The all-in view of Tesla Inc. was summed up in a line from a report this summer by one of the more all-in analysts covering the company: “The car is to Tesla what the video game chip is to Nvidia. The car is to Tesla what selling books is to Amazon.” Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas was arguing that Tesla is morphing from a maker of electric vehicles to an artificial intelligence and robotics powerhouse. On this reading, a Tesla isn’t just a box-on-wheels with a battery but an AI-delivery vehicle. Chief Executive Elon Musk also touts this thesis, declaring with typical bravado: “If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy, I think they should not be an investor in the company.”

An asterisk on that statement might be in order. This weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence side gig to his social media side gig, X, has floated the possibility of licensing its models to aid Tesla’s autonomous driving ambitions in exchange for a revenue-sharing deal. Musk dismissed the story over the course of several tweets, including calling it “nonsense.”

On the other hand, only five months ago, Musk accused Reuters of “lying” when it reported that Tesla had scrapped plans for a sub-$30,000 EV model, only for the company to soon after announce a pivot from a very cheap EV toward robotaxis. Plus, Musk has already polled that body of impartial sages known as his followers as to whether Tesla should invest $5 billion in xAI (the majority answered in the affirmative).

That flapping sound you hear is the wind blowing through a resplendence of red flags.

Musk has a habit of treating his various separate companies as parts of a unified whole. The most egregious example was Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity Corp. in 2016, whereby the EV company bought a spiraling rooftop solar business that was chaired by Musk, owed him (and Space X) money and was run by his cousin. Even Jonas later characterized that deal as a “controlled detonation.” When Musk first bought Twitter Inc., which became X, he brought in engineers from Tesla to review its code. A few months ago, he redirected thousands of Nvidia Corp. chips destined for Tesla to xAI, explaining it away as a logistical hiccup.

If Tesla were to now actually invest billions in xAI, and/or share revenue with it, the potential conflict of interest could hardly be clearer. X has struggled as a business since Musk’s takeover, with advertising revenue under pressure and Fidelity, one of the co-investors, marking down the value of its stake enormously. Musk has indicated that the shareholders of X would own 25% of xAI, though it isn’t clear if that would be individually or collectively through X itself. Either way, any infusion of cash or revenue potential from Tesla would be useful not only to xAI but to the broader X project.

Such a deal would also make a mockery of Tesla’s justification for awarding a gigantic options package to Musk and then pushing for its reinstatement after a Delaware court struck it down. Chairwoman Robyn Denholm exhorted shareholders to vote yes by arguing, in part, that it would keep Musk’s roving eye focused on Tesla: “We want those ideas, that energy and that time to be at Tesla, for the benefit of you, our owners,” she wrote. This followed Musk’s unsubtle threat to take his AI vision elsewhere if he didn’t get a bigger stake in Tesla (after he had sold off a chunk during the takeover of Twitter).

If Tesla were to end up investing in, or contracting with, another Musk-controlled venture that literally has AI in its name, that rather suggests at least some of his AI ideas went elsewhere, options or no. Beyond the conflicts and governance-trolling, though, there’s a more fundamental problem here.

Jonas, like similarly bullish analysts, ascribes only a fraction of his Tesla valuation to the making and selling of EVs, even though this accounts for the vast majority of the company’s revenue and profit. The only way to remotely justify the almost $700 billion market cap is to believe that Tesla isn’t a mere automaker but instead an AI pioneer.

Yet if that is the case, if Tesla is going to “solve autonomy,” why would it consider outsourcing core AI functions or feel the need to invest billions of dollars into a startup launched only last year? Automakers do partner with other companies for certain technologies. But Musk has been saying for years that Tesla is already on the cusp of cracking vehicle autonomy under its own steam. Putting money, or revenue, into xAI undercuts that narrative and would divert some of the promised value away from Tesla’s shareholders to Musk’s own ventures.

Perhaps these are mere proposals and polls that stay just that. Still, there was another line in that Jonas report that sticks, telling investors to prepare for the company’s new strategy “to more conspicuously connect Tesla with Elon’s other controlled enterprises such as SpaceX/Starlink, X and xAI.” Autonomy is, after all, about just doing what you want.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Elon Musk denied a report that his artificial intelligence startup xAI has held talks for a share in future Tesla revenue in return for giving Musk’s electric vehicle maker access to xAI’s technology and resources.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Tesla would license xAI’s artificial-intelligence models to help power its driver-assistance software, full self-driving technology and share some of that revenue with the startup, according to the proposed arrangement as described to investors.

“Tesla has learned a lot from discussions with engineers at xAI that have helped accelerate achieving unsupervised FSD, but there is no need to license anything from xAI,” Musk posted late on Saturday on his social media platform X, adding that the report is “not accurate.”

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter whom it did not identify, said xAI would support the development of other features for Tesla, including a voice assistant in its electric cars and software to power its humanoid robot Optimus.

The terms of any revenue-sharing agreement between xAI and Tesla would depend in part upon how extensively Tesla relied on xAI’s technology as opposed to its own, the report said, adding that xAI executives have discussed an even revenue split from Tesla’s FSD.

xAI could not be reached for a comment.

Musk launched xAI last year to compete with Microsoft-backed OpenAI. It sparked concerns that he might allocate some resources of the automaker to the AI company.

He has said xAI would be “helpful in advancing full self-driving and in building up the new Tesla data center,” adding that there were opportunities to integrate xAI’s chatbot, Grok, with Tesla’s software.

In July, the billionaire CEO said he and the Tesla board would discuss a $5 billion investment in xAI.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, in an interview with American conservative commentator Jordan Peterson, alleged that his estranged transgender daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, was “killed” by what he termed the “woke mind virus” after being persuaded into agreeing to gender-affirming care procedures. 

During the interview, Mr Musk referred to gender-reassignment surgery as “child mutilation and sterilisation”. The world’s richest man claimed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, he was convinced to sign documents for one of his children.

“I was essentially tricked into signing documents for one of my older boys,” Mr Musk stated. “This was really before I had any understanding of what was going on, and we had Covid going on, so there was a lot of confusion and I was told [my child] might commit suicide.”

JUST IN: Elon Musk says his son is “dead” thanks to the woke mind virus after he was put on puberty blockers, says he vowed to “destroy the woke mind virus after that.”

“I was essentially tricked into signing documents for one of my older boys… This was before I had… pic.twitter.com/wfWztIziTs

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 22, 2024

Mr Musk, who is also the owner of X (formerly Twitter), accused those involved in promoting gender-affirming care of targeting children “who are far below the age of consent.”

“I was tricked into doing this,” Mr Musk claimed. “I lost my son, essentially. They call it ‘deadnaming’ for a reason. The reason they call it ‘deadnaming’ is because your son is dead.”

The experience, Mr Musk claims, has set him on a mission to combat what he describes as the “woke mind virus.” He said, “I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that. And we’re making some progress.”

Vivian Jenna Wilson, Mr Musk’s 20-year-old daughter, legally changed her name and gender at the age of 18. This legal transition occurred on June 22 in 2022 at a court in California.

“I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape, or form,” Ms Wilson had said back then. Ms Wilson’s mother, Justine Wilson, a Canadian author, divorced Mr Musk in 2008. 

Tesla shareholders this week voted in favor of a huge compensation package for CEO Elon Musk indicating that the billionaire will continue to lead the electric vehicle-maker. 

Based on preliminary vote results, investors backed a plan of up to $56 billion for Musk, corporate secretary Brandon Ehrhart said at Tesla’s annual meeting in Austin, Texas on Thursday. The proposal was passed despite opposition from some large institutional investors and proxy firms.

A judge had nullified the package earlier this year, but the latest vote by Tesla’s shareholders overturned that decision.

In a video posted on Musk-owned X, the 52-year-old billionaire was seen dancing following the announcement of the pay package.

The short clip shows him entering a stage, visibly excited, pumping his fists in the air and performing a few jumps and a dance while the crowd cheered and chanted his name. 

“Elon Musk dance is [fire]. Tesla shareholders have spoken,” the user who shared the video on X wrote.

Elon Musk dance is ????. Tesla shareholders have spoken. pic.twitter.com/GiLWOtt8ZI

— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) June 13, 2024

A user commented on the post, “God bless him! He is such a good human! He deserved his money, he earned it!!!”

God bless him! He is such a good human! He deserved his money, he earned it!!!

— Beansmom4ever (@beansmom4ever) June 13, 2024

There were a few comments that connected Tesla’s new move with Twitter. 

Elon’s happy he got a bit of cash to keep paying for Twitter ????

— Adnan Belushi (@adnanbelushi) June 13, 2024

“Elon’s got the moves like Jagger. Tesla shareholders know he’s the real deal,” read a comment. 

Elon’s got the moves like Jagger. Tesla shareholders know he’s the real deal. ????

— Crypto Empire | AMA + Spaces (@Empire8x) June 13, 2024

Many social media users called it the “billion-dollar dance.”

That’s called the 56 billion dollar dance.

— Chris (@flyrogo) June 13, 2024

The compensation plan, originally approved by Tesla’s board and shareholders six years ago, aims to reward Elon Musk based on the company’s performance metrics. 

The board of the world’s largest electric vehicle maker had argued at the time that his leadership was necessary in achieving ambitious targets and that the package would maintain his dedication to Tesla.

Shareholders also approved Tesla’s relocation from Delaware to Texas, aligning with the company’s operational base. 

Despite the favourable shareholder vote, the legal battle over Elon Musk’s compensation is far from over. The package is still tied up in the Delaware Chancery Court and Supreme Court as Tesla seeks to overturn the initial rejection.

Legal experts believe the outcome will hinge on whether Tesla adequately informed shareholders about the details of the package.

File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. electric carmaker Tesla is looking at potential showroom locations in New Delhi and Mumbai ahead of plans to begin sales in India later this year, two people familiar with the discussions said.

Tesla, which saw its global vehicle deliveries decline in the first quarter for the first time in nearly four years, is stepping up efforts to expand into new markets.

It wants to begin with a showroom of 3,000 to 5,000 square feet (280-465 square metres) as well as a service hub in each city, said one of the people familiar with the plans.

The automaker has begun production of right-hand drive cars at its plant in Germany for export to India, separate sources have said.

India last month cut electric vehicle import taxes to 15% from as much as 100% for automakers that invest at least $500 million and set up a factory.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is expected to make an investment announcement and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a two-day visit to India from Sunday. Mr. Musk and Mr. Modi last met in New York in June.

Tesla executives started looking at locations last month and have held talks with several real estate developers as they look at potential high street and mall sites, one of the sources said. The person added that the company is keen to begin construction soon so that the showrooms can open in 2024.

The sources declined to be identified as discussions were confidential. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tesla is grappling with slower growth for electric vehicles in both its main markets of the United States and China. Reuters reported this month that Tesla has cancelled a long-promised inexpensive car that investors have been counting on to drive mass market growth.

Demand for electric cars in India – the world’s third-largest auto market – is expected to rapidly climb. EVs made up just 2% of India’s total car sales in 2023, but the government has said it wants 30% of all new car sales to be electric from 2030.

Tesla on Tuesday was cleared by a court in the 2019 fatal Model 3 crash that took place in Los Angeles, US, involving its advanced driver-assistance system, Autopilot. The case was filed by two passengers who accused the company of knowing Autopilot was defective when it sold the car. Tesla, on the other hand, argued that human error caused the crash. The court too found that the vehicle did not have a manufacturing defect. Now, Tesla chief Elon Musk also reacted to the news and expressed his belief that if Autopilot had been activated, the driver would likely have been saved.

“The irony is that if Autopilot had been turned on here, it would almost certainly have saved the driver,” Mr Musk wrote in on X (formerly Twitter). 

The irony is that if Autopilot had been turned on here, it would almost certainly have saved the driver

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2023

Micah Lee was killed in 2019 after their Model 3 veered off a highway, hit a tree, and caught fire. While Mr Lee was killed in the incident, his two passengers were injured. The two passengers then approached the court alleging that Autopilot caused the accident and demanded over $400 million in punitive damages. This trial was the first in the United States that alleged that Tesla’s autopilot feature led to death. 

Tesla, however, denied liability alleging that Mr Lee had consumed alcohol and that it was unclear if Autopilot was engaged during the crash. The Jury in Riverside County Superior Court also voted in favour of Mr Musk’s company, saying that the vehicle did not have a manufacturing defect. 

Also Read | Ola EV Sales Up By 30%, CEO Says Staff ”Working More Than 70 Hours” To Meet Demand

This is a major victory for Tesla as it faces several other similar lawsuits across the country. But the automaker continues to test and roll out its Autopilot and more advanced Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, which Mr Musk has touted as crucial to his company’s future. 

Notably, the latest verdict represents Tesla’s second big win this year. The automaker won an earlier trial in Los Angeles in April with a strategy of saying that it tells drivers that its technology requires human monitoring, despite the “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” names. The case was about an accident where a Model S swerved into the curb and injured its driver. 

Wang Chuanfu, the founder of Chinese automaker BYD, has become a big name in the automobile industry. BYD is quickly gaining on Elon Musk’s Tesla in the electric vehicle (EV) space to be the number 1. But now, a report in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has said that Mr Wang drank a glass full of battery fluid to impress a member of investor Warren Buffet’s team, who had reached Shenzhen to check if the company is worth investing in.

BYD – short for ‘Build Your Dreams’ – first launched as a battery maker in the 1995 but in 2003, pivoted from being the world’s largest manufacturer of rechargeable mobile phone batteries to the automotive sector.

The company is now on track to beat Tesla in terms of vehicle sales, as per Financial Times (FT). In July, Forbes even reported that BYD’s stock jumped 90 per cent despite the ongoing Covid-19 cases in the country as he raked in US $7 billion. His personal wealth is valued at over US $25 billion, which makes him currently the 22nd richest person in China, per FT.

In the automobile business, he replicated the way he made batteries to keep costs down. Mr Wang’s business model attracted the attention of Mr Buffet and in 2008, he sent one of his aides David Sokol to Shenzhen to check out BYD.

Mr Wang saw an opportunity to expand to other markets, like the US, and took the visitor through his factories.

At one point during the tour, while trying to impress Mr Sokol about how BYD’s batteries were safe for environment, poured himself a glass of battery fluid and took a sip, the WSJ said in its report.

The mixture did not taste good and the US businessman declined the offer to try it.

In September that year, Mr Buffet-owned Berkshire Hathaway bought a 10 per cent stake in BYD for $232 million via its energy unit.

Mr Wang, born in 1966 in Anhui province, was raised by older siblings after both his parents died.

The lawsuit accuses Tesla of repeatedly making false statements. (File)
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

In a victory for Tesla, a judge has ruled that a group of vehicle owners must pursue claims that the company misled about its Autopilot features in individual arbitration rather than court.

The ruling means Tesla will not have to face class action claims on behalf of much larger groups of vehicle owners.

US District Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland, California, in a decision issued on Saturday said four Tesla owners who filed a proposed class action last year had agreed to arbitrate any legal claims against the company when they accepted its terms and conditions while purchasing vehicles through a Tesla website.

A fifth plaintiff who did not sign an arbitration agreement waited too long to sue, Gilliam ruled in dismissing that plaintiffs’ claims.

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Tesla did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

Andrew Kirtley, a lawyer for some of the plaintiffs, said he was prepared to file thousands of individual arbitration cases on behalf of Tesla customers.

“It is telling that Tesla doesn’t want to defend its marketing practices in public in open court but instead has fought to get as many of these claims as possible sent to private arbitration,” Kirtley said in an email.

The lawsuit accuses Tesla of repeatedly making false statements indicating that its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) technology was on the verge of delivering fully self-driving vehicles.

The plaintiffs all said that they paid thousands of dollars to purchase the optional ADAS technology when they bought Tesla cars between 2017 and 2022.

But instead of delivering on its promises, Tesla’s technology has been unreliable and has led to accidents, injuries and deaths, the plaintiffs claimed.

Tesla has denied wrongdoing. The company moved to send the claims to arbitration, citing the plaintiffs’ acceptance of the arbitration agreement.

Gilliam on Saturday rejected claims by the plaintiffs that the agreements signed by four of the plaintiffs were unenforceable.

The decision came in the midst of the first U.S. trial over allegations that Tesla’s Autopilot feature led to a death because it was based on untested experimental technology that should not have been sold to the public.

The plaintiffs in that trial in California state court allege the Autopilot system caused a Model 3 to veer off a highway near Los Angeles at 65 mph (105 kph), strike a palm tree and burst into flames, killing the owner and injuring two passengers.

Tesla has said the accident was the result of driver error.

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Deepa Babington)

BMW AG presented the first prototype of its future electric-vehicle lineup, ringing in a new stage in the fight to catch up to Tesla Inc. and defend sales in its most important market China.

The Vision Neue Klasse concept car, on display at next week’s IAA show in Munich, shows off BMW’s dedicated EV underpinnings due in 2025 – around the time Mercedes-Benz Group AG is introducing its new battery-powered models. Software issues have delayed similar architectures from Volkswagen AG, pushing back key Porsche and Audi vehicles.

With the sleek coupe, BMW is veering away from a decades-old tradition of advertising mainly the performance of its ‘ultimate driving machines.’ Instead, it’s touting a digital display projected onto the entire width of the windscreen as well as software that can process voice commands and hand gestures. The move is a nod to customers in China, who are increasingly going for homegrown brands such as BYD Co. and Nio Inc. that have been better at building EVs with gadgets geared to local tastes.

The Neue Klasse “sets our course for the next decades,” Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse said.

BMW, Mercedes and Audi long dominated sales of premium combustion-engine cars in China, but have been caught on the back foot by the country’s rapid shift to electric vehicles.

BYD this year dethroned VW as China’s top-selling automaker, and Mercedes slashed prices for its flagship electric sedan there late last year after disappointing sales. Electric cars and plug-in hybrids are expected to make up 90% of the world’s biggest auto market around the end of this decade, adding urgency for Western premium brands to accelerate their offerings. A price war in China started by Tesla has also upped the pressure.

BMW is growing in China, especially on electric cars, and the carmaker isn’t affected by the price war because of its positioning in the premium segment, Zipse told reporters on Saturday in Munich. The Neue Klasse, he added, will be even more profitable than the company’s current lineup of battery-powered cars.

BMW’s top-end Neue Klasse models will have a range of as much as 800 kilometers (497 miles) and charge from 10% to 80% in under half an hour, numbers that likely won’t make them best in class. Last year, an electric prototype from Mercedes drove more than 1,000 kilometers on a single charge.

But BMW still ranks second in China when it comes to tech features in its cars, according to a recent consumer survey by consultancy AlixPartners. BMW came in behind Geely’s Zeekr but ahead of Xpeng, Tesla and VW.

Despite the new focus on digital features, BMW won’t entirely throw its brand traditions overboard. While most EVs these days offer swift acceleration, the Neue Klasse will be more fun to drive at higher speeds than many competitors, according to Zipse.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The number of electric vehicles in India has surged from just 2,400 a decade ago to over 27.4 lakh as of July 2023. File.
| Photo Credit: Ashoke Chakrabarty

The number of electric vehicles in India has surged from just 2,400 a decade ago to over 27.4 lakh as of July 2023. However, given the concurrent rise in the number of non-electric vehicles, the overall share of electric vehicles has still not crossed the 1% mark. Notably, there is also a wide inter-State disparity in the penetration of electric vehicles.

There has also been a dramatic shift in the class of electric vehicles over time. In the initial years, between FY2015 and FY2020, when the number of electric vehicles was growing at a relatively slow pace, the share of e-rickshaws in the mix was much higher than the share of electric bikes. However, in the last four fiscal years, as the absolute number of electric vehicles has increased at a quicker pace, the share of electric bikes has surged and surpassed the share of e-rickshaws.

Chart 1 | The chart shows the cumulative number of electric vehicles in India over time.

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As of July 14, 2023, India had 0.27 crore electric vehicles, 5 crore diesel vehicles, and 28 crore petrol vehicles. The share of electric vehicles was just 0.79%, with petrol vehicles forming over 80% and diesel motors contributing about 14.5%. The share of petrol/CNG hybrid (1.4%) was also higher than the share of electric vehicles, while with a 0.6% share, the petrol/LPG variant came close.

Chart 2 | The chart shows electric vehicles as a share of all vehicles registered in a State as of July 14, 2023.

Assam ranked first with a share of 2.2% electric vehicles, followed by Tripura (about 2%). Delhi, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Goa had a share of over 1%. Among the major States, Himachal Pradesh had the lowest share with 0.11%, followed by Punjab (0.26%), Andhra Pradesh (0.40%), West Bengal (0.44%), and Madhya Pradesh (0.47%).

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Chart 3 | The chart shows the share of various types of electric vehicles over time.

In FY16, the share of e-rickshaws in total electric vehicles was 92% with other types such as two-wheelers, three-wheelers (other than e-rickshaws), and four-wheelers forming the rest of the 8%. Notably, an overwhelming number of e-rickshaws were used to carry passengers, while a few had carts for carrying goods or garbage.

Till FY20, there was no dramatic change in the share with e-rickshaws dominating with a market share of 82%. But the share of two-wheelers had started to rise by then. After FY20, the share of two-wheelers saw a drastic rise and peaked at about 60% in FY23, while the share of e-rickshaws came down to 32%. The latest financial year saw a small drop in the share of two-wheelers with the share of electric four-wheelers expanding beyond 5% for the first time. The share of electric three-wheelers other than e-rickshaws has remained below 5%.

Chart 4 | The chart shows the State-wise number of electric vehicles which are not e-rickshaws on the vertical axis.

The share of non-e-rickshaws among all electric vehicles is depicted on the horizontal axis. The size of the bubbles corresponds to the total number of electric vehicles. All figures are as of July 14, 2023.

The shift in the mix of electric vehicles in India from e-rickshaws to two-wheelers was led by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala, and Rajasthan. These States have a relatively high number of electric vehicles. The majority of these are not e-rickshaws, but two-wheelers.

On the other hand, in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam, e-rickshaws continue to dominate the share of electric vehicles. Therefore, these States do not contribute much to the shift.

vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in

Source: Vahan Sewa Dashboard, Centre for Energy Finance’s Electric Mobility Dashboard

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