Episode 557: Model S and X Custom Orders Have Ended
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85:58
Car
Tesla Model S
The Tesla Model S is Tesla’s main electric sedan. When Tesla stops taking new orders, it usually means that model’s ordering process is changing or winding down.
Brand
KIA
Kia is another big car company that’s planning new electric cars. The episode mentions it because it could bring more affordable EV options to North America.
Car
Model 3
The Tesla Model 3 is Tesla’s popular electric car. The episode talks about reserving it and the big reveal event.
Concept
reservation fee / deposit
A reservation fee is a refundable (or sometimes partially refundable) deposit used to secure a future vehicle build. For EVs, it’s often used to gauge demand and fund early production planning.
Concept
rolling mule
A rolling mule is basically an early test car that can roll around, but it may not be fully functional yet. Engineers use it to check how parts fit and how the car moves.
Term
VIN
VIN is the vehicle’s unique identification number. The host mentions “VIN number one” to highlight that it was the very first production car.
Concept
custom orders ending
If custom orders end, it means you can’t place new personalized orders anymore. After that point, only the remaining pre-planned cars (or limited final allocations) can be delivered.
Term
Optimus
Optimus is Tesla’s humanoid robot project. They’re discussing the next version and what it will be able to do in a public demonstration.
Concept
tele-operated demo
In a tele-operated demo, a person controls the robot from somewhere else. The host wants to see the robot do the work on its own, without remote control.
Term
energy storage products
Tesla also reports “energy storage products,” which typically refers to grid-scale battery systems rather than vehicles. Including this in quarterly results highlights that Tesla’s business isn’t only car sales—it also includes energy infrastructure.
Term
delivery numbers
“Delivery numbers” refer to how many vehicles are handed to customers in a given period. For automakers, deliveries are often more meaningful than production because they reflect actual sales momentum and end-customer demand.
Concept
production vs deliveries
Production counts how many vehicles are built, while deliveries count how many reach customers. Automakers often emphasize deliveries because production can be influenced by inventory management, shipping timing, and factory scheduling.
Concept
year over year
This means “compare to the same time last year.” It’s a way to see if things are improving or getting worse, not just because of seasonal timing.
Concept
quarter over quarter
This just means “compare this quarter to the quarter right before it.” It helps show whether deliveries are rising or falling in the short term.
Car
Cybertruck
The Tesla Cybertruck is Tesla’s electric pickup truck. The host mentions it because it’s where some of the relevant electrical hardware first showed up, and because of its order/delivery timing.
Concept
arson
Arson means someone intentionally set a fire. The police are treating it as a deliberate act, not an accident caused by the cars.
Term
reimbursement
Reimbursement is when the warranty company pays for the repair after you file a claim. The host is saying it happens quickly and feels easy.
Term
$100 discount
They’re offering a $100 discount if you choose the policy through their checkout process. It’s basically a coupon to lower the price.
Term
Lightning
“Lightning” is the code you enter to get the discount. It’s used when you buy the plan online.
Brand
Audi
Audi is one of the main brands owned by Volkswagen. Mentioning Audi suggests these software changes could show up in multiple types of cars, not just one model line.
Term
HUD
HUD stands for heads-up display, which projects key driving information onto the windshield so you can keep your eyes on the road. It’s often used for navigation prompts, speed, and driver-assistance alerts.
Term
Exclude at Home option
This setting tells the car, “When I’m at home, don’t do the extra security monitoring.” The goal is to reduce battery use while you’re parked at home.
Company
Infinity Shield
Infinity Shield makes a sensor that helps stop your garage door from coming down if something is in the way. It uses lasers to detect clearance so you don’t accidentally crush a car.
Term
promo code RTL
A promo code is a special code you enter at checkout to get a discount. Here, “RTL” is said to save $35 on Infinity Shield.
Company
RPM Tesla
RPM Tesla is a company that sells add-on parts for Teslas. The host says they focus on things like styling and aerodynamics, and they have lots of products and installation help.
Term
mud flaps
Mud flaps are the little panels behind your tires. They help keep mud and rocks from splashing up onto the car’s paint.
Term
ceramic coating
Ceramic coating is a liquid polymer/ceramic hybrid applied to paint to create a hydrophobic, slick surface that resists dirt and makes washing easier. The host claims it can last multiple years and is positioned as an alternative to frequent waxing.
Company
Patreon
Patreon is a website where fans pay a creator each month. It helps the podcast keep going, and supporters often get extra events or recognition.
Concept
Grandfathered in
“Grandfathered in” means if you signed up before the rules changed, you keep the old benefits. The host is saying some supporters still get the same perks even though the tier is no longer available.
LIVE
On this week's episode of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV podcast, Tesla stops taking new custom orders for the Model S and Model X, marking the true beginning of the end for these historic EVs.
Plus, Tesla reports its first quarter vehicle production and delivery numbers, KIA has announced a promising new entry-level EV for the North American market and more.
What's happening friends? Welcome to Ride the Lightning, your weekly Tesla and EV podcast. This one's publishing on April 5th, 2026. It's episode 557.
I'm surrounded by not one, not two, but three canine friends. We've got Daisy, we've got Lily, and then we've got my sister-in-law's dog, Rue, who definitely bosses around the other two, even though she's about 18 pounds.
That tends to be how it goes, but they have a good time together. So we're going to have a good time together on this week's episode of Ride the Lightning.
Welcome to Q2, which should be a big one for Tesla. We're looking at a lot of fun things scheduled to occur this quarter.
Among them, cyber cab volume production, scheduled to start, the Tesla Semi factory might be opening, and thus volume production might be starting on that.
The Roadster re-reveal might finally happen this quarter, potentially even at the end of April, and more immediately impactful to many of us, Hardware 3 cars are supposed to get V14 Lite sometime this quarter, which would be our first meaningful FSD software update in 15 months and counting for those cars.
So here's to a fun quarter. Let's hope it's going to be a good one.
I have so many great memories of that day, which was a whirlwind day for me, from camping out all night the night before to be as close to the front of the line as possible down at the Palo Alto store.
If I remember correctly, I was around the 14th person in line or so, and in fact, there's at least one or two of you that I met in that line that as of the last time I mentioned this, I don't know when that was, but still listen to this podcast to this day.
So if you're still out there to my fellow March 31, 2016 campers, hello, and I hope you're doing well and I hope you're still enjoying your car.
But we all camped out to put $1,000 down. The reservation fee was $1,000 back then, not the hundred bucks it was for Cybertruck, a $1,000 deposit on the Model 3s.
And in fact, when I put that reservation down, when the next morning rolled around, I got very little sleep out in front of that Palo Alto store that night.
I'm lucky the weather was pretty good. It wasn't raining, it wasn't that cold, but I put my $1,000 down on a car that I had not yet seen.
All of us who'd camped out hadn't seen the car because the actual reveal of the Model 3 happened that night, the evening of March 31, and I had the extreme good fortune from having been doing this podcast for a bit.
I did get invited to the Model 3 unveiling, so I flew down, I put my reservation down in Palo Alto, went home. I'm not even sure if I was able to sleep anymore after that.
Then I got on a plane to LA and I got to be there. I was in the room. I got to see the car up close and then get a test ride in the Silver prototype.
They were giving rides in two, so there were three prototypes on stage. The red one was a rolling mule. It was not functional.
The other two were actual working cars. There was a matte black prototype that actually, fun fact, had Model S style door handles, self-presenting door handles.
Of course those didn't end up making it to production. Then the Silver Alpha prototype, which was arguably the hero car.
That's the one they used in all the press photos and all that stuff. It had a ridiculously gorgeous silver paint job.
If you were to have that car side by side with a Model 3 that painted in the Silver that you could get up until fall of 2018, you'd see that it was completely night and day.
I got to ride in that car, which had a white interior. What a night that was.
I have to say, if I can humbly say this, I feel like the podcast that I did that week, which for those of you that weren't listening 10 years ago, which is completely understandable, it was episode 35.
And I think it was a pretty good time capsule of what that day was like. So if you're curious to hear that, to hear the excitement, hear the enthusiasm, hear what that day was like in the moment, you can go back and listen to Ride the Lightning episode 35.
In fact, you'll even, I went back and I watched a couple of weeks ago, just recently, I went back and watched the unveiling, like the stage presentation part of it.
And boy, you really hear a very different energy in Elon's voice from that night compared to just the way the companies evolved, the way things are now.
And there's a part of me, I miss that. I miss that. But yeah, so you can go back to episode 35 of this podcast if you ever want to go kind of crack open that time capsule.
And I guess I wouldn't quite say that the Model 3 changed my life per se. I don't think it's quite that dramatic, but I would say that it changed my car life for sure, like permanently.
And when I finally got my car at the end of July in 2018, since I had held out for the performance version, which by the way, no regrets on that for me personally, the car somehow lived up, not only lived up to my incredibly high expectations, but exceeded them.
I was so hyped, such high expectations, and it's really, it's hard for anything in life to do that, especially if you've waited literal years for it.
But boy, did that car do it. We're still lucky enough. We still have that car, and that car is doing great.
In fact, that day, my delivery day of my Model 3, my emotions that day were captured in what I would certainly admit was a somewhat naval-gazing special episode of this podcast called Special Bonus Episode Delivery Day,
which I knew at the time was a bit naval-gazing and that not everybody would care about me getting my Model 3, so at the time I broke that out and published it as its own episode.
It doesn't have a number on it. It's just literally called Special Bonus Episode Delivery Day from July, the end of July in 2018,
so that it wouldn't interfere with the regular podcast, again, if people weren't interested in my part of it.
Because, you know, this podcast has always been about the cars and about the company and just EVs in general, more so than it's about me.
So anyway, I couldn't help but think about some memories from that time, since I can't believe it's been 10 years.
10 years since the Model 3 was unveiled. That's pretty sweet.
Well, I decided to make the 10th anniversary of the Model 3 unveiling the subject of this week's Patreon poll, which a reminder, anybody can vote on.
It's open to the public, open to everybody. Just swing on by once a week and cast your vote in each week's new poll question.
You can find that on my Patreon page, found at Patreon.com slash Tesla podcast.
And this week's poll question was simply, did you have a reservation for a Model 3?
And interesting responses. 32%. So basically a third of you said, I wasn't in the Tesla slash EV world back then, but I'm a happy Tesla slash EV owner now.
So that to me, that's a great sign that a third of you listening to this enthusiast podcast weren't even in the ecosystem back then, but you are now and you love it.
So that's great. 29% of you said, yes, I reserved a Model 3 on the first day.
14% of you said, yes, I reserved a Model 3 after the first day, but before it went into production.
And then another quarter of you said, no, I didn't have a reservation for a Model 3, which either you weren't interested or maybe some of you in the comments mentioned that you had a Model S or a Model X.
So that certainly counts as well. Thank you to the 325 of you that kindly stopped by and voted in this week's Patreon poll.
Alright, unfortunately now something else that is almost officially one step closer to being in Tesla's past rather than its present is the Model S and Model X.
Specifically this week, the Model S and Model X design studios are in the past. You can no longer custom order your own S or X. Only inventory vehicles remain.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on X almost literally at the very end of Q1 and start of Q2.
I looked it up his post was at 11.45pm central time on March 31st and he posted, custom orders of the Tesla Model S and X have come to an end.
All that's left are some in inventory. We will have an official ceremony to mark the ending of an era. I love those cars."
So it seems like Tesla did indeed turn the switch off at right about midnight on April 1st, like at the actual literal end of Q1.
Of course I did believe a tweet from the CEO stating this. I didn't think it was an April Fool's goof, but I did still have to go and see it for myself.
And let me tell you, it was weird going to Tesla.com and there not being an order now button for the Model S and Model X.
I even tried to cheat it by going to the Model 3 design studio and then changing the 3 in the URL to S, which by the way, that works.
Like if you, well it doesn't anymore, but like if you're in the Model 3 design studio and then you just type in change the 3 to a Y, it works.
It takes you to the Model Y design studio. The URL is otherwise the same.
But those clever folks at Tesla thought of that, so you cannot force your way or sort of backdoor your way into the Model S design studio or X.
They are gone. It just redirects you to the inventory page for those vehicles if you try to go into the design studio.
So presumably Tesla has enough orders to take them through most, maybe even all of Q2?
Although I guess I'm just kind of surmising that because for all I know we might get to, I don't know, Memorial Day in May and the last ones have already been delivered.
I guess technically it could end anytime in the next three months basically.
So while we don't know exactly when the last one is going to get delivered, we do know who is getting it.
And this is as I mentioned back when the so-called honorable discharge of the S and X were first announced by Elon.
The last Model S, we don't know who's getting the last Model X.
In fact, whoever gets the last Model X might not necessarily know that they're getting the last Model X, but the S.
The final S is going to Silicon Valley investor and former Tesla board member Steve Jervitsen.
And the reason for that is that Steve got Founder Series Vin number one back in 2012, which was literally the first production Model S and he will get the last one, which is definitely somewhat poetic.
Now, speaking of poetic, for purely sentimental reasons, I kind of hope that the last one gets delivered to Steve on June 22nd.
Why June 22nd? Because that would mark 14 years to the day since the first one was delivered to Steve and a handful of other Founder Series owners.
In fact, you can still go and watch that on Tesla's YouTube channel, which I encourage you to do because it's pretty cool to go back and look at.
If you go check that out on youtube.com slash Tesla.
And I said this before, but I'm going to say it again in the hopes of speaking this into existence.
I hope that that final Model S gets painted in signature red, just for a nice full circle moment.
Because the first one, Vin 1, was in signature red.
In fact, what would be extra cool would be if the ceremony that Elon referred to there in his post mirrors the original ceremony from 14 years ago,
when all of the factory workers lined the end of the production line and the factory exit as those first cars were ceremonially coming off the line handed to their new owners and they were driven out of the factory.
That would be really cool.
And that would be a fun way to celebrate it for whoever's lucky enough to get the last, you know, 10, however many S's and X's as well.
And certainly speaking very, very, very selfishly, I'd love to get an invitation to that ceremony, even though I won't be taking delivery of an S or an X,
but it sure would be special to get to be there if they're going to be opening it to the public at all.
For all I know it could end up just being for Tesla employees only, which would be perfectly understandable, as well as I suppose those lucky final owners.
As for the future of Tesla, that as we know is largely going to be about humanoid robots and we got an update on the upcoming reveal of the third generation Optimus.
Now for those of you hoping for a reveal and a demo of that new version of the robot with these supposedly super-duper articulate hands,
it's going to have to wait a little bit longer.
Elon posting to X this week saying, quote, Optimus 3 is walking around, but needs some finishing touches before it is ready to be shown.
So I know some people were hoping that that reveal of Optimus version 3 was going to happen in Q1 didn't quite make it.
It's still likely to happen sometime here in this quarter in Q2, and as I talked about last week and in last week's Patreon poll and at the top of the show,
there is a lot going on at Tesla this quarter.
Now, as for what I would like to see from a demo of Gen 3 Optimus,
to the best of my knowledge, every public demo we've seen of Optimus so far has been with it being tele-operated by a human somewhere else.
So my hope is that we get to see it actually operating autonomously whenever this Gen 3 demo happens.
Before I get to Tesla's Q1 production and delivery numbers, I wanted to mention this week's lightning round mini episode for all of you kindly supporting me on Patreon
at that most popular tier, the $10 per month tier.
You have access to a conversation this week that I had with Ryan's Model Y.
Ryan and I chatted about his experience living with the Model Y L for five days because he's in Australia and they've got access to it there.
We talked a whole lot more too, a lot of just growing up as car guys and how we feel about certain company logos.
It was a fun conversation, so I encourage you to listen to that on Patreon.
And if you're not already supporting me on Patreon, you can join anytime.
You can join right now at patreon.com.
And if you join at that $5 per month tier, number one, thank you.
You'll be supporting the podcast, really helping me out, my family as well.
And in return, I say thank you for that Patreon pledge by offering you an ad-free episode every week and early access to that ad-free episode.
If you're kind enough to do the $10 per month tier, again, that's the most popular one, you'll get the ad-free episode.
You'll get it early and you'll get access to the entire archive of those lightning round mini episodes.
There are almost 200 of them now, it's like 186, I think?
There's a lot, there's dozens and dozens of hours of additional content waiting for you on Patreon.
If you see it in your heart to support me on my Patreon page, again, at patreon.com.
As we get into this week's biggest stories, I start here, Tesla has announced its first quarter production and delivery numbers.
Their usual short but sweet press release reads,
In the first quarter, we produced over 408,000 vehicles, delivered over 358,000 vehicles and deployed 8.8 gigawatt hours of energy storage products.
Thank you to all of our customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and supporters who helped us achieve these results.
Now as usual, I'm just going to focus on delivery numbers rather than production because deliveries are really what matters most.
Let's first take a look year over year.
Let's compare Q1 of last year to Q1 of this year and the numbers are notably better this year.
In Q1 of 2025, Tesla delivered over 336,000 vehicles, which compared to this year and the 358,000 plus, it is a 6.5% improvement year over year.
Now for context, last year's Q1 was when the Model Y was switched over from the first gen version to the Juniper, so that probably accounts for some of that Delta, right?
I mean, it can't not.
But if we look more closely at that, by looking at the Model 3 and Y numbers specifically, the just completed Q1 2026 was just under 342,000 threes and ys.
In Q1 last year, it was just under 324,000.
So on account of SNX being discontinued, I have been very curious this last month or two since it got announced of what the other models category would look like on the delivery numbers.
And I think it'll be even more telling this quarter in Q2, but surely some of those final surge of SNX orders were delivered in Q1.
And if we assume that Cybertruck deliveries were pretty flat year over year, which for Q1, I think that is a reasonable assumption since the $60,000 trucks won't start delivering until June, meaning they should start showing up in the Q2 numbers.
Then we see that in the just completed Q1 2026, there were 16,000 plus SNX's Cybertrucks delivered.
In Q1 of last year, that same category was just under 13,000.
That's a year over year increase in the other models category of 25%. That is significant.
Looking quarter over quarter, like if we just compare Q4 of 2025, and we know Q4 is historically the biggest quarter of the year, but okay, let's just go ahead and look quarter over quarter.
Q4 of 2025, Tesla delivered 418,000 plus cars, quite a lot more, but again, that is historically very normal for Tesla and very normal for every other car company.
Q4 is always the big one. Q1 is usually the slowest one.
But let's look at that other vehicles category again, because Q4 was the last quarter before Tesla announced the retirement of SNX.
So, in Q4 of 2025, which we've already established, Tesla delivered way more cars overall in Q4 than they did in Q1.
In Q4, Tesla delivered 11,642 SNX's and Cybertrucks.
In Q1, after the cancellation of SNX was announced, there were 16,130 SNX's and Cybertrucks delivered.
So again, the overall numbers dropped quarter over quarter, which again, seasonally normal from Q4 to Q1, and the bulk of that is 3 and Y, that's against 97% of the numbers.
But when we look at just SNX again, we're fairly assuming here that Cybertruck numbers are fairly flat from quarter to quarter.
The other vehicles category was up by 38% from Q4 to Q1.
So again, we're dealing with much smaller numbers overall than the 3 and the Y, but relatively speaking, that is huge.
That is the start of that surge of SNX orders once the cancellation, once the sunsetting of them was announced.
There's one more stat I think here that's relevant to the SX Cybertruck conversation.
The last time the other models category was this high, again 16,130.
The last time it was that high or higher was Q4 of 2024, so over a year ago when it was over 23,000.
And for context, Q4 of 2024 was the first quarter that the Cybertruck was available in general production, meaning at regular price.
So I would very much suspect that the bulk of those 23,000 other model deliveries were eager Cybertruck buyers excited to finally be able to buy that truck for the regular non-foundation series price.
I lay all of this out not just because I think it's really interesting to see that surge in SNX sales, which we expected, but also to set up what that number might look like in Q2.
I think it's going to be a good bit higher than that 16,130 number.
I don't know how much, but if I were to just make a small wager, like if I were to do one of my classic in and out burger lunch bets, so we're talking about a 10 to 20 dollar max bet here.
I would take the over on 20,000 for Q2's other models category.
Now granted, that is also, as I just got done saying, it should include some of the $60,000 Cybertrucks as well.
We just unfortunately have no idea how many because they said, you know, first deliveries of those are expected in June.
It could be June 29th and they might deliver 100 of them.
And then in Q3 might be when those $60,000 Cybertruck orders really start to deliver, but I would take the over on 20,000 other model deliveries for Q2.
So you can hold me to that in three months from now.
Oh, and one more thing.
The Q1 earnings call, it's going to be right when I expected it to be, which is Wednesday, April 22nd, which means I will have my quarterly earnings call highlights, recap and analysis episode for you in three episodes from now.
That will be episode 560.
Next up this week, Tesla appears to have quietly upgraded the Model 3's underlying power electronics, a change that could lay the groundwork for new features like vehicle to load capacity in the future.
I saw this on Drive Tesla Canada who wrote,
The new version of PCS-2 Lite represents a simplified, more integrated version of Tesla's next generation power electronics, PCS, first introduced on the Cybertruck.
Compared to that system, the Lite version is likely adapted to suit the Model 3's different electrical architecture and also on the Model Y.
Interestingly, there is no evidence that PCS-2 Lite was included on the initial release of the refreshed Model 3 Highland in late 2023.
The first confirmed references only appeared in Tesla's service documentation through an update earlier this month, they meant March, because this was posted at the end of March,
to add a 190-step guide on how to remove and replace the new hardware.
That timing suggests Tesla may have quietly introduced the updated hardware during production in recent weeks,
continuing its well-known strategy of rolling out incremental improvements without formal announcements or model year changes.
Well, this would be a most welcome addition to any Model 3, hopefully not just the performance version if indeed it does happen, because that's currently the case with the Model Y.
Well, I suppose the Model YL also has this functionality, but that version lives right at the top of the Model Y product line alongside the Performance Y.
In fact, as I've argued before and will now argue again, I believe all Teslas should have this functionality.
As Tesla does not currently offer a short-range version of any car, at least here in North America, the long-range rear-wheel-drive Model 3,
the base Model 3, the artist formerly known as the standard Model 3, has a big battery, as does the long-range rear-wheel-drive Model Y.
Even the base model Cybertruck, that was briefly $60,000, has the full 123kWh battery pack, same as the premium Cybertruck.
But anyway, my point here is to say that Tesla currently in North America only sells cars with big battery packs in them,
so to me there is no real reason that I can think of that every car that Tesla sells should not have this functionality.
Because it is useful, it is beneficial to the customer, it is a unique strength of an EV versus a gasoline-powered car, and it could even be argued that it's a safety feature.
So here's hoping that this is the first step towards all Teslas currently being sold getting that functionality.
And the final Tesla news story I have for you is unfortunately a very sad one, it's a very unfortunate one, but I feel compelled to mention it.
Authorities in Australia are investigating a fire that broke out at a Tesla showroom this past week with early indications pointing to a deliberate act,
that would be arson, rather than a vehicle-related issue.
Another tip of the cap to drive Tesla Canada, which is where I first saw this, and they wrote,
Emergency services were called to the Tesla facility in western Sydney's Paramata, I hope I've pronounced that right, Paramata area,
at approximately 3.20am, following reports of multiple vehicles on fire.
According to the police, at least three vehicles were destroyed in the blaze, while part of the building also sustained damage, no injuries were reported.
Firefighters responded quickly to contain the incident, with crews remaining on site for over an hour to fully extinguish the flames.
Police have since established a crime scene, and launched an investigation into the cause of the fire, including whether it was intentionally lit.
Tesla confirmed the incident in a statement, emphasizing that the fire was not related to the vehicles themselves.
Tesla Australia has confirmed a Tesla store has been the subject of a suspected arson attack overnight.
The building has suffered fire damage with several vehicles being caught in the fire, a spokesperson said.
Continuing, quote, Tesla has confirmed this is not a vehicle or battery-related fire.
Police are now investigating the arson attack on the building, end quote.
Local authorities confirmed that assessment, noting the fire did not appear to be linked to any form of battery malfunction or thermal event.
Well, I guess I don't have a lot to say here, other than I just find this really, really sad that this is the state of the world.
And obviously, it's certainly it's criminal, and it's dangerous, and it endangers lives.
For what? Because you hate a car, you hate a car company, you hate a person at a car company, whatever it is.
To actually, I just cannot fathom hating anything, be it a company, be it a person, be it a car,
hating anything in life that much to actually go plan out an arson attack on something.
Now, the most important thing of course here is that no humans were injured.
But you know who suffers here? There are humans who suffer, thankfully not directly, not physically.
The corporation, Tesla, may not really suffer in the grand scheme of things, they have insurance,
but one or more of the three known cars that were destroyed might have belonged to a customer who brought it in for service.
We don't know, and we don't know that person, that may devastate this person's finances.
We don't know the downstream effect of this when three cars get torched, that may or may not be company owned,
they may be customer cars. So if that was the case, I can pretty much guarantee, even without knowing anything else about this story,
that the owner of that car doesn't deserve that.
Like here's the thing, life isn't a video game, and I know that's rich coming from me,
a guy that makes his living writing about, making podcasts about, making videos about video games.
But life is not a video game, you can't set fire to something to feel better about whatever's making you angry in life,
and then just turn it off with no real repercussions.
That's how video games work, that ain't how the real world works.
So I hope the perpetrator is brought to justice here and held accountable.
A quick pause before I get to other EV news to mention my friends at Xcare who cover Teslas and other EVs.
So one thing that comes up a lot around this podcast, or on this podcast I should say,
at least it does come up semi-regularly, is how long people plan to keep their cars, right?
It is longer and longer and longer, and when it comes to warranty coverage,
there is a timing element to that that matters more than you might think.
So when it comes to EV coverage, it's not really about if you buy that extended warranty option, it's about when.
So coverage is generally more cost-advantaged when it's purchased before your factory warranty ends rather than after.
The reason for that is because pricing, eligibility, and available options change with time and mileage,
even if there's nothing wrong with the car.
Again, the analogy here is think of it like tires.
You don't wait until your tires are completely bald to plan a replacement.
You're keeping an eye on the mileage, the wear, the timing, you're making sure that you're rotating them if you don't have a staggered setup.
EV ownership works the same way.
So X care from my friends at Accelerate Auto is here to help you understand where you are now,
what changes later in terms of purchasing an EV extended warranty plan later,
and when it makes sense to act.
And so I encourage you to do a little research.
Again, if you plan on keeping your car past the manufacturer's warranty,
which with Tesla is four years, 50,000 miles, whichever comes first,
you can either go to their website at xcare.com or you can call and talk directly to a human being.
And that number to call is 844-755-4186.
A reminder here, I am not simply advertising this.
I am also a customer two times.
I'm now going to be total covered for a total of six years by the time my current policy ends.
And then we'll see if I decide to renew again with our 2018 Model 3 performance.
But it's such a nice piece of mind.
I love having it.
Reimbursement, if you do have a claim, if you do have something you need to get repaired on the car,
I have been through it.
The claims are quick, painless, and reimbursement happens very quickly.
So you can get a $100 discount on whatever policy you decide to pick,
because you can do anything from two years, 25,000 miles, another four year, 50,000 miles.
You can go up to seven years, 100,000 miles if you want to.
You can customize it for whatever works for you.
So the $100 off code is Lightning, which you can use during checkout if you're purchasing on xcare.com.
If you're speaking to a human at that number I mentioned, which again is 844-755-4186,
you can just mention the coupon code to them, the referral code.
So check them out, xcare.com.
In other EV news, VW's Rivian based software platform has passed its winter tests,
which has unlocked $1 billion of the proposed, well, the pledged investment.
Another tip of the cap to drive Tesla Canada who wrote,
with testing now complete, Volkswagen is expected to release a $1 billion equity investment into Rivian,
part of a broader agreement that could see the German automaker invest up to $5.8 billion by next year.
Volkswagen CEO Oliver Bloom emphasized the importance of the achievement saying,
quote, we're accelerating towards the future, end quote.
He added that the successful testing demonstrates the speed and precision of the joint ventures work.
The validation program stretched over several months and across vastly different environments.
Engineers first finalized key software functions in Arizona before moving to,
oh boy, I don't know how to say this town's name in Sweden.
Are you a plug? Are you a plug? A-R-J-E-P-L-O-G.
My European friends can help me out on that one.
Where vehicles were pushed to their limits in snow and ice,
the tests focused heavily on how software and hardware interact,
particularly for critical systems like all-wheel drive, traction control, and overall driving performance.
Over-the-air update capability was also validated.
According to Volkswagen, the results confirmed the system operates reliably,
even in extreme winter conditions and essential requirement for global deployment.
The partnership with Rivian marks a significant pivot for Volkswagen,
which has struggled for years with delays and cost overruns tied to its in-house software division.
Those issues have slowed vehicle launches and highlighted the growing importance of software expertise in the EV era.
By teaming up with Rivian, Volkswagen is effectively outsourcing part of its software future
to a company that was built from the ground up around a software-first architecture,
something that has become a defining advantage for competitors like Tesla and China's BYD.
The SDV platform being developed through RVTech is expected to underpin a wide range of future models
across Volkswagen's portfolio, including its core brand Audi
and the upcoming Scout electric trucks in North America.
Well, nothing unexpected here, right?
Like, we talked about this when it first popped.
This agreement was first done last year, I think,
but it's still worth shouting out, I think, now that it's actually happened,
or at least is in the first phase of happening,
because this is big for both Rivian and the Volkswagen Group.
Rivian, obviously, is in a key growth phase right now.
They're about to start deliveries of the R2,
and they intend to scale up and to build and deliver multiple times more vehicles
than they've been doing annually since they first delivered the R1Ts back in 2021.
I'm going to talk more about their deliveries in a second, actually.
So, quite frankly, Rivian probably needs the capital,
because it costs a ton of money to launch a new vehicle program,
and especially to scale it up.
And then on the other side of the coin, Volkswagen, quite frankly, needs better software.
I have heard, I have not experienced this, I have not had the pleasure of driving one,
but I have heard that the Porsche Taycan, to use one of my favorite vehicles,
at least, again, my favorite vehicles on paper from the Volkswagen Group, as an example,
I have heard that that is an amazing car to drive,
but that the software, and thus the core of the user experience, is lacking,
at least compared to Tesla's software.
And I'm not necessarily equating Rivian's software to Tesla's here.
It's been a while since I've driven a Rivian,
so I wouldn't want to speak to the state of its UI now.
But Rivian does have a bunch of ex-Tesla people there,
and Volkswagen, let's just be commonsenseical here,
VW wouldn't have signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Rivian,
if Rivian's software wasn't pretty darn good.
So, again, this agreement, this deal, it's a win-win for both parties from where I'm sitting,
and so I say here's to the next phases of this arrangement going as well
as the first one seems to have gone.
And as I teased a moment ago, speaking of Rivian, I just wanted to quickly shout them out,
kudos to them for impressive year-over-year growth for their Q1,
so they also reported their Q1 production and delivery numbers,
and to focus again squarely on deliveries, they delivered 10,365 vehicles,
a number that obviously should only keep going up as R2 deliveries are looking like they're going to begin at the end of Q2.
But in Q1 of last year, that delivery number was 8,640,
so that's a 20% year-over-year change, plus 20% for their year-over-year numbers,
and yes, I recognize that is still a rather small number of vehicles overall,
they still aren't delivering vehicles profitably on a per-vehicle basis,
they've got a ways to go, I recognize that,
but it is such a great sign to see that Rivian is heading in the right direction,
especially at such a crucial moment for them.
So Rivian, I am rooting for you guys, go get them.
Alright, the final story I have for you this week,
before we get to your phone calls in the Ride the Lightning Hotline segment,
this one's about Kia, who unveiled their most affordable EV yet for the US market, the EV3.
I saw this posted on the ex-account of my Tesla tipster friend Sawyer Merritt,
who shared some numbers about this EV3 that were released by Kia.
The expected starting price, $35,000 to $38,000, deliveries are due to begin in the US in late 2026,
it will offer up to 320 miles of range,
it will offer a standard battery size of 58.3 kilowatt hours,
which should be about a 220 mile range car,
and then the long range, the 320 mile range,
that's going to be courtesy of an 81.4 kilowatt hour battery pack,
it will have simulated gear shifts and sound effects for those people that enjoy such things.
I hope you can turn them off just as an option,
but I guess that remains to be seen.
It's got 400 volt charging architecture, just like 3 and Y do.
They're claiming a 10 to 80 percent recharge in about 29 minutes, which is a lot,
meaning a lot of time, not, I mean, it's also a lot of charge, but it's a lot of time.
It will have, of course, a native NACS charging port, the Tesla port.
It will offer vehicle to load and vehicle to home capability, that's awesome.
Cargo capacity wise, 26.1 cubic feet in the trunk with another 0.9 cubic foot in the trunk,
with the rear seats folded down, you're looking at 56.5 cubic feet of storage,
a drag coefficient of 0.275, you'll have dual 12.3 inch screens,
one for the instrument cluster, one for the infotainment, as well as a 5 inch climate display,
available all wheel drive, up to 288 horsepower,
it has an available HUD, a heads-up display, it's nice to have as an option,
adaptive cruise control and available hands-free driving capability with their enhanced highway driving assist.
And perhaps crucially, for a vehicle that is a subcompact, it's 170 inches long.
Now for context, the Model Y, the industry standard here, 187 inches long.
So this car is about one and a half feet shorter in length than the Model Y is, that's a lot.
And again, that is on purpose since this is a subcompact, this is a small vehicle on purpose.
And so this might be a very, very welcome option for a lot of urban buyers who either have tight street parking,
or tight garage space, or both potentially.
As for the rest of the stats on this car, I think they're mostly pretty solid.
Again, you've got to bear the price point in mind here, this is cheaper than even the base Model Y.
Now the only number that I really take issue with is the 220 miles of range,
which is, that's going to be the 35 to 38K version of this thing.
That's pretty unacceptable by today's range standards, and if you think I'm being a little harsh there,
I'll just say this, for context, the Model 3 standard range, the original one,
the original standard range Model 3, because it was back at that Model 3 unveiling 10 years ago,
as I was talking about at the top of the podcast, where Tesla promised a $35,000 car.
When Tesla finally delivered on that $35,000 car in 2019, it was 220 miles of range.
The thing is though, that was 2019, we're talking seven years ago at this point.
Tesla's most recent $35,000 car, which for in fairness, it only achieved that price point
with the $7,500 point of sale tax credit applied, but I think it's fair to point out
because most buyers of that car did qualify for that.
And so that $35,000 Model 3 much more recently had over 270 miles of range.
And I guess for the moment, I'm not going to compare this Kia EV3 to the base Model 3
because it's an SUV in the threes of sedan, but to compare it to the new base Model Y,
it's $2,000 to $5,000 less, but has 100 fewer miles of range.
That is significant.
So I think it remains to be seen what the base price is going to be on the 320 mile range version.
Okay, $35,000, hopefully it's closer to $35,000 than $38,000, but $35,000 for everything I've just described,
that's not bad for people that either have another car that they can take if they want a road trip
or just plan to only ever use the EV3 around town.
Then okay, you know, 220 miles will take care of you just fine in pretty much all year round.
So again, it remains to be seen how much that bigger battery option is going to cost
because the 320 miles of range there matches up exactly with the base Model Y, which is a $40,000 vehicle.
And yes, I know for my Tesla Superfans out there, I recognize FSD is a big deal to a lot of us listening to this podcast
and the EV3 doesn't have that, but just remember the take rate on FSD is still quite low
and we want to encourage anybody who's curious about an EV to try an EV to get an EV.
That's the goal. Get them comfortable with that first because it is, as I think all of us can remember back to our first days with our first EV,
it's a big change that you're volunteering for when you're buying an EV for the first time
and then later we can start working on those people getting them comfortable with autonomy.
So this seems like it'll be a pretty good option at the entry level of the market,
which is a segment of the market that needs more good options.
And you know, on that note, I want to conclude this week's news segment by just saying props to Kia.
That company, Hyundai Kia, it's one company, they are probably the legacy automaker that has most completely embraced electrification.
They've really, really done a great job of it in terms of offering a wide range of EVs at different price points
and just offering a lot of options.
Like I feel like we don't really, and maybe I'm just biased here because I'm an EV guy doing an EV podcast,
but I feel like we don't even really hear about the gas-powered Kia's and Hyundai's anymore.
It's not that they're not made, but it does seem like that Hyundai Kia has really placed its focus on electrification
and I give them a lot of credit, a lot of props for that.
Alright, that is everything I've got for you in this week's Tesla and EV news.
Stick with me though, I will be right back with your Ride the Lightning Hotline phone calls coming up next.
This is Bill Daniels, the voice of Night Industries 2000, or Kit.
You're listening to Ride the Lightning, the Tesla unofficial podcast.
Happy electric motoring.
It is time now to hear from all of you in the Ride the Lightning Hotline segment of the podcast.
If you've got a Tesla or EV question, comment, or discussion topic for the podcast,
I welcome and invite you to call in.
So you ask, how do I call in?
There are two easy ways to do it.
Either use your smartphone's built-in voice recording software, then record your question.
Please try to keep it to 90 seconds or less so I can get to as many people each week as possible.
Then email that file to me at my Tesla podcast email address, which is TeslaPodcastatgmail.com.
Or you can take that same 90 second or less question and simply call in and leave a message on the actual Ride the Lightning Hotline.
It's a toll-free number that you can call anytime you like.
The number is 1-888-989-8752.
That number again, 1-888-989-TSLA.
And if you know someone special with an upcoming birthday, anniversary, graduation, or some other special occasion,
you can give them a unique gift of recorded voices from friends and family telling them why they're special.
The recordings can be podcasted or put onto a keepsake.
Visit LifeOnRecord.com if you'd like to learn more.
Our first caller this week is Tyler from the Greater Boston area, talking FSD.
Hey, Ryan Tyler calling from Greater Boston.
Quick question or more of a request related to stories around FSD.
I think it would be great if every story was caveated with whether it was related to AI for FSD, computer vehicles, or hardware 3.
As you know, about half the fleet or maybe more is on the older hardware 3 FSD computer.
So many stories such as the FSD in Europe and version 14.3 don't apply to those Tesla owners.
So yeah, I just think this would be great just so people don't get confused and to keep it in, you know, the forefront of any potential Tesla folks
that are listening and might be able to put the pressure on to get those hardware or software updates that we are due,
you know, in the pipeline sooner than later would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Tyler, thank you for your call and sincerely I appreciate the feedback.
It is well taken because you've made me stop and think and realize that I am just assuming AI for on any FSD story at this point
because unfortunately, as I was talking about earlier in the podcast, in fact at the top of the show,
hardware 3 hasn't had a meaningful software update since the very end of 2024.
I did look that up. December 30th, 2024 is when 12.6 pushed out and since then it's just been little minor fix updates
ever since the end of December in 2024. So we are over a year and a quarter at this point.
That said, as I was saying earlier, we were told a while ago that V14 Lite was in development for the hardware 3 cars
and it would be coming out in Q2 of 2026, which we are now in.
So it is my sincere hope that this gets asked about on the earnings call that's coming up in three episodes from now.
And I don't care whether it's a retail shareholder upvoted question or an institutional analyst that asks about it
as long as it gets brought up, but nevertheless, your request, Tyler, is heard and approved.
I don't have a gavel to smack, otherwise I would. I will keep this in mind moving forward. Thank you very much for your call.
Next up, also talking about FSD, the subscription change, particularly the cancellation or the removal of the FSD purchase option,
here's Brad from Indianapolis.
Hey Ryan, it's Brad from Indianapolis. Hey, I wanted to chime in on the full self-driving subscription model.
I think my theory is that what everyone's missing and what Elon and Tesla isn't saying yet is that it's going to be bundled with an insurance component.
I think that's what we're missing. I think that that's what's going to be included in these national regulations that everyone's waiting on for autonomy.
The reason that I say that is this, insurance is a monthly subscription that you pay monthly for or quarterly for to insure the driver in the car.
What happens when that goes to an autonomous driver?
What do those subscription rates look like?
The other component to that is, Lemonade came out and said that they were going to cut rates by 50% for full self-driving cars.
I think that they see the writing on the wall that when Tesla rolls out full self-driving, I don't think they want State Farm and Progressive and Geico in the mix.
I think that they want it under their umbrella and their control, and I think that's where it's heading.
They're going to be very dynamic. I think if you're 75 years old and you drive twice a week, 15 miles a week, I think you're going to have very, very, very low rates.
I think it's also going to be dependent upon what area of the country that you live in, and I think that Tesla's going to gather all this data.
I think that they just haven't rolled out nationally because they were waiting for full self-driving to be completed.
I could be wrong about this, but if you can cut insurance rates dramatically, full self-driving could be free compared to what you're paying today for two separate components.
Anyways, those are my thoughts. I think it makes sense if you stand back and look at it.
Anyways, that's my thoughts.
I like your theory here, Brad. I think it's a very valid hypothesis. The regulatory piece could absolutely be a factor because you're right that liability becomes a trickier situation in a fully autonomous scenario.
Thank you very much for calling in and sharing this. It is good food for thought, for sure.
Next up, here's an anonymous caller. They didn't identify themselves, but they're from the UK. They've got a Model Y with autopilot and have a little mini confession.
Hello, Ryan. I'm a regular caller from the UK, but for this call, I want to remain anonymous. I've got a Model Y with enhanced autopilot.
Last week, I was driving home late at night after a very stressful situation and must have fallen asleep at the wheel, going at 70 miles an hour on a dual carriageway.
The next thing, I woke up to find the car nicely parked in a lay-by, a rest area at the side of the road.
So it looks like Tesla have added a safety feature where the car pulls off and parks if you fall asleep at the wheel, something I've not heard publicised or anyone mention.
But so good, so once again, Tesla keep us safe. Thanks, Ryan. Bye.
I've got time for one more caller. It's from Sebastian in Chile.
Thanks, Ryan. This is Sebastian from Chile. I have a question regarding enhanced autopilot.
In Chile, we don't have FSD yet, so I bought the car with just basic autopilot, but I find it quite insufficient and honestly annoying.
So I was thinking perhaps of upgrading and buying enhanced autopilot, but I was wondering what your opinion is and if you have any recommendations.
Thank you so much for all you do. Have a good one.
The nice thing about enhanced autopilot was that you could leave autopilot on, put the turn signal on and the car would move over by itself.
Is that worth buying now? That is harder to answer, honestly, and I think my answer would depend on how long you plan to keep the car and how much Tesla is charging for enhanced autopilot in Chile.
I suppose I'll just say that if you don't plan to keep your car for many more years, I would probably advise against it.
However, if you are planning to keep your car for, say, five more years or longer, then I would strongly consider it.
So I hope that's at least a little bit helpful.
Thank you, Sebastian. Thank you to everybody that kindly took the time to call in.
I will say my call in stash is getting a little low.
I kind of wondered when I was prepping the show today or putting the finishing touches on it, getting ready to record, I was like,
Man, I can't remember a week where I got fewer calls than this.
There were barely any.
And then it dawned on me and it's like, oh, you know what?
I wonder if a lot of people are on spring break, if their kids are out of school.
In fact, it's my kid's spring break, but we didn't end up able to do anything this year.
So I wonder if that's it. I wonder if a lot of you were away on spring break.
But in any case, I could use more good phone calls if you've got a good Tesla or EV question, comment or discussion topic,
whether you want to react to something I said earlier on this podcast, react to another caller that you just heard or what have you.
I welcome and encourage you to call in to the Ride the Lightning hotline and I gave you the two easy call in methods at the top of this segment.
Well, I will give you an entertainment recommendation here before I get to the end of the show as we move towards the sort of little Ryan corner of the podcast.
I watched something this week that I really, really enjoyed more than even I expected to, so I will pass this along.
It's an entertainment recommendation.
It's on Netflix and when I first saw it, I was like, oh, sweet, a new stand-up special by this comic that I really like.
And then when I started it, it is not a stand-up special.
It's actually a one-man show on Broadway that they filmed one of and put on Netflix.
Anyway, it's Jeff Ross.
If you've ever watched the Comedy Central Roasts, Jeff Ross is, he's always there.
They call him the Roastmaster.
He's always got good, you know, insult, playful, you know, fun, insert, insert, no, insult humor.
Anyway, I like Jeff Ross a lot, so as I watched his one-man show, it's called Take a Banana for the Ride.
It's a really, it's very funny.
It's also very moving, very heartfelt about his life.
So if you, if you've ever watched him on the Roasts, give this a look.
Jeff Ross, Take a Banana for the Ride and it's on Netflix.
Here's now your Tesla Pro Tip of the Week.
It comes from Basil in Toronto with a Sentry Mode Pro Tip.
Now that the weather is warming up, I'm parking it more regularly in the driveway where I do need Sentry Mode turned on at night.
At first, I would use my Tesla app to turn on Sentry Mode whenever I leave the car in the driveway,
but I discovered a nice shortcut to do this directly on Tesla screen, which not only lets you quickly turn Sentry Mode on and off,
but also acts as a nice visual confirmation of the status.
So on the home screen of your Park Tesla, and this only appears when it is in Park,
you will see at the top center to the right of your lock status and your profile name, a white circle.
When Sentry Mode is on, that circle is filled with red.
When it's off, the white circle contains a second hollow circle within it, so no red at all.
This will visually show you if Sentry Mode is either on or off without needing to go into the menu itself.
If you tap on that circle, it will instantly switch states between on and off,
and that way you can quickly enable Disable Sentry Mode depending on your situation and battery level.
I personally found this shortcut to be very helpful and hope you all do as well.
Take care.
Basil, I use this one myself, so thank you very much for calling in with this.
By the way, don't forget about the Exclude at Home option in the security menu,
in case that's helpful for anybody else out there as well.
I use that myself.
I have it excluded at home so that it is not draining the battery even while it's plugged in,
or just using any power at all, regardless of whether that's coming from the battery or from my solar panels.
If anybody else out there has a good Tesla or EV pro tip of the week,
I would love to hear it so that I can learn from it, and then I can share it with the rest of the Ride the Lightning audience,
and we can all learn from it.
So, if you've got a good pro tip of the week, you can call in just like you're calling in with a regular Ride the Lightning hotline call,
and I gave you those two easy call-in methods just a few minutes ago.
Before I go, I want to mention a few vendors that can hopefully be of use to you at some point.
I'm going to start with the Infinity Shield this week.
This is the more improved, the better option for making sure your garage door never comes down on any part of your vehicle ever,
because it's a, like a 20, what is it, I've got it written down here, what is it, it's so many, 25, yes, 25 laser beams.
Instead of just that one sensor beam, a few inches off the ground, it's a grid array of 25 of them.
It's super easy to install, it works with any garage door opening system, and in fact, don't take my word for it.
Check out this call I got from Daniel, who purchased one, and I just want to caveat this by saying, or I preface it, I should say,
I did not put Daniel up to this, so he just called in to share his experience with the Infinity Shield.
Hello, Ryan. This is the Tesla guy on YouTube, and I just wanted to, first of all, thank you for introducing me to the Infinity Shield garage door sensor.
I've purchased some, and it's just been a tremendous help for me, especially with my Cybertruck, which is such a tight fit,
and also when the tailgate is down, it gives a complete safety net, a laser safety net, that prevents the garage door from closing,
and I've found it to be really useful, and I really like the fact that it's got a little alarm that will beep whenever the sensor is passed through,
so I can just roll down my window, drive my Cybertruck in, and as soon as I hear the beeping stop, I know that I am clear.
So I give my full endorsement of this product, and I recommend it to anybody. It's very easy to install, it's really well designed,
and it's very reasonably priced, so it's got everything going for it, so really a good find, and I appreciate it,
and say hello to your puppies, and thanks for all the good work you do.
Thank you Daniel, so check them out, infinity-shield.com, and use the promo code RTL at checkout for a nice $35 discount.
Meanwhile, RPM Tesla, who you can find at RPMTesla.com, they have over 1400 Tesla products, all designed with aerodynamics in mind,
with keeping your warranty safe, and it's just a nice, these are nice carbon fiber, like really nice design element pieces.
You got to just go take a look at them. RPMTesla.com, and they offer no restocking fees if you get something, you change your mind,
no return, no, you don't have to pay for return shipping, and it's just good stuff, so they believe selling high quality products
and standing behind them fosters brand loyalty, and to help you out when you do get those parts that you order,
they've got over 600 DIY installation videos on both YouTube and Vimeo, so installing their products is simple and detailed for all Tesla owners.
They design all their products in-house, including their steering wheel upgrades, their dashboards, their spoilers, and their full carbon fiber body kits.
Visit RPMTesla.com and use the promo code RTLPLUS, now that's the symbol plus, not the word PLUS, promo code RTLPLUS for an additional 5-10% off your next order.
Yes, this is on top of their current discounted sales prices, this exclusive promotion is only available right here on Ride the Lightning.
How about AbstractOcean.com? They've got so many great products for all the cars, I'm clicking on AbstractOcean right now because I do like to check in from time to time.
The Rivians, all the Teslas, I'm going to click on, let's see here, the On Sale, sale and featured, so they've got the ultra premium tempered glass screen protector for S and X is On Sale 20 bucks.
This stuff uses Gorilla Glass, which is like the hardcore iPhone kind of glass, so that's 20 bucks. The new one for the Model Y is on sale as well.
They have a cool light bar vinyl decal for Cybertruck, which puts basically the word Cybertruck, C-Y-B-R-T-R-K, like the graffiti version, and that lights up and then the rest of the light bar is covered, which looks pretty cool here just in the picture.
They've got door noise reduction seals for the three in the Y, the premium refreshed Model Y Juniper mud flaps, Expel PPF Door Edge Guard protection, which if you're not going to do paint protection film on the whole car, just getting that edge guard could be super useful in case you ever accidentally smack your door open into anything.
Then the PPF will take the brunt of the damage rather than the paint on your door. That's 25 bucks. They've got the puddle lights, just all kinds of stuff, so check them out.
They've got AbstractOcean.com. When you've put everything into your online shopping cart that you like and you get to check out, use the coupon code RTLPodcast to get 15% off of your first order.
That's all one word, no spaces.
The snap plate is just such a great product if you either are legally required to have a front license plate on your car or just prefer to have one on the snap plate or the newer, stronger snap plate plus is what I recommend because it's a nice clean minimalist design that won't clutter up the front end design of your car, but it will keep that plate on there securely.
But if you ever want to take that whole snap plate mounting bracket off, it's not going to leave any hardware behind. Nothing will be left behind. It will be like it was never there.
So get yours at everyamp.com slash RTL and for a discount on that product, use the coupon code RTL at checkout.
Immaculate Reflections. They are an awesome detail service, professional detailer here in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. If you're here or going to be here with your Tesla or other EV or other car in your garage that you love, I do recommend that you reach out ahead of time to Immaculate Reflections through their website, which is irdetailing.com.
Click on the contact button and get on the schedule because, you know, he's a busy professional. He's got a lot of cars in the shop at any given time and whatever you want to do, well, number one, he'll work with you on your budget and what you want to do.
And also there's a discount. If you mention that you're a ride the lightning listener, you'll get the ride the lightning listener discount.
So I do recommend any detailing service, whether it's paint correction to get your finish looking as good as possible, paint protection film on the front end of the car or more potentially.
Maybe you want to do ceramic coating because you are tired of applying a coat of wax to your car twice a year because a ceramic coat will last five to seven years and you don't even have to think about it.
That's why it's awesome. I love ceramic coating. I'm so glad I have it on my cars. Anyway, irdetailing.com.
Finally, the Patreon. That's where you can go to support me to support what I'm doing with this podcast every single week.
Patreon.com slash Tesla podcast. That's spelled P-A-T-R-E-O-N or just click the link in the episode description, whatever's easier for you.
You'll find all the information there, including by the way, if a month to month, if you don't want to just be pledging every month, but you want to do, hey, Ryan, I'd like to just support you once for a year.
Well, you can do that on Patreon. There's an annual pledge option that you'll see very clearly.
And as a thank you for pledging an entire year's worth of support, I will give you a 10% discount on your annual pledge.
So again, check it out. Patreon.com slash Tesla podcast as I hope is evident when you listen to this podcast.
There's a lot of time, energy, research, love, care, and enthusiasm that goes into this thing every single week.
I take a lot of pride in showing up for you every single week as I have for 557 weeks in a row here now.
And so if you're able to support me on Patreon, even just at that $5 per month tier, you'd be helping me and my family out a ton.
So thank you for your consideration on that.
If you're not already following the podcast on your favorite podcast service, just search Ride the Lightning Tesla on that favorite podcast service.
And when you see this podcast pop up, just click the follow button and that's it. It's free. You're done.
What does that do for you? Well, every time there's a new episode, which for Ride the Lightning here is every Sunday at 9 a.m.
Eastern 6 a.m. Pacific, you'll get a push notification on your device letting you know that there's a new episode for you.
And lastly, my email address. I guess you have the ways you can contact me if you care to do so.
I'm reachable via email, TeslaPodcastatgmail.com.
I'm also on X as well as Instagram and my username on both of those is DMC underscore Ryan.
Finally, I'd like to say hello and a big thank you to my top tier Patreon backers at the Maximum Plaid tier, at the Roadster in Space tier and Grandfathered in at the Plaid level tier.
Now, all of these folks get a standing invitation to each month's Patreon Zoom Hangout, which typically I aim for the first Saturday of every month, which as I'm recording this on April 3rd is tomorrow.
Didn't work out for this weekend. I have kind of too much going on, but we're going to do it next Saturday, April 11th.
So those of you at the top tiers of the Patreon look out for an email, a Patreon post and a calendar invite coming your way this week.
And I'll add too, I do also send a one time thank you invitation to whatever the next Patreon Zoom Hangout is for anybody that makes a new pledge on Patreon or upgrades their existing pledge.
So I keep keep a running list of all those folks in a spreadsheet. So those invite in, yeah, those invites, I had to write the first time.
Those invites will be going out very, very shortly and I'm looking forward to chatting with all of you on, well, next weekend, Saturday the 11th.
So I'll start, you know what, I'll start with the grandfathered in Plaid level supporters this week who are very kind to continue to support me at this officially discontinued tier of the Patreon.
But as they are very nice to continue to support me, they get all the perks and bonuses that they should get from this tier, which includes this weekly shout out at the end of each week's show.
So thank you to George Cassiopo, Logan Willis, Peter Chalet, Eric Randolph, Dory and Steve Guberman, the Tesla Owners Club of Taiwan, Ron Lee, Charlie Gillespie, Jeff Angwin, Chase Cabanias, the Lydia family, Aaron Altschul, Jared Brown, Jamie Dalton, Mike and Barbara from Louisville, Matt Nixon, the Tesla Owners Club of Wisconsin, Ish, not Elon Musk in quotes.
Peter and the Bear Boys of Colorado.
Next up, the Maximum Plaidbackers, big thanks to Jonathan Wales, Cameron Clark, Daniel Grummer, Seth Capello, the Galpin family, Ryan from New York City, Darren Nicholl, Cos Barnes, Patrick Wisnesky, Todd Badger, Joe Edgel, Kevin Yank, the Tesla Owners Club of San Joaquin Valley, Will Steadman, Jeremy Harris, Chris Beach, Tom Mills, Cory O'Donnell, Aaron,
John Cody, Joel Sap, Paul Casarino, Chris Osborn, KB, Adam Lavoie, Jason Chalukis, Travis Krenzel, Bruce Otterstein, Tom Behan, Josh Pennington,
John from Creamridge, New Jersey, Dustin Hart, Derek Finley, Charles Clement, Damon Klein, Jeff Brown, Jerry Slinger, Kenneth Corbett, Brian Bertoglio, Kim Bae, Troy Sievers, Chip Hooper, Matt Chinander, Robert Moran, Rob, Christopher Mann, Michael Williams, Eric Harbert and Scott Shepard.
And finally, the Roadster in Space tier backers, huge thanks, goes to Pete White, Lyle Austin, Steve Radspinner, Fernando Cordero, Lawton from Chicago, Sean Nightig, Neil Weaver, Jackson Wallace, Rolf and Jennifer Evers, Howard Anthony Smith, Victoria Ayacaveto, Tesla Hitchhiker 42, Carol Weston, Robert from near Philly, American Home Contractors, Doug Carey, Michael
Gallo and Tony Figueroa. And that will wrap it up for episode 557 of your weekly Tesla and EV podcast, I call it Ride the Lightning, for a snoozing, rue the four legged house guest, Lily the Labrador and Daisy the Boxer.
My name of course is Ryan McCaffrey, thank you so much for your time, your enthusiasm, your attention and your support. I will be back next week with more Tesla and EV goodness. Until then, happy electric motoring my friends.
Elon Musk, people don't like Elon Musk. The guy founded 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 at how fast it went been clinically depressed my entire life on dozens of medications in a Tesla for 13 seconds cured forever.
I mean, I think a Tesla is the most fun thing you could possibly buy ever. That's what it's meant to be. Our goal is to make it's not exactly a car. It's actually a thing to maximize enjoyment. It's maximum fun.
About this episode
Tesla is ending new custom orders for the Model S and Model X, leaving only inventory—an “end of an era” moment the host verifies by trying to access the design studios. The show also recaps Tesla’s Q1 results (408k produced, 358k delivered) and digs into the surge in “other models” deliveries after Model S/X discontinuation. Hardware 3 owners are still waiting on meaningful FSD updates (V14 Lite). Elsewhere: VW’s Rivian-based software passes winter tests, Kia unveils the EV3 for the US, and Australia investigates a suspected arson fire at a Tesla showroom. FSD hotline calls cover hardware/software caveats and subscription speculation.
Original notes
Tesla stops taking new custom orders for the Model S and X, marking the true beginning of the end for these historic EVs. Plus: Tesla reports its first-quarter vehicle production and delivery numbers, Kia has announced a promising new entry-level EV for the North American market, 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.
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Ride the Lightning: Tesla and EV Podcast
Ryan McCaffrey
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85:58