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Tesla Top 5 Week in Review: Model 3 “Founders Series”, a test drive gone wrong, Tesla insurance, and more
The news this week out of Tesla focused a lot on the Q4 earnings call and the 2016 annual financial report, with overall good numbers and analyst reactions. Part of that confidence came from the anticipated production of the new Model 3, which will be released to employees first as part of a feedback loop. In other areas, an overnight test drive program for prospective buyers turned bad when a driver behind a P100D lost control and crashed. Generally, Teslas score in the highest levels of automotive safety, which is why Tesla may be considering offering customers a package where purchase costs, insurance, and maintenance are bundled together. And, finally, more good news poured out of Nevada, where the Tesla Gigafactory is under construction. All that and more: read on, Teslarati fans….
Tesla beats Wall St. estimates: $7 billion revenue; record Model S, X orders; Model 3 production starts in July
Tesla released its 2016 Q4 financial results and shareholders letter as well as its annual 2016 overall financial report. With Q4 earnings loss of $.69 per share, Tesla came in at the lower end of the estimate spectrum. Revenue was $2.28 billion versus an estimate of $2.13 billion. For the full year 2016, revenues were up 73% from 2015 at $7 billion. Q4 Model S and X vehicles came in at record high sales numbers. In the days prior to the financial announcement, Tesla stock values had soared to nearly all-time highs.
Tesla Model 3 Design Studio expected in June, “Founders Series” will go to employees first
The Tesla Model 3 configurator is about three or four months away, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Model will be released incrementally for testing and feedback. First deliveries will be offered to employees as part of an internal “feedback loop” to generate information before customers experience the car. Following the employee offering, west coast Tesla owners with geographic proximity to the Fremont factory will have the next opportunity to experience the Model 3. After that, the geographical expansion will continue to other regions and other lucky new Tesla customers.
Tesla’s “overnight test drive” program ends badly for one P100D driver
Last summer, a registration form appeared on the Tesla website in which prospective buyers could apply for an overnight test drive program. A prospective customer near Canmore, Alberta was behind the wheel of a P100D, which is Tesla’s fastest production car, when it crashed into guardrails. Authorized Tesla body shop Contemporary Coachworks declined to release background information regarding the incident, including the Tesla’s speed at the time of impact. Pictures taken afterward do seem to show significant damage, which leads one to wonder what insurance costs will look like for the test run. Maybe the next top featured story of the week isn’t just coincidence….
Tesla looks to bundle insurance policy into the purchase of a car
In Asia, Tesla offers a package to customers that includes the costs of purchase, insurance, and maintenance. That’s a model that Tesla would like to bring to the U.S., according to company information provided this week. This package may be offered in conjunction with external insurance providers or as in-house option. Providing insurance, in addition to other essential coverage, would be another way that Tesla would disrupt a business-as-usual set of practices from top automakers. The company has the capacity to offer this bundled package because Teslas have a strong safety record, which underlies the usual perils inherent in car insurance.
Nevada official says Tesla Gigafactory has over 1,000 workers and is hiring 150-200 more each month
At at time when the talk of the nations is jobs, jobs, Tesla’s job creation numbers at its Gigafactory in northern Nevada are one bright moment in an otherwise stagnant employment scene across the country. With hiring levels at about 150 to 200 more every month, Executive Director Steve Hill told the Senate Finance Committee last week during a budget review meeting that the California-based electric carmaker and energy company may be able to have 3,200 workers by March, 2018. Job creation at the Gigafactory reinforces Tesla’s original commitments when Nevada provided a $1.3 billion tax incentive package to Tesla at a time when the company’s name recognition was quite low.
Tesla has finally clarified the situation regarding the viral crash in Texas where a Model 3 slammed into a home.
CEO Elon Musk replied to reports on Monday that stated the crash was due to the company’s Full Self-Driving or Autopilot suite, which seemed unlikely to those who are familiar with it. Video showed the car slamming into a house at an excessive rate of speed, making it highly unlikely the crash was due to the suite’s operation, as it does not travel at those speeds in residential areas.
Musk said:
“This makes no sense. FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets, and this was a high-speed crash!”
Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, added context, revealing that the company’s data shows the driver “manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%.”
He revealed the speed reached by the car was 73 MPH, and the accelerator was still pressed “even after the crash.”
Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 22, 2026
Authorities are reportedly investigating “whether Tesla’s Autopilot system played a role after a Model 3 left the roadway…slammed through a brick house at high speed and fatally struck Matha Avila as she sat inside,” the New York Post reported.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now investigating the crash. Tesla will work with the agency to provide them with whatever information they need in order to clarify the cause of the crash.
Similarly, Tesla had claims of a fatal accident in Harris County, Texas, a few years ago. Early reports indicated that Full Self-Driving was the cause of the crash. After the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) worked with Tesla, the agency proved there was “no use of the Autopilot system at any time during this ownership period of the vehicle, including the time frame up to the last transmitted timestamp on April 17, 2021.”
Tesla alleged “driverless” crash in Texas: What is known so far
“Application of the accelerator pedal was found to be as high as 98.8 percent,” the NTSB said in their findings. The highest recorded speed in the five seconds leading up to the impact was 67 miles per hour. The area where the crash occurred is residential, and Texas State laws have default speed limits of 30 MPH in residential streets.
This appears to be a similar situation. However, an investigation will prove what happened for sure.
SpaceX announced today that it commenced its first-ever public bond offering, marking a significant step in the newly public company’s capital markets strategy.
The company announced an offering of senior unsecured notes expected to raise at least $20 billion.
The move comes just a short time after SpaceX completed one of the largest initial public offerings in history. In mid-June, the company priced shares at $135 and raised more than $85 billion, propelling founder Elon Musk’s net worth past the trillion-dollar mark and giving the firm substantial liquidity.
🚨 SpaceX has announced its inaugural offering of senior unsecured notes.
The net proceeds will be used to repay outstanding loans under its bridge loan facility in full.
This inaugural debt offering represents a financing milestone for SpaceX, which previously depended… pic.twitter.com/pcOZuVbTRv
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 22, 2026
According to the company’s SEC filing, the net proceeds from the notes will be used primarily to repay in full the outstanding borrowings under its existing bridge loan facility, cover related fees and expenses, and fund general corporate purposes. The offering is being conducted under Rule 144A, as well as Regulation S, targeting qualified institutional buyers and non-U.S. investors. Notes will be unsecured obligations ranking equally with other unsubordinated debt.
The $20 billion bridge loan was used to refinance approximately $17.5 billion in higher-cost “junk” debt tied to X and xAI. SpaceX had merged with xAI in February 2026 in an all-stock deal. The bridge facility, which matures in September 2027, had represented the bulk of SpaceX’s long-term debt.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
In connection with the bond launch, SpaceX disclosed it held approximately $100.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of June 19. Investor calls began on the announcement date, with pricing and launch expected shortly thereafter. Rating agencies have assigned investment-grade ratings to the proposed bonds, reflecting confidence in SpaceX’s dominant position in commercial launches and the growth trajectory of its Starlink internet offering.
The debt raise also allows SpaceX to optimize its balance sheet by replacing short-term, higher-cost bridge financing with longer-date, lower-cost fixed-income securities. This provides greater financial flexibility to support capital-intensive initiatives, including the development of Starship, the expansion of the Starlink constellation, and the integration of AI capabilities following the xAI combination.
SpaceX shares (NASDAQ: SPCX) fell sharply on the news, dropping over 16 percent overall on the market on Monday. The stock had surged initially after debuting but pulled back amid profit-taking and broader market dynamics.
Overall, the bond offering underscores SpaceX’s transition to a mature public company with access to diverse funding sources. It positions the firm to pursue its long-term vision of multiplanetary expansion and AI infrastructure, while maintaining a disciplined approach to its capital structure in a high-growth but capital-heavy industry.
SpaceX confirmed today that it has officially signed its third massive compute deal, providing compute at its Colossus data center in Southaven, Mississippi.
Reflection AI will gain immediate access to NVIDIA GB300 chips at SpaceX’s Colossus 2 data center. In return, Reflection will pay SpaceX $150 million per month starting on July 1, with total payments reaching approximately $6.3 billion if the contract runs through its duration, which is until 2029. Either party can terminate the agreement with 90 days’ notice after the initial three-month period.
CNBC first reported the deal.
🚨 SpaceXAI has agreed to a new compute deal with Reflection AI.
Reflection gets access to NIVIDIA GB300s, and will pay $150M per month to SpaceXAI for the compute. pic.twitter.com/bNPare8U5u
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 22, 2026
This latest partnership highlights SpaceX’s strategy of commercializing its massive Colossus supercomputing infrastructure, originally developed to power Elon Musk’s Grok AI models. The company has rapidly expanded its customer base in the AI sector following its February 2026 merger with xAI, a transaction that valued the combined entity at $1.25 trillion.
SpaceX has previously signed significant compute deals with other major players.
It granted Anthropic exclusive access to the full capacity of its Colossus 1 data center, which exceeds 300 megawatts and includes over 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs. Details from SpaceX’s IPO filings indicate Anthropic will pay $1.25 billion per month through May 2029, potentially generating around $45 billion over the term of the deal.
Additionally, Google agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million per month for compute capacity from October 2026 through June 2029. This 32-month period will provide Google access to roughly 110,000 NVIDIA GPUs, along with supporting processors and memory. Capacity ramps up through September at a reduced fee, with termination options after the first year.
SpaceXA also established arrangements for computing power with Cursor, an AI coding startup. SpaceX acquired them in a $60 billion all-stock deal.
These arrangements position SpaceX’s collective position as an AI infrastructure powerhouse with high-margin revenue potential. The Google deal alone could generate nearly $29.5 billion over its term, while the Reflection contract adds another $6.3 billion.
Combined with the Anthropic arrangement, SpaceX stands to realize tens of billions in revenue from compute leasing in the coming years, which diversifies beyond SpaceX’s traditional rocket launches and Starlink operation.
The deals underscore growing demand for advanced AI training and inference capacity amid chip shortages and surging model development needs. Reflection, valued at $25 billion and focused on “American open intelligence” with government and national security ties, cited recent restrictions on closed models as validation for open-source approaches.
For SpaceX, the partnerships transform capital-intensive data centers into flexible revenue sources while supporting its broader AI ambitions after the company has gone public.
Tesla finally clarifies fatal Texas crash, confirms driver manually overrode acceleration
SpaceX makes $20 billion move to optimize its balance sheet
