The Tesla Model S is an all-electric Tesla sedan. Here, they’re talking about whether Tesla will restart or reintroduce it after it was effectively phased out.
A production line is the factory process where cars are built step-by-step. If Tesla removes a production line for one model, it often means they’re stopping that model and switching to something else.
An assembly line is how a factory builds a car in stages. Here, Tesla is described as removing the assembly line used for these cars and replacing it with something else.
Optimus is Tesla’s robot project. Saying they’ll replace a car-building line with an “Optimus line” means the factory is being set up to build robots instead of those cars.
The Chrysler Saratoga is an older Chrysler car model name. In the podcast, it’s mentioned because of a story tied to specific places. It’s not being described as a modern electric vehicle in this context.
A Supercharger is a Tesla fast-charging station. It has multiple spots where you can plug in and charge your car, and if too many people arrive, you may have to wait.
DC fast-charging is the kind of charging that can add a lot of energy quickly. It’s what you use at fast-charging stations like Tesla Superchargers.
Term
V3
“V3” is a newer generation of Tesla Supercharger equipment. The host is saying that back then, only the older kind (V2) was around, so the charging line took longer.
Term
V2
“V2” means an earlier generation of Tesla’s Supercharger equipment. Different generations can charge at different speeds, which changes how long people might wait when a station is busy.
Concept
enforcement vs good-faith queueing
They’re wondering whether the charging line is “real” (the system blocks you until it’s your turn) or more like a suggestion (it only works if people follow it). That changes how well it works when someone needs to charge urgently.
“4680” is the name Tesla gives to a specific size/type of battery cell. Tesla likes this design because it can help batteries be made more efficiently and potentially store more energy.
Company
Andre Tehrig
Andre Tehrig is mentioned as the person leading Tesla’s Berlin factory. The host is using his quote to share the battery-factory investment details.
“Gigawatt hours” is a big unit for measuring energy. Here it’s used to describe how much energy Tesla expects its battery cells to be able to store each year.
“Unsupervised” means the car is expected to drive on its own without the driver needing to watch constantly or take over. The host is saying Tesla plans to expand where it’s used once the software is proven and approved.
They mention the Tesla Model 3 because it’s one of the cars already being built at the Fremont factory. The discussion is about how factory space and production lines get rearranged when new projects start.
They’re saying the factory is basically running out of space or capacity. The point is that adding new production (like Optimus) may require swapping out older lines.
Run rate is basically the planned “how many will we build each year” number. They use it to judge whether Optimus would require battery supply from a specific Tesla factory right now.
“4680 cells” are Tesla’s newer type of battery cells. The hosts say Tesla wants to make them locally to reduce cost, but they’ve been criticized because they don’t stay at the fastest charging speed for as long as older battery types.
Giga Nevada is one of Tesla’s factories. Here it’s mentioned as the place where older battery cells come from, and the hosts compare that to making newer cells onsite to save money.
“2170 cells” are an older Tesla battery cell type. In this discussion, they’re used as the benchmark for fast charging, because the hosts say 2170 cells have generally charged faster for longer than 4680 cells.
A “charging curve” is basically how fast the car keeps charging over the course of a fast-charge session. They’re saying 4680 batteries tend to slow down sooner than older battery types.
“18650 cells” are an older battery type Tesla used before newer designs. The hosts say these older cells generally held fast-charging speed longer than 4680 cells.
Giga Berlin is Tesla’s factory in Europe. They say it reached a production milestone—750,000 Model Ys—and they connect it to the broader battery and charging discussion.
A trim clip is a small plastic fastener that holds the inside plastic panels and covers of a car. If it gets loose over time, it can make rattling or buzzing noises while you drive.
Rattle mitigation means engineering the car’s interior so it doesn’t make annoying rattling noises. This patent focuses on reducing those vibrations from trim pieces over time.
A vibration isolating layer is a soft material used between parts so vibrations don’t transfer as easily. That helps prevent the interior from buzzing or rattling.
In this context, retention means how well the clip system holds trim pieces firmly over time. Better retention reduces the chance of gaps forming, which is what can lead to squeaks, rattles, and vibration noise.
A low profile setup means the mounting hardware is smaller and thinner. That helps it fit in tight spots inside the car where there isn’t room for big mounting holes.
Over-molding is when a flexible rubber-like layer is added over a part. Here, it’s meant to stop parts from rubbing and making noise, without letting the trim come loose.
Fit and finish is how carefully the car is put together—things like how tight panels and trim feel. If it’s good, the car is less likely to make squeaks and rattles.
“Creaks,” “squeaks,” and “rattles” are common NVH issues—unwanted noises caused by vibration, friction, or loose-fitting panels. Even when they don’t affect performance, they can strongly influence perceived build quality and comfort.
The Tesla Roadster is Tesla’s next big, high-end car. The host is saying a new small part that reduces noise and rattles might show up on the Roadster first, and then later on other Teslas too.
Simplifying manufacturing is about making the car easier to build quickly and with fewer steps. The host connects this to Tesla trying to lower the cost of making each car.
Economies of scale means making something in bigger quantities usually makes each one cheaper. The host is saying Tesla can justify the new part more easily if it’s used widely.
“Patent to product” describes the process of turning an idea protected by patents into an actual production part installed on vehicles. The host frames this as a timeline from filing to deployment on Tesla’s manufacturing assembly lines.
The “Octo Valve” is a valve in Tesla’s heating/cooling system. It helps the car move heat where it’s needed, especially in cold weather, so the car uses energy more efficiently.
“First principles” means you don’t just copy what others do—you figure out the basic underlying reasons and design from there. The host is saying Tesla often takes that approach to improve how the car works.
A Tesla wall connector is a home charging unit that provides higher-power, dedicated EV charging than a standard outlet. When bundled with installation, it’s meant to be a turnkey way to charge at home safely and conveniently.
They’re talking about what it’s like to live with an EV after you buy it. That includes getting it serviced and repaired, which can be different from gas cars.
X care is a protection plan described as being built specifically for EVs, with coverage focused on high-cost EV components like the battery and drivetrain. The host also emphasizes that it can let you use approved EV repair facilities, not only the manufacturer.
The battery is the EV’s high-voltage energy storage pack, and the drivetrain is the set of components that turn that energy into motion (typically including motors and power electronics). These are among the most expensive EV systems to repair, which is why warranty/coverage plans often emphasize them.
Approved EV repair facilities are service shops that a protection plan authorizes to perform covered repairs. This matters because EV repairs can require specialized training, tools, and parts, so the plan’s network can affect how quickly and where you get serviced.
Roadside support is help you can call for when your car breaks down or you’re stuck, such as towing or on-the-spot assistance. For EVs, it can also include EV-specific logistics like getting you to a charger or arranging appropriate recovery.
Rental coverage pays for a rental car while your vehicle is being repaired under the protection plan. This reduces downtime risk, which is especially relevant for EV owners who may need specialized service.
Trip interruption coverage helps pay for certain costs when a covered vehicle issue prevents you from continuing your trip. It’s commonly paired with rental coverage so you can keep moving while the car is being repaired.
A protection plan is a paid coverage product that helps pay for certain repairs or service costs after purchase. In the transcript, it’s positioned as something EV buyers should consider alongside the deal price.
FSD Supervised is Tesla’s advanced driving help. It can steer and manage parts of driving, but you’re still supposed to watch the road and be ready to take control.
EU type approval is the official safety/compliance check that lets a vehicle design be sold and used across the European Union. If it’s already approved at the EU level, individual countries may not need to approve it again.
RDW is the government agency in the Netherlands that handles vehicle approvals. Here, it’s mentioned because it helped with the EU-level approval step for Tesla’s system.
This is the EU’s coordinated review where multiple countries check whether a system is safe enough to be allowed more widely. The goal is to avoid approving it separately country by country.
Tesla’s “full self-driving” is software that helps the car drive. When it says “Supervised,” it means you’re still supposed to watch what’s happening and be ready to take control if the system can’t handle something.
“Fleet miles” are the total driving distance logged by a manufacturer’s connected vehicles over time. In Tesla’s context, it’s used as a large-scale measure of how often the software has been used and how it performs across many cars.
This phrase means spending and engineering effort focused on fully electric cars that run on batteries. It’s not about mild hybrids or other non-battery-electric approaches.
This means Mazda is putting more effort into cars that still use a gas engine, and into hybrid cars that use both a gas engine and electricity. The idea is to cover the market while EV demand isn’t growing as fast as expected.
Electrification plans are a company’s plan for how quickly it will move toward electric cars. Here, the hosts note that companies are slowing or changing those plans because EV demand and rules are shifting.
SkyActive EV scalable architecture is Mazda’s planned “EV foundation” that’s meant for battery-electric cars. The idea is that one platform can be used for multiple EV models, instead of starting from scratch each time.
A clean sheet platform means the vehicle design starts fresh, not based on an older gas-car layout. For EVs, that usually helps engineers fit the battery and design the car around electric driving.
The Mazda MX-30 is Mazda’s electric SUV. In this segment, the big point is that it only goes about 100 miles on a full charge, so it can be inconvenient for normal everyday driving.
Real world day-to-day range is the distance drivers actually get in everyday conditions, which can be lower than advertised range. Factors like speed, temperature, and driving style can reduce usable range, so it’s a more practical measure for ownership.
A compliance car is basically a car a company makes to meet rules or requirements. The speaker is implying it might not have been designed to be a great EV for most customers.
Honda is the car company being discussed. The segment says Honda is backing away from an all-electric-only plan and thinks gas cars and hybrids will still be popular.
“All electric” means selling only electric cars that run on batteries, not gas engines. The discussion says that going all-in by a certain year may be too hard to achieve.
The BMW i5 is an all-electric sedan. The i5 M60 xDrive is a higher-performance version, and the podcast also mentions where it’s built and a specific color. It’s included because the speaker is talking about a particular i5 they encountered.
The BMW i3 is an all-electric small car. It was one of BMW’s earlier EVs and was made to be practical for city driving. The podcast references when it started production.
Carbon fiber is a very light, strong material. Using more of it in a car can help the car use less energy, which can help range in an electric vehicle.
The BMW i8 is a sports car that uses electricity as part of its power system. It’s designed to feel sporty and exciting to drive. The podcast brings it up as another electrified BMW example besides the i3.
An “electrified hub” is a production and supply strategy where specific factories specialize in building EVs and related components. The idea is to concentrate expertise and manufacturing capacity so ramp-up is faster and more efficient.
The Tesla Cybertruck is an all-electric pickup truck. It has a very unusual, sharp-edged design that some people love and others don’t. The podcast mentions it to point out that it may not fit every buyer’s needs or taste.
“BEV space” just means the world of fully electric cars that use a battery. The hosts are talking about which countries are doing more to build and sell those cars.
They’re comparing how fast BMW grew EV production: how long it took to make the first million cars, then how quickly it reached the next million. It’s basically a “ramp-up speed” story.
Here, “accessories” means extra add-ons for the car—things you buy to make it more convenient or better suited to your needs. The caller wants to know what accessories or upgrades they should consider.
“Modifications” means changes you make to the car after you buy it. The caller is asking what kinds of upgrades people do to their Teslas and whether they feel worth it.
A screen protector is a clear cover that helps protect the car’s screen from scratches. “Gorilla Glass” is a brand/type of tough glass meant to resist damage.
A tire warranty is extra coverage that can help pay for replacement if your tires get damaged by things like road hazards. The idea is to reduce the cost of unexpected tire problems.
America’s Tire is a shop that sells tires and related protection plans. The host’s point is that you can often buy a warranty there even if you got the tires elsewhere.
A subscription model means you keep paying over time to keep the feature. This caller thinks that could affect whether Tesla upgrades your car’s computer for free.
“AI four” is how the caller refers to the next step in Tesla’s onboard AI computing. They’re connecting it to the idea of upgrading the car’s computer so newer self-driving features can run better.
The caller is imagining Tesla setting up small upgrade “mini-factories” in big cities. The goal would be to make hardware upgrades cheaper and faster, which could affect who gets upgraded for free.
Waze is a navigation app where drivers report what’s happening on the road in real time. The idea here is that Tesla could use its many cars to collect similar road information and show it in its own navigation.
This means Tesla can use information from lots of Teslas on the road, not just one car. The claim is that this shared data could power better navigation warnings for everyone.
Speed cameras are automated enforcement systems that detect vehicles exceeding a set speed limit and record evidence for tickets. The speaker notes Tesla navigation icons that indicate known speed camera locations, contrasting that with the more detailed hazard reporting they want (like potholes and police traps).
A speed trap is a place where police are specifically watching for speeding. The speaker is saying Tesla’s navigation doesn’t currently show those kinds of locations the way Waze can.
This is a Tesla Model Y from 2024. The host is talking about how to put it into “neutral,” which can be useful when you need the car to roll or be moved without driving it normally.
Neutral is the setting where the car isn’t actively driving the wheels. The host is pointing out that on a Tesla, it’s not always obvious how to switch into that mode when you need it.
“Infinity Shield” is a product the host says is meant to help prevent crashes. They describe it as using sensors (with a laser-beam setup) and then recommend it with a promo code.
A laser beam array sensor uses multiple laser beams arranged in a pattern to detect objects or changes in the environment. Compared with a single sensor point, an array can provide more coverage and more detailed detection geometry.
PPF stands for paint protection film. It’s a clear cover you put on the car to help prevent scratches and rock chips, especially in areas people touch a lot like door handles.
Mud flaps are small panels behind the tires that help stop dirt and water from being thrown up onto the car. They’re an accessory meant to keep the paint cleaner and reduce damage.
Tempered glass is a stronger type of glass made to handle impacts better than normal glass. Here it’s mentioned for a screen protector to help protect the car’s center touchscreen.
The Ford Mustang is a sports car that’s been around for many years. It’s known for performance and for being a popular choice for drivers who want a fun car. The podcast brings it up as a well-known example when discussing car history and what people look for.
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a sports car with a very recognizable look. It’s famous partly because it’s been featured in popular culture. The podcast mentions it because the speaker has owned one and is sharing that background.
LIVE
On this week's episode of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV podcast, Tesla has begun
an initial rollout of a long-asked-for supercharging feature. Plus, Tesla expands battery production
at Giga Berlin, BMW hits an EV milestone, and more.
What's happening friends, alongside my four-legged friends, Daisy the Boxer and Lily the Silly
Labrador Puppy, my name is Ryan McCaffrey, welcome to Ride the Lightning, it is your
weekly Tesla and EV podcast, episode 563, publishing on May 17th, 2026, I'm recording
this, as usual on Friday evening here on May 15th. Well, you're probably wondering
why neither the title of this episode nor the little intro that you just heard mentioned
the Model S and X Sunset celebration event, nor did they mention my interview with Lars
and Franz that I told you about last week. Both got postponed and well, what can I say?
I think it's my fault because when I announced the Lars and Franz interview on last week's
podcast, I even said, you can go back and listen to it, I said I usually never like to pre-announce
things until the interview is done and in the can because it's not a sure thing until
it's recorded and in my hands. And sure enough, I could not have foreseen the actual event
itself getting postponed with three days notice last week. So it actually happened last weekend
after I recorded the podcast and before the podcast even came out. But that's what happened,
it got postponed and thus, so did my interview with Lars Moravy and Franz Von Holzhauz and
so I just want to own up to this and say I take full cosmic responsibility for the event
being postponed. I attempted fate and this is what happens. This is why I don't pre-announce
things and if you're curious, yes, the event has been rescheduled to this Wednesday. So
as for the interview, well, let me say this, I don't want to jinx anything. So all I'll
say is stay tuned for next week's podcast and we'll see what's on it. I'll just leave
it at that. But on the subject of the Model S and X sunset celebration, these cars going
away, this week's Patreon poll asked whether or not you think either one of them will ever
come back. And I want to thank more than 300 of you that kindly took the time to vote in
this week's poll. Again, the question was simple. Do you think the Model S or X will
ever come back? 13% of you said yes, I think they'll both be back someday. 11% of you said
I think the Model S will return someday, but not the Model X. 3% of you said the opposite.
I think the Model X will return someday, but not the Model S. And 72% of you voted no, I
don't think either one will ever come back. And honestly, I can't fault you, the 72% of
you for voting that way, because everything that Tesla is not only saying but doing, like
they are ripping out that production line, that GA1 assembly line, and they're going
to replace it with an Optimus line. So the actual infrastructure to build these cars
will be gone. So I certainly would have voted with that 72%. However, we do have to say with
Tesla, as I've learned from almost 11 years doing this podcast now, that you never quite
know with Tesla. They can surprise you in ways that you'd never expect. For instance,
the Model S and X celebration event getting postponed with 3 days notice. I would never
have expected that, but it happened just this week. So it can't completely rule out either
one of them returning, but yeah, 72% of you, I think I'm with you guys. Neither one of
them is probably coming back ever, which does continue to make me a little bit sad. I'm
over. If I'll feel more sad about them being gone, or if I'll feel a sense of closure,
or if I'll feel better about it having been there and heard whatever remarks there are
going to be by Elon and other executives and gotten to be up close with the final run
of cars, the signature edition cars, I don't know, and I'll convey whatever it is I'm
saying. If you don't always listen through to the end of this podcast, I get it, it's
a long podcast, you're busy, you've got stuff to do, but if you don't always listen through
to the end, please do so just every once in a while because there are a lot of great
deals at the end of the podcast from really awesome vendors and businesses that I stand
behind, so just want to float that out there for you.
Onto the main story this week, and it is this, as I teased at the very top and in the very
title of this episode, a long requested, long awaited supercharging feature is now starting
to roll out. Tesla's charging team posted on its official X account saying, we're now
testing a new waitlist feature at five supercharger sites. Share feedback through the Tesla app
to help us make it better. And those five sites, which they list are Los Gatos, California
at Los Gatos Boulevard, Mountain View, California, also here in the Bay Area on El Monte Avenue,
here in my city San Francisco on Lombard Street, I don't even know there was a supercharger
right near Lombard Street, in San Jose, California, all four of these so far in the Bay Area,
on Saratoga Avenue, and on the east coast in the Bronx, New York City, East Gun Hill
Road. Now this post was accompanied by a very short six second video showing what it looks
like when you are approaching a full supercharger with this waitlist feature activated. So the
text on the UI says, just as an example here, less than five minute wait, two cars ahead
of you with an option on your screen to leave the waitlist, and then later in response to
a question to a user, they responded to a question about non-Teslas and this waitlist
feature by saying, quote, non-Teslas can join the waitlist through the Tesla app.
Alright, so let me start by saying I am super thrilled that this is finally being implemented.
This is something, as I mentioned earlier, that many people have been calling for for
many years now. I've had plenty of phone calls about this, emails about this. In fact,
long time listeners of this podcast might remember the story that I told of a holiday
drive to Arizona to visit my parents many years ago. In fact, I think it was 2019, because
I got the car in 2018, and when I drove it to Arizona for the holidays in 2018, it was
thankfully incident free. So I think it was 2019, so like seven years ago, six and a half
years ago. Anyway, on that drive, in my Model 3 performance with summer tires on it, I
encountered a freak snowstorm in the grapevine mountain range just north of Los Angeles that
caused the closure of Interstate 5 that heads through those mountains, and when you're coming
down from San Francisco, that's normally the direct route that you take to get to LA.
And so that closure of Interstate 5 at the grapevine forced me to course correct through
inland, through other mountains basically, but where it was not quite actually dumping
snow, although I did still see snow on the sides of the roads, and everybody else, it
wasn't just me. Everybody had to divert inland to take what really amounted to be a pretty
long way around, and so that of course caused any of the superchargers that are inland off
the beaten path to be packed, and in fact, one of them specifically, the Mojave Supercharger,
which I think has since been expanded. I feel like I've saw that on a map at some point
since this happened, and there's more stalls there now, but at the time it was either six
or eight stalls. It was not a particularly large supercharger station. It was just in
a little strip mall basically with a couple restaurants in there. In fact, my daughter
and I, my daughter was with me on the trip, as was Daisy the Boxer. We ate at a like a
taqueria in there and had burritos while we were waiting. We were just waiting in line
for the car to charge, and this is the relevant part of the story to this wait list feature,
so when I got there, it was super jam-packed. There was, and this is not a joke, this was
100% not an exaggeration, there was a wait list of over 20 cars waiting to charge. Now,
in this case, as I told the story at the time, thankfully it was all extremely civil. Somebody
had literally organized a pen and paper list, and somebody was approaching each new car
as it arrived, and you would just write your name on the list. Now, it took a while, of
course, to make it through everybody that those were V2s, V3s didn't exist back then,
so it took even a little bit longer than it would take today, but it all went fine because
everybody was really cool about it. Nobody tried to jump in because they were stressed
out and tired from their travels. As many of us probably were, that ended up being a
20-hour trip for me when normally it's about 12 or 13 from San Francisco to Phoenix, but
it was super chill, everybody was cool, so it all went great, but I talked about the
need for this very thing, a built-in, into the UI wait list feature baked into the car
after that experience, and I am thrilled that even all these years later that the Tesla
charging team has finally put it together and it is out there and it is in testing now.
So I will say this, my one question slash concern, it's kind of both, is this. Does this feature
actually enforce anything? In other words, if you're on the wait list, or I should say
how about this, if you're not on the wait list, I don't know if the car actually, see
we didn't quite get enough information, I guess I have more questions. Do you automatically
get placed on the wait list if you're routing to that supercharger? Obviously they did answer
the question, non-Teslas apparently have to manually join the wait list from the app,
but anyway, if you're on, whether you're on the list or not, if you try to cut in line,
does the supercharger actually lock you out and not charge your car? My guess is that
it does not, that it would still allow you to charge even if you cut in line, and I suspect
that this wait list feature probably relies on people acting in good faith, and I think
it's for no other reason than it could maybe open Tesla up to a lawsuit or something undesired
if somebody were to say come through with an emergency, like needing to get to their
mother in the hospital in the next state over, and now in that case, what you'd probably
have happen would be everybody in line would say, well, sure thing, go ahead, of course,
go in front of me, get in there, get your car charged, and get on your way. But the car
says you can't charge because it's not your turn, turn on the wait list,
so that's just one scenario that quickly came to mind as an example of why I imagine
this probably relies on people being courteous and respectful to each other, and it's not
an actual enforced thing by the cars, by Tesla and the supercharging software.
So if indeed that's the case, it means that there's probably no way to do this that's
totally bulletproof. Like, there probably will still be bad faith drivers that just
cut in line, just like there might be times where someone has a legitimate kind of family
emergency and everybody in line agrees to just let that person go next. But if indeed
that's the case, still what this feature does do, assuming that testing goes well and that
what it accomplishes is it at least provides a fair, neutral moderation tool, basically,
for supercharging to hopefully prevent like a more common just, hey, I got here first
kind of low level argument, and I imagine that that would most likely solve 95% of potential
issues at busy superchargers. So I hope the Tesla charging team posts followups about this
of like what their testing shows, and I hope that it does in fact get rolled out everywhere.
I think this is, it's certainly something that on paper makes a ton of sense and would
be great to have. So we shall see what happens, but for now it is at least real, it's live
here in the San Francisco Bay Area and at the one site over in the Bronx.
Before I move on to the next story I've got ready for you, I hope all of you who are kindly
supporting me over on Patreon at the $10 per month tier or higher, that's the most popular
tier of my Patreon. I hope you enjoyed this week's Lightning Round mini episode. It was
a conversation I call on Patreon profiles with a listener named Brian from Cincinnati
who had responded to my initial post saying, yeah, I'd love to be included in this as you're
going through and interviewing somebody once a month. And he said, well, I had bought my
Tesla in part because of your podcast. So I wanted to ask him about that. We had a fun
conversation and as it turns out, little mini spoiler here, he's now converted most of
his extended family are now Tesla drivers as well. So if you're with me on Patreon, check
out that Lightning Round episode this week that features a chat with Brian from Cincinnati
and there are 191 other lightning rounds in there. So if you're not already supporting
the podcast on Patreon, supporting what I do here week in and week out, I would be so
grateful if you would consider a pledge. If you do join at that $10 per month tier, you'll
not only get access to all 192 and counting of those Lightning Round mini episodes that
I do each week, especially on, excuse me, exclusively on Patreon, you'll also get the
other tier that's the other perk I should say from the $5 tier, which is an ad free
early access episode. So even if 10 bucks a month is no good for you, hey, I get it,
times are tough, but if you can swing five bucks a month, you'd be helping me out a ton
and you'll still, as a thank you, get early access to each week's episode and you'll get
an ad free episode as an early access. So I try to say thank you that way, so check
out my Patreon page over at patreon.com slash Tesla podcast. I'll mention as well as these
of the boxer is taking a big old drink from her water bowl behind me. If you want to do
an annual pledge, so pledge once for an entire year of support, I would be super thankful
for that and as a thank you there, I'm able to extend a 10% discount on that. And one more
thing too, there is a seven day free trial and it's specifically on that $10 tier, because
that's the most popular one. So without committing a dime, if you'd like to try out, see what
supporting me on Patreon is like, you can go on my Patreon page, sign up for the seven
day free trial and see what you think. The Patreon page to visit is patreon.com slash
Tesla podcast. And on to the next story this week, although I just realized when I mentioned
the Patreon poll and the results of that, I forgot to just remind you that stop by every
week on the Patreon page to vote in the new poll that I post each week. It doesn't cost
you a thing, the poll is open to everybody totally free, patreon.com slash Tesla podcast.
Next up this week, Tesla is expanding their battery production this time in Europe. Giga
Berlin's boss, Andre Tehrig, I hope I'm pronouncing his last name correctly, posted on X saying
quote, today we announced a $250 million investment for our Giga Berlin cell factory. This will
enable 18 gigawatt hours of annual 4680 cell production and create more than 1500 new jobs.
Good news during challenging times for the German industry, end quote. So that is great
to hear, that is awesome news. Now presumably in the medium to long term, my guess is that
these cells would be for the or these additional cells and the just the 18 total gigawatt hours
would probably be for the cyber cab, which I presume that Tesla will intend to manufacture
in multiple regions around the world as full self driving unsupervised is validated and
more importantly approved by regulators around the world. Of course, these cells could also
be for the hopefully and presumably real model Z that I told you about 34 weeks
ago now from the Reuters report, because that car will almost certainly be produced on multiple
continents, perhaps even sooner than cyber cab, depending on how the cyber cab ramp goes
and the sort of regulatory approval situation there that Tesla doesn't really have control
over. Model Z at the volumes that that car would be made at would have to be made at
probably every factory. I mean maybe not Fremont just if there's because there's not room there
because the SNX lines being replaced by Optimus and then you still have the Model 3 line and
the Model Y line there as well. And there's again, we're told there's that they're bursting
at the seams in Fremont. So anyway, point is, Germany would definitely be manufacturing
Model Zs if that car is coming down the pipeline as Reuters reports and I fully believe their
report there. So that's where these 18 gigawatt hours could potentially be going. And then
there's a third and fourth option, I think, that are admittedly a bit less sexy. Option
three is that those cells could be for Optimus. Though honestly, I'm basing this on nothing
but my own gut feeling, which don't make any wagers based on that, but I don't think
it's going to be that because phase one of Optimus is going to be built here in my neck
of the woods at the Fremont factory with a target run rate of 1 million units per year.
And then the phase two production line will be at Giga, Texas on a line that aims to do
10 million units per year. So between those two, I'm just not sure that Berlin, Giga Berlin
will need to manufacture Optimus in the near term future. Now long term, if it's as big
of a product as Elon Musk predicts it is, then sure, eventually they would need to put
an Optimus line at Giga Berlin and one at Giga Shanghai as well. But for the near term,
I don't think Optimus makes sense for Giga Berlin. That leaves option four, which I
think is the least exciting, but perhaps as likely or more likely than any of the other
hypotheses that I just threw at you, it might just be for existing Model Y production as
an effort to reduce Model Y costs and increase the margins per car by doing onsite 4680 cell
manufacturing and not having to ship over 2170 cells from Giga Nevada in a half way
around the world. So that could just be the most obvious solution and maybe the least
sexy one, but maybe the most practical one. Although, maybe to put a little bit of a sexier
twist in that, if the Model Y L is coming to Europe as there have been hints that it
will be, then perhaps these additional 18 gigawatt hours of production will be to support
that variant specifically since the L is likely to add to the existing Model Y production
and demand and not replace any existing production or demand coming out of Giga Berlin. So it's
probably one of those situations and the most likely one, actually after hearing that out
loud, I wrote down all my notes and now kind of listening back to that after saying it
out loud, my guess is it's probably for the Model Y L. But we'll see, it's still good
news regardless, 1500 extra jobs and just more localized cell production, the Tesla
manufacturing continues to ramp up and up. But let's hope that Tesla has improved the
charging curves on those 4680 cells because so far that's been the, I don't want to call
it Achilles' heel because that indicates a fatal flaw, but that's been the legitimate
criticism that you can level at the 4680 cells in comparison to the 2170 cells from the Model
3s and the Model Ys and the now retired 18650 cells from SNX is that the 4680 is just
do not have as good of a charging curve on them. They don't maintain higher fast charging
rates for as long of a time as the 2170s or the 18650 cells do. So perhaps that is being
accounted for in the next generation of cells as Giga Berlin expands, but for the time being
that is the one call out that we need to make about the one caveat on those cells.
Now speaking of Giga Berlin by the way, I want to note here before I move on to my next
story, a quick congratulations to the Giga Berlin team. They announced this week they
produced their 750,000th vehicle, of course all Model Ys. It's been open for just over
four years officially. I went back and looked it up just to double check my memory. The
opening date was in March of 2022, so just almost exactly four years, four years and
a couple months here. So that means they are averaging about 187,000 Model Ys per year,
which is pretty good considering that they started at zero and that they had to ramp
up on their production over the course of the first of those years. The entire first
year was spent ramping up to the 5,000 vehicle per week run rate. So if you were to take
that into account, it's really, they've been producing cars at a pretty darn good clip
here for the last three years basically. So congrats to the Giga Berlin team. I got a
kick out of this next story because it seems super minor and almost completely inconsequential
like how could this be news? Why are you talking about this on a podcast? But I bring it up
because A, it illustrates how Tesla tries to rethink literally everything in the car
from a first principles problem solving standpoint. And B, this story could and hopefully will
result in future Tesla buyers, many of you, having a more, a tangibly more pleasant experience
with their cars. And the story is this, Tesla has patented a new trim clip to reduce rattles
and vibrations. This story comes via not a Tesla app, who I've sourced many times
on this podcast, and they write, Tesla has published a new patent application for a redesigned
trim clip that could help reduce rattles and vibration noise inside its vehicles. The
patent titled low profile rattle mitigation trim clip focuses on plastic clips that are
used throughout a vehicle's interior. Modern vehicles use hundreds of clips to secure trim
pieces, interior panels, wiring covers and other components. Over time, these clips can
loosen or develop gaps, leading to squeaks, rattles or vibration noise while driving.
Tesla's patent describes a new trim clip system designed to reduce those issues by using a
soft vibration isolating layer between components. The patent says the design helps improve retention
while also damping noise and vibration. The patent also covers reducing the clip size.
Typical clips often require large mounting holes. Tesla's design instead uses a lower
profile setup that can fit into tighter spaces. Tesla specifically references reducing buzz
squeak and rattle noise, often called BSR in the automotive industry. Tesla's have
often been plagued with rattles and creaks, and this appears to be Tesla's way of solving
the root issue. The soft over molded layer acts as a cushion while still keeping the
trim secured. The patent also notes that the clip may simplify assembly during manufacturing
as it can be inserted and secured in fewer steps. Well, as another reason I wanted to
do this story, because as you may or may not know about me, depending on how long you've
been listening, I am, shall we say, very particular about my cars. That's probably a very polite
way to put it, at least very generous to myself way to put it. And what I really mean by that
is, it's probably pretty unhealthy how particular I am about my cars, and I'm owning up to that,
I'm being honest, but it's just how I'm wired. And so part of that manifests itself in cleanliness.
I want the inside and the outside of the car clean all the time. The spirit of adventure,
the one that lives on the street under a cover, it is grotesque right now. And it has been
for a couple weeks, I just haven't had time on the weekends, I've had awesome family plans,
so it's fine, family comes first, but it's been eating away at me in the back of my head,
and this weekend I will also not have time to clean it because I'm going out of town
on business, and I've got plans tomorrow. Anyway, so cleanliness is part of my OCD,
if we will, my automotive OCD, but another part of that is rattles and squeaks. They
make me crazy, and I'm so grateful to say that my 2018 built-in-attent Model 3 performance,
really, it doesn't, it is squeak and rattle free, it does not have anything, it rides
really solidly well. The 2024 is overall a much better, quieter fit and finish car,
but it does have a creak. It sounds like it's in the roof glass, like maybe the way it just went
when there's a little flex, like if I'm backing out of my driveway out of the garage and I live
on a hill, and it just, it's got a little creak that the old one ironically doesn't have. Does
it make me nuts? Yes. Now in the case of glass creaking, can't do anything about that other
than replace the glass, which I'm not going to go to that length because who knows how much money
that would cost to have replaced. But anyway, I'm crazy about this stuff in an unhealthy way,
so this patent application for a quieter trim clip that can reduce creaks and squeaks and rattles,
it speaks directly to my automotive OCD, and I love it. Now Tesla's been patenting a lot of
stuff for the new Roadster lately, and I've talked about pretty much every single one of those
as they've come up. In fact, I even, I will say, I was, I let one go last week. There was a patent,
a trademark thing, patent for a Roadster logo, and I let that, it's like, all right,
what am I going to say about that? But they've been patenting a lot of Roadster stuff lately,
and so I wonder, slash hope, if these new trim clips are going to go into the next gen Roadster,
perhaps first, and help keep that car as solid and quiet and squeak and rattle free as possible.
Obviously, I'd like to see them go in every Tesla, and they no doubt will. I mean, forget
about the Roadster, they're going to go in all the cars, because if you're Tesla, you're not going
to patent something like this, that not only has a customer benefit, but it has a company benefit
too, and that, you know, you heard in the patent application, that it simplifies assembly, which
we know Tesla is obsessive about simplifying manufacturing to speed it up, to make it cheaper
per car, etc. So they're not going to patent something like this, and then only use it in the
lowest volume, most expensive car. They will put it in everything. In fact, if for no other reason,
then the economies of scale benefits, but of course, also the benefits to the consumer
that I was talking about. So it's really just a matter of time, how soon that we go
from patent to product that's being installed on Tesla's vehicle manufacturing assembly lines
at their different factories. I mean, that's why I mentioned the Roadster, right? So it's going to
happen, and maybe the timing works out where Roadster's up first, but regardless, hopefully
all the cars are going to get it, and sooner rather than later. Hopefully sooner than the
Roadster's release, because that's still two-ish years away. I mean, until we get a proper
re-reveal, it's an eternity away, that our glass doesn't turn over, and the sand start
start pouring down until the re-reveal happens. So hopefully this new trim clip finds its way
into all the cars, even before the Roadster hits the market. But I do love this, and it is, it's
yet another, it's a silly one, right? At least it sounds silly, because it's a trim clip. It's
like the simplest little part, but it is yet another example of how Tesla is just so good at
rethinking everything from a first principles problem-solving perspective. I mean, hey,
that's where the Octo Valve came from, the heat pump that's in all the newer cars now that gives
them better efficiency and cold weather, and that's, I mean, you could, there's a long list of things
that Tesla has done and improved on the cars because of that first principles problem-solving
approach, and you love to see it. I've got one more Tesla news story for you and then some other
EV news, but first I have to tell you again about the 12th annual Chesed Chicago raffle. I'm so thrilled
to help raise some money for a great cause once again. You have all really, really generously
supported this effort for the past couple of years, so again, let's once again use the power of this
community to help them out here in 2026. As a reminder, this raffle gives you a chance to win
any EV of your choice, including the Rivian R2 or $50,000 cash, if you would prefer that,
and best of all, you are helping out families in need at the same time. The early bird is on
right now, so there is an incentive to go purchase your tickets now rather than wait.
Go to cceraffle.com and use promo code RTL or click the link in the episode description.
For $25 off of two tickets or $500 off of 15 tickets plus, if you like, totally optional here,
you can supercharge your entry for $10 per ticket, which means if you win, you will get a
Tesla wall connector with installation included by a certified professional electrician.
Again, that's optional, you don't have to do that, but that's for $10 per ticket,
you can throw that in as well. I mean, with the $7,500 EV tax credit gone now,
this is an even more awesome way to get your hands on the EV of your dreams and help out a great
cause in the process. A little bit more about that great cause. Chesed Chicago offers 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 now
for that early bird. The early bird winner gets a brand new top of the line smartphone,
either at the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max or the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. And if you win that
early bird, you're still in on the main drawing. You could also win the EV of your dreams as well.
The early bird ends on Memorial Day. That is coming up very quickly. The final drawings in July,
so get your tickets right now before they're all gone, because yes, they are limited. Again,
the website is CCRaffle.com and don't forget that promo code RTL. Meanwhile, my friends that
accelerate auto and their X care extended warranty option. A lot more people are stepping into EV
ownership out there right now because used prices have gotten really attractive on Teslas and a
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that doesn't always get the same attention. And that's ownership after the purchase,
because EVs aren't just different to drive. As we all know, they're different to maintain,
to diagnose, and repair over time. And depending on where that vehicle is in its life cycle,
coverage can look very different. And that's where X care comes in. X care was built specifically for
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purchase a protection plan for whatever EV you're driving, make sure to use the promo code
lightning, or give it to the person on the phone if you're calling in, promo code lightning for
$100 off any policy purchase. One more Tesla news story for you this week, and this one goes out to
my European friends, Sweden says that Tesla FSD Supervised could launch across Europe by this fall.
Saw this story on Drive Tesla Canada, who wrote, in a new statement issued this week,
the Swedish Transport Agency outlined the current status of Tesla's FSD approval efforts
within the European Union. The agency confirmed that following the Provisional
EU type approval issued to Tesla by the Dutch vehicle authority, RDW, back in April, Sweden
has been actively participating in the EU wide evaluation process. That review is assessing
whether Tesla's systems meet the safety standards required for broader deployment across EU member
states. Quote, if the member states vote in favor of the current proposal, a broader launch may be
possible in the summer or autumn of 2026 at the earliest, the agency said.
One of the most important details in the update is that vehicles with valid EU type approval
would not require separate authorization in Sweden. That means once the EU process is complete,
Tesla could potentially activate FSD Supervised across multiple European countries
without needing individual national approvals. Thank you to Drive Tesla Canada on that one.
Well certainly that is welcome news, great news for my European listeners out there.
I know there have been a lot of Tesla begins testing FSD Supervised in X European country.
Stories lately, but I haven't really been bothering with them lately because,
honestly, I just wouldn't really have much to say on a country by country basis.
This is about Tesla going out and just proving it, right, showing that it's going to work
on European roads and be as safe as it needs to be. But the reason I wanted to do this story
versus those individual, you know, case by case country by country stories that as Tesla's been
starting their testing in each country is because this potentially opens the door,
as you heard, to much if not most of Europe getting FSD Supervised all at once in the next
three to six months. I mean summer or autumn, now in fairness they did say earliest, but
potentially three to six months here and that is welcome and awesome news. Now I'm all for due
diligence, safety first of course, but at the same point I kind of can't believe it's taken this
long. I mean if you want to say that the US regulation is like the wild wild west by comparison
both for better and for worse, right, like not saying that we're any better over here,
but for better and for worse if if you want to say well it's kind of like the wild west out out
there, sure I'd give you that, but we can also take a look at the facts too of why I'm hoping that
this is going to be a shorter weight in Europe rather than a longer one. And that is this,
full self-driving Supervised has not on a fundamental system-wide level in any way
had a problem across what is now 10 billion combined fleet miles. That's the counters on the
Tesla website if you want to go check it out and those miles are all coming in the US, at least
the overwhelming majority of them are happening here. So the system is working well and so you
know there aren't fatalities because you bet your bottom dollar that if there were a single fatality
it would be front page news on every blog, every newspaper, every newscast on on TV,
you know you know what would happen, how bad the situation would be for Tesla and how widespread
the attention and the criticism would be, but now that said is the software perfect?
Of course not, absolutely it's not, which is why it's still in the supervised state, right, so
but my point here is that the numbers are all looking great in the US and so I'm hoping that
it means that it's finally imminent for those of you in Europe who have been more than patient.
So here's to the next few months of you guys getting FSD supervised finally.
All right in other EV news I've got, let's see here 123 other EV stories this week.
Two of them are not fun, but I'm ending with a better one. So to start with here, Mazda is once
again slowing down its transition to electric vehicles, announcing it will delay the launch
of its first dedicated EV platform until at least 2029 while significantly reducing planned
investment in battery electric development. Saw this one on Drive Tesla Canada who wrote,
the move marks another major shift in strategy for the Japanese automaker, which has long taken a
cautious approach to electrification compared to rivals aggressively pushing into EVs.
Mazda had originally planned to introduce its first purpose built EV for North America in 2027
before pushing that timeline to 2028 earlier this year. Now the company says the vehicle will not
arrive until 2029 at the earliest and that came via auto news. At the same time, Mazda is reducing
its planned EV investment through 2030 from approximately 1.5 trillion yen which courtesy
of Drive Tesla Canada is about 13 billion Canadian dollars to roughly 830 billion yen or 7.2 billion
Canadian dollars. That's still it's it's nearly a 50% reduction. I mean it's it's pretty darn close
to that. Instead the automaker is redirecting resources towards hybrids and internal combustion
development as global demand for hybrid vehicles continues to grow. Mazda CEO Masahiro Moro said
the company intentionally avoided over committing to EV spending too early. A strategy he now suggests
is paying off as automakers around the world reassess electrification plans amid softer than
expected EV demand growth and changing regulations in North America and Europe.
We made the EV decision before we started. Moro said while discussing Mazda's latest
financial results he continues saying quote for battery EVs we were always careful.
Despite the delay Mazda has not abandoned EV development entirely. Late last year prototypes
of Mazda's first dedicated EV were spotted testing near the company's R&D center in Irvine,
California. The crossover sized prototype was reportedly built on Mazda's new SkyActive EV
scalable architecture a clean sheet platform designed specifically for battery electric vehicles.
That program now appears to remain active albeit on a much slower timeline. In the meantime Mazda
plans to lean on Chinese built electrified vehicles like the EZ6, sedan and EZ60 crossover
to satisfy EV demand in some markets particularly Europe. Well Mazda has been one of the automakers
on my EV naughty list for a while now along with Dodge although really all of Stellantis and also
Honda I'm gonna come back to them in a second and while this move certainly doesn't change my opinion
there I find it a bit funny that Mazda's CEO like I know you can't you can't really know what the
guy's tone is from just a transcript just from text but he almost sounds triumphant there right like
hey we made the right call on this and sure in the short term he might be able to get away with a
see I told you it was a good idea to slow play it on EVs but in the long term I'm you know what
do I know I'm just a guy doing a podcast but Mazda could very well come to regret this move
now I say that let me emphasize I do not wish them any ill will I really don't but it's just a bummer
to see Mazda not even try on EVs I mean it's Franz's former place of employment he must be
disappointed in them too now to get serious for a second Mazda has made at least here in the US
in the North American market they have made as far as I know exactly one pure battery electric
vehicle so far and they did it for one model year and it was model year 2023 meaning the car was
available about four years ago in 2022 that car was a crossover SUV called the MX30 which had a low
price $35,000 starting price and I think I mean maybe depending the the tax credit might have
been available then I don't know if it had quite been signed back into law by that point but anyway
there was a big problem however with the MX30 the range I kid you not 100 miles
you heard me correctly just 100 miles was its maximum range which means that its real world
day-to-day range measured in double digits because it's less than 100 I mean that's
almost laughable even in 2022 2023 it's almost as if the MX30 was a compliance car
for California emissions and and for all I know heck maybe it was I don't know but
I guess the point is here we'll see if Mazda ends up being too late to the EV party by the time
their next attempt arrives maybe in 2029 unless like I said unless they kick the can down the road
again between now and then while I am scolding legacy automakers you know politely what am I
getting I'm not what am I I'm just a kind of podcast but Honda who I've talked about
recently they have given up on a previous plan to completely change over to EVs by 2040 according
to a new report the company's CEO Toshi Hiro Mibe said the idea is quote not realistic I saw this
one on Tesla Roddy and they wrote Mibe believes the demand for its gas vehicles is certainly strong
enough and has changed beyond expectations quote is the quote there as many drivers went for EVs
a few years back hybrids are becoming more popular for consumers as they offer the best of both worlds
quick pause I'm gonna politely disagree there I don't know if that's Tesla Roddy paraphrasing
the CEO of Honda or if that's Tesla Roddy's own editorialization there but hybrids are the worst
of both worlds not the best because you still have a gas engine that you have to maintain change
the oil flush the fuel system change spark plug all that stuff you have to take it to emissions
testing and smog it certify it and then your EV side you get like barely any EV only range
it's like what they're the it's the worst of both worlds anyway I'm gonna get back on track now
Mibe said and this quote comes via motor one because of the uncertainty in the business
environment and also the customer demand is changing beyond our expectation and therefore
we have judged that it'll be difficult to achieve that ratio he's meaning he's referencing the 100
percent electric in 2040 is not realistic as of now we have withdrawn this target end quote
instead of going all electric Honda still wants to oblige by its hopes to be neck to be net carbon
neutral pardon me by 2050 it'll do this by focusing on those popular hybrid powertrains
planning to launch 15 of them by March 2030 Honda will invest 4.4 trillion yen or almost 28 billion
dollars to build hybrid powertrains built around four and six cylinder gas engines oh Honda I'm
talking about you on this podcast again and I hate to tell you this still not a good talk
we're not having a good talk what are you guys doing now perhaps unrelated but seemingly relevant
just gonna throw this out there Honda just posted its first annual loss financially speaking
in 70 years yes you heard that correctly seven decades never losing money until now
now ignoring EVs and shrugging off sustainability makes me think well maybe you guys won't have
to wait another 70 years for your next annual fiscal loss I know I'm sounding mean here and I
don't I'm not again I don't I'm just disappointed honestly and here here's the real reason to
actually get super serious for a second here's why this is disappointing it's because Honda has
such a great reputation for building good reliable cars that if they fully committed to electrification
they could probably really meaningfully contribute to the EV movement by bringing over some of their
many loyal customers who might not feel comfortable making that leap with a tesla or any other brand
whereas if Honda were putting out pure bevs and really putting them front and center and
and really putting them at the front of their lineup then those people would go okay well you
know yeah Honda's all right I'm gonna let's let's get an EV let's let's stick with Honda and we'll
go electric but that's not gonna happen now so that to me that's the greater opportunity cost here
from where I'm sitting as just a guy you know in the peanut gallery hurling insults at Honda
all right but let's let's end on a happier note shall we and it is this
BMW has officially produced 2000000 EVs as the German giant looks to catch up with other EV
brands one more tip of the cap goes to drive tesla canada who wrote the two millionth vehicle was a
tanzanet blue that's the name of the color bmw i5 m 60 x drive sedan built at the company's
ding golfing plant in lower bavaria germany per bmw the vehicle is destined for a client
in spain the 2000000 milestone is significant and shows the massive ramp up bmw is undergone
in its EV lineup and commitment to electrification yeah see to see Honda see who else was I just
yelling at who was it oh mazda see mazda see anyway continuing with the bmw report the first
bmw EV as many of you may remember some of you may have owned or still own one of these the i3
which began production in september of 2013 at its Leipzig plant a fun fact the i3 all carbon
fiber in fact um i'll throw in a little mention here you may recall remember the jason camisa
from haggardy his awesome model s video that i was pointing to you a couple shows
ago well jason also did a video on the i3 and also the i8 sort of this the sports car uh that
it's a really good piece so if you if you're interested in the i3 or you had one go check out
that video on the haggardy youtube channel anyhow uh here's the fun fact from all of this it took
bmw 11 years to surpass 1000000 ev is produced the next million has only taken two years for
bmw the strategy has focused on specific electrified hubs and on ensuring that its german production
plants can assist din golfing has become the company's electrified hub and has produced more
than 320 000 evs since 2021 the plant produces the ix suv the i7 luxury sedan and the i5 sedan and
touring body styles while three other plants in its german network produce at least one other ev
per industry insiders bmw plans to make munich its ev hub moving forward the company plans to
produce the next generation noia classa platform in bavaria starting this summer plant munich will
then become the only european bmw plant to produce solely evs starting in 2027 well i realize that
bmw's design language isn't necessarily for everyone these days they've gotten pretty polarizing
although let's look in the mirror here as tesla fans we acknowledge that the cybertruck
isn't for everyone either both and that's people both inside and outside the tesla community
everybody's got got a feeling got some sort of opinion on the the cybertruck's design and that
certainly can apply to bmw's current design language as well but the greater point is that
bmw deserves plenty of credit here as i talked about on last week's podcast i feel that germany
overall is doing a great job on electrification china doing a great job on electrification the us
these days teslas really carry in the team i mean i guess they kind of always have been but
it's it's uh a little more exacerbated now i mean heck japan they're not even doing much
worth shouting out in the bev space korea i see you thumbs up on account of the hunday kia
ev lineup strong ev lineup from those brands but anyway germany yes germany is doing a good job
bmw specifically is on the right track and by many accounts their higher end stuff the i5
vi 7 that was referenced there are just pretty exceptionally awesome cars particularly with
regard to the tech inside the cabin and this story again it mentions both those cars along with the
ix which also has got some sweet tech and some of the more polarizing styling but what's especially
encouraging about this milestone for bmw to me is again i i kind of paused for emphasis there as
i was reading the story but it's how much more quickly they went from 1000000 to 2000000
versus zero to 1000000 just two years for that second million after it took them over a decade
to do the first million i mean that's exactly the kind of progress that you just you got to
applaud that you have to applaud that to put that in context teslas doing about a million and a half
cars per year these days which means bmw is keeping up with them reasonably well in the
battery electric vehicle department so here's to the next million for bmw hopefully even quicker
than when than how long it took him to go from one to two all righty that'll do it for this week in
tesla and other ev news but stick with me i am not done i've got plenty of your excellent ride
the lightning hotline calls teed up and ready to go coming up next hi this is france von holthausen
and you're listening to ride the lightning with ryan mccaffrey the tesla unofficial podcast it's
time to hear from all of you welcome to the ride the lightning hotline the part of the podcast
where you call in with your questions comments or discussion topics and i am happy to hear from you
and respond as best i can there are two easy ways to call in if you've got a question comment or
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on to a keepsake visit life on record dot com to learn more first up this week is dante in dallas
hi ryan this is dante in dallas texas super excited to be calling into the show for the first time
i actually just recently started listening to the podcast and will be purchasing my first tesla
in the coming weeks a juniper model y premium so super excited about it my question as a new owner
is maybe one that you've covered on the show before but i'll go ahead and ask anyway
is what are your personal favorite accessories maybe even modifications that you've made to your
teslas that you look back and think man i can't believe the car didn't just come with this or
man i am so glad that i got this accessory or i made this modification uh been loving the show
cheers and take care dante welcome to the tesla community welcome to the ev community and seriously
thank you for giving this podcast a try i hope you're enjoying it uh so this is a fantastic
question that is absolutely worth revisiting every now and again i would say i know this is gonna
sound schlocky but it's true i said at the top check out my wonderful affiliates that i mentioned
near the end of the podcast that i have discounts for the snap plate if you need a front plate in
texas which i think legally you do now will you choose to put it on that's up to you i
choose not to put one on in california even though it's the law uh rpm tesla for fun carbon fiber
aesthetic mods abstract ocean for all kinds of accessories like the puddle lights and the
custom fit gorilla glass screen protector beyond that i really love teslas all-weather
floor mats i have them in both cars and i leave them in year-round i just i love the look of them
i'm a big fan so you might want to consider those i also love the frunk lighting kit the tesla
cells that i just put in my model three it's a it's a small it's a totally it's a minor deal
right it's not like a a must-have modification must-have accessory but it's a small but really
nice thing anytime you open up the frunk to use it and then i guess one other bit of advice for you
i would strongly consider getting a tire warranty i don't have any kind of affiliation with any
any tire company or anything like that tesla sells their own but personally i find the tesla
tire warranty plan to be a bit restrictive now i google this and it says that you have discount
tire in your neck of the woods which is it's this it's called america's tire and and by me
same company and you can roll up and buy that warranty from them even though you didn't get
the tires from them in fact i literally if you've been i don't know how long you've been listening
but when i got my new model three performance i literally took it straight from tesla when i
picked it up when i took delivery i went straight to america's tire and bought the road hazard
warranty for the tires so all they're gonna do they'll measure the tread depth and they'll see
you up these are new tires and then they'll sell you a tire warranty so um i find that to be a
worthwhile piece of mind maybe you won't i don't know something to consider at least so i hope that
helps dante and i hope that your delivery day is coming up soon next up this week here's dave
from yorktown virginia hello ryan this is dave from yorktown virginia calling in uh i've got an
interesting discussion topic a lot of people have called in talking about full self-driving
and subscription versus buying it outright and i have my own hypothesis on why tesla has shifted
to a month month subscription model as opposed to buying it outright and i believe it's to save them
some money for the hardware's three cards and i'll explain that it might be a little
little out there but i think it's logical uh my wife and i we both have hardware three cars 2018
model three and a 2020 model y and now that full self-driving is really pretty much full self-driving
with the exception of i can't fall asleep at the wheel uh it's going to become more and more of a
demand for all tesla owners especially those hardware three folks and they're like hey if i
buy full self-driving uh my hardware three car will almost definitely get updated to hardware
four and it'll be even better whereas if you're in the subscription uh of full self-driving especially
for the hardware three cars there's no guarantee whatsoever that you would or probably even no
chance whatsoever that tesla will upgrade you to hardware four unless you buy that whole life which
you do now so i consider myself to be in a good position uh because we have it i bought it right
on day one and i'm very sure that tesla will be good on their word that uh when the time is right
between the software and the hardware we're going to get a hardware for ai four for our model three
cars and a lot of people won't because they're on subscription or not on subscription and there's
no way for them to jump into that so that is uh that's my thought process there i think it's
logical i don't know if it's totally outlandish uh and be interested in what other people think
about that we'll have a good day appreciate the podcast so on i think it's a totally valid hypothesis
dav if in fact tesla sets up these so-called micro factories in major metropolitan areas in
order to upgrade the hardware three cars to ai four it's going to cost them money to do that
and the fewer of those cars that they have to do for free the better and if they can offer people
who didn't buy fsd the chance to pay to upgrade from hardware three to ai four and then still
those people would subscribe monthly to fsd after that then it becomes a more sensible use of cash
by tesla to get those micro factories spun up here's hoping we don't have to wait more than
about a year or so to find out for sure dav thank you for your call as always next up is another
regular caller here's robert from texas hey ryan it's robert from texas with just a a note on
something that i think tesla could improve into their slow navigation system pretty easily
and i know a lot of your listeners probably use ways uh recent kind of four-hour trip to use ways
very helpful with police cars a couple things in the road cars on the side of the road i'm sure
people use it for other things but why can't tesla build either ways into their navigation system
or have their own ways there's so many tesla drivers on the road just have a a menu down at
the bottom where you you tap and the menu comes up like the chargers do uh in other things and just
have you know a ways like feature and you click it and then you can start seeing things uh basically
monitored by other tesla drivers and you can you know say a car's still there or add something if
there's an obstruction in the road right there etc etc it it seems like they could easily capture
that data real time so fast and actually be just as good as ways within their own system
or obviously put ways in there it really helps on a drive uh to avoid uh things that you need to
thanks very much love the show take care bye hey robert it is always wonderful to hear from you
i agree that tesla seems to have the fleet wide capability to build their own version of ways
i think that would probably be the more likely scenario compared to paying ways to license
it to put it in all of our cars as an official app there is a little bit of this in the car
already at least up by me there will be icons on the nav screen that pop up from time to time
that show where known speed cameras are but that's it that's all i've seen in my in my car at least
it doesn't show speed trap locations or pothole locations or anything else like you're talking
about that might be useful or of interest so i'm with you here hopefully tesla will use their
fleet to build their own dare i say possibly better version of ways for us although one thought
occurs to me now as to why they might not invest any resources to do that it does some maybe somewhat
clash with teslas all in push towards autonomy although wait now that i think about it some more
full self-driving unsupervised would still need to know where potholes are to avoid them
and where police traps are to make sure they're slowed down to the speed limit if they're not
there already so maybe in fact maybe maybe this could actually really work super well
let's put it out there let's speak it into existence robert thank you as always appreciate your call
i've got time for one more call this week it comes from a fellow ryan here's ryan from nevada
hello ryan this is ryan also calling from nevada i just had a quick question maybe your listeners
or you can answer it for me so one thing i find myself always doing when i get in the car during
these hot summer months here in nevada is i will open the climate screen and cap the passenger
dashboard in order to allow the vent air to come through the passenger side even though there's
nobody sitting there i was wondering if there's a way to have that done automatically i find that it
reduces the airflow noise coming through the vents when both are running instead of just one
being closed off and also it oh i think it cools the cabin down a lot faster so if any of you have
any tips on how to get that to just stay on or come back on after i leave the car so previous
settings would be maintained that would be awesome if not i mean i just keep finding myself repeating
this action every time i get in the car all right thank you for any help you can give
right fellow ryan hello uh this is honestly a fantastic question and i will confess that i
do not have an answer for you so i would like to throw this one out to the wonderful audience of
fellow owners and enthusiasts does anybody out there know if there's a way to automate this
my gut says no and that you'd have to maybe continue activating it manually with nobody
else in the car unless you put a weight in the seat to fool the car although please don't do that
that's actually probably a bad idea because it would introduce a potentially serious safety issue
in the event of an accident if some heavy thing is in the seat and then you're in an accident and
that heavy thing goes flying it could be could be a problem but if anybody out there has any ideas
please either call in or email me teslapodcast at gmail.com so we can try and help a fellow ryan
out a fellow listener and fellow enthusiast thank you to everybody that kindly took the
time to call in this week i will get to more of your calls of course on upcoming episodes i always
do my best to get to them and get to as many calls each week as i can so refer back if you do have
a question comment or discussion topic i gave you the two call in methods a little while ago so
refer back there as to what's going on with me and my car well not much like i said i've got uh i i will
annoyingly to me and only me probably not have time to wash the spirit of adventure this weekend
even though it is a disgusting dire need of it but that's okay i've got some awesome family plans
this weekend before some work travel to start the week uh so perhaps next week actually next weekend
is memorial day weekend okay that i should be able to get it done next weekend so that i'll look
forward to that anyway uh here's an entertainment recommendation for you for this week it's a video
game and that game is called mixtape it's out on pretty much everything pc ps5 xbox and both the
switch one and nintendo switch two uh it's a it's a adventure ish game it's it's not a heavy
gameplay game it's more very heavily story based i had a great time with it and i confess that that
maybe that's largely in part because the game is set in the nineties it's it's teenagers graduating
high school in the nineties which i was a teenager in high school graduating in the nineties so
i connected with a lot of it maybe you would maybe you wouldn't but it's on xbox game pass
or pc game pass but if you if you don't have that it's a twenty dollar game it's about 33
and a half hours long so uh we gave it a ten out of ten at ign i absolutely loved it i would give it
a nine or a ten myself if i were reviewing it so i had a good time check it out if that seems
if that sounds good to you on on your console of choice now for your tesla pro tip of the week
here's james from anderson indiana hey it's james from anderson indiana i just now discovered a
pro tip on how to put your car into neutral i know this this is on a uh 2024 model y so i've got
stock i'm not sure how to do it on model three but anyway you uh instead of putting it into
driver first you just barely tap it like just barely and it popped into neutral for me see you later
thank you james it does show you how far we've come and how little we all use the neutral gear
that it is legitimately a pro tip to find out how to get your car into neutral in the year 2026
again i'm this is this is not like me making fun of you james it's the opposite it is like
i am acknowledging that your pro tip is legitimately useful uh i i do genuinely thank you for setting
this in because tesla doesn't make it obvious how to do this for those rare times when you might
need it whether it's car wash or something like that so thank you for calling in james appreciate
it and if anybody else out there has a good tesla or other ev pro tip of the week please send it in
i would love to hear from you because i would love to learn from it add to my knowledge base
and share it with everybody so that we can all learn from it and the way to submit a pro tip of
the week well it's just the same way that you send in a regular ride the lightning hotline hotline
call and i gave you the two easy calling methods for that just a little while ago so refer back
there as i mentioned at the very top of the podcast there are good deals to be had here from
brands and companies small businesses that i stand behind that i'm proud to mention here at the end
of the podcast so hopefully you will want to patronize one or more of these guys at some
point in the future maybe that day is today i'll start with rpm tesla they are trusted by over
200 000 tesla owners since 2013 yes they've been around a long time longer than even this podcast
they offer over 1400 in-house designed and manufactured accessories compatible with every
tesla model and model year because buying tesla accessories online with them it's easy it's risk
free rpm's low return rate and free return shipping and no restocking fees speak for themselves now
for self installation of their stuff rpm offers over 600 step-by-step real-time diy videos and
if you live in southern california you can visit their showroom for professional installation if
that appeals to you ride the lightning listeners can enjoy an exclusive 5 to 10 off at rpm
tesla.com using promo code rtl 5-10 that's rtl number 5-10 and that's in addition to their
currently discounted prices visit rpm tesla.com to upgrade your tesla today the infinity shield
meanwhile this is the garage door sensor to put all garage door sensors to shame it's the last one
you'll ever need to buy it creates a giant laser grid array many feet up off the ground so that you
will never have any accidents involving your garage door coming down on anything ever whether it's a
regular garage door sensor beam it's just it's it's like an inch off the ground so if it's if your
car is if that beam is between the wheels of your car something could go wrong i i told you when i
first started mentioning these guys when i first have found out about this product infinity shield
that this happened to me with my 2018 and i i lucked out that the roof glass was so strong on
the car that there's only the tiniest little scratch on the top of my glass that you honestly you
can't even see it like i actually went looking for it recently when i when i found out about
infinity shield and i was like i can't even see the where scratch is anymore
but anyway uh what your garage door it could definitely even if your glass roof is good
and strong on a tesla your rear lift gates not and there are other things that wouldn't be so
grab yourself an infinity shield it creates a huge 25 laser beam array sensor beam array
you will never have an accident have a mishap ever and if you're thinking well i've never had one
before well get yourself the infinity shield and you'll definitely never have a problem go to
infinity dash shield dot com and use promo code RTL at checkout for a $35 discount that's
infinity dash shield dot com abstract ocean dot com meanwhile continues to be the world leader in
awesome aftermarket tesla accessories if i go on there right now and i click on let's say model
three i'll even say my own 2024 edition model three the refresh the highland they've got premium
mud flaps for $55 those are on sale they've got door handle ppf like pre-cut so because that's
you know it's a high touch area you might have you know fingernails or rings jewelry that kind of
thing you just put a little bit of ppf if you're not going to do the whole car like i like i you
i'm a crazy person i do the whole car because it makes me again it that's my ocd like i was talking
about earlier my automotive ocd they sell an awesome little $20 door handle ppf kit at abstract
ocean dot com they've got the black logo emblems because the new the new tesla the new threes and
wise they've switched over to black emblems if you want to do that to your car they've got those from
just $19 so much stuff i could go on for days the tempered glass gorilla glass screen protectors
for your center touchscreen all that and so so so much more at abstract ocean dot com when you
check it out when you go to the website click on whichever car you have and then it'll show you
all the products they have for your car and you've put everything you like into your online shopping
cart when you get to check out use the coupon code rtl podcast all one word rtl podcast to get
15 off of your first order at abstract ocean dot com the snap plate and plus
available for all the teslas all the rivians pretty much all the major evs on the market the
catalac lyrics the the gm stuff like the mustang maki it's all there uh if uh if
you want to check them out over at every amp dot com slash rtl and then from there uh you just choose
whether you want to do the regular snap plate which is a safety optimized front license plate
mounting bracket with breakaway features meaning it'll sacrifice itself in a worst case scenario
like a parking accident or you could go with the snap plate plus which is strength optimized with
hardened features for maximum strength both have the signature minimalist aesthetic that blends in
beautifully with the front end of your tesla or other ev and both are made from recycled made in
the usa plastics with stainless steel reinforcements make those fix it tickets go away for those of you
who like me live in a state where you are legally required to have a front license plate
on your car if you're in or going to be in the greater san francisco bay area i could not encourage
you more to reach out to immaculate reflections ahead of time that's my detailer and make an
appointment whether you want to do paint protection film on the front end of your car or all the sort
of key areas like the rear bumper front end rocker panels or even the whole car if you want to go
full crazy like me i do recommend it because then guess what your entire paint job is protected
maybe you want to do paint correction to get all the little flaws and imperfections taken out of
your paint job get your paint looking better than ever maybe you want to do ceramic coating
so that you don't have to wax your car for the next three to five most likely five to seven
years my first coat of ceramic coating on the 2018 lasted seven years and now the second coat
is on their money well spent as far as i'm concerned anyway immaculate reflections will
take awesome care of you and your car check them out ir detailing dot com there's a contact button
both in the center of the of the website there on the homepage and also in the upper left corner
click that you will reach out to jeff send him a note and just make sure to mention any service
that you have that you book with him mention that you're a ride the lightning listener
up front mention that up front and he will kindly extend the ride the lightning listener
discount to you and i thank jeff at immaculate reflections for continuing to offer that all
these years finally my patreon i mentioned it earlier i'll mention it one more time here
my patreon page is found at patreon.com slash tesla podcast that is where you can go to support
this podcast support what i'm doing week in week out podcast is always free has always been free
will always be free but i do rely on the generosity and support of you guys to keep this thing going
because i do put a lot of hours into this every single week a lot of time research
a lot of energy enthusiasm love and a lot of hopefully professionalism
goes into this thing i like to think so but ultimately i guess that's up to you and not me
but a lot goes into this podcast if you can support me patreon is the way to do it at patreon.com
slash tesla podcast excuse me singular tesla podcast patreon.com slash tesla podcast or just
click the link in the episode description you can support me starting at just five bucks a month
and that five bucks a month will get you an ad-free early access to each week's episode
if you step up to that ten dollar tier you'll get the ad-free early access and you'll get all
192 of those lightning round mini episodes just dozens and dozens of hours of additional content
waiting for you over on patreon if you're not already following this podcast on your
favorite podcast service please do so by searching ride the lightning tesla on apple podcasts on
spotify on tune in on youtube podcasts then just click the follow button when you see my logo
pop up and that's it you'll get a push notification every time a new episode drops which for this
show is every sunday at 9am eastern 6am pacific if you want to use my referral code go for it
for that three free months of fsd you have to order your car with the referral link so you have
to go to ts.la slash ryan 73014 to use my referral code you don't have to use mine if you've got a
friend family member co-worker all good use theirs but i'm just throwing mine out there
just in case you just need one so it's it's there for you if you want it you can follow me on social
media on either x well x and or instagram i have the same username on both my username is
dmc underscore ryan referring back of course to my long history loving and owning the delorean
dmc 12 you can email me for any tesla or ev related reason at tesla podcast at gmail.com
finally i'd like to say hello and thank you to the top tier patreon backers these folks
get their names shouted out at the end of each week's show as one of their
thank you gifts they also get a standing invitation to the monthly patreon zoom hangout
which we did last weekend and as always we had a fantastic conversation had a great time the hour
flew by we always end up going a few minutes over because we just end up having a wonderful
conversation so i will start by thanking the maximum plaid backers thank you to jonathan
wales cameron clark daniel grummer seth capello the galpin family ryan from new york city
darren nickle cos barns patrick wisneski todd badger joe edgel kevin yank the tesla owners club
of san Joaquin valley willsteadman jeremy harris chris beach tom mills choreo donnell
aron joel sap paul casarino chris osbourne kb adam lavoix jason chelukas travis krenzel
bruce otterstein tom behan josh pennington john from cream ridge new jersey dustin hart
derrick finley charles clement daemon kline jeff brown jerry slinger kenneth corbett
brian bertoglio kim bae troy sievers chip hooper matt chinander robert moran
rob christopher man michael williams eric harbert scott shepherd and tom tharp tom i hope you're
sir the plaid level supporters grandfathered in our george cassiopo logan willis peter chalet
eric randolph dory and steve guberman the tesla owners of taiwan ron lee charlie gillespie
jeff angwin chase cabaneas the lydia family erin alchool jared brown jamie dalton mike and barber
louisville matt nixon the tesla owners club of wisconsin ish not elon musk in quotes peter
and the bear boys of colorado and finally the tippy top tier of the patreon these very generous
folks are in the roaster in space tier they get everything including a monthly google hangout with
me if they elect to choose it and some of them do and we always have a great conversation
so a huge thanks to pete white lile austin steve radspinner fernando cordero
laughton from chicago shawn nightig neal weaver jackson wallace ralph and jennifer evers
howard anthony smith victoria aya coveto tesla hitchhiker 42 carol weston robert from near
philly american home contractors dug carry michael gallo and tony figaroa and that will wrap it up
for ride the lightning episode 563 i do apologize that it was not what you expected it was going
to be because on account of the very unexpected event postponement of the model s and model x
celebration but next week hopefully i'm not going to promise anything but hopefully next
week is going to be an extra fun extra special episode i'm looking forward to it i'm looking
forward to this week should be a good one hope you're all doing wonderfully i wish you all nothing
but the best you know it's a it's a crazy world out there and i'm just so grateful that all of you
spend this time to to listen to this podcast and share share with me and this enthusiasm
about these cars and about the eve movement and you know we just celebrate and enjoy the
the things that make us happy in life right so that's that's part of what this this whole thing is
and so i thank you for your time i thank you for your attention and with that i wish you happy
electric motoring and i will see you again next week
elan musk people don't like elan 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
it's not exactly a car it's actually a thing to maximize enjoyment it's maximum fun
About this episode
Tesla’s long-awaited supercharging improvements are rolling out, including a new in-car waitlist being tested at five sites, with non-Teslas able to join via the Tesla app. The hosts compare it to real-world chaos—like a Supercharger queue of over 20 cars—and debate whether the system truly enforces order or relies on “good faith.” Elsewhere, they dig into Tesla’s battery-cell expansion, interior rattle-reduction patents, and broader EV strategy news from Mazda and Honda.
Tesla has begun an initial rollout of a long-asked-for Supercharging feature. Plus: Tesla expands battery production at Giga Berlin, BMW hits an EV milestone, 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 RTL5-10 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.
