Tesla has shared its latest winter testing video, this time featuring the Model 3 and Model Y as they’re driven on an icy lake in Japan.
The Tesla Japan account shared a short teaser of the vehicles on X, with the Model Y and upgraded Model 3 seen doing donuts on the iced-over Lake Megami in the Nagano prefecture. The video is just over a minute long, but it includes some great shots of the testing procedures, showing the sedan and SUV as they slalom around cones and put the vehicles’ handling to the test.
“Incredibly quick and delicate controls,” writes Tesla in the post, as translated into English from Japanese.
驚くほどクイックで繊細なコントロール
氷上ドライブ – 長野県 女神湖 pic.twitter.com/n2sRO2QvEE— Tesla Japan (@teslajapan) February 10, 2024
The short advertisement comes a few days after Tesla Japan announced plans to bring a Cybertruck display to the country, following a similar “tour” of the vehicle currently taking place in China. It also comes after Tesla has begun advertising in multiple markets, with some ads having popped up in the Tokyo airport as early as last October.
CEO Elon Musk said last year that Tesla would try “a little advertising,” and in the months since, ads for the automaker have been popping up. While the Japan winter testing video was simply posted to one of the company’s social media accounts, many have called on Tesla to use advertising and social media as a way to help educate the public about what the company’s vehicles can do—especially as many sources have tried to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt surrounding Tesla’s capabilities in cold weather.
Tesla has also created videos for its winter testing activities before. Last August, the automaker shared a longer video of its extreme cold weather testing near the Arctic Circle, depicting the abilities of the Model X and Model Y to handle on slippery, icy roads. Tesla also shared a photo from its winter testing for the Cybertruck last May, with the pickup later being spotted during some cold-weather testing in New Zealand.
Tesla also shared some testing of Track Mode in Norway a few days ago, featuring the Model S:
Track Mode on a frozen lake in 🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/xcrbfEF04Q
— Tesla (@Tesla) February 7, 2024
Upgraded Tesla Model 3 wins winter range test in -20°C (-4°F) weather
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Investor's Corner
Tesla receives major institutional boost with Nomura’s rising stake
The move makes Tesla Nomura’s 10th-largest holding at about 1% of its entire portfolio.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has gained fresh institutional support, with Nomura Asset Management expanding its position in the automaker.
Nomura boosted its Tesla holdings by 4.2%, adding 47,674 shares and bringing its total position to more than 1.17 million shares valued at roughly $373.6 million. The move makes Tesla Nomura’s 10th-largest holding at about 1% of its entire portfolio.
Institutional investors and TSLA
Nomura’s filing was released alongside several other fund updates. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings by 11.8%, as noted in a MarketBeat report, and Revolve Wealth Partners lifted its TSLA position by 21.2%. Bison Wealth increased its Tesla stake by 52.2%, AMG National Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Tesla by 11.8%, and FAS Wealth Partners increased its TSLA holdings by 22.1%. About 66% of all outstanding Tesla shares are now owned by institutional investors.
The buying comes shortly after Tesla reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $0.50 per share compared with the $0.48 consensus. Revenue reached $28.10 billion, topping Wall Street’s $24.98 billion estimate. Despite the earnings beat, Tesla continues to trade at a steep premium relative to peers, with a market cap hovering around $1.34 trillion and a price-to-earnings ratio near 270.
Recent insider sales
Some Tesla insiders have sold stock as of late. CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares in early September for just over $918,000, reducing his personal stake by about 21%. Director James R. Murdoch executed a far larger sale, offloading 120,000 shares for roughly $42 million and trimming his holdings by nearly 15%. Over the past three months, Tesla insiders have collectively sold 202,606 shares valued at approximately $75.6 million, as per SEC disclosures.
Tesla is currently entering its next phase of growth, and if it is successful, it could very well become the world’s most valuable company as a result. The company has several high-profile projects expected to be rolled out in the coming years, including Optimus, the humanoid robot, and the Cybercab, an autonomous two-seater with the potential to change the face of roads across the globe.
@teslarati Tesla Full Self-Driving yields for pedestrians while human drivers do not…the future is here! #tesla #teslafsd #fullselfdriving ♬ 2 Little 2 Late – Levi & Mario
News
Tesla rolls out fresh Supercharger pricing strategy to more locations
Live Pricing aimed to resolve some of the shortcomings of the off-peak and on-peak system, aiming to keep prices low and base them on current utilization instead of a set time when prices change.
Tesla has rolled out a fresh Supercharger pricing strategy to more locations, as it confirmed it has added 550 additional sites in the United States to its “Live Pricing” strategy.
Live Pricing for Superchargers launched back in May, and was the company’s latest strategy to keep charging your EV cheap, affordable, and easy to understand.
Tesla has adjusted its pricing strategy at Superchargers several times over the past few years, with the most notable being the 2020 introduction of off-peak and on-peak Supercharging rates.
Live Pricing aimed to resolve some of the shortcomings of the off-peak and on-peak system, aiming to keep prices low and base them on current utilization instead of a set time when prices change.
Tesla explained the program when it launched:
“We are piloting on-peak and off-peak pricing based on live Supercharger utilization rather than estimations. The average price remains unchanged, but this live feedback loop improves accuracy. This corrects off-peak pricing during times of congestion, or on-peak pricing when Superchargers are plentiful. You’ll always see the price before your session begins, and prices do not change mid-session. A small-scale pilot is launching at 10 sites and will expand based on feedback and success.”
The initial rollout only included Superchargers in California, but it was not all of them, only a handful instead. Tesla was attempting to launch it in a very controlled manner by using a Pilot Program that would iron out all the early bugs and potential issues it might run into.
However, the company expanded the program by launching it at an additional 550 sites in California, New Jersey, New York, Florida, and Illinois:
Live pricing expanded to an additional 550 sites in California, New Jersey, New York, Florida and Illinois.
Currently the average price remains the same, peak prices are unchanged and will be paid by fewer sessions.
We’ll keep iterating on getting it right, based on impact and…
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) November 14, 2025
The price you pay is locked in when you plug in, so if the Supercharger station you are charging at becomes more crowded and the program bumps up the rates because of high utilization rates, you will still receive the cheaper price that was enabled when you arrived.
@teslarati With a pedestrian in the crosswalk, Tesla Full Self-Driving shows off its courtesy. Human drivers? Not so much. #tesla #teslafsd #fullselfdriving ♬ AMERICAN HEART – Maxwell Luke
News
Tesla Robotaxi was just spotted in a new state for the first time
The company is still attempting to expand and has explicitly stated that it plans to offer rides in Nevada, Arizona, and Florida in the near future. However, a pair of Robotaxi mules, fitted with LiDAR equipment for ground truth validation, was spotted in a new region for the first time.
Tesla Robotaxi mules were spotted in a new state for the first time as the company plans to expand the ride-sharing service to new areas of the United States in the coming months.
Tesla is offering Robotaxi rides in Austin already, where nobody is present in the driver’s seat except for on freeway routes. In California, Tesla refers to its platform as a ride-hailing suite, and a “Safety Monitor” is present in the driver’s seat at all times, but the vehicle operates on Full Self-Driving.
The company is still attempting to expand and has explicitly stated that it plans to offer rides in Nevada, Arizona, and Florida in the near future. However, a pair of Robotaxi mules, fitted with LiDAR equipment for ground truth validation, was spotted in a new region for the first time.
Over the weekend, Tesla Robotaxi mules were spotted in Enola, Pennsylvania, just about ten minutes from downtown Harrisburg:
🚨 Enola is about 10 minutes from Harrisburg, the State Capitol
Interesting tidbit of information as Tesla is testing Robotaxi close to PA’s legislators https://t.co/5rDlcYrV8w
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 17, 2025
Enola is situated to the northwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s State Capitol. Interestingly, you’d expect Tesla to be testing these types of vehicles in other, more populated areas; Philadelphia is about two hours East, and Pittsburgh is about three hours west. State College is about an hour North of Enola.
Looking at the location of where the vehicles were spotted tells an interesting story, as Enola, located right outside of the State Capitol, could be a move to nudge legislators to consider looking at some of the laws that deal with driverless and autonomous vehicle operation.
Pennsylvania’s Act 130 of 2022 and subsequent guidelines permit the testing of driverless vehicles in the Commonwealth, but PennDOT requires a permit from Tesla or any other company that wants to operate a ride-hailing service in PA.
It’s also important to note that the cars could have simply been stopping through, as they were spotted at a Supercharger location along Interstate 81, which spans from Tennessee to New York.
It is not to say the vehicles are testing along the entire route, but likely a segment of it. The fact that they were spotted in Pennsylvania does bode well for Tesla’s expansion efforts moving forward.
@teslarati Tesla Full Self-Driving yields for pedestrians while human drivers do not…the future is here! #tesla #teslafsd #fullselfdriving ♬ 2 Little 2 Late – Levi & Mario
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