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Tesla (TSLA) surpasses $300B market cap as shorts amass their biggest bet yet

Tesla Model 3 production line in Gigafactory 3, Shanghai, China. (Credit: Tesla)

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The stage seems set for a clash between Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) bulls and bears, as the electric car maker showed signs that its momentum is in no way slowing down. With TSLA shares breaking $1,600 per share on Monday’s pre-market, Tesla’s market cap is poised to hit the $300 billion mark. At the same time, the recent surge in TSLA stock meant that short sellers have amassed almost $20 billion against the company. 

Tesla stock was up 6% on Monday’s pre market amidst recent announcements from Elon Musk regarding the Model Y crossover, which was recently given a price reduction. Together with this, Musk also announced that the vehicle’s 230 mile range variant, the Standard Range RWD, will no longer be made. Instead, the company will be focusing on ramping the Long Range RWD version, which will have a range that’s far above 300 miles per charge. 

Apart from this, sentiments are also quite positive surrounding the electric car maker, especially following the release of its better than expected second quarter vehicle delivery and production numbers. Tesla delivered over 90,000 vehicles in Q2, despite its main US plant being offline for nearly seven weeks due to the pandemic. The figures beat Wall Street’s expectations, which were hovering around 74,000 deliveries for the second quarter. Tesla’s results were particularly impressive considering that US auto sales saw an overall decline of about 34% during the quarter.

With such results, speculations are abounding that Tesla could very well qualify for the S&P 500, provided that it could post a profit later this month when it releases its Q2 2020 earnings report. The S&P 500 requires companies to post four profitable quarters in a row, and so far, Tesla has posted three. If Tesla could post a profit on its earnings call this July 22, the company could enter the S&P 500 as one of the index’s largest companies, just below Procter & Gamble and Mastercard. That would place Tesla quite close to the S&P 500’s top ten companies. 

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With Tesla shares poised to continue their rise, TSLA shorts are also poised to place their largest bet to date against the electric car maker. According to data from financial analytics firm S3 Partners, short sellers have amassed a near $20 billion position against TSLA stock as of last week. And as stakes continue to climb, the potential for a short squeeze becomes even more notable. “The reason behind Tesla’s short squeeze is obvious and straight forward, large mark-to-market losses are forcing out some short sellers as they hit their loss limit thresholds,” S3 noted. 

Tesla is expected to release its Q2 earnings report and hold its second quarter earnings call on July 22 after markets close. Needless to say, the days leading up to this date will likely be very interesting. As of writing, Tesla stock is trading up 6.94% at $1,651.79 per share.

Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk

Tesla Q1 Earnings: What Elon Musk and Co. will answer during the call

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is set to hold its Earnings Call for the first quarter of 2026 on Wednesday, and there are a lot of interesting things that are swirling around in terms of speculation from investors.

With the company’s executives, including CEO Elon Musk, answering a handful of questions that investors submit through the Say platform, fans want to know a lot of things about a lot of things.

These five questions come from Retail Investors, who are normal, everyday shareholders:

  1. When will we have the Optimus v3 reveal? When will Optimus production start, since we ended the Model S and Model X production earlier than mid-year? What’s the expected Optimus production rate exiting this year? What are the initial targeted skills?
  2. What milestones are you targeting for unsupervised FSD and Robotaxi expansion beyond Austin this year, and how will that drive recurring revenue?
  3. How will Hardware 3 cars reach Unsupervised Full Self-Driving?
  4. When do you expect Unsupervised Full Self-Driving to reach customer cars?
  5. When will Robotaxi expand past its current limited rollout?

Additionally, these are currently the three questions that are slated to be answered by Institutional Firms, which also answer a handful of questions during the call:

  1. Now that FSD has been approved in the Netherlands and is expected to launch across Europe this summer, can you discuss your Robotaxi strategy for the region?
  2. What enabled you to finish the AI5 tapeout early and were there any changes to the original vision? Last week, Elon said AI5 will go into Optimus and the Supercomputer, but one month ago said it would go into the Robotaxi. Has AI5 been dropped from the vehicle roadmap?
  3. Given the recent NHTSA incident filings, can you update us on the Robotaxi safety data? If safety validation remains the primary bottleneck, why not deploy thousands of vehicles to accelerate the removal of the safety driver?

The questions range through every current Tesla project, including FSD expansion and Optimus. However, many of the answers we will get will likely be repetitive answers we’ve heard in the past.

This is especially pertinent when the questions about when Unsupervised FSD will reach customer cars: we know Musk will say that it will happen this year. Is Tesla capable of that? Maybe. But a more transparent answer that is more revealing of a true timeline would be appreciated.

Hardware 3 owners are anxiously awaiting the arrival of FSD v14 Lite, which was promised to them last year for a release sometime this year.

The Earnings Call is set to take place on Wednesday at market close.

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Elon Musk

Tesla FSD in Europe vs. US: It’s not what you think

Tesla FSD is approved in the Netherlands, but the European version differs from what US drivers use.

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Tesla FSD 14.3 [Credit: TESLARATI)

On April 10, 2026, the Dutch vehicle authority RDW granted Tesla the first European type approval for Full Self-Driving Supervised, making the Netherlands the first country on the continent to authorize Tesla’s semi-autonomous system for customer use on public roads.

As Teslarati reported, the RDW approval followed 18 months of testing, more than 1.6 million kilometers driven on EU roads, 13,000 customer ride-alongs, and documentation covering over 400 compliance requirements. Tesla Europe had been running public demo drives through cities like Amsterdam and Eindhoven since early 2026, giving passengers their first experience of the system on European streets.


The European version of FSD is not the same software US drivers use. The RDW’s own statement is direct, noting that the software versions and functionalities in the US and Europe “are therefore not comparable one-to-one.” We’ve compile a table below that captures the most significant differences between US-based Tesla FSD vs. European Tesla FSD that’s based on what regulators and Tesla have publicly confirmed.

Feature FSD US FSD Europe (Netherlands)
Regulatory framework Self-certification, post-market oversight Pre-market type approval required (UN R-171 + Article 39)
Hands requirement Hands-off permitted on highway Hands must be available to take over immediately
Auto turning from stop lights Available — navigates intersections, turns, and traffic signals autonomously Available in EU build — confirmed in Amsterdam demo footage handling unprotected turns and signalized intersections
Driving modes Multiple profiles including a more aggressive “Mad Max” mode EU build is more conservative by default and errs on the side of restraint when it cannot confirm the limit
Summon Available — Smart Summon navigates parking lots to driver Status unclear — not confirmed as part of the RDW-approved feature set; urban FSD approval targeted separately for 2027
Driver monitoring Camera-based eye tracking Stricter continuous monitoring with more frequent intervention alerts
Software version FSD v14.3 EU-specific builds that must be separately validated by RDW
Geographic restriction US, Canada, China, Mexico, Australia, NZ, South Korea Netherlands only; EU-wide vote pending summer 2026
Subscription price $99/month €99/month
Full urban FSD scope Available Partial — separate urban application planned for 2027

The approval comes as Tesla is under real pressure to grow FSD subscriptions globally. Musk’s 2025 CEO compensation package, approved by shareholders, includes a milestone requiring 10 million active FSD subscriptions as one condition for his stock awards to vest. Tesla hit one million subscriptions during its Q4 2025 earnings call, which is a meaningful start, but still a long way from the target. Opening Europe as a market for subscriptions, rather than just hardware sales, directly accelerates that number.

Tesla has said it anticipates EU-wide recognition of the Dutch approval during summer 2026, which would extend FSD access to Germany, France, and other major markets through a mutual recognition process without each country repeating the full 18-month review. That timeline is Tesla’s projection, not a confirmed regulatory outcome. As Musk acknowledged at Davos in January 2026, “We hope to get Supervised Full Self-Driving approval in Europe, hopefully next month.”

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Elon Musk

Tesla Supercharger for Business exposes jaw-dropping ROI gap between best and worst locations

Tesla’s new Supercharger for Business calculator reveals an eye-opening all-in cost and location-based ROI projections.

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tesla v4 supercharger

Tesla has launched an online calculator for its Supercharger for Business program, giving property owners their first transparent look at what it really costs to install Superchargers on site and what kind of return they can expect.

The program itself launched in September 2025, allowing businesses to purchase and operate Supercharger hardware on their own property while Tesla handles installation, maintenance, software, and 24/7 driver support. As Teslarati reported at launch, hosts also get their logo placed on the chargers and their location integrated into Tesla’s in-car navigation, meaning drivers are actively routed there. The stalls are open to all EVs, not just Teslas.


The new online calculator, announced by Tesla on Wednesday with the note that “simplicity and transparency” have been a problem in the industry, lets any business enter a U.S. address and get a real cost and revenue model. A standard 8-stall V4 Supercharger site runs approximately $500,000 in hardware and $55,000 per post for installation, bringing an all-in price just shy of $1 million. Tesla charges a flat $0.10 per kWh fee to cover software, billing, and network operations. Businesses set their own retail price and keep the margin above that fee.

Tesla expands its branded ‘For Business’ Superchargers

 

Taking a look at Tesla’s Supercharger for Business online calculator, we can see that ROI is not uniform, and the gap between a strong location and a poor one can stretch the breakeven point by several years.

The biggest driver is foot traffic and how long people stay. A busy rest station, hotel, or outlet mall brings in repeat visitors who need to charge while they’re already stopped, pushing utilization numbers higher and shortening payback time.

Tesla Supercharger for Business ROI calculator

Tesla Supercharger for Business ROI calculator

Local electricity rates matter just as much on the cost side. Markets like California carry some of the highest commercial electricity rates in the country, which eats into the margin between what a host pays per kWh and what they charge drivers. At the same time, dense urban areas with high EV adoption tend to support higher retail charging prices, which can offset that cost if demand is strong enough. Weather also plays a role. Cold climates reduce battery efficiency and increase charging frequency, but they can also suppress utilization in winter months if drivers avoid stopping in exposed outdoor locations. Suburban and rural sites face a different problem: lower baseline EV traffic, which means a site with cheaper power and lower operating costs can still take longer to pay back simply because the stalls sit idle more often. Tesla’s calculator uses real fleet data to pre-fill utilization estimates by ZIP code, so businesses can run their specific address against these variables rather than relying on averages.

The program has seen real adoption. Wawa, already the largest host of Tesla Superchargers with over 2,100 stalls across 223 locations, opened its first fully owned and branded site in Alachua, Florida earlier this year. Francis Energy of Oklahoma and the city of Alpharetta, Georgia have also deployed branded stations through the program, as Teslarati covered in January.

Tesla now exceeds 80,000 Supercharger stalls worldwide, and the calculator makes the economic case for accelerating that number through private investment rather than company-owned sites alone.

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