In a Space on X (Spaces are group voice chats), Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla vehicles would eventually receive Grok AI. Specifically, he confirmed that “You would be able to ask Grok things in Teslas.” There’s a lot to dig into this simple statement, especially given the recent addition of a true voice assistant in China.
Tesla Voice Assistant
Tesla’s voice commands in North America have recently received updates to have a better, clearer voice, while in China, the system received a complete overhaul. Voice commands in China have been replaced with a smart assistant capable of answering simple questions like “What is the value of Tesla stock?” or “How’s the weather today?”
Grok is the AI Large Language Model (LLM) available on X for Premium users and is capable of answering much more than just simple questions. While Elon Musk previously mentioned it in passing – that Teslas could run an LLM on their AI hardware with room to spare – not much has come down the voice assistant front. Other chat models, including ChatGPT, have already implemented voice modes, which let you converse back and forth with the AI.
We’re hoping that once x.AI’s Grok gets a voice mode as well, it will eventually make its way to Tesla vehicles in some capacity. The current iteration of Tesla’s voice commands is useful, but its command set is limited and mostly focused on vehicle accessibility.
Grok should be able to greatly improve the capabilities of the system, introducing a wider range of functionality, and reduce the strictness of how you need to ask for something. You’ll hopefully be able to ask Grok for the best restaurants around town and have FSD take you there. There’s no word whether Tesla would use a wake-word to activate the voice assistant or whether drivers would still need to tap the voice button on the steering wheel. China’s current voice assistant still requires a button press to activate.
In the audio chat, Musk goes on to say that Grok AI would not be run locally on the vehicle, and the vehicle would still need to send out a snippet of the voice request before returning with an answer. This is the same way Tesla’s voice commands work today and how the majority of voice assistants function. However, there are certain voice assistants that can process and run your command completely locally without having to out to the internet.
There’s no ETA on when Tesla will add a true voice assistant, but ever since it was released in China earlier this year, we’ve been expecting it to be added to other regions. It would be a fantastic Christmas gift, though…
One idea that consistently comes up when discussing the future potential of FSD is the ability to order a Tesla and have it arrive at your home—completely autonomously.
Picture this: a car rolls off the assembly line at Giga Texas, drives itself to the outbound delivery lot, and merges onto the highway—completely driverless. Its destination? A customer in upstate New York. Along the way, the vehicle independently plans its charging stops, navigates traffic, and drives nonstop, no breaks needed, until it pulls into the buyer’s driveway.
Of course, there’s a lot to consider and break down - but Elon Musk doubled down and said that he intends to have Tesla vehicles deliver themselves autonomously by the end of 2025. We’re sure there are some stipulations to that, but it’s an exciting idea that could save Tesla thousands per vehicle sold.
The core idea is that FSD Unsupervised is nearing completeness, with the upcoming launch of Tesla’s first Robotaxi network slated for June. Once Tesla can demonstrate that Unsupervised driving is safe, it will expand beyond simply transporting passengers from Point A to Point B.
That will include moving vehicles from factory to consumer, which will vastly streamline Tesla’s delivery process - and really make a statement about how far Tesla is ahead of the competition.
Reduced Delivery Costs
One of the biggest keys for Tesla throughout its history has been its ability to drive down costs. Delivery costs add to the price of a vehicle, and it’s not just the price of transporting the vehicle, but the cost of the whole delivery experience — delivery center and personnel included.
Instead, if a future Tesla drives itself directly to the consumer, Tesla can further reduce the price of its vehicles or improve its profits.
Improved Customer Experience
Money aside, the real game-changer is that no other vehicle delivery experience will come close to Tesla’s. What other brand will be able to deliver a car that drives itself to your home—straight from the factory?
Having a vehicle deliver itself can also provide other benefits, such as faster delivery times for customers. The customer also won’t need to drive to a delivery center to pick up their vehicle. The vehicle would go directly from the factory to the customer without any steps in between.
There’s something undeniably futuristic about getting a notification on your phone, glancing outside, and seeing your brand-new Tesla autonomously pulling into your driveway.
Limitations
Of course, with any new process or feature - there will be limitations and hurdles for Tesla to address, and these will take time and effort.
Let’s discuss some of the hurdles Tesla will need to solve.
Charging Infrastructure
Besides achieving true autonomy, another big challenge will be charging infrastructure. No Tesla can currently plug itself in at a Supercharger - they’ll need access to the upcoming V4 Superchargers with Wireless Charging to take on a road trip autonomously.
That will be a challenging rollout in the initial few years, especially as Tesla hasn’t been actively replacing older V2 Supercharger sites just yet - and is instead focusing on deploying new ones. We imagine that the rollout of wireless charging will likely also be limited, and it is likely that only Tesla’s more premium vehicles and Robotaxis will receive wireless charging compatibility.
Autonomy Policies / Geographic Limitations
Tesla has been consistently hamstrung by red tape, and unsupervised deliveries will also be a massive hurdle to clear with many states and provinces, as well as at the federal level. That will be an implicit challenge for Tesla in the infancy of the Robotaxi network as well, but once approvals spread wider, we can see these restrictions being lifted and relaxed.
Mileage and Damage
One item that could be a sticking point for customers is mileage and damage. If your brand-new vehicle was damaged on its trip over, what would you do? You’d have to take it from your driveway right to the Service Center, effectively invalidating the entire experience.
Of course, many people will also want to see a low odometer on arrival of a brand new, fresh-from-factory vehicle - and that’s understandable. Having a car arrive with several hundred or even a thousand miles of wear and tear on the tires and paint could be a big negative as well.
What Is Likely to Happen
We think that Tesla will continue to ship vehicles longer distances - but perhaps once they’re offloaded at your local Service Center, an employee taps a button, and begins the self-delivery process. That eliminates many of the above problems we’ve outlined, including charging and additional mileage, while keeping many of the advantages intact.
For any customers who order a Tesla in Austin later this year, it’s possible Tesla could have the vehicle delivered directly to you.
Like clockwork, it’s time for the opportunity to submit questions for Tesla’s Q1 2025 Earnings Call. Q1 has historically been difficult for Tesla and other auto manufacturers in general, but doom-and-gloom aside, there’s plenty more to be excited about, including upcoming improvements to FSD and the first phase of Tesla’s Robotaxi network.
Earnings Q1 2025 Questions
Tesla is gearing up for its Q1 2025 Earnings Call, providing an opportunity for shareholders to once again submit and vote on questions they want to be addressed during the event. Tesla has already announced the lower-than-expected delivery numbers for Q1 2025, and also held a Public All-Hands Meeting for the first time, so we’re interested to find out what answers to some of these questions during their Q&A session.
Most Popular Questions
When will FSD unsupervised be available for personal use on personally-owned cars?
Is Tesla still on track for releasing “more affordable models” this year? Or will you be focusing on simplified versions to enhance affordability, similar to the RWD Cybertruck?
Robotaxi still on track for this year?
How is Tesla positioning itself to flexibly adapt to global economic risks in the form of tariffs, political biases, etc.?
Regarding the Tesla Optimus pilot line, could you confirm if it is currently operational? If so, what is the current production rate of Optimus bots per week? Additionally, how might the recent tariffs impact the scalability of this production line moving forward?
Did Tesla experience any meaningful changes in order inflow rate in Q1 relating to all of the rumors of “brand damage”?
When will Tesla Insurance be available in all 50 states. I’m from Idaho, and I’m surrounded by states where it is available, but it isn’t available in my state.
How is the company planning to deal with the impact of Elon’s partnership with the current administration?
is there a possibility of a stock split if so what would it be
Questions and voting are conducted through Say, a third-party platform that validates share ownership. Once your ownership is verified, you can use your shares to vote, with your vote weight corresponding to the number of shares you hold. Submitting a question initially gives it votes equivalent to your number of shares.
Below, we also compiled a list of the top questions going into the Earnings Call, which takes place a week from today.
The Earnings Call itself will take place on April 22, at 5:30 PM EDT (2:30 PM PT). Links to the live stream will be made available closer to the event. A recap of the key points will also be provided as usual, so stay tuned for that in the hours after the call.
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