Tesla’s This fall 2024 earnings convention name was loaded with Elon Musk’s trademark swagger, big-time confidence, and daring predictions. From full self-driving (FSD) to humanoid robots, Musk painted a imaginative and prescient of a future the place Tesla dominates not simply the automotive sector however synthetic intelligence and robotics. Listed here are the eight greatest takeaways from the decision:
1. Tesla Mannequin Y leads your entire trade
Musk began off by celebrating Tesla’s manufacturing and supply achievements. “In This fall, we set a file and delivered automobiles at an annualized price of almost 2 million a yr,” he stated, emphasizing that the Mannequin Y was the best-selling automobile of any variety globally. “That is value noting. Not simply one of the best electrical automobile—one of the best automobile of any variety on Earth, No. 1 was Mannequin Y.” Tesla’s shareholder letter added, “now we have made it even higher, with the New [Juniper] Mannequin Y now launched in all markets.”
2. Full self-driving (FSD) is the important thing to Tesla’s future
Musk restated his long-standing perception that automobile autonomy would be the greatest driver of Tesla’s worth. “Autonomy is like 10X-ing,” the expansion potential for Tesla, in line with Musk. He additionally reaffirmed Tesla’s aggressive push towards deploying an autonomous ride-hailing community, stating, “We will probably be launching unsupervised full self-driving as a paid service in Austin in June.” He additionally talked about that the rollout may embrace California as effectively this yr.
3. Tesla might be probably the most beneficial firm on the planet—by far
How far? Musk threw down the gauntlet — making maybe his most audacious monetary prediction but: “I see a path. I’m not saying it’s a straightforward path, however I see a path the place Tesla is value greater than the following prime 5 firms mixed.” He acknowledged the challenges forward however insisted it could be an achievable aim, given the corporate’s speedy developments in synthetic intelligence, self-driving expertise, and robotics.
4. FSD isn’t a toddler anymore — it’s rising up quick
Musk addressed ongoing skepticism about Tesla’s FSD progress, utilizing this analogy: “If somebody’s final expertise with FSD was a toddler, they assume it is going to be a toddler eternally. However clearly, it’s rising up—it walks and talks now.” He reiterated his problem to skeptics: “Strive it. When’s the final time you tried it?”
5. The robotaxi revolution is coming
Tesla’s FSD developments are main on to what Musk calls “the biggest asset worth improve in human historical past.” He defined, “A passenger automobile usually has solely about 10 hours of utility per week. As soon as that automobile is autonomous, my tough estimate is that it’s in use for at the very least 35, possibly 50 hours per week.” He emphasised that the identical automobile might be used for each individuals and cargo transportation, vastly rising its worth. That stated, Tesla’s shareholder letter gave this timeframe: “Our purpose-built Robotaxi product – Cybercab – will proceed to pursue a revolutionary ‘unboxed’ manufacturing technique and is scheduled for quantity manufacturing beginning in 2026.”
6. Tesla’s future will probably be ‘ballistic’
Musk predicted that Tesla’s progress within the coming years will probably be exponential. “Issues are actually going to go ballistic subsequent yr and actually ballistic in ‘27 and ‘28,” he stated. He highlighted that Tesla is laying the groundwork for a producing and AI revolution that can drive unprecedented growth on the firm. Tesla’s shareholder letter additionally forecasted huge issues within the quick time period: “2025 will probably be a seminal yr in Tesla’s historical past.”
7. Tesla made $600 million from Bitcoin
Tesla’s Chief Monetary Officer, Vaibhav Taneja, highlighted a major monetary acquire from the corporate’s Bitcoin holdings. “Our internet earnings in This fall was impacted by a $600 million mark-to-market profit from Bitcoin as a result of adoption of a brand new accounting customary for digital belongings,” he stated. This marks one of many largest cryptocurrency-related good points in Tesla’s monetary historical past — an attention-grabbing flip of occasions because the incoming administration pivots to a extra Bitcoin-friendly future.
8. Tesla’s new (cheaper) fashions are coming quickly
Tesla’s shareholder letter notes, “Plans for brand spanking new automobiles, together with extra inexpensive fashions, stay on observe for begin of manufacturing within the first half of 2025. These automobiles will make the most of elements of the next-generation platform in addition to elements of our present platforms and will probably be produced on the identical manufacturing strains as our present automobile lineup.” This method, Tesla acknowledged, will allow “greater than 60% progress over 2024 manufacturing earlier than investing in new manufacturing strains.”
Last Ideas
If there’s one factor Musk made clear, it’s that Tesla isn’t slowing down. From FSD to Optimus, the corporate is betting huge on automobile autonomy and synthetic intelligence. Whether or not Tesla can ship on these aggressive timeframes stays to be seen, however one factor is for certain—Musk is as assured as ever. And as historical past has clearly demonstrated, betting in opposition to him is never a successful technique.
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Co-founder of EVANNEX, Matt Pressman owns each a Tesla Mannequin S and Mannequin 3 and stays a long-term investor in TSLA inventory. He’s written extensively about Tesla and his work has been printed in CleanTechnica, InsideEVs, and Teslarati. He’s additionally appeared quite a few occasions on Fox Enterprise Information and PBS to offer his views on Elon Musk and Tesla.
