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Wedbush maintains Tesla (TSLA) “Outperform” rating but shares caution on “sci-fi” efforts

(Credit: Tesla)

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Wedbush analyst Dan Ives maintained his optimistic outlook on Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) following the company’s recently-held AI Day recruitment event. In a note, Ives mentioned the potential of innovations such as Project Dojo, as well as the company’s focus on Full Self-Driving. He did, however, share some caution about Elon Musk’s “sci-fi” projects such as the Tesla Bot. Despite his reservations, however, Ives still maintained his “Outperform” rating for the company, as well as a $1,000 12-month price target. 

Tesla’s AI Day was a recruitment event, and in this light, it was undoubtedly successful. With extremely detailed and technical discussions surrounding how FSD is being developed and trained, the event was a great showcase of the projects that the company is currently working on. It would not be surprising if Tesla received a good number of applications for its AI Team following the event. 

Ives, for his part, was particularly impressed by Dojo, which is being created to process vast amounts of camera imaging data much faster than existing computer systems. With the newly-unveiled D1 chip, Tesla could vastly improve its AI performance, allowing the company to gain more control over its hardware and software operations down the road. 

“The holy grail for Tesla is all about FSD and differentiating the company’s technology vs. increasing competition in the autonomous and self-driving space. In theory, the AI capabilities that Tesla is working on will enhance and improve its FSD with hopes that Dojo will be operational next year. To this point, with Tesla under major scrutiny for safety issues on FSD and a new US probe now underway, clearly Tesla recognizes there are deficiencies in its current process that must be significantly improved through real-time AI to reach the eventual aspirational goal of true FSD over the coming years,” Ives wrote

The Wedbush analyst also shared some of his reservations about the Tesla Bot, which Ives describes as a “sci-fi project for Musk.” While the Tesla Bot has potential in the way that it could help perform repetitive and low-level tasks, Ives stated that such a project would likely agitate investors in the near term since the company is currently facing some challenges. 

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“The robots will use the same chips and sensors that Tesla’s cars use for self-driving features. Unfortunately, as we have seen with robotaxis and other future sci-fi projects for Musk, we view this Tesla Bot as an absolute head-scratcher that will further agitate investors at a time (when) the Street is showing growing concern around rising EV competition and safety issues for Tesla. While we appreciate Musk’s longer term technology vision, a Tesla Bot is not what investors want to see with instead much more focus on chips, FSD, and reaccelerating China EV demand in this key market at a critical juncture.

“In a nutshell, last night showcased the massive AI technology underway at Tesla and speaks to a company which is much more than a traditional auto company. That said, the Street wants Musk to focus on driving near-term battery technology enhancements, capacity buildout (in Berlin and Austin), and fending off rising EV competition from all angles globally and not humanoid robots. We continue to believe Tesla is further building out its technology stronghold on EVs, however focusing on course-correcting the current issues (China demand, safety issues, and chip shortages) is the key task at hand for Musk and the stock,” Ives wrote. 

Disclaimer: I am long TSLA.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to tips@teslarati.com to give us a heads up. 

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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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Tesla on track to break Volkswagen’s historic record in Norway: report

As per Elbil Statistik, Tesla reached 26,127 Norwegian sales so far this year, without counting 13 imported Cybertrucks.

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Credit: Grok Imagine

Tesla is surging towards a historic milestone in Norway this month, putting the company on track to break Volkswagen’s long-standing annual sales record in the country. 

With 3,732 units sold in November alone and more than 26,000 delivered year-to-date, Tesla is poised to become one of the most successful car brands in Norway’s modern automotive history.

Tesla closes in on Norway’s all-time sales record

Norway’s demand for Tesla vehicles has intensified as drivers attempt to beat the incoming VAT changes on electric cars. Once the VAT changes take effect, the best-selling Model Y could become 50,000 kroner more expensive, as noted in a CarUp report. This has likely caused a rise in sales for Tesla in the country as of late. 

As per Elbil Statistik, Tesla reached 26,127 Norwegian sales so far this year, without counting 13 imported Cybertrucks. This places the brand just hundreds of units away from surpassing Volkswagen’s 2016 record of 26,572 annual registrations. With one month left in 2025, it seems all but certain that Tesla will overtake Volkswagen’s all-time record in Norway. 

Tesla sees challenges in Sweden

While Norway is delivering historic results, Tesla’s Swedish performance has moved in the opposite direction. Registrations have dropped 68% this year, totaling just 6,147 vehicles so far. November has seen only 291 deliveries, highlighting challenges in the domestic market’s momentum.

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Tesla Sweden is also still dealing with an increasing number of union-backed protests and blockades. Despite the pressure, however, Tesla Sweden has maintained its stance, IF Metall union chair Marie Nilsson to urge Elon Musk to reconsider his perception of organized labor. She also stated that Swedish unions are not like their American counterparts, as they are not as combative. 

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Tesla Full Self-Driving lands in a new country, its 7th

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Credit: Tesla Korea

Tesla Full Self-Driving has officially landed in a new country today, its seventh overall after it launched in both Australia and New Zealand earlier this year.

On Sunday, Tesla owners in South Korea reported that the company’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) had started arriving in their vehicles. Owners reported that it was v14.1.4, which is not the latest version available in other countries, but is one of the most recent releases Tesla has deployed to drivers:

This marks the seventh country in which Tesla has enabled its Full Self-Driving suite, following the United States and Puerto Rico, Canada, China, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand.

Tesla launched Full Self-Driving most recently in Australia and New Zealand about three months ago. The expansion is a major breakthrough for the company as it aims to launch Full Self-Driving on a global scale.

However, the company’s biggest challenge thus far has been getting European regulatory agencies to handle the red tape that has inhibited Tesla from launching its semi-autonomous driving suite on the continent. Recently, it admitted that it sees a pathway through Dutch regulatory bodies, which seem to be the most willing to work with Tesla to get FSD in Europe.

Tesla Full Self-Driving appears to be heading to Europe soon

The company said that it has driven over 1 million kilometers safely on European roads across 17 different countries in internal testing. But its path to success will be by “partnering with the Dutch approval authority RDW to gain exemption for the feature. This involves proving compliance with existing regulations (UN-R-171 DCAS) + filing an exemption (EU Article 39) for yet-to-be-regulated behaviors like Level 2 systems off-highway, system-initiated lane changes with hands-off the wheel, etc.”

Perhaps the expansion into Europe will be the biggest challenge for Tesla, but it could also yield major results and advantages for the company moving forward. Tesla said it hopes to have FSD available in Europe sometime early next year.

For now, the expansion in South Korea is the latest win for Tesla and its self-driving efforts. In the U.S., it now turns its focus toward fully autonomous operation, as it works with state agencies to launch Robotaxi outside of Texas, California, and most recently, Arizona.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk teases insane capabilities of next major FSD update

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Credit: Tesla China/Weibo

Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased the insane capabilities of the next major Full Self-Driving update just hours after the company rolled out version 14.2 to owners.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2 had some major improvements from the previous iteration of v14.1.x. We were on v14.1.7, the most advanced configuration of the v14.1 family, before Tesla transitioned us and others to v14.2.

However, Musk has said that the improvements coming in the next major update, which will be v14.3, will be where “the last big piece of the puzzle finally lands.”

There were some major improvements with v14.2, most notably, Tesla seemed to narrow in on the triggers that caused issues with hesitation and brake stabbing in v14.1.x.

One of the most discussed issues with the past rollout was that of brake stabbing, where the vehicle would contemplate proceeding with a route as traffic was coming from other directions.

We experienced it most frequently at intersections, especially four-way stop signs.

Elon Musk hints at when Tesla can fix this FSD complaint with v14

In our review of it yesterday, it was evident that this issue had been resolved, at least to the extent that we had no issues with it in a 62-minute drive, which you can watch here.

Some owners also reported a more relaxed driver monitoring system, which is something Tesla said it was working on as it hopes to allow drivers to text during operation in the coming months. We did not test this, as laws in Pennsylvania prohibit the use of phones at any time due to the new Paul Miller’s Law, which took effect earlier this year.

However, the improvements indicate that Tesla is certainly headed toward a much more sentient FSD experience, so much so that Musk’s language seems to be more indicative of a more relaxed experience in terms of overall supervision from the driver, especially with v14.3.

Musk did not release or discuss a definitive timeline for the release of v14.3, especially as v14.2 just rolled out to Early Access Program (EAP) members yesterday. However, v14.1 rolled out to Tesla owners just a few weeks ago in late 2025. There is the potential that v14.3 could be part of the coming Holiday Update, or potentially in a release of its own before the New Year.

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