Tesla Unveils Striking New Stealth Grey Color

By Kevin Armstrong
Stealth Grey is now available for the Model S and Model X
Stealth Grey is now available for the Model S and Model X
Tesla

Tesla has introduced a new color for the Model S and Model X: Stealth Grey. This fresh addition, showcased in a dynamic video on X, offers a sleek and sophisticated choice for the Model S and Model X.

For a company that doesn't advertise much, it certainly hit up the excitement with a video posted on X. Capturing the essence of the new Stealth Grey, the footage highlights the color's depth and sophistication. The first glance at this hue suggests a deeper version of the Midnight Silver that has been punted from the lineup.

Stealth Grey Joins the Ranks at No Extra Cost

What makes Stealth Grey an even more appealing choice for prospective Tesla owners is its accessibility. Unlike previous times, when opting for a color other than the standard meant additional costs, Tesla has included Stealth Grey in the base price of both the Model S and Model X. This inclusion follows a trend of recent price adjustments by Tesla.

Global Availability and Future Expansion

Initially rolled out for the Model S and Model X, the excitement around Stealth Grey isn't limited to North American markets. Tesla has also announced its availability for the new Model 3 in Europe and Asia. This move suggests that Tesla might be planning to make the new hue available across other models and regions in the near future. Stealth Grey for the new Model 3 is one of the more expensive colors, along with Ultra Red. It's not clear whether Tesla will offer the current Model 3 or the Model Y in Stealth Grey in the future.

Looking Forward: Tesla's Colorful Horizon

The introduction of Stealth Grey is not a solitary incident. A year ago, in October 2022, Tesla's Giga Berlin factory began rolling out vehicles in the stunning Quicksilver and Midnight Cherry Red. Since then, we've eagerly awaited these colors to make their way to other regions.

While speaking on the Ride the Lightning podcast, Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla's Chief Designer, stirred up the excitement. Though always careful with his words, he dropped strong hints about North America, soon witnessing an infusion of new shades. His genuine enthusiasm for the colors developed at Fremont with his team was evident as he spoke about how photos don't do justice to these shades. To truly appreciate their beauty, one must see them firsthand.

Tesla has historically maintained a simple yet elegant color palette for its models, reminiscent of Henry Ford's famous sentiment about the Model T only being available in black. From the start with the Model 3, Tesla kept the options concise, with a black color variant being the standard and other hues costing a bit more. This limitation was in the spirit of streamlining production, especially during challenging ramp-up periods. However, times change, and Tesla appears to be embracing a more colorful future.

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With all the attention on Cybertruck, Tesla is quietly working on the real game changer. Somewhere in Tesla's research and development is the Model 2, the next-gen, more affordable Tesla. It is the car that Tesla predicts will sell more than all of its other vehicles - combined!

The company has long been known for its futuristic and sleek designs, with the upcoming Model 2 touted as the most affordable and utilitarian offering yet. Yes, utilitarian were the words used by Elon Musk as he reiterated the primary focus for the Model 2 would be simplicity in design, manufacturing efficiency, and affordability.

But how might this vision translate into the actual car design? We have a few ideas using some hints and some lessons from the past. For simplicity's sake, we will refer to the next-gen car as the Model 2 in this article.

Teardrop Shape: Aerodynamic Mastery

Arguably the most aerodynamic shape for cars, the teardrop design minimizes drag, which is crucial for electric vehicles where range is paramount. The Model 2 could integrate this shape, focusing on the perfect harmony of form and function.

A vehicle is yet to be produced, but it has shown this design and how Tesla could use it. Aptera knows that in vehicle efficiency, drag coefficients are king. It is a crucial metric denoting aerodynamic resistance: while a Toyota Corolla registers at 0.29 and the Tesla Model 3 impresses with 0.23, the Aptera records 0.13. To put that in perspective, the bottlenose dolphin puts up a 0.1.

When McLaren set out to conceive their swiftest road-going model, it didn't merely optimize the engine; it sculpted the very form of the car itself. The McLaren Speedtail's streamlined silhouette, exemplified by its elongated tail, the omission of conventional side mirrors, and aerodynamic front wheel covers, is a testament to this design philosophy.

Three Wheels: Sneak Peak Lines up with Aptera

An image in the Walter Isaacson books seems to be a mock-up of a Model 2. Take a good look at both the product and the pictures on the wall behind it. It appears to be a three-wheel, tear-shaped vehicle. Aptera also has three wheels. The company says it "leads the pack by having the least "rolling resistance" â€" the energy needed to keep your tires rolling at a straight and steady pace."

Going to three wheels reduces the touch points and areas where energy can be lost. It could incorporate unconventional headlights or eliminate the traditional trunk. The Aptera's radically efficient design offers a glimpse of such out-of-the-box thinking.

Rethinking Doors and the Frunk: Simplifying Structure

While a four-door design is conventional, a two-door Model 2 would be simpler and likely cheaper to manufacture. Moreover, since the frunk primarily serves as storage in electric vehicles, Tesla could consider eliminating it altogether. This recalls Volkswagen's audacious 1-litre car concept, which featured gullwing doors and a futuristic design.

But we don't need to go back that far, as again, we can point to Aptera's design. The two-door, two-seater has storage room but certainly not to the same level as a Model 3. Given this Model 2 is going to be a point A to point B car, how much storage space is required?

Aero Wheel Design: Balancing Aesthetics with Efficiency

Tesla's Model 3 aero wheels have already demonstrated the balance between aesthetics and efficiency, offering up to a 3.4% boost in range. The Model 2 could take this further by fully enclosing the wheels or adopting innovative designs similar to the McLaren Speedtail's aerodynamic front wheel covers. It could go even further than that; see the next point.

Fender Skirts: Maximizing Range

Historically, fender skirts have shown a marked improvement in fuel efficiency. The original Honda Insight from 1999 achieved a drag coefficient of 0.25 with its covered rear wheels. By re-introducing fender skirts, Tesla could further streamline its impressive aerodynamics, extending the Model 2's range. But, as General Motors pointed out, this could require certain design adjustments, like narrower rear tires, to maintain safety and handling.

Mirrorless Design: Reducing Drag

Mirrors add drag, and if Tesla can persuade regulators, a mirrorless design would make the Model 2 even more streamlined. Replacing mirrors with cameras has been around for a while. Still, Tesla could be the one to popularize this in mass-market EVs. The company has already been touting this as a feature for the Cybertruck. However, some jurisdictions require external mirrors. At some point during the evolution of the car, regulators must understand that camera technology is superior to mirrors.

While these speculations are based on current trends and historical data, one thing is certain: Tesla's Model 2 will challenge conventions. As the company delves deeper into achieving unmatched manufacturing efficiency and affordability, the Model 2 will likely carry Tesla's legacy of innovation.

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Imagining Tesla’s Robotaxi Network Charging Stations

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

It was a rainy April 1st when a news-searching author went on a delve into the depths of April Fools to find fact from falsehood. And while we found a lot of fantastic jokes, we also found some good ideas.

So, with a shoutout to MarcoRP on X, whose April Fool’s Joke gave us a good run for our money for a couple of minutes, we thought to ourselves - what would a Cybercab Charging Station / Cleaning Hub really look like?

Cybercab Wireless Charging Sites

Now, before continuing, we’d like to point out that the image up top is a joke from Marco - it isn’t an accurate or real site map submission from Tesla. However, it gave us the impetus to think critically about what is required for a Robotaxi fleet, based primarily on the Cybercab, to be able to service a city.

Requirements

Tesla will likely need to charge a small fleet of Cybercabs at a single time and in a single place. That means that the site needs to be large enough to cover a major metro area while also still being compact enough to not cost too much money to build out.

In addition, we need to factor in charge times. The Cybercab is likely to launch with a battery around 50 kWh, which will result in a range of approximately 300 miles. With that much range, the average Cybercab may not need to charge more than once or at all during daytime shifts, so instead, most of the vehicles will charge overnight.

MarcoRP

Math and Charge Times

The overnight charging means that most of these vehicles could be charged slowly. When we did some back-of-the-napkin math last year, we determined that Tesla’s wireless charger will likely peak around 17 kWh (for comparison, Tesla’s Wall Connector at 32 amps charges at about 7 kWh). If we scale Tesla’s wireless charger down slightly to 10 kWh, accounting for some energy loss and the potential size of the site, that means a Cybercab will be able to charge in about 5 hours.

Tesla’s upcoming V4 Supercharger unit can currently handle 1.5MW per cabinet, but this slower-speed charging is A/C, not DC, which means there is a step-down loss of about 3-5%. Let’s make that a comfortable 10% for any other overages, but we can estimate around 1.35MW of power. That 1.3MW will easily handle charging up to 100 Cybercabs at once - all wirelessly, using Tesla’s unique beam-forming and beam-steering technology to keep efficiency high at every single stall.

Within about 5 hours, a whole fleet of 100 Cybercabs could be charged overnight when electricity rates are cheaper and still be out in time for the morning commute.

While this is all just hypothetical, it really does make sense that Tesla will be establishing these sites that won’t require much space or a ton of energy.

Tesla recently curtained off a large section of the parking garage at Giga Texas, as well as some of their chargers on the eastern end of the facility, leading us to believe they may just be testing this at scale internally.

There’s a lot to look forward to with Tesla’s V4 Supercharger deployment coming this year and with Robotaxi launching in just a couple of months.

Tesla Announces 2025 Q1 Numbers: Lower Than Expected, but the Worst May Be Over

By Not a Tesla App Staff
Not a Tesla App

Tesla released its Q1 2025 delivery and production numbers this morning, reporting 336,681 vehicles delivered and 362,615 produced—marking the company’s weakest quarter since 2022. Deliveries declined 13% year-over-year and fell well short of Wall Street estimates, which ranged from 360,000 to 370,000. Some analysts had forecast as many as 407,000 units.

Despite the shortfall, Tesla stock is actually up about 4% this morning, not only suggesting the market had already priced in weaker performance, but that this may be seen as the low point for the company. Tesla began delivering its refreshed Model Y in March, and production across all four Gigafactories was impacted by several weeks of downtime as Tesla retooled lines to accommodate the newer model. However, there’s no doubt that there is some brand impact from Elon Musk.

Comparing Numbers

Most of the deliveries—323,800 units—came from the Model 3 and Model Y lineup, while the “Other Models” category (including the Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X) accounted for 12,881 deliveries. That’s a 31% drop for Model 3/Y and a sharper 45% drop for the Other Models category compared to the previous quarter. However, comparing it to a more applicable Q1 2024, these numbers are only down about 13% for the Model 3/Y and down about 24% for the Model S/X and Cybertruck.

In terms of production, Tesla built 345,454 Model 3/Y vehicles and 17,161 from its “Other Models” line. The company attributed the production drop to the Model Y changeover but said the ramp is “going well.” This still leaves a large gap between production and delivery numbers, although they may not be as large as many had feared.

Q1 2025

Q1 2024

Q4 2024

Model 3/Y Deliveries

323,800

369,783

471,930

Model 3/Y Production

345,454

412,376

436,718

Other Models Deliveries

12,881

17,027

23,640

Other Models Production

17,161

20,995

22,727

Total Deliveries

336,681

386,810

495,570

Total Production

362,615

433,371

459,445

Cybertruck

One major weak point in Tesla’s numbers seems to be Cybertruck deliveries. While Tesla previously expected the Cybertruck to sell more than 250k units per year, we’re already seeing a decline in numbers. This is likely due to several factors, including the higher-than-expected price point of the truck, the unavailability of the RWD model, and the Cybertruck’s polarizing design, which may attract unwanted attention right now.

While the Cybertruck was ramping up production in 2024, making the lower numbers reasonable, the deliveries for Q1 2025 dropped drastically compared to the previous quarter. Cybertruck deliveries are estimated to be in the 5- 6k unit range for the quarter.

The good news to take away here is that the Single Motor variant of the Cybertruck appears to be nearing release. The price of the RWD version is expected to be about $60k USD before any incentives.

Q1 Earnings Call

Tesla announced their quarterly numbers this morning and posted on social media that they’ll live stream their Earnings Call on April 22nd.

This post was later edited to change “Q1 Earnings Call” to “Q1 Company Update.” It’s not clear whether there’s any significance in this change, but it could mean that Tesla has more to announce during the call.

The Company Update will occur on April 22nd at 2:30 PM PT / 5:30 PM ET. The standard Q&A session with executives and Musk is expected to follow the release of additional financial results for the quarter.

Tesla is set to launch its long-awaited Robotaxi service in June, and a cheaper, mass-market model is also planned for this year. With delivery numbers coming in soft and the refreshed Model Y just hitting the road, all eyes will be on forward-looking commentary during the update.

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