Questions to inspire discussion.

Q: What’s the expected price range for Tesla’s upcoming Robo Taxi? A: Tesla’s Robo Taxi will enter a new price tier under $30,000, significantly increasing sales and profitability due to its lower hardware cost structure.

Tesla’s Expansion in China.

Q: How is Tesla expanding its Full Self-Driving (FSD) in China? A: Tesla is offering a 30-day free trial of FSD in China, with new software version 13.2.8 for both Hardware 3 and 4, likely rolling out between end of April and early May.

Q: Why is Tesla’s relationship with China important? A: Tesla’s good relationship with China, established 5 years ago without a joint venture, is crucial for success as China benefits from learning Tesla’s FSD perspective and benchmarking against their own vehicles.

Q: How will tariffs affect low-priced vehicles in the US? A: 25% tariffs on imported vehicles will apply to nearly 80% of vehicles priced under $30,000, impacting popular models like Civic and Corolla.

Q: What are the key features of SpaceX’s new flame trench at Pad B? A: The 80% complete flame trench features 5 diverter supports, 2 flame buckets, and water pipes for cooling and exhaust management, enabling rapid Starship launch turnarounds by up to 70% compared to pads without a trench.

Q: How does the flame trench manage Superheavy booster exhaust? A: It channels 3,000°C exhaust from 33 Raptor engines using a 10-20m deep, 10-20m wide, refractory-lined concrete channel with a steel deflector to reduce recoil damage by 60%.

Q: What role does water play in the flame trench system? A: The trench uses 1M L water per launch to cool the trench, absorb 10–20 MJ/m² heat flux, and reduce 30–50% acoustic energy, preventing structural cracks or instability of the rocket.

David Shapiro

Anastasi In Tech

Questions to inspire discussion.

Q: What are Kirk’s predictions for Tesla’s robotaxi rollout? A: Kirk predicts at least 1 million robotaxis on the road by end of 2026, with potential for 2–5 million by end of 2027.

Q: When does Kirk expect Tesla to sell Optimus robots to third parties? A: Kirk expects Optimus sales to third parties in the second half of 2026.

Q: What is the estimated rental price for Optimus robots? A: Kirk estimates Tesla will rent Optimus robots for $110,000-$120,000 per year.

Market and Economic Predictions.

Q: What economic environment does Kirk predict for late 2024? A: Kirk predicts a booming economic environment by Q4 2024, driven by the AI revolution and productivity increases.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology is rapidly advancing, impressing users and analysts alike, while navigating challenges in the auto industry and broader economic factors.

Questions to inspire discussion.

Tesla’s FSD Progress.

Q: How many unsupervised miles has Tesla’s FSD driven? A: Tesla’s FSD has driven over 50,000 unsupervised miles, demonstrating significant progress in autonomous driving capabilities.

Q: What indicates Tesla’s transition to software-defined earnings? A: FSD unsupervised miles and operating domain growth are key leading indicators of Tesla’s shift towards software-defined earnings.

Q: How does Tesla’s FSD showcase AI potential in driving? A: Tesla’s FSD unsupervised capabilities, demonstrated in complex driving scenarios, serve as a proof case for artificial intelligence’s potential in autonomous driving.

OpenAI

Tesla is navigating challenges in the EV market, including supply chain issues and production adjustments, while maintaining optimism about advancements in self-driving technology and preparing for future earnings ## Questions to inspire discussion ## Tesla’s FSD Progress.

Q: How has Tesla’s FSD version 13 performed in recent tests? A: FSD v13 on hardware 4 showed incredible performance with no unplanned disengagements over 490 miles of winding mountain and coastal roads, including navigating flagger-regulated oncoming traffic.

Q: What are the expectations for Tesla’s FSD version 14? A: FSD v14 is expected to be overfit for Austin and potentially deployed unsupervised globally in a short timeframe, subject to regulatory approval. Tesla’s Manufacturing and Supply Chain.

Q: How is Tesla addressing rare earth element concerns in motor production? A: Tesla’s rare earth free motors use 25% less rare earth elements than industry average, positioning them well against China’s export controls on 7 rare earth elements, including neodymium.

Q: What insights might Tesla’s upcoming earnings call provide? A: The April 22nd earnings call will likely address supply chain and margin impacts from China’s rare earth export controls, battery supply constraints, and tariff effects. Tesla’s Product Updates.

Q: What undocumented changes are included in Tesla’s AI4 vehicles spring release? A: The release includes a wider angle rear view, side repeater cameras at the top, and B-pillar dash cam and Sentry mode video recording capabilities.

Tesla is advancing its full self-driving technology in Austin, Texas, with plans for an unsupervised robo taxi service by June 2025, positioning itself for significant revenue growth and regulatory approval through enhanced safety and efficiency ## ## Questions to inspire discussion Operational Efficiency.

Q: How is Tesla using unsupervised FSD at Giga Texas? A: Tesla is using unsupervised FSD to drive new Model Y and Cybertruck units from production lines to outbound logistics lots, logging over 50,000 driverless miles between Texas and Fremont factory deployments.

Q: What are the benefits of automating car movement at Giga Texas? A: Automating car movement reduces labor costs, improves throughput, creates a scalable logistics model, and boosts production margins. Regulatory Advantage.

Q: How does Tesla benefit from Texas regulations regarding autonomous vehicles? A: Texas laws don’t require permits for autonomous vehicles, providing Tesla with a regulatory advantage and a lower-risk proving ground before public rollout of robo taxis. Technological Edge.

Q: What hardware advantages does Tesla’s FSD system have over competitors? A: Tesla’s vision-only FSD with Tesla-designed HW4 uses no LIDAR or radar, accelerating the data flywheel with unsupervised miles accumulated. Future Prospects.

Q: When and where will Tesla launch its first public unsupervised robo taxi service? A: Tesla plans to launch its first public unsupervised robo taxi service in Austin as a pilot rollout in June 2025.

Elon Musk’s Tesla is on the verge of launching a self-driving platform that could revolutionize transportation with millions of affordable robotaxis, positioning the company to outpace competitors like Uber ## ## Questions to inspire discussion ## Tesla’s Autonomous Driving Revolution.

Q: How is Tesla’s unsupervised FSD already at scale? A: Tesla’s unsupervised FSD is currently deployed in 7 million vehicles, with millions of units of hardware 4 dormant in older vehicles, available at a price point of $30,000 or less.

Q: What makes Tesla’s autonomous driving solution unique? A: Tesla’s solution is vertically integrated with end-to-end ownership of the entire system, including silicon design, software platform, and OEM, allowing them to keep costs low and push down utilization on ride-sharing networks. Impact on Ride-Sharing Industry.

Q: How will Tesla’s autonomous vehicles affect Uber drivers? A: Tesla’s unsupervised self-driving cars will likely replace Uber’s 1.2 million US drivers, being 4x more useful due to no breaks and no human presence, operating at a per-mile cost below 50% of current Uber rates.

Q: What economic pressure will Tesla’s solution put on Uber? A: Tesla’s autonomous driving solution will create tremendous pressure on Uber, with its cost structure acting as a magnet for high utilization, maintaining low pre-pressure costs for Tesla due to their fundamentally different design. Future Implications.

Q: What potential strategy might Uber adopt to compete with Tesla? A: Uber may need to approach Tesla to pre-buy their first 2 million Cyber Caps upfront, including production costs, as potentially the only path to compete with Tesla’s autonomous driving solution.