Tesla Model S is closing in on 400 miles of range per charge. With this update, Tesla has definitively extended its lead in the EV market, putting it far ahead — at least from a range perspective — against its biggest competitors. What’s rather interesting is that the Model S’ 390-mile range is just the tip of the iceberg.
Being a constantly-innovating company, it’s difficult to put the finger on the generations of vehicles that Tesla releases. Yet one look at the company’s upcoming electric cars and one would know that its next vehicles will feature next-generation technology. The Model Y, for example, is built from the company’s experiences with the Model 3, and pictures of the all-electric crossover in the assembly line hint that its casting may be quite unique. Tesla will likely not experience as many challenges ramping the Model Y compared to its previous vehicles, and this is likely due to the company’s experience.
There’s the Semi and the Cybertruck as well, both of which are large vehicles that would otherwise require a ton of batteries to get their estimated range. Yet in the case of the Cybertruck, the vehicle will be offering over 500 miles of range for less than $70,000. How Tesla will accomplish this remains to be seen, but Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry noted that the Cybertruck is on a “completely different technology orbit” after taking a test ride in the all-electric truck at Tesla’s Fremont factory.
Some of these improvements are already coming soon. Later this year, Tesla is expected to release the Model S’ Plaid Powertrain variant, which will be track-capable and boast an insane amount of power with its tri-motor setup. Elon Musk noted recently on Twitter that the Plaid Model S has “absurd” performance, though the electric car maker will ensure that the vehicle still gets enough range. This comment may seem like a typical Elon Musk update, but it shows a lot about Tesla’s experience as a veteran electric car maker.
Making an electric car is not easy. Making a great electric car is twice as difficult. This is something that veteran automakers are now learning, with each vehicle that they release. Premium EVs seem to be the ones learning this lesson the hardest, especially as otherwise great cars like the Audi e-tron and the Jaguar I-PACE end up being bogged down by issues such as range. Yet among carmakers and “Tesla Killers” that have come out, the Porsche Taycan seems to be the best example of this experience gap.
The Porsche Taycan is a beautifully-designed electric sports car, and it works like one. It’s top-tier variant, the $185,000 Taycan Turbo S, is arguably the only vehicle that can beat a Raven Model S Performance on the drag strip fair and square. Yet for all its speed and power, the Taycan suffers from poor efficiency, as evidenced by the Turbo S’ 192-mile EPA rated range. Granted, tests from motoring publication Car and Driver suggest that the Taycan’s range is more tuned for Autobahn driving, but the gap between the vehicle and the Model S is very evident. This becomes even more notable when one considers that both cars’ battery packs are similarly-sized.
The Model S’ Long Range Plus update means that through incremental improvements on electric car batteries, Tesla is now able to draw out 390 miles out of a 100 kWh pack. That’s just about 20 miles short of Rivian’s 400-mile trucks, and those vehicles are equipped with a 180 kWh battery pack. This matters a lot, and this is a benchmark that will probably take a few years to beat.
During Porsche’s Annual Press Conference last year, the company’s executives focused a lot of their discussions on the Taycan, whose development represented a multi-billion-dollar initiative for the company. Following the main conference, I was fortunate enough to be part of a group of reporters who were able to get a brief Q&A session with Porsche Board Member for Sales and Marketing Detlev Von Platen. When it was my turn to ask a question, I inquired about Porsche’s strategy about the Taycan’s range, and how the company plans to prevent the vehicle from being the electric equivalent of a gas guzzler.
The Board Member’s response did not directly address my inquiry, though he did emphasize that Porsche is no neophyte with battery tech due to its efforts with high-performance hybrid sports cars like the 918 Spyder. This is a fair point to make, of course, though looking at the Taycan’s range, it appears that the company still needs a few more iterations of its flagship electric car before it can expertly balance performance and range in a pure EV. The Tesla Model S Plaid is coming to establish itself as the undisputed king of consumer EVs, after all. If Elon Musk’s words are any indication, it would be a triple-motor monster with frighteningly quick acceleration and a range that’s still close to 400 miles.
That’s going to be a far tougher rival than the Tesla Model S Performance.
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Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention.”
Tesla has launched its coolest gift idea ever, just a few weeks after it was announced.
Tesla is now giving owners the opportunity to gift Full Self-Driving for one month to friends or family through a new gifting program that was suggested to the company last month.
The program will enable people to send a fellow Tesla owner one month of the company’s semi-autonomous driving software, helping them to experience the Full Self-Driving suite and potentially help Tesla gain them as a subscriber of the program, or even an outright purchase.
Tesla is going to allow owners to purchase an FSD Subscription for another owner for different month options
You’ll be able to gift FSD to someone! https://t.co/V29dhf5URj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 3, 2025
Tesla has officially launched the program on its Shop. Sending one month of Full Self-Driving costs $112:
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention. All sales are final. Can only be purchased and redeemed in the U.S. This gift card is valued at $112.00 and is intended to cover the price of one month of FSD (Supervised), including up to 13% sales tax. It is not guaranteed to cover the full monthly price if pricing or tax rates change. This gift card can be stored in Tesla Wallet and redeemed toward FSD (Supervised) or any other Tesla product or service that accepts gift card payments.”
Tesla has done a great job of expanding Full Self-Driving access over the past few years, especially by offering things like the Subscription program, free trials through referrals, and now this gift card program.
Gifting Full Self-Driving is another iteration of Tesla’s “butts in seats” strategy, which is its belief that it can flip consumers to its vehicles and products by simply letting people experience them.
There is also a reason behind pushing Full Self-Driving so hard, and it has to do with CEO Elon Musk’s compensation package. One tranche requires Musk to achieve a certain number of active paid Full Self-Driving subscriptions.
More people who try the suite are likely to pay for it over the long term.
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Tesla expands Robotaxi app access once again, this time on a global scale
Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.
Tesla has expanded Robotaxi app access once again, but this time, it’s on a much broader scale as the company is offering the opportunity for those outside of North America to download the app.
Tesla Robotaxi is the company’s early-stage ride-hailing platform that is active in Texas, California, and Arizona, with more expansion within the United States planned for the near future.
Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.
The platform has massive potential, and Tesla is leaning on it to be a major contributor to even more disruption in the passenger transportation industry. So far, it has driven over 550,000 miles in total, with the vast majority of this coming from the Bay Area and Austin.
First Look at Tesla’s Robotaxi App: features, design, and more
However, Tesla is focusing primarily on rapid expansion, but most of this is reliant on the company’s ability to gain regulatory permission to operate the platform in various regions. The expansion plans go well outside of the U.S., as the company expanded the ability to download the app to more regions this past weekend.
So far, these are the areas it is available to download in:
- Japan
- Thailand
- Hong Kong
- South Korea
- Australia
- Taiwan
- Macau
- New Zealand
- Mexico
- U.S.
- Canada
Right now, while Tesla is focusing primarily on expansion, it is also working on other goals that have to do with making it more widely available to customers who want to grab a ride from a driverless vehicle.
One of the biggest goals it has is to eliminate safety monitors from its vehicles, which it currently utilizes in Austin in the passenger’s seat and in the driver’s seat in the Bay Area.
A few weeks ago, Tesla started implementing a new in-cabin data-sharing system, which will help support teams assist riders without anyone in the front of the car.
Tesla takes a step towards removal of Robotaxi service’s safety drivers
As Robotaxi expands into more regions, Tesla stands to gain tremendously through the deployment of the Full Self-Driving suite for personal cars, as well as driverless Robotaxis for those who are just hailing rides.
Things have gone well for Tesla in the early stages of the Robotaxi program, but expansion will truly be the test of how things operate going forward. Navigating local traffic laws and gaining approval from a regulatory standpoint will be the biggest hurdle to jump.
Tesla received a price target boost from Morgan Stanley, according to a new note on Monday morning, but there is some considerable caution also being communicated over the next year or so.
Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco took over Tesla coverage for the firm from longtime bull Adam Jonas, who appears to be focusing on embodied AI stocks and no longer automotive.
Percoco took over and immediately adjusted the price target for Tesla from $410 to $425, and changed its rating on shares from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Equal Weight.’
Percoco said he believes Tesla is the leading company in terms of electric vehicles, manufacturing, renewable energy, and real-world AI, so it deserves a premium valuation. However, he admits the high expectations for the company could provide for a “choppy trading environment” for the next year.
He wrote:
“However, high expectations on the latter have brought the stock closer to fair valuation. While it is well understood that Tesla is more than an auto manufacturer, we expect a choppy trading environment for the TSLA shares over the next 12 months, as we see downside to estimates, while the catalysts for its non-auto businesses appear priced at current levels.”
Percoco also added that if market cap hurdles are achieved, Morgan Stanley would reduce its price target by 7 percent.
Perhaps the biggest change with Percoco taking over the analysis for Jonas is how he will determine the value of each individual project. For example, he believes Optimus is worth about $60 per share of equity value.
He went on to describe the potential value of Full Self-Driving, highlighting its importance to the Tesla valuation:
“Full Self Driving (FSD) is the crown jewel of Tesla’s auto business; we believe that its leading-edge personal autonomous driving offering is a real game changer, and will remain a significant competitive advantage over its EV and non-EV peers. As Tesla continues to improve its platform with increased levels of autonomy (i.e., hands-off, eyes-off), it will revolutionize the personal driving experience. It remains to be seen if others will be able to keep pace.”
Additionally, Percoco outlined both bear and bull cases for the stock. He believes $860 per share, “which could be in play in the next 12 months if Tesla manages through the EV-downturn,” while also scaling Robotaxi, executing on unsupervised FSD, and scaling Optimus, is in play for the bull case.
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Meanwhile, the bear case is placed at $145 per share, and “assumes greater competition and margin pressure across all business lines, embedding zero value for humanoids, slowing the growth curve for Tesla’s robotaxi fleet to reflect regulatory challenges in scaling a vision-only perception stack, and lowering market share and margin profile for the autos and energy businesses.”
Currently, Tesla shares are trading at around $441.
Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
Tesla expands Robotaxi app access once again, this time on a global scale
