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Tesla’s Shanghai gallery sells out entire Model X inventory in 24 hours

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A Tesla gallery in Shanghai has managed to sell out its entire Model X 75D inventory in 24 hours, after the Customs Tariff Commission under China’s cabinet announced that it would reduce car import duties from 20-25% to just 15% starting July 1.

According to a report from local news outlet The Paper, workers at a Tesla store in Shanghai worked overtime on Wednesday to sign more than 10 new deals with customers, clearing out their Model X 75D inventory. In a statement to the publication, a Tesla employee at the Shanghai gallery stated that the all-electric SUVs were sold for $11,000 less than their previous price.

“The cars available were all imported from the States in April and May this year. After selling all of them, we’ll replenish stock when the new tariffs come in. We were losing out on profit with the lowered price as the cars were imported at the old tariff rate — the Model S 75D was CNY70,000 ($11,000) cheaper,” the Tesla employee said.

Tesla is among the first automakers in China that responded to the government’s announcement on Wednesday, with the electric car maker promptly adjusting its vehicles’ prices despite the tariffs not taking effect until July 1.

Tesla’s operations in China have struggled due to a steep 25% import tax placed on their vehicles, forcing the company to sell its electric cars at a price much higher than local competitors. Earlier this year, CEO Elon Musk likened the electric car market in China to a race where automakers such as Tesla are competing while wearing “lead shoes.”

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Since then, however, the Chinese government has taken steps to reduce import tariffs for vehicles entering the country. Ownership restrictions for foreign-owned facilities were also lifted, finally allowing Tesla to establish its own facility in the region without partnering with a local-based company.

A Tesla facility in China is pivotal to the electric car and energy company’s plans to compete in the region, considering that the country is regarded as one of the largest car markets in the world. During Tesla’s Q1 2018 earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk even confirmed that the next Gigafactory — one that would be equipped with the capability to manufacture vehicles — would be established in China.

Tesla has since started pushing its initiatives in the country. Less than a week after being granted a business license to independently operate a facility, Tesla Motors Hong Kong Co., LLC, the company’s HK division, started its recruitment efforts. Since May 16, Tesla’s official WeChat account has posted multiple job listings for a Shanghai site.

Among the jobs listed were project managers, tax commissioners, government affairs managers, financial service area managers, low-voltage electrical test engineers, and IT field system administrators. Tesla has also begun issuing invitations for a summer internship program for individuals interested in working for the Elon Musk-led company.

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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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SpaceX hit with mishap investigation by FAA for Starship Flight 9

Starship’s ninth test flight has the FAA requiring a mishap investigation from SpaceX.

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX has been hit with yet another mishap investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) related to the company’s ninth test flight of Starship earlier this week.

The FAA said the mishap investigation is “focused only on the loss of the Starship vehicle, which did not complete its launch or reentry as planned.” The agency said the loss of the Super Heavy booster is covered by one of the FAA’s approved test induced damage exceptions requested by SpaceX.

All of Starship and Super Heavy booster debris landed within the designated hazard areas, the FAA confirmed.

SpaceX Starship Flight 9 recap: objectives & outcomes

It said it activated a Debris Response Area out of an abundance of caution as the booster “experienced its anomaly over the Gulf of America during its flyback toward Texas. The FAA subsequently determined the debris did not fall outside of the hazard area. During the event there were zero departure delays, one flight was diverted, and one airborne flight was held for 24 minutes. ”

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SpaceX has become accustomed to mishap investigations by the FAA, as they have been impacted by them on several occasions in the past, including on Flight 8. However, they are a precautionary measure and usually are resolved within a few weeks.

Flight 9 was one of SpaceX’s most eventful, as there were several discoveries during the launch. First, it was SpaceX’s first time reusing a Super Heavy booster, as the one utilized for Flight 9 was also used on Flight 7 in January.

Contact with the booster and Starship were both lost during Flight 9. SpaceX said the booster was lost “shortly after the start of landing burn when it experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly approximately 6 minutes after launch.”

Meanwhile, Starship was set to make a splashdown in the Indian Ocean, but the vehicle was lost about 46 minutes into the flight, SpaceX said in a mission recap.

It was an improvement from the previous two flights, as both 7 and 8 resulted in the loss of Starship after just a few minutes. Flight 9 lasted considerably longer. These flights are also not intended to make it to Mars, despite what other reports might try to tell you.

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These are ways to gain information for when SpaceX eventually tries to get Starship to Mars.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla bull writes cautious note on Robotaxi launch: ‘Keep expectations well contained’

Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas is more cautious about Tesla’s upcoming Robotaxi launch.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla analyst Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley is telling investors to be wary of the Robotaxi details CEO Elon Musk revealed this week, after a report seemed to land on the prospective launch date of the platform in June.

Earlier this week, a report from Bloomberg indicated Tesla had internally landed on a tentative date of June 12 for its Robotaxi launch in Austin. Shortly after, Musk detailed the successful testing Tesla has already performed without anyone in the driver’s seat.

Tesla lands on date for Robotaxi launch in Austin: report

He also indicated Teslas would self-deliver to customers in June.

Analysts are now sending out investor notes on the announcement Musk made, along with the Bloomberg report. Jonas’s note is more cautious than others.

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Jonas believes Tesla needs to shed more details before investors and fans of the company get too excited. He believes there is more information that could be released, but until then, he is suggesting investors “keep expectations well contained.”

He wrote:

“As is typical for highly anticipated Tesla events, we would keep expectations well contained for the (reported) June 12th Cybercab launch event in Austin. However, we would look for a continued stream of updates for the performance and growth of the network thereafter (numbers of cars, miles, trips, etc.) in the days and weeks that follow.”

The tone of Jonas’s note contradicts that of Wedbush’s Dan Ives, who believes the “golden age of autonomous” lies in Tesla’s hands. He seems to believe Tesla will come through on its June 12 launch.

Tesla set for ‘golden age of autonomous’ as Robotaxi nears, ‘dark chapter’ ends: Wedbush

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Morgan Stanley’s note is slightly more

Jonas is obviously still bullish, but is much more tentative to move forward with an attitude that communicates skepticism about what Tesla has revealed.

Jonas and Morgan Stanley have a $410 price target on Tesla shares with a ‘Buy’ rating. Tesla stock is trading at around $358 at 12:15 p.m. on the East Coast.

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Tesla’s apparent affordable model zips around Fremont test track

Tesla was zipping around a strange, covered, compact Model Y at Fremont this week.

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tesla affordable model prototype on fremont factory test track
Credit: Met God in Wilderness | YouTube

Tesla was racing a compact, short, and stocky Model Y with front and rear end covers around its Fremont Factory’s test track today, potentially giving us a look at the upcoming affordable model.

On Thursday, Met God in the Wilderness on YouTube posted a flyover of the Fremont Factory, a weekly occurrence for the channel. This week’s video featured a smaller, more compact Model Y racing around the Test Track at Fremont, trailed by a Cybertruck:

While both bumpers are covered, it still seems to be a much more compact version of the Model Y. There is also the potential that this is the upcoming Model Y Performance, but it seems that this vehicle is smaller than the traditional Model Y. Tesla would not reduce its size this much for the Performance configuration.

With that, it seems more likely it is one of the affordable models.

Tesla still on track to release more affordable models in 1H25

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It also plays into the idea that Tesla is planning to launch vehicles very similar to the Model Y and Model 3. During the last Earnings Call, Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy stated that the affordable models the company planned to launch would be of the same form and factor as the Model Y, indicating potentially a stripped-down version of the all-electric crossover:

“I will say it’s important to emphasize that, as we’ve said all along, the full utilization of our factories is the primary goal for these new products. And so flexibility of what we can do within the form factor and, you know, the design of it is really limited to what we can do on our existing lines rather than building new ones.”

This was essentially a read-between-the-lines moment for investors as they took it as the affordable models would not be much different than the Model Y.

This vehicle seems to fit the bill of what Moravy described: it is eerily similar to the Model Y without the lengthened front and rear. While it is still tough to determine exactly what it is, it surely does look to be something that Tesla is keeping under wraps for the short term.

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