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Tesla Model 3 data is being sold to overseas competitors, suggests WSJ report

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Auto benchmarking company Caresoft Global is reportedly selling Tesla Model 3 data from second-hand vehicles it has acquired to Tesla’s competitors, including companies from overseas. 

Caresoft Global had a booth dedicated to its suite of services at the recently-held 2018 North American International Auto Show. The auto benchmarking company’s booth, which featured a Model 3 skeleton, became a point of interest for many attendees of the event, several of whom appeared to be employees of Tesla’s rivals. 

In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, Caresoft Global business manager Prideep Subramaniam stated that the company has attracted a lot of interest lately. The Caresoft executive even noted that just recently, members of a Chinese auto firm flew over just to test drive the vehicle and acquire data on the Model 3.

“There are people who flew down from China just to have a test drive with us,” Subramaniam said, according to a WSJ report.

Caresoft has been able to acquire several Model 3 by purchasing second-hand vehicles from early buyers of the electric car. According to the company, it has paid Tesla owners up to $100,000 to acquire a Model 3 in the used car market.

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While Tesla seems to be showing signs that the mass production of the Model 3 is well underway, the vehicle is still pretty rare, with only a few thousand of the electric cars being delivered to reservation holders to date. This, of course, makes it incredibly difficult for Tesla’s competitors to acquire units that they can analyze.

This is where Caresoft Global’s services come in. Caresoft offers a suite of services for parties interested in the Model 3. As noted in the company’s official website, the firm provides a service it dubs as Competitive Assessment, which, as the company states, takes the field of “automotive benchmarking to a whole new level.” Caresoft utilizes high-energy scan technologies integrated with a variety of methods to extract entire vehicle parametric CAD data. The auto-analysis firm also provides information on the material linearity of the Model 3, as well as schematics of the electric car’s motor and wiring structure.

As noted in the WSJ report, however, Caresoft Global’s services come at a very substantial price. The company, if any, knows the value of its Model 3 data, and it is currently offering them to Tesla’s competitors at prices that reach north of $500,000. While this amount seems exorbitant, it is pertinent to note that carmakers traditionally allow a significant amount of their budget in competitive analysis and study. Thus, the half-million price tag of Caresoft’s Model 3 data might actually be, at least for Tesla’s competitors, a small price to pay.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting: How to watch

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Credit: @YunTaTsai1 | X

The 2025 Tesla Annual Shareholder Meeting from Gigafactory Texas is set to kick off at 4 p.m. EDT, 3 p.m. CDT.

The company will be having its typical presentation for the event, where CEO Elon Musk, along with other executives will discuss things like future products, the outlook of its self-driving development, potential releases for next year, and some current events within the company.

However, this year’s Shareholder Meeting has slightly more implications than others, as Investors and Shareholders have spent the last several months petitioning and supporting one of the proposals on the docket that could be the deciding factor in Musk staying or leaving Tesla.

Elon Musk’s new pay plan ties trillionaire status to Tesla’s $8.5 trillion valuation

Proposal four outlines a new compensation package for Musk that could give him $1 trillion in shares if he is able to complete a variety of lofty goals related to production, self-driving, and other important company projects.

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Musk has said that he is truly after more influence on company decisions, especially as the Tesla Optimus program is ramping up and becoming a more relevant part of the company’s story.

The CEO said during the Q3 Earnings Call that he would not feel comfortable developing an “army of robots” if he did not have a comfortable amount of influence in some of the decisions. He could be voted our or out-influenced by what he calls “activist shareholders.”

One of those investors came after his past pay package, which was approved by shareholders not once, but twice. Musk still was not able to obtain the pay because of a Delaware Chancery Court ruling.

Nevertheless, this is one of the last ditch efforts Tesla is making to get Musk the compensation that he wants.

The meeting is set to kick off at 3 p.m. local time in Austin. You can watch it via the livestream on X:

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Tesla Cybercab sightings on public roads are becoming more frequent

After it was unveiled a year ago by Tesla, the company has made some pretty drastic jumps in progress in terms of the Cybercab, but a recent development has truly pushed fans of the company to think it is probably going to be available soon.

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Credit: Petersen Museum

Tesla Cybercab sightings on public roads are becoming much more frequent, and they all are pointing to one thing: imminent production.

The Tesla Cybercab is the company’s vehicle developed for fully autonomous travel, as it will be manufactured without a steering wheel or pedals, according to CEO Elon Musk.

Tesla Robotaxi Cybercab: Seats, price, special features, release date, and more

After it was unveiled a year ago by Tesla, the company has made some pretty drastic jumps in progress in terms of the Cybercab, but a recent development has truly pushed fans of the company to think it is probably going to be available soon.

Last week, we reported on the first Cybercab sighting when the vehicle was finally being tested on public roads. The spotting was not a one-time deal, as we are now seeing many more sightings on public roads:

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The first spotting was in Palo Alto, just a few blocks from Tesla’s Engineering Headquarters in Los Altos. This second sighting appears to be relatively close to that first spotting, and it seems unlikely Tesla would be putting it on roads much further than that.

The public on-road testing of the Cybercab marks a major milestone in the entire project for Tesla. These early sightings and testing phases are usually followed by a lot of speculation about when the vehicle could end up in the hands of customers.

However, Tesla has already put a definitive date on when Cybercab production will begin, as Elon Musk said during the Q3 Earnings Call that it would roll off production lines in Q2 of next year.

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But the speculation regarding the Cybercab is slightly different than other vehicles because Tesla has been developing it for fully autonomous travel; it’s not meant to be driven by humans but instead by software and the company’s Full Self-Driving suite.

Despite the vehicle being spotted with a steering wheel and pedals in the recent sightings, Musk has maintained that the Cybercab will not be developed with typical controls for a human. He recently confirmed this, and it does not seem the company is willing to veer too much from its plans for an autonomous car.

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Tesla Model Y Performance is rapidly moving toward customer deliveries

New drone images from noted drone operator and Gigafactory Texas observer Joe Tegtmeyer show Tesla is moving forward quickly in terms of its progress in producing the new Model Y Performance.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has rapidly progressed in the production of its most anticipated Model Y trim level: the Model Y Performance.

New drone images from noted drone operator and Gigafactory Texas observer Joe Tegtmeyer show Tesla is moving forward quickly in terms of its progress in producing the new Model Y Performance.

The vehicle is being spotted more frequently at the factory located just outside of Austin, with what appears to be the first units rolling out to outbound lots:

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In the United States, Tesla unveiled the Model Y Performance on September 30, the newest iteration of the fastest trim level of the best-selling car in the world for the past two years. It was launched on the very last day of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit in the United States.

It featured a handful of performance improvements, including a 0-60 MPH acceleration rate of 3.3 seconds, a trim from the 3.5 seconds the 2025 version offered.

Additionally, the range has gone from 277 miles to 308 miles, a notable improvement in terms of how far it can travel on a charge.

There are also a handful of hardware changes that Tesla made to improve its aerodynamic performance, which all likely can be attributed to the boost in speed and acceleration, as well as range.

The vehicle was initially launched in Europe, which was not surprising, especially as Tesla was testing the new Performance trim at the famed Nurburgring in Germany.

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Deliveries are currently slated for late November, but some orders are getting projections of mid-December for their Model Y Performance, which would help Tesla bolster its end-of-year delivery figures and follow up on an extremely bullish finish to Q3, which was the company’s strongest performance in history.

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