Sup. This is Plugged In. Instead of the cold plunge, affirmation routine, morning journal, and your 5 word coffee order… We’ll wake you up with 5 minutes of EV news. More effective. Less painful.

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

• Tesla Is Now More Dominant Than Apple 📈

• Tesla Goes On Hiring Spree For Tesla Semi 🚛

• Ford Cancels F-150 Dealer Stock Orders ❌

TESLA IS NOW MORE DOMINANT THAN APPLE 📈

Tesla has been stealing the lunch money of legacy automakers for almost a decade now.

They now hold 61% of the US electric car market. A larger share than Apple’s hold on the smartphone industry.

But 2023 was going to be the year the old guard said, "Enough is enough!" and stepped up their EV game. GM was rolling out the red carpet for new electric models, and Ford and Volkswagen? They were in the corner, huffing and puffing, prepping their EVs for all us average folks.

So let's do a reality check.

Ford's big F-150 Lightning got outshined by Rivian's R1T. GM is having a little bit of drama. And Volkswagen? Their CEO screamed: “EVERYTHING'S FINE!” while everything was, in fact, not fine.

Looking at the 2023 scoreboard, Tesla's out here stretching their lead in the US market. They’re sitting on their 61% share like that guy who takes up two seats on the bus.

They’re the Apple of the electric car world.

So what happened?

Tesla triggered a price war.

Once upon a time, their Model Y cost a ton more than the average car. Fast forward a bit, and not only is it cheaper, but it’s also on track to be the world's top-selling car in 2023. Now that's some high-speed math.

Ford, not to be outdone, whipped out their price-cut scissors. But slashing $10,000 off their Lightning wasn’t enough. By mid-year, CEO Jim Farley was like, “Okay, we miscalculated a bit,” hinting at a big loss for 2023.

And GM? They’re in a waiting room hoping their new battery buddies, LG Energy Solution, will help them cut costs. Oh, Stellantis? Their electric debut with trucks and Jeeps? It's on a “coming soon” status.

There’s only one company that competes at Tesla’s scale on electric vehicles.

BYD.

They're also the first successful example of moving from ICE to making profitable EVs. And their journey from gas guzzlers to electric champs is nothing short of an underdog story.

Let's rewind.

BYD wasn't even into cars at first. In the '90s, while we were all doing the Macarena and worrying about Y2K, BYD was making batteries for Nokia phones (remember those?) and Dell laptops.

By the time the 21st century rolled in, they shifted gears, but with their battery brains still in play.

Picture this: Tesla was in Silicon Valley using super glue and dreams to stick batteries together. BYD was in China rolling out electric buses.

Here's where many car giants went wrong:

Legacy auto became middlemen, banking on outsourcing EV essentials. Trying to cook a gourmet meal but ordering everything from a fast-food joint. Spoiler: doesn't work out so well.

But not BYD. Instead, they pulled a power move in 2021.

They declared, "If it ain’t electric, we ain’t making it!" And boy, did that focus pay off. By going all-in on EVs, they left Volkswagen in the rearview mirror in China. They're also close to outpacing Tesla on the global stage.

What BYD's Cinderella story tells us is that shifting to electric isn't impossible for the car OGs. But it might mean leaving behind the stuff that once made you cool. The catch? Few seem ready to make that leap. Even with a decade to do the math.

And if you want a sneak peek of the next decade? Look at California. They're a few years ahead in the electric car love affair.

Tesla went from the awkward newbie to kicking Toyota off the prom king throne.

Even though Tesla's the talk of the town, they're still the new kid, selling less than 5% of the total cars in 2023.

The general buzz is that as more folks go electric, the old car giants will reclaim their cool. Some analysts even predict that Tesla’s electric throne will shrink by 2026.

But so far the gap isn’t closing, and the task gets harder as each year passes absent a breakout electric model. With scale comes manufacturing efficiency; with efficiency comes more scale.

It’s the same strength that helped legacy automakers gate-keep the car industry for the last century. But now it's their weakness.

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TESLA GOES ON HIRING SPREE FOR TESLA SEMI 🚛

In case you didn’t know: Tesla’s got this electric truck.

Not the Cybertruck… The Semi.

It's supposed to change the trucking world. Or I don't know... look really shiny on highways.

Semi’s Objective: Reduce those big, bad emissions. Kind of like how I aim to reduce my junk food intake… but then 2AM cheeseburgers happen.

Quick recap.

Tesla's idea of mass producing these trucks over the past year has resulted in a grand total of 70.

Yep, just 70.

I’ve personally made more bad decisions in a year.

In January, Tesla was like, "Alright team, let’s expand this Gigafactory and make more trucks!" It’s now nine months later and I guess they’ve expanded their minds and not the actual factory.

In August, they hired this new manufacturing guru for the Gigafactory. So things should be rolling now, right? Wrong. Like when I bought running shoes to start exercising... but they ended up looking pristine in the corner of my room.

Anyway. Now Tesla's dropping job titles like they're hot:

• Sr. Architect, Semi (Not the kind who daydreams about building sandcastles, I assume.)

• Structural Modelling Lead, Semi (I can't even structure my day, let alone model anything.)

• And a slew of others that makes me feel like I missed a career memo.

Oh, and the job description for the Senior Architect?

It sounds like designing Starfleet's next starship while planning an ultra-modern doghouse. Intense.

Tesla is onto something big with their Semi truck. Or they're just spectacular at making job titles.

Either way, I'll be over here... waiting to see if those trucks ever outpace my 2AM cheeseburger count.

FORD CANCELS F-150 DEALER STOCK ORDERS ❌

Remember when you made plans, told everyone, and then had to cancel last minute?

That's Ford with their 2023 F-150 Lightning.

The Detroit Free Press spilled the beans. Ford's putting the brakes on all dealer stock orders of this electric beast.

Not because the truck's revolting or anything. Nah. Ford's just doing a bit of "adulting" and double-checking their homework.

Ford's buddy, Marty Gunsberg, piped up to say, "Hey, we’re just taking these trucks back to the lab for some extra love and care." He didn’t use those words, but you get the gist.

It's all for quality. Not safety. Like when you make a cheeseburger, check it, and decide that maybe it needs an extra slice of cheese. Yep, definitely needs more.

Bit of background: Ford’s had a rough patch.

Imagine if every time you tried to cook, you set off the fire alarm. That's Ford with their recalls this year.

The cherry on top? Some eagle-eyed folks who go by “NHTSA” are now peeping into some Bronco engine drama. But Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, is cool as a cucumber. He's saying it's all part of the growing pains.

THE JUICE 🔋

The TakeOff Created for Silicon Valley founders, investors and professionals.*

Hyundai Group Announce NACS Support NACS will be coming to Hyundai and Kia vehicles in 2024. Another one bites the dust.

BYD’s BEV sales in Q3 have reached 99% of Tesla’s BYD delivered a record-breaking 287,454 EVs in September, up 43% YoY

Tesla Model Y RWD now available Starting at $43,990

The final 11 seconds of a fatal Tesla Autopilot crash

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.