The Mid Range Model 3 RWD currently has an estimated delivery time of 6-10 weeks, after all, which would allow buyers to take delivery of the vehicle at a time when Tesla’s full $7,500 Federal Tax Credit is still in full effect. Taking the $7,500 tax credit and estimated gas savings into account, Tesla’s Mid Range Model 3 RWD has an estimated cost of ownership in the $33,200 range.
Tesla’s decision to offer a Mid Range variant to the Model 3 could be seen as a strategic move by the electric car maker. The vehicle, after all, takes advantage of its remaining $7,500 federal tax credit to lower the vehicle’s total cost of ownership. Elon Musk’s later tweets also revealed that the introduction of the new electric car variant would likely not weigh down the Model 3 production ramp either, as the Mid Range Model 3 RWD uses the same battery pack as the Long Range RWD version, albeit with fewer battery cells.
It’s a long range battery with fewer cells. Non-cell portion of the pack is disproportionately high, but we can get it done now instead of ~February
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 18, 2018
The Mid Range Model 3 RWD represents a $4,000 price savings from the Long Range RWD variant that starts at $49,000 before incentives. There are some performance compromises with the Mid Range Model 3 RWD, though, in the form of a 0-60 mph time of 5.6 seconds, a top speed of 125 mph, and a driving range of 260 miles per charge. In comparison, the Long Range Model 3 RWD has a 5.1-second 0-60 time, a top speed of 140 mph, and a range of 310 miles per charge.
The introduction of the Mid Range Model 3 RWD could ultimately be a way for Tesla to boost its production and delivery numbers further this Q4. The company set the bar high in Q3 with its record deliveries and production figures, after all, and it would take even more impressive numbers for the company to become profitable in the fourth quarter. With this in mind, the Mid Range Model 3 RWD could very well be the catalyst for Tesla’s profitability this Q4, due to its potential to attract budget-conscious reservation holders waiting for low-cost versions of the vehicle.
Tesla has announced that it would be holding its Q3 earnings call on Wednesday, October 24, 2018. The live Q&A session is set for 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time (6:30 p.m. Eastern Time) to accommodate requests from several analysts.
Investor's Corner
SpaceX IPO set to provide massive $11.6B windfall for teacher pension plan
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) stands to reap one of the most extraordinary returns in pension fund history thanks to a bold 2019 investment in SpaceX.
According to a recent report from The Globe and Mail, the Toronto-based fund invested roughly $300 million CAD (~$220 million USD at the time) in Elon Musk’s space company as its inaugural deal through the Teachers’ Innovation Platform.
At SpaceX’s anticipated $1.75 trillion IPO valuation, set for a mid-June debut on Nasdaq under ticker $SPCX, that stake could now be worth up to $11.6 billion USD. This would represent a roughly 50x return and easily become OTPP’s most successful single investment ever.
The fund manages $279 billion in assets for approximately 346,000 working and retired teachers in Ontario, potentially delivering an average boost of around $33,500 per member if fully realized.
SpaceX has filed its S-1 and plans to price shares at $135 each, aiming to raise a record $75 billion in what would be the largest IPO in history, surpassing Saudi Aramco. The company reported $18.67 billion in revenue for 2025, driven primarily by Starlink satellite internet growth and NASA contracts, though it continues to post significant losses tied to ambitious R&D in Starship and AI initiatives.
Important pieces moving forward include:
- Starlink Expansion: The satellite broadband service is scaling rapidly, targeting global connectivity, especially in underserved rural and remote areas. This segment offers massive recurring revenue potential as numbers climb.
- Starship and Reusability Leadership: SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship aims to slash launch costs dramatically, enabling frequent missions, Mars ambitions, and lucrative government/defense contracts. Success here could unlock exponential growth.
- AI and Diversification: Recent moves, including ties to xAI, position SpaceX in high-growth AI infrastructure, broadening beyond traditional aerospace.
- Validation Scrutiny: While the $1.75 trillion target excites investors, analysts like Morningstar value the company closer to $780 billion, citing high multiples (around 90x trailing revenue) and execution risks. A 180-day lockup period will prevent early investors like OTPP from selling immediately post-IPO.
The irony has not been lost on observers. Ontario’s government previously canceled a Starlink rural internet contract amid political tensions involving Musk, yet the pension fund’s savvy investment, made when SpaceX was valued around $33-36 billion, and Starlink was nascent, delivers outsized gains independent of politics.
For OTPP, this windfall strengthens its already solid 111 percent funding ratio and underscores the value of patient, innovation-focused capital allocation.
For SpaceX, the IPO marks a new chapter: greater transparency, access to public markets for talent retention and growth capital, and heightened pressure to deliver on its multi-planetary vision.
All eyes are fixed on whether SpaceX can justify its lofty valuation through sustained execution. For Ontario teachers, the returns are already stellar, but SpaceX, like other Musk companies in the past, has plenty of things to prove. Perhaps the most ideal person for the job is at the helm, hoping to bring the company to a massive valuation.
Investor's Corner
Tesla has its answer to auto growth, it just has to bring it to the U.S.: analyst
Tesla has its answer to grow its automotive sales over the next few years, TD Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli says, but it just has to bring it to the U.S.
On Thursday, Michaeli reiterated his $490 price target and the ‘Buy’ rating he already held on Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA). However, its automotive division has struggled to show sequential growth over the past few years, mostly due to its focus on AI and Full Self-Driving. Tesla already axed two of its lower-volume vehicles with the Model S and Model X earlier this year.
However, Tesla does not need to engineer an entire new vehicle to trigger an upward tick in sales; it just has to bring it from China to the U.S., Michaeli said.
He is talking about the Model Y L, a slightly larger version of the all-electric crossover that is already available in China. U.S. customers have been pleading with CEO Elon Musk to bring it to the country since its launch in Asia last year, but he’s not convinced of it because of the advent of self-driving and its importance in this particular market.
The problem is that Tesla owners have been requesting something larger that could fit a typical American family. The Model Y L is slightly larger than the standard Model Y, but some are concerned that it could still be too small to fit what most people might need.
Instead, they have asked for a full-size SUV from Tesla.
Tesla gives big hint that it will build Cyber SUV, smaller Cybertruck
Nevertheless, the Model Y L still presents a great opportunity for Tesla in the U.S., and Michaeli says that there is an additional sales opportunity of about 100,000 units, with demand potential falling somewhere between 60,000 and 135,000 units.
TD Cowen’s note to investors also analyzed that Tesla’s growth could come from a stock perspective as well, positively impacting the stock price, as it has been widely reliant on vehicle sales, even though Tesla has truly phased itself away from that being an important metric.
Tesla stands to gain greatly from the introduction of the Model Y L in the U.S., but only if Elon Musk sees it as a viable fit for the market. Families may need to see Tesla bring something larger to the U.S., or they might be forced to buy from another automaker that offers something that fits is needs for more interior space to haul around the kids.
Elon Musk
SpaceXAI just launched into your kitchen with their new app
SpaceXAI just powered its first consumer app and it predicts what you want to buy.
SpaceXAI just made its first move into consumer AI, and it involves your grocery cart. On June 3, 2026, Gopuff and SpaceXAI announced the launch of Go, a Grok-powered shopping assistant built directly into the Gopuff app that predicts what you need before you even start searching for it.
Gopuff is an instant delivery platform that operates more than 400 micro-fulfillment centers across the U.S., delivering everyday essentials, snacks, drinks, and household items in as little as 15 minutes. It is not a restaurant delivery app or a marketplace. It owns its inventory, controls its warehouses, and handles its own logistics, which means it has built one of the most detailed consumer behavior datasets in retail over its 13-year history.
Go combines SpaceXAI’s advanced reasoning, voice, and image generation models with Gopuff’s dataset of hundreds of millions of orders and real-time cultural signals from X to prepare a suggested cart the moment a customer opens the app. It learns each shopper’s habits and automatically builds a personalized cart based on time of day, location, order history, and real-time indicators. Returning customers can check out with a single tap.
Rather than searching for specific items, users can describe a situation like a game-day party or the desire for a healthy breakfast and Go will assemble a cart automatically. It can also predict when shoppers are running low on items like coffee or paper towels and have them packed and delivered in under 15 minutes. Grok voice integration lets users talk to the app in plain conversational language and check out completely hands-free.
Gopuff co-founder and co-CEO Yakir Gola said: “Today, we believe the greatest friction left in commerce is not delivery or instantaneous access to the essentials customers need. It’s the moment before: the thinking, the deciding, the remembering. We’re combining Gopuff’s demand intelligence with xAI’s frontier reasoning to create an everyday shopping experience that feels like a true extension of you.”
Why SpaceX just made a $60 billion bet on AI coding ahead of historic IPO
The timing carries context beyond the product launch. SpaceXAI was formed after SpaceX completed an all-stock merger with Elon Musk’s xAI earlier this year, folding one of the most advanced AI labs in the world into the same corporate structure as the company preparing what could be the largest IPO in history. SpaceXAI is dipping into consumer-focused AI just as it prepares for its public debut, and while Musk has openly discussed building an everything app, this launch uses Grok to power another company’s product rather than launching a standalone consumer platform. Every consumer-facing deployment of Grok ahead of the IPO roadshow adds tangible evidence that SpaceXAI is not just an infrastructure play but a direct competitor in the AI application layer where OpenAI and Google are already fighting for dominance.