CURRENT NEWS
Tesla · Markets
Tesla tops Q3 delivery estimates; shares jump 5%
486,532 vehicles delivered and 464,391 produced — down 2% from a year earlier, but above Wall Street’s ~461k consensus and up from Q2.
Tesla reported third-quarter deliveries that beat StreetAccount and the company’s own compiled consensus. Model 3 and Model Y made up about 98% of deliveries. The stock rose roughly 5% on Friday after the print.
Year-over-year deliveries still slipped from 497,099 in Q3 2025 — Tesla’s best-ever quarter, inflated by a rush ahead of the expired U.S. EV tax credit. U.S. sales remained soft; Europe and China-linked exports helped offset.
“Rising fuel costs related to the Iran conflict and regulatory pressure could accelerate EV demand” in Europe. — RBC analysts, via CNBC
Energy storage deployments hit 13.7 GWh (Megapack / Megablock), up from 12.5 GWh a year ago. Tesla will report full Q3 earnings on Oct. 21 after the market close. Analysts at Morgan Stanley said the company may be “exiting the EV winter.”
Sources: CNBC · TechCrunch
Also today
Tesla · Robotaxi
Cybercab’s rocky first month in Austin — now the hard part: expand
One month after the Sept. 3 Austin launch, Texas has authorized 169 Cybercabs for commercial use (up from 45 at debut), plus a broader Robotaxi fleet that includes 420 Model Ys. Paying riders report mixed experiences: wait times that once topped 45 minutes, wrong pickups/drop-offs, and butterfly-door or trunk glitches. No significant collisions have been reported.
“There was so much demand that wait times were often like 45 minutes plus.” — Ethan McKanna, RobotaxiTracker.com, via CNBC
NHTSA opened an audit query after launch; Tesla won an extension past the original Sept. 30 reply deadline. Waymo still dwarfs Tesla on authorized Texas vehicles and weekly paid rides. Next stops on Musk’s map: more Texas cities, then Nevada and Florida — while California robotaxi permits remain elusive.
Washington · Defense
Meridian triggers conflict alarms inside the Pentagon
A day after Hegseth named Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich to Project Meridian, POLITICO reported Pentagon officials warning that two of DoD’s biggest contractors helping map “future warfare” could warp what the department buys. Meridian’s 120-day findings are still due by Jan. 28, 2027.
Personal · X
Shivon Zilis says Musk ended their relationship “with no warning”
In a Friday X post, Neuralink’s Shivon Zilis said the split came abruptly about a week after Sept. 24 “love you” texts she later shared. They have four children together; she said she hopes they can remain friends and co-parents. Musk had not commented publicly.
“It’s hard to go from in love to let go in a week with no warning, but that’s just how it is sometimes.” — Shivon Zilis on X, Oct. 2
Tesla · Product calendar
Roadster re-reveal still on the board for Oct. 15
TechCrunch’s deliveries wrap notes the long-delayed second-generation Roadster is set to be re-revealed on Oct. 15, with production timing still unclear. Optimus timelines remain fluid; Semi production tooling continues after a recent commercial launch push.
Briefs · Stores
Energy storage: 13.7 GWh deployed in Q3
Alongside vehicles, Tesla said it deployed 13.7 GWh of Megapack and Megablock systems — slightly above last quarter’s 13.5 GWh and up from 12.5 GWh a year ago. Full earnings land Oct. 21.
SpaceX Store: no new material drop overnight
shop.spacex.com still features yesterday’s First Orbital Flight tee ($35) and patch ($15), plus Starlink V3 Deployment merch and You Are Here Mars/Moon gear. Nothing new to fold into the lead.
From Friday’s edition (context)
Project Meridian / AUTOWARCOM announcement, Crew-13 record dock, Starship Flight 14 orbital, Neuralink 50k hours, Model 3 16″ U.S. screen, and Delta/Starlink spat remain background — today’s Meridian piece is the COI follow-on only.
Waymo contrast in Texas
As of Friday, Waymo had 1,154 AVs authorized in Texas and 500k+ paid rides/week nationwide — the yardstick Cybercab must clear as Tesla pushes beyond Austin.