Episode 543: Tesla Patent Aims to Give FSD 'Sunglasses'
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Term
full self driving
Full self driving is a technology that allows cars to drive themselves without needing a person to control them. Tesla is working on improving this technology.
Term
glare shield
A glare shield is something that helps reduce the brightness from the sun so that you can see better. Tesla is working on a new version for their self-driving cars.
Term
FSD
FSD means Full Self-Driving, which is a feature in Tesla cars that allows them to drive themselves without needing a driver. It's like having a robot driver that can handle the car on its own.
Term
radar
Radar is a technology that helps cars detect other objects around them using radio waves. It's commonly used in features like cruise control that adjust the car's speed based on the distance to other vehicles.
Term
lidar
Lidar is a technology that helps cars 'see' their surroundings using lasers. It creates a 3D map of the area around the car, which is useful for self-driving cars to avoid obstacles.
Term
RoboTaxi
A RoboTaxi is a taxi that drives itself without a driver inside. You can get in and it takes you where you want to go all by itself.
Company
CATL
CATL is a big company in China that makes batteries for electric cars. They're one of the top suppliers in the world.
Company
LG Energy Solution
LG Energy Solution is a company from South Korea that makes batteries for electric cars. They are known for making high-quality batteries.
Part
4680 cells
4680 cells are big battery cells made by Tesla that help their electric cars go further and cost less to make. They're a new design that makes the batteries better.
Car
Tesla Model Y
The Tesla Model Y is an electric SUV made by Tesla. It's popular for being roomy and having a lot of modern technology.
Car
Tesla Cybertruck
The Tesla Cybertruck is a new electric truck that looks very different from regular trucks because of its sharp, futuristic shape. It's important because it uses special batteries that help it go further without needing to be charged as often. This truck is part of Tesla's effort to change how we think about and use trucks.
Term
Cybercell 4680
The Cybercell 4680 is a new kind of battery used in Tesla cars. It's bigger than older batteries, which helps the cars go further and cost less to make.
Term
2170 form factor cells
2170 form factor cells are a specific size and shape of battery used in some Tesla cars. They help power the vehicles and are designed to be efficient and long-lasting.
Term
Tesla 4680
The Tesla 4680 is a new kind of battery used in Tesla cars. It's bigger than older batteries, which helps the cars go further and cost less to make.
Term
structural battery pack
A structural battery pack is a type of battery that also helps hold the car together, making it stronger and safer. It saves space and weight compared to traditional battery designs.
Term
4680 battery cells
4680 battery cells are a new kind of battery made by Tesla that are bigger and designed to be more efficient. They help electric cars go further on a single charge.
Part
treadwear warranty
A treadwear warranty is a promise from the tire company that the tires will last for a certain number of miles before they need to be replaced.
Term
V and W speed rated models
Speed ratings tell you how fast a tire can go safely. V-rated tires can go up to 149 miles per hour, and W-rated tires can go up to 168 miles per hour.
Term
performance cars
Performance cars are special types of cars made to go faster and handle better than regular cars. They have stronger engines and better parts for driving quickly.
Term
summer tires
Summer tires are special tires made for warm weather. They help cars grip the road better when it's hot, but they don't work well in snow or ice.
Part
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S is a type of tire made by Michelin that is great for sports cars. They help the car grip the road better, especially when driving fast or in wet weather.
Car
Tesla Model 3
The Tesla Model 3 is a popular electric car known for being affordable and having a good driving range. It was released in 2016 and is a key model in Tesla's lineup.
Term
all-wheel drive
All-wheel drive means that all four wheels of the car get power from the engine, which helps with grip and control, especially in rain or snow.
Term
rear-wheel drive
Rear-wheel drive means that the back wheels of the car get the power from the engine, which can make the car handle differently, especially when turning or in bad weather.
Term
all-season tires
All-season tires are types of tires that work well in different weather conditions, so you can use them all year without needing to change them for winter or summer.
Company
America's Tire
America's Tire is a store where you can buy tires for your car. They also help with things like putting the tires on and fixing them if needed.
Car
Ford F150 Lightning
The Ford F-150 Lightning is an electric version of Ford's popular pickup truck, the F-150. It’s important because it shows that trucks can be electric and still do a lot of work, like towing and carrying heavy loads. This truck is designed for people who want a powerful vehicle that is also better for the environment.
Car
Polestar 2
The Polestar 2 is an electric car that is stylish and made by a brand connected to Volvo. It’s important because it offers a mix of luxury and being good for the environment, making it a great choice for people who want a nice car that doesn’t use gas. This car has modern technology and a simple design that many people find appealing.
Car
Toyota bZ4X
The Toyota bZ4X is a new electric SUV that shows Toyota's commitment to making electric cars. It’s important because it’s part of Toyota’s plan to create more environmentally friendly vehicles. This SUV is designed to be practical and efficient, making it a good choice for families who want an electric car.
LIVE
On this week's episode of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV Podcast, a new Tesla patent aims to tackle the issue of sun glare affecting FSD at low light angles by giving the system, in my words, sunglasses.
Plus, Tesla boosts battery production efforts at Giga Berlin, a deeper look at tire manufacturers' warranties and how they might be able to benefit EV drivers and more.
What's happening friends and happy holidays to all of you, my name is Ryan McCaffrey, you all know that, unless this is your first episode, in which case, welcome to Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV Podcast, it's a weekly podcast where I cover
all things Tesla, all things interesting in the EV space. This is episode 543, publishing on December 28th, 2025. I'm recording a smidge earlier than I normally would, typically I record on Friday evenings and then release the episode for everybody on Sunday morning at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific.
It'll still be released at the same time here, but I'm recording this a little earlier in the day, here on December 26th of Friday, as we've got some larger, bigger extended family plans going on tonight, so figured I'd get the podcast done and out of the way.
And those of you who are kindly backing me on Patreon will get extra early access, I mean you guys might have family plans as well, listen to it at your convenience, it's all good, thanks to all of you kindly backing me on Patreon.
So welcome to the final Ride the Lightning episode of 2025, no no, don't worry, that sentence did have an additional couple words there, it's not the last episode ever, not even close, we're just getting warmed up after 10 years of this.
But the final Ride the Lightning publishing in 2025, there will be 52 more coming your way next year, and in fact kicking that off the first episode of 2026 next week will be my annual Tesla New Year's predictions.
Although I guess, you know what, I think I might have to expand that out this year to include Tesla and all EVs, so Tesla and EV predictions since it was earlier this year where I broadened the scope of this podcast a little bit to start talking about and including news and discussion about other EVs besides just Tesla.
Part of the annual New Year's predictions episode though, for those of you that have been with me for a little while, includes the fun part of holding myself accountable where I score myself, I go back to the previous year's predictions and I grade myself on how well or perhaps how not well I did on my 2025 predictions, so stay tuned for that on next week's episode.
Meanwhile, this week's episode, the one you're listening to right now, will probably turn out to be a bit shorter than usual on account of the news cycle being about as quiet as it gets at any point in the year here over the holidays.
And I figure, well, next week will be better. We'll get when everybody's kind of back a little bit more in their regular routine next week, I'll do those New Year's predictions as we kick off 2026.
Oh, and speaking of the Patreon, by the way, as we close out one year and head into a new one, I do want to say a very sincere thank you to all of you kindly supporting this podcast at any tier on the Patreon.
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So one more time, it's patreon.com slash Tesla podcast.
Diving straight into our main headline story for this week, Tesla is aiming to combat a common full self driving problem with a new patent.
I saw this story on Tesla Roddy who writes in part,
One issue with Tesla's vision based approach is that sunlight glare can become a troublesome element of everyday travel.
Full self driving is certainly an amazing technology, but there are still things Tesla is aiming to figure out with its development.
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to get around this issue and even humans need a way to combat it when they're driving as we commonly use sunglasses and or sun visors to give us better visibility.
Cameras obviously do not have these ways to fight sun glare, but a new patent Tesla had recently published aims to fight this through a glare shield.
That's in quotes, that is how Tesla refers to it.
The ability to see surroundings is crucial for accurate performance and glare is one element of interference that has yet to be confronted.
Tesla described the patents which will utilize quote,
A textured surface composed on an array of micro cones or cone shaped formations which serve to scatter incident light in various directions, thereby reducing glare and improving camera vision.
The patent was first spotted by not a Tesla app, who I've certainly cited on this podcast plenty of times before.
The design of the micro cones is the first element of the puzzle to fight the excess glare.
The patent says they are, quote, optimized in size, angle and orientation to minimize total hemispherical reluctance,
Excuse me, not reluctance.
Boy, it sounds like I need to go back to bed here on the day after Christmas.
Reflectance, total hemispherical reflectance and reflection penalty enhancing the camera's ability to accurately interpret visual data, end quote.
Additionally, there is an electromechanical system for dynamic orientation adjustment which will allow the micro cones to move based on the angle of the external light sources.
So I read this and my first thought was, wait a second, is this a fancy way of saying that Tesla is aiming to give FSD sunglasses?
I think that seems like, if I'm correctly converting that explanation into layman's terms in my own brain, that does seem like a fair way to boil it down,
but regardless of whether or not the Tesla engineering team filing this patent would agree with my description of it,
this does absolutely sound like a very, very smart approach to trying to navigate through what are clearly everybody has to acknowledge,
there are trade-offs of a camera-only system, and this is one of the downsides, so this is quite a smart way of trying to tackle that problem.
I mean, it's clear now, although I guess in fairness it's been clear for quite some time really, that Tesla is all in on the vision-only approach.
They're not going to be turning back now, no matter what at this stage.
By turning back, I mean reintroducing radar, which my 2018 car has a radar unit in it, it's just not utilized anymore.
So they're not going to be reintroducing radar, they're not going to be introducing lidar or any other non-camera sensors at this point.
So if this patent ends up becoming a real product, or I guess maybe more specifically than product, if it ends up becoming a real part in the car,
my question is, and possibly your question as well, what about the existing fleet?
Like, is this something that could be retrofitted, either upon customer request or just automatically to anyone that's purchased FSD?
Because if not, if the answer to that is no, well then what happens in situations when we do reach unsupervised full self-driving,
which could happen in 2026, I mean the CEO has said it will, granted his timelines have not always worked out in the FSD department,
as we all know and as he has acknowledged in the past.
So I'll just say, if 2026 is the year for unsupervised FSD, and well even as I record this, as I talked to you about on last week's podcast,
Tesla is now testing RoboTaxi fully driverless in Austin.
So by the time this airs, it is possible that they have flipped that switch and are offering full driverless RoboTaxi rides.
But anyway, when we get unsupervised FSD in our own cars, let's put it that way, where the sun angles super tough, potentially causing a problem,
what then? Like if this is not a retrofitable solution.
So I guess that is the key question for me that I acknowledge doesn't have to be answered yet, since after all this is only in the patent stage.
This did not come as an official announcement from Tesla or the parts not yet in the cars.
Once Tesla formally acknowledges this in a public way, then it'll be time for them to answer that question.
But for now, it's just the community digging up a public patent filing.
So we're not owed an explanation yet, or I guess I should say we're not owed the answers to our questions just yet,
but I hope that those answers are going to be satisfactory.
But this certainly, this sunglasses thing is really, it's intriguing, and whether or not I'm going to be able to get this installed in my own car
was the first thing that jumped into my mind when I read this story, but super neat technology regardless.
Like regardless of the retrofit situation, this is pretty cool stuff.
Next up this week, Tesla has landed one of its largest energy storage contracts to date, securing an agreement for a massive 500 megawatt battery project in Scotland
with the company Matrix Renewables.
Saw this one on DriveTeslaCanada who wrote,
Located in Eccles, the BESS site will sit along key transmission corridors between Scotland and England, allowing the system to play a critical role in easing grid congestion,
reducing renewable curtailment, and supporting higher penetration of wind and solar generation across the UK electricity system.
We are excited to support Matrix Renewables with their entry into the UK, bringing Tesla's track record in the market together with Matrix Renewables' expertise and vision,
said Tesla Energy Vice President Mike Snyder.
We highly value the partnership with their team and look forward to executing this landmark project together.
For Matrix Renewables, the Eccles BESS marks its first standalone battery project in the UK and one of its largest storage developments globally.
Well thank you to the DriveTeslaCanada folks for that one.
And as you all know, or maybe have just observed in your time listening to the podcast,
I don't do Tesla Energy stories too too often.
It's not that they're not important.
They're just quite frankly not as fun to me as the automotive side of things.
It's quite honestly just not as interesting to me.
However, they are a huge part of Tesla's business.
We've been seeing that especially be the case in recent quarters.
The vehicle business has been lagging a bit for various reasons,
but not the energy side of the business.
The energy side has been picking up the slack for the automotive side
and the energy side of Tesla's business continues to boom.
And so that means that stories like this, when these massive projects are announced,
it is certainly newsworthy and I'm happy to talk about it.
When you've got utility companies and municipalities
signing up for these gargantuan mega pack projects,
it is hugely beneficial to the local environment and the local community.
I mean, remember the first big one from Australia?
And if you're like, oh yeah, that one is years old now
and it has proven to be a fantastic investment for everybody involved.
And hopefully this one in Scotland in the UK
helps keep another peaker plant from being needed
and hopefully it replaces some fossil fuel generated energy with renewable energy.
500 megawatt hours, that is just a colossal amount of power.
So bravo to the folks in Scotland at Matrix Renewables
for getting this deal done and making this happen
for the communities that will be served by this in Scotland.
Next this week, in fact the final Tesla specific news story I've got for you,
Tesla boosts battery production efforts at Giga Berlin, no not Texas, it's Berlin.
One more tip of the cap to drive Tesla Canada
who wrote, Tesla is once again pushing forward with its long term battery plans at Giga Berlin
while also restarting battery pack assembly at the site.
According to Tesla, the company is now preparing Giga Berlin
to support up to 8 gigawatt hours of battery cell production annually
beginning as early as 2027 provided economic and regulatory conditions allow.
To support this goal, Tesla confirmed it will invest an additional investment
in the hundreds of millions of euros into battery operations
bringing total investment in on-site cell manufacturing
to nearly 1 billion euros which translates to about 1.2 billion dollars US
and that figure comes via Reuters.
Tesla says the objective is to consolidate the entire battery value chain
at a single European location from cells to battery packs to finished vehicles.
If fully realized, this would make Giga Berlin
one of the most vertically integrated EV production sites in Europe.
A distinction Tesla notes is currently difficult to achieve
given cost pressures and competition from China and the United States.
At the same time, Tesla has resumed battery pack assembly at Giga Berlin
after a temporary suspension earlier this year.
Production had been disrupted following an August fire in the battery pack area
which destroyed several hundred cells but resulted in no injuries.
Since then, Tesla has reconfigured the facility
implementing new equipment and updated manufacturing processes
allowing it to restart operations.
Plant Manager Andrei Tirig recently described the revamped operation
at an internal Tesla event as Tesla's most highly automated battery pack factory worldwide
highlighting significant upgrades to plant engineering and automation systems
according to the German publication Handelsblatt.
While battery packs were previously assembled at Giga Berlin
using cells from suppliers such as CATL and LG Energy Solution
the updated packs now integrate Tesla manufactured 4680 cells shipped from Giga Texas.
This change means that Model Y vehicles built in Berlin
will soon be delivered in Europe with Tesla's 4680 cells
though the company has not yet confirmed which specific variants will receive them.
Tesla had previously paused plans for local cell production in Germany in 2022
opting to prioritize US investments amid more favorable subsidy programs at the time.
Well, I have to be quite honest here as always
I had completely forgotten about this
this meaning battery production at Giga Berlin
because Giga Texas of course got their battery production going
and for a while there we had a standard range Model Y
a standard range all wheel drive Model Y
with 4680 cells
but then after not too too long that ended
and then we didn't see anything from Giga Texas's battery production again
until November of 2023 when the Cybertruck launched
with the Cybercell 4680
but if you remember back
around the same time that Texas originally got started with their battery production
Giga Berlin was supposed to as well
and that did end up happening as the article that I just read you mentioned
but with 2170 form factor cells
so the fact that Tesla is now ramping back up on 4680s
that is interesting to me and honestly it's pretty exciting
unfortunately as we've all seen pretty clearly by now
the Cybertruck has not been selling nearly as well as it had been forecasted to by Tesla
and thus Tesla hasn't presumably had to allocate nearly as much 4680 inventory
or 4680 resources to that Cybertruck effort, the Cybercell effort
freeing up more of it to be used out of Berlin
it could also be, I'll note
that Tesla has simply ramped up on 4680s
regardless of the state of Cybertruck's production numbers
it doesn't necessarily have to be an either or thing
it can be both
and so this leads me to a follow-up question
will these 4680 cell model-wise out of Berlin
be built with the structural battery pack?
remember that one?
that was supposed to be a safer, more rigid
just a better way to build the Model Y
with the structural battery pack
and so I would presume the answer to that question is yes
that these 4680 model-wise will be made as structural battery packs
because I don't believe that any Model Ys with 4680s
be they in Texas or Berlin
have ever been built any other way
meaning just in a standard skateboard battery pack
but presumably that is simply a
well, simpler to use the term that I think Tesla would prefer
maybe the term would be more efficient
that building them using a structural battery pack process
would be a more efficient way to make the Model Y
and thus it might also lower the manufacturing cost
of each Model Y as well
and thus increasing Tesla's margins
now the article asked a good question
that I don't have a direct answer to
but let's think about it here for a second
the article asked the good question of
which variants would this
these 4680 cells be for in Berlin
could it be for the seemingly imminent Model YL
for Europe?
Well, probably not
because according to that report from last week's podcast
those cars are going to be built in Shanghai
still and then just exported to Berlin
but if Berlin does ever start manufacturing the Model YL itself
then I think it's a totally fair question to wonder
well will they start doing the L
with the structural battery pack with the 4680s
we shall see on that one
but I think the one variant we can rule out
for now is the new Model Y performance
because that one is a very specific beast
whose battery cell from Panasonic that we've already learned about
is very specific to that vehicle
it's not to say that Tesla and Panasonic couldn't start
building those as 4680 cells
but I think it's reasonable to presume for now
that it's not going to be the Model Y performance
that gets 4680 structural battery packs out of Berlin
but most likely the more vanilla variance of the vehicle
so we shall soon find out
that's the good news here
we will learn this before too long
in fact I wonder if it'll even be coming up
on the next earnings call
which I guess looking at the calendar
where are we here?
I think we're probably four episodes away
from the next earnings call
so stay tuned for that before too long
alright in other EV news this week
I wanted to say thank you to listener James Chiray
for sending me this insideevs.com article
about how many EV owners can potentially cut down
on their tire replacement costs
so again a tip of the cap to inside EVs
who wrote in their article
when a tiktok creator announced he might be getting
free tires for his EV thanks to a nearly forgotten
treadwear warranty clause
the first people to weigh in weren't skeptics
they were tire shop employees
wondering why no one talks about this
the clip from Colorado based creator Jason Brooks
is a top level hack of sorts for EV owners
who may be in some cases alarmed
at the rate of wear on their tires
and the cost of replacing them
with sometimes less than 20,000 miles of use
quote
the warranty says that if you run them down
to 230 seconds of an inch
and they're not at 40,000 miles
they'll give you a free set of tires
Brooks said in the clip that's been viewed
more than 82,000 times
they're never gonna last that long
meaning he's referring to in an EV
so I just got free
IP says I paid $1,400
for lifetime tires basically
Brooks says he turned to chat GPT
for clarity on treadwear warranties
then pulled the documentation
for the Toyo Celsius sport tire
that he's running
which lists a 40,000 mile treadwear warranty
for V and W speed rated models
the key sentence in Toyo's own materials
eligible tires that reach 230 seconds of an inch
of remaining tread before the mileage limit
may qualify for free replacement
assuming all conditions are met
including proper tire rotation
at manufacturer recommended intervals
documentation proving those rotations
meaning receipts from a tire shop or logs
no signs of misalignment or uneven wear
tires used on the same vehicle
for the entire service life
and no use for commercial or track applications
those requirements inside EVs continues
are fairly standard across the industry
treadwear warranties from major manufacturers
are almost always contingent on documentation
and even wear as described by the
Tire Industry Association guidelines
Brooks claims he has rotated the tires
twice in 8,000 miles
and expects them to reach 230 seconds of an inch
again before he hits even 20,000 miles
which of course is far short of the
40,000 mile warranty limit
what makes this clip different
from typical viral warranty hacks
is the volume of tire techs confirming the basic idea
even as they warn that the process
isn't as generous as Brooks suggests
quote, I work at a tire shop
I wish I thought to spread this information
one commenter wrote
others said they regularly process
prorated claims for customers who meet requirements
still many warned that EV drivers run into
a predictable obstacle
even the slightest uneven wear
can void treadwear protection
a popular response put it bluntly quote
uneven wear will void every EV
I have yet to see one that doesn't have
an alignment issue and quote from again
this is from a alleged tire technician
commenter on this on this video
some professionals cast doubt
on Brooks's interpretation
one commenter claiming to work in the
industry said quote
you will never get a free set of tires
you will always get a prorated warranty
end quote
others insisted they've seen
full replacement treadwear claims
honored just not often on performance
tires or EVs
Brooks closes the video by
urging viewers to quote look at your
tire warranties man
just stop paying full price
end quote
in that sense his message is less
about gaming the system and more about
making use of a consumer protection
that most drivers forget
exists
well thank you to inside EVs
and to Mr. Brooks there
for the video
and I wanted to just mention this on this
week's show because I think it's a
great PSA now
I will say I've heard about this
before but
I'll be honest I haven't yet
put it into practice myself
and I should
I should because I'm granted
I know if I would qualify
and it's because
as gone over in that article there
and as all of you know
we have two performance model
threes
so two performance cars on
summer tires
now I don't take I haven't tracked
either one of them on
at least on their current set of tires
so that's a check I do
rotate them at least on the 2018
because the 2024 can't be rotated
so I
check the boxes so I'm going to keep an eye
on the 2018 car
with it's Michelin Pilot
Sport 4S's which have been great
tires for me
I'm on my third set
the first set
here in 78
across 78,000 miles today
the first set was cut short because of
blowing out two
tires at once
on a wicked pothole
it was a freeway
it was a bad scene
if you've been listening for a long long time
you might remember that story from
that would have been
2019
that was a while ago
but anyway
point is for me
I'm going to be keeping a close eye
on the 2018 Model 3
and perhaps get to take advantage
of this
and that's why I wanted to mention it
in case it
sort of lights a
flicks a light bulb on
in the brains for any of you guys out there
because if I can pass this along
and potentially save any of you money
of course I want to do that
of course I want to be of use to you
and try to help out
if I possibly can
now
I realize I'm very much in the minority
with the fact that
A, I have a performance Tesla at all
and B
two of them
that both EVs are performance but
most of you out there
most of you listening to this
have either all-wheel drive
non-performance Teslas or rear-wheel drive Teslas
with all-season tires
and so hopefully this
what I've just talked about should
absolutely apply to you
so just make sure that you're getting your rotations
done regularly
I'll say
I'll give them an intentional plug here
but over in my neck of the woods
America's Tire
which is known as Discount Tire
in certain places like I don't only know that
because in Arizona
where I mostly grew up
there Discount Tire down there
but that particular
chain you know it's a big chain
tire place they do rotations
for free maybe some other
big chain shops in your area
do too so just stay on top
of your tire rotations
and if you haven't had an alignment done
maybe you'll say well
maybe it's too late for this set of tires
but just keep that in the back of your mind
make sure you're getting your alignment checked on a
you know every I think you're supposed to check it
every two maybe three years I think it's
every two years
check the alignment but keep this in mind
for the next time that your tires
wear down
and in fact I made this
the subject of this week's Patreon poll
because I wanted to see
basically I kind of wanted to see
if talking about this on the
podcast was going to be
a public service announcement
or if this is something that everybody already knows
so
at the beginning of the week I put up
the Patreon poll which again
is totally free you don't have to be
backing me on Patreon all you have to do is
stop by patreon.com
slash Tesla podcast
stop by once a week and vote
in the poll it's open to everybody
this week's question was
simply have you ever
utilized your tire manufacturers
treadwear warranty
and
I said well I'll explain the whole thing on this
weekend's episode
and the results kind of back up
what I suspected
and meaning I'm glad I
spent a few minutes on this story this week
54% of you
voted no you've not
done that and I would have to vote no myself
in this poll
and another 26% of you
voted wait what
I'm eager to learn more about this
17%
of you said yes
so essentially
about 5 out of every
6 of you listening
hopefully got something out of that
and again I just felt like that was
it's like it's not a
news story but I just thought it was a
potentially really useful PSA
because it might be able to save
you hundreds of dollars
and I'm looking at myself in the mirror on that too
like I'm looking at this might save
me hundreds of dollars so
I was happy to find this story
I want to say thank you again
to listener James on that
for sending this in
and hopefully you'll find it useful
as well
alright that's everything I've got for you
in this week's Tesla and EV news
but stay tuned for your phone calls
in the ride the lightning hotline I think I've got
finally for once here
I've got time to get to a few
more of your phone calls than I typically do
there are plenty of good ones
ready and waiting to be aired
so let's do that in just a minute
hi this is Franz von Holthausen
and you're listening to
ride the lightning with Ryan McAfrey
the Tesla unofficial podcast
before those ride the lightning
hotline calls let me mention
usual my friends at Accelerate Auto
and their X care
EV battery warranty
extended warranty specifically
you may have heard recently
that Tesla themselves now offers
a battery and drive unit
extended service agreement but
it's not for every Tesla owner
and it's not the same kind of protection
Tesla's battery
ESA is available only
for Model 3 and Model Y
so if you own an S, X
or Cybertruck this coverage
is not even an option
for those who do qualify
Tesla's battery ESA
lasts just two years
or 30,000 miles
after the factory coverage ends
X cares battery and drive
unit protection is built for long-term
ownership not simply
short extensions
Tesla charges a $500
deductible per visit
multiple visits mean multiple deductibles
X care offers
flexible deductible options
designed to limit repeat out of
pocket costs
Tesla requires all
covered repairs to be done only at Tesla service centers
X care works with
approved EV repair facilities
giving owners flexibility
when wait times matter
Tesla excludes
battery degradation, capacity loss
and software related
performance changes
X care focuses on actual battery
and drive unit failure risk
not just narrow definitions
Tesla offers limited coverage
limited models, limited time
X care delivers broader
longer term protection
when you compare them side by side
it's not even close
go to xcare.com
xcar.com
to find the best coverage plan
for you and your vehicle today
I'm a two time customer
now of X care
my friends at Accelerate Auto
that's X C A R E
.com and tell them Ryan
from ride the lightning sent you
welcome to the ride the lightning hotline
it is your chance to call in and
potentially be featured on an
upcoming episode so if you've got
a Tesla and or EV
related comment question
discussion topic etc
give me a call I welcome
and invite you to do so
there are two ways to do it
either use your smart phones built in voice
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and leave a message on the ride the lightning hotline
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that number again
1-888-989
T S L A
and if you know someone special out there
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first up this week is Sean
from Auburn California
so I was super lucky
I got to put in my order for my model
why performance
literally hours before the tax credit went away
and I got to say thank you to Tesla
for giving it that opportunity
but now I guess I'm getting greedy
because I'm wondering what the possibilities are
of a model YL performance
and let's wonder
what your thoughts on
maybe that possibly happen
thanks a lot, love the show
I have to confess here to start with it
Sean's call has been in my queue
for a good little while now
so Sean let me first say congratulations
on sneaking in
in that tiny little
hours long window that Tesla had
where you could order
the model Y performance
and still qualify
for the federal tax credit
you're going to be getting a fantastic car
and I wonder if in fact
by the time you hear this
here at the end of December
or maybe you're listening at the very beginning of January
hopefully you've taken delivery
of that car by now
but to answer your question
it's this
honestly while I have to believe
and I continue to believe
would be the way to say it
that we are going to get the model YL
here in North America
I don't think it's going to be anytime soon
I don't think it's going to hit
before Q3
of 2026
you will have long since taken
delivery like I said by the time you hear this
maybe you've just taken delivery already
and I honestly don't
think that Tesla is going to make
a performance variant of the L
I think that one
is going to focus on luxury
rather than performance
even though in fairness
it does have the
model Y performance spoiler on it
so I'll give it that but
I don't think the two are going to merge
I don't think we're going to see
a model YL
performance no LP
which is
makes me think of albums
but no LP in this case
I don't think
I'd be thrilled to be proven wrong
as I often say on the podcast
but I don't see it in this case
what I'll give you to close out though
I'll give you my updated price
prediction
for the model YL if and when it arrives
on US shores
knowing what the
now that we know what the model Y
performance price is
I think the L
will start
when it arrives in the US
as I do believe it will
I think it's going to be $59,990
with obviously the chance
to option it up higher with paint colors
and maybe a larger wheel option
white interior
potentially
and of course FSD
but I think $59,990
that's where I'm placing my wager
in terms of US starting price
US base price
for the model YL
next up this week
here's Larry from Atlanta
Hey Ryan
Larry here from Atlanta how you doing
I just kind of thought
and I was just wondering
your opinion on it
in reference to supercharger
do you think it would be possible
if Tesla
would add a feature
into the navigation
primarily if you're doing a road trip
so for example let's just say
you're doing a trip from Los Angeles to New York
it will populate
all the supercharging stops
that you would need to get to your destination
but also
the cost
of what that trip will cost
you to get from point A to point B
so for an example
it will show all the stops
it will tell you how long the charge
and it will give you an estimate
of what that charge will cost
and it will give you an estimate
of what that trip will cost
from point A to point B
just wanted your thoughts on that
and the second question is
do you think that
Tesla would
create a
modified version of the lux package
for us model 3 and Y owners
you know are we interested
in something like a 2 year plan
even if
they don't add like
maybe like a 2 year plan
for a certain amount of supercharging
just wanted to get your thoughts on that
like we do, thanks for everything
Larry, thank you
for your excellent call
to your first request
to have the total estimated
supercharging cost displayed
when you punch a road trip into the nav
oh my goodness I cannot possibly
co-sign that idea
quickly enough
this is an absolutely fantastic
suggestion the Tesla
could and should absolutely
do yes
it would have to be displayed on your screen
as an estimated cost
because it's obviously up to
you when you decide to unplug
the car like it's up to you to determine
how much juice goes into the car
at a supercharger and
there can also be fluctuating
rates at some
supercharging locations depending on time of
day but an estimate would
still be super useful for
trip planning so yes
I hope Tesla does this one
ASAP
second
I have talked about the lux package
for the 3 and the Y before
and I'm with you I would absolutely
love to see it in fact I was talking to
somebody in real life about this recently
I forget how this topic came up
and that person that I was chatting
with made the really good point
that having
the service coverage that's
part of the lux package
that could overwhelm
the service centers since
the 3 and the Y are just
so so so much more of the
fleet the overall fleet
than the SNXR
but like you said Larry
it could be a modified lux
package it you know just
just give us the
unlimited supercharging the premium
connectivity and then say
the windshield and
tire warranties and just
leave out the recommended
maintenance part of
the lux package so that
way people would only be coming
into service if they had a windshield
or tire issue which are
things that they would be coming in for
anyway even without the lux
package I just think
as I know I've said this before but
I just really think it's easy
money for Tesla here
would take very very little to
implement in terms of resources
energy effort like it's
already they've already done the work
to build this on the back
end for SNX so
let's do it let's make it an
option that's the keyword optional
for 3 and Y which it's
not for SX
and cyberbeast but as long as it's
optional I think it'd be awesome
but yes Larry I very
much hope they do it thank you again
for calling in
next up here's a fairly regular
caller always good to hear from
Damon in Northbrook Illinois
Hey Ryan Damon out of
Northbrook Illinois just wanted to hear
your thoughts on how Tesla
kind of fell short of its promises
on the cyber truck
for performance
range price and
roaster on delivery timelines
and I think a lot of it probably has to do with
battery tech and what Tesla might have been
expecting to come from its 4680
cells and just battery tech in general
where it would have been denser
lighter less expensive
and the tech just maybe never got
to where they thought it would in the time that
they thought it would so that could definitely affect
why the cyber truck didn't get the range
and cost that it should have
whereas with the roaster maybe they've
just been waiting to release the car
until the battery tech got there and it
just hasn't really had the kind of
big changes in performance
that they might have expected for this kind of
timeline so
and also the cyber truck that
was going to be built with simple tooling
brake presses
and folded up like origami
and exoskeleton and it ended up being
this big messy
hodgepodge of
glued and stamped metal
and
die cast and just a much more
complex construction of a car than I think they originally
thought it would be so
but yeah with those two things in mind
I think
I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on
what that might have done to affect
the release of both those products
anyhow as always really appreciate
all the work you do wish you the best over the holidays
and look forward to hearing your thoughts
take care bye
Hey Damon it's always great to hear from you
and thank you for the kind holiday wishes
same back to you
there are definitely a lot of factors
involved in the delays
and disappointments regarding both of those vehicles
and you weren't suggesting
otherwise to be clear
but I think you're absolutely correct
that battery tech played
a maybe not
insignificant role in both of them
I mean Tesla has since admitted
that the dry cathode tech
for the 4680 cell hasn't quite
gone as well as they'd hoped
so that's certainly part of the puzzle
with cyber truck
but I think they also in hindsight
on cyber truck specifically
fell victim to feature
creep a little bit as well
not that the truck isn't great
it is anybody who has driven it
knows it is phenomenal
but we definitely know
steer by wire was not part of the original spec
nor was rear wheel steering
nor was the 48 volt architecture
or the ether loop
in car wiring stuff
etc
as you noted
what Tesla originally pitched
to the public for cyber truck
was a simple to build
and thus cheap to build
and thus cheap to sell
stainless steel super tough
truck
they delivered that
just minus the cheap part
and I don't really know
about the simple to build part
that I don't have enough
insight internally at Tesla
to know if cyber truck is
fairly simple to build
or if it's not
the fact that they still
haven't cut the cost
meaning the actual end user
price of cyber truck
would suggest to me that
it is not a simple truck to build
and thus
that's why the prices have remained where they are
but they did end up
putting a bunch of other
cool tech on it
as I was just reading to you
Tesla's all super cool
but
along with the 4680
seemingly not quite
panning out like they'd hoped
that all that resulted in the
and I know there were some exterior factors
well again there's not one thing here
but the bottom line
is that
in part
for the choices that Tesla themselves made
the base model
truck
debuted was twice the price
of the
originally announced base price
of the truck
and yes I know that
the base that one was
that it was actually the second trim
they just never delivered the single motor
like the base kind of the
$40,000 one
so it's not quite apples to apples but
just to the bottom line is
the cheapest cyber truck
available
and which is twice as much as
what was originally
supposed to be the cheapest version
of the truck at $40,000
and sales
sales of the truck
simply have not recovered from that
despite how cool the cyber
truck is in the tech department
now as for Roadster
I certainly think that
battery tech must have been a factor
but
my gut and that's all it is
tells me maybe not quite as much
of one
because if we take a look
at the bigger Tesla picture
and Damon I know you know this
I'm not trying to lecture or explain here
but just to kind of paint the whole picture
Tesla did
end up delivering the Roadster
in the performance
department
they delivered it in 2021
in the shape of the plaid model
S
I just think that the Roadster wasn't
a priority for them and Elon
has without maybe
using quite
those blunt of words
he has used the
cherry on top of the dessert
analogy or metaphor
whatever he's said that a lot
over the years
and I just think the Roadster
wasn't a priority for them
and when I say
not a priority I mean
I don't think they were working on it at all
for a lot of the years
well because there's no way
they could have been working on it this whole time
right if they had been
working on it this whole time
it would have come out by now
so I think they really
genuinely put it on the back burner
for a lot of years
while they were understandably
trying to scale up
into a high volume
profitable automaker
because if you remember
back when the new Roadster was announced
in late 2017 yes
more than 8 years ago now
Tesla wasn't
profitable yet
they had only just started shipping the Model 3
in fact
at the time of the Roadster's
unveiling
the only people that could get a Model 3
were Tesla employees
still at that point
so that means that they hadn't gone through
the quote-unquote production hell yet
which means
they hadn't become the high volume
automaker yet
and they also thus weren't profitable yet
once the Model 3
got up to speed
well then the focus became the Model Y
understandable it's the
money maker for the company now
and then the focus became
the Cybertruck
you could start to nitpick there like
well maybe they got a little too into the weeds
and they should have got the Roadster
but it's neither here nor there
but the bottom line is
the Roadster just
never seemed to get any
momentum internally
but now finally
finally finally it's moving forward
and even though Tesla
does you can rightly
criticize them for how long it's been
on that car the good news
is that the vehicle
that they will finally deliver
and gosh hopefully about 2 years from now
should be
light years beyond
the thing that they announced in 2017
that is now
basically on the road
in the form of the Plaid Model S
if my theory
about that patent
from some months back on Roadster
is correct
and the car has the
the big fans underneath
to keep it suctioned to the ground
for high speed cornering
and
it's got the SpaceX powered cold gas thrusters
at the back
to propel it forward
it is genuinely going to be
unlike any production car
that anyone's ever seen
hopefully we get to see it for ourselves
on April 1st
that's the date Elon had given
I think he was serious about that date
time will tell
but in any case thank you Damon
for calling in
next up this week here's Bobby
in Lake Elsinore California
a topic that came up for me recently
due to a
minor to moderate accident
is Tesla insurance
I'm currently going through
Tesla insurance and it's been
quite a miserable experience
and apparently has a poor reputation online
and I know they're trying to vertically
integrate Tesla insurance
to maybe improve it
it seriously has me thinking of actually
going back to a gas car
because other insurance companies
don't understand the market
and they charge high prices which is why
Tesla has their own insurance
but given the current experience
and they're just hard to
escalate issues with
they don't seem to be on the customer side
they seem to be on their own side
and
pressure me into fighting the other
insurance company by myself
and it's really weird and I
don't know if you've explored this
topic before but I think it would be useful
because in my opinion
it could be the deal breaker
for people purchasing
Teslas they seem to have hit a bit of a
ceiling in the marketplace
and that might be one of the
one of the sticking points I know it is
with a couple of my co-workers
so maybe you could explore that topic
and again I appreciate your show
thank you for your
call though I wish you were sharing
happier news I have mentioned
the Tesla insurance situation
in California before
and it's a shame that it
doesn't seem to have gotten any
better since I had mentioned that
over the last two or three months
maybe something like that you are
not the only listener that I have heard
from who's had a terrible experience
and that's it's unfortunate
to say that but it's true and quite
frankly it's just unacceptable
on Tesla's part
you are correct that it should not
be on you to fight
the other insurance company
because that's literally why
you pay for insurance
you're paying for the services
of that insurance company
to go to bat on your
behalf with other insurance
companies when these things happen
I mean we know that insurance
is pretty different state by
state and so
as far as I know
the serious customer issues
with Tesla insurance are specific
to California
I haven't heard anything
at least
in terms of a serial
pattern of
problem
in other states but California
it's an issue here
at least I hope
they're not popping up in other states
and there's a troubling pattern
here too because
I've got two friends
with Tesla's solar
just talking about other arms
the non-automotive arms of Tesla's business
like insurance
and now I'm bringing up solar
I have two friends with Tesla's solar
and yes I acknowledge
that that is a very small sample size
two people
but two friends with Tesla's solar
they have both
had problems
with their system
and more importantly than that
both of them had also gone
through absolute nightmares
trying to get their issues resolved
so
why I bring that up
is to say that
it would seem like
acknowledge small sample size
it's not necessarily reflective of
the entire business here
but there are
questions that Tesla has
a serious customer service
problem outside
of the automotive side of the business
although that's far from perfect
as well
there's room to improve
on the customer service side
in terms of communication with customers
and that stuff on the automotive side
but
I will say this on the automotive
side of things
that seems to have had more
tested into it
customer service wise
then the customer service departments
in the energy and insurance
energy slash solar and insurance
arms of the Tesla business
so Tesla do better
and Bobby
I hope that Tesla gets you
properly sorted out soon
good luck to you sir
I've got time for one more call this week
it comes from Todd
up in Prince Edward Island, Canada
I just wanted to make a second follow-up
about snowy driving
and regen braking
I agree with fellow Canadian
Ian's assessment
my 2020 Model 3 rear-wheel-drive
slows down perfectly fine snowy roads
when using regen
I feel safe
but here in Canada as in many colder climates
we use a lot of salt on the roads
and with brake pedal not getting regular use
the pads and rotors don't see a lot of use either
and over time those parts can seize up
and stick
so unfortunately I fell into that EVs
hardly ever need service trap
and went three winters before getting brake service done
yeah I didn't read the manual
so instead of just a regular cleaning
lubrication I had to replace rusted pads
and rotors and the caliper pins
were seized in place and had to be cut out
so now when the snow starts
falling I shift into low regen mode
so I can make sure the brake pedal
gets at least a little more work at than usual
I guess I could occasionally
just pump the brake
to keep things clean and moving but
I just find this is more of a set and forget it
mode for a few months and
now I get my brake service each spring
thanks Ryan
hope this tip helps other people out there
and give those pups a scratch for me
thank you Todd this is
an incredibly useful call
super appreciate you calling in to share
your wisdom share your experience
I learned something from that call
hopefully some other folks did as well
this is why I love the hotline part of the podcast
because I get to
hear from you guys and occasionally
we all learn from each other
and that just makes us all
enjoy this whole thing this whole EV
space even more
thank you to everybody that took the
time to call in if you've got
a question comment or discussion
topic for the podcast as I said
earlier I welcome and invite you to call in
with it there are two easy ways to do that
I gave you the instructions for both of them
at the top of this segment so
refer back there and I will get to more
of your ride the lightning hotline calls
on next week's podcast
well as for what's going on with me
and my cars
I have been
hit here in the Bay Area with a series of
rainstorms in my neck of the woods
and I'll tell you FSD
has been performing really well in them so far
that said
14.2.2
in the
I4 car
it's there's there's still some stuff
that I'd like to see
some wrinkles I'd like to see ironed out
just little littler things
like I'll give you an example I've got
a four way stop that I
frequently encounter near my house
and at that four way stop
even with nobody
at any of the other three
parts of the intersection
it stops and then it just like
won't go forward
just barely nudges forward and won't
just won't go and I have
to nudge it with the accelerator and it keeps doing
it's like it's a repeatable thing I can do this
I can go to this anytime
I want and it's going to repeat it so I've been
I've been reporting the issue
with the you know voice memo thing voice
recording feedback
but I just don't understand
how I don't mean I'm not
trying to say
I'm not trying to criticize the FSD team I'm just
like for as good as the system
is I don't get
how that is tripping it up
I guess that that's what I'm trying to say
in the most polite way possible
still got some
little minor things I'd love to see
and just the
logic the two
steps ahead logic still
isn't quite there for me
as good as it is overall
again it's like
if I need to be in making
a left hand turn
and then make another left hand
turn pretty quickly after that
and there are multiple left turn lanes
get in the far
left of the left turn lanes
so that we don't have to
make a lane
change in the very brief time
between the first left turn and the second left turn
it's stuff like that
stuff like that that it's just still not
doing well
but hopefully that stuff
will all continue to get smoothed out over time
here's by the way
a quick PSA
now that the northern hemisphere
is officially in winter
this is a simple one it's nowhere near as informative
as the treadwear warranty
thing I was talking about earlier but just a
a simple note to
check your tire pressures
yes your car will tell
you if they get too low
you don't really want them to get too low though
but I've noticed in both of my cars
even in our
relatively mild
San Francisco winter
the average temperature being a good
bit lower both cars
have lost
enough PSI
where I needed to put
air in both of them so
not dangerously low but
just a tad under the recommended PSI level
and remember too
under inflated tires
reduce efficiency
so if you want to maximize your efficiency
make sure those tire pressure
levels are where they're supposed to be
here's a quick
entertainment recommendation for you this week
and this one is a
it's pretty specific I'll be honest
it's very specific to my tastes
and maybe this won't interest you in the slightest
but that's okay but my favorite
band ever laugh if you want
I don't care I'm
I'm immune to it
I am a big fan of counting
crows I always have been
just grew up at the right time where
I was a
you know moody 14 year old
as as many 14 year olds are
and and they came at counting crows
kind of broke onto the scene
and their music just always connected
with me and I've I've fallen
ever since I've seen them a million times in
in concert and I love those guys and
love their music well they have a new
documentary about their first
two albums
which are which are if you've heard counting crows
it's almost certainly you've heard stuff
from the first two albums but anyway
the documentary it's on
HBO Max it's called
counting crows have you seen me
lately which is the title
that's the name of a of a song on the
second album a great song I might add but
if if that is of interest to you in
the slightest check that out on
HBO Max time
for your Tesla pro tip of the week it
comes from Alex in San Jose
California
Hey Ryan it's Alex
from San Jose with a quick tip
on the new
holiday update 2025
navigation
reordering feature
it turns out that
if you're moving
a bunch of entries the first time
you might need to save a bit
of time because it's a big project
for me
it's like seven years of entries to go
through
and so if
the entry you move
both entry you want
to move say for the very top of the list
and you're halfway down seven years
um
if you happen to line that entry
up with the
bottom of the
of the
visible part of the list
and have it slightly off
the bottom end so like the very bottom
of the list is covering part of the entry
and then you
slide it up with the
pull bar on the left side
it will
the list will move underneath
the entry rather than the
entry moving on the list
and this will mean that you don't have to
scroll back down once you've
moved the entry a full screens
length
and it will
in my experience
it's saving me about a third of the time
so yeah hope that helps
for this very nostalgic
first
reordering of navigation entries
as you're going back through
seven years of stuff and
need to bring things to the top
um so
happy holidays
say hi to Daisy and Lily for me
and um enjoy your
vacation coming up
signing off bye
fantastically helpful
pro tip of the week right here Alex
thank you so much this is super helpful
appreciate you calling in
if anybody else out there has a good
Tesla pro tip of the week
or EV tip of the week do feel free
to call in with it enlighten me
I am and then I will pass that
information along to everybody out there
we do the pro tip of the week at this
part of the part of the show every single
week so keep those pro
tips of the week coming you can call in
the same way that you call in with a
regular ride the lightning hotline
call and now we come
to the part of the podcast where I mention some
friends of ride the lightning that can hopefully
be useful to you at some point maybe that time
is today maybe it's next week
maybe you just file it away in the back of your mind
for when the time comes but
some uh some vendors out there
with some excellent products
and services starting with
abstractocean.com
who continues to offer
the 15% discount
off of your first order using
the coupon code RTL
podcast
all one word on that no spaces
RTL podcast
abstractocean.com
probably the single biggest
and definitely best place
to get accessories aftermarket stuff
for your car maybe it
is the custom fit tempered glass
screen protector that's
made from the same stuff that
Corning uses on gorilla glass
maybe it is a lighting kit
for either the inside of the car
or outside of the car or the puddle
lights just there's so much
stuff you got to go take a look just trust me
you won't regret spending
two minutes going to abstract
ocean.com clicking
on whichever vehicle you own
whether it's a Tesla or Rivian
see what they've got available for your car
and if anything strikes your fancy
throw it into your online shopping cart
and don't forget that coupon code
RTL podcast at checkout
to get 15%
off of your first order
the snap plate and
the snap plate plus available
for all the Teslas available for the Rivians
I think they've got it for the Chevy
Bolt now as well
I think they might even have it I'm just going to
go to the website and find out they've got
it for let's see here
oh yeah it's everything I mean they've got
yeah the new the blazer
EV which has been doing well the Cadillac
the F-150 Lightning
the Polestar 2 and 3
the Subaru
Saltera and it's cousin
the BZ4X Toyota
as well as the cousin to that
cousin that the Lexus
RZ anyway they've got
snap plates for everything now
and so well why use
a snap plate well at least when it comes
to Tesla
Tesla gives you a front license plate
bracket that sticks to
the front of your car with tape
with automotive adhesive
and that means if you ever want to take
it off well good luck doing
so without damaging the paint without
scratching without doing something
so I recommend the snap plate
or the newer stronger snap plate
plus which
has a nice clean minimalist
design and it's
it'll go on there nice and secure
but if you want to take it off it'll come
off with the with the tools
and it'll be like it was never
there so I'm a big fan
if you either are legally required
to have a front plate or if you just
want one on the front of your vehicle
pick up the snap plate
or the stronger
snap plate plus
to get yours go to
everyamp.com
slash RTL
and don't forget to use the coupon
code RTL as
well for a nice discount
immaculate reflections
that is my detail
are here in the greater San Francisco Bay area
if you are in or going
to be in the greater San Francisco
Bay area with your Tesla
or other EV or other car
from your garage that you love
I highly encourage you to
make an appointment ahead of time
with immaculate reflections
and they promise
I promise you they'll take great care of you in your car
whether you want to do paint
correction and if you're like well wait
what's paint correction really going to do
what I would encourage you to do
is google it
google image search paint correction
and I'm sure you'll find some
good before and afters
as to what a paint corrected car
looks like or if you happen
to meet up with me at some point
you can take a look at my
my car and see what a paint
corrected car looks like it just
to me and my
I just think it looks so much better to have
it's the finish looks like it's
supposed to look when it's paint corrected
if that's not
interesting to you that's fine maybe you want to do
paint protection
film to protect the car
from you know road debris
little little those little rock chips
that inevitably happen over time you can head those
off with paint protection film
maybe you want to do ceramic coating
because waxing
the car once twice a year
is annoying it's time consuming
you get it ceramic coated
once by a professional detailer
and it's going to last
for five to seven years how
do I know well my first
round of ceramic coating on the
2018 Model 3 performance lasted
seven years
anyway
go to the website irdetailing.com
reach out through the contact buttons
there you'll see them on various places
on the website and when you
are talking to Jeff the owner there
about what services you want to
have performed on your car make sure
to mention upfront that you're a ride
the lightning listener and then Jeff will
very kindly and generously
extend the ride the lightning listener
discount to you
the patreon I mentioned it earlier
so I won't spend much time on it here
but that's the way that you can
choose to support the podcast if you like
it's a it's a free podcast always
been always will be but
if you see it see
fit see it in your heart to support me
on patreon you'd be making a huge
difference in my life my family's life
I'd be humbled and grateful if you
considered that pledge so head on
over to patreon.com
slash Tesla podcast
to learn more and
to go ahead and sign up and join
me
if you're not already following the podcast
on various podcast services
you can do so simply by searching
ride the lightning Tesla
on the likes of
apple podcasts
tune in spotify
or youtube podcasts as well
just search ride the lightning
Tesla and when the
when I pop right up there just click
the follow button and that way
you'll be you'll be given a nice
little notification on your device
every time a new episode
drops
finally if you'd like to follow me
on X and or on
Instagram you can do so at
dmc underscore
Ryan that's my username on both of those
you can also email me anytime
Tesla podcast
at gmail.com
and that'll about wrap it up
for the final ride the
lightning episode of 2025 but
before I go I want to say hello
and thank you to the very generous
top tier patreon backers
the maximum plaid tier
the roadster in space tier
and the grandfathered in plaid level tier
I'll start
you know what I'll start with the grandfathered in plaid level tier folks
big thank you to George Cassiopo
Logan Willis
Peter Chalet
Eric Randolph
Dori and Steve Guberman
the Tesla owners club of Taiwan
Ron Lee Charlie Gillespie
Jeff Angwin Chase Cabaneas
the Lydia family
Darren Alchool Jared Brown
Jerome Strack
Jamie Dalton Mike and Barbara from Louisville
Matt Nixon
the Tesla owners club of Wisconsin
Ish not Elon Musk
in quotes Peter and
the Bear Boys of Colorado
next up
the maximum plaid crew
thank you to Jonathan Wales
Cameron Clark Daniel Grummer
Seth Capello Nick and Tony
the Galpin family Ryan from
New York City Darren Nickel
Cos Barnes Patrick Wisnesky
Gil Cabrera Todd Badger
Joe Edgel Kevin Yank
the Tesla owners club of San Joaquin
Valley Will Steadman
Jeremy Harris Chris
Beach Tom Mills
Cory O'Donnell Aaron
John Cody Joel
Sap Paul Casarino
Chris Osborne KB
Adam Lavoie Jason
Chalukas Travis Crenzel
Bruce Otterstein Tom Behan
Josh Pennington
John from Cream Ridge, New Jersey
Dustin Hart Derek Finley
Charles Clement Damon Klein
Jeff Brown Jerry Slinger
Kenneth Corbett Brian Bertoglio
Kim Bae Troy Severs
Chip Hooper Matt Chinander
Robert Moran
Rob Christopher Mann and
Michael Williams
finally the Roadster in
Space Tier 1
Big thank you to Pete White
Lyle Austin Steve Radspinner
Fernando Cordero
Lawton from Chicago Sean
Nydig Neil Weaver Jackson
Wallace Rolf and Jennifer
Evers Howard Anthony Smith
Victoria Aya Caveto
Tesla Hitchhiker 42
Cara Weston Robert from
near Philly American Home
Contractors Doug Carey
Michael Gallo and Tony
Figueroa
And that my friends
officially closes the
book on Ride the Lightning
for the year 2025
that is now
10 full
years, 52 weeks a year
10 full calendar
years in the books
for this podcast and you know what
if you'll allow me a moment here man
I'm pretty proud of that
there's a lot of good luck
involved there that I never got
sick enough to have to miss a show
or you know like
laryngitis like I've definitely had
laryngitis once or twice
over the past 10 years
but thankfully never
it had been better by the time
I needed to record on Friday nights
but
I'm really proud of the
body of work that I've put together here
so far still
still plenty to do lots to do
a long way to go but
whether you've been with me for
10 years or 10 months
or 10 weeks or this is your first show
thank you all so much
for taking the time to listen
to share in the enthusiasm
with me for this stuff
and I just want to wish all of you
the happiest of new years
heading into 2026
again on next week's show
it'll be tradition the annual
New Year's Predictions
for Tesla and
other EVs as well
so I'm looking forward to that
that'll be fun for me to put together
and I hope it'll be fun for you to listen to
but yes happy new year
happy electric motoring
and I'll see you back here for
well year 12
technically calendar year 12
since I started in 2015
August of 2015
year 12 of Ride the Lightning begins
on next week's episode
music
Elon Musk
people don't like Elon Musk
the guy found a PayPal and Tesla
and people are like yeah but he's a troll and a bad dad
I'm like so is mine he did nothing to fight climate change
also
have you been in a Tesla
have you been in a Tesla
my buddy let me drive a Tesla
I laughed out loud at how fast it went
been clinically depressed my entire life
on dozens of medications
in a Tesla for 13 seconds
cured forever
I mean I think
a Tesla
is the most fun thing
you could possibly buy ever
that's what it's meant to be
our goal is to make
it's
it's not exactly a car
it's actually a thing
to maximize enjoyment
it's maximum fun
About this episode
A new Tesla patent aims to combat sun glare affecting Full Self-Driving (FSD) by introducing a glare shield, likened to 'sunglasses' for the system. The episode also discusses Tesla's increased battery production at Giga Berlin and a significant energy storage contract in Scotland. Additionally, it explores tire manufacturers' warranties that could benefit EV drivers, and the host shares insights from listener calls about Tesla insurance experiences and snowy driving tips. The episode wraps up with a look ahead to the annual New Year's predictions for Tesla and the EV market.
Original notes
A new Tesla patent aims to tackle the issue of sun glare affecting FSD at low light angles by giving the system, in my words, sunglasses. Plus: Tesla boosts battery production efforts at Giga Berlin, a deeper look at tire manufacturer's warranties and how they might be able to benefit EV drivers, and more!
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support my efforts, please check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/teslapodcast and consider a monthly or (10% discounted!) annual pledge. Every little bit helps, and you can support for just $5 per month. And there are stacking bonuses in it for you at each pledge level, like early access to each episode at the $5 tier and the weekly Lightning Round bonus mini-episode (AND the early access!) at the $10 tier! And NO ADS at every Patreon tier!
Also, don't forget to leave a message on the Ride the Lightning hotline anytime with a question, comment, or discussion topic for next week's show! The toll-free number to call is 1-888-989-8752.
INTERESTED IN A FLEXIBLE EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR YOUR TESLA? Be a part of the future of transportation with XCare, the first extended warranty designed & built exclusively for EV owners, by EV owners. Use the code Lightning to get $100 off their "One-time Payment" option! Go to www.xcelerateauto.com/xcare to find the extended warranty policy that's right for you and your Tesla.
P.S. Get 15% off your first order of awesome aftermarket Tesla accessories at AbstractOcean.com by using the code RTLpodcast at checkout. Grab the SnapPlate front license plate bracket for any Tesla at https://everyamp.com/RTL/ (don't forget the coupon code RTL too!).
Ride the Lightning: Tesla and EV Podcast
Ryan McCaffrey
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81:35