News
Tesla gave Morgan Stanley a tour of its CA factory, and expansion sounds like a no-brainer
Morgan Stanley analysts Adam Jonas detailed a recent tour of Tesla’s Fremont Factory in Northern California, which included test drives of the Model 3, Y, and S Plaid. Based on Jonas’ synopsis of the plant, an expansion of the California plant may be just what the company needs, especially as CEO Elon Musk hinted that building onto the factory may be in the cards for Tesla soon, and it sounds like the most logical solution.
Jonas published a lengthy note to investors on Wednesday, indicating the five main takeaways from Morgan Stanley’s plant dealt with a busy work environment, strong margins, supply chain bottlenecks with raw materials, and Full Self-Driving’s take rate with customers.
However, one of the biggest takeaways from the note was Jonas’ number one point: The Tesla Fremont plant is ‘bustling’ to say the least. Jonas says the plant is operating at a rate of 50 percent above its intended capacity. When Toyota operated the plant prior to Tesla’s takeover, the factory produced 300,000 units per year. However, Tesla is building all four vehicle models at the factory currently. Builds from Fremont remain in North America, unless it is a Model S or Model X vehicle, as this is the only plant that produces Tesla’s flagship models. In Europe, the Model 3 and Model Y are currently produced at Gigafactory Shanghai. However, Gigafactory Berlin is set to begin operation in less than a week, which will provide European customers with Model Y builds initially.
Fremont is operating at a tremendously over-worked rate, which is complicating supply chain management and production at the facility, the note said. “The plant was never designed to produce 450k units (at its peak produced ~300k units before Tesla took it over from Toyota) which was immediately apparent at the tour, ” Jonas wrote. “Tesla does not shy away from the fact the plant is inefficiently designed with 4 assembly buildings, one of which is a tent that cars are assembled in,” in reference to GA 4.5, a sprung structure that Tesla filed to make permanent in 2021.
Additionally, Jonas said that, while the plant has an “exciting buzz,” Fremont is simply running out of space. This “was notable and provides little space for trucks to drop off supplies in locations that make sense inside the plant.”
Combining all of the points Jonas brings up in his note fully supports a recent idea from Musk, who indicated in March Tesla was considering an expansion of the Fremont factory, which is the only operational automotive assembly plant remaining in California. Ford had several in the 1900s, but each has closed.
Tesla is considering a significant expansion of its Fremont Factory
“Actually, we still operate our California factory, which is the largest auto plant in North America, at full capacity and are considering expanding it significantly,” Musk said on March 2. “It has built 2/3 of all electric vehicles in North America, twice as much as all other carmakers combined.”
While Tesla continues to expand manufacturing by opening new plants, its current factories have an opportunity for expansion. Gigafactory Shanghai, which has been operational since early 2020, has already received plans for its first batch of expanded production lines, according to filings Tesla submitted last year. Fremont is an integral part of Tesla’s operation, contributing nearly 500,000 vehicles annually to Tesla’s global operation. A significant expansion may be what the automaker needs to fulfill increased guidance, supplementing Gigafactory Texas as the plant continues to pump out production units ahead of initial deliveries. Tesla will need some time to get Gigafactory Texas up and running to full capacity, in which case Fremont will continue its exemplary output.
Perhaps Gigafactory Texas can repay the favor in a few years, if Tesla ultimately decides to expand Fremont by a significant margin, as Musk indicated.
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Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm met with Bloomberg this morning to discuss a variety of topics, but perhaps one of the most interesting was her comments on what is being done to protect company CEO Elon Musk.
After the assassination of right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk this week, there have been concerns about Musk’s safety, as well as that of other high-profile business leaders and political figures.
Earlier this week, Musk said himself that his security detail would be increased significantly following Kirk’s death, a move that many investors and fans of the company had requested because of political violence.
Elon Musk assures Tesla investors he will enhance his security detail
“Definitely need to enhance security,” Musk said. Tesla spent $3.3 million on Musk’s security in 2024 and January and February 2025. For reference, Meta spent over $27 million on Mark Zuckerberg’s security last year, which is higher than any other tech CEO.
During Denholm’s appearance on Bloomberg TV earlier today, she stated that the company has been focused on Musk’s security detail for “many years,” especially considering he is one of the richest people on Earth and holds an incredible amount of influence.
“It is something that we take very seriously; he takes it very seriously as well. So, again, from a board perspective, it is something we’ve discussed at length,” Denholm said.
Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm on increased security for CEO Elon Musk:
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 12, 2025
Denholm added that she believes “there is not anyone in a boardroom that is not touched by what has happened with Charlie Kirk.”
Although Musk’s political involvement has toned down significantly in the past, he still has enemies, especially based on groups that oppose him and the company specifically. Based on this week’s events, it feels that increased security is a necessary expense Tesla must account for.
Investor's Corner
Tesla bear turns bullish for two reasons as stock continues boost
“I think from a trading perspective, it looks very interesting,” Nathan said, citing numerous signs of strength, such as holding its 200-day moving average and holding against its resistance level.
A Tesla bear is changing his tune, turning bullish for two reasons as the company’s stock has continued to get a boost over the past month.
Dan Nathan, a notorious skeptic of Tesla shares, said he is changing his tune, at least in the short term, on the company’s stock because of “technicals and sentiment,” believing the company is on track for a strong Q3, but also an investment story that will slowly veer away from its automotive business.
“I think from a trading perspective, it looks very interesting,” Nathan said, citing numerous signs of strength, such as holding its 200-day moving average and holding against its resistance level.
He also said he believes a rally for the stock could continue as it heads into the end of the quarter, especially as the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit is coming to an end at the end of the month.
With that being said, he believes the consensus for Q3 deliveries is “probably low,” as he believes Wall Street is likely underestimating what Tesla will bring to the table on October 1 or 2 when it reports numbers for the quarter.
Tesla bear Dan Nathan has flipped his script on Tesla $TSLA shares, citing “technicals and sentiment”
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 12, 2025
Tesla shares are already up over five percent today, with gains exceeding nine percent over the past five trading days, and more than fourteen percent in the past month.
While some analysts are looking at the performance of other Mag 7 stocks, movement on rates from the Federal Reserve, and other broader market factors as reasoning for Tesla’s strong performance, it appears some movement could be related to the company’s recent developments instead.
Over the past week, Tesla has made some strides in its Robotaxi program, including a new license to test the platform in the State of Nevada, which we reported on.
Tesla lands regulatory green light for Robotaxi testing in new state
Additionally, the company is riding the tails of the end of the EV tax credit, as inventory, both new and used, is running extremely low, generally speaking. Many markets do not have any vehicles to purchase as of right now, making delivery by September 30 extremely difficult.
However, there has been some adjustments to the guidelines by the IRS, which can be read here:
Tesla is trading at around $389 at 10:56 a.m. on the East Coast.
News
Tesla lands regulatory green light for Robotaxi testing in new state
This will be the third state in total where Tesla is operating Robotaxi, following Austin and California.
Tesla has landed a regulatory green light to test its Robotaxi platform in a new state, less than three months after the ride-hailing service launched in Texas.
Tesla first launched its driverless Robotaxi suite in Austin, Texas, back on June 22. Initially offering rides to a small group of people, Tesla kept things limited, but this was not to be the mentality for very long.
It continued to expand the rider population, the service area, and the vehicle fleet in Austin.
The company also launched rides in the Bay Area, but it does use a person in the driver’s seat to maintain safety. In Austin, the “Safety Monitor” is present in the passenger’s seat during local rides, and in the driver’s seat for routes that involve highway driving.
Tesla is currently testing the Robotaxi platform in other states. We reported that it was testing in Tempe, Arizona, as validation vehicles are traveling around the city in preparation for Robotaxi.
Tesla looks to make a big splash with Robotaxi in a new market
Tesla is also hoping to launch in Florida and New York, as job postings have shown the company’s intention to operate there.
However, it appears it will launch in Nevada before those states, as the company submitted its application to obtain a Testing Registry certification on September 3. It was processed by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles Office of Business Licensing on September 10.
NEWS: Tesla has officially received approval from the Nevada DMV to start testing autonomous vehicles (robotaxis) on public roads.
Today, I confirmed directly with the Nevada DMV that @Tesla‘s application to obtain a Testing Registry certification was approved by the DMV Office… pic.twitter.com/hx5JhHBFiD
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) September 11, 2025
It will then need to self-certify for operations, essentially meaning they will need to comply with various state requirements.
This will be the third state in total where Tesla is operating Robotaxi, following Austin and California.
CEO Elon Musk has stated that he believes Robotaxi will be available to at least half of the U.S. population by the end of the year. Geographically, Tesla will need to make incredible strides over the final four months of the year to achieve this.
Tesla Board Chair discusses what is being done to protect CEO Elon Musk
Tesla bear turns bullish for two reasons as stock continues boost
Tesla lands regulatory green light for Robotaxi testing in new state
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