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Hertz’s 100k Tesla Model 3 order was bought at full price, confirms Elon Musk

(Credit: Hertz)

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Elon Musk has confirmed that Hertz paid full price for its massive Tesla Model 3 order. Recently, news broke that the American car rental giant ordered 100,000 Model 3 vehicles for its fleet. “To be clear, cars sold to Hertz have no discount. Same price as to consumers,” Elon Musk pointed out on Twitter.

Musk’s comment highlighted the strong demand that’s being experienced by Tesla’s vehicles worldwide. Typically, carmakers tend to implement discounts for orders as large as Hertz’s. The fact that Tesla had the car rental giant pay full price for its 100,000 Model 3s shows that the company is treating Hertz like a regular customer, similar to any other EV buyer in the market.

On its official website, Hertz calls the Tesla Model the “flag bearer for the electric cars market.”

“Look at the reviews of Model 3 and you’ll find this best-selling electric vehicle has 5-stars nearly across the board. A sleek and compact sedan, it competes with and surpasses many equivalent gas-engine models from rival manufacturers and has the advantage of zero emissions. And, because it’s from Tesla, you can be confident that it offers the most advanced tech you’ll find in any car,” Hertz said about the Model 3.

The car rental company claims that it now has the largest electric vehicle rental fleet in North America. With 100,000 Model 3 in its fleet, Hertz certainly seems confident about Tesla and its best-selling sedan. Hertz’s Model 3 purchase also seemed to instill confidence in Tesla as a company.

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After the Hertz deal was announced, TSLA stock moved up, breaking the $1,000 barrier and resulting in the company’s market cap hitting the $1 trillion mark. Elon Musk noted that the stock’s rise was strange.

“Strange that moved valuation, as Tesla is very much a production ramp problem, not a demand problem,” Musk tweeted.

Tesla’s demand is as potent as ever, especially since the pandemic proved the need to transition to renewable energy in almost all markets. As Musk pointed out, Tesla is still working on ramping production to meet demand.

At the last earnings call, Tesla VP of Engineering Lars Moravy pointed out that the company is focusing on ramping and improving production on its current line of products. He added that adding more vehicles to the lineup is not Tesla’s main focus for now. Moravy further mentioned the supply chain challenges Tesla has faced and possible supply chain headwinds in the future.

However, Tesla seems to be handling supply chain challenges very well, especially as it continues to raise its production capabilities, most notably with its Gigafactories. Giga Shanghai has already proven quite effective as an export hub, dealing with demand in Asia and Europe. Giga Berlin and Gigafactory Texas will likely do the same once they begin operations.

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Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Tesla celebrates 75k Superchargers, less than 5 months since 70k-stall milestone

Tesla’s 75,000th stall is hosted at the South Hobart Smart Store on Cascade Road, South Hobart, Tasmania.

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Credit: Tesla Charging/X

Tesla has crossed another major charging milestone by officially installing its 75,000th Supercharger stall worldwide. The electric vehicle maker chose South Hobart, Tasmania, as the commemorative location of its 75,000th Supercharger. 

Tesla’s 75,000th Supercharger

Tesla’s 75,000th stall is hosted at the South Hobart Smart Store on Cascade Road, South Hobart, TAS 7004, as noted in a techAU report. The location features four next-generation V4 Superchargers, which are built with longer cables that should make it easy even for non-Teslas to use the rapid charger. The site also includes simplified payment options, aligning with Tesla’s push to make V4 stations more accessible to a broader set of drivers.

For Tasmanian EV owners, the installation fills an important regional gap, improving long-distance coverage around Hobart and strengthening the area’s appeal for mainland travelers traveling by electric vehicle. Similar to other commemorative Superchargers, the 70,000th stall is quite special as it is finished in Glacier Blue paint. Tesla’s 50,000th stall, which is in California, is painted a stunning red, and the 60,000th stall, which is in Japan, features unique origami-inspired graphics.

https://twitter.com/TeslaCharging/status/1991019320584122471?s=20

Accelerating Supercharger milestones

The Tesla Supercharger’s pace of expansion shows no signs of slowing. Tesla celebrated its 70,000th stall at a 12-stall site in Burleson, Texas late June 2025. Just eight months earlier, Tesla announced that it had celebrated the buildout of its 60,000th Supercharger, which was built in Enshu Morimachi, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Tesla’s Supercharger Network also recently received accolades in the United Kingdom, with the 2025 Zapmap survey naming the rapid charging system as the Best Large EV Charging Network for the second year in a row. Survey respondents praised the Supercharger Network for its ease of use, price, and reliability, which is best-in-class. The fact that the network has also been opened for non-Teslas is just icing on the cake. 

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Luminar-Volvo breakdown deepens as lidar maker warns of potential bankruptcy

The automaker stated that Luminar failed to meet contractual obligations.

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(Credit: Volvo)

Luminar’s largest customer, Volvo, has canceled a key five-year contract as the lidar supplier warned investors that it might be forced to file for bankruptcy. The automaker stated that Luminar failed to meet contractual obligations, escalating a dispute already unfolding as Luminar defaults on loans, undergoes layoffs, and works to sell portions of the business.

Volvo pulls back on Luminar

In a statement to TechCrunch, Volvo stated that Luminar’s failure to deliver its contractual obligations was a key driver of the cancellation of the contract. “Volvo Cars has made this decision to limit the company’s supply chain risk exposure and it is a direct result of Luminar’s failure to meet its contractual obligations to Volvo Cars,” Volvo noted in a statement.

The rift marked a notable turn for the two companies, whose relationship dates back several years. Volvo invested in Luminar early and helped push its sensors into production programs, while Luminar’s technology bolstered the credibility of Volvo’s safety-focused autonomous driving plans. Volvo’s partnership also supported Luminar’s 2020 SPAC listing, which briefly made founder Austin Russell one of the youngest self-made billionaires in the industry.

Damaged Volvo relations

The damaged Volvo partnership comes during a critical period for Luminar. The company has defaulted on several loans and warned investors that bankruptcy remains a possibility if restructuring discussions fall through. To conserve cash, Luminar has cut 25% of its workforce and is exploring strategic alternatives, including partial or full asset sales. 

One potential buyer is founder Austin Russell, who resigned as CEO in May amid a board-initiated ethics inquiry. The company is also the subject of an ongoing SEC investigation.

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Luminar, for its part, also noted in a filing that it had “made a claim against Volvo for significant damages” and “suspended further commitments of Iris” for the carmaker. “The Company is in discussions with Volvo concerning the dispute; however, there can be no assurance that the dispute will be resolved favorably or at all,” the lidar maker stated.

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Elon Musk says he’s open to powering Apple’s Siri with xAI’s Grok

Siri, one of the first intelligent AI assistants in the market, has become widely outdated and outperformed by rivals over the years.

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Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk says he’s willing to help Apple overhaul Siri by integrating xAI’s Grok 4.1, igniting widespread excitement and speculations about a potential collaboration between the two tech giants. 

Siri, one of the first intelligent AI assistants in the market, has become widely outdated and outperformed by rivals over the years.

Musk open to an Apple collaboration

Musk’s willingness to team up with Apple surfaced after an X user suggested replacing Siri with Grok 4.1 to modernize the AI assistant. The original post criticized Siri’s limitations and urged Apple to adopt a more advanced AI system. “It’s time for Apple to team up with xAI and actually fix Siri. Replace that outdated, painfully dumb assistant with Grok 4.1. Siri deserves to be Superintelligent,” the X user wrote.

Musk quoted the post, responding with, “I’m down.” Musk’s comment quickly attracted a lot of attention among X’s users, many of whom noted that a Grok update to Siri would be appreciated because Apple’s AI assistant has legitimately become terrible in recent years. Others also noted that Grok, together with Apple’s potential integration of Starlink connectivity, would make iPhones even more compelling. 

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1990651578965967050?s=20

Grok promises major Siri upgrades

The enthusiasm stems largely from Grok 4.1’s technical strengths, which include stronger reasoning and improved creative output. xAI also designed the model to reduce hallucinations, as noted in a Reality Tea report. Supporters believe these improvements could address Apple’s reported challenges developing its own advanced AI systems, giving Siri the upgrade many users have waited years for.

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Reactions ranged from humorous to hopeful, with some users joking that Siri would finally “wake up with a personality” if paired with Grok. Siri, after all, was a trailblazer in voice assistants, but it is currently dominated by rivals in terms of features and capabilities. Grok could change that, provided that Apple is willing to collaborate with Elon Musk’s xAI.

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