“FSD v14 Lite” is Tesla’s newer driver-assistance software. It’s like an updated autopilot package, but “Lite” usually means it’s not the most advanced version yet.
The Tesla Model S is Tesla’s well-known electric sedan. Here it’s brought up because the show is planning to talk about what made it important for Tesla’s history.
A light bar is a continuous strip of LEDs used for exterior lighting, typically spanning the width of the vehicle’s front or rear. In EV design, it’s often used as a signature styling element and can also improve visibility by creating a uniform light pattern.
The Tesla Cybercab is a future Tesla vehicle mentioned in the show. The host says it’s expected to use the same front-and-rear light-bar look as other newer Teslas.
Car
Tesla hardware 3
Hardware 3 is the computer inside certain Tesla cars that powers advanced driving features. If your Tesla has Hardware 3, you’re more likely to be able to install newer FSD software updates when Tesla rolls them out.
“FSD version 14 light” is Tesla’s update for its driver-assistance system. It’s a specific software release, and Tesla is rolling it out to more countries over time depending on approvals and testing.
Tesla has to test and adjust the software for each country, and it also needs permission from local regulators. That’s why rollout dates can be uncertain outside the US.
“Supervised” means the car can help drive, but you’re still expected to watch closely and be ready to take control. It’s not fully hands-off automation.
“Trim-specific color” means the paint color depends on which version of the car you buy. In this segment, the host says Tesla is starting to offer certain blues only on specific Model 3/Model Y trims.
A tax credit is money off your taxes from the government. In this discussion, it’s being used to explain why more people might buy the pricier performance versions when the incentive is available.
FUD means people spread fear, confusion, or doubt about something. Here it’s used to talk about negative stories about Tesla that may not be based on facts.
Tesla can update the car’s software remotely, and sometimes those updates add new features. The point is that the car can improve after you buy it, not just stay the same.
A “moat” is an advantage that makes it hard for competitors to steal customers. In this case, they’re saying Tesla’s software (FSD) is what keeps people choosing Tesla.
The Supercharger network is Tesla’s network of fast charging stations. The hosts are saying it used to be Tesla’s big advantage for getting people to buy.
Superchargers are Tesla’s fast charging stations for electric cars. The host is saying Tesla opening them up is good because it makes EV charging easier for more people.
A Tesla wall connector is a dedicated home EV charging unit that mounts on a wall and charges your Tesla from standard household power. Compared with plugging into a basic outlet, a wall connector is typically designed for higher, more reliable charging and is installed by an electrician for safe, code-compliant wiring.
Some repair shops are specifically set up to work on electric cars. That matters because EVs use high-voltage parts and need different tools and training than regular gas cars.
Rear-wheel drive means the power goes to the back wheels. That can change how the truck accelerates and handles compared with versions that drive all four wheels.
Brake rotors are the discs that your brake pads squeeze to make the vehicle slow down. If the rotor’s mounting holes crack, braking can become less safe.
A wheel stud is the metal bolt that helps hold your wheel to the car. If it comes loose from the hub, the wheel could become unstable, which is a serious safety concern.
The hub is the central part of the wheel assembly that the wheel mounts to and that connects to the vehicle’s axle. In this segment, the hub is important because the concern is a wheel stud detaching from the hub under rough roads or sharp turns.
The Tesla Cybertruck is Tesla’s pickup truck. Here, the hosts talk about a recall affecting only 173 Cybertrucks of one variant, which is why they call it a rare “unicorn.”
The Volvo S40 is a smaller car model made by Volvo. In the podcast, it’s brought up as a comparison point when talking about different kinds of cars. The “40” refers to the early naming of that model line.
The Tesla Semi is an electric big rig for hauling goods. The host talks about a huge order and when the first trucks will start delivering, along with charging plans.
Charging infrastructure is the network of places and equipment where electric vehicles plug in to recharge. For big trucks, it has to be fast and reliable so they can keep running.
Class 8 trucks are the biggest commercial trucks used for hauling loads over long distances. This phrase means those heavy trucks are being electrified.
It means shipping goods over long distances with no exhaust pollution coming out of the vehicle. The idea here is electric trucks doing long-haul work.
What EV is the company being quoted that helps fleets adopt electric trucks. They’re described as handling not just the vehicles, but also charging and the leasing setup.
An RFP is a formal way for a company to ask suppliers to compete for a contract. It usually means the buyer sets requirements and compares the submitted offers.
Full service leasing is a financing structure where the customer pays for vehicle use while the leasing provider handles more of the operational burden (often including maintenance/service and sometimes related logistics). In the segment, it’s positioned as reducing risk for carriers adopting new EV fleets.
Rivian is a company that builds electric trucks and SUVs. Here, they’re talking about Rivian’s latest quarterly business results and its plans to build more cars in the future.
“Wall Street” means the finance world—people who follow companies and make predictions about their results. The hosts are saying Rivian did better than those predictions expected.
Ramping up production means getting a new factory to build cars at the big target numbers. It’s hard because the factory has to learn how to make the cars reliably and quickly.
Volkswagen is described here as becoming Rivian’s largest shareholder via a growing equity stake. The segment also frames VW’s investment as a way to accelerate EV software and vehicle technology through a joint venture.
This means the newer, improved computer software that runs EV features. The hosts say the investment was released after progress milestones on that next software.
Electrical architecture is how the car’s electrical parts are organized and connected. It affects how well the EV can run and how easily new software can work with the hardware.
In this context, equity means Volkswagen is putting money into Rivian and getting ownership shares in return. That’s different from a loan or a simple cash investment.
A software-defined vehicle is one where the car’s features are controlled mostly by software. That can make it easier to improve the car over time with updates.
Rivian R2 is an upcoming electric Rivian model that the company is starting to build in larger numbers. The discussion here is about different versions of the same basic vehicle coming later.
“Volume production” means the factory is making the car in large numbers, not just a small batch. The host is saying Rivian is now at the point where it can think about more versions of the R2.
Car
Rivian R3X
Rivian R3X is mentioned as a sportier Rivian model. The point is that Rivian might make a similar “performance” version of the R2 later.
A production facility is the factory where the cars are built. The host is saying Rivian plans to make some R2 versions at a different factory (Georgia instead of Illinois).
Rivian R1T is Rivian’s electric pickup truck. The host is saying it’s not a “full-size” truck, so a smaller R2-based pickup might not compete the same way as the biggest EV trucks.
The Ford F-150 Lightning is Ford’s electric pickup truck. It’s used here as an example of the larger EV trucks that a smaller Rivian pickup would be compared against.
The Chevy Silverado EV is Chevrolet’s electric pickup truck. The host mentions it to show what other full-size EV pickups exist in the same general market.
The Ford Maverick is a smaller pickup truck that’s generally positioned as more affordable than the biggest trucks. The host is using it as an example of a price/size target for a possible Rivian R2T.
Body-on-frame means the car’s body sits on a separate heavy frame. It’s a common design for trucks and rugged SUVs because it’s built to handle tougher jobs.
The Nissan X-Terra is an SUV built on a sturdier frame style. Here, the host says Nissan will make a hybrid version of it instead of building electric SUVs at that factory.
The Nissan Altima is a regular passenger sedan. The host brings it up to show the Canton plant mainly makes cars like this, not the canceled EV models.
An electrification effort means replacing gas-powered equipment with electric power. In this case, it’s about changing Autopia’s ride cars from gas engines to electric vehicles.
“Zero to 60” means how quickly a car can go from stopped to 60 mph. Faster times generally mean stronger acceleration in everyday driving and drag-style tests.
Battery capacity is basically how much energy the EV can store. More capacity often means you can drive farther, but driving conditions still matter a lot.
Concept
cold rocket thrusters
Cold rocket thrusters are a way to add extra push to a vehicle using a rocket-like thrust system. The idea is to get a short acceleration boost without the same kind of hot-burning rocket engine.
The Tesla Model S Plaid is Tesla’s fastest Model S. Here it’s mentioned because it hit a very fast 0–60 mph time that Tesla had claimed for an earlier target.
The Lucid Air Sapphire is the high-performance version of the Lucid Air. In this discussion, it’s used to show that other EVs have already surpassed earlier “0–60” expectations.
“SpaceX thruster” here means a rocket-style thrust system linked to SpaceX. The claim is that it could give the Roadster a big temporary acceleration boost.
The Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 is a very high-performance sports car. The podcast mentions it while talking about a technical idea involving fans. The point is that the discussion connects vehicle design features to how cars can manage airflow or cooling.
A battery pack is the big set of batteries inside an EV that stores the electricity. The hosts are debating whether putting a huge battery in a sports car would be too heavy.
FSD is Tesla’s self-driving software package. They’re discussing whether the Roadster will get it, and whether owners would even want it for a car meant to be driven manually.
Steer-by-wire replaces a traditional mechanical steering linkage with electronic control, typically using sensors and actuators to move the steering system. The hosts suggest the Roadster could use steer-by-wire, which could make it easier (or at least different) to integrate automated driving functions like FSD.
Some tires use foam inserts inside them to make the ride quieter. If something goes wrong with those inserts, it can cause tire issues—and the speaker says Tesla replaced his tires at no cost.
A tire tread warranty is a guarantee about how long the tire tread should last. If your tires wear out early, the warranty can reduce the cost of new tires based on how much tread you got.
A prorated discount means you don’t get “all or nothing.” If you used only part of the tire’s expected life, you get a discount that matches that partial usage.
PPF (paint protection film) is a clear protective layer applied to painted surfaces. Door-edge guards help protect against chips and scratches from things like parking-lot impacts and keys.
LIVE
On this week's episode of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV podcast,
Tesla confirms that the upcoming FSD version 14 Lite for hardware 3 vehicles will be rolling out globally.
Plus, Tesla introduces not one but two new blue paint options for Model 3 and Model Y.
Rivian has a better than expected first quarter.
Nissan becomes the latest legacy automaker to pull the plug on EVs in the US market and more.
What's happening friends? Ryan McCaffrey here as always joining you for the 560 second episode of Ride the Lightning.
It's your weekly Tesla and EV podcast. It's publishing on May 10th, 2026 and I'm recording it here in the evening on Friday, May 8th.
Well, I am back from Boston. I sincerely hope that all of you enjoyed last week's interview with Sandro.
I did get some nice notes about it, which by the way, I sincerely appreciate when you take the time to say that you enjoyed something that I put together here.
So, thank you for allowing me to step away, enjoy some time with my uncles and continue our annual baseball tradition.
Speaking of follow-up notes from previous episodes, if you want to hear more behind the scenes of Jason Kameesa's Model S video from Haggerty's channel,
that I mentioned here two shows ago, the last time I was quote-unquote live here with you, go look up the Car Mudgeon show.
By the way, as a writer, I really appreciate the Car Mudgeon pun, so thumbs up to Jason for that one.
He does the Car Mudgeon show and it's episode 235, which you can find on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.
I was riveted for the entire hour of that podcast where Jason just talked about, again, all the sort of behind the scenes stuff about making that video.
He tells a crazy story about the original Model S prototype that is featured in the background.
It's just in the background. It's just there as sort of a point of reference for how the Model S has evolved over the years and there's a pretty crazy story that he tells just about that.
So again, Car Mudgeon show episode 235 if you'd like to take a listen to that.
And speaking of the Model S, next week's episode, episode 563, will cover the Model S and Model X final celebration event that's happening this coming Tuesday at the Tesla Fremont factory.
I have indeed had the good fortune of securing an invitation to that, so I am so grateful and humbled to be able to say I will be there.
That is a really awesome opportunity. I try to never take these things for granted.
When I am lucky enough to get invited to this stuff, it's really a privilege. It's really a treat.
And I will do my best, as always, to translate that experience, to relay that experience to you on the following week's podcast.
And in fact, about that podcast next week, I hope I don't jinx it by saying this.
I typically have a personal policy to not announce things in advance because schedules can change, things can happen, and I don't want to get your hopes up and potentially disappoint you if schedules change, if something happens.
But on the calendar, booked right now, is an interview next Tuesday with both Tesla Chief Engineer Lars Marevy and Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhäusen to discuss the legacy of the Model S and the Model X.
It will be totally about that. So there aren't going to be questions about anything else going on with the company. It's going to be a very focused conversation.
So I am really, really, really looking forward to that. Stay tuned for that on next week's show.
So if everything goes according to plan, next week's episode should be extra good, I hope, because it'll be the recap and the highlights of the celebration event itself.
My impressions of getting up close with the Signature Series SNX, but also that interview with Franz and Lars talking about the legacy of the Model S and Model X.
While I'm on the subject of housekeeping notes, I promise I will get to this week's news very soon, I just wanted to mention that I have just posted this month's monthly mailbag
Ask me anything post over on my Patreon page. It's free to everyone. You don't have to be supporting my Patreon. Just go to patreon.com.
And I've made a duplicate post on the community-led subreddit, RTLpod.
So if you want to hit either of those spots and you've got a question for me, just post it, ask it, and then I will answer all of them on a Lightning Round episode later this month.
One random thought before I get going with this week's news. This just occurred to me. This is how my brain operates. I think about this stuff practically 24-7.
But the thought occurred to me that the Model 3, now that the SNX are retired, or I guess as of next this Tuesday, they will officially officially be retired.
But the Model 3 is now the only Tesla currently being produced that doesn't have a front and rear light bar on it.
Because we've got the Model Y front and rear light bar, Cybertruck front and rear light bar, Cybercab front and rear light bar, even the Tesla Semi that is entering volume production now has a light bar up front.
And I think if we can excuse the fact that it doesn't really have a back end at all, so it really can't have a light bar back there.
So if we exempt that, it's kind of crazy that there is a definite design language going on with the surviving Teslas right now with a front and rear light bar.
For my part, I hope that the next vehicle that Tesla introduces, which should be the next generation Roadster within the next month or so, I really don't want to see a light bar on that car on either end of it, the front or the rear.
That's just my personal preference, but I'm curious to see what Franz is cooking up for us with that car.
But anyway, just a random Tesla thought that occurred to me.
And on a vaguely similar note to that, talking about kind of the next chapter of Tesla's history with the SNX being retired and the Semi coming in, the Cybercab Roadster hopefully maybe coming in,
I made the next chapter of Tesla's vehicle lineup, the subject of this week's Patreon poll.
Thank you to the, as of this recording, exactly 300 of you that kindly took the time to stop by my Patreon page to vote in the poll.
And a reminder, the poll is free to everyone. It's open to everyone every week. You don't have to be supporting me on Patreon.
Just swing on by patreon.com slash Tesla podcast.
And this week's Patreon poll was, if Tesla's Cyberban and Model Z, as I've taken to calling it, turn out to be real cars, which vehicle in the next chapter of Tesla's life would you be most likely to buy?
And I really had no agenda with this. I mean, I don't think I ever have an agenda, but I guess I'll say I didn't have any expectations with this poll.
I wasn't sure where it was going to land, so I was just purely curious how this was going to turn out.
So after 300 votes, the most, well the winning vote went to, by actually a fairly substantial margin, a comfortable margin at least, the Cyberban won the poll 23% of the vote.
And then a little bit behind it, not too far at 19% the Model YL. People are interested in that as the next Tesla that people are most likely to buy.
After that it goes to a 12% tie between the just regular Model Y and my next car won't be a Tesla, of course Rivian R2, there's lots and lots and good options out there more every day.
And then after that, 10% of you voted Model Z, which, you know, makes sense. We have no idea what it looks like. We don't know anything about it other than the fact that it's going to be smaller and cheaper.
So I suspect if we did know what that car looks like and maybe know a little bit more about it, Model Z might have done a little bit better in this poll, but even still 10% there.
And then it's single digits for everything else, 6% Model 3, 6% Cybertruck, 4% Cybercab, 4% Roadster, 3% Undecided.
So thank you again to everybody that kindly took the time to vote in this week's Patreon poll.
And before I get to the headline story this week, while I'm on the subject of my Patreon, those of you who kindly are supporting the podcast on Patreon, supporting what I do here each and every week,
if you are with me at that most popular tier, that's the $10 tier or higher, that means you get access to each week's Lightning Round mini episode.
The topic for this week was my picks for the five most important EVs of 2026.
And I know this is kind of a click-baity thing to say and I don't really mean it that way, but I think what did make my top five list and maybe even what didn't might surprise you a little bit.
I'm sure you can guess at least one or two of them, but I had fun putting together a top five for that and explaining each one.
So if you're with me on Patreon, go check that out.
If you're not backing me on Patreon, I would be humbled and grateful if you would consider supporting this podcast on Patreon.
It comes to you for free each and every week, every Sunday at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific, like clockwork for the past 10 plus years.
And if you've been with me for a little while, you get a lot out of the podcast each week, I'd be super, super grateful if you would consider supporting what I'm doing here on Patreon.
Because it makes a big difference in my life and my family's life.
You can head on over to the Patreon page at patreon.com slash Tesla podcast to get all the information.
It's not just that $10 tier, that's just the most popular one.
There's a $5 tier that offers not those lightning rounds, but you do get an ad free episode and early access to each week's episode.
The $10 tier gets the ad free early access and those lightning rounds and it goes up and it stacks from there.
Also, if you just like to pledge once, like once a year rather than month to month, there is an annual pledge option that's right there on Patreon.
And if you're kind enough to do that, my thank you for that is I offer a 10% discount on annual pledges.
So again, patreon.com slash Tesla podcast.
There is plenty of Tesla and EV news to cover this week.
I'll start with the headline topic.
It is this.
It's good news for those of you who own a hardware 3 Tesla outside of the US.
And that good news is you will be getting the FSD version 14 light update that Tesla is currently working on and is expected to release at least here in the US at the end of next month, end of June.
Tesla posted the announcement on its official X account with that confirmation saying quote,
Following future rollout of FSD version 14 light for hardware 3 vehicles in the US, we plan on expanding version 14 light to additional international markets.
This update ensures that hardware 3 vehicle owners will continue to benefit from ongoing software updates.
Since international rollout is subject to several factors, completion of technical verification, regional adaptation and relevant regulatory approvals.
We can't provide definitive dates at the moment, but we'll provide updates on a rolling basis end quote.
So this should provide a sigh of relief to a lot of you out there, my Canadian friends, European friends, Australian friends, New Zealand friends,
especially for those of you in those territories and around the world who've already paid for FSD with your hardware 3 car.
I mean, I do think it is a shame that you're not getting version 12.6 in the meantime.
I mean, it's 12.6 has been, it's been almost a year and a half in hardware 3 cars here in the US and it would have been nice if Tesla could have allocated some resources to getting that to all of you globally in the meantime.
But sadly, it looks like you will have to wait a bit longer for version 14 light, but at least that version is coming.
So you're going to get to jump from the no FSD supervised that you have now all the way up to version 14 light.
And of course, it remains to be seen just how well the 14 light will compare to actual V14 on the AI 4 cars.
So we obviously didn't get a timeline there, which Tesla specifically addressed in their post, but hopefully it's going to be a fast follow situation.
And again, that means hopefully the regulatory hurdles are going to go quick.
In fact, let's hope that the regulatory hurdles that Tesla has to go through to get version 14 light out to the global fleet of hardware 3 cars.
Hopefully those hurdles aren't as tall or as annoying as the hurdle that they're currently dealing with just to get version 14 on the AI 4 cars in global markets.
It's been such a long wait for everybody outside of the US, outside of North America, that hopefully the progress that they're making now will clear the path to make it an easier path for the approval of V14 light.
So that is some good news for Tesla owners around the world.
Here's some more fun news. You guys know I love design stuff, little design changes and cosmetic updates, things like that.
And this week, Tesla introduced not one, but two new paint colors for the Model 3 and the Model Y, and they're both blue, two new blues at the same time.
And here's how it breaks down. Frost blue is one of them, and that is yes, the very same frost blue from the now retired Model S and Model X.
And frost blue is available on the Model 3 performance and the Model Y performance.
And in the case of those two cars, because the colors are all quote unquote free on the performance cars, meaning it doesn't cost anything extra, you can just choose it.
If you're ordering a performance, it will not add anything to the cost of the car, just pick whichever color you want, whether it's frost blue or something else.
Now to my knowledge, again I've been following this stuff for a long, long time, I think this is the first time that Tesla has ever offered a trim specific color here in the US.
I say here in the US because Tesla is in fact doing this right now, just not here, at least not yet.
They're doing this with the Model Y L in the markets that that car is available in, with the cosmic silver color that's available exclusively on the Model Y L.
But if you go back to Tesla's past, there's never been like a Model S performance exclusive color.
I mean, again, the signature cars, both the old and the new signature, I'm leaving them out because those were specific, just limited edition cars.
But in terms of just general available, generally available, regular production Teslas, I don't believe there's ever been a trim specific color like nothing specific to the plaid or anything like that over the years.
So pretty interesting there.
Now, the frost blue is not available on the regular, the premium or standard Model 3 or Model Y.
It is an exclusive option for the 3 and the Y performance.
So the second new blue is available on the Model 3 premium and the Model Y premium.
So again, it's not going to be, of course, the standard 3 and Y are only available in gray scale, right?
It's only white, black or stealth gray.
So the 3 premium and Y premium get the fairly new marine blue that Giga Berlin had previously been painting and still is painting its Model Ys with.
It is a $1,000 upgrade for the 3 premium or Y premium.
So you do have to pay for it on those cars.
Now, in both cases, they both replace the long running deep blue metallic paint, which had an 11 year run, a heck of a long run for that paint color.
I know many, many of you out there have a deep blue metallic Tesla of any kind, SX3 or Y.
So there are a lot of deep blue metallics out there, but that color is now finally retired.
It's time, right? It's been, it's been quite a while.
I know there are plenty of fans out there about that car, about that color.
So we'll have to see how marine blue looks in real life.
We know what frost blue looks like if you've had the chance to see a frost blue SRX.
I mean, granted, my European listeners have, and maybe even I think my Canadian listeners, because I believe the Canadians are getting their Model Ys from Giga Berlin.
So outside of the U.S., some of you may have gotten the chance to see marine blue with your own eyes,
but for me, it'll be a new thing and I'll be no doubt seeing my first one in the not too distant future.
But I'm curious how it'll look, just period, number one, just in a vacuum, but also compared to the now retired deep blue metallic.
I wonder if it's going to end up being, because from pictures, from the renders on the Tesla Design Studio,
it kind of looks like it's pretty close to deep blue metallic and maybe just like a shade darker,
which we've seen Tesla do before, right, when refreshing a color.
Stealth gray is, to my eyes, seems like it's literally the same color as the midnight silver metallic that it replaced, just a shade darker.
So I don't know if that's going to be the case with marine blue, but again, we'll find out soon enough.
As of now, I was thinking about this, because again, this is what my brain does.
Marine blue is, for the moment, one of just two Tesla paint colors ever that I've never seen in person.
The other one, actually, excuse me, one of three, sorry, there are two others besides marine blue.
So there are three, marine blue, which again, I should be able to check off my list pretty soon.
The other two are the now discontinued midnight cherry red, which was a giga Berlin exclusive for the Gen 1 Model Y.
And the still active, still available, but not available in the U.S.
Glacier blue, the giga Shanghai makes available on their cars.
Now for my totally subjective taste, I don't personally love frost blue.
It's a little, how should I say this, it's a little flat for me.
Whereas, for instance, my color, ultra red, which again, you guys know I'm like a total model.
I'm an ultra red fanboy, I admit it.
Ultra red has a depth to it.
It is, and I don't personally see that with frost blue, but again, it's paint colors are always that totally subjective thing.
Your least favorite color might be my favorite paint color and vice versa, but it is now available.
Frost blue on the performance three and Y, marine blue available on Model 3, premium and Model Y, premium.
I will say, I'm curious to see how the Model 3 performance in particular versus the Y performance.
I'm curious to see how frost blue is going to look on the three.
It might look good on a smaller sedan, it might be good.
We'll see, we'll see.
And so, you know, I can't help but wonder why Tesla is doing this, right?
And the reason that I bring that up, I think is a very valid question, is because we know that historically,
Tesla doesn't like to introduce complexity into the manufacturing process if they can avoid it.
And therefore, my guess, the thought that comes to mind is that it's one or maybe both of the following reasons.
One, it could be that they're offering a performance exclusive color on three and Y,
because not many people are buying the performance three or Y, which I will say totally anecdotally,
it tracks with what I see with my eye test here in the Tesla Tastic San Francisco Bay Area.
I've talked about this before.
I don't see nearly as many performance threes relative to other Gen 2 Model 3s as I did with Gen 1.
With Gen 1, there were a lot of performance threes.
Like, you'd see it maybe be like every fourth or fifth Model 3 would be a performance.
With the Highland cars, the Gen 2 Model 3s, I would say it's seriously, it's more like one in ten.
And obviously, I'm just spitballing there.
I haven't done any scientific measurements on that, but it just doesn't seem like as many people are opting for performance anymore.
And that could very, very well be because of the tax credit.
With the tax credit, the people are willing to make that leap and say,
okay, all right, I'll treat myself to the performance version.
But without the tax credit, maybe people aren't doing that.
And then with the Model Y performance, which was only introduced far more recently,
again, I'm seeing very, very few of those on the road.
And so I just wonder if offering a performance exclusive paint color is an effort by Tesla
to try and get people to go ahead and pay a little bit more to get the higher trim.
And then the second reason that comes to mind is, which again, this isn't an either-or, it could be an and-or,
but maybe Tesla and specifically Franz and the design team who are in charge of this stuff,
maybe they just finally got tired of that 11-year-old deep blue metallic,
but at the same point didn't want to say goodbye to the frost blue that they had only just recently introduced on SNX,
but also, for whatever reason, didn't feel comfortable making frost blue the only blue option on the 3 and the Y.
So maybe this is something that I should ask Franz specifically about when I see him this week,
although again, I guess it's, maybe I'll have to ask him off mic and just relay it to you,
because the interview is going to be focused in on SNX, but yes, I guess I do have that opportunity coming up in the next few days
where maybe I can get an explanation on what the deal is with these two new blues,
but I want to be clear, I applaud it. I love when Tesla gives us more options rather than fewer options.
So I think it's pretty sweet. And by the way, to close this off before I move on to the next news story this week,
I have a random, useless, but hopefully fun fact to share with you right now.
As I was going through all the paint colors and taking a look at everything with this new blue, the two new blues,
the fun, the fun useless fact is that pearl white multicote is now the oldest Tesla paint color,
the oldest still active Tesla paint color, and it's not just old, it's OG.
It goes all the way back to day one of the Model S back in 2012.
There was also a second flat white, just a basic non-multicote white, but that went away a long time ago,
but pearl white multicote has been there since day one and it's still available here in 2026.
Every single other color, every other color, even black, because we have Diamond Black now,
every other color that Tesla has offered has either been refreshed or replaced.
So again, fun, random, useless Tesla fact for you.
Next up this week, Tesla's taken home the overall loyalty to make, meaning make meaning the car brand,
the overall loyalty to make award from S&P Global Mobility for the fourth consecutive year, reinforcing Tesla owner's willingness to come back.
I saw this on Tesla Roddy who wrote,
The 2025 awards are based on S&P Global Mobility's analysis of 13.6 million new retail vehicle registrations in the US from October 2024 through September of 2025.
The complete list of 2025 winners includes GM for overall loyalty to manufacturer, Tesla for overall loyalty to make,
Chevrolet Equinox for overall loyalty to model,
the mini brand for the most improved make loyalty, Subaru for overall loyalty to dealer,
and Tesla again for both ethnic market loyalty to make and highest conquest percentage.
Tesla's streak in this category started in 2022 and the brand has now won the highest conquest percentage award for six straight years,
meaning it keeps pulling buyers away from other brands at a rate no competitor has matched.
Tesla's retention among Asian households reached 63.6% and among Hispanic households 61.9% rates that significantly outpace national averages for those groups.
That breadth of appeal across demographics adds a layer of significance to a win that some might dismiss as routine.
The timing matters too, Tesla Roddy notes.
After several consecutive quarters of decline, Tesla's share of US EV sales jumped to 59% in Q4 of 2025.
That rebound, arriving just as competitors were flooding the market with new models and incentives,
suggests Tesla's loyalty numbers are not simply the result of limited alternatives.
Buyers are still choosing it when they have plenty of other options.
Thank you Tesla Roddy for that write up.
The funny thing about this story to me is that it would probably surprise a lot of outsiders if you read it to them.
And by outsiders, I mean of course people who are aware of Tesla and may have some opinion of Tesla about the cars of the company based on something real or maybe something FUD based.
But as all of you are nodding along already right now, this absolutely doesn't surprise any of you listening to this or me.
Why? Because as all of you know, once you live with a Tesla, it tends to be difficult to want to drive anything else.
And I'm talking more specifically about comparing the gas cars here, Tesla owners quite definitively do not want to go back to gas cars.
Where the fuel costs more, the cars are louder, they don't have FSD, the user interface typically isn't as fully featured.
It doesn't get free software updates that add new features throughout the year. You all know what I'm talking about.
And really I think it's FSD in particular that has become the moat that surrounds Tesla these days.
It used to be the supercharger network, right? That used to be Tesla's moat.
That would be why you would choose Tesla over another EV brand, but now it's FSD.
Tesla's opened up the superchargers obviously, which I do absolutely think is a good thing. It's good for the EV movement.
It doesn't seem to have really caused any problems for Tesla owners, so that's a good thing.
But FSD now seems to be the killer feature that's going to have people coming back to Tesla or coming over to it in the first place.
Because once you try it, it's super awesome and you don't want to have a car without it.
I would also have to imagine that the refreshed Model 3 and the more recently refreshed Model Y,
they probably have a good bit to do with that spike in the numbers that I shared with you as well there.
Because presumably, I guess the one thing to keep an eye on is presumably that effect of those recently refreshed cars
is temporary as they become not so new anymore next year and the year after that.
Plus there's also the notion to keep in mind, again as we sort of watch this in future years,
fairly or not, there's this notion that even though S&X only represented 3% of Tesla's sales,
that well, is Tesla wanting to get out of automotive entirely in favor of AI and robotics?
And you know, again, even though it's only 3% of Tesla's sales, a lot of you feel that
and I think probably a lot of non-Tesla owners, people that are car shopping, hear about that
and they might think that and I'm not immune to that either.
I mean, I'm still not over the S&X being discontinued.
And I have a feeling that I hope I have fun at the S&X celebration event this week,
but I do think I'm still going to come away from it kind of upset, not like in a real life like, er, I'm mad, kind of way.
But I think I'm probably, after having been up close with the Signature Series cars,
I'm probably going to be maybe even a little extra bothered that they're gone forever,
or at least gone for the foreseeable future.
But anyway, that notion could have an effect on this data next year or the year after.
But who knows?
I mean, maybe in a year from now, Tesla will have announced a car or three,
like say the new Roadster, the Cyberbin, the Model Z, could happen.
Could happen.
So I think this is interesting data and it's worth keeping an eye on to see how it trends one year after the other.
So I'll keep an eye out for this same data this time next year.
Next up this week, the Tesla Model X, speaking of the X, and it's going away,
well, it was the fastest selling used vehicle in the US in the first quarter of this year,
crushing every other used car in America.
Another tip of the cap to Tesla Roddy, who says,
ICCars.com data for the first quarter shows that the Model X was the fastest selling used car,
lasting just 25.6 days on the market on average,
two days better than that of the second place, Lexus RX 350H.
The Cybertruck Model Y and Model S came in seventh, ninth, and thirteenth place, respectively.
They were also on the list.
ICCars data shows that, quote,
while the average price of a one to five year old non-Tesla EV fell 10.3% in Q1 year over year,
the average price of a used Tesla was essentially flat at just 0.1% lower across the same period.
Traditional gas car prices dropped 2.8% during the same period.
And then we've got a quote here from the ICCars.com executive analyst Carl Brower,
who says,
Used electric vehicles without a Tesla badge have lost more than 10% of their value in the past year.
This compares to stable values for Teslas and hybrids and a modest 2.8% drop for traditional gasoline vehicles.
So I find this story and this data kind of fun to look at,
because the thing is the X was still available in the first quarter.
Like there was inventory that you could order from and get,
and in Q1 you could still place an order for a brand new one.
So maybe people thought that the values on the used market might go up
once production was completely ended, because the announcement was made in mid-January,
like January, whatever that was, the 22nd, whatever that earnings call was.
So most of Q1 people knew that SNX were being discontinued.
So I don't know if, yeah, again, maybe people thought that once that discontinuation announcement happened,
that values on the used market might go up,
and so that caused a relative spike in second-hand demand for used ones, I don't know.
But whatever the reason, it's certainly nice to see,
and it'll be particularly interesting to see if this trend holds for Q2 when the X really is gone.
Because starting in Q2, in fact right at the beginning of it, April 1st,
you could not order a new custom-built Model X anymore.
It was inventory only.
Plus, of course, the final run of 100 signature series Model Xs that are being delivered this week.
I'll be keeping an eye on this one for sure.
I want to pause here real quick in the middle of a very busy news week
to mention the return of something awesome.
The 12th annual Chesed Chicago raffle is here,
and I am thrilled to help raise some money for a great cause once again.
You have all really generously supported this effort the past couple of years,
so let's use the power of this community to help out this great cause again in 2026.
As a reminder, this raffle gives you a chance to win any EV of your choice,
including yes, the new Rivian R2, or $50,000 cash if you prefer that,
and even better, you're helping out families in need at the same time.
Head on over to cceraffle.com or click the link in the episode description,
and use promo code RTL for $25 off of two tickets or $500 off of 15 tickets.
Plus, a new thing this year, you can supercharge your entry for $10 per ticket
to add a Tesla wall connector, including an installation from a professional electrician.
That'll add that to your prize if you win.
Now remember, with the $7,500 EV tax credit gone,
this raffles kind of an even more awesome way to get your hands on the EV of your dreams.
Chesed Chicago, as a reminder, they're a great charity.
They offer over 80 programs and services which provide vital assistance
to more than 6,000 individuals per year with a focus on battling hunger,
preventing eviction and homelessness, and providing needy families with basics such as clothing and furniture.
Get your tickets right now to be entered into the early bird drawing.
That winner gets a brand new Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max or a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra,
and if you win that, you are still eligible for the main drawing.
The early bird drawing ends pretty soon, Memorial Day,
so it's coming up in just a couple weeks here, and the final drawing is on July 13th,
so get your tickets now before they're all gone because they are limited.
Go to cceraffle.com again or click the link in the episode description,
and don't forget that promo code RTL for a discount on your tickets.
I've also got a quick word from my friends at Accelerate Auto
with their X-Care extended warranty packages for EVs.
A lot more people are stepping into EV ownership right now.
That is certainly obvious. We are all part of that group,
and it's not just new vehicles, but also used EVs.
That could be some of you listening to this because prices have come way down on used EVs,
inventories opened up, and for a lot of buyers, the math finally makes sense,
and that's a great thing for EV adoption.
But there's one part of the conversation that doesn't always get the same attention,
and that's ownership after the purchase,
because EVs aren't just different to drive,
they're different to maintain, to diagnose, to repair over time,
and depending on where that vehicle is in its life cycle, coverage can look very different.
That is where X-Care comes in.
X-Care was built specifically for EVs.
It covers the components that matter most, including the battery and drive systems,
and it gives you the flexibility to use EV-approved, excuse me,
approved EV repair facilities, not necessarily just the manufacturer.
It also includes 24-7 roadside support, trip interruption coverage, and rental car coverage, if needed.
So whether you're buying your first EV or picking up another one,
you're not just thinking about the deal because going electric is one decision.
What matters next is how it's handled and when it needs service.
You can learn more at xcare.com, that's X-C-A-R-E dot com,
or call 844-755-4186
and make sure to use the promo code LIGHTNING for $100 off any policy purchase.
Moving along to the next Tesla news story this week,
remember the long-range rear-wheel drive Cybertruck that was introduced about a year ago for $70,000
and was discontinued just a couple months later?
The one that I was openly half-jokingly questioning whether or not any had actually been made and delivered
because I had never seen one here in my area where I see a whole lot of Cybertrucks.
Well, it turns out my half-joke wasn't too far off from reality.
I saw this on Drive Tesla Canada this week who wrote,
there was a recall affecting specifically this very long-range rear-wheel drive trim of the Cybertruck
as it has a specific, steely-type wheel that the premium Cybertrucks don't have.
So according to Tesla, according to the recall, stud holes in the brake rotors may crack,
especially under intense use such as rough roads or sharp turns.
This could cause the wheel stud to detach from the hub, potentially leading to a crash.
Tesla claims there has been no accident or injuries traceable to the potential fall.
However, as Drive Tesla Canada notes, the interesting part of the recall process is the number of units involved.
The recall notice states that only 173 Cybertrucks need to be brought in,
meaning the company only sold 173 units of this variant.
If you've got one, congratulations, you've got a Tesla Unicorn.
Because 173 units definitely qualifies these as a Tesla Unicorn in my book,
considering there must be at this point at least upwards of 100,000 Cybertrucks out there,
maybe 150,000, pardon me, can't even read my own notes.
So, I mean, let's just take 100,000 as the assumption for the moment of roughly how many Cybertrucks there are.
That means that 173 units is what? Is that 0.1% of production?
Yeah, because 1% would be 1,000 points.
Yeah, so it's like maybe 0.17%, something like that.
That is not very many at all.
And again, it's difficult to know exactly how many Cybertrucks have been made and delivered
because, as we all know, Tesla lumps the Cybertrucks in with the SSNXs in that other vehicles category
of the quarterly production and delivery reports.
So, again, just kind of a best guess.
But anyway, point is, 173 units of an entire trim might be a new Tesla Unicorn record.
Because I was trying to think of other ones, and I came up with a couple other ones.
So, there are not too many mid-range Model 3s either.
And if you're wondering, wait, what? Did you just say mid-range Model 3? Yes, I did.
That was a real trim in the fall of 2018, but surely there must be more than 173 of them.
Although, unlike the long-range, real-wheel-drive Cybertruck, we can't identify the mid-range 3s from the outside of the car.
The one other one that comes to mind that might give the long-range, real-wheel-drive Cybertruck a run for its money
is the Model S40.
The 40 was offered in the very early, the very beginning of the Model S days
as a way to fulfill the $50,000 price point promise that Tesla had made before the car came out.
And those cars, the 40s, were in fact 60s, 60kWh battery cars that were software locked
to only have 40kWh of usable battery.
In fact, now that I think about it, there probably are fewer than 173 of those.
So maybe that's the ultimate Tesla Unicorn, but the long-range, real-wheel-drive Cybertruck is definitely right there.
So there you go. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Tesla Unicorns.
Next this week, the final Tesla story that I've got for you before I move on to some other EV news.
Tesla just got a massive order for the Tesla Semi, and it's largest one by a long shot.
Another tip of the cap to test the Roddy who writes,
What EV, W-A-T-T-E-V,
What EV, a leading provider of electric freight operations and charging electric class 8 trucks in California?
Excuse me, I totally lost my place. Let me try that again.
A leading provider of electric freight operations and charging infrastructure in the US, there we go.
They've announced one of the largest deployments of electric class 8 trucks in California history,
an order for 370 Tesla Semis, valued at approximately $100 million.
This marks the state's biggest single electric truck order to date,
and signals accelerating momentum for zero-emission long-haul freight.
Deliveries are set to begin with the first 50 of those Tesla Semis this year,
with the full fleet operational by the end of next year.
More than 300 of these trucks will support a joint program with the Port of Oakland,
helping electrify drage and regional freight routes.
The initiative aligns with California's ambitious goals to transition to carbon-neutral freight operations.
Salim Yusefzadi, CEO of What EV, said at the annual ACT Expo Industry Event that the Semi was the easiest choice.
We selected the Tesla Semi based on cost, performance, and availability after issuing a public request for proposals.
With the Tesla Semi now entering mass production and drawing strong reviews from fleet operators nationwide,
What EV's vertically integrated model, combining vehicle deployment,
megawatt class charging infrastructure, and full service leasing offers a turnkey path for carriers without any capital risk.
So man, a $100 million bet on the Tesla Semi, that is one heck of a way to put your money where your mouth is.
We're probably going to start seeing lots of stories about big orders like this popping up pretty soon,
now that that final 1.0 version of the Tesla Semi is heading into volume production.
And remember too, there's still a long list of companies that put in orders all the way back in 2017 after the Tesla Semi was first revealed.
Anheuser-Busch, I believe was on that list, I think Walmart as I recall was on that list,
and I think FedEx as well had ordered some Tesla Semi's.
Now, it is possible that those companies have since cancelled those orders.
I don't know, I'm just saying it's possible, just because it's been so long, nine years,
and a lot's happened since then, like say, the pandemic for one,
and by, you know, that can change a company's priorities, pardon me,
and I'm sure that at least one or two of those companies has probably seen some leadership changes in that time
where the new regime may or may not want to keep that purchase commitment to Tesla for those Tesla Semi's.
But no matter how you shake it, this is great to see and hopefully three-figure Tesla Semi orders,
and by three, I mean as I'm talking about number of cars, not monetary amount,
three-figure Semi orders will start to become the norm for Tesla.
Alright, let's do some other EV news.
Let's talk Rivian here for a couple minutes.
They delivered a stronger than expected Q1 2026 reporting improved financial results
as they begin scaling production of its highly anticipated R2 SUV on its path toward profitability.
I saw this on Drive Tesla Canada who wrote,
According to Rivian's shareholder letter, the electric vehicle maker posted Q1 2026 revenue of $1.38 billion
slightly ahead of analyst expectations while its adjusted EBITDA loss came in at $472 million narrower than forecast.
The company also reported a net loss of $416 million or $0.33 per share,
significantly better than the deeper losses Wall Street had anticipated.
The results mark a continued trend of improving fundamentals,
with Rivian achieving its third consecutive quarter of positive gross profit, which totaled $119 million.
However, the gains were partially offset by a decline in regulatory credit sales and lower production volumes,
pushing its automotive segment to a gross loss.
Rivian ended the quarter with $4.83 billion in cash and short-term investments,
providing a solid liquidity buffer as it enters a critical phase of scaling production and launching new vehicles.
The company also reaffirmed its 2026 guidance, expecting to deliver between 62 and 67,000 vehicles.
The company also maintained its projected adjusted EBITDA loss range of $1.8 billion to $2.1 billion
and capital expenditures between $1.95 billion and $2.05 billion.
On the manufacturing front, Rivian is increasing the planned initial capacity of its upcoming Georgia plant by 50%,
targeting 300,000 vehicles annually.
Production at the facility is still expected to begin in late 2028.
Well, this is great news for a company that should continue to enjoy good news and good times
once they've successfully completed the very difficult task of ramping up to actually make 300,000 cars a year.
I mean, you heard that extra bit of good news at the end there.
They've upped their production projections and capacity by 50%, so they were at 200,000.
Now they're aiming to make 300,000 vehicles per year out of that Georgia facility that's under construction now.
Yes, they are still losing money, but they are trending in the right direction.
Just a friendly reminder, just to look back at history and where we've come from,
Tesla lost money every single quarter of its existence until 2019,
which was a full seven years after it delivered its first Model S
and a decade after delivering its first car ever, which of course was the original Roadster.
So the R2 is not going to instantly turn Rivian profitable,
but it is the key to doing so and they seem to be on the right track, which I love to hear.
On a similar note, while we're talking Rivian,
Drivetest LeCanada also reports that Volkswagen has overtaken Amazon as Rivian's largest single shareholder with a nearly 16% stake.
A new regulatory filing with the US SEC confirms the German automaker now controls
over 209 million shares of Rivian representing a 15.9% stake in the company.
That puts VW ahead of Amazon, whose ownership has gradually been diluted to roughly 12% since Rivian's IPO.
The increased stake follows Volkswagen's latest $1 billion investment tied to the Rivian VW technology's joint venture.
The funding was triggered after the partnership reached another key milestone linked to progress on next generation EV software and electrical architecture.
Unlike a traditional cash infusion, this latest funding came in the form of equity,
meaning Volkswagen's influence over Rivian continues to grow with each milestone achieved.
The two companies have agreed to invest up to $5.8 billion in total as part of the collaboration,
which is focused on developing software-defined vehicles for Western markets.
That strategy is becoming increasingly important, especially for VW who has struggled with vehicle software for years.
With this partnership, Volkswagen is effectively outsourcing part of that challenge to Rivian,
which has built a strong reputation for its in-house tech platform.
Well, I've said this before, but I really hope that Volkswagen's deal with Rivian turns out to be a win for both parties.
That's the best outcome here.
Rivian gets the capital it needs at this crucial juncture in its history,
and in return, Volkswagen gets a not-insignificant piece of a company that could end up multiplying in valuation by a lot.
And more practically speaking, it also gets vastly superior software for its EVs
that will make an immediate and daily difference for VW customers.
That's the part I really like.
Now, if you look back at history, again, talking history,
Toyota actually did something similar with Tesla way back in the pre-model S days,
but whoops, Toyota sold at stake in Tesla a long, long time ago and many, many, many billions of dollars ago.
I bet they wish they could have that decision back, but then again,
it does fall in line with Toyota's MO of not wanting anything to do with EVs.
I kid, I kid, the Highlander EV that I talked about on a recent episode,
it is very promising and I'm rooting for it, and Lexus announced a new EV SUV this week as well.
So come on, Toyota, come on in, come join the EV movement.
It's okay, the water's nice, come on in, take a swim with us.
Anyway, one more piece of Rivian news for you and it's more good news.
As Rivian starts volume production of R2, CEO RJ Scarridge is already hinting at additional variants that may be released in the future.
One more tip of the cap goes to Drive Tesla Canada who wrote,
in an interview with Reuters, Scarridge hinted that the company has a program planned for the R2 but wouldn't go into details.
However, based on the interview, it seems like a pickup variant and a performance variant like the R3X crossover could be coming for the R2.
These would be in addition to the trims that the company has already announced.
An interesting tidbit is that variant production would not occur at the company's normal Illinois facility where the launch package R2 is being built.
Instead, Rivian will use its Georgia-based facility to support the production of variants of the new vehicle.
Well, I'm certainly not surprised that production of future R2 variants would happen at the new facility because after all, that will be their next generation plant.
The Gigatexus, if you will, to their normal plant's Fremont factory to complete that analogy.
I would imagine that long-term, the older, normal Illinois factory probably will do R1S and R1T, the lower volume vehicles,
and Georgia will build the higher volume R2 and eventually the R3 vehicles plus whatever variants the company ends up wanting to make.
It really would be interesting to see a more affordable, smaller pickup truck on the R2 platform and R2T, although I have to wonder where it would fit in the marketplace.
Because the reason I mention that is because the R1T isn't a full-size truck.
It's not technically in the same class as the F-150 Lightning, the Chevy Silverado EV, the GMC Sierra EV, and of course the Cybertruck.
It is smaller.
So a potential R2T probably wouldn't make sense as just a slightly smaller mid-size pickup, but then again, maybe could it compete price-wise against the likes of, say, the Ford Maverick gasoline-powered truck
and then Ford's upcoming affordably priced EV pickup truck that's going to be built on its next-gen production line supposedly starting next year.
But regardless of all of that, an R2X would be really, really awesome to see.
So I hope Rivian builds it once they've fully ramped up the main R2 and then they get that Georgia plant opened up.
In unfortunately far worse news this week, Nissan, the Japanese car maker that of course helped pioneer the modern EV with the Leaf all the way back in 2010,
told dealers and parts suppliers that it is canceling plans to build two fully electric SUVs at its Canton, Mississippi factory here in the US.
I want to say tip of the cap to long-time listener and generous Patreon backer Michael Gallo who sent this story to me and it comes via TheStreet.com who writes,
Nissan had previously frozen its EV production plans at the 4.7 million square foot Canton facility. Now it's killing them outright.
The decision relayed to dealers and parts suppliers this past week comes, quote,
as part of a broader recalibration of its product strategy as the Japanese car maker seeks to conserve cash, according to Bloomberg.
Instead of the two electric SUVs, Canton will build a V6 engine-powered hybrid version of the X-Terra SUV plus other body-on-frame trucks and SUVs.
The plant currently produces the Frontier pickup and the Altima sedan and employs roughly 3,200 workers.
The reversal undoes a $500 million investment that Nissan announced in 2022 which had been hailed as one of the largest EV manufacturing commitments in the southern US.
Quote, to better align with market conditions, customer demand, and Nissan's updated strategic direction,
the company will not move forward with previously announced EV programs at its Canton Mississippi facility, said Nissan spokesperson Jennifer Swanner.
Ashley Bobo, a spokesperson for Nissan's US operations, was even blunter, saying, quote,
Well, I have to tell you, I am getting pretty tired of doing these same stories about legacy automakers cutting EV programs.
It feels like I'm doing these every other week.
And I'm probably repeating myself from the last time I did one of these stories, which was what, that was the Honda one.
But this just seems so short-sighted.
The EV market will come back around, politics change, fossil fuels aren't replenishing,
EV technology is only getting better and importantly cheaper.
And when, not if, the EV market rebounds, here's the problem for Nissan.
They're now going to be years behind Tesla and Rivian and Lucid and to give credit to the legacy automakers who are not taking their ball and going home.
Nissan's going to be years behind the Volkswagen group, meaning VW, Audi, Porsche.
They're going to be years behind BMW.
They're going to be years behind Mercedes.
Basically, the Germans understand the assignment here.
Ford, Ford, hopefully, is going to be on the good boys and girls list for EV Santa.
Even though they canceled the F-150 Lightning on account of that aforementioned next-gen affordable pickup truck coming in the next year or two.
So, boo to Nissan.
And I say this, not with malice, but with a little bit of disappointment, like a disappointed dad.
Let's see where they are in five years.
Let's just, that's it. Let's bookmark this, let's see where Nissan is in five years.
We can't end the podcast, or we can't end the news segment of the podcast on that kind of a downer note, so let's end on something more positive, shall we?
Let's talk about the happiest place on Earth, one of my favorite places on Earth, Disneyland.
They have begun testing electric vehicle prototypes to replace the ride vehicles on the Autopia attraction.
If you've been to Disneyland, you probably have been on Autopia, you know where it is.
This story comes via the Orange County Register, who says Disneyland plans to update Autopia with fully electric vehicles and retire the gas engines that have powered the Tomorrowland racetrack attraction since the 1955 debut of the Anaheim theme park.
Disneyland has an agreement with the California Air Resources Board to retire the current Autopia gas powered engines in early 2027, according to Disneyland officials.
Disneyland is working on the design, engineering, and testing of a fully electric Autopia ride vehicle prototype, so safe, Disneyland officials.
Disneyland will share more details soon on the updates plan for the Autopia attraction in Tomorrowland.
Closing and reopening dates have not yet been set for the Autopia update.
Disneyland originally announced plans in 2024 to convert Autopia from gas to electric power by the fall of 2026.
Well, my guess is those plans will be detailed and the ride vehicles will be revealed shown off at D23, which is Disney's big convention that they do every couple of years and they've got one happening.
It's in August, if you're curious, so I think August is probably when we'll find out more about the electrification effort happening at Autopia.
I have not been on Autopia in a while because it's just not like it's kind of gross.
Like I love the ride. Don't get me wrong. I love the ride itself, but I know I've talked about this on the podcast before.
For those of you who've been to Disneyland, you know how great this is going to be even if you don't care about going on that ride because it's super noisy over there because of that fleet, just dozens of gas powered little cars.
And the exhaust fumes are pretty nasty, honestly. They waft right up to the monorail boarding platform in Tomorrowland that's adjacent to that ride and kind of above it.
So I'll just say this, if Tesla who doesn't like to advertise in a traditional manner, although I wouldn't call sponsoring a Disneyland ride a traditional form of advertising,
if Tesla doesn't want to sponsor the ride when it switches over to electric, and the reason I bring that up is because the article that I just read you from the Orange County Register also mentioned that Honda's current sponsorship expires at the end of this year.
So if Tesla won't do it, and to be clear, I think they should, Rivian should do it.
Now I know Rivian is not a profitable company yet, and maybe they should focus on, maybe people would say, well, focus on the profitability before you go doing some sort of big advertising deal with a Disneyland ride.
I still think it could be money well spent, because what a cool way that would be for Rivian to get the word out on their brand just as they've introduced their first high volume, more affordable vehicle.
But no matter whose name, what company's name ends up on the next version of Autopia, I am thrilled that it's being electrified very soon.
Alright, that is it for an extremely busy week of Tesla and EV news.
I'm gonna, I'll just do a few of your phone calls, because there's a bunch of good ones in the ride the lighting hotline, so I want to be respectful of your time here.
Stick with me, I'll come right back, do those few calls for you, right after this.
Welcome to the ride the lighting hotline, your chance to call in and potentially be featured on an upcoming episode as the next few callers are about to be.
If you've got a Tesla or EV question, comment or discussion topic, I would love for you to call in and let's talk about it.
There are two easy ways to call in, either use your smartphone's built in voice recording software, record your question, please try to keep it to 90 seconds or less, so I can get to as many callers each week as possible.
Then email that file to me at my podcast email address, which is TeslaPodcastatgmail.com.
Or you can take that same 90 second or less call and call in and leave a message on the ride the lighting hotline itself, it's a toll free number, it's available to you anytime, and that number is 1-888-989-8752.
That number again, 1-888-989-TSLA.
And if you know someone special out there 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 to learn more.
First up this week is Doug from Nashville.
Hi Ryan, this is Doug from Nashville.
I was calling about a possible software upgrade, something that they could fix that I've seen has been an issue.
When you have a pet, like a dog, when you have a dog in the car and you're riding, the safety, the seat belt reminder comes up and you can dismiss it, but the dog goes back and forth in the back so it continuously comes up and down.
If they could add something that would be like a dog mode for that when driving so it doesn't continuously come up when they switch seats back and forth, I think that would be a valuable feature.
Doug, I appreciate your call and I actually do have a solution for this that I can pass along to you and perhaps anybody else out there for whom this might be helpful.
All you have to do to fix this is tap the seat belt icon on the screen when it lights up and it will put that seat into car seat mode, meaning that it won't yell at you anymore when the dog's weight shifts around from one seat to the other.
I have both of my cars set up this way because I take the dogs in the cars and this happens so that should take care of it for you. Hope that helps. Appreciate the call, Doug.
Next up, here's James from the Bay Area talking one of my favorite topics, next gen Roadster. Go ahead, James.
Unveil it, you know. I know originally back in I think 2017 when it was announced it was, you know, the zero to 60 time. I forget the numbers. Obviously, you know better than me.
Do you think the new current zero to 60 time will be better than originally announced?
Like for instance, they said it would have 600 miles, you know, battery capacity. I was wondering, do you think that's still going to hold true to when they re unveil it?
Yeah, just kind of going over the stats. I'm just wondering your thoughts on how many you think will actually be true or which ones you think may even be improved, you know, with the cold rocket thrusters.
I would imagine maybe the zero 60 time is going to be a little bit better than back in 2017 when they first announced it.
Anyways, just wanted to know your thoughts. All right, Ryan.
Always a pleasure to hear from you, James. Yeah, there's no question the version that finally ships, which by the way will be over 10 years after it was first announced, which is crazy when you say it out loud.
There's no doubt that that version that finally ships is going to be significantly better.
I mean, look how much better the rest of the car world got in that time.
In 2021, Tesla itself matched that stated 1.99 second zero to 60 time with, of course, the Model S Plaid.
In 2023, the Lucid Air Sapphire beat that zero to 60 time.
Rimock has also surpassed it and even a gas car, the Corvette ZR1X, which is I've watched a bunch of videos on this car by all means an absolute monster.
I mean, it's about a quarter million dollars, which is still cheaper than the Rimock, but it's, you know, not cheap for a Corvette, which are, you know, generally a bit more of an every man sports car.
But the ZR1X is the engine. They just clearly let the engineers go nuts, which I love so much.
But anyway, the Corvette ZR1X has beaten the original 1.99 second zero to 60 time by a lot and the ZR1X also topped the originally stated quarter mile time of the next gen Tesla Roadster that was announced in 2017.
So the new Roadster that finally ships, I guarantee you will have four motors instead of three. I would, I would bet my car on that.
Remember, and remember when the new Roadster prototype was on display at the Peterson Auto Museum a few years back? I've talked about this on the podcast and the placard for the museum display said it would be 1.1 seconds zero to 60 with the SpaceX cold gas thruster package.
Now surely Tesla had to give them that number. The Peterson Museum didn't just make it up. So there's that to keep in mind.
And then the other thing to keep in mind about the Roadster we will inevitably, or maybe not inevitably, but ultimately hopefully get in early 2024.
So two years ago, Elon posted that Tesla, quote, radically increased the design goals for the new Tesla Roadster, end quote.
And then more evidence of this car being totally sick when it finally comes out.
The patent application from Tesla that was brought to light several months ago about fans.
I remember the patent on the about fans on the bottom of the car and I speculated at that time that this is going to be a fan car like the McMurtry spiraling or the Gordon Murray T 50.
In addition to having a quad motor powertrain and the SpaceX thruster, so I am fully confident that the performance metrics that this car ultimately delivers.
Yes, many, many, many, many years late are going to be bonkers.
The only figure that I am skeptical that they're going to be able to match from the 2017 announcement is the other one that you cited, James, and that's the range.
I'm just not sure that Tesla in the end are going to want to put a 200 kilowatt hour battery pack in a sports car because it's so much weight.
Unless they've got a battery breakthrough that can literally lighten the load, but the giant battery is what would get the car to 620 miles of range as stated at the 2017 reveal.
I really think personally that anybody that would be buying the quarter million dollar next gen Tesla Roadster would be totally fine with 400 miles of range.
I will say it's got to be the highest range vehicle that Tesla's ever had, meaning it has to beat 405.
405 miles is what the Model S long range was at, so as a halo car, as the best Tesla ever made in terms of performance and specs, it's got to beat any previous Tesla in range.
I'm skeptical about 620. The funniest thing that Elon could and definitely would do, we'll just have to see if he actually does it, would be to give it 420 miles of range.
So we'll see about that one, but hopefully we will find out in the next 30 days or so.
Alright, I've got time for just one more caller this week. It is from Sean in New York. Go ahead, Sean.
I'm glad that you're feeling more optimistic about the upgrade for your hardware 3 car, Sean.
I'm honestly right there with you. I am feeling better about it now, aside from not getting a timeline on it.
I mean, if Elon would have just said, we're planning to get those upgrades done next year, I'd be even happier.
But as to your Roadster thought, what Elon specifically said was that in the long run, the Roadster will be the only car with manual inputs.
However, I do still agree with you. I am not expecting the Roadster to get FSD whenever it finally comes out.
It's going to be a whole different platform, like a bespoke one-off custom platform with steer by wire, super low volume.
I mean, I don't know, maybe now that Tesla has done the work to get FSD on Cybertruck up to parody with the rest of the fleet,
and of course Cybertruck has steer by wire, maybe it's fairly trivial and I say that with nothing but respect to the hardworking software engineers on the Tesla AI team.
But I don't know, maybe it's an easier path to get FSD on the Roadster as well.
But again, I'm not even sure that buyers of the Roadster want FSD on that car.
I will say this, for my purposes, I don't think I would use it.
If I'm taking that car out for a drive, I don't want it driving me, the whole fun is me driving it myself,
especially if it's got steer by wire and it's going to be a thrill to drive.
So, I mean, it's not that it would be nice to have FSD just in case, like maybe I don't know, for like a long road trip.
If I'm just taking it to San Diego or something down the coast, which is something I've daydreamed about, taking my wife down the coast in it,
then okay, yeah, long straight road, maybe I'd want FSD for that.
But outside of that, yeah, I just don't think that drivers of that car are really going to even want full self-driving,
but we'll see what happens if and when we ever finally get that re-reveal and demo.
Thank you for your call, Sean.
Thank you to everybody that kindly took the time this past week to send in a call.
I promise I will get to more of your calls coming up soon, but for now this podcast is getting quite long,
so I want to start to wind it down and I will start by simply giving you an entertainment recommendation
as I try to do every week, whether it's a movie, a TV show, a video game, even on occasion, an album.
This week, it's an entertainment recommendation.
It's a new-ish show.
It's not one that I was watching day one, but on my trip to Boston, I had two long flights to and from the East Coast,
and so I downloaded Rooster on HBO Max and I watched at least all the episodes that are up so far,
which I don't think it's quite the whole season.
I think I've watched nine of them.
Seems like there might be at least one more for the season, but anyway, it's Steve Carell is the lead in it,
and I love it.
I was laughing along.
It's good.
I noticed that the showrunner is Bill Lawrence,
who's the same guy that was, I believe, is the showrunner on Shrinking on Apple TV,
and Shrinking is probably my favorite show on television right now.
It's a similar sense of humor where the character's humor in the show is that sort of like,
say the thing out loud, like say the thing you're thinking out loud kind of humor.
So anyway, if you're looking for a comedy that's just fun with not a lot of high stakes to it,
not a lot of drama or anxiety or tension or anything, give Rooster on HBO Max a shot.
Time for a pro tip of the week before I get out of here.
It comes from Travis in San Diego.
Hey, Ryan, it's Travis from San Diego.
Long time listener.
I got my first Model 3 2018 long range rear wheel drive,
and then I recently got the Highland.
I traded the old one in, but I had a follow up to a caller a few weeks ago talking about the foam inserts on the tires of the Model 3
and this really goes for any EV and kind of a tip I wanted to throw out for people to at least know about
because I didn't for quite a while, and that's tire warranty, tire tread warranty rather.
People who drive EVs, you should know if you drive anything like I do, your tires will never reach the,
I believe it's 40,000 miles for the Model 3 tire,
but it's a tread warranty that the manufacturers offer that claim the tires should last that long,
and let's say they only last 20,000 miles, you only got 50% of the wear that the tire should hold up to,
and when you go to get your tires replaced, they will offer, if you push them on it, a tire tread warranty,
which is a prorated discount off your next purchase of tires,
so you would get instead of spending, let's call it a tire $300,
you would get a tire for $300 minus your prorated warranty tread discount, which would be $150,
so you're really saving 50% off the price of the tire,
and most of us know when you purchase those tires, they are not cheap,
so that was one pro tip that I use every single time I get my tires changed,
which is more frequently than I'd like to admit because of my driving pattern,
but that's one option, and then also with the foam insert,
I had the same issue on both of my rear tires, took it to Tesla,
and they in fact replaced both tires for free because they said it was a manufacturer error,
so that was just another pro tip thing that I wanted to throw out there relating to tires,
so just to follow up to that caller's issue with his tires,
I want to give that a tip out to everyone because it can save you a ton of dough,
so anyways, love the podcast, take care.
Thank you so much for this Travis.
Yes, Travis, if you're not quite sure there, he was actually, he called in a while ago,
I had his call in the queue for a while,
he was responding to a previous caller about foam inserts in the tires,
so Travis, yes, this applies to all EVs, not just Teslas,
but certainly probably especially Teslas since they have lots of performance,
so anyone listening should keep this in mind anytime you get your tires replaced,
and if anybody else out there has a good Tesla or EV pro tip of the week
that you'd like to share with me and your fellow Tesla and EV owners and enthusiasts,
please do send it in.
Well, how do you do that?
Same way that you send in a regular ride the lightning hotline call,
I gave you the two easy calling methods for that just a little while ago,
so refer back to that.
I want to mention a few friends of the podcast that can hopefully be useful to you before I go,
I will start with abstractocean.com,
they've got a million great aftermarket parts and accessories for your Tesla and other EVs as well,
namely the Rivians, the R1S, the R1T, they're in there.
If I click on Model Y, which statistically is what most of you have,
and I look at the Juniper, the 2026 onward,
we've got the ultra premium screen protector,
the 16 inch screen, that new larger, that's just, it's on sale for 50 bucks,
we've got the Expel PPF door edge guard protection,
so if you ever happen to open your door and just tap anything,
you're not going to chip your paint, scratch your paint, you can install that yourself,
that's just 25 bucks for that.
Door noise reduction seals, they've got the, let's see here,
little trunk handles for the, the, the frunk area,
that's actually a nice, that's a good idea for a product,
now that I'm seeing that in action,
they've got a retractable charging hub for your dashboard,
excuse me, for your, your center console in both the Juniper and the Highland,
the new, you know, the revised center console,
and it just goes on and on and on, you got to check them out, abstractocean.com,
click on whichever car you have,
and it'll show you all the products available for that vehicle,
pile everything you like into your online shopping cart,
and when you get to check out, use the coupon code RTLPodcast
to get 15% off of your first order,
that code again, RTLPodcast, all one word, no spaces.
Meanwhile, the Infinity Shield, this is the,
the last garage door sensor you will ever need
because it creates a giant wall of laser sensors
so that you will, you will never accidentally close your garage door
on anything ever again, because this thing's got not one,
like every, like most people's garages,
but 25 beams going in different directions
across diagonal, it's crazy what this thing is doing,
it's a heck of a piece of engineering,
it's easy to install, it doesn't require any special tools,
it doesn't need to be aligned ever,
and it's compatible with all garage door openers.
I highly recommend this thing, it will potentially save your bacon,
and it is worth the small investment it takes to grab one of these.
Get yours at infinity-shield.com
or click the link in the episode description
and use the promo code RTL for a $35 discount.
My friends at RPM Tesla, they have over 1400 Tesla accessories
from steering wheel upgrades to dashboard upgrades,
spoilers for the cars, full carbon fiber body kits,
you gotta take a look at what they've got going on at RPM Tesla,
and they have over 600 DIY installation videos on YouTube,
so installing their products after you get them
is simple and detailed.
Visit RPMTesla.com
and use the promo code RTLSAIL,
that's all one word, so RTLSALE
for an additional 5-10% off your next order
because yes, that is combined with their current discounted sales prices,
this exclusive promotion is only available here on Ride the Lightning,
thank you to RPM Tesla.
The snap plate is a fantastic product
while we're talking about awesome products,
it's the front license plate bracket that I recommend
if you either want or are legally required
to have a front license plate on your vehicle,
get yours at everyamp.com
slash RTL and get a discount on it
by using the coupon code RTL as well.
This is the paint safe, grill safe, radiator safe, autopilot safe,
clean minimal design, super strong
in the case of the snap plate plus,
it's made from recycled, made in the USA plastics
with stainless steel reinforcements, great product,
if you're going to do a front license plate,
get yourself the snap plate or plus
at everyamp.com slash RTL
and use the coupon code RTL for a discount.
My amazing detailer here in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area
is also offering listeners of this podcast a discount,
so if you are in or going to be in My Neck of the Woods,
make sure to reach out ahead of time
to Immaculate Reflections, Jeff is the name of the owner there.
You can find him at the website, which is IRDetailing.com
short of course for Immaculate Reflections, IRDetailing.com
and whether you want to do paint protection film
on the front of the car or some other parts of the car
or all the whole thing, maybe you want to do ceramic coating,
maybe you want to do paint correction,
maybe two of those, maybe all of those,
whatever you're up for, I guarantee you
when you pick up that car, when it's done,
I actually know hyperbole guarantee you you're going to be happy.
Like you will be thrilled.
I've had the pleasure of having two cars now
done by Immaculate Reflections
and that is such a fun moment
when you get to go pick up the car when it's done
and you see how incredible it looks
and you see like you can't see the paint protection film
that's part of the genius of the craftsmanship,
the artisanship of the work.
So anyway, if you're, again, if you're going to be
in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area with a car that you love,
whether it's your Tesla or something else,
treat it, treat yourself to some awesome detailing,
professional detailing at Immaculate Reflections.
Go to irdetailing.com, click the contact button
in either the middle of the page or the upper left corner
and when you're writing your message,
make sure to mention that you are a ride the lightning listener
and any services that you have done
will have that ride the lightning listener discount
kindly extended to you.
Finally, my Patreon, found at patreon.com
slash Tesla podcast, I talked about this earlier
so I'll make this quick, but this is the way
that you can support the podcast if you'd like to.
I'm hoping that at some point, maybe today's the day,
maybe next week after you hear Lars and Franz on here together
reminiscing about the Model S, the Model X,
maybe sometime soon you will want to support me.
You can do that on Patreon specifically
at patreon.com slash Tesla podcast.
The support tiers start at just five bucks a month.
For five bucks a month, you'd really be helping me
and my family out and in return, you will get
not only what I hope is the warm feeling in your heart
that you're supporting what I'm doing here,
but more tangibly than that, you will get early access
to each week's episode and you'll get an ad free
version of the episode and you're getting that early.
So that's the thank you that I offer in return
for just that $5 per month tier.
If you step up to that $10 per month tier,
which is the most popular one, you'll get
the ad free early access, but you'll also get
the now almost 200 episode library
of those lightning round mini episodes as well.
So patreon.com slash Tesla podcast.
You can subscribe, actually,
to my podcast on any of the big podcast services
like Apple podcasts, Spotify, tune in,
and YouTube podcasts.
To find it and follow it, just search
ride the lightning Tesla.
You should see my logo pop right up.
Click follow and that's it, you're done.
Now, every time there's a new episode,
which is every Sunday at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific,
you'll get a push notification on your device
letting you know that there's a new episode
of ride the lightning, you just tap that notification
and boom, you're listening to the new episode.
It's that simple.
Finally, you can email me anytime
TeslaPodcast at gmail.com.
You can also follow me on X and or on Instagram.
My username is the same on both
and that username is DMC underscore Ryan.
Lastly, a sincere hello and thank you
go out to my top tier Patreon backers.
These are the extra generous folks
who get a whole bunch of perks and bonuses
including their names shouted out
at the end of each week's episode.
So I'll do that now.
I'll start with the Roadster in Space tier backers
who get a one-on-one hangout with me
each month if they elect to choose it
and a few of them regularly do
and it's always fun to chat with them.
Just catch up on EV stuff, Tesla stuff
and life too.
It's been really, really a treat to get to know some of you.
Next up, the Maximum Plaid backers.
Hopefully a lot of these folks I will see
at the monthly Patreon hangout
which takes place on Zoom every month.
It wasn't last weekend, the first weekend of the month
as it normally is because I was traveling.
I was in Boston last weekend.
So it is happening tomorrow as I record this
and it should be as always a super fun conversation.
So the Maximum Plaid folks get invited
to that every single month
and other people that get invited
is anyone who makes a new pledge
on Patreon at any level
as just a one-time thank you invitation
to whatever the next Patreon hangout is
or anyone that upgrades an existing pledge
gets a one-time thank you invitation to that as well.
So thank you to the Maximum Plaid backers,
Jonathan Wales, Cameron Clark, Daniel Grummer,
Seth Capello, the Galbin family,
Ryan from New York City, Darren Nichol,
Cos Barnes, Patrick Wisneski, Todd Badger,
Joe Edgel, Kevin Yank,
pardon me, my goodness, it is clearly time for me to go.
My voice is given out.
The Tesla Owners Club of San Joaquin Valley,
Will Steadman, Jeremy Harris, Chris Beech,
Tom Mills, Cory O'Donnell, Aaron,
Joel Sap, pardon me, Paul Casarino,
Chris Osborn, KB, Adam Lavoie, Jason Chalukis,
Travis Krenzel, Bruce Otterstein,
Tom Behan, Josh Pennington,
John from Cream Ridge, New Jersey,
Dustin Hart, Derek Finley, Charles Clement,
Damon Klein, Jeff Brown, Jerry Slinger,
Kenneth Corbett, Brian Bertoglio, Kim Bae,
Troy Sievers, Chip Hooper, Matt Chinander,
Robert Moran, Rav, Christopher Mann,
Michael Williams, Eric Harbert,
Scott Sheper and Tom Tharp.
And finally, last but certainly not least,
the grandfathered in, plaid to your supporters,
thank you to George Casiopo, Logan Willis,
Peter Chalet, Eric Randolph, Dory and Steve Guberman,
the Tesla Owners Club of Taiwan, Ron Lee,
Charlie Gillespie, Jeff Angwin, Chase Cabanillas,
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.
That will wrap it up for an extremely long
episode 562, we're well past the 90 minute mark on this one.
But, it was a fun one for me,
I hope it was a fun one for you.
And next week's episode, knock on wood here,
if everything goes according to plan,
should be extra fun next week,
with the SNX Sunset Celebration Event
and the conversation with Lars and Franz.
I can't wait, looking forward to it.
Until then my friends, happy electric motoring
and I'll see you back here next week.
Music
Elon Musk, people don't like Elon Musk.
The guy found a PayPal and Tesla
and people are like, yeah, but he's a troll and a bad dad.
I'm like, so is mine, he did nothing to fight climate change.
Also, have you been in a Tesla?
Have you been in a Tesla?
My buddy let me drive 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 expanding Full Self-Driving v14 Lite beyond the US, with the rollout planned for additional international markets for Hardware 3 owners, though timing depends on “technical verification, regional adaptation and relevant regulatory approvals.” The hosts also dig into Tesla’s fresh blue paint options—Frost Blue and Marine Blue—with trim- and price-specific availability. They connect Tesla loyalty and demand to FSD rather than the old Supercharger “moat,” then pivot to EV market moves like Nissan pulling back on US EV plans and Rivian scaling the R2.
Tesla confirms that the upcoming FSD v14 Lite for Hardware 3 vehicles will be rolling out globally. Plus: Tesla introduces not one but two new blue paint options for Model 3 and Model Y, Rivian had a better-than-expected first quarter, Nissan becomes the latest legacy automaker to pull the plug on EVs in the US 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!
WIN AN EV WHILE GIVING TO A GREAT CAUSE: For your chance to win your dream EV in the 2026 ChesedChicago raffle, head to https://tinyurl.com/CCraffleRTL -- Hurry, tickets are limited and only 9,999 tickets will be sold, get your tickets today and use code RTL for $25 off 2 tickets or $500 off 15 tickets. Whether you win or not, you're helping a great organization help families in need.
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 RTLsale for 5-10% off your next purchase. And make your garage door foolproof with the Infinity Shield – get yours at https://www.infinity-shield.com and use the promo code RTL at checkout for a $35 discount.
