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All four Tesla Models receive late-night price increases

Credit: Tesla

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On Friday, all four Tesla Models received late-night price increases, ranging from $2,000 for the Model Y Long Range and Model 3 Standard Range+ to $5,000 for the Model S and Model X Long Range configurations.

Tesla’s mass-market Model Y in the Long Range variant, which has a May delivery projection, was increased from $54,990 to $56,990 on Friday evening. Additionally, the Model 3 Standard Range+, which was Tesla’s only vehicle under $40,000 just two months ago, is now $43,990 from $41,990. The Model 3 SR+ has increased from $37,990 to $43,990 this year and is set for delivery in June 2022.

Tesla’s revamped versions of its flagship vehicles, the Model S and Model X, also both received price bumps late Friday night. The price increases only affected the Long Range configurations of the S and X and not the ultra-performance Plaid variants. The Model S Long Range increased to $94,990 from $89,990 and is scheduled for June delivery. The Model X Long Range is now $104,990 from $99,990, and deliveries are set for September.

It is no secret that Tesla’s demand continues to increase while the company’s production output slowly broadens. Tesla is currently producing vehicles at the Fremont factory in Northern California and Gigafactory Shanghai in China. However, the company plans to open two new production facilities in the next few months, although the automaker is uncertain that these new manufacturing lines will be ready before the end of 2021.

During the Q3 2021 Earnings Call, Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn said:

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“So it remains our target in both Austin and Berlin to be able to build our first production cars before the end of the year. So, you know, there is quite an execution journey ahead of us. But that remains our target, and all of our plans are oriented around that. We should not expect for us to deliver cars by the end of 2021 from these factories even if we do produce them — so homologation, regulatory reasons.”

Production capacity for Tesla will undoubtedly increase in 2022, but it may not occur by the end of the year like the company planned due to regulations in Germany and Texas that could delay initial production efforts. In 2022, Tesla will spend “a bulk of the year working on ramping these factories” so that demand can be handled on a global scale.

It is unknown whether the price increases are due to the extensive backlog or due to parts shortages. Tesla has been able to avoid many bottlenecks that have affected other carmakers, but the company was transparent during the Earnings Call that it was challenging to keep things running while supply chain uncertainties still lingered.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with tips! Email us at tips@teslarati.com, or you can email me directly at joey@teslarati.com.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla Cybertruck wanted by U.S. Air Force as targets in munitions training

“…the Cybertruck’s aggressively angular and futuristic design, paired with its unpainted stainless steel exoskeleton, sets it apart from competitors typically using painted steel or aluminum bodies.”

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Credit: Patrick Bean | X

The Tesla Cybertruck is wanted by the United States Air Force as the military branch is buying up a fleet of vehicles specifically for use as targets in munitions training and testing.

The Air Force listed the Cybertruck among 33 total vehicles that will be used specifically to support the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)’s Standoff Precision Guided Munition (SOPGM) training and tests.

The Cybertruck was specifically chosen because of its durability, the Air Force states in filings that are public:

“[Redacted] intends to uses specific Tesla-manufactured vehicles for target vehicle training flight test events. In the operating theatre it is likely the type of vehicles used by the enemy may transition to Tesla Cyber trucks as they have been found not to receive the normal extent of damage expected upon major impact. Testing needs to mirror real world situations. The intent of the training is to prep the units for operations by simulating scenarios as closely as possible to the real-world situations.”

The documents also state:

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“On 13 February 2025, market research was conducted to assess the competition for the Tesla Cybertruck by evaluating its design, materials, impact resistance, and innovative technologies. The study revealed that the Cybertruck’s aggressively angular and futuristic design, paired with its unpainted stainless steel exoskeleton, sets it apart from competitors typically using painted steel or aluminum bodies. Additionally, its 48V electrical architecture provides superior power and efficiency, a feature that rivals are only beginning to develop. Extensive internet searches and industry outreach by [redacted] found no vehicles with features comparable to those of the Cybertruck.”

In all, the testing will require sedans, Bongo trucks, pickup trucks, SUVs, and the Cybertruck.

It is not the first time the vehicle has been listed as a potential candidate for military or government applications.

Back in February, Tesla was listed as the company projected to win what would be a $400 million contract from the U.S. Department of State for the purchase of armored EVs to be used for government purposes.

Tesla’s name was specifically listed, but was later removed, and CEO Elon Musk said he was not aware of Tesla being mentioned or offered the contract.

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This contract with the Cybertruck and the U.S. Air Force was released today, and it lists “offers due” as tomorrow. It will become inactive 15 days after that, on August 22.

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Tesla stock gets another analysis from Jim Cramer, and investors will like it

“Tesla is morphing right now. It’s in transition from being a car company to being a technology company.”

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Credit: CNBC Television/YouTube

Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) got its latest analysis from Jim Cramer, and investors will like what he has to say.

Cramer has flip-flopped his thoughts on Tesla shares many times over the years. One time, he said CEO Elon Musk was a genius; the next, he said Ford stock was a better play. He’s always changing his tune.

However, Cramer’s most recent analysis is of a bullish tone, as he talks about the company’s evolution from an automaker to a tech powerhouse. He made the comments on CNBC’s Mad Money:

“Tesla is morphing right now. It’s in transition from being a car company to being a technology company. You wanna be in there because the tech is worth a lot more than what it’s selling for right now. Don’t care where you bought it, care where it’s going to.”

Tesla has always been looked at by the mainstream media as an automaker. While that is its main business currently, Tesla has always had other divisions: Energy, Solar, Charging, AI, and Robotics. Some came after others, but the important point is that Tesla has not been an automaker exclusively for a decade.

It launched Powerwall and Powerpack in April 2015, marking the start of Tesla Energy.

But Cramer has a point here: Tesla is truly becoming much more than a car company, and it is turning into an AI and overall tech company more than ever before. Eventually, it will be recognized as such, more so than it will be as an automotive company.

Cramer’s comments also follow a recent prediction by Musk, who stated on X that he believes a $150,000 investment in Tesla shares right now would eventually turn someone into a millionaire:

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Musk has said he believes Tesla could be headed to a serious increase in valuation. Eventually, it could become the most valuable company in the world. He said this during the Q2 Earnings Call:

“I do think if Tesla continues to execute well with vehicle autonomy and humanoid robot autonomy, it will be the most valuable company in the world. A lot of execution between here and there. It doesn’t just happen. Provided we execute very well, I think Tesla has a shot at being the most valuable company in the world. Obviously, I am extremely optimistic about the future of the company.”

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Elon Musk teases crazy new Tesla FSD model: here’s when it’s coming

Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to tease some big improvements to Full Self-Driving.

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Credit: Arash Malek/X

Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased a crazy new model of the Full Self-Driving (FSD) suite that could be a major improvement over current models.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite has seen increases in performance over the past few years, with the latest versions being the most robust in company history. There is also an unreleased version, which is operating in the Robotaxi platform in Austin, which does not require supervision from the driver.

The Austin Robotaxi program does use a Safety Monitor who sits in the passenger’s seat.

However, Musk has been teasing improvements to the public version for some time. The CEO said that the new model, which is currently being trained, has roughly ten times the parameters of what is out there now.

He said something similar during the company’s Q2 Earnings Call in July:

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“On the full self-driving front, we continue to make significant improvements just with the software. We are expecting to increase the parameter count to what we think can probably tenfold the parameter count. This is a tricky thing to do because as you increase the parameter count, you get to choke on memory bandwidth. But we currently think we can tenfold the parameter count from what people are currently experiencing.”

He reaffirmed these thoughts last night in a post on the social media platform X. Musk believes the version could be released at the end of next month if testing goes smoothly:

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Increasing parameters will help improve the capabilities of the FSD suite, but as Musk mentioned during the Q2 Earnings dialogue, an increase in parameters can limit memory bandwidth.

Increasing the parameters could lead to unsupervised FSD, or even an expansion of the suite into other regions across the world. Tesla has been hoping to expand into Europe, Asia, and other areas, but regulatory hurdles are the real bottleneck, not FSD’s capability.

Even still, getting more data will make FSD safer and more robust, increasing its usefulness in real-world scenarios and helping Tesla get to a point where autonomous travel is within reach.

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