News
Tesla stock spikes on China delivery figures, then cools down for no reason
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock spiked nearly 3% this morning after positive news from China that effectively debunked rumors of declining sales figures in May. However, the increase in price was short-lived, as the stock dropped back down to the $600 level after opening at $623.01, despite no negative news being reported regarding Tesla this morning.
Earlier today, the Chinese Passenger Car Association (CPCA) reported Tesla delivered a total of 33,463 vehicles in May. Tesla delivered 21,936 domestically after being produced at Tesla’s Giga Shanghai production facility. The remaining 11,527 were exported to other areas, including Europe, where Tesla started shipping vehicles from China in January.
Tesla China sales rise 30% in May, definitively debunks reports of weak demand
The figures released by the CPCA earlier today directly contradict reports from earlier this month, when The Information stated that an internal source familiar with Tesla’s EV sales in China indicated the electric automaker’s orders had slumped significantly in May compared to April. The figures indicated Tesla had only 9,800 orders in May, suggesting a decrease by as much as 50%. The news sent Tesla stock on a steep decline after the report hit mainstream media, who started to aggregate the story as fact.
The report was met with criticism just a few days later by the CPCA’s Secretary General Cui Dongshu, who said (via Global Times):
“Placed orders cannot equal the sales number in one month. Usually, monthly sales are accumulated units of orders over previous months, so the immediate results in May might not truly reflect whether the recently reported accidents have had any real impact on Tesla’s sales.”
Cui suggested that if Tesla were experiencing decreasing order and sales figures, they wouldn’t be identifiable until July or August.
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After Tesla shares spiked this morning on the news of the positive delivery figures in China, the surge cooled down. Analyst Gary Black attributed the drop off to two things: Traders buying on the rumor of low delivery figures, and now selling after shares rose when the CPCA released positive news this morning, or the possibility of Bitcoin’s plummet affecting Tesla’s shares.
1/ Traders bought the China rumor; now selling the news.
2/ #btc collapsing again$tsla https://t.co/NQzxzyoQZE— Gary Black (@garyblack00) June 8, 2021
There is a chance that Jerome Guillen, Tesla’s now-former Head of Heavy Trucking, leaving the company could be affecting the price.
Tesla’s rocky road in China
Tesla has had somewhat of a tumultuous relationship in China over the past few months. After growing concerns of security issues due to Tesla’s external cameras, several State-owned businesses and entities banned the company’s cars on their premises in fear of a security breach that could take pictures of potentially sensitive information. Tesla stated that its cabin cameras are not active, and Elon Musk stated that Tesla’s vehicles were not being used to spy on Chinese entities. “If Tesla used cars to spy in China or anywhere, we would get shut down,” Musk said.
In the following months, Tesla would battle numerous reports of brake failures by numerous owners in China. The most public occurrence of this happening was at the Shanghai Auto Show, where a Model 3 owner claimed her brakes failed and led to an accident. Tesla offered to have a third-party company complete testing on the car to determine the cause of the accident. The owner declined this.
Other owners in China have also come out with similar claims, all of them eventually being debunked or disproven in the following days or weeks. In response to the claims, Tesla created a “Special Handling Team” in China to deter and navigate through false narratives related to the company’s products. Tesla said the team would “meet the demands of car owners and strive to satisfy car owners while complying with laws and regulations.”
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Tesla Stock
Tesla shares have dropped 14.49% so far in 2021. Interestingly, Tesla has continued its trend of strong financials and delivery and production performances, citing Quarter-over-Quarter growth in both of the company’s Earnings Calls that have taken place this year. In addition, Q1 2021 proved to be Tesla’s biggest quarter yet in terms of production and delivery figures, despite only manufacturing two of its four currently-offered automobiles. The Model S and Model X lines at Tesla’s Fremont production facility were being retooled during the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 as the flagship models were being “refreshed.”
At the time of writing, Tesla shares were trading at $601.16.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
Tesla Energy has introduced the Powerwall Lease in conjunction with Tesla Electric, making the service available in Texas. This new option delivers whole-home backup power using two Powerwall units for a net monthly cost of $35 after credits, accompanied by a low fixed electricity rate.
Under the lease terms, customers pay a one-time order fee of $100. The base lease payment for the two Powerwalls is approximately $122 per month during the first year, subject to a 3 percent annual escalator thereafter. Enrollment in a qualifying Tesla Electric Backup plan or Virtual Power Plant plan provides an $87 monthly credit.
Powerwall Lease is now available with Tesla Electric in Texas
Whole-home backup for $35/month, with a low fixed electricity rate
– Two Powerwalls, $0 installation
– Storm Watch outage protection
– One app to manage it all pic.twitter.com/oTzqc6K3aF— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) August 13, 2026
This credit lowers the effective cost to roughly $35 per month plus applicable tax.
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Installation of the standard system carries no additional charge. The package features Storm Watch for outage protection and allows complete management through a single Tesla application. The system supplies continuous whole-home backup capability.
The Powerwall system enables households to maintain electricity during severe storms that disrupt the utility grid. When outages occur, the batteries automatically provide seamless backup power to the home.
Tesla announces 100k Powerwalls are participating in Virtual Power Plants
Tesla Storm Watch monitors weather forecasts and ensures the units are fully charged ahead of anticipated severe weather events so that power remains available throughout the disruption, keeping lights, refrigeration, and other essential systems operating without interruption.
Availability is restricted to select Texas locations where retail electric choice exists. Participants must lease exactly two Powerwall units and maintain continuous enrollment with Tesla Electric. Solar panels cannot be included under this particular lease arrangement.
The monthly credit activates automatically once the system is installed, receives permission to operate, and enrollment is confirmed. To retain the credit, customers are required to stay enrolled in Tesla Electric and fulfill all program conditions.
Nonstandard installations that involve electrical upgrades or special permitting may lead to extra expenses and might impact eligibility for the credit, so be sure to check with either your installer or Tesla to ensure you will still qualify.
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Elon Musk continues to tease the unveiling event for the Tesla Roadster, a continuing trend that has grown into a bigger game of “When” for fans who have been waiting years for the car to finally enter production.
A video shared on X of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Musk appeared on last year, teasing the Roadster unveiling, was shared once again on the social media platform. The poster said the Roadster event will be “unforgettable.”
Musk agreed:
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
The timing is interesting because just yesterday, Musk said that we will be getting flying cars, and for years, Tesla has hinted that it could develop a SpaceX cold gas thruster package that would help the car float or fly for a short period of time.
It would be reasonable to assume Tesla’s major delays with this unveiling event are likely caused by the company’s need to break the rules and push the envelope on nearly everything. Last July, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said:
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“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on and he got a little excited.”
The latest updates that Tesla has given us are that the Roadster is in design development, and it did have several potential dates for an unveiling event this year, including April. It was then pushed to August.
However, there are no clues as to when Tesla will be ready, and fans are certainly getting frustrated with the delays.
For what it is worth, Franz von Holzhausen told Jay Leno this week that the event would be “very soon.”
We sure hope.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
Florida’s governor rode Tesla’s Cybercab at a closed test track and called the experience impressive.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rode in a Tesla Cybercab on a closed test track this week and came away impressed, posting on X that the vehicle “successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.” He called the ride “impressive.”
The stop was part of a broader event Monday at SunTrax, a 775 acre state owned proving ground in Auburndale that Florida built specifically to test autonomous and connected vehicles before they reach public roads. Standing next to a gold Cybercab, DeSantis described the car in plain terms: “You go in there and you just sit. You have a screen. There’s no steering wheel, no pedals. Clearly these things could be very beneficial.”
We took a ride on a robotaxi on the Suntrax course and it successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.
Impressive! https://t.co/FVAkzFLz3r
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 11, 2026
DeSantis paired the praise with a caveat that has followed autonomous vehicles since the category existed. “You don’t want to be in an autonomous vehicle and it drives you into a ditch. That would not be good,” he said, framing safety validation as the gate before wider deployment.
SunTrax, the 2.25 mile oval which the state calls the only high speed autonomous vehicle test track in the Southeast, can simulate rain, pedestrian crossings, hills and crowded urban conditions at highway speeds, letting companies push a car past what an early public rollout would risk. Tesla, Waymo and Beep all use the facility, and Florida’s regulatory approach, among the most permissive for autonomous vehicles in the country, doesn’t require a human operator inside a fully autonomous car.
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Tesla has reason to want the blessing of Florida and states beyond, as the Cybercab entered volume production at Gigafactory Texas this spring and has since self certified as SAE Level 4 under Texas law. Public road testing so far has kept a safety monitor in the passenger seat, and Florida is where Tesla has been expanding its existing Model Y based Robotaxi service instead, adding Miami in July and then Orlando and Tampa two weeks later. A closed track endorsement from a sitting governor doesn’t change any of that, but it does put Tesla’s newest hardware in front of a state that has already shown it will move fast on rules.
Tesla launches Powerwall Lease for affordable home backup
Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again
