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Tesla pitches the economic benefits of its Cybertruck factory to Texas officials
Tesla’s believes its Cybertruck Gigafactory could reverse the consequences that the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked on the economy of Travis County, Texas.
County Officials in Travis County listed a staff presentation from Tesla as one of the events on their agenda during a June 23, 2020 meeting. The County will be considering and taking appropriate action on an application submitted by the electric car maker to build its next U.S.-based production facility in a 2,100-acre lot outside of the City of Austin.
According to the presentation found on the Travis County Government website, Tesla is preparing to pitch its case for a massive incentive package that would assist the company in obtaining the vast land area for its largest production facility to date.
Among Tesla’s presenters are Rohan Patel, the company’s Senior Director, and Valerie Capers Workman, the Vice President of Human Resources.
The presentation indicates that Tesla can take care of the economic downfall that Travis County’s local economy has been hit with since the COVID-19 crisis has ripped through the United States.
-->After shutdowns of the county’s businesses in early March when officials issued a “Declaration of Disaster” due to the pandemic, those who work in the area have been forced to leave their jobs and file for unemployment. According to Federal Reserve data, unemployment filing rates in the county spiked from 2.2% in April 2019 to 12.4% in April 2020 after the virus had made its impact in the area.
Tesla feels that the presence of its factory would provide substantial economic assistance by supplying “5,000 middle-skill jobs that fit a targeted economic development need,” and would directly contribute $600 million in annual sales activity.
The location of the Gigafactory could also provide more than 4,000 new non-Tesla jobs due to “secondary effects,” the presentation states.
“Tesla could be a source of re-employment for many,” the company said.
Tesla also listed the benefits that the company will provide to the community, which include investing “a minimum of 10% rebate value in local programs,” new uses of renewable energy, like solar panels where applicable, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education programs.
-->The facility will primarily focus on building Tesla’s Cybertruck. This all-electric pickup truck caught the eyes of the automotive sector at its unveiling event in late November last year. The facility will also manufacture the Model Y, a crossover that is Tesla’s newest addition to its fleet. The Model Y that are built in the new facility will be delivered to East Coast customers. In contrast, Tesla’s primary production facility in Northern California will take care of the rest of the country.
Last week, it was reported that Tesla had agreed upon a price of just over $5 million for the 2,100-acre property. However, Elon Musk stated the company has been offered the land but has not exercised its right to purchase at the current time. Musk also added that the company was considering several options for its next big factory in the United States.
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Tesla sees sharp November rebound in China as Model Y demand surges
New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month.
Tesla’s sales momentum in China strengthened in November, with wholesale volumes rising to 86,700 units, reversing a slowdown seen in October.
New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month. This was partly driven by tightened delivery windows, targeted marketing, and buyers moving to secure vehicles before changes to national purchase tax incentives take effect.
Tesla’s November rebound coincided with a noticeable spike in Model Y interest across China. Delivery wait times extended multiple times over the month, jumping from an initial 2–5 weeks to estimated handovers in January and February 2026 for most five-seat variants. Only the six-seat Model Y L kept its 4–8 week estimated delivery timeframe.
The company amplified these delivery updates across its Chinese social media channels, urging buyers to lock in orders early to secure 2025 delivery slots and preserve eligibility for current purchase tax incentives, as noted in a CNEV Post report. Tesla also highlighted that new inventory-built Model Y units were available for customers seeking guaranteed handovers before December 31.
This combination of urgency marketing and genuine supply-demand pressure seemed to have helped boost November’s volumes, stabilizing what had been a year marked by several months of year-over-year declines.
-->For the January–November period, Tesla China recorded 754,561 wholesale units, an 8.30% decline compared to the same period last year. The company’s Shanghai Gigafactory continues to operate as both a domestic production base and a major global export hub, building the Model 3 and Model Y for markets across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, among other territories.
Tesla bear Michael Burry got blunt with his beliefs over the company’s valuation, which he called “ridiculously overvalued” in a newsletter to subscribers this past weekend.
“Tesla’s market capitalization is ridiculously overvalued today and has been for a good long time,” Burry, who was the inspiration for the movie The Big Short, and was portrayed by Christian Bale.
Burry went on to say, “As an aside, the Elon cult was all-in on electric cars until competition showed up, then all-in on autonomous driving until competition showed up, and now is all-in on robots — until competition shows up.”
Tesla bear Michael Burry ditches bet against $TSLA, says ‘media inflated’ the situation
For a long time, Burry has been skeptical of Tesla, its stock, and its CEO, Elon Musk, even placing a $530 million bet against shares several years ago. Eventually, Burry’s short position extended to other supporters of the company, including ARK Invest.
Tesla has long drawn skepticism from investors and more traditional analysts, who believe its valuation is overblown. However, the company is not traded as a traditional stock, something that other Wall Street firms have recognized.
While many believe the company has some serious pull as an automaker, an identity that helped it reach the valuation it has, Tesla has more than transformed into a robotics, AI, and self-driving play, pulling itself into the realm of some of the most recognizable stocks in tech.
Burry’s Scion Asset Management has put its money where its mouth is against Tesla stock on several occasions, but the firm has not yielded positive results, as shares have increased in value since 2020 by over 115 percent. The firm closed in May.
In 2020, it launched its short position, but by October 2021, it had ditched that position.
Tesla has had a tumultuous year on Wall Street, dipping significantly to around the $220 mark at one point. However, it rebounded significantly in September, climbing back up to the $400 region, as it currently trades at around $430.
It closed at $430.14 on Monday.
Tesla appears to be making a change to its exterior side repeater cameras, which are used for the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, and other features, like Sentry Mode.
The change appears to be a potential upgrade in preparation for the AI5 suite, which CEO Elon Musk said will be present on a handful of vehicles next year, but will not be widely implemented until 2027.
Currently, Tesla uses a Sony sensor lens with the model number IMX963, a 5-megapixel camera with better dynamic range and low-light performance over the past iteration in Hardware 3 vehicles. Cameras in HW3 cars were only 1.2 megapixels.
However, Tesla is looking to upgrade, it appears, as Tesla hacker greentheonly has spotted a new sensor model in its firmware code, with the model number IMX00N being explicitly mentioned:
Looks like Tesla is changing (upgrading?) cameras in (some?) new cars produced.
Where as HW4 to date used exterior cameras with IMX963, now they (might potentially) have something called IMX00N— green (@greentheonly) December 1, 2025
Sony has not announced any formal specifications for the IMX00N model, and although IMX963 has been used in AI4/HW4 vehicles, it only makes sense that Tesla would prepare to upgrade these external cameras once again in preparation for what it believes to be the second hardware iteration capable of fully autonomous self-driving.
Tesla has maintained that AI4/HW4 vehicles are capable of self-driving operation, but AI5 will likely help the company make significant strides, especially in terms of overall performance and data collection.
Tesla last updated its exterior cameras on its vehicles back in early 2023, as it transitioned to the 5-megapixel IMX963. It also added additional cameras to its vehicles in January with the new Model Y, which featured an additional lens on the front bumper to help with Full Self-Driving.
Tesla’s new self-driving computer (HW4): more cameras, radar, and more
Tesla sees sharp November rebound in China as Model Y demand surges
Tesla bear gets blunt with beliefs over company valuation
