What Tesla has to do to achieve $4T valuation according to Elon Musk

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk believes the electric automaker can achieve a $4 trillion valuation, but he knows the road to the accomplishment is going to be a long one.

Yesterday, we reported on Ron Baron, a billionaire investor who has been one of Musk’s longest believers, stating that Tesla could reach a massive valuation of $4 trillion.

Tesla investor who made billions on stock says SpaceX will be bigger

Baron said that his firm has made many multiples of its initial investment and, at its peak, was up over $5 billion. He believes SpaceX has an opportunity to be an even bigger golden egg when it goes public, which he believes will happen within three years.

Musk stated on X earlier today that he does believe Tesla can reach that type of valuation if the company “can knock it out of the park several times.”

Tesla has a few things in the works that could help achieve this valuation.

One is the Full Self-Driving suite, which Musk has said for years that the company will solve “this year.” By “this year,” he does not mean 2023 specifically because he has said nearly every year since 2015 that it will be the year FSD is solved.

Tesla has made progress on its FSD suite, but it admitted in 2023 that the semi-autonomous driving software is still a Level 2 SAE autonomous classification. Level 5 would be enough to allow drivers not to do anything when the car is in operation.

FSD would open up opportunities for the company’s Robotaxi fleet to begin operation, allowing drivers to sleep while their vehicle performs a ride-hailing service.

Scaling production to millions of EVs every year and selling millions of cars in various markets would also help Tesla’s valuation, but that has several moving parts, including the launch of more Gigafactories and more affordable cars, which has been in the pipeline for the company for several years.

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What Tesla has to do to achieve $4T valuation according to Elon Musk

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Tesla spotted testing Cybertruck ‘crab driving’ at Giga Texas

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Tesla has touted the Cybertruck’s rear-wheel-steering in the past, but a new video taken at the automaker’s factory in Austin, Texas, this week shows the company testing the feature with an interesting driving maneuver.

In a clip shared on X on Wednesday by drone pilot and Gigafactory Texas scout Joe Tegtmeyer, you can see Tesla testing out a “crab driving” or “crab walking” technique by using the rear-wheel-steering to maneuver forward while driving at an angle. The short clip takes place in a dirt construction lot area of Giga Texas, and when you look closely, you can see the rear wheels at a slight angle, giving the vehicle a tilted forward approach.

You can see the full clip posted by Tegtmeyer below. Tegtmeyer also says he plans to release a longer video from his time at Giga Texas on Wednesday, and this story will be updated to include the full video upon release.

As the video might suggest, rear-wheel-steering, also called four-wheel-steering, could be crucial for use at job sites, in off-road situations or in other scenarios where an extra tight turn radius or the ability to “crab drive” may come in handy. Tesla is not the first automaker to deploy rear-wheel-steering, though it certainly looks unique when the Cybertruck uses it.

The Cybertruck has been spotted testing several times in the last few months, both on public roads and around Tesla’s factories. In September, the Cybertruck’s rear-wheel-steering was seen being used to perform a U-turn at an intersection, and the feature has been shown off by Tesla at other times in the past, too.

The sighting also comes ahead of Tesla’s Cybertruck delivery event later this month, which is set to take place on November 30. The event will be held at Giga Texas, and Tesla is offering shareholders the chance to win tickets to see the event in person with a random drawing.

Tesla aiming to get Cybertruck 0-60 mph under 3 seconds: Elon Musk

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.

Tesla spotted testing Cybertruck ‘crab driving’ at Giga Texas

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Tesla sold 10X more EVs than rivals in Q1-Q3 2023: study

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A recent study from Jerry has revealed a number of interesting observations in the United States’ electric vehicle sector. Tesla, for one, could be considered as one of the companies with the “slowest” growth trends this year so far, but the electric vehicle maker also sold ten times as many EVs as any other car maker during the first three quarters of 2023.  

Electric vehicle sales in the United States were tracked at 873,000 units in the first three quarters of 2023, thanks in no small part to Tesla’s strong sales in the country. Such numbers suggest that EV sales in the US would likely break the 1 million barrier this year, though the sector’s 49% year-over-year sales growth in the first three quarters is less than the 55% growth recorded last year, as per Jerry‘s study. 

Tesla’s US sales grew 26% in the first three quarters of 2023 to 493,513 units, as per Jerry. Interestingly enough, this meant that Tesla had the third-slowest growth rate among this year’s top 10 best-selling EV makers. Tesla’s share of the EV market fell to a new low of 50% in Q3, even though sales rose 20% from the same quarter last year. 

Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3 remained dominant in the US auto market. The Model Y, which became the world’s best-selling car earlier this year, sold six times as many units as any other non-Tesla vehicle in Q1-Q3, with 296,059 units sold. Sales of the Model Y rose 55% year-over-year in the first three quarters of 2023, accounting for a whopping 34% of all EV sales during the period. 

Tesla Model 3 sales rose only 6.2%, but the vehicle still accounted for 19% of all EV sales in the United States. Its 166,042 units sold from Q1-Q3 2023 is particularly impressive considering the presence of its crossover sibling, the Model Y, in the market, as well as the launch of an updated variant, the Model 3 Highland, in countries like China. 

The closest competitor to the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 was the Chevrolet Bolt, which sold 49,494 units in the first three quarters of the year. The Ford Mustang Mach-E followed the Chevy Bolt with 28,882 units sold, and the Volkswagen ID.4 completed the top five EVs in the United States with 27,155 units sold from Q1-Q3 2023. 

Electric vehicles currently make up about 7% of all vehicle sales in the United States, which is already within the 5%-15% range that has triggered widespread EV adoption in other countries. This does not mean that the road to mass adoption in the US will be perfectly smooth, however, especially as the average EV price is still about 10% higher than the overall average vehicle price in the US.

It should be noted, of course, that best-sellers like the Model 3 and Model Y already start at a price that’s lower than the US average. As per Cox Automotive, the average transaction price for a new vehicle in September 2023 was $47,899. In comparison, the Tesla Model 3 starts at $38,990 before options, while the Model Y starts at $43,990 before options. 

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

Tesla sold 10X more EVs than rivals in the first three quarters of 2023: study

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