Tesla, which spends very little money
on marketing, is inviting consumers into select locations for Earth Day, which is April 25.
An email sent on Tuesday invites recipients to “Experience Full Self-Driving
(Supervised) on a demo drive and receive a limited-availability Optimus Plant Cube. You can also speak with a Tesla Advisor to learn more about living sustainably by driving a Tesla and installing
your own home energy ecosystem. Visit us at a Tesla location near you or schedule a demo drive now to try FSD (Supervised) for yourself.”
The Texas-based automaker
continues to face significant legal challenges regarding its "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) and Autopilot systems, including class-action lawsuits, regulatory actions in California, and growing
international backlash over alleged false advertising.
advertisement
advertisement
The email features a photo of the Tesla Optimus humanoid robot, first announced at the company's Artificial
Intelligence Day event in August 2021. A prototype was shown in 2022.
The plant cube item is tied to the marketing of the Tesla Optimus humanoid robot, which has been shown in
demonstrations performing tasks such as watering plants.
Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has said Tesla's future is in self-driving "robotaxis" and humanoid robots like Optimus. Optimus is named after the main character in the Transformers
series, Optimus Prime.
Talking to consumers about living sustainably on Earth Day fits into Tesla’s longtime green living ethos.
While the
manufacturer doesn’t typically show up at auto shows, Tesla built a
“house of the future” at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show as the backdrop to the Tesla Model 3, Model S and Model X. All of the power in the house was generated by solar panels on the
roof of the elegant structure.
Other automakers have copied the idea, including General Motors Energy, which provides home energy solutions like Ultium Home chargers and
solar panels to help Americans capture and utilize clean energy. Customers using GM Energy's products can power their home, charge their electric vehicles, and store excess energy for backup
power.
Ford Motor Co. offers a similar Home Power Management system, which launched a pilot program last fall with DTE Energy, a Detroit-based energy company, to test
vehicle-to-home managed charging.