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Tesla ‘will solve autonomy soon:’ Musk highlights FSD’s value to company

Steve Jurvetson / Steve Jurvetson, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated once again that the company is close to solving autonomy while highlighting the automaker’s efforts and what they mean to its valuation.

“Although I’ve said this before, I think we will solve autonomy soon,” Musk said today (via Reuters), speaking at the VivaTech conference in Paris.

Musk has long highlighted Tesla’s prowess in the EV space, and as the automaker has prioritized solving autonomy for the better part of a decade, it has not been uncommon for him to state the company is close to being the first to roll out a fully self-driving car.

Tesla has its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving suites available, but they are not fully autonomous, meaning a driver can not sleep while the car is moving. Instead, the automaker has said that its FSD Beta is “an SAE Level 2 driver support feature,” but this is far from the Level 5 grade that would indicate it is fully autonomous.

Musk also said during the VivaTech event that Tesla’s driving force behind its valuation is autonomy.

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“The value of the company is primarily on the basis of autonomy. That’s really, I think, the main driver of our value.”

Tesla shares have spiked recently in significant fashion, adding more than $200 billion in value because of partnerships announced with Ford and GM that would see the companies adopt Tesla’s NACS charging connector and gain access to its Supercharger Network.

However, Tesla’s biggest bulls have highlighted the importance of autonomy to their outlook for the stock for the future. ARK Invest has stated that an operational robotaxi fleet would surge Tesla’s stock price significantly.

Tesla’s Robotaxi network could be more profitable than expected: ARK Invest

Musk’s visit to Europe has included numerous meetings with officials from both France and Italy as the company is expected to release the location of its next Gigafactory by the end of the year. It seems like Europe may be the location it will end up, as reports of negotiations with Spain were revealed earlier this week.

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However, Tesla has been strongly linked to France recently.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla warns consumers of huge, time-sensitive change coming soon

Tesla is urging customers to take delivery of their new EV by September 30 in order to take advantage of the $7,500 tax credit.

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla is continuing to warn consumers of a huge, time-sensitive change that is coming soon, as the end of the EV tax credit is less than two months away.

The EV tax credit has offered $7,500 off new EVs and $4,000 off used EVs for certain individuals who qualify due to income. For years, it has been a great incentive for consumers, and it has improved further as car companies were able to apply the credit at the point of sale starting in 2023.

Tesla is ready with a perfect counter to the end of US EV tax credits

However, with the Trump Administration, it always seemed as if the EV tax credit was in jeopardy. Earlier this year, the White House officially announced that it would do away with it completely.

On September 30, the tax credit will be abolished. In order to utilize it, customers will have to take delivery of their vehicle by that date. Orders placed before September 30 without delivery by that day will not be able to utilize the credit.

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Tesla is truly pushing this point incredibly hard: the sooner an order gets in, the more likely you are to take delivery of the car by September 30.

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The end of the EV tax credit is something that has been looming on the minds of electric carmakers, consumers, and investors.

The $7,500 discount for buying a clean energy vehicle truly puts many of the cars in a much more affordable price range. Without it, the least expensive Tesla model will be the Model 3 Rear-Wheel-Drive, which starts at $42,490.

That price comes down to $34,990 with the tax credit, and brings the monthly payment down about $130, depending on how much money is put down.

Despite the change, CEO Elon Musk does not believe it will impact Tesla negatively. In fact, he has been in favor of getting rid of the EV tax credit for several years, believing it will actually work to Tesla’s advantage.

Perhaps the most interesting thing that will come of this is how all EV makers will be impacted by the loss of credit. Musk believes Tesla will come out as the big winner here, especially as it plans to roll out new affordable models sometime this year.

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Tesla FSD V14 gets tentative release date

The update will feature a 10X higher parameter count, among other improvements.

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Credit: Whole Mars Catalog/YouTube

Tesla is not releasing Unsupervised FSD to regular customers yet, but the company seems to be preparing something special for its FSD users nonetheless. 

This was, at least, according to Elon Musk in a recent post on X.

Tesla FSD V14

Tesla’s FSD program has been deemed by Elon Musk as one of the key factors that would determine the company’s long term success. Over the past months, however, Tesla has mostly been focusing on the rollout and ramp of its Robotaxi program in Austin and the Bay Area. Tesla’s Robotaxi service uses Unsupervised FSD, which is not yet released to customers.

However, in a post on X, Musk stated that Tesla is preparing its next big update for its consumer-grade FSD system—V14. Musk did not provide a lot of details about FSD V14’s capabilities, but the CEO did state that the update will feature a 10X higher parameter count, among other improvements.

“The FSD release in about 6 weeks will be a dramatic gain with a 10X higher parameter count and many other improvements. It’s going through training & testing now. Once we confirm real-world safety of FSD 14, which we think will be amazing, the car will nag you much less,” Musk wrote in his post.

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Tesla Unsupervised FSD Rollout

During the second quarter earnings call, Tesla executives were asked for a timeline on the rollout of Unsupervised FSD to consumer vehicles. In his reply, Musk stated that he believes Unsupervised FSD will be available for consumers in certain geographies. He did explain that Tesla will be extra careful with the system’s release. 

“We are getting there. I think it will be available for unsupervised personal use by the end of this year in certain geographies. We are just being very careful about it. This is not something we should rush,” Musk said, adding that “I am confident that by this year, within a number of cities in the US, it will be available to end users.

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Elon Musk reaffirms Tesla Semi mass production in 2026

The Tesla Semi factory near Giga Nevada is expected to be capable of producing 50,000 units of the Class 8 all-electric truck per year.

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Credit: Tesla Semi/X

Elon Musk has reaffirmed the Tesla Semi’s mass production date. He mentioned the update in a post on social media platform X during the weekend.

Tesla Semi Factory

The Tesla Semi was initially unveiled in late 2017, and its first deliveries were held in December 2022. Since then, Tesla has only been delivering the Semi to a handful of customers while it builds a dedicated factory for the Class 8 all-electric truck near its Giga Nevada facility.

Drone flyovers of the Tesla Semi factory over the past months have suggested that progress in the construction of the facility has been steady. More recent flyovers have even suggested that Tesla is now busy outfitting the facility with the necessary equipment for the mass production of the Semi.

Elon Musk’s Recent Comments

In a recent comment on X, Elon Musk reiterated the idea that the Semi was indeed expected to be mass produced in 2026. Musk shared his update as a response to a Tesla bull who recalled that Bill Gates did not believe that the Semi was feasible due to the limitations of battery technology. In his response, Musk posted a laughing emoji together with “Tesla Semi will be in volume production next year.” 

The Tesla Semi factory near Giga Nevada is expected to be capable of producing 50,000 units of the Class 8 all-electric truck per year. While this number may not be attained by the facility right out of the gate, it would only be a matter of time before the factory manages to hit an optimal production rate.

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In a video posted on social media earlier this year, Dan Priestley, who leads the Semi program at Tesla stated that the company is preparing for volume production over the coming quarters. With such a pace, the factory should be able to mass produce the Semi in 2026. 

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