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Elon Musk is about to move the goalpost on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) program in a masterful way that will allow him to claim a win.

Don’t be fooled.

I asked Grok, Musk’s “truth-seeking AI”, to list all of the CEO’s timelines for Tesla achieving self-driving and then compared them to reality:

  • 2015: Predicted full autonomy by 2018.
    • Reality: Not achieved; Tesla cars still required human supervision.
  • 2016: Claimed full autonomy from LA to New York by 2017, all Teslas as robotaxis by 2020.
    • Reality: Did not happen; FSD remained in development.
  • 2018: Full self-driving capability in “3 to 6 months”.
    • Reality: Missed, FSD still required human supervision.
  • 2019: Early access FSD by year-end, full unsupervised driving in 2020.
    • Reality: Limited beta release in 2020, but not unsupervised.
  • 2020: Very close to Level 5, quantum leap in FSD.
    • Reality: FSD Beta launched, but still Level 2 with human oversight.
  • 2021: Full self-driving, 1 million robo-taxis by year-end.
    • Reality: Neither achieved; FSD remained in beta.
  • 2022: Full self-driving by end of 2022 or May 2023.
    • Reality: Did not reach this milestone; FSD still not fully autonomous.
  • 2023: Reiterated confidence in achieving full self-driving.
    • Reality: No full autonomy achieved; continued FSD improvements but still supervised.
  • 2024: Announced unsupervised FSD in Texas and California for Q2 2025.
    • Reality: As of early 2025, this has not yet been launched.
  • 2025: Specified launch of unsupervised FSD in Texas for June 2025.
    • Reality: As of now, this has not been confirmed to have occurred; the timeline is still within the projected future, so no definitive comparison to reality can be made yet.

That’s about as embarrassing as it gets, but many Tesla supporters still don’t care because they believe that now it’s going to finally happen.

As the last point states, Tesla is still within the latest timeline of “unsupervised FSD in Texas in June 2025.”

The problem is that what Tesla is planning to launch in Austin in June has very little to do with what Musk has been promising and selling to Tesla FSD buyers since 2016.

As the latest data shows, Tesla FSD is still far from unsupervised self-driving in customer vehicles, which was promised, but it has improved significantly in the last few months. The combination of the improvement and the fact that Musk can’t take many more losses with missed FSD timelines has pushed Tesla to find a solution: Waymo.

Musk has pooh-poohed Waymo’s approach to self-driving for years. He claimed its geo-fenced, mapped, teleoperation-supported approach wouldn’t scale.

Yet, that’s almost exactly what Tesla is about to launch in Austin this year.

The CEO confirmed that Tesla’s plan is a “paid unsupervised self-driving ride-hailing service using an internal fleet of Tesla vehicles” in Austin in June.

We reported that Tesla was looking to hire people to work in teleoperation to support its self-driving vehicles shortly after announcing its plan for unsupervised ride-hailing services in Texas and California last year.

The planned teleoperation, combined with the service being limited to Austin, points to Tesla launching a geo-fenced service where it will optimize FSD performance in Austin and use teleoperation to support the vehicles.

That’s exceptionally close to Waymo’s product, which has been available in many cities for years, including in Austin more recently.

As for the long-anticipated unsupervised self-driving capability in all customer vehicles produced since 2016, it looks like Musk is too scared to share a timeline after being consistently wrong for a decade.

Electrek’s Take

I can almost guarantee what will happen: Tesla will launch this project and claim to have achieved “unsupervised self-driving.”

Elon and his Tesla influencer simps will pump this up while blurring the line between this product and FSD in customer vehicles to give the impression that Tesla is still a leader in self-driving.

When, in fact, Tesla will only have achieved what Waymo delivered years ago.

Tesla won’t be closer to delivering what it promised and sold to owners since 2016: unsupervised self-driving capable of robotaxi driving in customer vehicles.

As of the latest data, Tesla FSD v13 is achieving about 500 miles between critical disengagement while Tesla’s own stated goal to be safer than humans is to surpass miles between collision with human drivers, which is at 700,000 miles, according to NHTSA.

This program in Austin is no more than a diversion, a moving of the goalpost, to give Tesla an impression of a win in self-driving and distract owners who have bought FSD and have been promised unsupervised self-driving capability for years.

Then you had the HW3 situation into the mix, and you have quite the mess.

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Here’s what TSLA analysts are saying about Tesla’s big delivery miss

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Here's what TSLA analysts are saying about Tesla's big delivery miss

Most Wall Street analysts covering Tesla’s stock (TSLA) badly misread the automaker’s delivery volumes this quarter. Some of them have started releasing notes to clients following Tesla’s production and delivery results.

Here’s what they have to say:

According to Tesla-compiled analyst consensus, the automaker was expected to report “377,592 deliveries” in the first quarter.

Tesla confirmed yesterday that it delivered only 336,000 electric vehicles during the first three months of 2025.

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  • Cantor Fitzgerald was the first analyst firm to issue a note after the release. They reaffirmed their overweight rating with a $425 price target. As we previously reported, Cantor has some major conflicts of interest with Tesla and CEO Elon Musk.
  • Truist Securities maintained its hold rating on Tesla’s stock, but it greatly lowered its price target from $373 to $280 a share. They insist that while their earnings expectations have crashed because they overestimated deliveries, investors should focus on Tesla’s self-driving effort, which they see as “much more important for the long-term value of the stock.”
  • Goldman Sachs lowered its price target from $320 to $275 a share. The firm expected 375,000 deliveries from Tesla in Q1 and therefore had to adjust its earnings expectations with almost 40,000 fewer deliveries.
  • Wedbush‘s Dan Ives, one of Tesla’s biggest cheerleaders, called the delivery results “disastrous”, but he reiterated his $550 price target on Tesla’s stock.
  • UBS has reiterated its $225 price target which it had lowered last month after adjusting its delivery expectations in Q1 to 367,000 – one of the more accurate predictions on Wall Street.
  • CFRA‘s analyst Garrett Nelson reduced his price target from $385 to $360 a share.

Electrek’s Take

I find it funny that most of them are maintaining or barely changing their expectations after they were so wrong about Tesla in Q1.

If you were so wrong in Q1, you should expect to be incorrect also for the rest of the year, and readjust accordingly.

But Cantor is invested in Tesla, and the firm is owned by Elon’s friend, who happens to now be the secretary of commerce. Truist still believes Elon’s self-driving lies, Goldman Sachs overestimated Tesla’s deliveries by the equivalent of $2 billion in revenues, and Dan Ives is Dan Ives.

Covering Tesla over the last 15 years has confirmed to me that most Wall Street analysts have no idea what they are doing – or at least not when it comes to companies like Tesla.

Do you know any who have been consistently good lately? I’d love suggestions in the comment section below.

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Fintech stocks such as Affirm, PayPal plunge on concern Trump tariffs will hurt consumer spending

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Fintech stocks such as Affirm, PayPal plunge on concern Trump tariffs will hurt consumer spending

The global market rout on Thursday, sparked by President Donald Trump’s announcement of widespread tariffs, had an outsized effect on fintech companies and credit card issuers that are closely tied to consumer spending and credit.

Affirm, which offers buy now, pay later purchasing options, plunged 19%, while stock trading app Robinhood slid 10% and payments company PayPal fell 8%. American Express and Capital One each tumbled 10%, and Discover was down more than 8%.

President Trump on Wednesday laid out the U.S. “reciprocal tariff” rates that more than 180 countries and territories, including European Union members, will face under his sweeping new trade policy. Trump said his plan will set a 10% baseline tariff across the board, but that number is much higher for some countries.

The announcement sent stocks reeling, wiping out nearly $2 trillion in value from the S&P 500, and pushing the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 6%, its worst day since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

The sell-off was especially notable for companies most exposed to consumer spending and global supply chains, including payment providers and lenders. Fintech companies that rely on transaction volume or installment-based lending could see both revenue and credit performance deteriorate.

“When you go down the spectrum, that’s when you have more cyclical risk, more exposure to tariffs,” said Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, citing PayPal and Affirm as businesses at risk. He said bigger companies in the space “are more defensive” and better positioned.

Visa, Mastercard and Fiserv held up better on Thursday.

Dan Dolev, an analyst at Mizuho, said bank processors such as Fiserv are less exposed to tariff volatility.

“It’s considered a safe haven,” he said.

Affirm executives have previously said rising prices might increase demand for their products. Chief Financial Officer Rob O’Hare said higher prices could push more consumers toward buy now, pay later services.

“If tariffs result in higher prices for consumers, we’re there to help,” O’Hare said at a Stocktwits fireside chat last month. Affirm CEO Max Levchin has offered similar comments.

However, James Friedman, an analyst at SIG, told CNBC that delinquencies become a concern. He compared Affirm to private-label store cards, and pointed to historical trends in credit performance during downturns, noting that “private label delinquency rates run roughly double” in a recession when compared to traditional credit cards.

“You have to look at who’s overexposed to discretionary,” he said.

Affirm did not provide a comment but pointed to recent remarks from its executives.

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Mazda’s $20,000 Chinese EV is about to launch overseas and a new SUV is up next

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Mazda's ,000 Chinese EV is about to launch overseas and a new SUV is up next

Wait, Mazda sells a real EV? It’s only in China for now, but that will change very soon. The first Mazda 6e built for overseas markets rolled off the assembly line Thursday. Mazda’s new EV will arrive in Europe, Southeast Asia, and other overseas markets later this year. This could be the start of something with a new SUV due out next.

Mazda’s new EV rolls off assembly for overseas markets

The Mazda EZ-6 has been on sale in China since October with prices starting as low as 139,800 yuan, or slightly under $20,000.

Earlier this year, Mazda introduced the 6e, the global version of its electric car sold in China. The stylish electric sedan is made by Changan Mazda, Mazda’s joint venture in China.

After the first Mazda 6e model rolled off the production line at the company’s Nanjing Plant, Mazda said it’s ready to “conquer the new era of electrification with China Smart Manufacturing.”

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The new global “6e” model will be built at Changan Mazda’s plant and exported to overseas markets including Europe, Thailand, and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Mazda calls it “both a Chinese car and a global car,” with Changan’s advanced EV tech and Mazda’s signature design.

Mazda-first-EV-overseas
Mazda 6e electric sedan during European debut (Source: Changan Mazda)

Built on Changan’s hybrid platform, the EZ-6 is offered in China with both electric (EV) and extended-range (EREV) powertrains. The EV version has a CLTC driving range of up to 600 km (372 miles) and can fast charge (30% to 80%) in about 15 minutes.

Mazda’s new EV will be available with two battery options in Europe: 68.8 kWh or 80 kWh. The larger (80 kWh) battery gets up to 552 km (343 miles) WLTP range, while the 68.8 kWh version is rated with up to 479 km (300 miles) range on the WLTP rating scale.

At 4,921 mm long, 1,890 mm wide, and 1,491 mm tall, the Mazda 6e is about the size of a Tesla Model 3 (4,720 mm long, 1,922 mm wide, and 1,441 mm tall).

Mazda said the successful rollout of the 6e kicks off “the official launch of Changan Mazda’s new energy vehicle export center” for global markets.

The company will launch a new SUV next year and plans to introduce a third and fourth new energy vehicle (NEV).

Although prices will be announced closer to launch, Mazda’s global EV will not arrive with the same $20,000 price tag in Europe as it will face tariffs as an export from China. Mazda is expected to launch the 6e later this year in Europe and Southeast Asia. Check back soon for more info.

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