Austin, TX

Tesla teases new vehicle in latest earnings report

Published

2 years ago

January 24, 2024

Tesla teases new vehicle in latest earnings report

Tesla’s next generation vehicle will be made in Austin, the company announced Wednesday.

The Austin-based company, which shared its fourth quarter 2023 earnings report Wednesday, teased that it would be making its next vehicle platform in Austin, but gave little detail beyond that.

The company listed the vehicle as “in development” in the earnings report but disclosed no real details on the vehicle itself, including what the price points, name or vehicle type would be. Tesla also did not mention a timeline for its launch.

“We are focused on bringing the next generation platform to market as quickly as we can, with the plan to start production at Gigafactory Texas,” Tesla said in the report. “This platform will revolutionize how vehicles are manufactured.”

On a call with investors Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk said more details on the platform will come later.

“Perhaps the most important competitive characteristic for Tesla in the future will be manufacturing technology and you will really see that come to bear with our next gen vehicle,” Musk said. “The first manufacturing location for this will be at our gigafactory and headquarters in Austin, Texas and then we will follow that up with other locations around the world.”

Tesla also warned that its growth rate “may be notably lower” in 2024 as it works towards launching the vehicle. In the report Tesla noted it is “currently between two major growth waves,” saying the next wave could be driven by its next-generation vehicle platform.

The warning came as competition in the electric vehicle market heats up. Chinese automaker BYD was the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles in the fourth quarter, unseating Tesla for the first time, according to a report by Reuters. During the fourth quarter BYD sold 526,000 vehicles compared to Tesla’s 485,000. However, Tesla still made the most electric vehicles overall in 2023.

The company also listed its second-generation Roadster sports car as “in development” on its earnings report. The new version, a successor to a limited production vehicle originally made from 2008 to 2012, has delayed production multiple times, but is available to reserve on Tesla’s website for an initial $50,000 reservation.

The new platform announcement follows a Wednesday morning report from Reuters that said Tesla was working on producing a new mass market electric vehicle codenamed “Redwood” in mid-2025. The report, which cited sources familiar with the matter, said the vehicle could be a compact crossover and production could begin in July 2025.

Musk has previously promised the company would work on more affordable electric vehicles, including a sub-$25,000 vehicle and self-driving robotaxis, which have yet to come to fruition.

Musk confirmed on the investor call the company expects to start production in the second half of 2025, but noted he is typically optimistic about timelines and it would include a lot of new “revolutionary” manufacturing technology.

Musk added that he wants the vehicles to start production in Austin because it “will be a challenging ramp,” and likely will have engineers sleeping and “living” on the production line to make it possible.

“We really need engineers to be living on the line,” Musk said. “This is not the sort of ‘off the shelf, just works’ sort of thing. I am confident that once it is going it will be head and shoulders above any other manufacturing technology that exists in the world.”

The company most recently released a new vehicle late last year when it delivered its first handful of its long-anticipated Cybertrucks. In its earnings report Tesla said it has ramped up capacity to build over 125,000 Cybertrucks a year in Austin.

The company noted in the earnings report it expects the production ramp up to be longer than other vehicles because of Cybertrucks’ “manufacturing complexity.” CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly warned of difficulties scaling up production for the vehicle and the company has not said how many it initially delivered nor how many it expects to in 2024.

Tesla also produces Model Y vehicles and batteries at its Austin gigafactory, Giga Texas. In the report Tesla said in now has capacity to produce 375,000 Model Y SUVs a year in Austin.

Tesla shares fell about 3% after hours as the company missed Wall Street expectations with the company reporting revenue of $25.17 billion in the fourth quarter, compared to the $25.6 billion expected by FactSet analysts. The revenue was a 3% increase overall from the same time last year.

The company had already released its fourth quarter and full year delivery and production numbers earlier this month, reporting that it delivered 1.8 million vehicles in 2023 including 485,000 in the fourth quarter. Deliveries are Tesla’s closest approximation to vehicle sales.

The earning’s report also comes as Musk demanded more control of Tesla this month if the company is to be a leader in AI or robotics. The CEO, who already has a number of other companies including SpaceX, xAI, Neuralink and The Boring Company, said he would rather focus on building products at another company if he doesn’t get his way.

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Austin, TX

Texas A&M Corps of Cadets carrying the Lone Star Showdown game ball to Austin

Published

16 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Press Room

Texas A&M Corps of Cadets carrying the Lone Star Showdown game ball to Austin

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Football is a big tradition on Thanksgiving Day, and while the Aggies didn’t play, the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets were helping the team get ready by going on a journey to Austin.

Around 80 members of the corps gathered at a lot near Kyle Field at 7:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, where they would begin a 100-mile relay-style event. Broken up into teams, they’ll run to the Corps’ march staging area in Austin, escorted by police, with the plan to be there by 11 a.m.

From there, they will march in with the fightin’ Texas Aggie Band to finish the delivery.

“The goal of this is to be able to inspire the next generation of Aggies and to be able to encourage the entire campus. The entire Aggie network is brought together because we, as the Corps, were inspiring and helping our Aggie team, the football team, as they get ready to take on Texas,” said Carson Seiber, a member of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets and event coordinator.

Seiber said since he was a freshman who learned A&M would be playing Texas in Austin his senior year, it was his dream to bring back the tradition that he said started over two decades ago.

“I had this dream, and I kind of talked to people, and now that it’s my senior year, I really had an idea about why not bring the tradition back, why not kind of leave a mark, leave a legacy on the Corp and Texas A&M that hasn’t really happened in a long time,” Seiber said.

The plan really finalized itself about a week ago, but was pitched two months ago. He said what really separates Texas A&M University from every other school is its core values.

“I think it’s been really cool to see the fact that when the Aggies are successful, we see our Aggies support each other, but also in times when are Aggies have not been good at football or tragedies like bonefire, our Aggies are there in victory or defeat,” Seiber said.

The Aggies will take on the Texas Longhorns tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.

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Austin, TX

Taylor residents sue to halt proposed data center

Published

1 day ago

November 27, 2025

Press Room

Taylor residents sue to halt proposed data center

TAYLOR, Texas — A proposed data center in Central Texas is getting a lot of pushback from residents. Approximately 40 minutes north of Austin, a group of neighbors in the city of Taylor sued the data center. They are pushing back against the data center that could soon be under construction roughly 500 feet from their neighborhood.

“This property is supposed to be deeded for parkland,” said Pamela Griffin, a resident in the neighborhood next to where the data center will be built. “This land was given to this community.”

The 87-acre land near Griffin’s community is embroiled in a legal battle between her and Blueprint Data Centers.

“We do not need a data center,” Griffin said. “I’m not against them, but we don’t need them in our community.”

Despite Griffin’s land deed lawsuit, a Texas judge has ruled in favor of the proposed project.

“When a judge dismisses a lawsuit because the plaintiff or the plaintiffs lack standing, what the judge means is you’re not a person who has the legal authority to bring this lawsuit,” said Mike Golden, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Griffin and other neighbors argue the data center will take away natural resources like water and what was supposed to be the future site of a park, so her fight is not over.

“We are going to the appellate court now,” Griffin said. “We did file.”

Griffin is passionate about advocating for the community because it’s the neighborhood she was born and raised in. Her grandmother bought property there in the early 1960s, and the community became a safe haven for Black people in Taylor.

“We weren’t allowed to be in the city limits at that time because they would not sell to the Black and brown community, so my grandmother realized they had to buy land outside,” she said.

She worries about the future of her small community now that construction of a 135,000-square-foot data center will begin within the next year.

It’s a project the city says will bring millions in revenue to Taylor.

“What data centers do to a community is it brings an influx of new revenue to all the taxing entities, including the city, the county and especially the school district,” said Ben White, the president and CEO of the Taylor Economic Development Corporation.

He explained how the revenue might benefit the city.

“City council will have the ultimate say on how those revenues are spent, but it could involve new parks for citizens, improve streets for the citizens, improve programs for the citizens,” he said. “There’ll be a lot of variety of different uses of those funds the council could decide to use them on.”

White also addressed the controversy surrounding the deed when asked about it by Spectrum News.

“We feel comfortable that EDC, we did everything correctly on our side,” he said.

Griffin now awaits the Third Court of Appeals to decide on her case.

“I’m asking for the community and the Taylor people to stick together and understand my fight against this data center coming into our community,” Griffin said.

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Austin, TX

How history has treated Texas Longhorns when underdogs against Aggies

Published

2 days ago

November 26, 2025

Press Room

How history has treated Texas Longhorns when underdogs against Aggies

Even before the invention of color television, savvy businesspeople were using the Texas versus Texas A&M football rivalry to bring patrons through the door.

Back in 1940, movie theaters made front-page news by offering Texans an opportunity to relive that year’s Lone Star Showdown.

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“UT To Beat A&M All Over Again,” read a small headline on the Nov. 29 edition of the Austin Statesman. The brief news story called the Longhorns’ victory “better drama than the fictional screen ever unfolded,” and declared that movie-goers would be treated to supplemental scenes from Texas’ 7-0 win over the Aggies on Nov. 28.

Texas Longhorns defensive back Jelani McDonald (4) yells in celebration after making an interception in the third quarter of the Longhorns’ game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Nov. 22, 2025.

Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman

The unlikely nature of Texas’ victory helped fuel that over-the-top public response. Scoring the only points of the game on their first drive, the Longhorns snapped a 19-game Texas A&M winning streak, unseated the defending national champions and denied the Aggies a place in the Rose Bowl.

For just the second time since that Thanksgiving day in 1940, Texas A&M is coming to Austin in 2025 with a perfect record. A place in the SEC championship game, which the Aggies have never participated in since joining the conference in 2012, is at stake.

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The Longhorns are underdogs, the bookmakers say. Most popular sportsbooks made Texas A&M a 2.5-point favorite heading into Friday’s clash at Royal-Memorial Stadium. Texas’ players aren’t exactly in a rush to adopt that narrative, though.

NO. 16 TEXAS VS. NO. 3 TEXAS A&M

When/where: 6:30 p.m. Friday at Royal-Memorial Stadium.

TV/radio: ABC; 1300 AM, 1370 AM, 98.1 FM, 105.3 FM (Spanish)

“I think we know what we’re capable of,” Texas defensive end Ethan Burke said. “Who does the sportsbooks? Have they ever played college football? Probably not.”

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Burke won’t be the only Longhorn unaccustomed to viewing the Aggies as the favorites in this longstanding rivalry. Texas holds a 77-37-5 all-time advantage over Texas A&M in the series, which dates all the way back to 1894. Texas has won 10 of the 13 matchups played this century, including last year’s tilt in College Station.

MORE: How Longhorns used Arch Manning differently against Arkansas

But, throughout history, the Longhorns have occasionally shown up to the Lone Star Showdown looking to spoil Texas A&M’s fun, as they did back in 1940.

On 28 occasions, the Aggies have entered rivalry week with at least two more victories on their ledger than Texas. When that is the case, Texas holds a 10-16-2 record. Its most recent victory under those circumstances came in 1998, when Ricky Williams broke the NCAA’s all-time rushing yards record with a 60-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

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Texas Longhorns receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. (0) gets into a verbal argument with Texas A&M defensive back Will Lee III (26) during the Lone Star Showdown at Kyle Field on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024 in College Station, Texas.

Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman

That year, the 7-3 Longhorns built a 23-7 lead over the 10-1 Aggies, but saw A&M break off 17 unanswered points to take a one-point lead with 2:20 remaining. That necessitated some heroics from quarterback Major Applewhite and kicker Kris Stockton, who booted through a 24-yard field goal with five seconds remaining for the win.

In recent history, that’s just about the only upset success the Longhorns have managed over the Aggies. Since 1960, Texas A&M is 11-1 against Texas when entering Thanksgiving week with two or more victories than Texas. Coaches Jackie Sherrill and RC Slocum routinely bested some bad Texas teams. Between 1986 and Mack Brown’s hiring before the 1998 season, the Longhorns lost five or more games nine times.

MORE: Why Longhorns appealed targeting call on Ty’Anthony Smith

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Before 1960, though, Texas often upset A&M teams with records that looked better on paper, holding a 9-5-2 mark against Aggies teams that held at least a two-game advantage in the win column. In 1938, a winless Texas team turned up at Memorial Stadium and beat the middling Aggies 7-6.

“Not a handful of fans, huddled against the autumn chill inside the huge horseshoe where an Aggie team had never won, dreamed it could happen,” the Austin American’s Weldon Hart wrote in the next day’s edition.

This year’s Longhorns don’t face the same odds. Texas, at 8-3, was the preseason’s No. 1-ranked team and has already beaten two top-10 foes on the year.

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Upsetting the unbeaten Aggies won’t require a miracle, but it would certainly make a lasting memory.

“We’ve got to prepare really well so we can play our best football,” Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said. “Because our best football will be needed next Friday night.”

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