Investor's Corner
Tesla reveals Model 3 Performance “Dual Motor” badge and new pricing
Tesla has given the Model 3 Performance and Dual Motor AWD a considerable price cut. Now, a fully-loaded Model 3 Performance costs $72,000 without Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, $6,000 less than its initial price of $78,000. Buyers opting for the non-performance variant Model 3 with dual motors and a Long Range battery pack can expect to pay $53,000, $1000 less than before. Tesla’s pricing for Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving remains the same at $5,000 and $3000, respectively, though FSD will cost $5,000 when added after delivery.
Overall, Tesla was able to achieve a significant price drop for the Model 3 Performance by making some of its features (now dubbed as a $5,000 Premium Package) optional, such as its 20″ Performance Wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S summer tires, carbon fiber rear spoiler, aluminum alloy pedals, and a top speed boost that enables the electric car to max out at 155 mph. White seats and premium paint choices are also optional at $1,500 each. Without these, the Model 3 Performance, with its 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds and 310-mile range, could be bought for $64,000.
Particularly notable in the screenshots above is Tesla’s inclusion of the company’s Premium Connectivity package, an update that the company announced earlier this week.
“All orders placed before July 1 will receive Premium Connectivity with satellite maps with live traffic visualization, in-car streaming media and over-the-air updates via Wi-Fi & cellular,” reads the description for the Select Interior option in Tesla’s Model 3 Design Studio.
An image in the configurator also reveals, for the first time, that Model 3 Performance Dual Motor will have a “Dual Motor” badge with a red underline that Tesla has made synonymous with performance.
With the price adjustments to the Model 3 Performance, Tesla has managed to make its compact electric car an even more compelling purchase than before. At its original price of $78,000, the Model 3 Performance was already reasonably priced compared to established leaders in the high-performance compact segment, such as the BMW M3, Mercedes AMG C63S, and the Audi RS5, all of which can approach the $100,000 mark when fully loaded (the C63S actually breaches the $100,000 mark). With its adjusted price, the Model 3 Performance, which Elon Musk claimed would be 15% faster around the track than a BMW M3, just became a bargain.
The price drop trickled down to the Model 3 Dual Motor AWD as well. Prior to the recent adjustments, the additional motor for the vehicle cost an extra $5,000. Now, the Dual Motor variant costs only $4,000 more than the Long Range RWD version of the electric car. As of date, the delivery window for the Tesla Model 3 Performance is listed at 2-4 months. The Model 3 Dual Motor AWD, on the other hand, is listed with a 3-5-month delivery window, similar to the Long Range RWD variant of the compact electric car.
The Model 3 is Tesla’s first attempt at making a mass-market vehicle. Since starting production of the electric car in the middle of 2017, however, the production of the car has been beset with challenge after challenge, causing the company to miss its targets for the Model 3’s production numbers. As Q2 2018 ends, however, Tesla is closer than ever to attaining its goal of producing 5,000 Model 3 per week by the end of June, thanks in part to a new assembly line in a massive sprung structure on the grounds of the Fremont factory. In a recent tweet, Elon Musk noted that GA3, one of the Model 3 assembly lines inside the Fremont factory, is practically doing something miraculous. Sightings over the past weekend of lots filled to the brim with Model 3 were also spotted by Tesla fans, suggesting that the company has attained a production pace it has never reached before.
Investor's Corner
Tesla just did something in South Korea that no foreign carmaker has ever done
Tesla’s Model Y just became South Korea’s best-selling car, beating every domestic model in May.
Tesla did something last month that no foreign car has ever done in South Korea by outselling every vehicle in the country, domestic or imported, finishing the month with Model Y as the single best-selling car across the entire Korean market. According to data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association released on June 4, the Model Y recorded 8,762 units sold in May, pushing the Kia Sorento into second place at 7,836 units and the Hyundai Grandeur into third at 5,183 units. It is the first time an imported vehicle has outsold every domestic model on a single-month basis.
Tesla imported 10,866 cars into South Korea in May, making it the top import brand for the fourth consecutive month. BMW followed at 6,555 units, less than two-thirds of Tesla’s total, while BYD registered just 1,032 units. The combined domestic sales of GM Korea, Renault Korea, and KG Mobility last month totaled just 7,019 units, meaning a single Tesla model outsold three Korean automakers combined.
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South Korea has historically been one of the hardest markets for foreign automakers to crack. Hyundai and Kia together control close to 70% of the overall market and carry deep consumer loyalty built over decades. Tesla’s path into this market was an uphill battle due to high import duties, limited service infrastructure, and early skepticism about charging networks. In 2024, the Model Y was the best-selling imported car in South Korea with 18,717 units for the full year. By 2025, after the Juniper refresh, it cleared 50,000 units and took the top spot among all EVs.
Year to date, Tesla has a 250.8% increase in the country over the same period last year, and now holds a 30.8% share of the entire imported car segment for 2026. EVs as a category represented 48.6% of all imported passenger car registrations in May. As Teslarati has reported, the Juniper refresh brought meaningful improvements to range, interior quality, and ride refinement that addressed the most common criticisms of earlier Model Y versions. Those upgrades appear to be resonating in markets like South Korea where buyers compare Tesla directly against high end domestic competitors.
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.
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.
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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.
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