Investor's Corner
Tesla is addressing its repair service challenges by doubling capacity in 2019
As Tesla heads towards the mass market with vehicles like the Model 3 sedan and the upcoming Model Y SUV, the challenges of supporting an ever-growing fleet is becoming more and more evident. Over the past month, numerous Tesla owners, including influencers with large followings on social media, have brought up the issue of the company’s vehicle service problems. In its recent Update Letter and following earnings call, the electric car maker provided some insights into this issue.
Tesla stated that it is currently operating 378 service centers around the world by the end of the fourth quarter, with 300 of the sites being located outside of CA. Augmenting this support system is a fleet of 411 mobile service vehicles. While this might seem sufficient to provide service to the company’s Model S and Model X, these sites are quickly proving insufficient when faced with the company’s increasing sales and its ever-growing Model 3 fleet.
In 2018, for example, Tesla delivered 245,240 vehicles across the globe. This year, Tesla noted in its shareholder letter that it aims to increase vehicle deliveries to 360,000 to 400,000 worldwide — an increase of 45% to 65% compared to 2018’s already record-breaking numbers. With this in mind, there is a need for Tesla to ensure that its service capabilities are enough to support the company’s increasing number of vehicles.
During the recently held earnings call, Tesla noted that it would be rolling out vast improvements for its parts distribution systems. Elon Musk added that Tesla’s strategies for servicing vehicles have been pretty inadequate, at one point candidly describing the policies as “boneheaded.” Musk also noted that some of its service processes were “super dumb,” referring to a system where a part made in China gets shipped to the US, only to be sent back to China where they were ordered.
“We’re also improving parts distribution. I think we made a strategic error in the past about not having service parts located at our distribution centers. We had them in parts distribution warehouses which basically meant it was impossible to have a fast turnaround on service on your car because the car would come in, then the parts would be requested (before) they come to the service center. Basically, for even for a very simple repair, it could take days.
“We’re going to move to stocking all common parts at the service centers, so it’s possible to get your car service in 20 or possibly 15 minutes. Lightning fast. It’s also gonna make sense for our service centers to do basic bodywork or essentially if all you need to do is replace a front or rear feature, it makes sense to pre-stock the front-rear feature in the common colors. So unless you have (an) unusual color, we can literally replace your feature in 15-20 minutes, and there’s none of this like weeks at a body shop stuff.”
One thing that the company emphasized in the earnings call was the potential of its Tesla Rangers service, which sends certified mechanics to customers’ homes or offices to repair cars on the spot. Considering that the Rangers could address around 80% of repairs needed for Tesla’s electric cars, a serious ramp of the mobile service would likely result in an improvement for the company’s vehicle service systems.
In its Q4 2018 Update Letter, the company noted that its centers would be moving to two-shift operations in order to double the capacity of a site. Improvements to the Tesla app are also expected to make scheduling service an easy and seamless affair. Ultimately, these initiatives are expected to allow the electric car maker to vastly improve its capabilities to address its owners’ vehicle concerns.
Tesla’s areas for improvement in its service systems appear to be a notable topic for Elon Musk. In last year’s Annual Shareholder Meeting, Musk announced that Tesla is opening in-house body shops to reduce the time it takes for vehicles to be repaired. Tesla eventually launched several in-house repair centers across the United States, and the reception from the community has largely been positive. Model 3 owner and YouTube influencer Kim of Like Tesla, for one, shared her experience with one of the company’s in-house body shops, which was able to complete the repairs to her damaged vehicle in 24 hours.
Investor's Corner
Tesla gets tip of the hat from major Wall Street firm on self-driving prowess
“Tesla is at the forefront of autonomous driving, supported by a camera-only approach that is technically harder but much cheaper than the multi-sensor systems widely used in the industry. This strategy should allow Tesla to scale more profitably compared to Robotaxi competitors, helped by a growing data engine from its existing fleet,” BoA wrote.
Tesla received a tip of the hat from major Wall Street firm Bank of America on Wednesday, as it reinitiated coverage on Tesla shares with a bullish stance that comes with a ‘Buy’ rating and a $460 price target.
In a new note that marks a sharp reversal from its neutral position earlier in 2025, the bank declared Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology the “leading consumer autonomy solution.”
Analysts highlighted Tesla’s camera-only architecture, known as Tesla Vision, as a strategic masterstroke. While technically more challenging than the multi-sensor setups favored by rivals, the vision-based approach is dramatically cheaper to produce and maintain.
This cost edge, combined with Tesla’s rapidly expanding real-world data engine, positions the company to scale robotaxis far more profitably than competitors, BofA argues in the new note:
“Tesla is at the forefront of autonomous driving, supported by a camera-only approach that is technically harder but much cheaper than the multi-sensor systems widely used in the industry. This strategy should allow Tesla to scale more profitably compared to Robotaxi competitors, helped by a growing data engine from its existing fleet.”
The bank now attributes roughly 52% of Tesla’s total valuation to its Robotaxi ambitions. It also flagged meaningful upside from the Optimus humanoid robot program and the fast-growing energy storage business, suggesting the auto segment’s recent headwinds, including expired incentives, are being eclipsed by these higher-margin opportunities.
Tesla’s own data underscores exactly why Wall Street is waking up to FSD’s potential. According to Tesla’s official safety reporting page, the FSD Supervised fleet has now surpassed 8.4 billion cumulative miles driven.
Tesla FSD (Supervised) fleet passes 8.4 billion cumulative miles
That total ballooned from just 6 million miles in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and a staggering 4.25 billion in 2025 alone. In the first 50 days of 2026, owners added another 1 billion miles — averaging more than 20 million miles per day.
This avalanche of real-world, camera-captured footage, much of it on complex city streets, gives Tesla an unmatched training dataset. Every mile feeds its neural networks, accelerating improvement cycles that lidar-dependent rivals simply cannot match at scale.
Tesla owners themselves will tell you the suite gets better with every release, bringing new features and improvements to its self-driving project.
The $460 target implies roughly 15 percent upside from recent trading levels around $400. While regulatory and safety hurdles remain, BofA’s endorsement signals growing institutional conviction that Tesla’s data advantage is not hype; it’s a tangible moat already delivering billions of miles of proof.
Elon Musk
SpaceX IPO could push Elon Musk’s net worth past $1 trillion: Polymarket
The estimates were shared by the official Polymarket Money account on social media platform X.
Recent projections have outlined how a potential $1.75 trillion SpaceX IPO could generate historic returns for early investors. The projections suggest the offering would not only become the largest IPO in history but could also result in unprecedented windfalls for some of the company’s key investors.
The estimates were shared by the official Polymarket Money account on social media platform X.
As noted in a Polymarket Money analysis, Elon Musk invested $100 million into SpaceX in 2002 and currently owns approximately 42% of the company. At a $1.75 trillion valuation following SpaceX’s potential $1.75 trillion IPO, that stake would be worth roughly $735 billion.
Such a figure would dramatically expand Musk’s net worth. When combined with his holdings in Tesla Inc. and other ventures, a public debut at that level could position him as the world’s first trillionaire, depending on market conditions at the time of listing.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index currently lists Elon Musk with a net worth of $666 billion, though a notable portion of this is tied to his TSLA stock. Tesla currently holds a market cap of $1.51 trillion, and Elon Musk’s currently holds about 13% to 15% of the company’s outstanding common stock.
Founders Fund, co-founded by Peter Thiel, invested $20 million in SpaceX in 2008. Polymarket Money estimates the firm owns between 1.5% and 3% of the private space company. At a $1.75 trillion valuation, that range would translate to approximately $26.25 billion to $52.5 billion in value.
That return would represent one of the most significant venture capital outcomes in modern Silicon Valley history, with a growth of 131,150% to 262,400%.
Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, invested $900 million into SpaceX in 2015 and is estimated to hold between 6% and 7% of the private space firm. At the projected IPO valuation, that stake could be worth between $105 billion and $122.5 billion. That’s a growth of 11,566% to 14,455%.
Other major backers highlighted in the post include Fidelity Investments, Baillie Gifford, Valor Equity Partners, Bank of America, and Andreessen Horowitz, each potentially sitting on multibillion-dollar gains.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk hints Tesla investors will be rewarded heavily
“Hold onto your Tesla stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet,” Musk said.
Elon Musk recently hinted that he believes Tesla investors will be rewarded heavily if they continue to hold onto their shares, and he reiterated that in a new interview that the company released on its social accounts this week.
Musk is one of the most successful CEOs in the modern era and has mammothed competitors on the Forbes Net Worth List over the past year as his holdings in his various companies have continued to swell.
Tesla investors, especially those who have been holding shares for several years, have also felt substantial gains in their portfolios. Over the past five years, the stock is up over 78 percent. Since February 2019, nearly seven years ago to the day, the stock is up over 1,800 percent.
Musk said in the interview:
“Hold onto your Tesla stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet.”
Elon Musk in new interview: “Hold on to your $TSLA stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet.” pic.twitter.com/cucirBuhq0
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) February 26, 2026
It’s no secret Musk has been extremely bullish on his own companies, but Tesla in particular, because it is publicly traded.
However, the company has so many amazing projects that have an opportunity to revolutionize their respective industries. There is certainly a path to major growth on Wall Street for Tesla through its various future projects, including Optimus, Cybercab, Semi, and Unsupervised FSD.
- Optimus (Tesla’s humanoid robot): Musk has discussed its potential for tasks like childcare, walking dogs, or assisting elderly parents, positioning it as a massive long-term driver of company value.
- Cybercab (Tesla’s robotaxi/autonomous ride-hailing vehicle): a fully autonomous vehicle geared specifically for Tesla’s ride-sharing ambitions.
- Semi (Tesla’s electric truck, with mentions of expansion, like in Europe): brings Tesla into the commercial logistics sector.
- Unsupervised FSD (Full Self-Driving software achieving full autonomy without human supervision): turns every Tesla owner’s vehicle into a fully-autonomous vehicle upon release
These projects specifically are some of the highest-growth pillars Tesla has ever attempted to develop, especially in Musk’s eyes, as he has said Optimus will be the best-selling product of all-time.
Many analysts agree, but the bullish ones, like Cathie Wood of ARK Invest, are perhaps the one who believes Tesla has incredible potential on Wall Street, predicting a $2,600 price target for 2030, but this is not even including Optimus.
She told Bloomberg last March that she believes that the project will present a potential additive if Tesla can scale faster than anticipated.
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