News
Tesla/SolarCity solar roof will open up a whole new market, SolarCity CEO expects big 2017
Ahead of the upcoming Tesla/SolarCity event to be held in the San Francisco on October 28, SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive tells Business Insider that the company expects 2017 to be a big year for solar because of the new solar roof product. The product as first mentioned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk during SolarCity’s Q2 earnings call, would likely be a solar component used during actual construction of a building versus being applied after the fact as in traditional solar panel roofing projects.
“It’s a solar roof as opposed to a module on a roof. I think this is really a fundamental part of achieving a differentiated product strategy – it’s not a beautiful roof that it is a solar roof. It’s not a thing on a roof. It is the roof. That’s – which is quite a difficult engineering challenge, and not something that is available really anywhere else that is at all good. I think this will be something that’s quite a standout. So one of the things I’m really very excited about the future.”, said Musk.
Aiming for Oct 28 unveil in SF Bay Area of new Tesla/SolarCity solar roof with integrated Powerwall 2.0 battery and Tesla charger.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 22, 2016
SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive said after Sunday’s tweet that the solar roof unveiling when combined with the growing demand for solar will make 2017 a big year for SolarCity. “We should definitely increase forecasts for 2017,” he said. “I think there will be high demand for solar combined with storage. Our solar roofing offering opens up a whole new market we haven’t addressed before.”
Rive went on to say the solar roof will give SolarCity a long-term advantage, according to Business Insider. “I believe that next year, what is going to separate solar companies from one another is going to be their product. If the consumer can’t necessarily tell the difference between solar company A and B’s service because they claim to both have the best service, then you have to have product differentiation.”
The plan for Tesla Motors to buy SolarCity is still waiting for final approval. According to The Motley Fool, the basis behind Musk’s tweet citing Tesla would not have to raise more capital this quarter is because SolarCity actually has a substantial amount of cash on hand. Once the merger is finalized, some of the cash could help Tesla Motors pay for capital expenses.
Behind the scenes, SolarCity has started selling its solar systems rather than its earlier business model where solar systems were leased to consumers. That means it gets paid as soon as the loan is finalized, which frees up funds that previously were used to purchase products and pay installers, but got reimbursed over the life of the lease.
Hoium of The Motley Fool cautions that SolarCity will always need to raise more capital as its business expands and that it won’t be able to be a resource for Tesla long term. But if 2017 is as strong a year for solar as predicted, and if demand for the new solar roof is robust, SolarCity could definitely help Tesla through any liquidity crisis.
Hoium ends by saying, “Musk may not think Tesla Motors or SolarCity will need to raise funds if they’re combined in 2016, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is still a risky deal and could implode if financial partners don’t have wallets open to fund solar systems in the long term.”
There’s a lot riding on the solar roof reveal later this month. It won’t be quite as dramatic as the Model 3 coming out party, but it is hugely important for Tesla and SolarCity to get this right.
News
Tesla’s new Safety Report shows Autopilot is nine times safer than humans
Tesla released its Vehicle Safety Report for Q3 2025, and it showed that one crash was recorded every 6.36 million miles drive in which drivers were using Autopilot technology.
Tesla’s new Safety Report for Q3 shows Autopilot technology contributed to accident frequency that was nine times lower than the national average.
Tesla released its Vehicle Safety Report for Q3 2025, and it showed that one crash was recorded every 6.36 million miles drive in which drivers were using Autopilot technology.
This is a stark contrast from the most recent data made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which shows there is an automobile crash approximately every 702,000 miles.
Autopilot & FSD Supervised safety data
In Q3 2025, we recorded 1 crash for every 6.36 million miles driven in which drivers were using Autopilot technology
By comparison, the most recent data available from NHTSA & FHWA (from 2023) shows that in the United States there was an… pic.twitter.com/8isNe7X4vg
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 22, 2025
The figure for Q3 2025 is slightly lower than the one that Tesla released in Q3 2024, which eclipsed 7 million miles between accidents for drivers using Autopilot technology.
Over the past seven quarters, Q1 has been Tesla’s strongest showing with the Vehicle Safety Report, with Q4 being the weakest. This is usually attributed to weather and driving conditions deteriorating toward the end of the year.
Q1 2024 was Tesla’s best performance so far, with one crash every 7.63 million miles.
Autopilot and Full Self-Driving have been a major focus of Tesla over the past few years, and recent versions have improved on what has already proven to be an extremely safe way to travel, as long as it is used correctly.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite is a suitable way to allow the vehicle to navigate through any traffic setting and has been widely effective for day-to-day travel. With the data Tesla gets from its use across its vehicle fleet, it gets more refined and more accurate with every passing mile.
The company has teased the potential for completely unsupervised Full Self-Driving releases in the future, but Tesla has to solve autonomy before it can offer anything like that to the public.
News
Tesla looks to enter a new continent, new job posting shows
Tesla is present on five of the seven continents: North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. In South America, Tesla currently operates only in one country, Chile, but is looking to expand to more areas.
Tesla is looking to enter Africa for the first time, launching operations on a new continent and expanding its vehicle business operations.
Tesla is present on five of the seven continents: North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. In South America, Tesla currently operates only in one country, Chile, but is looking to expand to more areas.
Although the company has not launched anything in Africa, a new job posting indicates that Tesla is looking to launch there for the first time.
According to a new posting on Tesla’s Careers website, it is looking for a full-time Country Sales & Delivery Leader in Casablanca, Morocco:
“The Country Sales & Delivery Leader is responsible for driving the sales and delivery strategy and daily operations across the country. They will hire and develop the best people leaders and ensure the development of the highest performing teams. The Field Sales & Delivery Leader will take accountability for achieving ambitious sales and delivery targets and ensure the business performs on key success criteria, including but not excluded to market growth, customer satisfaction, operational excellence, and employee deployment and retention. In addition to driving business performance across sales & delivery, the Field Sales & Delivery is expected to act as an ambassador for Tesla in the market, as well as provide critical perspective and guidance on decisions impacting outcomes within their market to increase Tesla’s market share.”
NEWS: Tesla is officially launching in Africa.
The company has a new job listing for a full-time Country Sales & Delivery Leader in Casablanca, Morocco.
“The Country Sales & Delivery Leader is responsible for driving the sales and delivery strategy and daily operations across… pic.twitter.com/mm6pgBAu5s
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 22, 2025
Back in July, Tesla officially registered its presence in the Moroccan market with the $2.75 million initial capital investment, according to The Habari Network.
The move marked a formal attempt at market entry for the EV maker, and it could signal even more opportunities through its other business operations, like energy.
Morocco is looked at as one of the countries in Africa that is most prone to transition toward EVs, as its government has focused on renewable energy and strategic investments in transportation.
It also has local production advantages, as Renault operates a plant in Morocco.
Investor's Corner
Tesla investors want answers to these five questions during Q3 Earnings
These are the top five questions that have been asked and voted for by investors of the company, and what we think about them.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is preparing to report its earnings for the third quarter of 2025 this afternoon. Investors are looking for answers regarding the Robotaxi launch, energy division, potential future vehicle releases, Optimus, and demand stimulation without the tax credit.
Using the investor platform Say, Tesla allows investors to ask questions for the earnings call.
These are the top five questions that have been asked and voted for by investors of the company, and what we think about them:
- What are the latest Robotaxi metrics (fleet size, cumulative miles, rides completed, intervention rates), and when will safety drivers be removed? What are the obstacles still preventing unsupervised FSD from being deployed to customer vehicles?
- What we think: Tesla should release some metrics about Robotaxi operation, but it has been cryptic about fleet size and other statistics in the past. Additionally, CEO Elon Musk said Safety Drivers should be removed ‘by the end of the year,’ and we imagine this will be reiterated during the call. Regarding Unsupervised FSD, Tesla has stated that safety is its priority moving forward with the FSD rollout and Robotaxi as well.
- What is demand/backlog for Megapack, Powerwall, Solar, or energy storage systems? With the current AI boom, is Tesla planning to supply power to other hyperscalers?
- What we think: This is perhaps the only question of the five that Tesla will be totally forthcoming with, as it usually does not reveal vehicle plans or data on these earnings calls. However, it will be interesting to see if the company has any plans to supplement the increasing AI plans with its energy products. Energy falls under the radar with a lot of its achievements, so it really could be a major focus of this call if this question gets answered.
- What are the plans for new car models? Will Tesla build compact car models leveraging the unboxed Cybercab platform? Will Tesla build a traditional SUV and pickup truck on the Cybertruck platform?
- What we think: Tesla does not unveil or release plans about projects on earnings calls, so we doubt there will be much color here from executives. Considering Tesla has put so much weight on autonomy in the U.S., we’re not necessarily convinced it will plan to do much more than Cybercab, and SUV and pickup trucks will likely be built on a different platform as well, if they’re offered at all. Musk isn’t sure about bringing the Model Y L to the U.S. market due to the “advent of self-driving.”
- What are the present challenges in bringing Optimus to market, considering app control software, engineering hardware, training general mobility models, training task-specific models, training voice models, implementing manufacturing, and establishing supply chains?
- What we think: This will likely be where Tesla teases the capabilities of Optimus Gen 3, and comes up with some sort of rough date where it could show off the new design. Tesla has been using Optimus in its factories and other internal operations, so it’s likely we’ll hear some stories about that as well. Tesla is looking to refine the Optimus design so it is useful and capable in residential applications, and its hands are likely the biggest bottleneck as they are arguably the most crucial part of the product.
- Can you talk about demand stimulation avenues beyond affordability? Given the state of global politics, can Tesla’s brand elevate above the divisiveness and return global perception back to our inspirational roots of ludicrous performance, environmental good, and superior safety?
- What we think: Tesla is going to flex its new Standard offerings now, and the company has been transparent that Musk’s political involvement will wind down in a timely manner, according to the proxy it released when it revealed his pay package.
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