'Don't bet against Elon': What I saw from the true believers at Tesla's fan event

Business Insider

2 days ago

On Saturday, I attended X Takeover, a gathering for fans of Tesla, electric vehicles, and SpaceX.
The Tesla Owners Club of Silicon Valley ran the event. I'm not a member, but I drive a Tesla Model 3 Performance, and my house has a Powerwall battery that's fed by solar panels.
I love my Model 3, and I've been fascinated by the Cybertruck ever since the daring, divisive design came out. Given the debate over Tesla CEO Elon Musk 's political activities this year and the hit to sales, I went along to the fanfest to see how the Tesla faithful are holding up.
I arrived at around 1:30 pm at the San Mateo County Event Center. I expected the parking lot to be full, but I found it was about half empty. Near the entrance, Tesla and Lucid offered attendees short test drives of new electric vehicles. A small handful of attendees tried this out, but there were no lines (perhaps because most people there already knew EVs so well?). When I walked into the event, it didn't feel that packed. I estimate maybe 1,000 people attended in total, although it could have been more.
When Lars Moravy, Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering, got onstage at around 3 pm, a lot of people gathered to watch, but the audience and VIP area still had some empty seats.
'Don't bet against Elon'
However, passion abounded among those who showed up. They brought radically modified Tesla cars and Cybertrucks in wild colors. Someone had turned a Model 3 into a convertible (yes, I want one of those, please, Tesla). Another owner had installed a cannon on the back of their Cybertruck. I'm not sure if it was real, and I didn't ask.
Original Tesla Roadsters in beautiful condition were parked next to a giant Tesla Semi truck. Kids played games, including coloring cardboard Cybertruck models with crayons. Families snapped selfies.
Someone wore a "Don't bet against Elon" T-shirt. Another sported a shirt with Tesla's Austin robotaxi service area emblazoned on the front. (It's shaped a certain way, if you're wondering.)
I sensed that Tesla's core fan base remains loyal and believes in the company and its leaders, possibly even more intensely than before the recent political backlash against Musk. However, it felt like others in Silicon Valley, including those who drive an EV to help the planet, have moved on and may not want to attend an event like X Takeover right now.
Cybercabs and Cybertrucks
One highlight for me was seeing the Cybercab close up, parked next to an Optimus robot. Several people crowded around snapping photos. The Cybercab looked cooler in person, especially the stubby, angular front nose and the satiny gold paint job.
Still, one Tesla fan standing next to me wondered aloud why the company put only two seats in a vehicle that will carry people around via a rideshare service. What if the whole family needs to go somewhere? he wondered. Two-person rides are probably more common, we mused.
Another Tesla fan, called Eurone, stood by the Cybercab with his girlfriend, taking photos. I asked him about robotaxi tests and the company's efforts to get this up and running in San Francisco. Eurone said he'd signed up to get an invitation in Austin and in San Francisco. If he gets one, he plans to fly from LA to either city to experience a ride.
"It has to work," he said of Tesla's autonomous vehicle efforts. Eurone mentioned that he bought Tesla stock about two years ago at around $140 a share. The shares have more than doubled since then, but he hopes for more gains and thinks they're undervalued still.
A couple from Washington state had driven their Cybertruck down to the Silicon Valley event and set up a tent and camping system on the vehicle. They let me climb up into the tent — it was cozy in there! I asked the wife what she thought of the robotaxi tests. She said she'd still be cautious about getting in a robotaxi without a test driver at the wheel.
I chatted with a visitor from Texas who was looking at the Cybercab up close. He said he'd taken a robotaxi in Austin and was impressed by the smooth ride. Another driver cut him off during the test, and the robotaxi braked hard but smoothly. He compared this to his own Model Y with full self-driving (FSD), which he said sometimes brakes more abruptly in similar situations.
I also met a couple from Houston who'd driven their bright orange Cybertruck all the way to this event in Silicon Valley. The truck also had a camping tent system on top, and the woman was cooking a cheeseburger on the back. They said they use FSD all the time and drove most of the way from Houston to San Mateo in FSD with no problems.
Tesla engineering chief Lars Moravy speaks
When Tesla vehicle engineering chief Moravy started his talk onstage, a group of guys stood up and chanted, "Lars! Lars! Lars!"
Moravy was asked about the intense "anti-Tesla environment" over the last few months and how he and his engineering teams weathered the storm, and how it affected the Tesla brand.
"I was like, 'hey, let's meet hate with love,' and I know a lot of you guys went out with doughnuts and did that, and I really appreciate that," Moravy said. "Having such a strong community that you can fall back on when you have tough times is super humbling, and it's awesome to know that we have all of you guys here to do that for us and make us feel like we're actually doing the right things."
That elicited rounds of applause from the audience.
Moravy said many engineers put their heads down and just worked harder and longer. The first half of the year was intense for these employees because Tesla was launching the updated Model Y globally, he said.
"For the most part, that's how my team handled it and kind of pushed through it. And you know, it's nice to see some positive news again," he said, citing the opening of Tesla's diner and supercharger location in LA recently. "It was just a cool environment to see everyone there and the positivity around it.
The last car for human drivers
Moravy also described the company's "unboxed" manufacturing process, central to Tesla's coming Cybercab robotaxi service. It assembles vehicle modules separately and joins them later in the process. This improves line speed and reduces factory footprint dramatically, he said.
The executive also said that Tesla designed the Cybercab for efficiency, durability, and low per-mile operating costs, with replaceable plastic body panels to simplify repairs. Moravy shared that Tesla conducted its first Cybercab crash test, which passed successfully.
He spotlighted progress on the Tesla Semi, too, which is targeting production in 2026. Of all Tesla's projects right now, he said he's most excited about this product, calling it a no-brainer for fleets due to the expected low total cost of ownership.
Meanwhile, he said Tesla is building Optimus, its humanoid robot, with micron-level precision to scale manufacturing to thousands of units a week, showcasing the company's ambition beyond vehicles.
He described Tesla's new Roadster as an effort to design the last car for human drivers. This swan song has to be incredible, so the company has been taking its time to ensure that the capabilities are top-notch before releasing it, Moravy said.
'I hope we're still here'
At the end, Moravy was asked what he hopes Tesla has achieved in five years' time that would make him proud as an engineering leader.
"If you'd asked me this question five years ago, I would have said 'man, I hope we're still here,'" Moravy replied.
"And so now I'm saying the same thing: 'Man, I hope we're still here," he added, to laughter from the audience. "Because we take big swings and sometimes that risk, you know, it can come with a lot of downside."
"And I think we are in a big-swing moment with autonomy, with robotics and with Optimus, and with Semi," Moravy said. "I hope those all work out."