The Week in Tesla News: Model 3 Boosts Profits, Model S Returns to ’Ring, Flamethrower Feud and More

Tesla surprised analysts by posting a quarterly profit amid claims of being on track not only to meet its goal of delivering at least 360,000 cars across the globe this year, but also to begin manufacturing vehicles in China — and stocks rose accordingly. The company is also attempting to set a different kind of record as it’s back at the Nurburgring with a car that looks more and more outlandish every time it’s photographed.

Related: Which 2019 Electric Cars Have the Greatest Range?

Elsewhere: The company revealed the third version of its solar roof, creatively dubbed “V3” and a smoldering feud over … flamethrowers? … has led to threats of a lawsuit against Tesla CEO Elon Musk from — wait for it — Pablo Escobar’s brother. (Sure, why not?)

Q3 Profit Tied to Delivery Successes, China News

Tesla looks on track to meet its yearly goal of 360,000 to 400,000 total deliveries for 2019 — needing only to deliver just over 100,000 more cars to hit the lower figure — and posted a profit for the third quarter despite analysts predicting a loss. Given that the automaker says it delivered nearly 80,000 Model 3s alone in the third quarter, that delivery mark seems well within reach. The company also announced that it is still on track to bring its Shanghai Gigafactory up to full production as soon as it meets “governmental requirements.” Having a dedicated factory in China to handle both the manufacture and distribution of vehicles to a growing market should also help the company achieve its delivery goal.

Nurburgring 2: Electric Hullabaloo

Tesla is back in Germany once again, testing out more and more extreme versions of a Model S sedan. The Model S we’ve seen testing already had giant tires, the flared fenders to accommodate them and a big ducktail spoiler. Now, Tesla has added a gigantic rear diffuser that looks like it was taken directly off a racecar and an even crazier-looking rear spoiler towering over the ducktail. Musk claims the car being tested is a future production variant that will be built starting sometime in the summer of 2020, but the car sure doesn’t look like a production vehicle. As the Nurburgring works on ways to standardize the lap record process, hopefully Tesla will do more to show that whatever record-attempting (or -setting) car it has out on the track will be available to consumers.

The Roof, the Roof …

V3 of Tesla’s Solar Roof has been announced, and the company is claiming that it will cost less than a brand-new traditional roof and solar panels. Installation will initially be done by trained specialists, though Musk hopes that any contractor will eventually be able to perform an installation. That should make it easier for the company to meet its goal of 1,000 new roofs a week.

Flame(thrower) War

Musk has a new powerful and semi-famous nemesis: Roberto Escobar, brother of deceased drug lord Pablo Escobar. Escobar claims that Musk’s Boring Co.’s “Not-a-Flamethrower” stole his “toy flamethrower” idea. Fortunately for Musk, this has only led to threats of a lawsuit — better than what happened to other people who were thought to have wronged the Escobars (see “Plata o Ploma” entry here).

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