September 7, 2025
By Karan Singh
In its Preliminary Proxy Statement for the 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Tesla’s Board of Directors has unveiled a new, long-term CEO Performance Award for Elon Musk. It’s a super ambitious incentive package designed to retain his leadership and guide the company through its next phase of unprecedented growth, as recently outlined in Master Plan, Part IV.
The proposal, which will be put to a shareholder vote on November 6th, 2025, lays out a series of staggering market capitalization and product milestones that Elon must achieve over the next decade.
The new award is the centerpiece of a comprehensive compensation strategy that also asks shareholders to approve a “Special Share Reserve” to address the disputed 2018 pay package, and a replenishment of the general employee stock pool.
Trillions or Bust: New Performance Goals
Building on the successful framework of the 2018 award, the new 2025 CEO Performance Award puts Elon to task – grow Tesla by trillions of dollars in shareholder value. To receive the full award, the board states that he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in new shareholder value.
The award is broken into 12 parts, each of which can be “earned” by achieving one Market Capitalization Milestone and one Operational Milestone. The scale of these goals is simply ridiculous, but at the same time, so is the immense scale of the pay package.
The Market Capitalization Milestones involve increasing Tesla’s market capitalization to various levels, starting with the first goal of $2 trillion. Tesla’s current market cap stands at $1.1 trillion. Each of the next nine steps requires an additional $500 billion in growth, while the last two require an additional $1 trillion, culminating in a final target market cap of $8.5 trillion.
To put this into perspective, that’s equivalent to the combined market caps of Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet (Google) today.
The Operational Milestones are a mix of profitability targets and product deployment goals. The four product goals are centered around Tesla’s current and future products, including vehicles and robots. The goals include:
20 million cumulative Tesla vehicles delivered
10 million active FSD subscriptions
1 million Optimus bots delivered
1 million Robotaxis in commercial operation
The other eight profitability milestones range from $50 billion to a staggering $400 billion in trailing four-quarter adjusted EBITDA.
Market Value
Operational Milestones
Estimated Total Value
$2.0 trillion
20 million vehicles delivered
$22 billion
$2.5 trillion
10 million active FSD subscriptions
$55 billion
$3.0 trillion
1 million robots delivered
$98 billion
$3.5 trillion
1 million Robotaxis in operation
$153 billion
$4.0 trillion
$50 billion adjusted EBITDA
$219 billion
$4.5 trillion
$80 billion adjusted EBITDA
$295 billion
$5.0 trillion
$130 billion adjusted EBITDA
$383 billion
$5.5 trillion
$210 billion adjusted EBITDA
$481 billion
$6.0 trillion
$300 billion adjusted EBITDA
$591 billion
$6.5 trillion
$400 billion adjusted EBITDA
$711 billion
$7.5 trillion
None
$902 billion
$8.5 trillion
None
$1.1 trillion
The estimated value for each milestone is calculated at the market value at that milestone and includes the shares of each previous milestones.
The Award Structure and Pay Out
If shareholders approve the plan, Elon will be granted performance-based restricted stock representing up to 12% of Tesla’s adjusted share count, divided equally among the 12 steps. That’s 1% per step or about 35 million shares per milestone.
While each step awards Musk the same number of shares, the shares in later milestones are worth much more due to the higher market cap. The one trillion dollar number only comes into play if Musk achieves all the milestones and the company is valued at $8.5 trillion. The first milestone alone would only be worth an estimated $22 billion, which is the estimated value of 35 million shares at a $2 trillion market cap.
First Milestone – 20 Million Vehicles Delivered
While the last few milestones seem like stretch goals, the first couple are much more easily achieved. The first milestone is for Tesla to reach a $2 trillion market cap and deliver 20 million vehicles, a goal that has been discussed for years. Tesla recently delivered its 8th million vehicles, and they continue to deliver about 2 million vehicles annually, so they’re well on their way to meet that goal within the next five years.
Second Milestone – 10 Million FSD Subscriptions
The pay package’s second milestone is reaching a market cap of $2.5 trillion and obtaining 10 million active FSD subscriptions. Interestingly, Tesla hasn’t provided the number of active subscriptions it currently has, making it hard to decide how difficult this milestone will be.
However, Tesla has recently shared the purchase rate of FSD, which gives us a rough idea. The question is, does a customer purchasing FSD outright count as a FSD subscription, too? We’re guessing it will, since it can be viewed as a lifetime subscription option.
We’re guessing Tesla is well below 5 million subscriptions currently, maybe at 2-3 million. However, let’s remember that FSD subscriptions are currently only available in the United States and Canada. With the recent launch of FSD in Mexico, Puerto Rico, China, and most recently in Australia and New Zealand, Tesla is expected to receive a boost once subscriptions become available in these markets.
Tesla will soon also add the ability to subscribe to FSD directly from the vehicle ordering page, which should also provide a boost in subscriptions. FSD v14 is also expected to be out this month, and Musk has already stated that he expects it to be the second-largest update ever to the software.
Other Milestones
Honestly, given Tesla’s trajectory, the product milestones don’t seem unachievable here. The market cap is likely the hardest to achieve. However, keep in mind that these milestones are over a 10-year period.
Tesla is planning to put the robotaxi into production in 2026, so producing 1 million of these vehicles over 10 years shouldn’t be a challenge. However, Tesla can’t produce these vehicles and keep them standing still. The hard work will come in creating a truly autonomous Robotaxi network that can scale without safety monitors. Let’s remember that Tesla has also stated that they’ll sell Cybercabs to anyone who wants to buy them, and they’ll be priced under $30,000.
The most challenging product goal here is achieving one million Robotaxis in operation. Uber currently has about eight million drivers globally, and there are an estimated 200,000-400,000 city-run taxi vehicles in the United States.
While we think of Robotaxis as the Cybercab or the currently used Model Y, Tesla is also planning to allow users to use their own vehicles in the Robotaxi network, so these could potentially be counted as well. This goal ultimately relies on Tesla achieving Unsupervised FSD, at least in major markets.
Keeping Elon Long Term & Succession Plan
Unlike the 2018 options-based award, this new package uses restricted stock, a structure that better aligns with Elon’s stated desire for voting influence and provides a reason for him to be retained by Tesla. Even after a milestone is met and a step is earned, Elon must generally remain in a leadership role for a vesting period of at least 7.5 years, and up to ten years, to fully vest in the economic benefits of the shares.
The final two steps add an interesting requirement. Elon must participate in developing a CEO succession framework to be approved by the board in the future.
Addressing the Past; Securing the Future
Alongside the new performance award, the proxy statement also asks shareholders to approve an amended equity incentive plan with two other key components.
First, a “Special Share Reserve” of ~208 million shares. This reserve provides the board with the flexibility to fulfill the 2018 CEO Performance Award without requiring further shareholder votes. Second, the proposal asks to replenish the general employee incentive pool by ~60 million shares. This is crucial for Tesla to continue attracting and retaining employees in a time of increasing talent competition, particularly in the fields of AI and robotics.
Taken together, the three proposals are a comprehensive and audacious plan for compensation, not just for Elon, but also for Tesla’s employees and continued growth.
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September 7, 2025
By Karan Singh
Tesla is introducing some autonomy to Giga Berlin, just like its sister factories in North America. Teslas built at Giga Berlin now engage FSD and autonomously drive themselves from the end of the production line to the outbound logistics lot.
Tesla is leveraging its FSD capabilities to improve efficiency at factories, removing the need for humans to manually drive the vehicles from the end of the production line to the outbound lots. The new process, which is now fully implemented, shows a level of automation that no other automaker in the world can currently match.
The Autonomous Journey
The video below provides a glimpse into a seamless, driverless outbound process. Once a new Tesla completes its final quality checks in the Light Tunnel, FSD is activated, and it begins its first journey without any human drivers behind the wheel.
The vehicle is shown autonomously navigating the factory premises, a complex environment with other moving vehicles and equipment. In one of the most interesting and impressive steps, the car stops by an on-site Supercharger for a pre-delivery charge. Once topped off, it leaves the Supercharger and parks itself in the outbound lot, ready for transport. This entire journey, from factory exit to shipping yard, is now a fully automated process.
New Teslas drive themselves off the line at Giga Berlin
Autonomously navigating the factory premises, they stop by the on-site Supercharger, then park in the outbound lot pic.twitter.com/QxHYQl07yM
— Tesla AI (@Tesla_AI) September 3, 2025 100% Outbound Operations
Confirming the scope of this new initiative is André Thierig, Senior Director of Manufacturing at Giga Berlin, who shared his excitement on X. He stated that Tesla is now using this feature at Giga Berlin for 100% of its outbound operations, starting from the light tunnel until the car arrives at the outbound yard.
This confirmation is important. This isn’t an early test at Giga Berlin, but a fully deployed, standard operating procedure on Tesla’s production grounds. The capability is impressive, and the next step is clearly deploying it to European roads outside the factory, once Tesla receives regulatory approval.
This move is a classic example of Tesla using its most advanced products to improve its own business. Automating the end-of-line logistics saves time and manpower, eliminating the need for an army of yard drivers to constantly move thousands of new cars each week.
Bonus Sighting: Cybertruck in Germany
As a fun Easter egg for sharp-eyed viewers, the video also contained the first known sighting of a Cybertruck at Giga Berlin. The vehicle, clearly marked as a Support Vehicle with Giga Berlin labels on its sides, was seen on the factory premises. Maybe one day we’ll see the Cybertruck on European roads?
Either way, this new autonomous process offers a glimpse into the future of manufacturing, where products themselves play an active role in the factory’s logistics, and serves as a testament to Tesla’s relentless push for automation and cost-cutting.
September 6, 2025
By Karan Singh
The Cybertruck is a unique vehicle, featuring adaptive and adjustable air suspension, rear-wheel steering, and a stainless steel exterior. That also means it is an absolutely fantastic option for going off-road.
However, heading off the pavement requires a good understanding of what your Cybertruck is capable of and how it handles off the beaten path. We’ve put together a guide based on our own experiences taking the Cybertruck off-road, as well as what Tesla provides in their official vehicle manuals, to get you started.
Note: This guide is written primarily for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast. There are limited Off-Road Mode features available on the Cybertruck LR RWD, and we recommend consulting the manual for that particular vehicle.
Getting Started: Off-Roading Advice
Tesla, as well as experienced off-roaders, will usually offer one key piece of advice when going off-roading. Prepare well, and know your vehicle and what it’s capable of before you head off on an adventure. Off-road recovery is challenging, and driving in harsh conditions can be dangerous.
Know Your Vehicle: Familiarize yourself with the Cybertruck’s dimensions, Off-Road and Extract ground clearance, as well as what its approach and departure angles are.
Know Your Route: Whenever possible, scout the trail ahead of you and plan ahead to identify obstacles and assess terrain stability and water depth before driving through them.
Know Your Gear: You should have the necessary recovery equipment and a means of communication when headed off-road. Plan ahead and prepare so that you can stay safe on your trip.
Use a Friend: Don’t off-road solo. Get a friend – preferably with their own vehicle who can help out in case you get stuck. They can also provide an exterior view to help guide you through challenging obstacles
Tire Pressure: Consider lowering your tire pressure at your trailhead for increased traction on slippery or soft surfaces — just remember to re-inflate when you’re done.
Wading: Cybertruck has Wade Mode, which is capable of crossing fairly significant depths – but that doesn’t mean it can be a boat (yet!). Know the depth of the water and how deep you’ll end up.
Off-Road Mode
To access the bevy of specialized off-road settings, you’ll need to put the truck in Off-Road Mode. You can enable Off-Road Mode by entering the Off-Road App from the App Drawer on your screen.
Off Road Mode takes over and gets rid of the usual FSD visualization on the left side of your screen. Instead, you’ll have real-time vital information like pitch and roll angles, tire pressures, differential status, temperatures, and the settings needed to customize them.
As a note, you can only activate Off-Road Mode when the vehicle is in Park.
Ride Heights
The adaptive air suspension is just the first half of the story of the Cybertruck’s off-road capability. You can select from three settings while in Off-Road Mode.
High: This is the default height in Off-Road Mode, and keeps the ground clearance at 12.4 inches, or 316mm. This height is available at all speeds in Off-Road Mode, unlike when driving on regular roads.
Very High: This increases the ground clearance to 14 inches, or 356mm, and is only available in Off-Road Mode. It automatically lowers to High when above 25 mph / 40 km/h.
Extract Mode: Designed to get you over a tight obstacle, this mode is a bit special. It raises the ground clearance to Cybertruck’s maximum height of 16 inches, or 406mm. Speed is limited to 10 mph / 16 km/h, and drops down to Very High when you exceed that speed. Available torque is limited in Extract Mode.
Off-Road Drive Modes
Cybertruck also comes with two Off-Road Drive Modes, Overland Mode and Baja Mode. Each mode also has additional options to tailor it to the specific terrain or adjust the handling specifications to your comfort.
These tailor the truck’s behavior and handling for specific circumstances.
Overland Mode
Overland Mode is designed to maximize traction across varying terrain when driving at lower speeds. This is the default Off-Road Drive Mode. Within Overland Mode, you can adjust two key settings, Surface and Stopping Mode.
Surface has four options, including:
All Purpose
Sand
Gravel/Deep Snow
Rock
All Purpose: This defaults the ride height to High, and adjusts the tire slip based on the available traction detected by the vehicle. It is best suited for mixed-terrain driving.
Sand: Allows for high amounts of tire slip to provide optimal traction on soft and deformable surfaces. The default ride height here is also High.
Gravel/Deep Snow: Allows for moderate tire slip to provide traction on gravel or in deep snow. This is the key tool mode to get yourself out of snow if you happen to get stuck. The default ride height here is High.
Rock: This tightly manages tire slip to maximize grip when rock crawling. The preferred ride height here is Very High. Rock Mode also pneumatically connects the springs on the front and rear axles, increasing suspension articulation for maximum traction.
Stopping Mode has two options: Hold and Roll.
Hold is the default stopping mode that applies the brakes when you remove your foot from the accelerator. When stopped on a flat surface or a hill, Hold will keep the brake applied. Tesla warns that Hold may not work as expected in Off-Road Mode due to downward slopes, traction difficulties, or limited regenerative braking due to heat. As such, they recommend being prepared to use the brake pedal as required
Roll allows the Cybertruck to roll until it comes to a natural stop. The motors do not apply torque to slow down the vehicle – regenerative braking is turned off.
Baja Mode
Baja Mode optimizes the adaptive damping dynamically based on the Terrain selection to optimize performance for high-speed off-road driving. The stability control in Baja mode also allows for more tire slip on low-traction surfaces. If you’ve ever wanted to do donuts in your Cybertruck, Baja Mode is the way.
Baja Mode comes with a slew of settings: Handling Balance, Stability Assist, Terrain, and Deceleration Mode to tighten the settings and handling preferences.
Handling Balance has two options, Front or Rear Bias. With a Front Bias (slider left), the Cybertruck behaves like a front-wheel-drive vehicle. This means that when you turn, your truck will understeer and turn less than normal. This provides more stability, and the truck will feel more glued to the ground. With a Rear Bias (slider right), the Cybertruck behaves like a rear-wheel-drive vehicle, and will move with more agility but less stability. This also means you will oversteer and turn more than usual. If you’re looking for donuts – set the Rear Bias to max.
Stability Assist has three options. Standard, Reduced, and Minimal. Stability control intervention modifies motor torque and selectively applies the brakes to each wheel, making the Cybertruck more stable and helping to maintain control of the vehicle. When in Off-Road Mode, even Standard provides less-than-normal stability control, while Reduced further cuts it down. Minimal Mode mostly removes it – but comes with a red flag warning – Cybertruck may not self-stabilize and could roll, and Tesla recommends only experienced and advanced drivers use this mode.
Terrain has three options, but it is drastically different from Overland Mode. Here, you can select from Smooth, Rugged, and Clearance. Smooth sets the ride height to Medium and increases suspension damping for greater body control and response handling. You’ll want to select this if you want to drift or do high-speed driving on flat terrain. Rugged sets the ride height to high, and is optimized for rough terrain with medium-sized obstacles and Whoops (rolling bumps). Clearance sets the ride height to Very High for clearing larger obstacles.
Deceleration Mode has two options, High and Standard. High increases the amount of regenerative braking, allowing for more dynamic one-pedal driving – but may cause some loss of traction on loose surfaces. Standard is the normal level of regenerative braking, with no differences. There is no reduced level of regenerative braking – use Roll Mode in Overland for that.
Off-Road Mode Features
Other than the Drive Modes, there are two additional features to take a look at.
Wade Mode: Wade Mode pressurizes the Cybertruck’s battery pack, allowing it to enter and drive through bodies of water. Wade Mode’s maximum fording depth is 32 inches, measured from the bottom of the tire. Tesla recommends that Wade Mode be enabled anytime the Cybertruck is being driven through shallow bodies of water, such as rivers or ponds.
To enable Wade Mode, you must close all doors and windows, and the vehicle’s speed must be below 20mph (32km/h). In the Off-Road App, select Wade. Once enabled, Wade Mode appears on the vehicle’s screen, and a 30-minute timer begins – Wade Mode is limited to 30 minutes, and there is a cooldown time between uses. Plan your route well to avoid overheating the air compressor.
Wade Mode also sets the vehicle’s ride height to Very High. Tesla recommends driving through water at low speeds of 1-3 mph (2-5 km/h). Wade Mode should not be disengaged until the vehicle is fully clear of water.
Trail Assist: Available only in Overland Mode, Trail Assist maintains the vehicle’s speed to provide greater steering control during steep ascents or descents. To enable this, in the Off-Road App, or through Controls > Dynamics > Off-Road, select Trail Assist.
You can then set the Trail Assist speed between 1-25 mph (2 km/h – 40 km/h). Just like FSD, you can change the set speed using the right scroll wheel. Using the accelerator or brake pedals will temporarily increase or reduce speed – Cybertruck will automatically change to the set speed once a pedal is released. If you simultaneously brake to a lower speed and swipe down on the right scroll wheel, or accelerate and swipe up, the set speed will automatically snap to the current speed.
TAPPING THE BRAKE DOES NOT DISENGAGE TRAIL ASSIST. Pressing and holding the brake pedal when stopped will disengage Trail Assist. Trail Assist disengages and returns to your normal driving settings if you accelerate above 30 mph (48 km/h). It reactivates when you drive below 30 mph (48 km/h).
Jump Assist: An always-active safety feature in Off-Road Mode, if Cybertruck detects it is in the air, it will immediately extend the suspension to its maximum height to absorb as much of the landing impact as possible. Be aware that jumping the Cybertruck can cause unseen damage. Jumps should be carefully planned if they are going to be done.
Locking Differentials
Locking differentials are crucial for serious off-roading. It ensures that power is transferred to the wheel or wheels with the most grip. Essentially, this locks the wheels on an axle together, forcing them to rotate at the same speed. This distributes torque across the axle based on the available traction in each wheel. When one of the locked wheels has significantly reduced traction, more torque is applied to the wheel with greater traction – helping you to keep moving in low-traction environments.
There are some technical differences with how Tesla has implemented the lockers on the Cybertruck. The AWD Cybertruck uses mechanical front and rear lockers, while the Cyberbeast uses a mechanical front locker and a virtual rear locker. The virtual rear locking differential automatically engages in certain drive modes and speeds, and cannot be manually engaged or disengaged.
On-Road
Engaging locking differentials will increase the Cybertruck’s turn radius, and can cause unintended damage or effects when used inappropriately. It should be used temporarily to get extra grip on loose or uneven terrain if used on-road.
You can engage them by going to Controls > Dynamics > Engage Rear Locking Differential. This also enables the Slippery Surfaces option for additional traction. Do not use the locks to drive normally on slick surfaces.
This option is not available on the Cyberbeast due to the virtual rear locker.
Off-Road
The rear locking differentials are ideal for off-roading uphill or on level surfaces. Front locking differentials are typically used when you need more traction at the front of the vehicle, like rock crawling.
To engage, go to the Off-Road App and select the options you want to enable:
For AWD: All-On, Rear Only, or Off.
For Cyberbeast: Front Only or Off.
You can also tap the locker icon in the vehicle status on the left to turn on or off the lockers. You may need to drive a short distance to engage or disengage the lockers. Once the locking differentials are fully engaged, the vehicle may slightly rock side to side when turning at low speeds. This is normal behavior when the touchscreen indicates a fully engaged locker, marked by a solid orange icon.
The locking differentials may cancel or delay engaging in various cases. If the locking differentials are unable to engage, you will hear a chime, and a message will display on the touchscreen explaining how to address it.
Disengaging
To disengage the lockers, touch the icon on the touchscreen or set the option in the menu to Off. You may need to drive a short distance for them to disengage fully. When the vehicle shifts out of drive, or if a different drive mode is selected, the lockers may automatically disengage.
Wrap-Up
That covers most of what you need to know when off-roading with your Cybertruck. Drive safe, and tread gently off the beaten path. Check out this video from Top Gear reviewing the Cybertruck’s Off-Road Mode, too.