Elon Musk thinks you are not smart if you don’t believe in Tesla’s Full Self-Driving value
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.
During Tesla’s conference call for the release of its Q4 2022 financial results yesterday, CEO Elon Musk made some comments about Tesla’s self-driving effort.
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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Believe it or not, you can lease an EV for under $200 a month. New deals on models like the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6 are hard to pass up this month.
Electric vehicles have been all over the news lately, with the Trump administration threatening to end federal incentives and introducing new tariffs that are expected to lead to higher prices.
On the positive side, new EV models are arriving, giving buyers more options and driving prices down. Many automakers reported record US electric car sales in the first three months of 2024.
GM remained the number two seller of EVs behind Tesla after sales doubled in Q1 2025. With the new Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado EVs rolling out, Chevy is now the fastest-growing EV brand in the US. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E is off to its best sales start since launching, with over 11,600 models sold in the first quarter.
With the 2025 models rolling out and about 15 new EVs arriving this year, many automakers are introducing steep discounts to move vehicles off the lot.
EVs for lease for under $200 a month in April
Although the decade-old Nissan LEAF remains one of the most affordable this April at just $149 per month, there are a few EVs under $200 right now that are worth taking a look at.
The new 2025 Hyundai IONIQ might be the best EV deal this month, with leases as low as $199. Hyundai is currently promoting a 24-month lease deal with $3,999 due at signing.
Hyundai upgraded the electric SUV with a bigger battery for more range (now up to 318 miles), a sleek new look inside and out, and it now comes with an NACS port so you can charge it at Tesla Superchargers.
The offer is for the IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range, which has a driving range of up to 245 miles. For just $229 a month, you can snag the SE RWD model, which has a range of up to 318 miles and a more powerful (225 horsepower) electric motor. It’s also a 24-month lease with $3,999 due at signing.
To sweeten the deal, Hyundai is offering a free ChargePoint Home Flex Level 2 EV charger with the purchase or lease of any 2024 or 2025 IONIQ 5. If you already have one, you can opt for a $400 public charging credit.
After slashing lease prices this month, the 2025 Nissan Ariya is actually cheaper than the LEAF in some regions. In Southern California, the 2025 Nissan Ariya Evolve AWD is listed at just $129 per month. The AWD model has a range of up to 272 miles.
The deal is for 36 months, with $4,409 due at signing. In April, Nissan cut Ariya lease prices to around $239 in most other parts of the country.
Kia has a few EVs available to lease for under $200 a month in April. The 2025 Kia Niro EV Wind is listed at just $129 for 24 months, with $3,999 due at signing. Kia’s crossover SUV has EPA-estimated range of 253 miles.
The 2024 EV6 may be worth considering at just $179 for 24 months ($3,999 due at signing). In California, the EV6 Light Long Range RWD is only slightly more than the Niro Wind.
In most other parts of the country, you can still find the EV6 for under $200 a month. The Light Long Range RWD trim offers up to 310 miles of EPA-estimated range.
| Lease Price | Term (months) |
Amount Due at Signing | Driving Range | |
| 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range | $199 | 24 | $3,999 | 245 miles |
| 2024 Kia EV6 Light Long Rang RWD | $179 | 24 | $3,999 | 310 miles |
| 2024 Kia Niro EV Wind | $129 | 24 | $3,999 | 253 miles |
| 2025 Nissan Ariya Evolve AWD | $129 | 36 | $4,409 | 272 miles |
| 2025 Nissan LEAF S FWD | $149 | 36 | $2,629 | 149 miles |
| 2024 Fiat 500 INSPI(RED) | $199 | 24 | $2,999 | 149 miles |
And don’t forget the 2024 Fiat 500e, which is now listed at just $199 for 24 months with $2,999 due at signing. The electric hatchback offers a range of up to 149 miles.
If you are looking to spend a little more, check out our list of EVs you can lease for under $300 a month.
Ready to snag the savings while they are still here? At under $200 a month, some of these EV lease deals are hard to pass up right now. Check out our links below to find deals in your area.
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![The US’s first solar panels over canals pilot is now online [video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/Project-Nexus-solar-canal.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Project Nexus, the first solar panel canopies over irrigation canals in the US, is now online in California, and there are plans to expand the project to other areas.
Project Nexus is a $20 million pilot in central California’s Turlock Irrigation District launched in October 2022. The project team is exploring solar over canal design, deployment, and co-benefits using canal infrastructure and the electrical grid.
India already has solar panels over canals, but Project Nexus is the first of its kind in the US.
The Turlock Irrigation District was the first irrigation district formed in California in 1887. It provides irrigation water to 4,700 growers who farm around 150,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley.
Project Nexus will explore whether the solar panels reduce water evaporation as a result of midday shade and wind mitigation, create improvements to water quality through reduced vegetative growth, reduce canal maintenance as a result of reduced vegetative growth, and, of course, generate renewable electricity.
The California Department of Water Resources, utility company Turlock Irrigation District, Marin County, California-based water and energy project developer Solar AquaGrid, and The University of California, Merced, are partnering on the pilot. Project Nexus originated from a 2021 research project led by UC Merced alumna and project scientist Brandi McKuin.
Solar panels were installed at two sites over both wide- and narrow-span sections of Turlock Irrigation District canals in Stanislaus County, in various orientations. The sections range from 20 feet wide to 100 feet wide. University of California, Merced has positioned research equipment at both sites to collect baseline data so the researchers can decide where solar will work and where it won’t.
In February 2023, Project Nexus announced it would also deploy long-term iron flow battery storage in the form of two ESS 75kW turnkey “Energy Warehouse” batteries.
You can learn more about Project Nexus here:
Read more: In a US first, California will pilot solar-panel canopies over canals
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