Welcome to Electrified. It's your host Dylan Loomis. Quick shout out to my newest patrons, Leo S. and UW. Thank you for choosing to support Electrified.
Six years ago today, Tesla started production of the Model 3, which really was the make or break vehicle for Tesla. It was the first mass market vehicle that led to all kinds of production challenges Elon sleeping on the factory floor, but fast forward to now and we're getting one of our first refreshes with Project Highland and the Model 3 overall considered a huge success, the product that launched Tesla into the mainstream eye.
Esther has shared some pictures from Tesla Club France of the second version for Supercharger location globally. This one of course in France. You can see what appears to be a megapat going in over here. And of course up here we would expect some solar panels and it's nice to see at least one drive through charger right here. We still don't have official specs for V4, but the cable went from 6 feet to about 10 feet now and we're expecting speeds of up to 350 kilowatts eventually. And I would guess that the North American rollout of V4 will happen once all of the NACS announcements and standardization actually takes place.
In case you're someone who did not consider Volvo the first European NACS domino to fall, today we get Mercedes Benz and maybe this will be your official first European domino to fall. Much like the other announcements Mercedes will initially offer an adapter for their CCS vehicles starting in 2024 to give their customers access to the NACS network. Then in 2025 they plan to have the NACS port natively.
And what we've known to becoming Mercedes did say they'll establish their own high power charging network with about 400 locations including 2500 chargers in North America by the end of the decade together with its American partner Tesla. And by the end of this year they plan to open the first one of those in North America with both CCS1 and NACS plugs.
And globally by the end of the decade Mercedes is planning to have 2000 charging hubs which will have 10,000 charging points so about five per location which will be universally open to EVs from all brands. And Reuters added Mercedes initially will have access to that 12,000 supercharger number which is roughly 65% of Tesla supercharger locations in North America. Mercedes drivers will also see Tesla superchargers on the map along with their availability status and price in their cars.
Here we have an updated list of the companies in their status regarding the NACS decision. Honestly though, zooming out thinking about the long-term one of the best things of this whole situation not many people are talking about. Most of these companies that do end up adopting NACS are going to roll out their own charging locations. They may look like superchargers but instead of saying Tesla they'll say Mercedes, Volvo, Rivian etc. But if you want to talk about expediting the public charging network what a better way to do it than having multiple companies rolling out their own version of superchargers just with their own branding. And yes these deals will help Tesla roll out their supercharger network faster as well but Tesla still just won company so now we have that list growing seemingly every week.
If you're wondering why the Cybertruck is rocking in this video my guess is the driver was just turning the wheel back and forth to do some traction testing. I believe this testing is being done in New Zealand and specifically at the SHPG, the Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds, an award-winning automotive proving ground located in the south island of New Zealand offering winter testing from June to September and they have 16 private land based test areas to ensure absolute confidentiality.
But Tesla fans are different. If you're wondering why Tesla is testing now so close to production don't forget Tesla can change a lot through the software only whether it's for traction or something else Tesla implementing that new four-wheel steering is going to have some unique challenges and this is a good way to work out those problems. Not to mention body seals or part tolerances in cold weather or perhaps things like a light bar that you may be looking at at the top of this vehicle. I would like to point out I was just guessing that this was a light bar it could just be a sensor of some sort I really don't know for sure.
No surprise here but Tesla is still pushing the Biden administration to enforce the EPA adopting some more stringent emission rules. The estimate for that proposal in April would mean around 67% of new cars are electric by 2032 but today apparently Tesla said they want 69% of vehicles in 2032 to be EVs. I don't know if this is a typo or misreporting but if you look at the EPA news from April the number was indeed 67% by 2032. Tesla added it believes the EPA could require an end to gasoline powered cars by 2030 and there's sound legal basis for an even more stringent set of standards than EPA's current proposal.
Tesla also said the EPA's cost assumptions don't fully consider the rapid decline in battery cell impact costs. This from Tesla at a time when almost all other automakers are on the other side of the argument as part of this trade group that just said the EPA's original stance is neither reasonable nor achievable and they're trying to get them to soften the regulations. It's tough because on one hand I would love to see regulation to push EVs forward so we have more cleaner vehicles cleaner air because I do believe ice tailpipe emissions are a health hazard. At the same time I'm a big fan of free markets and letting the consumers decide and dictate where the market goes so I can see both sides.
There have been a few changes to Tesla's referral program lately so just an FYI those credits you earn do expire 12 months from the grant date but every time you earn new credits the expiration date is actually pushed back by another 12 months. Example let's say I have 50,000 credits and the last time I earned new credits was 11 months ago so in one month all 50,000 of those credits would expire but if I get a new referral in that last month then all 50,000 plus whatever new ones I got of those credits will be extended for another year. There is a cap to how much you can earn though after referring five people you as the referrer will not get anything but of course you can keep referring others and they'll keep getting rewards but for you it's capped at five people. Used purchases do not qualify for any credits and don't forget earning new credits is not only referring other people but it can also be purchasing qualifying products from Tesla.
Speaking of those changes right now as the buyer looking at my loot box you can get $500 off a Model 3 or Y and three months of FSD on the Model S and X it's $1000 off and three months of FSD. Right now as the referrer for the Model 3 and Y you get 10,000 credits which is around $1000 and the Model S and X are 20,000 credits and here are some loyalty rewards for existing Tesla customers buying new products.
I want to share two pictures from Joe Tett Myers Giga Texas flyover today. According to Joe production has resumed after that brief shutdown we talked about last week over the 4th of July holiday and as you can see on the east side the building is preparing for expansion and here we can see 22 megapacks are already installed after just a few a couple days ago and the total is said to be 68 at this site. Over the next few months we'll be watching how well these upgraded production lines at Giga Texas are paying off.
Bank of America bumped up its Tesla stock price target from 225 to 300 you know I really don't put any stock in these price forecasts however they did say something worth noting suppliers which we've known to have shortages the past few years that trend is reversing. Further there's an easing of raw material and freight costs from their peaks that should lead to enhanced near term earnings. Story lines that people often overlook especially when it comes to margins because you never know for sure how it's going to play out but always something to keep in the back of your mind.
You better believe I have to pass along this chart of United States EV sales in the first half of this year looking at 2023 over on the left just want to point out if you add up two through five that totals about 127,000 EVs sold across those four companies which is about 38% of the EVs Tesla sold in the US in the first half of this year.
But in that documentary one of the experts that we interviewed said that he was in China talking to auto suppliers the people who supply parts to Tesla in China and he said one of those companies told him a Chinese competitor of Tesla came to them and said give us the same parts that you give to Tesla exactly the same we'll fit them into our cars so if that's the environment that you're operating in in Tesla they're telling you you can't do your own pricing strategy your competitors are buying your parts from your own suppliers how can you possibly make any headway there.
There is a lot of value to Tesla worldwide competing in China not only because of economies of scale but when you're facing the most competitive competitors in China which they are right now they can take those learnings and use them in other markets but the bottom line is they the Chinese government with this agreement basically just made it a lot harder for their business.
A few things one I know that agreement said it was non-binding but let's be serious is there a world where Tesla backs out of that agreement without facing consequences from the Chinese government it seems unlikely so although technically it may be non-binding for all intents and purposes it's most likely binding.
Two there's no public information meaning even Mark Field doesn't have access to what was actually signed in this agreement is there really a price floor is it just you can't lower certain prices by a certain percent over x number of days point being there are endless things that are in this agreement we just are not privy to so absolutely this could be viewed as a slight disadvantage to Tesla not having that ultimate pricing flexibility with the most margin to play with but as you're seeing on the screen just a reminder there are plenty of other ways for Tesla to increase demand different levers that it can pull i.e. would a cash rebate skirt those policies of abnormal pricing we just don't know Tesla is still in a very strong position in China and remember if Tesla is somewhat price limited all of these other companies will be as well so relatively speaking there may not be that much of a change we'll just watch the numbers over the next few months
the seven-seat Model Y is now $2,500 down from 3000 previously here you have it the Ferrari boss saying going EV only would be arrogant adding Ferrari plans to make ice cars into the 2030s the CEO said i don't want to be arrogant and impose a choice on our client it's the client who must choose if they want an ice hybrid or an EV similar to what i said earlier in a free market scenario i would love to see the market play out and consumers getting to choose what they want because knowing especially for Ferrari customers some of those people love engines and they're not going to want to lose that but now that we're learning more about the health implications what is the right answer that said Ferrari still planning its first EV in 2025
a reddit user posted two pictures of what appears to be a model three project island and two notes it is not chrome deleted and on the front this is just a baggy cover not perfectly laying down and this time they have the back window covered as well here's one more angle and i will say i'm not positive this is a highland vehicle looking at the front this looks a bit like the older model three but passing along either way make of it what you will they said these photos were taken outside of the deer creek campus in Palo Alto
in q2 pole star deliveries were up 36 percent this year compared to last and they said they're still on track to deliver between 60 and 70 000 vehicles for the year now that was down from their original projections of around 80 000 but same from what we've known in q2 pole star delivered 15.8 000 vehicles and in the first half of the year that number was 27.9 000 Thomas Ingloth the ceo said the first deliveries of the upgraded pole star two with 22 percent longer range are coming soon and more than 20 permanent pole star spaces are planned to open in the coming months as they shift away from temporary locations to larger facilities and pole star three the suv display cars will be arriving in spaces in the coming weeks
taking a look at rivian stock today up over 14 percent making the last week or so huge being up over 80 percent and look at the volume today alone it did over 230 million shares and if you scroll down you'll see the average volume the past 10 days has only been 72 million rivian now sits at around a 23 billion dollar market cap and if you're wondering why the run up well plenty of reasons it's been depressed for a while people wanted to see those better delivery numbers which they beat expectations amazon announcing the edv in the european market and rj saying the demand is good and the supply chain is looking better so a lot of good news right now for rivian but as you can see it's not just rivian that was in the green over 5 percent today other names pole star lucid and hyalian some analysts are out there saying there's been a minor rotation from ai stocks into some of these depressed ev stocks
and tesla announced the earth day photo contest winners so if it's any of you congratulations you can find me on twitter at dylan lumis 22 hope you guys have a wonderful and a safe weekend please like the video if you did and a huge thank you to all of my patreon supporters.