Episode 549: Tesla Introduces New Model Y Variant
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Car
Tesla Model Y
The Tesla Model Y is an electric SUV made by Tesla. It has a lot of space inside and comes with modern technology, making it a popular choice for families and those looking for an electric car.
Term
Apple CarPlay
Apple CarPlay is a feature that lets you use your iPhone in your car. You can see your apps, maps, and music on the car's screen, making it easier to use your phone while driving.
Term
Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports is a group that tests and reviews products, including cars, to help people decide what to buy. They provide ratings based on how well products perform and how safe they are.
Car
Porsche Boxster
The Porsche Boxster is a small sports car that you can drive with the top down, like a convertible. It's known for being fun to drive and is a popular choice for people who love fast cars.
Car
Tesla Model S
The Tesla Model S is a high-end electric car that can go very fast and has a long battery life. It's one of the first electric cars that became popular among luxury car buyers.
Car
Tesla Model X
The Tesla Model X is an electric SUV that has unique doors that open upward. It's designed for families and has a lot of space inside, making it a popular choice for electric vehicle buyers.
Car
Tesla Model 3
The Tesla Model 3 is a smaller, more affordable electric car compared to the Model S. It's popular for its good range and modern features.
Car
Tesla Model S Plaid
The Tesla Model S Plaid is a super-fast version of the Model S. It's designed for speed and performance, making it one of the quickest cars available.
Term
all-wheel drive
All-wheel drive means that power is sent to all four wheels of the car, which helps it grip the road better, especially in bad weather like rain or snow.
Term
rear-wheel drive
Rear-wheel drive means that the back wheels of the car get the power from the engine. This can make the car handle differently, often better for sporty driving, but it might not grip the road as well in slippery conditions.
Term
dual motor
Dual motor means the car has two electric engines, one on the front and one on the back. This helps the car drive better in different conditions and makes it faster.
Term
0-60 time
0-60 time is how long it takes a car to go from a stop to going really fast, specifically 60 miles per hour. It's a way to measure how quickly a car can speed up.
Term
EPA rated range
EPA rated range is how far an electric car is expected to go on a full battery. It's like a gas mileage number but for electric cars, telling you how far you can drive before needing to charge again.
Term
performance version
A performance version of a car is designed to go faster and handle better than the regular versions, often with more powerful engines and better features.
Car
Tesla Cybertruck
The Tesla Cybertruck is a unique-looking electric truck that doesn't look like any other truck on the road. It's designed to be strong and efficient, and it runs on electricity instead of gas.
Term
cyber cab
A 'cyber cab' is a type of taxi that would use self-driving technology, like the cars made by Tesla. It's a modern idea about how we might get rides in the future without a human driver.
Term
cyber car
A 'cyber car' is a modern car that uses advanced technology, like electric power and self-driving features. It's part of the trend towards smarter and more connected vehicles.
Term
cyber vehicle
A 'cyber vehicle' is a car that uses high-tech features, like being electric or able to drive itself. It's part of the new wave of cars that are changing how we think about driving.
Term
supercharger network
The supercharger network is a group of charging stations where Tesla cars can quickly recharge their batteries. It's helpful for long road trips because it allows drivers to charge their cars faster than regular chargers.
Term
timing element
The timing element means that when you buy a car or make decisions about it can really affect how much you pay and how well the car works. It's important to think about timing when owning a car.
Term
EV coverage
EV coverage is the insurance or warranty you can get for electric cars. The timing of when you buy this coverage can affect how much it costs and what options are available.
Term
electric vehicle (EV)
An electric vehicle, or EV, is a car that runs on electricity instead of gas. They are better for the environment and can save money on fuel costs.
Term
safety scores
Safety scores tell you how safe a car is based on tests that show how well it protects people in crashes. A high score means the car is safer for drivers and passengers.
Term
thermal runaway
Thermal runaway is when a battery gets too hot and can start a fire. It's a serious issue for electric cars because their batteries can catch fire if they overheat.
Term
mechanical release handle
A mechanical release handle is a simple handle that you can pull to open a door without needing electricity. It's important for safety in case the car's power goes out.
Term
aerodynamic efficiency
Aerodynamic efficiency is about how easily a car can move through the air. A car designed to be more aerodynamic will use less energy and can go faster with the same amount of power.
Term
dash cam
A dash cam is a small camera that records what happens in front of your car while you drive. It's useful for keeping a record in case of accidents or other incidents.
Term
USB drive
A USB drive is a small device that you can plug into your computer or car to save files. It's like a digital storage box.
Term
SSD drive
An SSD drive is a modern type of storage that saves data quickly and is more reliable than older hard drives. It's commonly used in cars for things like camera footage and music.
Term
ceramic coating
Ceramic coating is a special protective layer put on a car's paint to keep it shiny and safe from dirt and scratches. It helps the car look good and makes cleaning easier.
Term
full self-driving (FSD)
Full self-driving means a car can drive itself without needing someone to control it. It's a technology that is still being worked on and isn't fully ready yet.
Term
plug-in hybrids
A plug-in hybrid is a car that can use both electricity and gas. You can charge it up like an electric car, but it also has a gas engine for longer trips.
Term
internal combustion engine (ICE)
An internal combustion engine is a type of engine that makes cars go by burning fuel like gas. It’s the traditional engine used in most cars before electric vehicles became popular.
Car
Chevrolet Equinox
The Chevrolet Equinox is a family-friendly SUV that has a lot of space inside for passengers and cargo. It's a great option for people who need a reliable vehicle for everyday use.
Car
Volkswagen Id
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is a new electric van that looks similar to the old VW buses from the past. It's designed to be environmentally friendly and is great for families or groups who need space.
Car
Rivian R3
The Rivian R3 is a future electric car that Rivian is planning to release. It's expected to have new features and be part of the growing trend of electric vehicles.
Car
Rivian R2
The Rivian R2 is a new electric car that will be less expensive than Rivian's other models. It's important because it will help more people drive electric cars.
Car
Dodge Charger
The Dodge Charger is a big car that looks sporty and can go really fast. It's popular because it combines the comfort of a sedan with the power of a muscle car.
LIVE
On this week's episode of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV podcast, Tesla has introduced
a new variant of the Model Y in the United States, but sadly, it's not the Model Y L.
At least not yet.
Plus, Apple CarPlay is reportedly still on the way for Teslas, Consumer Reports gives
the Model Y a major accolade and more.
What's happening friends, Ryan McCaffrey joining you for episode 549 of Ride the Lightning, it's
your weekly Tesla and EV podcast.
I've got a relaxed Daisy the Boxster to my left on the couch looking out the window
and laying on the ground out near my wife somewhere in the living room is Lily the Silly
Labrador who is in her last night of having to wear the E-collar or as it is maybe more
commonly known, the cone of shame.
She's actually been doing really well with it.
She's adapted to it quite well but she is definitely going to be happy to have that
thing off tomorrow.
Fortunately, she hasn't been going for her spay surgery stitches so I think, knock
on wood, that it's going to be fine when we take that E-collar off tomorrow morning.
As expected after last week's episode, which of course covered last week's huge shocking
news of the discontinuation of the Model S and the Model X, I got a lot of Ride the
Lightning hotline calls, plenty of emails, plenty of messages on social media, all in
response to that and I'm grateful to all of you for sending in those messages and
I promised you a longer Ride the Lightning hotline segment this week and I will deliver
that later on in the podcast so stay tuned for that.
But first, as we get warmed up, I made this big news the subject of this week's Patreon
poll because last week that news broke too late to make it a poll, I'd already put
up a poll.
So here we go, this week's Patreon poll question which as a friendly reminder is
open to anyone and everyone.
You don't have to be supporting me on Patreon, you just have to stop by my Patreon page each
week which is found at Patreon.com slash Tesla podcast to cast your vote in each week's
free poll.
So the question this week was, how does the cancellation of the Model S and X immediately
affect your thinking about your next car?
And I tried to put in as many reasonable responses as I could and the number one choice, it was
actually really close, it was two top vote-getters and then everything else was single digits.
So 34% of the 367 of you that voted, thank you so much, that's a really good turnout
compared to usual.
So 34% said I wasn't planning on buying an S or an X so this news doesn't affect my thinking
about my next car.
And that is a perfectly reasonable reaction because we know, like if we were to poll this
podcast, the percentage of people that have or plan to buy an S or an X isn't going
to be super high.
I mean we know that there are 3% of Tesla's cumulative production and delivery totals
so they represent a small portion of Tesla's sales.
So that response is not surprising but the runner up poll choice with 32%, so just 2% behind,
this maybe was a little surprising to me.
The 32% of you said I wasn't planning on buying an S or an X but this news shakes
my confidence in Tesla staying serious about cars so I might look elsewhere next.
So that is, I think that is a significant thing right there, you've got a bunch of Tesla enthusiasts
listening to this podcast voting in this poll and a full third of you said hey this kind
of gets me thinking that maybe I need to look elsewhere next time.
So I thought that was a pretty significant result in the poll.
And then from there, 9% of you said I would have preferred a new S or X for my next car
but I'll go with a non-Tesla instead, 6% of you said I would have preferred a new
S or X for my next car but I'll go with a Model 3 or Y next instead, 9% of you said
I'm not even remotely thinking about my next car yet which is also perfectly reasonable.
And then 3% of you said I just ordered a new S or X because of this news which if we're
talking about 367 people that means we're, that's like, let's see what is that, that's
like 10 or 11 of you that actually ordered an S or an X, in fact I got emails from
a few of you that did so I thought that was pretty cool because I was talking about
for myself last week it made me want to buy a Plaid S, this thing getting discontinued,
it just made me want to get one so I'm very happy for the number of you that were able
to do exactly that.
So again, stop by each week and cast your vote in the poll found at patreon.com slash Tesla
podcast.
Alright, getting to the headline story this week, I'm putting it in with the appetizers
here up front.
Tesla introduced a new variant of the Model Y this week but sadly no, it was not
the Model Y L, at least not yet.
We'll see if it is coming sometime later this month as the tip that I passed along to you
suggested or if it could end up maybe that will change and we'll hear about it after
the X has gone away.
So in other words that would be Q3, maybe we get the Model Y L then, so we'll see.
But in any case the new variant is an all wheel drive version of the Model Y standard except
Tesla has dropped the standard name.
So it is now the Model Y all wheel drive and then the cheapest Model Y for $40,000 is
now just Model Y rear wheel drive.
Standard all wheel drive is still called premium and performance is still called performance.
So this new all wheel drive standard variant, and I'm sorry I gotta keep using standard
here just for the sake of discussion to be as clear about this as possible, so the standard
all wheel drive is $42,000 so it's just a $2,000 premium over the rear wheel drive
Model Y.
And I think I was talking to Lawton from Chicago this week who's one of my super generous Roadster
in space tier backers and that top tier of the Patreon gets a one on one hangout with
me each month if they elect to take it and Lawton typically does and we always have
a good convo and we were talking about this this week and he made the good point
that I believe $2,000 is the cheapest that Tesla's ever charged for a second motor in
a car.
It's typically been more like $5,000 to get a dual motor versus an otherwise identical
car but in any case, $2,000 and for that extra $2,000 you obviously of course gain
all wheel drive but you also gain a lot more performance because this version of the Model
Y does 0-60 in 4.6 seconds compared to 6.8 seconds for the standard rear wheel drive.
However, there is a trade off and if you've been around Tesla's for a while you probably
know what I'm about to say and that is range.
You are going to be sacrificing 27 miles of range going from 321 miles of EPA rated range
on the rear wheel drive to 294 on this all wheel drive version.
I think for most buyers of the standard Model Y, either if you're considering the
rear wheel drive version or the all wheel drive version, if you're asking would I recommend
spending that $2,000, I would honestly say probably not.
However, if you're in a climate where you get winter weather, that's where the $2,000
might really come in handy.
Now proper tires in winter weather is the most important thing.
It's far more important than having all wheel drive.
Having proper winter tires or in some cases were appropriate snow tires on your car.
But that's really who I think should really be, would probably get the most out of spending
the extra two grand on that all wheel drive version of the standard Y.
I would suspect though that the overwhelming majority of those standard Model Y buyers
probably don't care about the extra performance.
The Model Y in general, performance is not top of your list the way that it might be
for Model 3 and Model S buyers, the sedans that tend to be a little sportier and attracting
more performance oriented customers, I can look straight in the mirror on that because
that is me.
Sure, I could have bought a Model Y this time around for the 2nd Tesla when we were replacing
my wife's old Mini Cooper because it would have been a heck of a lot more practical, all
that extra cargo space, but I prioritized performance, so that's the way I went.
Anyway, I don't think necessarily that people considering this all wheel drive standard
Model Y are really going to be that moved by the drastic increase in performance here.
And certainly they're not going to be thrilled about losing 27 miles of range, so it really
is going to be about the all wheel drive, getting that all wheel drive for those buyers.
And of course the extra performance I should note really is it's not so much that it's
intentional on this, it's a happy side effect of having that second motor, having the dual
motor configuration, you just get a whole bunch more power.
And so the car does 0-60 quite a bit quicker.
Now speaking of the naming thing though, the whole standard nomenclature really didn't
last very long at all.
So I have to think that there's a reason for that.
I wonder if Tesla wasn't seeing the order numbers that they expected when they introduced these
lower priced 3s and Ys, and maybe they thought that the word standard made it sound like
it just wasn't good or wasn't good enough, like oh it's just the standard, I don't
want that.
I don't know, I just feel like with this change in naming convention coming so quickly after
Tesla introduced it, that they probably didn't just change their minds for aesthetic reasons,
like oh well, because AWD sounds better, like no it's actually more annoying to say.
So I have to expect that there was a reason and the first reason I would suspect would
be sales numbers, it's affecting the bottom line, they're not seeing the take rate on those
that they were expecting.
It's possible that they did just get tired of having to refer to it as a standard and
so they decided well let's just have the standard one just be the Model Y and then
the premium one will need to be called the premium if you're not talking about the
base model.
So I don't know and I don't have anybody from Tesla here to ask but that's my suspicion.
So to wrap this up before we move along to all the rest of the Tesla and EV news this week,
if you're keeping count there are now a total of five Model Y variants here in the US.
We have the again standard as I'm calling it but the standard rear wheel drive and
the standard all wheel drive, premium rear wheel drive and all wheel drive which have
more range and better sound systems and the performance version which means if the Model
Y L is coming soon per that tip that I passed along to you a couple of episodes ago it means
we might soon go to six Model Y variants which is that's a lot that's a lot for really for any car
maker Tesla or otherwise but just a just a fun little fun little nugget there all right moving
along more appetizers remember the Apple CarPlay rumor that I headlined an episode with when it
first popped up late last year well the holiday software update where I was hoping
we might see the Apple CarPlay get dropped that came and went without CarPlay but a new report
suggests that Apple CarPlay is still in the works at Tesla. I saw this on Tesla Roddy who writes
although we have uh excuse me although we saw little to no movement on it since the November
speculation Tesla is now reportedly still developing the user interface Mark Gurman
a Bloomberg writer with a weekly Apple newsletter stated that CarPlay is quote still in the works
at Tesla and that more concrete information will be available quote soon regarding its development
now if you're not familiar with Mark Gurman he is legit on the Apple beat so he's not just
pulling out a rumor for clicks it's not a clickbait thing thus I personally take this
report as being pretty darn rock solid and thus for me as far as I'm concerned
CarPlay is absolutely happening and now it is simply a question of when when will it roll out
to our cars I I would probably set my expectations for it to only be available for the Ryzen chip
cars I hope I'm wrong and that it does in fact roll out to to the the hardware three cars the older
cars with the Intel mcu's as well which I own one of those too and it'd be great to have it in both
cars I guess maybe maybe there is good reason to be optimistic that it's going to roll out to
the entire fleet and not just to the newer fleet because Apple CarPlay does run on lots of
other cars that have far inferior processing horsepower compared to an Intel based Tesla so
all right that that's got me that's got me now feeling a little bit more optimistic about it
now that I think through it but anyway so for the question of when I would say the spring update
which is probably going to come along in another month or two I guess well yeah another
next couple months or so could be in there could be the summer update and then hopefully it wouldn't
take any longer than that especially if German is reporting that more concrete information will be
available soon he doesn't say that it will be rolling out soon necessarily but more concrete
info probably means that it's it's getting there and that Tesla is going to be getting it out to
in the not too distant future but so if you've been waiting for this then this report should come as
good news and reassuring news for that matter another appetizer sized bit of news as we
continue to get this week's episode going it comes courtesy of our Tesla tips or friend
Sawyer Merritt who found Tesla's just filed trademark applications with the U.S. patent
and trade office for the new Tesla Roadster's silhouette logo you know similar to the triangle
side profile logo for the Cybertruck that the Tesla's been using as a branding image you know
they've got it on hats they've got it on shirts etc so the the new Roadster has a new little
silhouette logo you know the little illustration from the side that is that we will probably be
seeing on shirts and on hats before too long and also the this in a separate filing but at the same
time with the patent and trademark office for the new Roadster wordmark the font the new ROADSTER
wordmark I will admit this is not a major bit of news but to me it's relevant because
a it's anything anything new on the Roadster after you know we're going on we're past eight years
since actually wait well no yeah we're past eight years since it was unveiled we're in year nine
since that car was initially unveiled and it's also it's it's proof of life basically on the
Roadster it is an indication that progress is happening on that car and that it is finally
moving along and it's going to happen so anyway about the image that silhouette image in the trademark
application so the silhouette is just three simple curved lines basically a sort of hood
a sort of top roof glass on down to the back of the car and then a body line
along kind of the the fender and well not the fender the door and the side of the car
so it's three lines that give you just a a very very minimalist of of pen strokes basically as
something of a sneak preview of the car's primary body lines admittedly though it's not much of a
sneak preview on purpose no doubt until we will see it hopefully in less than two months from
now in fact the 2017 prototypes silhouette could pretty well fit into that new little
three line silhouette drawing i want to give a shout out to listener joel listenby who sent me a
grok generated interpretation of what the car could look like basically he gave grok the silhouette
image from the trademark application and grok generated a car out of it and uh that car looked
pretty good it had kind of a lamborghini mercilago vibe to me it doesn't matter it's just ai generated
it's probably not what the actual car is going to look like but it was nice to to see it
realized into something more tangible and grok did a good job of making a good looking car
out of it i thought but uh i would be i for one would be pretty thrilled if the car that we're
hopefully going to see on april first stays fairly close to that 2017 version that we saw
eight plus years ago because to me that original prototype is a gorgeous design that has already
aged well even though the car never came out that design that prototype still looks really good to me
especially from the back the back of that thing if and if you don't know what i'm talking about
just google image search it the rear of that car is just beastly it is so aggressive and so cool
looking that i would be thrilled if if the rear end of that car ends up being the same
when it finally goes into production but at the very very very least the final car that we'll be
seeing soon enough is going to be freshened up to some degree or it could even end up being
very radically different from that 2017 design we shall see as for the wordmark the roa d
s t e r wordmark it is to describe it generally i think it's fair to say it's kind of a stylized
riff on the tesla font the e in roadster is even the three horizontal bars like it is in the tesla
logo like there are no vertical lines in the e on the roadster wordmark but uh the roads
unlike the tesla wordmark the roadster wordmark is slanted forward as if the word itself is moving
super fast which i guess is fitting for this car so again hopefully we're less than two months out
from seeing this thing in fact if it's going to be april first that means we're just over seven
weeks away but who's counting who's counting maybe me i might be counting on a similar note
while we're talking about the us patent and trademark office so i also found another trademark
application pertaining to the cyber cab because you may remember the story that i talked about
not too long ago here on the podcast where another company in fact a liquor company
had already beaten tesla to the punch on trademarking the term cyber cab so it looks
like tesla now has its backup plan if they're unable to secure cyber cab so this comes from
soyer's account on x and he writes tesla has filed two new trademark applications for the words
cyber car and cyber vehicle in preparation for launching the cyber cab in some u.s states where
tesla is not allowed to use the words cab or taxi now as i recall on that episode from not too
long ago i think i had suggested robo cab yes that was the that was what i said because i thought
it was cool because it was super close to robo cop and i and i also just liked the sound of the
word robo cab but i guess cyber car is literally one letter off from cyber cab so it is about as
close as you can get to cyber cab without actually using the word cyber cab so i suppose that'll work
just fine too uh admittedly cyber vehicle that doesn't do much for me but hopefully that's the
plan c so it's it's the fallback to the fallback plan so we'll see what happens with that as the
cyber cab nears its supposed start of production in april uh next the in fact the last appetizer
i have for you this week has we're already 23 minutes in here the winners of the latest
round of community voted new supercharger locations have been announced and i'll just
give you i mean there it's a whole bunch of it's 36 of them so i'm not going to read all of these
but the community voted and thus there will be new locations new supercharger locations going in
in turkey poland italy estonia checia lithuania portugal south korea hungary slavakia kubek
japan malaysia greece and then in the u.s and canada we have portage township in michigan
heber utah i don't know if that's heber or heber i'm gonna guess heber peintop arizona peintop lakeside
key lago in florida poultry in the uk in the uk columbia mexico uh gerildton australia
curvil texas winter park colorado rocky mountain house in alberta west glacier in montana new glasgao
in novus scotia atoka oklahoma lake ticapo in new zealand excuse me rhinelander in wisconsin
rexburg idaho gualala california harrison arkansas clovis new mexico waycross georgia clearlake iowa
and summer side in prince edward island i say this every time that there's uh the tesla
does these every quarter but i just love that tesla involves the community on this i really do i
think it's so great and really all ev fans should be voting in this since at least here in north america
they've all got access all the evs now have access to the supercharger network so it really is not
just a tesla community thing anymore it is an ev community vote and i think that's pretty cool
before i continue with the rest of this week's tesla and ev news i want to mention this week's
lightning round mini episode over on patreon for those of you kind enough to be supporting what
i'm doing here on the podcast i put up a mini episode every single week for the kind folks at
the ten dollar per month tier or higher on patreon this one uh continuing what i hope is going to
be a monthly tradition here this is the second one now i answered your questions in the monthly
mail bag and there were a ton of them a ton of great questions that end up being a 40 minute
lightning round episode one of the longer ones lots of interesting questions were asked
topics like what i think about the possibility of the the quote-unquote model two returning
the possibility of s and x returning there was a great question that i i had uh i at least i i
think maybe some surprising responses i think to the question of whether or not the next gen
roadster will have fsd and a whole bunch more again it was 40 minutes worth so thank you to
everybody on patreon who posted a question and thank you to everybody who is kindly supporting
me on patreon at that ten dollar per month tier or higher the support tier start you can you
can support me for just five bucks a month if you like uh that won't get you the lightning round
mini episodes but it will get you an ad-free episode every week and early access to that
ad-free episode each week uh the ten dollar per month tier again gets you the ad-free the
early access and all hundred and uh seventy nine now my goodness hundred seventy nine and
counting of those weekly lightning round mini episodes to learn more to sign up to join the
patreon head on over to my patreon page at patreon.com slash tesla podcast and then a quick word
from my friends at accelerate auto this goes out to ev owners not just tesla owners one thing
that comes up a lot on this podcast is how long people actually plan to keep their cars in fact
stay tuned for a call about that later in the podcast and whether people realize that or not
there is a timing element to ownership that matters more than most people think and when it
comes to ev coverage it's really not about if you buy it it's about when right and we learned
that in the world of tesla more than more than probably any other car maker and coverage is
generally more cost advantage when it's when it's purchased before your factory warranty ends
rather than after that's because pricing eligibility and available options change with time and mileage
even if there's nothing wrong with the car think of it like tires you have you don't wait until
they're bald to plan a replacement you look at mileage you look at where you look at timing
ev ownership works the same way x care helps ev owners understand where they are now what
changes later and when it makes sense to act and you can talk directly with tesla and ev experts
not a generic call center so if you want to find out more considering an extended option cover
extended coverage option for your ev you can go to x care dot com and during checkout use the
referral code lightning for a hundred dollars off that's l i g h t n i n g referral code
lightning for a hundred dollars off if you'd rather speak to a human on the phone by all means
call them up eight four four seven five five four one eight six again that's x care dot com x c a r e
dot com referral code lightning for a hundred hundred dollars off or call one eight four four
seven five five four one eight six moving right along with more tesla news this week tesla's
picked up another major third party endorsement with the model y named the best electric vehicle
in consumer reports newly released 2026 top picks list while the annual ranking spans just 10 vehicles
across the entire market the model y stood alone as the only full ev full bev to earn a category
win i saw this on drive tesla canada who wrote consumer reports evaluates more than 260 vehicles
each year combining its own road testing with predicted reliability safety performance and owner
satisfaction data for 2026 the organization noted a clear industry shift toward electrification
and hybrids but when it came to pure evs tesla's best-selling vehicle remained the standout
according to consumer reports the model y continues to deliver a rare mix of traits that
appeal to a broad audience performance was a key factor with the publication highlighting the vehicle
strong acceleration and responsive handling attributes that have long separated tesla
from more traditional automakers entering the ev space at the same time the model y's hatchback
design and roomy interior give it everyday practicality that many electric sedans and compact suv
struggle to match consumer reports pointed to a smoother ride reduced cabin noise thanks to
acoustic glass and interior upgrades that make the vehicle feel more premium than earlier versions
charging infrastructure also played a role in the model y's win consumer reports specifically
referenced access to tesla's supercharger network as a major ownership advantage particularly for
drivers who regularly travel long distances perhaps most notable is the improvement in reliability
consumer reports said the model y's reliability metrics continue to trend upward addressing
one of the most common criticisms levied at tesla's early vehicles combined with strong
safety scores and high owner satisfaction the publication concluded that the model y now presents
a more complete ownership package than ever before well as always all i can really say to this
is congratulations to the tesla teams all of them i i will say for my part i am particularly impressed
as drive tesla canada did point out as well by tesla's improving reliability score now
this of course this is because it's the new model y and that's it is quite a bit better in
in basically every way than the first generation model y but that's really the one that if more
casual buyers see that that is gonna stand out to them because that's really that's the one
the reliability thing that's the one that the fudsters have been pointing to lately so now
guess what the fudsters will have to move the goalposts again to something else that they
can complain about their their shoulders must be sore from having to haul the goal the goalposts
constantly moving them back i i don't know how they're they must need chiropractic visits on
the regular i don't know all right anyway uh next up china will ban hidden door handles on
electric vehicles starting next year under a new national safety standard forcing automakers to
equip their cars with mechanical exterior and interior handles saw this one on tesla roddy who
wrote the rule effectively ends a design trend pioneered by tesla and widely adopted across
china's electric vehicle market china's ministry of industry and information technology noted
that the new mandatory national auto safety standard on ev door handles will take effect on
january 1st 2027 for models that have already received approval and are scheduled for launch
automakers will be allowed to complete design uh required design changes by january of 2029
under the new rules exterior door handles must remain operable even in scenarios involving
irreversible restraint system failures or thermal runway incidents in the battery pack in other words
fires doors must also be capable of opening even if the vehicle loses electrical power interior
doors must include at least one independent mechanical release handle per door as well
hidden and electrically actuated door handles have become mainstream in recent years
as ev makers pursued cleaner styling and improved aerodynamics tesla pioneered the hidden handle
design and it was adopted by most chinese ev manufacturers either uh in either fully hidden or
semi-hidden forms as noted in a cnev post report today about 60 percent of top-selling evs in china
use the design chinese regulators have stated that the designs pose safety risks particularly in crashes
or power failures where doors may not open from the inside or outside authority cited multiple fatal
incidents in which occupants or rescuers were unable to open vehicle doors after collisions
well my understanding here as it pertains to tesla is that franz von holzhausen had already
said that tesla is redesigning their door release system well prior to this this new uh law going
into effect this new regulation in fact yeah i'm i am i am remembering correctly on that
here is a quote from the bloomberg story on this from september of last year so about four months
ago maybe five tesla is looking to combine the electronic and manual door release mechanisms
which are currently in separate locations the company's longtime design chief franz von holzhausen
said on a bloomberg news podcast von holzhausen said the decision is intended to make the
handles more intuitive for occupants in a quote panic situation end quote uh note too that the
story talked about exterior door handles as well as interior ones though so presumably the three
in the y aren't affected on the outside uh at least in terms of their operation their their physical
operation because the uh they are manual even though they're flush with the body obviously
you push in the fat side and you pull on the thin side but when you do that it's popping an
electric door release so that component of the door from the you know inside and outside
is going to be getting redone uh model s i suppose would be an even bigger problem with this new law
because of the electronically self-presenting door handles on the outside of the car but tesla's not
only discontinued the car outright but they had stopped selling it in china a good little while
ago anyway uh what's interesting to me here is that if you look around and i'm digressing
a bit here since this story is about china and most american made cars aren't available there like the
tesla model three and model y are but a lot of cars at least here have also copied tesla's door
handle design and i'm old enough to remember when the model s was the first car to ever have
self-presenting door handles or as fran's likes to describe it doors where the handle
is extending out to greet you as if it's a handshake i mean nowadays so many cars have them
because i think everybody realized what tesla did is that oh the this having the handles flush
with the car makes a small but very meaningful aerodynamic efficiency bump over a traditional
door handle that sticks out away from the body of the car but i guess we will see now in the
not too distant future what fran's and lar's and the engineering team cook up as a combo design
and engineering solution for model three and model y in china which will probably not just be limited
to giga giga shanghai built cars this the new design that they have will almost certainly be
implemented into all model threes and model y's worldwide at all four factories uh the last
piece of tesla news i have for you this week is a welcome one tesla to increase dash cam recording
history keeping up to 24 hours of footage saw this on not a tesla app who i've cited here a number of
times over the years before who wrote one of the longest standing frustrations of tesla's dash cam
feature is the arbitrary one hour limit on rolling dash cam footage regardless of the usb drive
plugged into your vehicle whether it's a 128 gigabyte flash drive or a two terabyte ssd the
vehicle only retains the last 60 minutes of driving before overriding it that means if you
forget to save footage within the hour it'll get overwritten with new footage what's worse is that
the vehicle uh records any time it's awake meaning that even after you park the vehicle is still
recording and overriding data that is finally changing according to the release notes for
an upcoming software update in china tesla's dash cam feature will now support dynamic recording
durations instead of a hard cap of one hour your vehicle will now look at the total storage capacity
of your connected usb drive and scale the recent clips buffer accordingly the updated logic
follows these benchmarks with a 128 gigabyte drive you'll now retain up to three hours
of rolling footage based on available storage space with a one terabyte drive or larger
you'll now have up to 24 hours of rolling footage this change allows users to retain
video for much longer before it's overwritten even for smaller usb drives the three hour limit
is a significant increase over the previous one hour limit for rolling footage well i love this
this is great i mean there's nothing to complain about here i have tesla's official one terabyte
ssd drive in well at least in the new car i guess it's only in the new one i forget i think i think
i've got a one terabyte ssd in the old one talk to check uh that that the old one is currently
at immaculate reflections getting its new it's fresh coding of uh it's fresh ceramic coding
applied i will be picking it up tomorrow after after uh recording this on friday night so
looking forward to seeing it but then yeah i'll have to check have to check what size storage
drive is in there but anyway up to 24 hours if you've got a one terabyte drive or larger plugged
into your car so that that is great uh i will happily take the 24 hours of footage you hope
that you'll never need it you'll hope hope i'm just gonna leave it hopefully rather than
risk jinxing anything by saying probably but you'll hopefully never need it but if you ever do
you'll be glad it's there i have a couple of other ev news stories for you this week the first
one's quick it's for rivian and uh rivian is now offering autonomy plus for either a one time
$2,500 payment or a $50 per month subscription so this is the point to point end to end you know
fsd sort of their their initial version that's supposed to be coming along sometime this year
but it is now available to purchase my advice from my tesla experience would be
to probably not at least i would politely advise you to not spend any money until rivian has
actually delivered on that point to point functionality that they say is coming soon
this year when they do that and if it's good because you'll be able to check out reviews and
videos on youtube and stuff then by all means $2,500 for my part seems pretty darn reasonable
in the grand scheme of things certainly it's a heck of a lot cheaper than the $8,000 that i paid
for the tesla but you know that 2,500 is pretty reasonable once it's shown to work and you can
always even after watching videos reading reviews you'll always you'll be able to just give it a
try yourself in your rivian for 50 bucks a month just spend a month 50 bucks and then you can
buy it if you like it so it is worth noting that the specific fine print on that is that rivian
is not currently doing an account based thing here like tesla they are tying the purchase
tying the subscription to the car rather than to the owner rather than to your rivian account so
just bear all that in mind as as you make your decision on this moving forward if you're a rivian
owner and then finally this week thank you to my friend trevor for sending this story to me it
comes via the cbc who writes prime minister mark carney is repealing canada's electric vehicle
mandate that required all new car sales to be electric in a decade scrapping a true dough
environmental policy instead carney is taking his own approach by introducing stronger greenhouse gas
emission standards for vehicle models 2027 to 2032 to encourage automakers to produce more
zero emission vehicles he said quote canada will set a new more ambitious sovereign path to
reduce automobile emissions we're tightening by twofold our greenhouse gas emission standards
and we're giving the industry the flexibility how they achieve that whether through plug-in hybrids
evs more efficient ic e vehicles end quote carney expects his new emission systems will lead
system pardon me will lead to 75 percent of new cars sold in canada being electric by 2035
an ambitious goal but still less than the previous mandate that carney is ditching
government officials said they haven't precisely calculated how much carbon pollution the new
system will eliminate but carney said it was modeled based on grams per mile so quote from
carney it's a 57 percent reduction in the emissions as this ramps up for the vehicles in the country
end quote carney announced that the liberal government is also launching a new 2.3 billion
dollar program to offer consumers and businesses purchase or lease incentives of up to five
thousand dollars canadian for evs and up to $2,500 for plug-in hybrids plug-in vehicles must be
under $50,000 canadian to qualify and be made by countries canada has free trade agreements with
which would exclude any vehicles made in china the price cap will not apply to canadian made vehicles
but the maximum $5,000 and $2,500 rebates will only be available for this year starting next year
both rebates decrease steadily until the program is slated to end after 2030
well i would be curious to hear how my canadian listeners feel about this i mean it's something
that's the good news it is a meaningful incentive the problem is if you're after a
teslas specifically is that only the model y standard qualifies that vehicle is exactly
$50,000 canadian 49,990 meaning you cannot put a single hardware option on that car and still
qualify for this rebate and as it turns out the model 3 standard isn't available in canada
at all only the premium model 3s are and those are $80,000 canadian so there is exactly one tesla
in one configuration that qualifies for this fortunately there are some other ev options
in the mix here too that do qualify i was looking this up two of the three trims on the new
nison leaf qualify there's at least one trim on the upcoming limited time return of the chevy bolt
as well plus a trim of the chevy equinox ev also appearing to meet the criteria are the kia ev 6
which is a pretty popular car in the ev space the volkswagen id 4 same thing the kia nero
and the toyota bz 4x the latter two i'm not personally a big fan of but they are a lot more
affordable than uh well then then teslas options in the country at least so there are some options
but really only at the bottom of the ev market and that must clearly be canada's intention with
this is they want to only offer this incentive to buyers who theoretically really need it or
would really benefit from it compared to people buying more expensive evs that's everything i've
got for you in the week's worth of tesla and other ev news but now it is time for the ride the
lightning hotline i promised you an expanded version of this this week so let's do it
if you've got a question comment or discussion topic for the podcast you can call in anytime
using two methods one use your smartphone's built-in voice recording software record your
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or some other special occasion you can give them a unique gift of recorded voices from friends
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doing with them or put on to a keepsake visit life on record dot com to learn more and thank you
to the life on record folks for providing me the ride the lightning hotline here for most of the
duration of the podcast like most of the last 10 years love it hey ryan jason out here in utah
hey thanks for everything you do for the show hey i just wanted to comment on the s and x and
all the autonomy changes for tesla from the earnings call i mean at the end of the day
the s and the x probably had to go i don't think that was any secret but the challenges is that they
seem to want to just move to totally autonomous and not make driver-based cars anymore you know as
someone who loves to drive and someone who uses fsd all the time there's times i still want to
drive because it's fun plus i go skiing or camping or off-roading and i'm always going to
want a car with a steering wheel so my fear is that tesla just isn't going to do any more
new car segments or really do anything for the driver who still wants to be able to play
sometimes too besides a super expensive roaster so you know this is the kind of thing that you
know could force people to go start looking at other car segments i'm always going to want to have
fsd but other car manufacturers are also going to continue to improve their autonomy and unfortunately
this is the kind of thing that may force me to have to start looking at other options here
in the years to come thanks ryan for all you do appreciate bye thanks for your call jason
i have seen a very similar sentiment expressed by a lot of people and quite honestly i feel the same
way there was a period not long ago and i may have even said it on this podcast where i thought
that i would have teslas for the rest of my life but while i certainly can't predict the future of
what my family's transportation wants and needs are going to be i can say that as i sit here
now in 2026 it's possible that i might not buy another tesla i mean my wife's car is likely
going to be the next one to get cycled out barring any unexpected issues with my new one
but that's not going to be for a while the 2018 car is only seven and a half years old
it just hit 80 000 miles on the odometer it should knock on wood have plenty of life left
and it doesn't have any monthly subscriptions on it because it has premium connectivity included for
life as all the cars did back then and i'm super lucky that that car has free lifetime super
charging on it but when the time does come we'll see i mean maybe a model y makes sense maybe another
model three will make sense but i could also see my wife potentially wanting something like the
rivian r3 which will probably be out by the time that my wife's ready for a new car since again
we don't anticipate that being for a long time so we'll see i mean again we could easily get another
three or maybe a y for her if the next refresh for those two cars includes a steering wheel and
pedals in them it's entirely possible that they don't just like how the cybertruck as we
heard on the earnings call last week is apparently going to be converted into an autonomous cargo truck
so i hear you jason and as i think i said last week i do worry as a tesla fan that that elan's
getting a little bit out over his skis here in terms of the world maybe won't quite be ready or
willing to abandon manually driven cars yet even as autonomy arrives next up is stefan from monoray
hey ryan it's stefan from monoray i just listened to the earnings call and i just had one point to
make it's it's really interesting it seems like elan has removed the emotion from driving
which is completely contrary to the very last sound bite every week that you put on your podcast
or he talks about maximum fun he's removing the fun he's replacing his fleet with cars that just
focus on getting you from point a to point b comfortably and safely which is good but he
is removing the human factor which is one of the biggest parts of driving my tesla that i
enjoy i enjoyed taking the roads and accelerating through the curves and having having emotion
between point a and point b it's not just about getting there which is what i think tesla is decided
to do now so it's not going to be about maximum fun anymore and that's really unfortunate he's
sanitizing the uh the experience now and you were right uh last week when you talked about
most people not wanting to farm out their car to other people uh people it's an individual thing
having a car is is something personal uh the marketing of many cars talks about that talks about
how it's your identity and he's removing all that it's truly unfortunate i think
they're going in the wrong direction here and it's sad to see anyhow that's not maximum
fun to me bye bye and thanks again gosh stephan you are absolutely right i hadn't even thought about
that truth be told when i make each week's podcast i just click and drag those audio files that i
sneak on to the very end into my project file i never actually listened to them anymore i've
always liked them though that's the reason i put them at the end of the podcast they're
like funny little easter eggs in case you actually listen through the entirety of each episode
but you are absolutely correct the 2026 elan clearly does not think about tesla cars in the
same way that the elan from that clip did it's from his very first appearance on joe rogan i
don't actually remember exactly what year that was but in short people like you and me enjoy
the journey as much as the destination if i may sum it up that way i found myself knotting
along an agreement with everything you were saying on your call i appreciate you calling in
next up here's mathew from portland oregon here i am this is mathew in the portland oregon area
thanks so much for this podcast and your work at uh i gm so i have a thought about tesla and
autonomy i'm thinking about this because i plan to trade in my 23 model y for a mono yl assuming
the rumors are true or the rivian r2 once they start delivering it with lidar if i wonder if rivian
will actually pull ahead of tesla in the long run in autonomy in terms of safety and if tesla
will get stuck at level four whereas rivian may be able to achieve level five and this possibility
may happen thinking because a camera only system compared to a camera plus ladder system has
one limitation that may be surmountable the one that is insurmountable as far as i understand
so the potentially surmountable challenge is that a camera only system has to infer distance and size
based on depth cues which our visual system has to do as well but this challenge may be surmountable
through developing algorithms with the assistance of lidar validation which tesla does appear to be
doing but the insurmountable challenge is dealing with weather conditions that create poor visibility
you know dense fog heavy rain heavy snow as far as i know there's no way to get around that
limitation with a camera only system so i'm curious about your thoughts on this topic and
also thoughts of any of your listeners who have training and engineering or AI programming
since my training is in neither area thanks have a good day thank you for your call Matthew
no one knows what the future holds for rivian certainly but we do have a pretty good
idea of tesla's immediate future and that's the cybercat if that car is given regulatory
approval it is a level five car lidar or no lidar because it's got no steering wheel or pedals
how reliable it is in snow fog and other adverse weather conditions as you mentioned
does remain to be seen for what it's worth there have been pictures and videos posted online
of cybercabs testing on the roads in for instance the chicago area and tesla itself posted a
pic of a cyber cab on the roads up in alaska so i think you're well within your rights to be
skeptical of the vision only fsd systems performance in really rough winter weather conditions
but tesla to their credit isn't just running them around in california and texas where that
kind of difficult weather doesn't really exist at least in the in the kind of areas that
tesla has a presence as for rivian as i've said before i am rooting like heck for them
i can't wait to see where they go with their system and how long it takes them to get there
i mean on the one hand they're still at the start of their autonomy journey but on the other hand
they might be able to skip some steps by learning from what tesla and wemo have already been
an example of that would be neural nets tesla as we know switched over to all neural nets a couple
years ago after coding everything by hand for years and years before that rivian has the
advantage of knowing to just start with the neural nets which they are doing cheers matthew
thanks for the call uh moving down to california here is ben hi ryan this is ben from california
long time first time my question is in regards to uh if you could tap one of your tesla sources
to let us know if we buy a used model three or why um specifically i'm looking at a hardware
four car with full self-driving equipped from a from a private party from a normal person
not from tesla after february 14th will that still transfer over can we get confirmation on that because
i'm leaning towards uh buying my next tesla that way to still retain the full self-driving
with the car but i would like confirmation before uh going that route love the podcast thank you
bye hey ben thank you for taking the time to call uh good news for you here in short
you're fine cars with paid for fsd can still be sold privately and the fsd will stay with the car
just like it is now it's the fsd transfer to a new car that's ending so no need to worry
about this upcoming deadline in your particular situation and i expect that that might help a
lot of other people out there feel better too so hope that helps ben thanks again for calling in
and moving along we've got still several more calls to go this next one is from a regular say
hi to brian from pennsylvania thanks ryan appreciate that so this is gonna be a little pessimistic uh
you're playing um devil's advocate with elan maybe a little bit on this and i'm curious
your thoughts and listener's thoughts here too um why does anyone want to buy a tesla now
they're not going to be making cars they're not going to be putting their effort into cars
why would i want to buy a new tesla especially if i'm a new person coming to the brand
i have the feeling this move might affect sales in that sense where new people are gonna
they don't see the whole picture of what elan wants to do and they're going to oh
they're not making cars anymore i'm not gonna buy a tesla i'll go buy whatever else
and my other comment here elan is saying that autonomy is the future i disagree and i feel
that autonomy is part of the future things have been going autonomous for a hundred plus years
my furnace is autonomous i don't have to load coal or wood into it it automatically does that
my icemaker in my fridge is autonomous i don't have to fill trays with water now i know he's
talking to a whole another level here of autonomy but i feel that's decades away you know as the
old elan statement is next year next year so my my question here to the group is in the areas that
have robo taxes and i know you in san francisco have them um you have uber and you have maybe
some tesla ones my question is why have you not switched over to using those exclusively
to get around and yes i know that is kind of a weighted question in a sense maybe not a fair
question but i feel it is because if autonomy is the future that elan thinks it is why are not
you all who have these available to you making that jump thanks again i hear you brian and elan
and tesla are certainly making a giant bet that being first to autonomy at least in terms of a
regular affordable car that most people are going to be able to find a way to acquire is the key
to tesla's future along with the humanoid robots i think the point that you bring up about people
shying away from tesla cars because of an apparent lack of focus on them even if for now again tesla's
only discontinued three percent of their yearly car production and they're about to launch a new
car in april that if elan proves to be correct will be the equivalent to 100 percent of their
current production so basically doubling their current output but because perception is often
reality even if it shouldn't be right so that's to your point and and that's goes to the poll from
earlier this uh this episode that i was telling you about too but also as i was saying on last
week's episode i do think there's an emotional component to autonomy that he's not accounting
for that a lot of people are not going to want an autonomous car even if it's affordable and
even if it's safer because people fear change that's not a criticism we are all human and humans
just generally speaking don't tend to embrace change more often than not and thus those people
will not easily cede control of something in this case the act of driving right so we'll see
it is a bold bet as we all know and it means that the next few years of tesla are going to be
mighty interesting one way or another thank you as always for your calls brian there are
let's see one two three more calls to get to this week so let's roll on here with joey from ohio
hey ryan this is joey uh from ohio i've called in a couple other times but i've been listening to
your podcast and wow like i as a fan of tesla i'm so on the same page that you are disappointed
that there's so much focus on this whole automation piece and not on the driver experience
on the car i fell in love with the model y and i love the cybertruck i'd love to have one one day
just not in the in the scope of my pay right now but uh just feeling like all this stuff is
just disappearing as options just almost sickening so uh hopefully they find the right path and who
knows i just can't see people getting in cabs and driving around i can't see everybody wanting a robot
in their house i mean for someone like me who lives out in a rural part of the country i'm not
going to hail a cab from my school where i work to come home every day so that seems kind of
pointless and living out in the country just isn't something that that's that's going to solve
problem for me so anyway uh just wanted to share my thoughts i agree with you on many levels
i appreciate the call joey in fact you make a fantastic point that i failed to make
about more rural areas in fact i heard from a few other people on this too the reality is
a whole lot of the country here in the united states but this probably applies pretty globally
as well don't live in big cities autonomy can still benefit you certainly but in a car that
you own you're probably not going to be hailing a cyber cab as you mentioned so we shall see what
teslas future holds a next commenting on the fsd subscription changes is robert from texas
hey ryan it's robert from texas i've got a call related to the fsd and the monthly uh payment
on it and also the taking autopilot off the cars first on the monthly payment the hundred
bucks a month uh one thing you have to take into account is the time value of money if you actually
use kind of six percent as a time value of money you know assuming you can get six percent
you know in stocks and bonds or whatever um then actually uh the hundred bucks a month
versus 8 000 is actually 8.5 years i think versus 6.7 so 8.5 years so i think economically you know
that's pretty that's a pretty similar or good deal because most of us don't hold our cars
for that long eight and a half years uh some of us do but uh and also because the transfer
ability is not always guaranteed um you know that's probably not that bad a deal
so on the surface of it it looks worse than it is but when you do the math especially with the cost
of capital it um you know i think it works out okay on the autopilot getting rid of that i think
that you mentioned this it's a safety issue i think if tesla actually has really good data
which says that autopilot uh use saves lives and and having that as a standard package saves
lives then they should add that back i mean that i mean that's just crazy to try and get a little
bit of economic gain out of eliminating that uh so i would ask tesla and hopefully you play
this on your show and someone from tesla listens that they actually look at the data
and look at it in terms of saving lives as opposed to an economic decision to take autopilot
off the basic package love your show thanks a lot talk soon bye
robert i always appreciate your very considered calls i take your point about the time value of
money but i would politely very politely counter with this and i did have to look this up to fact
check myself here americans are keeping their cars far longer than eight and a half years on average
i found an article from roiders from 2024 that says in part quote automobile owners in the united
states are holding on to their vehicles longer according to a new study the average age of
us cars and light trucks this year rose to a record 12.6 years according to the report by s and p
global mobility up by two months from 2023 end quote and then for another bit of data here's an
article from 2025 that i found on carscoops.com that says quote according to data from s and p global
so the same same data provider here as the as the other one from 2023 or excuse me 2024 so according
to data from s and p global the average age of vehicles in the us has reached a record high of
12.8 years in 2025 up from 12.6 years in 2024 end quote so again i totally hear you on the time value
of money but removing the option to buy fsd outright for eight thousand dollars when statistically
speaking more americans than ever are keeping their cars longer and again not just longer but
way long enough to justify to to quote unquote make money on the eight thousand dollar option
versus paying the subscription option and on your second point yes i would hope that tesla
would go back and look at the safety data that they have every quarter they put out numbers that
tells us how much safer their cars are than an average car with autopilot activated or fsd so
that is part of why i am upset about tesla a self-proclaimed safety first company removing
basic autopilot from all the new cars thank you as always robert appreciate the call and this
last one comes from not too far from where i'm podcasting from it's brian in menlo park
asking about the roadster that i have coming my way go ahead brian hey ryan this is brian from menlo
park i've been curious about the next gen roadster that she won through the referral program i know
it's it's been a really long time and you don't talk about it all that much but i'm curious
do you think tesla will follow through on that referral program promise and then
also do you get any communication with tesla on this are they just quiet on the whole thing
is it in your tesla app um yeah i'm just wanting to know because i know you deserve it and looking
forward to you telling us how that whole thing goes when and if it ever does but um yeah let us
know like an update thanks so much hey brian thanks for the call the big thing that i want
to be very very careful about with that car is to always make sure that i am liberally
sprinkling anything i say with regards to winning that car with a a heaping helping of humility
i just i never i hope that i never sound like i'm bragging about that car the reality is i was
in the right place at the right time and it's the craziest thing that's ever happened to me
in terms of just unexpected good cool things i mean sure i had spent three years prior to
winning that car building up this podcast and its audience by showing up here every single week and so
yeah i did put myself in a position to get those referrals but it was still very much
a right place right time thing i acknowledged that so with that said i'll tell you to answer
your questions i've had zero communication from tesla about it none of the winners have to
my knowledge because quite honestly and i don't mean this in any sort of mean way but i just don't
think anybody at tesla is thinking about the approximately 80 or so roadsters is the best
guess that they owe to a number of winners or at least they haven't thought about us for most
of the past eight years and i get it because they haven't thought about that car at all for
most of the past eight years the company has had a lot of other priorities but the good news is that
those two cars are in my tesla account when i log into my account on a desktop i see my 2018 model
three performance my 2024 model three performance and then two founders series tesla roadsters
that are marked referral award in there so i have four squares 2018 model three 2024 model three
founder series roadster founder series roadster and i do absolutely think that tesla is going to
make good on them i i really do and i hope maybe it's just naive wishful thinking maybe you're
all going to be pointing at me and laughing and saying haha you actually thought you were going
to get that i don't know but i do think they're going to make good on it the cost to them will be
really an absolute drop in the bucket of just one quarter's profits and it would quite frankly be
an incredibly bad pr look if they suddenly had a bunch of winners super mad because tesla
pulled back on their end of the deal and besides tesla came out pretty far ahead in that deal i would
say it took 55 referrals to win a roadster so if you add up the amount of cars worth that those 55
referrals generated it's way more than 250 grand so anyway to kind of move along here
my plan is to keep the car if i can afford to do so and it is an if because even with the car being
quote unquote free after paying substantial income tax on the value of the prize and sales tax i
presume i'm gonna have to pay on that as well there's still on an ongoing basis annual vehicle
registration which is expensive just on any car in california but the higher price of the car the more
the annual vehicle registration costs there's insurance costs and there's tires which that car
is going to have michelin sport cup twos or some equivalent to that which i looked it up
they run roughly three thousand dollars per set and last about 5000 miles because they're
basically street legal racing slicks for all intents and purposes now can you tell that
i've had a lot of time to think about this yes i've gone and priced out the tires so
it it wouldn't be a trivial thing to keep even when it's free even when it's a roof a prize
that i have won but because it's a thing that i would absolutely never in a million years have
in the normal course of life if not for this right place right time circumstance i can tell you again
having had years to just think about this i can sincerely tell you that i want nothing more than
to share the joy of this car and share the fun of winning this car and i want to try and do something
good with it i want to give as many rides to people as possible and hey brian you're in
menlo park so you are very welcome to come and meet up with me but what i mean by do good with
it which sharing you know giving rides hopefully that's some basic level of good is just
giving you know sharing that fun with other people but i also want to generate something
a little more out of it than even that so my plan is to get a qr code well hopefully that's an easy
thing i want to get a qr code for a charity or non-profit that i care about and right now i'm
thinking that it would be the norcal boxer rescue association who does great work trying to help
boxers out there and they don't have nearly the funding of say canine companions who as you all know
i am affiliated with happily i donate my time to help raise service dog puppies
actually on that note i'll just share with you all right now that we got the
bittersweet news that minna the future service dog she career changed she did not make it
which was just it was surprising to me i'll say because she was so
keen on the training with me the base level stuff but i talked to her trainer they were
the trainer was nice enough to call me to to share the news and directly you know on the phone
with me and when i mentioned that she said yes sometimes the dogs the higher the higher level
of work they're just not you know they get anxiety or they're just not up for that work and so
the good news is that my co-raiser friend who's a former listener of this podcast
he he and his family that again we we raised minna together with them they are
adopting minna forever because the puppy razor gets first dibs to adopt the dog forever if if that
dog does career change if they don't graduate so mine is going to be in a very happy home and
selfishly it'll be nice i'll get to see her and my family will get to see her so that's cool
it's it's still i will say and and i was texting with with michael my co-raiser friend
we were both saying like it is still it's sad like because even though you know it's it's sad to say
goodbye to them and i realize i'm going off on a tangent here but it was kind of relevant so
forgive me for a minute it's sad to say goodbye to them right like the the number one thing by
a mile that i hear when i talk to people about when they ask like oh you know they see the vest
and they're like oh what what's that what's the deal with that dog and i explained it's a service
dog puppy and we're volunteer puppy razors and we raise the puppy from eight weeks to about
15 16 months and then we we give them up we turn them in and they go into professional training
and hopefully go graduate and like i would say eight out of 10 people say to me oh i could never
do that i could never give them up which is a perfectly reasonable emotional response right
because you get attached to the dog but uh it is i had the privilege and the pleasure
of zelina our first one graduating she made it and she graduated and getting to attend her graduation
ceremony and more importantly than that to meet the family that she was gonna live with forever
and help it was it's a very moving experience and it makes the the emotional difficulty of saying goodbye
to the dog that you've raised since eight weeks trivial by comparison and so that's what i would
say politely to anybody that maybe might be interested in puppy raising with canine companions
or another service dog organization but is either you're kind of held up by by that idea that difficult
thought of giving the dog up but anyway so mine mine is gonna have uh it's sad that she didn't make
it but um although speaking of so it turns out zelina uh her family they're they're going
out of the country for a a physical therapy opportunity that happens to be in another country
so they're not taking zelina and they've so very sweetly reached out to us and said would you
guys like to watch would you guys be able to watch zelina for us and it's like well you're
doing me the favor so we're gonna get to see zelina again zelina will be back on the podcast
in is it next week i think two weeks from now i think it's two weeks she'll be back so anyway
i realized sorry i got way way off track there but to circle back to roadster and again so i canine
companions is an awesome organization but thankfully they are very well funded not that they don't
graciously accept donations um but that they're they're in good shape the norcal boxer rescue
organization that's who i'm thinking like because they they could really genuinely use the donation so
my my thinking is anybody that takes a ride in the roadster i will politely request but but to
be clear not require if you say no that's okay politely request that you scan the qr code that
i'll hopefully have and that you donate say ten bucks to norcal boxer rescue in exchange for
the ride in the roadster and so um that's that's how i'm that's how i want to try and use that
car to do good that's that's my thinking and then if i'll tell you this if the car
really can hover as elon's been talking up for years i mean he he's been using the word fly
which obviously it's not going to like literally fly but if it hovers and that's a cool party trick
kind of thing i would love to see if maybe any local children's hospitals would want me to come by
and and demo the hovering and let the kids who are being treated there sit in the car ask
questions poke around on the screen that kind of thing so sorry i know that was an extraordinarily
long answer and and admittedly i recognized that was kind of a navel gazing thing too that i was
that i was doing there but um brian you can tell again i've had many many years to think about all
of this so thank you so much for your call and and to anybody that wasn't interested in hearing
any of that i apologize for how long that tangent was and i will now move along that was
actually the last call that that uh especially after how long that was so i'm going to stop there for
this week but i will get to more of your ride the lightning hotline call phone calls next week so
keep them coming and again if you're wondering how to call in i gave you the two calling methods
and the easy instructions for both at the top of this segment as for what's going on with me
in my car i am up to 98 percent i think i might have said this last week but i'm at 98
fsd usage since version 14.2 and just today i had to pick my daughter up from school normally she
takes the bus because she had an orthodontist appointment and so uh i let fsd do the whole
thing so let's see how this goes because as i've as i've talked to you guys about
many times over the last several years since i've been lucky enough to be in the fsd beta
program san francisco has is a is a tough place for fsd it's a tough place for a self-driving car to
work and uh it's really i would say version 12 was the first one where i could like it could
legitimately drive around san francisco with minimal disengagement uh version 14 now so i'm on i'm on
whatever the i think it's 14.2.2.4 i think but uh it went across the city to my daughter's school
and when it got there it parallel parked itself on the street my daughter gets in the car i put
in the address for the orthodontist office it drives us back across a different to another
side of the city uh and did a tremendous job there too and then after we're done you know had it take
us home and it did i had zero disengagements i did have to goose the accelerator once at a particularly
tricky intersection that i've talked about on this podcast before but it it just did i was
really incredibly impressed like that that was probably i mean it wasn't that many miles of
driving but it was all hardcore san francisco city mileage uh and it was probably in a total of an
hour and it's not like we were in stop and go traffic it was just san francisco takes a while
to get across it was probably a total of an hour and 15 hour and 20 minutes worth of driving
zero disengagements it did incredibly well i was really genuinely super impressed with it i mean it
was it was awesome so that's what's going on with me and my car uh as for your pro tip of the week
it comes from john in palo alto this is john from palo alto long time listener i think
2016 i started listening right after we got our model s and love your show
ryan anyway i have a simple pro tip and that is uh i always seem to struggle trying to get the plug
out of the receptacle when i'm using the 120 volt portion of the mobile charger so my fix is just
to get a cable tie wrap it around the cylindrical portion of that plug and before you cinch down
the cable tie fully tuck the tail of the excess cable tie behind uh next to the rubber receptacle
behind the band of the cable tie and then snug it tight so you have a little loop to be able to
stick your finger into and pull out from the wall anyway seems to help me uh a lot i've been
using that uh one cable tie for about a year now it seems to hold just fine anyway i hope this helps
some folks and uh thanks again for your show john thank you for your pro tip and thank you for being
such a longtime listener 2016 that's almost all the way back to the very beginning of this podcast
i love it as for your pro tip you know how tesla just started awarding all of us those
different badges in our app at the end of last year based on the different charging related
things we did well i don't have an actual badge to give you here john but i'm awarding you the
ride the lightning macgyver award for 2026 for this make your own handle life hack to more easily
unplug that 120 volt adapter out of the wall with your tesla mobile connector now by the way
for younger listeners who might not be familiar with macgyver it was a tv show where the hero
was a guy known for solving problems by coming up with creative solutions using the things around
him it was a very very 1980s show in the very best of ways but anyway i am happy to share this
in case other listeners out there find it useful thank you john very much and if anybody else
out there has a good tesla or ev pro tip of the week i'd love to hear it please do send it in you
just call in like you're calling into the regular ride the lightning hotline please try to keep it
to 90 seconds or less just like with a regular call and i gave you the two calling methods the
instructions for those just a little while ago so refer back to that before i go i want to
mention a few friends of the podcast including a new friend infinity shield quick funny story
did i ever tell you all back in 2018 not long after i got my first tesla about the time that i
accidentally lowered my garage door onto my tesla as i was backing it out of the garage
it was a long time ago and i'm really lucky that i got away with literally just a super
small scratch on my roof glass in fact when i told my wife about it she couldn't even see it
she couldn't even find the scratch but if i had had the infinity shield back then it never
would have happened so you're wondering okay well what's the infinity shield most garages
like mine only have a single beam sensor that detects objects about six inches off the ground
this is a leading cause of damaged car hatches bumpers and garage doors ask me how i know
so infinity shield is the world's first full coverage garage door sensor utilizing 25 beams
yes you heard me right 25 beams it looks like i mean you can't see the lasers obviously but if
you could it would look like the laser sensors surrounding the hope diamond in a heist movie
right that the cat burglar is trying to like contort his or her body through to try and
get to the diamond so it detects protruding bumpers it detects open hatches or anything else in the way
of the garage door it's easy to install yourself with no special tools it does not need to be
aligned ever and it's compatible with all garage door openers it's really a heck of a piece of
engineering get yours at infinity dash shield dot com and use promo code rtl at checkout for 10 for a
10 discount or click the link in the episode description so again that's infinity dash shield
dot com promo code rtl for a 10 discount and then of course we have my friends my also other
new friends at rpm tesla they've been around a long time they specialize in oem style tesla upgrades
focusing on carbon fiber interior enhancements and functional accessories that integrate seamlessly
with teslas factory designs and they are all about compatibility meaning their accessories don't
compromise teslas design language their safety systems or their functionality rpm tesla designs
a ton of stuff in house like all their steering wheel upgrades for the yoke and the round grip
they prioritize quality over speed so you're not getting cheap junk here uh speaking of cheap
though you can buy with confidence because rpm tesla offers free returns no restocking fees
and lifetime warranties they feature over 500 diy installation videos to make your installation
quick uh the they only sell the best high quality accessories over 1500 of them since 2013
and they are family owned located in southern california they also continually refine their
designs based on actual customer feedback in all rpm teslas about enhancing your tesla ownership
experience elevating what's already awesome about your car check them out at rpm tesla
dot com and use the promo code rtl pod plus rtl pod and the plus sign for 10 extra
off of your next order that's rpm tesla dot com promo code rtl pod plus abstract ocean dot com my
long time friends and they're still around still thriving for good reason again if we go there
right now abstract ocean dot com uh so much good stuff i'm gonna click on model three here
let's see model three they've got satin black logo emblems of course tesla themselves switched over to
satin black ones for the 2026 model year if you've got a 2024 or 2025 new model three as i do
maybe you want to grab these they're 19 bucks for a front and rear pair that's that is uh pretty
darn affordable they've got premium floor mats for the model three door noise reduction seals
they've got the super hydrophobic camera cover the puddle lights in different colors the wheel center
cap kit depending if you're running without the arrow cover on your wheel depending on which
wheel design you've got they've got the ultra premium tempered glass screen protectors for the
front and second row screen as well those are just 50 bucks so i could keep going and going all night
here but you gotta check them out abstract ocean dot com when you get there click on the vehicle
that you have whether it's a tesla a rivian or something else and it will show you all the
great accessories and products that are available from abstract ocean dot com for your vehicle
and make sure that when you've got everything you like in your online shopping cart you use the
coupon code RTL podcast all one word no spaces use that promo code at checkout to get 15 percent
off of your first order the snap plate and the newer stronger snap plate plus available for
all the teslas the rivians lots and lots of evs at this point you can get yours at every amp
dot com slash RTL there's a coupon code here as well for a discount for you guys and that coupon
code is simply RTL this is the front license plate bracket it's a nice clean minimal design i
recommend it if you either want or are legally required to have a front license plate on your
car i recommend the snap plate or the stronger snap plate plus both are made from recycled made
in the usa plastics with stainless steel reinforcements and they both have that signature minimalist
aesthetic that blends in super nicely with the front end of your car so again get yours by
clicking the link in the episode description or by going to every amp dot com slash RTL
and don't forget the coupon code RTL immaculate reflections if you are in need of or desire of
some top shelf professional detailing services for your car whether it's your tesla or any
other car in your garage that you really care about and you're in are going to be in the
greater san francisco bay area i cannot recommend strongly enough that you reach out to jeff at
immaculate reflections make sure you do it ahead of time you got a book and appointment because he's
he's always got a lot of cars in there i was just there and he's he had let's see what he had a good
maybe half a dozen cars in there so get in touch with him get on his calendar and then work with
him he'll work with you on what you want to do maybe that's paint protection film
on the front end of the car maybe that's ceramic coating which is exactly what i'm having
redone literally right now uh well i mean he's not working right now it's 9 34 p.m
at least i hope he's not working the car should be just the ceramic should just be curing curing
overnight but anyway i'm having my ceramic coating redone because the first ceramic coating
that i had on that 2018 car that i got right when it was new lasted seven years seven years
well worth the money and so i'm having it done again because we plan to keep this as i was saying
earlier in the podcast we're planning to keep my wife's car the 2018 model 3 performance for a good
long time more so we want to keep that finish protected with ceramic coating keep those evil
uv rays from getting down into the paint and damaging that paint so ceramic coating you can do
maybe paint correction where jeff will get into the finish of your car take out all those little
swirls and imperfections and have your paint looking better than it ever has so whatever you want to do
jeff will work with you to go set up an appointment go to the website which is irdetailing.com
click the contact button and either the the center of the homepage or the top left corner
and when you reach out just you know again mention what you're looking to do
maybe what your budget is and again jeff will work with you make sure to mention that you're a ride
the lightning listener and then any work that you have done you will get the ride the lightning
discount applied which he was kind enough i got the ride the lightning discount so i'm very very
grateful for that the patreon i mentioned it earlier let me mention it one more time that
is the primary way that you can choose to support this podcast i'd be mighty grateful if you would
at least take a look at my patreon page find it at patreon.com slash tesla podcast or click the
link in the episode description you'll see the five dollar tier you'll see the ten dollar tier
you'll see the seven day free trial option you will see the annual pledge option if you
don't want to do the month to month thing but you're like hey you know what ryan yes i'll throw you
i'll throw you a one-time payment for a year of supporting you uh that's that's there too and i
i say thank you for doing an annual pledge by giving you a 10 discount on that annual pledge
so you can find all that stuff on the patreon page again patreon.com slash tesla podcast
the uh podcast is mostly found on all well it's it's available on all the big podcast services
that's what i'm trying to say spotify tune in apple podcasts youtube podcasts etc just search
ride the lightning tesla this podcast should pop right up click the follow button and then
you will that's totally free by the way and then you'll get a push notification anytime
there's a new episode which for this show is every sunday at nine am eastern six am pacific
also the referral program my my referrals got reset i noticed because i had maxed out you
guys had used them all of them which is great super appreciated but if you are buying a new
tesla let me just double check here ah so the perk now is uh if you order with my referral
code you'll get three free months of full self-driving which i presume is on top of the 30 day free trial
that you already get i hope i actually don't know for sure hopefully it's not just two extra months
and it's a total of four months but anyway if you're planning to buy a tesla feel free to use
my referral code or anybody else's you don't you don't have to use mine and use anybody's
but if you're going to buy a tesla you might as well get the three free months of fsd for that's on
model y or model three if you're buying a cyber truck or getting in on a model s or x before they go away
the referral code the referral link pardon me will get you a thousand dollar discount off of
those three vehicles eight any of those three vehicles cyber truck model s or model x so to
use my referral code you have to order through it so type in in any browser mobile or desktop tes.la
slash ryan73014 and that will take you to the referrals page where it says order with ryan's
referral and then you click which car you want you can either buy from inventory or custom order
a new car and when you submit that order it will have that referral baked in so you'll either get
the three free months of fsd or you'll get the thousand dollar discount and finally you can
email me anytime teslapodcast at gmail.com you can also follow me on x and or instagram i have
the same username on both and that username is dmc underscore ryan finally let me say hello and thank
you to the top tier patreon backers i'm going to start with the grandfathered in plaid level
supporters this week this tier is officially no more on my patreon but these very kind and
generous folks continue to pledge at that tier and so they get all the perks and bonuses
that they should get for continuing to be at that tier big thank you to george cassiopo
logan willis peter chalet eric randolph dory and steve guberman the tesla owners of taiwan
ron lee charlie gillespie jeff angwin chase cabaneas the lydia family aron alchool jared brown
jamey dalton mike and barber 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 backers
we've got our monthly zoom hangout monthly patreon hangout coming up on zoom tomorrow as i record
this should be a good one an extra big thanks then goes out to the maximum plaid backers who
get invited to every single one of those hopefully i'll be seeing a number of you tomorrow on the
call jonathan wales cameron clark daniel grummer seth capello the galpin family ryan from new york
city darin nickle cos barns patrick wasneski gill cabrera todd badger joe edgel kevin yank
the tesla owners club of sandwalking valley will stedman jeremy harris chris beach tom mills
choreo donnell aron john codie jolsap paul casarino chris osbourne kb adam lavoix jason chelukas
travis krenzel bruce otterstein tom behan josh pennington john from cream ridge new jersey
dustin hart derek finley charles clement daemon kline jeff brown jerry slinger kenneth corbett
brian bertoglio kim bae troy severs chip hooper matt chinander robert moran rave christopher man
michael williams and eric harbert finally the roadster in space tear backers big thanks goes out
to pete white lile austin steve radspinner fernando cordero laughton from chicago
shawn nidig neal weaver jackson wallace ralph and jennifer evers howard anthony smith
victoria aya coveto tesla hitchhiker 42 carol weston robert from near philly american home
contractors dug carry michael gallo and tony figaroa and uh want to wish by the way victoria
aya coveto messaged me her dad turned 96 this week happy birthday to your dad victoria that is
awesome and what's awesome is that all of you hung in to this point this was another long episode
where are we at here we're at uh oh yeah we're well past the 90 minute mark so
i will stop talking here and let you get back to your day or evening whatever you happen to be
listening but uh this was a fun one i hope you enjoyed it i had fun putting it together
and recording it happy electric motoring my friends and i'll see you back here next week
you
ilan musk people don't like ilan 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 his tesla i laughed
out loud and 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
Tesla has unveiled a new all-wheel drive variant of the Model Y, priced at $42,000, which offers improved performance but reduced range compared to the rear-wheel drive model. The episode discusses the implications of this change, particularly in light of recent discontinuations of the Model S and X. Listeners also weigh in on how these developments affect their car-buying decisions. Additionally, updates on the anticipated Apple CarPlay integration for Tesla vehicles are shared, along with insights from listener feedback and a Patreon poll.
Original notes
Tesla has introduced a new variant of the Model Y in the US, but sadly it's not the Model Y L. At least not yet. Plus: Apple CarPlay is reportedly still on the way for Teslas, Consumer Reports gives the Model Y a major accolade, 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!). Enhance your car with cool carbon-fiber upgrades from RPMTesla.com and use the promo code RTLPOD+ for 10% off your next purchase. And make your garage door foolproof with the Infinity Shield – get yours at infinity-shield.com and use the promo code RTL at checkout for a 10% discount.
Ride the Lightning: Tesla and EV Podcast
Ryan McCaffrey
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108:07