Tesla plans to shut down Model Y and Cybertuck production over the week of July 4

Tesla plans to pause production on Cybertruck and Model Y lines for a week at its Austin factory, Business Insider has learned. It would be at least the third such shutdown in a year.
In a meeting earlier this month with workers, the company said the shutdown would begin the week of June 30, and production would resume the following week, according to a person familiar with the matter. During the pause, employees can use paid time off or come in for voluntary training and cleaning.
The pause would enable the automaker to perform maintenance on production lines, the company told workers.
Tesla told staff the improvements would help ramp up production, according to the person. It did not specify which lines could see increased output.
In the lead up to the planned shutdown, the carmaker has also been preparing for a Robotaxi launch in Austin. CEO Elon Musk has said that the first rides will be offered in a Model Y. The company plans to launch with between 10 to 20 of the vehicles, he said.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment about the planned shutdown.
Tesla has paused production at the Austin facility at least twice over the past 12 months.
During a production pause on Cybertruck and Model Y lines in late May, the company held voluntary training that included seminars on improving the work culture at the factory.
Tesla also paused production of the Cybertruck for three days in December. At the time, workers said they were told it was due to a battery supply issue. In April, the automaker reduced production of the electric pickup truck and moved some workers off the line.
It's common for some automakers to shut production lines down for weeks on end, especially during holiday periods or summer months, when auto sales typically slow down.
The production pauses allow companies to conduct routine maintenance and update lines; they can also give companies time to address inventory surpluses or parts shortages.
In the fall of 2024, Ford suspended production of its F-150 Lightning for seven weeks. During the semiconductor shortages in 2021, both Ford and GM paused production at some of their plants.
Until recently, these kinds of production pauses had been rare at Musk's automaker, four workers told Business Insider.
Tesla is expected to release its second-quarter delivery numbers in July. During its first quarter, Tesla reported a 13% drop year-over-year. As of March 20, Tesla has delivered fewer than 50,000 Cybertrucks, according to a voluntary recall notice.
Tesla released a refreshed version of its Model Y, the company's best-selling model, in January.
For now, all eyes are on the company's upcoming Robotaxi launch. Musk said on June 10 that the company "tentatively" planned to begin offering the self-driving service on June 22 in Austin.
"We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift," Musk said in a post on X.
By June 28, the vehicles would be able to drive themselves from the factory to a customer house, he added.

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Why Volkswagen is convinced Waymo and Tesla are vulnerable in the $500 billion robotaxi race — ‘not a winner take all market'

The German carmaker is preparing to enter the market for autonomous ride-hailing services next year with its Volkswagen ID. Buzz AD. But instead of competing against existing transportation providers, it aims to work with them as a partner. The different approach comes amid continued popular resentment towards robotaxis. When Big Tech first began deploying self-driving cars to San Francisco two years ago, companies encountered something unusual—popular resistance. Angry residents would sabotage the robotaxis with the help of traffic cones, while the city's fire department chief herself would regularly malign them as a dangerous nuisance. Even today, during the recent outbreak of civil unrest in Los Angeles over mass deportations, protesters caused hundreds of thousands of dollars when they deliberately torched Waymo cars. One old economy company preparing to enter the autonomous ride-hailing space is taking a completely different approach when it launches next year. Germany's Volkswagen is wagering society at large is increasingly fed up with the collateral damage left behind by Silicon Valley's move-fast-and-break-things mentality. 'Our approach is different—we deliberately want to act as partners that build upon existing infrastructure,' VW Group executive Sascha Meyer told Fortune during a test drive of its robotaxi. 'A key point for social acceptance we believe is being a service provider whose presence is desired precisely because we will not be competing with systems already in place.' This week, VW revealed the series production version of its autonomous ride-hailing cab based on its retro-styled VW ID. Buzz EV microbus. Packaged together with the requisite fleet management software and digital customer booking platform, it wants to offer local transportation authorities and other commercial fleets a turnkey solution that can be integrated effortlessly into their service. While a Waymo or a Tesla plan to compete with existing providers, the German carmaker aims to be an equal partner working hand in glove with communities that want their help. Even if the first roughly 500 vehicles won't be deployed to Uber for use in Los Angeles until next year, VW believes the race for market share is only just beginning. It's convinced there will be more than enough demand to grab a bite out of the €350 billion-€450 billion in revenue McKinsey projects for autonomous ride-hailing services in North America and Europe by 2035. That's more than half a trillion dollars worth of growth over the next 10 years, potentially. Meyer runs MOIA, the mobility services subsidiary of the VW Group which will offer a high-tech version of the zero-emission Volkswagen ID. Buzz electric minivan complete with the backend software ecosystem around it. Fortune had a chance to ride along with Meyer in one as the robotaxi navigated its way—with a safety driver behind the wheel at all times—through the busy streets of Hamburg. Here in Germany's second-largest city, Volkswagen has quietly been testing the technology for several years now thanks to the active support of city officials. The white label service Volkswagen has in mind means all customers need to do is slap their logo on the vehicle and adorn the customer-facing front end with their respective corporate identity and they are ready to go. The group's go-to-market strategy heavily incorporates public transit authorities, an approach influenced by its European roots. With their extensive wealth of well-built mass transit networks, these mainly state and municipal-owned companies play a role in urban, suburban and ex-urban mobility so crucial it would be difficult to displace them. 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Washington Post

22 minutes ago

• Washington Post

Would you hail a 'robotaxi'? Musk bets cabs will give Tesla a lift after boycotts and sales plunge

NEW YORK — Elon Musk promised in 2019 that driverless Tesla 'robotaxis' would be on the road 'next year,' but it didn't happen. A year later, he promised to deliver them the next year, but that didn't happen either. Despite the empty pledges the promises kept coming. Last year in January, Musk said, 'Next year for sure, we'll have over a million robotaxis.' Would you settle for 10 or 12? Musk appears to be on the verge of making his robotaxi vision a reality with a test run of a small squad of self-driving cabs in Austin, Texas, starting Sunday. Reaching a million may take a year or more, however, although the billionaire should be able to expand the service this year if the Austin demo is a success. The stakes couldn't be higher, nor the challenges. While Musk was making those 'next year' promises, rival Waymo was busy deploying driverless taxis in Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin and other cities by using a different technology that allowed it to get to market faster. 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Perplexity's new AI features are a game changer. Here's how to make the most of them

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