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A Tesla Model S car is displayed at a Tesla showroom on November 5, 2013 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Some Tesla customers in Florida and California have experienced delivery delays of weeks or months, forcing them to rely on borrowed cars, costly rentals and ride-hailing apps while they weather the unexpected wait.

Tesla acknowledged Model S delays earlier this year, but the delivery issues extend to the Model Y, Tesla’s crossover SUV and most popular vehicle in North America, according to several customers who spoke to CNBC.

The continuing delays are a sign that Tesla is still struggling with the “delivery logistics hell” that Elon Musk referenced in 2018 as the company dramatically increases its vehicle production. The company delivered more than 201,250 vehicles in Q2, a company record and a 144% increase from the year-ago quarter. Supply chain shortages, which the company discussed on its last two earnings calls, may also be playing a part in the delays.

A Tesla sales employee in California told CNBC that sales and delivery staff are doing the best they can to answer questions from upset customers, but do not have enough information from higher-ups or the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, to answer them precisely. This person asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press about company matters.

The employee said a colleague in another state resigned after managers threatened to fire him last quarter because he “broke the chain of command” by sending an e-mail to CEO Elon Musk and other managers in Fremont seeking information about the Model S delays.

After that, some sales staff felt hesitant to seek further details on behalf of customers, the sales employee said. CNBC reviewed internal correspondence corroborating the sales employee’s account of events.

Generally, sales and delivery workers are aware that Tesla has faced parts shortages and challenges implementing the use of new machinery at the Fremont plant, this person said. Those issues were discussed by executives on prior Tesla earnings calls.

The dates keep slipping

One bemused Tesla customer, Steve Salem, placed his order for a long-range all wheel drive Model Y with premium interior and silver metallic paint on May 31. He had test-driven the vehicle outside of New York City, and later ordered online, arranging to pick up the car in Los Angeles where he would soon be living.

According to records and correspondence he shared with CNBC, Tesla’s site initially said a Model Y should be available in an estimated 4 to 8 weeks, putting the late end of his estimated delivery window around the week of July 26.

After placing his order online, paying a $100 non-refundable fee to do so, the Tesla site showed Salem a new estimated delivery window with Aug. 10 as the latest possible delivery date. The dates continued to change in his Tesla account, and Salem says he did not receive apologies from sales staff or even email notifications with each change. The date range shifted all the way into October at one point, and then back to a date in late August. As of Monday this week, the estimated date was between Sept. 4 and Sept. 24.

Three other customers who are waiting for Model Y and Model S vehicles also told CNBC that they had to keep checking their accounts to detect changes to their estimated delivery dates.

While he hasn’t given up on his Tesla, Salem said he might have to eventually. “I’m fortunate that I’m not in desperate need for a vehicle. But I’d like to drive the car,” he said.

He arranged financing through a third-party lender, and doesn’t expect any trouble getting another loan approved. But delays could effect his loan rate, and he will also need to get a new insurance quote. “It’s a hassle,” he said. “At a certain point do you say the heck with this and try to get something else? It’s frustrating — not just the delays but the total lack of communication.”

Tesla cars are delivered to a showroom in Brooklyn, New York on April 25, 2019.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

If Tesla cannot firm up a delivery date, Salem said he may order a Ford Mach-E or revert to a high-performance internal combustion engine vehicle. The Model Y was going to be his first battery electric.

Another would-be owner of a long-range, all-wheel-drive Model Y in Southern California ordered from the Tesla site and received a confirmation by e-mail on June 6. This customer, who asked to remain unnamed to avoid confrontations on social media, had roughly the same experience as Salem.

She shared records indicating that her original estimated window for delivery was between Aug. 4 and Aug. 24 in Burbank, California. The date slipped repeatedly, and she says the company never proactively reached out to her about the changes.

When she saw the dates changing in her Tesla account online, she texted a sales employee to ask whether the delivery dates would keep getting pushed further out. The employee failed to give specifics, but reassured her that staff would keep an eye out for a black Model Y that may become available sooner in the area.

In one text message to this sales employee, this customer asked if there were problems in manufacturing. The employee replied in early August that Tesla had manufacturing delays due to a chip shortage, and said many other car companies were dealing with the same thing.

As CNBC has previously reported, chip shortages have recently caused production and delivery delays of Ford’s Mustang Mach-E crossover and in July, caused Rivian to delay production and deliveries of its debut RIT electric pickup, and R1S SUV (but not its commercial delivery vans which it is making for Amazon).

This customer is now expecting to receive her Tesla some time between Sept. 8th and Sept. 28th. She told CNBC she has spent more on rentals and ride-sharing than she and her finacee planned to spend leasing and insuring their Model Y from Tesla.

She’s willing to wait for the Tesla, but wants an explanation from the company. And now, since she’s planning to be out of town for a few weeks, she is worried the company will make her wait months more if she can’t take delivery.

Finally, two customers who have been waiting for Tesla’s higher-end Model S luxury sedans told CNBC they have been waiting for months.

One engineer, who works in utility-scale renewables, ordered his Model S Plaid in January, and planned to take delivery at the Ft. Meyers, Florida, Tesla dealership. He asked to remain un-named citing privacy concerns, and said he is annoyed every time a YouTuber shows up in a video with a Model S Plaid. It made him wonder if the company is allowing people to cut the line if they have dedicated fan accounts on social media.

While he has already waited for months, he said he will never give up on getting his dream car from Tesla. He is drawn to the Model S Plaid’s design, performance and the appeal of a vehicle that will have new features added or old features refined via over the air software updates.

Barry Stuppler, founder of a rare coins and precious metals wholesale business, first ordered a Model S Plaid in January, as CNBC previously reported. On Aug. 10, he told CNBC, Tesla moved his delivery date to the very end of the third quarter — Sept. 21 through Sept. 30.

Last week, he went to a Mercedes dealer and configured and ordered an all-electric Mercedes 450 EQS, with no deposit required. The sales staff there said he would have a price quote and vehicle identification number by late September, and he could take delivery in November. He said if the Mercedes arrives before his Tesla, and isn’t more than the price he’s expecting, he’ll cancel the Model S Plaid order.

Even famous people aren’t immune. On Tuesday, rock musician David Crosby tweeted that a Tesla he ordered seven months ago has still not showed up, and alleged that Tesla had “lied to us 4 times about when we would get it.”

Crosby was not immediately available for comment.

Tesla and Troy Jones, the company’s Vice President of North American Sales, Service and Delivery, did not immediately respond to a request for further information.

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Tesla investors are growing wary of Elon Musk’s futuristic promises

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Tesla investors are growing wary of Elon Musk's futuristic promises

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks alongside U.S. President Donald Trump to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images

At Tesla, vehicle sales are slumping, profits are thinning and revenue from regulatory credit sales are poised to dry up due to Republican-led policy changes.

In the past, CEO Elon Musk’s futuristic promises have convinced investors to look past top and bottom line numbers.

Not now.

Following another fairly dismal earnings report this week, Musk told analysts on the call that Tesla’s electric vehicles will soon become driverless, making money for owners while they sleep. He also said Tesla’s robotaxi service, which the company recently started testing in a limited capacity in Austin, Texas, will expand to other states, with a goal of being able to reach half the U.S. population by year-end, “assuming we have regulatory approvals.”

It didn’t matter.

Tesla shares plummeted 8% on Thursday as investors focused on the immediate challenges facing the company, including the rapid rise of lower-cost EV competitors, particularly in China, and a political backlash against Musk that harmed Tesla’s brand in the U.S. and Europe.

Automotive sales declined 16% year-over-year in the second quarter for the EV maker, with weak sales numbers continuing in Europe and California. Musk said there could be a “few rough quarters” ahead because of the EV credits expiring and President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The stock bounced back some on Friday, gaining 3.5%, but still ended the week down and has now fallen 22% this year, the worst performance among tech’s megacaps. The Nasdaq rose 1% for the week and is up more than 9% in 2025, closing at a record on Friday.

“Look, we love robotaxis. And robots,” wrote analysts at Canaccord Genuity, who recommend buying Tesla’s stock, in a note after the earnings report. “Over time, Tesla is well positioned to benefit from these future-forward opportunities.”

The analysts, however, said that they’re focused on the profit and loss statement, writing: “But we love growth too, in the here and now. We need the P&L dynamics to turn.”

Analysts at Jefferies described the earnings update as “a bit dull.” And Goldman Sachs said Tesla’s robotaxi effort is “still small” with limited technical data points.

Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Canaccord Genuity's Gianarikas: We may have seen the bottom for Tesla, positive acceleration to come

Musk, who has previously called himself “pathologically optimistic,” has been able to sway shareholders and send the stock soaring at times with promises of self-driving cars, humanoid robots and more affordable EVs.

But after a decade of missed self-imposed deadlines on autonomous driving, Wall Street is watching Tesla fall behind Alphabet’s Waymo in the U.S. and Baidu’s Apollo Go in China.

In Tesla’s shareholder deck, the company said the second quarter marked the start of its “transition from leading the electric vehicle and renewable energy industries to also becoming a leader in AI, robotics and related services.” The company didn’t offer any new guidance for growth or profits for the year ahead.

Regulatory hurdles

Business Insider reported on Friday that Tesla told staff its robotaxi service could launch in the San Francisco Bay Area as soon as this weekend.

But Tesla hasn’t applied for permits that would be required to run a driverless ridehailing service in California, CNBC confirmed. The company would first need authorizations from the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

The CPUC told CNBC on Friday, that under existing permits, Tesla can only operate a human-driven chartered vehicle service, not carry passengers in robotaxis.

Waymo driverless vehicles wait at a traffic light in Santa Monica, California, on May 30, 2025.

Daniel Cole | Reuters

On the earnings call, Musk and other Tesla execs claimed the company was working on regulatory approvals to launch in Nevada, Arizona, Florida and other markets, in addition to San Francisco, but offered no details about what would be required.

Within Austin, the company said its robotaxi service had driven 7,000 miles, and that Tesla has been restricting its robotaxis’ to roads with a speed limit of 40 miles per hour. The Austin service involves a small fleet of about 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles equipped with the company’s latest self-driving systems.

The Tesla robotaxis rely on remote supervision by employees in a customer service center, and a human safety supervisor in the front passenger seat, ready to intervene if needed.

Compare that to what Alphabet said on its second-quarter earnings call the same day as Tesla’s results.

“The Waymo Driver has now autonomously driven over 100 million miles on public roads, and the team is testing across more than 10 cities this year, including New York and Philadelphia,” Alphabet said. Meanwhile, Waymo has become significant enough that Alphabet added a category to its Other Bets revenue description in its latest quarterly filing.

“Revenues from Other Bets are generated primarily from the sale of autonomous transportation services, healthcare-related services and internet services,” the filing said. The Other Bets segment remains relatively small, with revenue coming in at $373 million in the quarter. 

Regardless of investor skepticism, Musk is more bullish than ever.

On Friday, the world’s richest person posted on his social network X that he thinks Tesla will someday be worth $20 trillion. On the earnings call earlier in the week, he said that when it comes to AI for cars and robots, “Tesla is actually much better than Google by far” and “much better than anyone at real world AI.”

CORRECTION: The Waymo Driver has now autonomously driven over 100 million miles on public roads, according to Alphabet. A previous version misstated the number of miles.

WATCH: Tough quarter for Tesla

Ex-Tesla Board Member: Tough quarter for the EV-maker

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Tesla plans ‘friends and family’ car service in California, regulator says

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Tesla plans 'friends and family' car service in California, regulator says

A vehicle Tesla is using for robotaxi testing purposes on Oltorf Street in Austin, Texas, US, on Sunday, June 22, 2025.

Tim Goessman | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In an earnings call this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased an expansion of his company’s fledgling robotaxi service to the San Francisco Bay Area and other U.S. markets.

But California regulators are making clear that Tesla is not authorized to carry passengers on public roads in autonomous vehicles and would require a human driver in control at all times.

“Tesla is not allowed to test or transport the public (paid or unpaid) in an AV with or without a driver,” the California Public Utilities Commission told CNBC in an email on Friday. “Tesla is allowed to transport the public (paid or unpaid) in a non-AV, which, of course, would have a driver.”

In other words, Tesla’s service in the state will have to be more taxi than robot.

Tesla has what’s known in California as a charter-party carrier permit, which allows it to run a private car service with human drivers, similar to limousine companies or sightseeing services.

The commission said it received a notification from Tesla on Thursday that the company plans to “extend operations” under its permit to “offer service to friends and family of employees and to select members of the public,” across much of the Bay Area.

But under Tesla’s permit, that service can only be with non-AVs, the CPUC said.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles told CNBC that Tesla has had a “drivered testing permit” since 2014, allowing the company to operate AVs with a safety driver present, but not to collect fees. The safety drivers must be Tesla employees, contractors or designees of the manufacturer under that permit, the DMV said.

In Austin, Texas, Tesla is currently testing out a robotaxi service, using its Model Y SUVs equipped with the company’s latest automated driving software and hardware. The limited service operates during daylight hours and in good weather, on roads with a speed limit of 40 miles per hour. 

Robotaxis in Austin are remotely supervised by Tesla employees, and include a human safety supervisor in the front passenger seat. The service is now limited to invited users, who agree to the terms of Tesla’s “early access program.”

EV price war is bleeding into robotaxis, intelligent driving: Expert

On Friday, Business Insider, citing an internal Tesla memo, reported that Tesla told staff it planned to expand its robotaxi service to the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend. Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment on that report.

In a separate matter in California, the DMV has accused Tesla of misleading consumers about the capabilities of its driver assistance systems, previously marketed under the names Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (or FSD).

Tesla now calls its premium driver assistance features, “FSD Supervised.” In owners manuals, Tesla says Autopilot and FSD Supervised are “hands on” systems, requiring a driver at the wheel, ready to steer or brake at all times. 

But in user-generated videos shared by Tesla on X, the company shows customers using FSD hands-free while engaged in other tasks. The DMV is arguing that Tesla’s license to sell vehicles in California should be suspended, with arguments ongoing through Friday at the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings in Oakland.

Under California state law, autonomous taxi services are regulated at the state level. Some city and county officials said on Friday that they were out of the loop regarding a potential Tesla service in the state. 

Stephanie Moulton-Peters, a member of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, said in a phone interview that she had not heard from Tesla about its plans. She urged the company to be more transparent.

“I certainly expect they will tell us and I think it’s a good business practice to do that,” she said.

Moulton-Peters said she was undecided on robotaxis generally and wasn’t sure how Marin County, located north of San Francisco, would react to Tesla’s service.

“The news of change coming always has mixed results in the community,” she said. 

Brian Colbert, another member of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, said in an interview that he’s open to the idea of Tesla’s service being a good thing but that he was disappointed in the lack of communication. 

“They should have done a better job about informing the community about the launch,” he said. 

Alphabet’s Waymo, which is far ahead of Tesla in the robotaxi market, obtained a number of permits from the DMV and CPUC before starting its driverless ride-hailing service in the state.

Waymo was granted a CPUC driverless deployment permit in 2023, allowing it to charge for rides in the state. The company has been seeking amendments to both its DMV and CPUC driverless deployment permits as it expands its service territory in the state.

— NBC’s David Ingram reported from San Francisco.

WATCH: Waymo testing self-driving cars with human drivers in New York and Philadelphia

Waymo begins testing self-driving cars with human drivers in New York and Philadelphia

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Mark Zuckerberg names ex-OpenAI employee chief scientist of new Meta AI lab

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Mark Zuckerberg names ex-OpenAI employee chief scientist of new Meta AI lab

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a keynote speech during the Meta Connect annual event, at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 25, 2024.

Manuel Orbegozo | Reuters

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday said Shengjia Zhao, the co-creator of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, will serve as the chief scientist of Meta Superintelligence Labs.

Zuckerberg has been on a multibillion-dollar artificial intelligence hiring blitz in recent weeks, highlighted by a $14 billion investment in Scale AI. In June, Zuckerberg announced a new organization called Meta Superintelligence Labs that’s made up of top AI researchers and engineers. 

Zhao’s name was listed among other new hires in the June memo, but Zuckerberg said Friday that Zhao co-founded the lab and “has been our lead scientist from day one.” Zhao will work directly with Zuckerberg and Alexandr Wang, the former CEO of Scale AI who is acting as Meta’s chief AI officer.

“Shengjia has already pioneered several breakthroughs including a new scaling paradigm and distinguished himself as a leader in the field,” Zuckerberg wrote in a social media post. “I’m looking forward to working closely with him to advance his scientific vision.”

Read more CNBC tech news

In addition to co-creating ChatGPT, Zhao helped build OpenAI’s GPT-4, mini models, 4.1 and o3, and he previously led synthetic data at OpenAI, according to Zuckerberg’s June memo.

Meta Superintelligence Labs will be where employees work on foundation models such as the open-source Llama family of AI models, products and Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research projects.

The social media company will invest “hundreds of billions of dollars” into AI compute infrastructure, Zuckerberg said earlier this month.

“The next few years are going to be very exciting!” Zuckerberg wrote Friday.

WATCH: Meta announces massive ‘Prometheus’ & ‘Hyperion’ data center plans

Meta announces massive 'Prometheus' & 'Hyperion' data center plans

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