Tesla (TSLA) will hold its annual shareholder meeting at its Austin, Texas, factory later today. Wall Street expects CEO Elon Musk to update investors on opening factories in Austin and Berlin, chip shortages, and battery technology. Meanwhile, Tesla’s full self-driving software will roll out Friday at midnight to about 1,000 owners. Tesla stock rose.
Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives says the Austin and Berlin factories “remain linchpins to expanding production globally.” Austin, in particular, is key as it will be the Cybertruck factory, he wrote in a report to clients on Oct. 6. Ives added that he believes Austin will become a domestic hub replacing the Fremont, Calif., plant, “given its size, location and strategic blueprint.”
Tesla’s Berlin factory is set to start producing cars over the next month, which should relieve a major logistics bottleneck in Europe as most Model 3 and Model Y Teslas are currently made in China and shipped to Europe. The company is hosting a county fair-type event to celebrate the opening of Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg on Oct. 9.
Chip Shortage
Tesla recently announced robust Q3 deliveries despite a chip shortage that hampered production industrywide and isn’t expected to resolve well into 2022. Tesla stock popped as much as 4% on Oct. 4. As a result, Wall Street is keen to find out more details about Tesla’s plans to produce more of its own chips as competition in the EV space heats up.
At an event on Wednesday, General Motors (GM) laid out plans to double its revenue by the end of this decade, largely by expanding its EV offerings and related software services. GM boldly predicted it would eventually surpass Tesla in EV sales.
Other, smaller rivals are also making headlines with recent launches. On Sept. 14, Rivian Automotive rolled out its first all-electric pickup truck, the R1T, ahead of its much anticipated November IPO. In an SEC filing, Rivian said it began deliveries of the R1T in September.
Meanwhile, Musk has said Cybertruck production won’t begin until late 2022, with volume production not until late 2023. That could reflect issues with mass producing 4680 batteries, key to making the Cybertruck and the long-delayed Semi and Roadster viable.
And on Sept. 28, Lucid Motors (LCID) rolled out its first luxury Lucid Air sedans. Deliveries to Lucid reservation holders should start in late October.
Full Self Driving
Musk tweeted Thursday that the rollout of FSD Beta 10.2 starts at midnight Friday. About 1,000 owners with perfect safety scores will gain access.
“Rollouts will hold for several days after that to see how it goes,” Musk said. “If that looks good, beta will gradually begin rolling out to scores 99 and below.”
