Elon Musk made new comments about Tesla’s Full Self-Driving effort, saying he believes that only some “smart retail investors” understand the value that Tesla is going to create.
The CEO claimed that most people are missing the value that he believes Tesla is going to create with Full Self-Driving:
Something that I think some of these smart retail investors understand but I think a lot of others maybe don’t – is that every time we sell a car, it has the ability, just from uploading software, to have full self-driving enabled, and full self-driving is obviously getting better very rapidly. So that’s actually a tremendous upside potential because all of those cars, with a few exceptions, only a small percentage of cars don’t have Hardware 3, so that means that there are millions of cars where full self-driving can be sold at essentially 100% gross margin. And the value of it grows as the autonomous capability grows. And then, when it becomes fully autonomous, that is a value increase in the fleet. That might be the biggest asset value increase of anything in history. Yes.
Musk has previously stated that when Tesla finally delivers on its self-driving promises, it will unlock tens of thousands in value in each Tesla vehicle through the capacity to turn them into robotaxis.
However, the CEO hasn’t mentioned that service in a long time as Tesla missed several previously announced timelines. Now Musk has been mainly focusing comments on improvements to Tesla FSD Beta. He has stayed away from offering a timeline to deliver on the promised capabilities.
Electrek’s Take
I always like to be careful when I talk negatively about Tesla FSD because I do believe that on its own the product is impressive and the people developing it are doing an incredible job – for the most part.
My main problem with the situation is the discrepancy between the current capacity of the product and what Tesla, and more specifically Musk, has been promising for now seven years. There’s that, and there’s the constant moving of the goalpost.
At first, it was 1 million robotaxis by the end of the year, then it was 1 million people on FSD Beta, and now it’s just 400,000 people on FSD Beta and no word on an actually useful full self-driving product.
What Musk doesn’t seem to understand is that every single investor on earth understands that a company delivering full self-driving capability in millions of vehicles would be a massive assets value increase and, yes, potentially the biggest of any in history, as Musk says.
You don’t need to be that smart to understand that.
The doubts that Musk is hearing, and I assume what is leading him to say something like this, are not due to a lack of understanding of the value of self-driving but about whether Tesla will ever deliver that capability on these millions of cars.
Musk and Tesla have lost a lot of credibility on that front due to the previously mentioned missed deadlines and moved goalposts. There’s certainly room for doubts.
The CEO said yesterday that “full self-driving is obviously getting better very rapidly,” but that’s not my experience after a year of using it in my car, nor is it the experience of most FSD Beta users I know who are not primarily pandering to Musk or trying to justify to themselves having purchased the expensive feature or Tesla stocks.
Musk has been known to block critics on Twitter, and he has surrounded himself with yes-men and sycophants who keep telling him how amazing FSD Beta is.
And again, I think it is amazing that Tesla achieved what it did with FSD Beta if the feature lived in a vacuum without the many promises made. If Tesla had never promised anything and just unveiled this through software updates in its cars, we would all be impressed.
But compared to the promises of a robotaxi service, it is a disappointing product with no clear path to achieving the company’s promises on the current hardware.
If I go into my Tesla right now and activate FSD Beta, I feel more like a driver-ed instructor trying to teach a confused 16-year-old first-time driver than someone being driven around by a robotaxi. It doesn’t make for a better driving experience.
I’d be OK with that if there were a clear path for Tesla to achieve the robotaxi capability, but with Musk believing that the progress has been incredible when it’s hard to see any meaningful improvement from a user basis over the last year, it’s becoming harder to believe him or to believe in the product.
I think that’s the disconnect between Musk believing people don’t understand the value of self-driving through software updates and people actually starting to have serious doubts about Tesla delivering it.
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Palantir Technologies signage on an options contract ticker as traders work on the floor of American Stock Exchange at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, U.S., on Friday, June 20, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
If you have any U.S. technology stocks in your portfolio (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?), you might want to look away.
For the second day in a row, tech stocks dragged markets lower, with the Nasdaq Composite slipping 0.67%. Juggernauts such as Apple, Amazon and Alphabet were more meh-nificent than magnificent, falling more than 1%.
Palantir — the standout S&P 500 stock, having more than doubled so far this year — spent its sixth consecutive day in the red and lost its place among a ranking of the 20 most valuable U.S. companies.
While Palantir’s slide was partly triggered by a report from short seller Andrew Left’s Citron Research, which called the company “detached from fundamentals and analysis,” there was no single trigger for the broader pullback.
Investors could have been spooked by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s caution about an AI bubble forming, although some analysts dispute that assertion. “In our view the tech bull cycle will be well intact at least for another 2-3 years,” said Wall Street tech bull Dan Ives.
Or it could be something benign, like traders locking in profits. “Tech stocks,” said Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth, “have had an incredibly strong run – with some up over 80% since the early April lows.”
Summer, after all, is far from over. Some investors might have just wanted to cash out for another round of margaritas.
What you need to know today
Fed officials divided over inflation and employment worries. Central bank governors generally agreed there were risks on both sides. But a couple — breaking from the majority — saw the labor market woes as more pressing, according to minutes of the Fed’s July meeting.
Trump likely to pick Kevin Hassett as next Fed Chair. The director of the National Economic Council firmly led the pack, according to a CNBC Fed Survey. However, respondents think the president “should” pick former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh.
[PRO] The Fed is expected to cut just as markets trade at highs. This is what tends to happen when both factors coincide, according to Goldman Sachs research.
And finally…
United States President Donald Trump participates in a Multilateral Meeting with European Leaders in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US. Picture date: Monday August 18, 2025.
Aaron Schwartz – Pa Images | Pa Images | Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump has been on a multimillion-dollar bond-buying spree since taking office in January, investing in debt issued by local authorities, gas districts and major American corporations.
Across 33 pages of filings with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, or OGE, dated Aug. 12, the president outlined 690 transactions that have taken place since he took office. The documents were made public on Tuesday.
— Chloe Taylor
Correction: This report has been updated to correct the spelling of Kevin Hasset’s name.
Tesla has started offering leases of certified pre-owned cars, which is relatively rare in the industry, with $0 down as it desperately tries to move vehicles before the end of the quarter.
With the federal tax credit for electric vehicles set to expire at the end of the quarter, automakers in the US are all trying to optimize EV sales, as demand is being pulled forward.
This also applies to used EVs, as the $4,000 federal incentive for used electric vehicles will also expire on September 30th.
Now, leasing used vehicles is much less common than leasing new cars, but some automakers, or mainly dealers, do offer it.
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Tesla is getting into this business for the first time.
In California and Texas, Tesla is now offering leases on certified pre-owned (aka used) Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
These are reasonably priced and can be as low as $215 per month with $0 down for a 24-month lease and 10,000 miles per year.
Tesla also offers a 12-month lease and up to 15,000 miles annually. While there’s no down payment needed, there’s an “Acquisition Fee” of $695.
That, and the first month, is all you need to get in a used Tesla for the next year or two.
This is undoubtedly the cheapest way to get into a Tesla vehicle right now.
Tesla is trying to sell as many vehicles as possible in the US this quarter, as demand for EVs has been pulled forward due to the end of the tax credit. This is expected to result in a record quarter in the US, but it also going to create a few difficult ones in the future.
With demand being pulled forward and future buyers feeling like they missed out on EV discounts, the US EV market is expected to experience a significant slowdown over the next 12 to 18 months.
Tesla sales are down about 13% globally so far this year. While this quarter is expected to be better, many analysts still anticipate Tesla’s year-over-year performance to be down.
This year alone, Tesla added more than 50,000 electric vehicles to its inventory.
Used cars have also been piling up.
Tesla owners rushed to sell their vehicles as Tesla’s brand perception dived following its CEO’s involvement in politics.
Danish equipment makers HG build job site dumpers that help move sand, rocks, debris, construction waste, and building supplies across rugged, uneven urban job sites. And with the introduction of their newest E3000 model, they’re helping move more than three tons of that stuff without emissions and — just as crucially — without noise.
HG announced the E3000 electric site dumper just this week, adding the new 3 tonne capacity to its growing lineup of 1 and 2 tonne dumpers (that’s over 6,600 lbs., in “landed on the Moon” units). With a 180° swivel tip on the bucket as standard equipment and an optional high tip version available at launch, it should be able to handle just about anything a hard working construction crew can throw at it.
“With the HG E3000, we once again prove that electric dumpers are not only better for people and the environment. They are also more efficient, cheaper to operate, and can run more than a full working day on a single charge,” explains Nikolaj Birkerod, CEO of HG, told Power Progress. “With 3 tonne dumpers, we are proving, as we already have with 2 tonne dumpers, that we can deliver on both performance and reliability while enabling customers to save 15% per operating hour compared to a diesel dumper.”
Exact specs haven’t been released, but HG claims the E3000’s 29 kWh is good for 12 full hours of continuous, loaded operation, and that it can be fully recharged on a “standard” 220 charger (L2) in about four hours. If you’re curious about what has been released, I’ve got all that for you right here:
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The only all-electric dumper on the market that gives you 12 working hours while carrying 3 tonnes payload.
Our latest addition to accelerate 100% machinery:
3-ton payload for high-capacity material handling
12-hour working – a full day’s work without recharging
Optional high tip for quick and flexible unloading into containers and trucks
180° swivel tip as standard for precise placement of loads
Fast charging: 0–100% in approx. 4 hours with the integrated charger
Lithium 29 kWh battery with automatic heating for all-season use
One-pedal drive for smooth and intuitive operation
The E3000 is built for contractors and rental companies who demand maximum productivity without compromising on environmental responsibility.
With a carrying capacity of 3 tonnes and an industry-leading 12 hours of effective runtime on a single charge, it’s proof that heavy-duty work and zero emissions can go hand in hand.
At the heart of the E3000 is HG’s patented articulated drivetrain with four independent in-wheel motors. This unique design delivers the most energy-efficient power transfer in the industry, using significantly less power than conventional electric system. This translates directly into lower operating costs and more hours on site between charges.
No word yet on pricing or whether or not the new dumper will eventually be sold outside the European market, but we do know that HG plans to deliver the first examples of its new machine to customers by early 2026.
Electrek’s Take
E3000 w/ high-tip bucket; via HG.
While there are a lot of people outside the urban construction space who may scoff at environmental concerns, the quest for improved efficiency and cost reduction among commercial fleet managers knows no political ideology. Add in more restrictive noise regulations and the side benefits of improved job site safety and fewer sick days, and electric equipment is a no-brainer.
Simply put: If it’s better or cheaper, fleets will buy it. If it’s better and cheaper, they’ll buy two — and battery powered equipment is proving to be consistently better, in a broader scope of use cases, than diesel.
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