During the third quarter earnings call, Elon Musk stated that Tesla has no plans to produce a version of the Cybercab that is equipped with a steering wheel and pedals. While this effectively put a period on the idea of the Cybercab becoming a low-cost, human-driven car, this does not mean to say that Tesla will no longer be producing a cheaper vehicle.
In fact, it appears that Tesla is poised to start the production of more affordable models sooner than expected. This was indicated by Tesla in its Q3 2024 Update Letter, which noted that plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, are still on track to start production in the first half of 2025. That’s just a few months from now.
Tesla described its plans as follows:
“Plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, remain on track for start of production in the first half of 2025. These vehicles will utilize aspects of the next generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms and will be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle line-up.
“This approach will result in achieving less cost reduction than previously expected but enables us to prudently grow our vehicle volumes in a more capex-efficient manner during uncertain times. This should help us fully utilize our current expected maximum capacity of close to three million vehicles, enabling more than 50% growth over 2023 production before investing in new manufacturing lines,” Tesla wrote in its Q3 2024 Update Letter.
These comments were reiterated by company executives during the Q3 2024 earnings call. With this in mind, it appears that consumers will soon see the release of cheaper Teslas, perhaps just not vehicles that the electric vehicle community expects. Considering Tesla’s comments about its affordable vehicles utilizing aspects of its current and next-generation platforms, there seems to be a chance that the EV maker will release notably lower-priced versions of the Model 3 and Model Y to consumers next year.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
Energy
Tesla China’s Megafactory helps boost Shanghai’s battery exports by 20%: report
Located in the Lingang New Area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, the Tesla Megafactory has been running at full throttle since opening in February.

Reports from China have indicated that the Tesla Shanghai Megafactory has become a notable player in China’s booming battery export market.
Located in the Lingang New Area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, the Tesla Megafactory has been running at full throttle since opening in February. It produces Tesla Megapack batteries for domestic and international use.
Tesla Shanghai Megafactory
As noted in a report from Sina Finance, the Tesla Shanghai Megafactory’s output of Megapack batteries helped drive a notable rise in lithium battery shipments from the city in the first three quarters of 2025. This is quite impressive as the Megafactory is a rather young facility, though it has been steadily increasing its production capacity.
“The establishment of this benchmark factory has not only driven the rapid development of Shanghai’s energy storage industry but also become a new growth engine for foreign trade exports. Driven by the Tesla energy storage factory’s opening, Shanghai’s lithium battery exports reached 32.15 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) in the first three quarters, a 20.7% increase,” the publication wrote.
Ultimately, the Shanghai Megafactory has proved helpful to the city’s “new three” industries, which are comprised of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic systems. Exports of the “new three” products reached 112.17 billion yuan ($15.7 billion), a 6.3% year-over-year increase during the same period. The city’s total trade volume grew 5.4% year-over-year as well, with exports up 11.3%, driven largely by the clean energy sector’s performance.
Energy storage is helping Shanghai
Since opening in February, the Shanghai Megafactory has been firing on all cylinders. In late July, Tesla Energy announced that the new battery factory has successfully produced its 1,000th Megapack unit. That’s quite impressive for a facility that, at the time, had only been operational for less than six months.
Speed has always been a trademark of the Shanghai Megafactory. Similar to Tesla’s other key facilities in China, the Megafactory was constructed quickly. The facility started its construction on May 23, 2024. Less than a year later, the site officially started producing Megapack batteries. By late March 2025, Tesla China noted that it had shipped the first batch of Megapack batteries from the Shanghai plant to foreign markets.
Elon Musk
“Take Back Tesla:” Unions and corporate watchdogs launch campaign against Musk’s 2025 pay package
A new shareholder campaign is calling for Tesla investors to vote against Elon Musk’s proposed 2025 CEO Performance Award.

A new shareholder campaign is calling for Tesla investors to vote against Elon Musk’s proposed 2025 CEO Performance Award, arguing it would deepen governance risks and weaken corporate accountability.
Ahead of Tesla’s Q3 2025 earnings report, a coalition of unions and watchdogs launched the “Take Back Tesla” initiative, urging investors to reject Musk’s pay proposal at next month’s annual meeting. The plan would grant the CEO additional shares worth nearly $1 trillion over ten years, expanding his ownership stake in the company to about 25%.
Unions and watchdogs argue that Elon Musk’s proposed plan rewards distraction
The Take Back Tesla campaign is backed by groups such as the American Federation of Teachers, Public Citizen, Americans for Financial Reform, Ekō, People’s Action, and Stop the Money Pipeline.
As could be seen on the campaign’s website, the groups are arguing that Musk’s focus on political ventures and external businesses has distracted him from leading Tesla. The group’s website called Musk’s new CEO Performance Award “outrageous” as it involves an amount of wealth that is unreachable even by today’s top executives.
“In order to unlock the full amount of shares proposed in this compensation plan, Tesla’s value would need to increase dramatically to $8.5 trillion. As Tesla’s proxy statement points out, that would make Tesla roughly 2x as valuable as the most valuable company in the world (Nvidia) today. Arguably, growing Tesla’s value to double the value of Nvidia would justify paying Musk something like double the compensation of Nvidia’s CEO.
“But the annual value of Musk’s trillion dollar pay package isn’t just 2 times what Nvidia’s CEO made last year (just under $50 million); it’s more than 2,000 times what Nvidia’s CEO made last year. At his current compensation of $49.9 million, it would take Nvidia’s CEO over 2,000 years to earn the amount that Elon Musk could earn, on average, per year for the next ten years,” the group argued.
Board defends package as necessary, though some pushback is present
Tesla’s board insists the compensation plan is essential to retain Musk and sustain the company’s innovation in AI, robotics, and self-driving technology. The automaker noted that previous skepticism from proxy firms such as ISS and Glass Lewis preceded a 20x rise in Tesla’s market capitalization since 2018, a feat that seemed unrealistic when it was proposed.
As noted in a CNBC report, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who oversees a $300 billion pension fund, stated that while Tesla has been a great investment, he “vociferously opposes” Elon Musk’s proposed 2025 CEO Performance Award.
“Most of the time we’ve held Tesla stock, it has been a solid investment, it’s grown over time, and that’s why we haven’t chosen to dump it, he said, adding that he views Tesla’s Board as “insufficiently independent” since they have allowed Musk to be “absentee CEO.” Landers also argued that Tesla as a whole has failed to hit its targets when it comes to its Robotaxi program and its Full Self-Driving technology.
For context, Elon Musk has maintained that his 2025 CEO Performance Award is not designed for him to gather even more wealth. Instead, he stressed that it is required so that he could take a controlling stake in the company.
Investor's Corner
Tesla Q3 2025 earnings: What analysts expect
The automaker delivered a record 497,099 vehicles and logged its highest-ever energy storage sales in Q3 2025.

Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Q3 2025 earnings, which would be released after markets close today, could prove to be a test of confidence for the company’s shareholders.
The automaker delivered a record 497,099 vehicles and logged its highest-ever energy storage sales, but analysts noted that these gains might have come at a cost.
Record vehicle deliveries
Tesla’s profit per share is expected to fall about 25% year over year to around $0.53–$0.55, even as revenue rises from 4% to 6%, as noted in a report from Market Pulse. Analysts noted that Tesla’s record quarter was partly fueled by buyers rushing to complete purchases before the U.S. federal EV tax credit expired in September, a surge that could dampen Q4 demand. The company also dipped into its inventory to reach the record delivery number.
Analysts expect automotive gross margin (excluding regulatory credits) to land between a conservative 16.5% and 17%. This suggests that a good portion of Tesla’s Q3 delivery growth came from aggressive price cuts. If margins fall below 16.5%, it could hint at more cost pressures that the company would have to handle in the coming months.
Tesla’s Energy segment, meanwhile, is expected to act as a stabilizer. The business deployed 12.5 GWh of storage in Q3, driven by strong demand from AI data centers. Analysts expect this high-margin division to partially cushion the hit from the automaker’s thinner car profits.
AI, FSD, and Musk’s role
Tesla’s lofty valuation, trading about 17% above the average analyst consensus of $365, would likely depend heavily on investor belief in its AI and robotics initiatives. Industry watchers have stated that management must deliver credible updates on Full Self-Driving and the Robotaxi program to help justify the company’s current valuation.
Elon Musk’s proposed 2025 CEO Performance Award, which proxy advisors have urged shareholders to reject, would likely be discussed in the Q3 2025 earnings call has well. Musk has hinted that a failed vote could jeopardize Tesla’s AI strategy, making the company’s upcoming results quite crucial for market confidence.
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