

News
Tesla's hiring ramp in 2019 bucks traditional auto trends as TSLA continues to soar
Tesla short sellers have been choking on over $2 billion in losses as Tesla share prices set record highs recently, even hitting over CEO Elon Musk’s once-take-private price of $420 per share on Monday morning. As the year closes, one can only wonder why Tesla continues to grow despite doubts from the company’s most dedicated critics. Over this time, Tesla has also engaged in a hiring ramp that increased its employee count significantly.
Thinknum Alternative Data finance editor Jon Marino zeroed in on how Tesla job postings are related to Tesla stock’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) soaring prices. Marino noted that the electric car maker’s job postings have increased 125% since the start of the second half of 2019. During the same timeframe, TSLA stock soared by as much as 75%.
“Musk has added more staffers to his manufacturing group in 2019 already, in part driven by 97% more postings since the year began. Across Tesla job posting categories, there are a handful of groups seeing more job postings since the year began, like supply chain, as well,” he wrote.
Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai and Gigafactory 4 in Brandenburg, Germany have the potential to add even more employees to the company as well. Aside from the role these facilities will play in spreading Tesla’s presence in the biggest automotive markets in the globe, they will also create new jobs. For example, Tesla is looking to hire more frontline workers for its Gigafactory 3 facility that aims to produce 250,000 and eventually 500,000 vehicles per year. Meanwhile, Tesla’s Gigafactory 4 will hire 3,000 workers to start and may later increase to 8,000 employees for the upcoming factory.
Tesla can be considered a trendsetter in the automotive industry. Beyond its amazing mission to achieve sustainable energy, it has been defying what has been happening to the rest of the automotive industry. As Tesla expands and hires more people, other American carmakers have slashed their workforces at a pace fastest since the recession about a decade ago. During the first half of 2019, car manufacturers have cut almost 22,000 jobs.
Tesla’s products are also well-loved by the market. In fact, the Model 3 is the best-selling electric vehicle in the United States this year and even bucked the EV sales slump in China, the world’s largest electric car market. Its products also redefine conventions, as evidenced by the Cybertruck. The polarizing design of the futuristic electric pickup truck has gained all kinds of opinion from all directions, but no one can deny how it almost instantaneously made autophiles go head over heels with it as the 250,000 preorders clearly suggest.
With everything in the pipeline, Tesla has not hit the ceiling. With new funding from Chinese banks to support its Gigafactory 3 in China, the smooth-sailing negotiations for the Gigafactory 4 in Germany, and the much-awaited Model Y and Cybertruck, one can only expect that more TSLA skeptics will be converted in the near future.
Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.
News
Tesla rolls out new life-saving feature for kids in Europe
On average, 37 children die every year from being left in vehicles unattended.

Tesla is rolling out a new life-saving feature in the European market, one that has been available in the United States for some time and can be considered potentially invaluable.
One of the most preventable causes of death for children is being left in cars unattended. On average, 37 children die every year after being left in hot vehicles. The cause of death is usually heatstroke, and it is incredibly avoidable.
Tesla rolls out new crucial safety feature aimed at saving children
However, there are instances where kids are left in vehicles and lose their lives, something that many companies have tried to fight with alerts and features of their own.
Tesla is one of them, as it has rolled out features like ultrasonic sensors to detect heartbeats, interior cameras to detect movement, and alerts to notify parents if they leave someone in the car.
A few months ago, Tesla rolled out a new feature called “Child Left Alone Detection” in the United States. It was described as:
“If an unattended child is detected, the vehicle will flash the exterior indicator lights, play an alert tone, and send a notification to your Tesla app. This will repeat at regular intervals until you return to your vehicle. Cabin data is processed locally and is not transmitted to Tesla.
This feature is enabled by default. To disable, go to Controls > Safety > Child Left Alone Detection.”
This feature was only rolled out in the U.S. at the time. It is now making its way to the European market, according to Not a Tesla App, which detected the rollout in the 2025.32.6 software update.
The rollout of this feature could specifically change many unfortunate situations. For many of us, it seems hard to think about leaving something as precious as another human life in a hot car. Many of us won’t leave our vehicles without our cell phones, so it seems unlikely that someone would do it without a child.
News
Tesla gets another NHTSA probe, this time related to door handles
“Although Tesla vehicles have manual door releases inside of the cabin, in these situations, a child may not be able to access or operate the releases even if the vehicle’s driver is aware of them.”

Tesla is facing another investigation into its vehicles by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this time related to an issue with its door handles.
In a new Open Investigation named “Electronic door handles become inoperative,” the NHTSA says that it has received nine complaints from owners of the 2021 Tesla Model Y stemming from “an inability to open doors.”
These issues were reported after “parents exited their vehicle after a drive cycle in order to remove a child from the pack seat or placing a child in the back seat before starting a drive cycle.” Parents said they were “unable to reopen a door to regain access to the vehicle.”
Tesla door handles become unlikely hero as they stump road rager
Four of the nine complaints ended with having to break a window to regain access to the cabin.
🚨 Model Year 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles are under a preliminary investigation by the NHTSA due to a potential issue with door handles, with nine owners reporting an inability to open doors from the outside
“The most commonly reported scenarios involved parents exiting the… pic.twitter.com/u0qBBiu9LT
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 16, 2025
The NHTSA goes on to explain that, while Teslas do have a manual door release inside the cabin, a child may not be able to access it:
“Although Tesla vehicles have manual door releases inside of the cabin, in these situations, a child may not be able to access or operate the releases even if the vehicle’s driver is aware of them. As a result, in these instances, an occupant who remains inside a vehicle in this condition may be unable to be rapidly retrieved by persons outside of the vehicle.”
It appears that the agency is attributing the issue to a low voltage in the vehicle’s 12V DC battery. This would mean there needs to be some sort of notification to the driver that the battery is running low on power and should be replaced to avoid this issue.
The NHTSA estimates that 174,290 vehicles are potentially impacted by this issue. It plans to assess the scope and severity of the condition, the agency says. The NHTSA also wants to see what approach Tesla uses to supply power to door locks and the reliability of the applicable power supplies.
News
Tesla won’t implement strange Grok character as Musk dispels rumor
It is nice to see that Tesla is not forcing this kind of character upon owners of their vehicles, especially considering that many people had a real problem with it.

Tesla is not going to implement a strange character as a Grok assistant in its vehicles, as CEO Elon Musk dispelled the rumor, which seemed to truly invoke some quite polarizing reactions.
Yesterday, there was some controversy within the Tesla community as rumors of a Grok assistant, named Mūn (pronounced like Moon), being implemented into the vehicles started to circulate.
It had some legitimacy. It was initially posted by an employee, and it appeared to be a relatively confirmed development.
However, it really did rub some people the wrong way. Mūn was an Anime-style female dressed in promiscuous clothing, so it was not everyone’s style, and I’m sure not everyone’s significant other’s cup of tea. It seemed a very strange decision to add it, especially considering that, at the time, there was no confirmation to dispel the arrival of the Grok assistant.
That was until Tesla CEO Elon Musk stepped in to put the speculation to bed once and for all.
🚨 Elon has confirmed the Grok assistant rumor with the character Mūn is untrue https://t.co/EC7absBZSj pic.twitter.com/1Skhvy9USQ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 16, 2025
It was somewhat strange that this type of issue arose in the first place, but given that it was initially released by an employee, the entire situation is self-explanatory.
It is nice to see that Tesla is not forcing this kind of character upon owners of their vehicles, especially considering that many people had a real problem with it. Many owners did not shy away from the fact that they would like the option to opt out:
I want something family friendly…like an Optimus avatar or something.
— FSD (Unsupervised) Test Pilot (@j32pmxr) September 16, 2025
For now, Grok remains a part of Tesla vehicles, and personally, it is very nice to have in my Model Y to answer some quick questions I might have or even to entertain some people in the car.
Nevertheless, I am relieved I won’t have this character forced upon me in my vehicle.
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