FSD Beta numbers and everything else revealed at Tesla's Q2 earnings call

July 21, 2022

By Dan Burkland

Tesla produces its 2 millionth vehicle at Fremont/Nevada

Tesla

Yesterday Tesla held its second quarter earnings call. Although Elon Musk has previously said he wouldn't be on earnings calls in the future, he did make this one.

As with previous earnings calls, plenty of data and statistics were revealed relating to production, future products, and FSD Beta.

Below is a recap of the entire event, including the Q&A session. The recap was originally posted to dburkland.com.

You can also listen to the earnings call below. The call begins at the 11 minute mark.

Opening remarks from Elon Musk

Unique quarter for Tesla due to Shanghai shutdown
Production records achieved in Fremont & Shanghai
Set up nicely for record breaking 2nd half of 2022
Past years have thrown several force majeure at Tesla yet the team continues to overcome
Giga Berlin Production Ramp continues with 1000 cars / week in June, Giga Austin to follow with the same number in the next few months
Still making cars w/ 2170 cells in parallel and important to note they aren’t dependent on 4680s and will still hit their production numbers
FSD Beta deployed to over 100,000 owners
5-6 years ago they set out to be the best manufacturer in the world
- Pro-manufacturing mindset has given them a competitive edge

Currently make the largest castings in the world
As a result of improved manufacturing processes in Berlin & Texas, Tesla has reduced body welding robot count by 70% per unit of capacity
- Body shop is roughly 3x smaller as it would be otherwise
- New vehicle bodies are lighter, cheaper, and quieter thanks to reduction in NVH
- Another level of simplicity and improvements are coming with Cybertruck (as well as future products coming down the road)
Intelligent seat belt tensioning based on vision system recently released, first in the industry to do this
- Can also adjust the airbag deployment as well
- Delivered via OTA update
- Will have profound impact on passenger safety
- Compatible for all HW3-equipped Teslas

Cybertruck
- Production still expected to start middle of 2023
- “Best product ever” -Elon
FSD Beta
- Planned to be released to all North American customers by end of 2022
- FSD will then be released to other geos such as Asia and EU soon after pending regulatory approval

Opening remarks from Zach Kirkhorn

Made substantial progress in almost every area of the business
New production records reached in existing factories and new ones actively ramping
Highest solar production volumes in years
Temporary shutdown had noticeable impact to vehicle margin
- Factory ramping also associated with negative impact on vehicle margin
Inflation, commodities, and logistics continue to be headwinds
Resource constrained on Powerwall and Megapack which should be resolved in the 2nd half of 2022
Austin & Berlin operating costs are going down as production ramps up
Tesla sold 75% of Bitcoin holdings
- They did so as they were uncertain when COVID lockdowns in China would end
- As a result they wanted to maximize cash position
- They are still interested in Bitcoin and have not yet sold any Dogecoin
Highest operating margins ever at 14.6%
Still targeting 50% of growth and still within reach

Q&A

Chinese EV Manufacturers & Software Innovation
- Elon believes Tesla China is the best EV manufacturer in China
- Chinese car companies will be a force to be reckoned with going forward
- Tesla has respect for Chinese automakers but believes they have whats necessary to compete
Unified Vector Space
- Unified Vector Space would be if instead of knitting together dynamic & static objects w/ C++ you knit them together at the NN level (meaning you no longer need to reconcile them in C++ heuristics)
- Architecturally better way
- Slight improvement in efficiency of FSD stack and something they want to get to
- Nirvana situation would be to have surround video auto labeling for all static & dynamic objects as well as surround video inference w/ spacial memory
- Elon believes they have a unified vector space by the end of 2022
- Elon is also very confident that Tesla will improve the frame rate as they delete legacy NNs and further optimize the FSD software stack
- The goal is to get FSD Beta to operate at 36fps for all 8 cameras compared to the current 24 frames which will reduce latency when reacting to a dynamic environment
Inflation & Future Price Reductions
- They do not control so therefore Elon says take w/ grain salt but thinks inflation to decrease by end of 2022
- Carbon, steel, aluminum, etc are trending down in cost which should see impact later in 2022, early 2023
- Processing of lithium is insanely costly
- Elon again encouraging entrepreneurs to enter the lithium business as there are, “software margins”
- “License to print money” -Elon
Bitcoin
- Cryptocurrency is not something Tesla thinks about a lot according to Elon
- Main goal is production and addressing climate change by making sustainable energy & transport a reality
4680s
- Structural pack is a monumental step forward from a physics perspective and is the way to go
- Gained perspective through entering production w/ structural pack Teslas which proved their hypotheses
- Cost improvements are thanks to solving technical issues and scale
- They have saved 4-5kg in mass from the early cast Model Y underbodies since their initial production
- Plan is to reduce mass of castings and to include more parts (and to adapt vehicle to work better with castings)
- Cybertruck will be another big step in this area
- Making progress on 4680 production ramp but continuing to leverage supplier cells (2170s) to ramp Giga Berlin & Texas
- Total production ramp of 4680 packs to 1000 per week by end of the year (preferably earlier)
- Q2 @ Kato fully automated powder conveyance for the dry anode electrode tool there unlocking major improvements in production & yields too
- Production as a result has increased 35% MoM since March and yields throughout factory are already at targets or trending towards them
- Took learnings from Fremont cell & pack lines and built optimized lines in Giga Berlin & Texas
- Cell design was revved to unlock higher performance and manufacturing simplicity
- Lines were fully integrated and insourced additional content
- As a result new challenges for ramping in Giga Berlin & Texas
- Last quarter cell equipment was fully installed at Giga Texas and they have since produced their first commissioning car sets of 4680s cells
- The target for Texas is to begin mass producing 4680 cells in Q3 2022 with the goal of being able to exceed the weekly cell production capacity of the Kato battery plant by end of 2022
- Priority with 4680s initially is simplicity and scale, Tesla was not aiming to include all of the bells & whistles right off the bat
- As manufacturing goals are achieved they plan to layer in new material technologies into their structural packs (and increase range as well)
- Currently in regards to 4680s Tesla’s main focus is to remove low hanging issues that would prevent further production ramp
- Dry electrode anode & cathode are included in the current 4680 process which makes things harder to ramp (yet they continue to achieve success here)
- Once mass production achieved they plan to quickly iterate w/ an increase in energy density and overall performance soon thereafter
- Tesla cell production will continue to compliment production volumes from suppliers
- Fundamental rate limiter for transition to sustainable energy is rate of li-ion battery pack production
  - Not due to scarcity of raw materials, refining lithium in ultra high purity is quite difficult and requires massive amounts of machinery
  - Super difficult to create anode and cathode
  - Elon believes 2/3 of batteries in the future will be iron phosphate, maybe some with manganese
  - Tesla is actively working with suppliers to ramp as quick as possible
- Tesla is taking action by building their own Cathode plant at Giga Texas as well as taking the plunge into lithium refinement
FSD Development Progress & Andrej Departure
- While Andrej Karpathy will be missed (recent departure), Elon remains very bullish on current team of 120 people in software / AI group and believes that they will solve FSD by end of 2022
- No major setbacks or delays in FSD timeline should occur as a result of Andrej’s departure
- Elon believes they will raise FSD price just before they go to wide beta (targeted for end of 2022)
- Value of FSD is extremely high and not well understood by most people, Elon thinks its ridiculously cheap if promises of performance materialize
Semiconductor Supply Chain Constraints
- Tesla procures about 1600 unique pieces of silicon from 43 different companies
- Supply chains are more stable w/ latest generation of chips
- Chips from the analog & mixed signaling space still remain a challenge from a supply chain perspective
- Supply chain line of sight continues to match planned outputs for both factories (no constraints)
- Long term contracts already in place for key battery materials and so there are no concerns about future constraints
- Tesla does not plan to manufacture their own chips however they continue to work with suppliers to ensure future product goals are achieved
- Chip shortage forced Teslas to delete redundant chips and update software accordingly (big positive in hindsight)

Cybertruck
- Deliveries to begin by the middle of 2023
Vehicle Demand
- Vehicle demand not an issue for Tesla for the foreseeable future
- No sizable macro impact on demand
- Difference between value in money and affordability and why you can’t just keep increasing prices
- Elon feels that they have raised prices to “frankly embarrassing levels”
  - Supply chain and inflation are main culprits for price increases
  - Elon is hopeful Tesla can reduce prices soon
- Elon thinks its achievable to produce 40,000 vehicles per week by end of 2022
  - Teslas has already produced 30,000 vehicles per week many times, 40,000 vehicles per week is definitely in reach
  - Plan is to get Giga Berlin & Texas to ramp to 5,000 vehicles per week by end of 2022 and 10,000 vehicles per week by end of 2023
- Elon reaffirms that Tesla does not have a demand problem but instead a production problem

Elon’s Role At Tesla
- If there is only good news Elon won’t plan to join the future earnings calls
- Elon is committed to working at Tesla as long as he can continue to help advance the company
AI
- Elon didn’t want to steal thunder from AI day so he will save the news / updates regarding Dojo & Optimus for then

You can follow Dan Burkland on Twitter at @DBurkland.

Tesla Adds India Map Region, To Open Showroom on July 15th; New European Map Update

July 11, 2025

By Karan Singh

@greentheonly on X

Tesla has begun rolling out some map updates, including a brand new geographic area. These updates include two regional map updates, with one confirming Tesla’s entry into India and the other improving the maps in Europe.

Indian Launch

The biggest addition is a new map region for India, which was discovered by Tesla hacker Greentheonly. This move, while seemingly minor, is a prerequisite for Tesla launching vehicles in the region.

For years, discussions about Tesla’s arrival in India have focused on manufacturing plans, import duties, and retail store plans. However, the vehicles themselves must all be technically ready for the region.

This is more than just data entry; it involves integrating local points of interest, Tesla’s internal routing logic, and displaying regional road information correctly. In past market entries, Tesla has activated the necessary navigation regions in its software shortly before officially launching in a country, and just this morning, news broke that Tesla will open its first showroom in India.

On July 15th, Tesla will open its first showroom in Mumbai, marking its entry into the Indian market.

For those who have imported Tesla vehicles in advance of the official market entry, this means they will finally receive official maps and navigation support, and will likely begin receiving official software updates in the near future.

European Maps Update

In addition to the India map update, Tesla has also starting roll out a map update for Europe. The new map update for Europe is version EU-2025.14, bringing users up from EU-2025.2.

You’ll need to connect to WiFi in order to download map updates and similar to software updats, Tesla will roll them out gradually. If you want to learn more about map updates, be sure to check out our Tesla maps and navigaiton guide.

This map update will likely be fairly minor, but it should include newer roads, speed limits and more details. It could also include additional information that’s required for launching FSD in Europe.

While map updates aren’t as exciting as FSD updates or major software updates like the upcoming Grok AI update, they’re especially useful for Tesla owners who travel on new roads that may not be in Tesla’s current map version.

Tesla’s 2025 Shareholder Meeting Set for November 6th: What to Expect

July 11, 2025

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Tesla has officially scheduled its 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting for Thursday, November 6, 2025. The date was confirmed in an 8-K form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission this week. Shareholders can expect to begin receiving official notifications by email or letter this week.

While we don’t know what, if anything, is up for vote this year, shareholders should ensure their investment accounts are linked up at ir.tesla.com if they plan to vote on upcoming proposals.

While these meetings cover standard corporate governance, they’ve also become a key venue for Tesla to share updates on its future projects.

Let’s take a look back at Tesla’s 2024 shareholder meeting to see what we can expect for 2025.

A Look Back: Shareholder Meeting 2024

The 2024 Shareholder Meeting was packed with news and updates. Some of the highlights included details on Cybercab, the first mentions of AI5, and the move of Tesla’s incorporation to Texas following the re-ratification of Elon’s 2018 compensation plan.

That’s a lot that happened in just one meeting - and you can read our full recap here.

Topics for 2025

The 2025 meeting may provide progress updates on several key items.

First up is the final status of Elon Musk’s pay package. While it was successfully re-ratified following the 2024 Meeting, the Court of Delaware ruled against it, creating a legal situation that resulted in Tesla amending its letter of incorporation and moving to Texas.

While the messy legal situation hasn’t been completely sorted out yet, there’s a chance we could see more on this at the 2025 Meeting.

Next up is a status update on the Robotaxi Network pilot, as well as progress for Tesla’s Cybercab program. We’ve seen early prototype castings for the Cybercab outside Giga Texas, and they recently provided an updated timeline in their 2024 Impact Report. This is going to be the next big step for Tesla’s growth as it starts its Robotaxi service business.

The Tesla Semi and Tesla Energy are also two massive programs undergoing upgrades and revamps. The volume production of Semi is supposed to begin by the end of 2025, and Tesla is constantly working on expanding Tesla Energy’s manufacturing footprint to meet the never-ending demand for Megapack and Powerwall. We’re anticipating some major updates here, along with some updates on Tesla’s next-generation battery tech, including the Gen 3 Cybercell that includes dry-cathode manufacturing.

There’s a lot to be excited about - and November 6th is the day we may find out a lot about Tesla’s future products. The meeting will be a big event that we’ll cover in detail, so don’t worry, even if you miss it. We’ll have a full set of recap notes and longer in-depth articles following the event, as usual.