The Ford F-150 Lightning is an electric pickup truck. It’s meant to do the same kind of work and everyday tasks as a regular F-150, but it runs on electricity instead of gasoline. The podcast mention suggests the host is talking about what it’s like to drive and live with.
FSD is Tesla’s software that tries to do more of the driving for you. “Version 14 Lite” means it’s a specific, possibly simplified release meant for cars that can’t run the full, newest version.
“Dual motor” means the car has two electric motors instead of one. That usually helps the car put power down better and can make it feel quicker and more stable.
A “dual zone fridge” is a cooler with two separate sections. Each section can be set to a different temperature so different items stay at the right chill level.
The “sub trunk” is extra storage space in the car, separate from the main trunk. In this case, they’re saying the accessory is made to fit in that specific storage area.
shop.tesla.com is Tesla’s official website for buying Tesla accessories. The host says to keep checking there because the item is out of stock right now.
All-weather floor mats are special mats for the floor that handle wet or dirty conditions. They help keep the carpet underneath from getting ruined and are usually easier to clean.
The Tesla Model 3 is an electric car. Here, the host is talking about floor mats made for wet weather that they put in their Model 3 to keep the interior clean.
Floor mats are the removable pieces that sit on your car’s floor. They protect the original floor covering, and in this episode the host prefers the all-weather type.
Base tiers are the cheaper starting versions of a car. The host is saying that on some newer Teslas, you might have to buy all-weather mats yourself instead of getting them included.
A custom lighting kit is an aftermarket add-on that adds or changes lights in the car. People use them to create a certain look or add useful lighting like puddle lights.
Footwell lights are lights that shine in the space where your feet go. They’re often used for mood lighting or to add a color accent inside the car.
Term
aftermarket button kit
An aftermarket button kit adds extra physical buttons to the dashboard. Here, the host says you can program those buttons to do shortcuts (macros) instead of tapping through menus.
A cell phone dashboard mount is a holder that keeps your phone in place on the dashboard. It helps you see navigation and use your phone more safely while driving.
AI4 is Tesla’s newer onboard compute platform (often discussed as the next-generation “AI” computer) used to run autonomy and driver-assistance neural networks. The host contrasts AI4 with Hardware 3 to compare how the same FSD family behaves on different compute generations.
14.3.4 is the exact software version number on the host’s Tesla. Different version numbers can behave differently, so it’s important for a fair comparison.
Hardware 3 is the computer inside the Tesla that runs the self-driving software. Different hardware generations can get different software updates, so it affects what features you can try.
“Version 14 light” is a partial or early release of Tesla’s newer FSD software. It’s the kind of update Tesla rolls out to a limited number of cars before broader availability.
Park and ride is when you park your car in a lot and then go the rest of the way another way (like transit). They’re talking about it because the car’s parking choice affected whether they could leave it there.
This is a Tesla software version for “Full Self-Driving,” but in a simpler/lighter form. It’s meant to do key driving tasks using the car’s computer, even if it doesn’t include every advanced capability.
Rerouting means the car changes its plan while you’re driving. If the original path is blocked, it tries a different set of turns to still reach the destination.
FSD v14 Lite is a particular version of Tesla’s driver-assistance software. It’s meant to improve how the car drives itself, but it may be a “lighter” version than the full system.
Hardware three is the computer inside the car that runs the self-driving software. The host is saying that the newest big updates may be limited by what that computer can handle.
The Tesla Semi is a large electric truck used for hauling goods. Instead of diesel, it uses a battery and electric power. People talk about it because it changes how long-distance trucking has to plan for charging.
Term
Grock
“Grock” is referenced as a system that works together with FSD to evolve Tesla’s driving behavior. In this excerpt, it’s not explained in detail, but it’s clearly treated as a named component or capability in Tesla’s autonomy stack.
Concept
input for telling Tesla
The host is talking about how the car can’t currently take certain kinds of personal, real-world instructions the way a human can. They want a way to tell it which driveway or house details matter.
Google Maps is the navigation app people use to find addresses. The host is saying that even maps can sometimes mark the wrong house, which makes it harder for a car to know exactly where you mean.
They’re talking about very detailed guidance, like the last turns and maneuvers needed to reach your exact destination. The goal is for the car to handle the tricky final steps smoothly.
They mean the car would behave in a way that feels natural—like a person driving carefully. The focus is on making the last part of the trip feel smooth and intuitive.
“Version 15” refers to Tesla’s next major release of its FSD software. Tesla typically rolls out updates in numbered versions, and each release can change capabilities, behavior, and how well the system handles edge cases.
A direct incentive means the discount is applied straight to the purchase, instead of you having to file paperwork afterward. It’s designed to be easier to use.
Rivian’s R2 is one of their electric cars. The episode is saying California’s EV discount rules might cover some R2 versions, but not necessarily the more expensive ones.
Lucid’s Air is one of their main electric cars. The episode is using it as an example of how expensive EVs can miss incentive eligibility when there’s a price limit.
Lucid’s Gravity is their electric SUV. The episode is pointing out that because it starts at a higher price, it likely wouldn’t qualify under strict price-cap incentive rules.
A point of sale discount means the price reduction happens right when you purchase the car. You see the savings immediately rather than waiting for a later refund.
All-wheel drive means the car can send power to more than just the rear wheels. The episode brings it up because the AWD version has a different starting price than the rear-wheel-drive version, which affects eligibility.
Rear-wheel drive means the car’s power goes to the back wheels. The episode mentions it because different drivetrain versions of the same model can have different starting prices and qualify differently.
A price limit is the maximum car price you’re allowed to pay for the incentive to work. If a car costs more than that limit, that version won’t qualify.
Rivian R1 refers to Rivian’s electric vehicle lineup. The host is saying those models would qualify for the California incentive rules they’re discussing.
The Fremont factory is Tesla’s big manufacturing plant in California. The host mentions how many people work there to make the point that Tesla still operates heavily in the state.
A federal credit is money the government gives you for buying something eligible. In this case, it’s about EV incentives—how much help you get can be different depending on the program.
Owner satisfaction is basically how pleased EV owners say they are with their cars. The host is referencing a survey (JD Power) that reports EV owners are feeling better about their cars than before.
This is a survey report that asks EV owners how things are going with their cars. The segment is pointing to JD Power’s study results showing higher satisfaction levels.
In an EV context, “battery” refers to the high-voltage traction battery that powers the electric drivetrain. The host’s mention of satisfaction “among current battery” owners suggests the study is tracking how owners feel about battery-related aspects like performance and confidence over time.
Term
electric vehicle owners
They’re talking about people who already drive an EV. The survey asks how happy those owners are and whether they’d buy another EV later.
This is a government discount for buying qualifying EVs. The hosts say EV sales momentum slowed after it ended, but EV owners still reported improving experiences.
Tesla’s Supercharger network is a chain of fast charging stations. The episode says that having more of these chargers (and easier access to them) makes EV owners happier.
Driver assistance is the set of features that help you drive more safely, like keeping you in your lane or helping with speed and braking. The host is saying owners are seeing fewer issues with those systems.
The BMW i4 is BMW’s electric car. The host mentions it in the same satisfaction ranking list as the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, where it lands near the top.
“Juniper” here is the name the host uses for a newer refreshed version of the Tesla Model Y. They’re saying this update improved build quality, which helped owners rate the car better.
Tire wear refers to how quickly tires degrade during driving, producing particles as the rubber and tread break down. In EV discussions, tire wear matters because EVs can be heavier, which can increase wear and particle generation.
Microplastics are tiny bits of plastic so small you can’t really see them. The host is saying tires can shed particles that become part of that microplastic problem.
Brake pad dust is the fine particles that come from the brake pads when you slow down. The host is saying some studies think it can be quite harmful, depending on what the pads are made from.
Brake dust is the tiny particles created when your brakes wear down. If an EV uses regenerative braking more, it can reduce how much brake dust gets made.
One pedal driving means you can slow down mostly by lifting off the accelerator. The car uses its electric motor to slow you down and it also helps recharge the battery a little.
Regenerative braking is how an EV slows down while also recharging the battery. Instead of wasting all the slowing energy as heat, the car turns it back into electricity.
Friction brakes are the normal brakes that use pads and rotors to slow the car. If an EV slows you down using regenerative braking, you may use these brakes less, so the pads last longer.
The Tesla Model S is an EV sedan. The point here is that many owners report their brake pads last a long time because the car slows down using regenerative braking instead of the friction brakes most of the time.
Normal, Illinois is a city in Illinois where the company’s factory is located. The host mentions it to explain where the vehicles are being produced.
Car
Rivian delivery van
This is Rivian’s electric delivery van for businesses. The host is saying it’s selling well because it can cost less to run than gas or diesel delivery trucks.
Customer deliveries means the cars are actually being given to customers. It’s an important number because it shows real sales, not just manufacturing.
The Dodge Journey is a crossover SUV, which is a family-friendly type of vehicle that’s usually comfortable for everyday trips. It’s often chosen for practicality, like carrying people and cargo. In the podcast, it sounds like it’s being mentioned as part of someone’s overall progress or plan.
Concept
road to profitability
“Road to profitability” means the company is trying to reach the point where it makes enough profit to be financially healthy. For EV makers, that usually comes from selling more vehicles and controlling costs.
A fuel system flush is a service that cleans the fuel-related parts in a gas or diesel car. The point here is that EVs don’t need many of those same fuel-system services.
Oil changes are a regular service for gas or diesel engines. Since EVs don’t use an engine oil system the same way, the host is saying EVs can skip a lot of that maintenance.
Car
Fiat Topolino
The Fiat Topolino is a tiny electric car meant for slow driving. It starts out for private places like resorts or golf courses, and later you can upgrade it so it can legally go a bit faster on some public roads.
An LSV is a special legal category for small, slow electric cars. It can go on some public roads, but only up to a limited speed, compared with regular cars.
Term
kit upgrading
A kit upgrading an LSV is an aftermarket or dealer-installed package that changes the vehicle’s configuration to meet the legal requirements of the low-speed vehicle category. In this case, the kit is described as enabling higher speed eligibility (up to 25 mph) and access to certain public roads.
Micro commuting just means very short trips close to home. In this case, they mean driving around a resort or golf course instead of doing long commutes.
An electric golf cart is a small, low-speed vehicle powered by a battery. The hosts compare it to the Topolino to explain what kind of driving it’s meant for.
Brand
EA carts.com
EA carts.com is a website the host uses to look up information about electric golf carts. They’re citing it for price and basic features.
Lithium batteries are the rechargeable battery packs used in most modern EVs. They store electrical energy and deliver it to the electric motor, and their chemistry and pack design strongly affect range and charging behavior.
“Stilantis” sounds like they mean Stellantis, the big car company that owns brands like Fiat. They’re saying it’s unexpected to see this kind of EV show up in the US.
Here, sunlight means bright glare from the sun. The caller says that when the sun is shining straight at the car, the self-driving system has trouble and asks the driver to take over.
A rain event is simply a period of rain. The caller says the self-driving system also struggled after it rained, which can happen because cameras can get reflections or reduced visibility.
FSD cameras are the cameras the car uses to “see” the road for its self-driving features. The host is joking that Tesla’s patent is like adding sunglasses to reduce glare so the cameras can work better.
The Nissan Leaf is an electric car, but not all Leafs charge the same way. This episode explains that older Leafs use a different fast-charging system, so they may not work at Tesla Superchargers.
NACS is the charging plug/standard Tesla uses. If your car doesn’t support NACS communication, it may not be able to charge at Tesla fast chargers even with the right adapter.
CHAdeMO is an older fast-charging system used by some EVs. If your car uses CHAdeMO, it may not work at Tesla fast chargers that are built around NACS.
The Tesla Cybertruck is an electric pickup. Here, the host talks about how its driving modes and “regen” braking can help you slow down more smoothly on slippery ice.
Off-road mode is a driving setting that helps the car handle rough or slippery ground better. It changes how the car applies power and controls traction so it’s easier to stay in control.
Regen braking is how an EV slows down using the electric motor. Instead of relying only on the brake pads, the car uses the motor to slow you down and also recaptures some energy.
Term
feather how much regen you want to give
Feathering regen means easing off the accelerator very gently to control how strongly the car slows down. On ice, smoother changes can help the tires keep grip.
Cruise control is a feature that keeps your car at a steady speed. You set the speed once, and the car tries to hold it for you so you don’t have to keep pressing the gas.
An offset is how much extra (or less) speed the car will aim for compared to the posted speed limit. For example, if you set +6 mph, it will drive a bit faster than the limit.
This is a screen feature where the car shows the speed limit it thinks you’re driving under. You can tap it so the car adjusts its target speed to match (plus whatever extra you’ve configured).
Speed profiles are how the car decides what speed to aim for as conditions change. Instead of you directly picking the exact speed limit target, the software uses its own programmed speed behavior.
Infinity Shield sounds like a protective coating or film product. The host is saying it would have helped protect their roof glass from getting scratched in their garage accident.
Garage door sensors are safety eyes that try to detect something in the door’s way. If they don’t “see” an object, the door may keep moving and cause damage.
Everyamp is the company the host uses as the place to buy the snap plate accessory. It’s basically the shopping link for that front license plate mount.
A front license plate bracket is the part that holds your front license plate on the car. Some places require a front plate, and the bracket determines how it’s mounted—ideally without damaging the car.
Immaculate Reflections is a car detailing shop the host recommends. They do services like protective film and coatings to make the car look better and stay that way.
Paint protection film is a clear sheet you put on your car’s paint to help it resist scratches and rock chips. People usually apply it to the front of the car where damage is most likely.
Ceramic coating is a protective layer applied to your car’s paint that makes water bead up and makes washing easier. It also helps protect the paint a bit better than wax for everyday stuff.
Paint correction is polishing your car’s paint to remove visible defects like swirl marks and light scratches. It’s usually done before adding a protective coating so the finish looks its best.
LIVE
On this week's episode of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV podcast, I got to experience
the long-awaited FSD version 14 Lite for the older hardware 3 cars and I want to tell
you all about it.
Plus, the Model Y gets a cool new accessory, California offers up a new EV incentive, the
US market gets a very affordable new EV, but there's a catch and more.
What's happening friends, alongside Daisy the Boxer and Lily the silly Labrador, I'm
there.
Feel free to hit that post, it's pinned on my Patreon page, or you can just email me
TeslaPodcast at gmail.com or respond to the pinned post on the RTL pod community run subreddit
and I will respond to all of your questions on an upcoming Lightning round mini episode
on Patreon later in the month.
Well to kick things off, it's summer, we're all trying to stay cool, it's toasty out there.
You've heard of the dual motor Model Y, but what about a dual zone fridge Model Y?
One of the newest products to hit the online Tesla shop right as summer gets underway here
in the northern hemisphere at least, shout out to my friends in the southern hemisphere
who are in their winter now.
A $595 refrigerated cooler that is designed to fit perfectly in the sub trunk of any Model
Y, yes new or old, I guess the sub trunk did not change, the shape and size of it did
not change from the old Model Y to the new one.
Here's the description on this thing from the online Tesla shop page which currently
lists it as being out of stock so the initial run on it went quickly and hopefully it will
restock soon since it is summer and now is the time people want to take advantage of
these things.
But here's the description, the Model Y dual zone fridge is designed to fit perfectly in
your sub trunk and features two separate compartments that can be set to different temperatures
from 0 degrees Fahrenheit to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
Plug it into the outlet in the trunk of your Model Y and all of your snacks and beverages
will stay at just the right temperature.
The dimensions on this thing, I guess I won't bother reading those.
I will mention the volume though, it's 37 quarts and it weighs 32.6 pounds.
So yes, you can put ice cream in there, 0 degrees Fahrenheit, you can actually put ice
cream in, in fact the product photo on the online Tesla shop actually shows ice cream
in there.
And it looks like just from eyeballing it, I haven't actually done the math utilizing
the dimensions that they provided, but based on the picture it looks like it will hold
at least 12 cans but probably even 18, probably 36 packs of soda and so probably plenty
of beers or bottles of wine even too or I guess for most people more likely it's going
to be some mix of all those, right?
Maybe some beer, maybe some wine, maybe some soda mixed in as well, maybe some hard seltzer.
I know that's a hard seltzer is a thing, a thing now.
I have not been yet bitten by the hard seltzer bug myself, but anyway, I have to be honest,
if I had a Model Y, I think I'd probably be pretty darn tempted by this.
This seems really practical, really useful, it's making great utilization of the sub-trunk.
How fun would this be for camping or for trips to the beach or to the lake, you know that
kind of thing.
The price is not cheap, I mean it's reasonably steep here at 600 bucks, but as long as the
quality is good then it should hopefully last you the entire life of the car.
So if this is of interest to you, again it's out of stock as of this recording, but just
keep checking back in at the online Tesla shop at shop.tesla.com and hopefully you can
catch it when it restocks and grab one for yourself.
In the spirit of this for this week, I decided to ask all of you what your favorite vehicle
accessory was, that was the subject of this week's Patreon poll.
Thank you to the approximately 250 of you that kindly stopped by and voted on this week's
poll, which was again, what is your favorite vehicle accessory?
You can vote every week on a new question on my Patreon page which is patreon.com slash
Tesla podcast, but the poll question is open to everybody, you don't have to be pledging
me anything to vote, just stop on by, cast your vote each week and running away with
it.
I mean I tried to include as many good options as I could, like as many things that I think
a reasonable number of people use and might want to vote for in a poll like this.
Running away with the poll here, all weather formats, 46% of the vote to give you an idea,
everything else except for the other category which was leave a comment or just show me
the results.
Other was 15%, everything else was single digits, so 46% of you voting all weather formats.
If I'm being honest with myself, I probably would have voted for that as well.
I have all weather formats in both of our Model 3's and I had bought them originally back
in 2018 when I got my first Model 3 with the intention of just using them during our rainy
season here so that I didn't really muck up the carpet formats that came with my car.
I do realize not every Tesla now comes with formats at all, some of them the base tiers
you have to buy your own formats, but I put the all weather mats in and I love the look
of them and they were nice and easy to keep clean so I just have run them year round and
so when I bought, I was lucky enough to get our new one, our 2024, I bought the all weather
floor mats for that too and again, I love them.
They've actually, between 2018 and 2024, Tesla updated the look of them, they're not exactly
the same floor mats from 2018 to 2024, but I'm a big fan of them so yeah, I probably
would have joined the 46% of you that voted for all weather floor mats in this poll, but
just to give you an idea of some of the other choices, the next highest was actually 9%
voted for a roof glass sunshade, 8% voted for a custom lighting kit such as a puddle light
or a different color footwell light, we had, let's see here, 6% voted the sexy buttons
which is a, I have no affiliation with that company, but that's the aftermarket button
kit you can install on your dashboard that you can bind macros to, like macro shortcut
things, cell phone dashboard mount was one of the choices, a center touchscreen protector
was in there, so again, tried to put plenty of choices in, but it turns out, I really
just, I only probably needed to put one choice in a poll which wouldn't have made it much
of a poll, but all weather floor mats wins by a mile on that one, thanks to everybody
that took the time to vote in this week's Patreon poll.
Now, as mentioned last week, I want to get straight to the headline topic here, I did
indeed get together with Tesla Raj last weekend and we did do a comparison between my car
which is running 14.3.4 on AI4 and his model 3, his hardware 3 model 3 which is still as
of this recording one of the few to receive version 14 light of FSD.
My hope was, as I said in last week's podcast, that the rollout would have, the wide rollout
would have happened and we'd all have it by now so that I wouldn't necessarily have to
tell you how I thought about it because you'd all have it yourselves and could try it out,
but as of now, Tesla still has not widened the rollout, but hopefully by the time next
week's podcast rolls around, more of us will start to get it, so I think hopefully the
next 5 or 10 minutes that I'm going to spend talking about our little head-to-head comparison,
I hope this will be worthwhile to you, because again, I know so many of you are eagerly
awaiting this V14 light update because we haven't had a major FSD update to hardware
3 cars in a year and a half.
Now, so what we did, so I'll start, actually let me pause here and say, Raj put up the
entire video, it's an hour and 40 minutes long where he picked out a route, a 5 stop
route through a town that's halfway between where him and I live, if you're in the Bay
area, it's Redwood City, that's where we went, and made 5 stops and we had my car do
it first and then we had his car do it and we were commenting the whole time, talking
to each other the whole time, everything's on video and he's put up the entire thing
on his YouTube page, so you can either search Tesla Raj or AJ or provided my brain remembers
by the time I get to the end of this podcast in about 2 hours from now, that takes me 2-2.5
hours to record this thing, then I gotta edit it, but I will try my best to remember to
put the link straight to Raj's video in the episode description, the show notes this week
if you'd like to check it out.
But 5 stops, we ran both cars through the same stops, I know it's not necessarily the
most scientific way to do it, because you could argue that we should have run them side
by side, but then of course neither one of us could experience, I guess we could have
traded cars, maybe that would have been the way to do it, but that's actually a really
good idea, I wish we had done that, but we did it somewhat scientifically and what I'm
about to say is super click baity, but if you guys know me, I am not a click bait guy,
I don't do that, but the conclusion I came to was a very click baity phrase which is
the results might actually surprise you, which because they've surprised me.
Again, we met up in a parking lot in a shopping center parking lot, we did my car first,
and the first stop, my car, it was a parking ride for a commuter, you park your car there,
then you get on the bus or train, and so my car gets to this, it navigates its way through town,
no problem, it gets to this parking ride, and the parking ride is on a corner, so some of the spots
are on one side of the corner, and then there's more spots around the other side,
and my car pulls in and manages to park itself, it reverses into a spot that wasn't a spot,
it basically put itself, it just, it failed the park, I mean it did park itself, but a human would
never have parked there because the place it parked wasn't a parking spot, and if I were really
going to be utilizing the park and ride and leaving my car there all day,
I couldn't have left it there, I would have needed to move it to an actual spot, so
that was kind of a surprise, and then when Raj's FSD-14 light hardware three car pulled into that
same lot later, it did it, it nailed it, it pulled in correctly, went around the bend,
and backed into a spot, an actual parking spot, so I was very surprised that V-14 light
actually did better than proper quote-unquote air quotes, proper V-14 on AI4 on the first stop,
so that was the first thing that really surprised the heck out of me, first I was surprised that my
car flubbed that park so much, so blatantly, because it was just not great, and then when Raj's
hardware three car on V-14 light nailed it perfectly, I was like well, point to V-14 light,
I was not expecting V-14 light to win any points from AI4 V-14, but there you go, but as we went
along, I will say both cars did great, one of the stops was into a parking garage, which AI4
my car did brilliantly, it pulled up to the ticket arm, stopped, and then I was too far away from
the angle of the turn, I was able to unbuckle my seatbelt, stretch out of the car to grab the ticket,
and FSD stayed on, which I actually, I don't know if I've ever actually tested that before,
I presume if the car is in motion and you unbuckle the safety belt, it's going to give you the
red hands, like take over immediately thing, and it's going to shut FSD off,
but parked, stopped at this ticket, at this gate, I was able to take my seatbelt off
without the car freaking out, and then I put my seatbelt back on, and the gate arm went up,
car continued in, found a good spot, parked itself, and it did great, so it aced that test,
which V-14 light on hardware three absolutely did not, it was when Raj had to do the same thing
and take his seatbelt off, red hands, car, you know, crazy beeping alarms, car freaked out,
turned FSD off, it was not having any of that, so that was an interesting comparison point.
There was one other pretty wild, well not pretty, that's maybe overstating it, but let's put it
this way, there was another surprising moment in my car, so I'll tell you about it real quick,
and it was, I think it was, actually yeah, we were heading for that parking garage,
which was the, I think second, second, or no, third stop on our tour, on our five stop tour,
so we're going through downtown Redwood City, and the car's proceeding down this downtown
street just fine, but then up ahead of us is a fire engine with its lights on, blocking our,
blocking traffic, and then on the right hand, the intersection on the right,
there were all cones, it was all blocked off, we could not turn right there, so we couldn't go
straight unless the car decided it wanted to try and squeeze past the cones and the fire engine,
which technically it could have done that, there was enough room for it to have done that,
but really the only viable choice and the choice that it should have made
was turning left and rerouting, and it did that, my car, my ai4 car successfully did that,
did a great job, so I was, I was super impressed, Raj but then the reroute
is where it got weird, because it's still trying to get to this parking garage that now we would
have had to just go around the block, just proceed down after we turn left, then turn right, then
turn right again, and then you know turn left and just go around, so that,
so no problem, right, except it pulls into a different parking garage, which at first we
thought was the same parking garage, just maybe it was a huge garage that stretched multiple blocks,
because the ticket had the same name on it, but it turns out different garage, different street
number, so it pulls into a different garage, I grabbed the ticket from the ticket arm, from the,
from the, you know, the little ticket dispenser, the gate arm goes up, the car continues in,
and it goes straight across to the other side of this parking garage, where there's another gate
and an exit, except there's a note on the, on the ticket machine on the other side, that that,
that gate is closed, we are not getting out that way, so my car, AI4, tried to cut through another
parking garage, which if there had been a fee on this garage, I would have had to pay it, now
thankfully it was, if you're, I guess if you're in and out of there in less than five minutes,
it's free, right, which was fine, and it worked out fine, but not every garage is like that,
some of them, the second you set, you, the second you roll tires in there, you are paying money,
so my car cut, tried to cut through the parking garage, and then of course I had to intervene,
because the exit gate was closed, so I had to manually back up and go out, and so that was
super strange, we were really hoping not, okay I have to be careful how I phrase this, we, we
didn't want anybody to be injured or anything to be amiss, but purely for the sake of the test
that we were running, the head-to-head comparison test, we were very much hoping that that fire
engine would still be there blocking the road, so that we could see that the hardware 3 car
on version 14 lite, tackled the exact same problem that my car had encountered, but
fortunately slash unfortunately for us, the fire engine had gone, and so Raj's car was able to
just go straight down the street as it had intended to do, so we did not get to compare
those two things, but that was a very strange result from the AI 4 car, but both cars did really well
on really all the stops and just navigating the roads, we didn't do any freeway,
which that would have been kind of the last piece, we just, we were trying not to have the test take
too long because we didn't want the video to be too too crazy long, so we kept it city streets,
but all in all here's the actual conclusion that I've come to, with the caveat that I'm,
I can't render my final judgment on version 14 lite until it's in my own 2018 car,
and I'm driving it on my normal routes that I know how 12.6 treats it, and then I can see
how 14 lite treats my usual roads, but from a neutral location, just you know pretty clean sheet
in a vacuum if you will, my first impression of v14 lite was very very positive, it did,
it did really well, like I said it actually parked better at that first stop at the park and ride
than my own AI 4 car did, but v14 lite seemed very smooth, it seemed reasonably confident,
it was fairly capable, and it seemed like it didn't seem like it's it it felt like a
pretty reasonable approximation of quote unquote real you know full version 14 on the
AI 4 car, so that is my bottom line, is that my initial what I think 30 or 40 minutes however
long our our individual drives in each car were, initial 30 to 40 minute reaction was that I'm
really impressed with version 14 lite, I went into this experiment with Raj being really really
excited to get version 14 lite into my car, as I'm sure that's how all of you feel as well,
because again we haven't had a major update in a year and a half, and this one is probably this
is I mean it's my guess hope Tesla the AI teams welcome to prove me wrong, but my assumption is
that AI that version 14 lite is going to be the end of the line for for substantial like not
that they won't iterate on 14 lite and we might get a 14.1 lite etc, but I am presuming that
this is it for major updates to the hardware three cars until Tesla is able to physically
upgrade us to AI for as they have promised that they would do so I was I was really happy at the
end of the test, and I hope that helps get you a little extra fired up for version 14
lite to come to your hardware three car, I am more excited now I'm more eager to get it in my
2018 model three, so again thank you to Raj for getting together and spending what turned out to
be half of your Sunday afternoon with me Raj to to make that happen, and again if you'd like to
watch the entire hour and 40 minute video I will put a link to it in the episode description but in
the on the off chance well I should be honest with myself on the semi likely chance that I forget
to do that by the time I finish recording and editing this episode just look for Tesla Raj
on YouTube and you will find that video easily I'm sure. And while we're on the subject of FSD
and following up on something that we already heard about recently here's a bit more from Tesla
about how FSD and Grock together will be evolving in our cars very soon. This comes via an X user
named Chris who posted, FSD would be twice as useful in neighborhoods if I could actually talk
to the car and tell it which driveway to pull into the same way I would with a person driving me home
right now there isn't really an input for telling Tesla what color the house is or giving it specific
context like that Google Maps is also notorious for putting pins on houses that aren't actually yours
it would be so cool if I could talk to the car while going down my street and say something like
it's the White House on the left just past that SUV and then have FSD remember that for next time
that post which by the way Chris didn't tag anybody in that post so he wasn't looking for
the Tesla AI team's attention specifically but he got it because Tesla AI boss Ashok
Elloswamy responded with an almost Elon-esque response very short and to the point quote
working on it so again we had heard about this kind of functionality super recently right
and it's as I said a couple of shows ago when this had first come up it's almost literally
like kit from Knight Rider we are we we are almost to the point where we actually have kit in real life
and it'd be absolutely incredible if the Tesla AI team can pull this off I mean being able to
give your car specific micro level directions at destinations that would be such a game changer
because you know Raj and I were talking about this I don't know if it's on camera if this is
something we were talking about off camera but those it's sort of that that last that very last
bit of your journey that seems like the hardest part for for FSD to get right you know for it to
for it to make that a human-like experience and if the AI team can plug Grock into FSD like this
like they're talking about and actually successfully pull this off it it really would just be
it would it would be honestly like I try and I don't I try not to be too hyperbolic here but
that would be pretty mind-blowing if I'm being honest and certainly you know everybody would
have their own unique use for it like I figure a lot of you out there would probably tell it
well back into the garage because of where your charger is right like that would be a common use
for it that kind of thing I think could see a lot of benefits so this would just I think everybody
would use it in some way shape or form so if we get to that point and according to a show it's
probably when not if per perhaps even soon I mean my just like trying to set my expectations at a
reasonable not too optimistic level would be like oh maybe this would come with version 15
whenever v15 is going to drop whether that's at the end of this year or sometime next year I don't
know but hey if tesla wants to deliver it sooner I would love to be pleasantly surprised in fact
I would be absolutely thrilled if that grock integration with FSD downloaded into our cars
sooner rather than later but super exciting stuff on the horizon for sure for those of you
generously giving back to the podcast over on patreon.com slash tesla podcast I hope you enjoyed
this week's lightning round mini episode which if if you'll allow me just a moment here it's the
200th lightning round that's pretty cool which means I guess yeah I've been doing the lightning
rounds for four years now built up quite a catalog of fun extra content so if you're not already
joining me over on patreon and you listen to the podcast every week you get a lot out of it you
enjoy it and you're willing and able to throw me some support patreon is the way to do it visit
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you but this week for the 200th lightning round the topic was the same one I like to do every quarter
now ahead of the earnings call which is mention the five topics the five questions that I would ask
on that upcoming earnings call if I had the microphone for that call so check that out over
on patreon if you're interested you can imagine a few of the topics fsd unsupervised is on my
list of questions I had a tesla semi question a cyber cab question and a couple others in there as
well so check that out over on patreon.com slash tesla podcast and I hope you enjoyed and I hope
you've enjoyed at least some of the 200 lightning round mini episodes that are up there a reminder
if you sign up for the patreon at that ten dollar per month tier today you will have access to the
entire 200 lightning round catalog you don't just get the ones that from now forward you get access
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before I get back to this week's tesla and evie news a quick mention that this week's episode
of ride the lightning is brought to you in part by net suite by oracle this podcast is technically
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something you think about until you're stranded trip interruption benefits don't matter until
you're hundreds of miles from home and finding an experienced independent EV repair facility
isn't important until you suddenly need one the best time to prepare for the unexpected is before
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RTL 250 protect the journey and enjoy the freedom next up in the news this week California has a
new EV purchasing incentive and I bring this up because statistically a whole lot of you are in
California it is my back end metrics actually do give me a state by state breakdown of where
my listeners are it doesn't do that for every country just the US but I do have the most listeners
in California of any other state which isn't a surprise right that mirrors EV adoption itself
we have the most EVs in California but anyway California's got a new EV purchasing incentive
that should help Tesla Rivian and Lucid buyers I saw this on Tesla Roddy who wrote the state
recently passed a 135 million dollar program offering first time electric vehicle buyers
a direct incentive with no application required but the rules were written in a way that leaves
Tesla at a structural disadvantage compared to Rivian and Lucid the program caps eligible vehicles
at $50,000 for new EVs and $25,000 for used ones that pricing threshold rules out a significant
portion of Tesla's lineup it actually doesn't but we'll get back to that though some lower priced
Model 3 and Model Y configurations would still qualify California based automakers are exempt
from the price cap entirely regardless of what their vehicles cost Rivian headquartered in Irvine
and Lucid based in the San Francisco Bay Area I believe technically Newark I think
which is is here it's actually just up the road from Fremont anyway both benefit from that exemption
Rivian's R2 starts at roughly $45,000 but has versions above the cap and obviously as you all
know the 45k version isn't coming around for a while Lucid's air and gravity start at $71,000
$80,000 respectively well above any threshold a non-California company would face
so some other key details to note here it is a $3,500 point of sale discount for new EVs and half
of that $1,750 for used EVs there's also no income limit you just have to be as I mentioned earlier
a first time EV buyer so first let's take a look at just the straight facts here before we get into
the road that Tesla Roddy started to go down there with the unfairness to Tesla so the three or
it's pardon me there are three variants of the Model Y that are eligible for this the base Y
the premium rear wheel drive that starts at 46k and the premium all-wheel drive at $49,990
just I guess with that one you wouldn't be able to add any hardware options
but it is technically eligible there are also three Model 3 trims that qualify for this as well
the base Model 3 the premium rear wheel drive that starts at $425 and then the premium all-wheel
drive that starts at $475 so that one you could actually get yourself a paint color or a white
interior if you felt like it so that means the overwhelming majority of the vehicles that Tesla
sells are covered so there's no YL which obviously hasn't delivered yet but that's above the cap
anyway no YL no Y performance no three performance and no Cybertruck but here's the thing collectively
when you're talking about a bill aimed at just trying to help drive EV adoption in the state of
California collectively the latter cars that I just mentioned YL Y performance three performance
Cybertruck those represent a pretty small percentage of Tesla's overall sales the ones
that do qualify base Y premium rear wheel premium all-wheel base 3 premium rear wheel 3 premium
all-wheel drive 3 that's most of Tesla's sales that's what most people are buying when they buy
a Tesla now can I prove that unfortunately not because we don't have specific data for how many
of each trim that Tesla sells but I would be willing to bet lunch that the ones that are
excluded from this that are over that 50k price limit my guess is so again we're talking
performance three performance Y YL which isn't on the market yet and Cybertruck all Cybertrucks
I'll bet those cars are 20% or less of Tesla sales and that everything that does qualify
is roughly the other 80% that qualifies for this and that is awesome and now
any Rivian be at the R1 or R2 and any Lucid air or gravity qualify that is also awesome
so Tesla Roddy who I love those guys and you probably gathered in the excerpt that I read you
there they are looking at this their angle they seem to be seeing this as a politically motivated
snub towards Tesla since of course Tesla moved its headquarters officially to Texas
even though it still employs tens of thousands of people in California I believe the last number I
heard in the Fremont factory alone was about 20,000 people so that's not counting engineering team
in Palo Alto that's not counting design studio Franz and his crew in LA all the retail and service
people all that stuff so big presence in California and I can't necessarily argue with what Tesla Roddy
is putting forward there but here's my position on this I don't know the motivations of the lawmakers
who pass this but what I do know is that politics is messy and it's also invaded
every single aspect of our lives and we most people I think don't they're not interested
in having politics be in everything so I choose to look at this from a little bit of a different
perspective it may very well be that without the so-called snub of Tesla that this law doesn't get
passed right if there is politics involved there with Tesla and that goes all the way back to him
having an online fight with that one lawmaker woman who by the way she was completely in the wrong
of telling Elon to fu and a public you don't do that to that I did a whole podcast on that at
the time anyway but the the fact of the matter is that the the way this was structured it got passed
and signed into law now because neither Rivian nor Lucid has a vehicle under $50,000 yet since
again the $45,000 base version of the R2 won't be available until late next year
they might not have been able to get a law passed that had an MSRP cap of 80 grand to get Lucid
and Rivian in there now and so and if or if they had tried that might not have been
very well received by constituents or even potentially other automakers again politics
is messy you got a lot of factors in any decision so here's what i'm coming back to
we all know that Tesla sells way more cars particularly here in California than Rivian
Lucid who are growing particularly Rivian so the way this ended up being worded is such that
it looks like it's for everyone again optics politics optics are a huge part it looks like
it's for everyone and not just wealthy people who can afford $80,000 cars right and the bottom line
is that because of the way that this incentive has been structured so many people will get to
take advantage of this and Tesla buyers will benefit most from this because again Tesla sells
the most cars by a mile but Tesla owner Tesla buyers will benefit Rivian buyers benefit Lucid
buyers benefit so again you can quibble with the politics of it and i'll repeat myself i don't know
the ultimate motivations of the lawmakers who wrote this but for me i'm focused on the end result
and the good that i think this will do which is a lot i think this will do a lot of good
$3,500 it's not the $7,500 federal credit that we had but $3,500 is not an insignificant amount
of money and 1750 on a used on your first used EV or that you know model 3 is now you can get a
2018 model 3 in the like the low 20s at this point so that means 1750 is almost it's like 8% off the
car and it's there's no tax thing it's just it's right off the top of the price so the bottom line
for me this should help a lot of people get into EVs for the first time which is the point of the
bill the point of the incentive and that that probably includes plenty of you listening to this
i hear from plenty of you on a regular basis who were like me years back where you're you're
into this you love EVs you want to get one you're saving for one you're planning for one but you're
not you haven't quite gotten there yet but you will and if you happen to be in california
the odds are unless you're planning to buy a yl one of the performance cars or a cyber truck
the odds are you will be able to take advantage of this if you're in california and same for again
same for used buyers if you're saving for you know you're aiming for that $20,000 model 3 because
it's going to just be a great value for you with the minimal maintenance and the the low fuel costs
you get to benefit from this as well so i think this is going to be a great incentive regardless
of the circumstances under which or or the the political motivations of the lawmakers
that passed it which again we don't know so bottom line good news here in california
all right let's get to some other EV news although i guess that last story was
kind of a bridge to other EV news anyway since it did involve rivian and lucid this next one
comes via our friend and tesla chief engineer larz moravey who'd posted a link to this on his
ex account and it's a story about ev owner satisfaction climbing to new highs despite
a domestic here in the u.s sales slump from evs this is according to jd power and this story
again is from jdpower.com linked by larz and jd power says while the ev market has experienced
significant volatility during the past year owner sentiment has never been stronger according to
the jd power 2026 us ev experience ownership study overall satisfaction among current battery
electric vehicle owners is at its highest level since the study's inception in 2021
notably nearly all owners of new bevs 96% say they would consider purchasing releasing another
bev for their next vehicle quote ev market share has declined sharply following the discontinuation
of the federal tax credit program in september of 2025 but that dip belies steady growing customer
satisfaction among owners of new evs said brent gruber he's the executive director of the ev
practice at jd power and he continues saying quote improvements in battery technology charging
infrastructure and overall vehicle performance have driven customer satisfaction to its highest
level ever what's more the vast majority of current ev owners say they will consider purchasing
another ev for their next vehicle regardless of whether they benefited from the now expired federal
tax credit end quote following are some keys are some key findings of the 2026 study number one
public charging status by the way this goes back to just that last bit were about the owners
considering another ev even without the tax credit but what did the tax credit do it helped get them
over that threshold to actually buy one so that's where that's where i think that california
incentive i just talked about will really matter into the to the overall ev movement anyway
some more stuff from the study public charging satisfaction climbs to new highs the availability
of public charging is by far the most improved index factor in both premium and mass market
bev segments satisfaction among premium bev owners is a 652 on a 1000 point scale and 511
among mass market ev owners up 101 and 115 points respectively year over year the continued
growth of publicly available chargers and the opening of the tesla supercharger network
have notably improved satisfaction among mass market bev owners during the past several years
furthermore satisfaction among tesla owners is rebounding as they adapt to the expanded access
of the charging network and then a couple more here premium battery electric vehicles
see more pronounced quality improvements while total problems experienced by owners improves
among both premium and mass market bev's the premium segment season improvement of 15.9
problems per 100 vehicles or pp 100 year over year to 75 pp 100 marking the best quality
performance in for the segment in the current iteration of the study this is driven by improvements
in squeaks and rattles inside the vehicle as well as fewer problems with driver assistance
and excessive noises from outside the vehicle by comparison total problems among mass market
bev is is 92.2 pp 100 and then the study rankings the tesla model 3 ranks highest
overall and highest in the premium bev segment with a score of 804 out of 1000 the tesla model y
at 797 ranks second and bmw's i4 ranks third at 795 right behind the model y the ford mustang
mock e ranks highest in the mass market bev segment with a score of 760 the hunday Ioniq six that
will be the sedan at 748 points ranks second and the key at ev 9 ranks third at 745 there are nine
award eligible models in the premium segment and nine award eligible models in the mass market
segment satisfaction among owners of premium bev's averages 786 up from 756 last year while
satisfaction among owners of mass market bev's averages 727 versus 725 in 2025 so firstly this
is overall a very very good thing and a very positive trend that's the that's the 10 000 foot view of
this but second that last thing hang on a second why are the model 3 and the model y in the premium
bev segment and the mock e Ioniq six and ev 9 are all in the mass market bev segment because
they're all priced about the same i do believe like although even if you lump them together
both the three and the y would still lead the rankings over the other evs and then the third
thing i wanted to mention here is about tesla opening up the supercharger network and that clearly
based on the results of this study has had the intended effect and that is satisfaction is higher
amongst all ev owners not just tesla owners regarding public charging which i think you'd
all agree is such a crucial part of getting people to adopt evs finally one more thing
about that quality improvements section where the premium bev segment took a big 16 point jump up
that again since tesla is in that category and not the mass market category i have to imagine
that a a not insignificant part of that 16 point jump up is probably explained by the introduction
of the juniper the refreshed second generation model y which has just a heck of a lot better
build quality than the first one and especially one of the big things that was cited in the study
was sound insulation the new y is way better at that than the old y and that was in fact one
of the specific thing is called out there so i got to figure that that's a factor just like the
newer model three being a big jump over the version one model three no doubt was a factor
starting last year in that segment as well all right i've got 12 still three more stories
to go here lots more to talk about uh as my voice cracks oh my goodness did you guys catch that that
was that was embarrassing anyway i'm just going to move on and pretend like it didn't happen
more and more evs have been on the road in recent years which is great and it's led to
an unexpected side effect i want to thank listener david getzka for sending this in
and it comes via supercar blondie dot com i didn't know she had a a news blog i'm familiar with
her youtube channel anyway from supercar blondie dot com you don't have to be an expert to know
that evs don't emit anything from the exhaust providing one obvious benefit of an electric car
however the e it urban mobility study looked into other forms of pollution and this is where there
was some bad news for evs and their supporters when it comes to tire wear evs fared worse than
their gas counterparts mostly due to them being heavier why is this considered a form of pollution
well when you consider the fact that tires shed millions of micro plastics into the environment
it becomes more clear one 2017 study from the netherlands found that around three and a half
million tons of tire particles were emitted into the environment every year and that's in just 13
countries and then there's the positive unexpected side effect break dust have you ever considered
how much pollution is caused by break dust and i'll be completely honest no i honestly i'm aware
of break dust i knew it existed but i haven't thought about it in forever and this is this is
actually a really interesting counterpoint to the tires thing according to this study evs saw
break dust pollution dip by a whopping 83 percent one study found that break pad dust can be just
as toxic as exhaust emissions this is because some commonly used break pads contain a higher
concentration of copper which can harm some of the sensitive cells in the lungs well again
i honestly had not considered the break dust thing i certainly am well aware of the
shorter tire wear shorter tire life thing i've i've been living that for just about eight years
now as an ev owner and it is a difficult problem to solve given as the story noted the added weight
of a battery pack right evs by and large tend to be not just heavier but oftentimes a decent bit
heavier than their gasoline powered counterparts it's just at this stage in time with where the
technology is now where the ev technology is it's tough to not have a big heavy battery pack
in an ev and so yes it is unfortunately true that consuming more tires isn't environmentally
ideal but as i said a moment ago i can honestly say that i had not considered the break dust
piece of the puzzle 83 percent less break dust for evs it does make sense right it makes perfect
sense because as all of you know most evs support one pedal driving to some extent or another via
regenerative braking and because of that you simply aren't using the friction brakes much and thus
you're not using the brake pads much so it's an added bonus of ev ownership that
i think most people don't even realize before they buy their ev like there are very old high
mileage model s's on the roads now that still have their original brake pads on them in fact
this makes me wonder i wonder how what percentage of my 2018 model 3's brake pads
are still left on them and i would actually bet that it's probably a lot it's probably well
more than half the car's got over 80 000 miles on it but i'll bet i still have more than half of the
pads left on that car if i had to guess uh i wish i just knew but maybe next time it gets
it gets uh if it's either at tesla for something or maybe i can find out but anyway there you go
another environmental benefit from driving an ev a lot less brake dust even if admittedly
it's unfortunately at least somewhat offset by the higher rate of tire consumption
next this week tesla was not the only ev automaker that crushed it on deliveries last quarter
rivian has raised its 2026 delivery outlook after beating q2 expectations and launching
the r2 saw this one on drive tesla canada who wrote rivian has delivered one of its stronger
quarterly performances posting second quarter delivery figures that comfortably exceeded
both its own guidance and wall street expectations the company announced that it had delivered
12194 vehicles during q2 while producing 12613 at its manufacturing facility in normal illinois
the result came in well above rivians previously issued guidance of between 9 and 11 000 deliveries
for the quarter and ahead of analyst estimates around the 10 500 to 11 000 unit range with the
strong results rivian has raised its full year delivery forecast for 2026 the automaker now
expects to live to deliver between 65 and 70 000 vehicles this year an increase from its previous
guidance of 62 to 67 000 units according to the company growth in deliveries was driven primarily
by increasing demand for its commercial electric delivery vans the edvs or actually rdvs the
rivian delivery van and continued momentum from its flagship r1t pickup and r1s suv however perhaps
the biggest milestone of the quarter was the beginning of customer deliveries for the long
awaited r2 suv thank you to drive tesla canada for that and this is just a terrific next step
on rivian's road to profitability they're not there it's a journey they're on that journey
this was a step forward though strong demand is obviously key and what's great for them is not
that not only do they have the big demand driver the r2 but it's awesome to see plenty of interest
in the rdv as well i mean it makes sense because companies as we're gonna find out with the tesla
semi as that now starts to roll out to uh to companies companies care about one thing and one
thing alone profits right and as fuel prices have been going up in recent months those companies
will take savings anywhere they can get them and as we all know as ev owners and enthusiasts
it's not just the fuel savings that add up pretty quickly with an ev although that's obviously the
biggest obvious component there's also the lower maintenance costs because the rdv should pretty
much just need tires and that's it no oil changes tune ups fuel system flushes etc now there are
plenty more rdvs than just the amazon ones they are the first and biggest customer of the rdv
but they're actually sorry what i meant to say was there are plenty more rdvs that other companies
including amazon could buy and i say that because i'm in san francisco a city known for tech right
in fact and i'm being i'm being completely serious when i say this if you ever visit san francisco
you will marvel at how almost literally every billboard on the freeway is for ai it's not a
joke like it's it's like for people that don't live here it's weird like i've had people comment
goes like what's with all the ai billboards and it's just like yep that's just where we are now
so anyway i live in san francisco and i don't see amazon using the rdvs here i see them down south
south of san francisco down in the suburbs but for whatever reason riv excuse me not rivian amazon
has not started deploying them here in san francisco proper yet and i i hope they will soon but
bottom line on this it is great to see rivian bump its forecast up and if they can execute
on the r2 production ramp they're gonna have an absolutely company life altering 2027 in the
very best of ways okay i know i've been talking a whole lot this week i did say there was a lot
to get to i've got one last news story it's kind of a fun one fiat has announced a new
14 thousand dollar ev for the us market this was sent to me via listener john the wireless guy so
john thank you so much for sending this and the story comes from roiders who writes fiat launched
sales in the united states of topolino its two-seat fully electric compact car with a price starting
from 13995 and a range of up to 46 miles weighing just over a thousand pounds and with a length of
about eight feet the vehicle will initially be for use in private communities resorts and golf
courses with a top speed of 19 miles per hour fiat however said that from later this summer
owners will be able to install a kit upgrading their topolinos to federally excuse me federally
regulated low speed vehicles or lsvs allowing a speed of up to 25 miles per hour and access to
certain public roads quote fiat continues to stand apart by embracing its legacy in small cars
said the brand's ceo olivia françois excuse me olivia françois the topolino features a
5.4 kilowatt hour lithium ion battery with a full charge in about five hours fiat said well i couldn't
help but think this is like the monkeys paw curling version of two different things at the same time
one it's the monkey paw curl of me wishing for more affordable evs to come out in the us market
and two it's the monkey paw curling for me wishing for stilantis which owns fiat to actually get
serious about evs it's it's both of those things like oh the monkey paw curls now obviously this is
not a vehicle that most people are gonna buy right it's not intended to be a vehicle that most people
buy it has a very specific purpose for i think we could call it micro commuting right like within
your private community within your resort on a golf course that kind of thing and so i was curious
well hang on a second what does this price like what is the context for this price compared to
golf carts electric golf carts and when i searched this here's what i found on ea carts.com which for
my fellow video gamers out there might make you think back to the sega genesis days and like
nhl 94 ea cartridges is what what that that's like ea carts.com that could be a very different
website about video games but no it's about it's about golf carts anyway uh ea carts.com says
for most buyers 10 to 15 thousand dollars gets you a reliable well equipped four-seater electric
golf cart with lithium batteries so i guess then that the topolino is pretty well in line with what
a typical four-seat electric golf cart goes for of course the topolino is a two-seater so i guess
if you if that's your budget and you're going to be getting you want a golf cart for micro commuting
or just tooling around the golf course if you want to look cooler than your friends who are rocking
traditional golf carts around the private community the topolino looks pretty good i'm not even making
a joke like it's it would be fun like for that purpose for that use case of driving around your
community driving it around the golf course like the topolino it would be a blast to have that thing
it would be so much fun so it does it looks pretty cool you can you can google image search it if you
want to know what it looks like just yeah just search fiat topolino e v t o p o l i n o is uh is
how that's spelled and so i have to say i definitely did not have this on my bingo card as the kind
of e v we get in the us market at all and let alone from stilantis but hey as i've said before in all
seriousness and i mean it every e v is a good e v if you ask me all right that'll wrap it up for a
crazy busy news week but stay tuned i've got some of your ride the lightning hotline phone calls
all teed up and ready to go right after this this is bill daniels the voice of night industries 2000
or kit you're listening to ride the lightning the tesla unofficial podcast happy electric
monitoring it's time to hear from all of you in the ride the lightning hotline your chance to call
in to the show and potentially be featured on an upcoming episode if you'd like to do that there
are two easy ways to call in either use your smart phones built-in voice recording software record
your question i kindly ask that you keep it to 90 seconds or less so i can get to as many calls
each week as possible then email that file to me at tesla podcast at gmail.com or you can take
that same 90 second or less call and just dial in anytime toll free the number is 1-888-989-8752
that number again 1-888-989-TSLA just call and leave a message on the ride the lightning hotline
and if you know someone special out there with an upcoming birthday anniversary graduation
or some of their special occasion you can give them a unique gift of recorded voices from friends
and family telling them why they are special the recordings can be podcasted or put onto a
keepsake visit life on record dot com to learn more first up this week is todd from massachusetts
hey ryan todd here from massachusetts i had a quick question about fsd i wanted to get your thoughts
on so i have a cyber truck 2024 with full full stuff driving i bought it for outright and i have
to say absolutely love it um but the past couple weeks i've had three issues where i get the immediate
you must take control um two of them were for sun so the sun was directly shining towards the cyber
truck in the morning uh and had to take control it would not keep driving and then i just had a
rain event last week um which you know the rain i understand but with the sun i am very concerned
that that our vehicles are not going to be able to do unsurpassed fsd with just having sunlight i
think that tesla's really made a mistake and doesn't have the necessary hardware it needs in order to
be able to drive um i'm curious of your thoughts thanks hey todd thanks for your call there was
a patent that tesla filed a while back maybe a year or two that i had talked about here on the
podcast at the time and the best shorthand description that i could come up with for it
in my feeble attempt to translate the patent speak into something that my layman brain could
understand was that the patent was for sunglasses for the fsd cameras so it seems like tesla does
recognize that this is an issue the question is as you rightly asked what about all of us like if
they roll out something some new hardware thing with this patent in the camera setups what about
the rest of us like i mean we can't blame hardware three in your case because you have a cyber truck
and all of those are ai4 the one other thing that comes to mind is that elan has talked about tesla
changing the way that they that the cameras receive light so that they're basically not blinded as
easily as the human eye is but clearly as you've experienced that doesn't solve the issue completely
so what i'm trying to say here is i unfortunately don't have an answer for you but i think it's a
great question to ask and it is one that tesla itself is clearly thinking about and this one
might be worth posting over on x for ushoek the head of the tesla ai team over uh you know if you've
got an x account fired his way so you can get his attention on it i should do the same but
i appreciate you calling in and it is definitely one part of fsd that uh that's still maybe not
a hundred percent solved yet next up is jason from texas hey ryan it's jason from texas last
night i was having a conversation with a friend who has a 2024 nissan leaf and he was saying that
they don't have a way to charge at tesla superchargers and my initial thought was well hey you just
need to get an adapter so i did a little bit of research this morning and it appears that the current
state is that you cannot charge a nissan leaf at a nacs supercharger because it doesn't have the
communication compatibility i find this weird uh have you heard anything about nissan doing something
to get nissan leafs to work at tesla superchargers well unfortunately jason this does appear to be
true the gen one and gen two leaf cannot charge at tesla superchargers it's chadamo and there's no
direct adapter for that for the superchargers and sadly the leafs leaves leaves also charge
fairly slow relative to a lot of other evs 50 to 100 kilowatts max charge rate depending on the
model year is from what i could find on it so the good news the read the new redesigned leaf
those work obviously because those have an nacs adapter they've got the the the nacs port built
right into them so that's the good news but the rest yeah the earlier nissan leaf models
unfortunately do not work and i'm sorry that i don't have better news for you on that one
i've just got time for one more call this week it comes from drew in ohai uh responding to a
call from admittedly a while ago talking about driving your electric vehicle in icy conditions
go ahead drew hi ryan it's uh drew calling from ohai not the waymo vehicle the actual city um
and i'm calling response to a question or a concern from a previous caller from last last week's
episode i guess two maybe a couple weeks old now about driving teslas on icy conditions and how
that affects things so i have a 2024 cyber truck and that actually has a feature in it where when
you're in off-road mode you can shut that off so it rolls instead of having a typical region occur
which some people might uh really prefer so if you're in a really dicey situation of cyber
truck you can use that i actually don't use that very often because i personally feel that the
regen braking is actually the safest way of slowing down a vehicle because all four wheels
engage at about the same time and it's less picky than the brakes but the real trick is that when
you start to get into a situation you don't pull your foot all the way off the accelerator you
just pull it off just a little bit and by doing that you're actually using it as a brake you can
feather how much regen you want to give by simply varying the amount of throttle come off and so
it's a little bit of a technique to learn where you slowly come up the throttle but if it's if it's
if it's done well it's it's i believe it's the safest way to slow down any vehicles a lot safer
than using brakes and an ice car anyways i hope that's helpful for any of your listeners uh thank
you so much for the podcast and uh happy electric motoring that is helpful drew thank you so much
for your call and for sharing your experience along with that constructive suggestion granted now
that we're officially in summer at least again here in the northern hemisphere i suspect most of my
listeners will need to just file this one away in the back of your mind for once the wintery weather
rolls back around again in several more months but i do very much appreciate this thanks for calling
in thank you to everybody that kindly took the time to call in this week keep those calls coming
i will get to more of them on next week's podcast and if you want to respond to something i said
something another caller said or you've just got a question or ev topic on your mind feel free to
call in i gave you the two easy calling methods at the top of this segment so just refer back to that
well as for me uh i am alone with dogs this weekend so it's gonna be there's gonna be car
washing is gonna go on and a lot of dog walking my wife and daughter are are visiting my in-laws and
i volunteered to stay home and and just keep working stay with the dogs and uh and save a little money
here so that uh you know because things are expensive i gotta i gotta just watch the bills but anyway
it is just me here in the house this weekend so yeah i'm looking forward to cleaning some cars
and walking some dogs a nice simple i'm not gonna by the way i'm happy doing that that is that's not
a that's not a complaint that's actually a a bit of gratitude like the yes that sounds like an
excellent weekend and i'm looking forward to it here's an entertainment recommendation for you
for this week over on hbo life larry and the pursuit of unhappiness that is larry david's new
i don't know if it's like i guess it's like a limited run series thing right it's a it's it's
essentially a series of us history themed curb your enthusiasm sketches is what it actually is so
if you if you enjoyed curb your enthusiasm you're probably going to enjoy this new show that uh
that he's put up there on account of course of the 250th birthday of the united states time for
your pro tip of the week it comes from max in spokane washington hi this is max from spokane
washington if you are anything like me and you are always using cruise control or auto steer
because you don't pay for fsd in that case it's often frustrating when you are driving on a road
that says 35 miles per hour and then turns into say 45 but the car is still going 35 or whatever
the offset you you've got set so the trick is you do not have to scroll the your right button
in order to speed up you can just tap the the speed limit sign on the screen so in this case
the 45 mile an hour speed limit sign on your screen and your car will automatically apply
the offset in the settings so for example in my case i have a set set at plus six miles per hour
if i if i'm in a 45 mile an hour road and i tap that button it'll automatically go to 51 and
actually vice versa i've had auto steer uh potentially start driving like 20 miles an hour over
because i was on a highway and by tapping that button it'll slow you down to whatever your
speed limit is plus the offset anyways have a great day this one's great max thank you so much
sadly this tip is no longer applicable to fsd since tesla has removed user control over
the specific speed limit of the car in favor of speed profiles and yes that is how it is on v14
light as well so i know i think a lot of 12.6 users hardware 3 users i probably should have
mentioned that earlier is uh yeah that the max speed is going away and it's using the speed
profiles that version 14 does on the ai 14 car on the ai4 cars but yes for anybody out there
just using auto steer or traffic adaptive cruise control this is a golden tip in fact
i use this one regularly again until tesla took it away from us on fsd 14 thank you again so much
max appreciate that pro tip of the week if anybody else out there has a good tesla or ev pro tip of
i would love for you to call in with it so i can share it with everybody and we can all learn
from it together and add to our collective ev knowledge base so the way to send in a pro tip
of the week is simple send it in the same way that you would send in a regular ride the lightning
hotline call which again i gave you the two call in methods and and instructions for uh just a few
minutes ago so refer back to that some friends of the podcast to mention that can hopefully be useful
to you here before i scoot out for this week starting with abstract ocean dot com they've got
a million great aftermarket accessories for your tesla or your rivian okay it's not literally a
million but it is thousands it is a whole lot you got to check them out abstract ocean dot com
and then click at the top on whichever vehicle you own and it will then just show you all of the
accessories available for your car whether it's the custom fit gorilla glass tempered glass screen
protectors which are great just throw it on there for the life of the car you'll never have to worry
about your screen getting scratched or anything like that big uh big fan of that one the puddle
lights they sell the same tesla wordmark tesla puddle light lights that tesla itself does but
guess who's got them cheaper abstract oceans got them cheaper than tesla does i wish i'd have known
that before i had bought mine um anyway they've got a again a lot of great lighting kits just tons
of super useful stuff check them out take a look abstract ocean dot com throw everything you like
in your online shopping cart and when you get to check out use the coupon code rtl podcast
to get 15 off of your first order that coupon code again rtl podcast all one word no spaces
meanwhile my friends at rpm tesla they're trusted by over 200 000 tesla owners since 2013 they've
been around a long long time since the early model s days offering over 1400 in-house designed and
manufactured accessories compatible with every tesla model in here talking lots of carbon fiber
stuff a lot of cool design like just spoilers and and that kind of thing you got to take a look
rpm tesla dot com with them buying tesla accessories online is easy and risk-free they have a low
return rate and free return shipping meaning no restocking fees and so it's just it's painless
experience but odds are you're gonna love what you buy and to help you install whatever it is you buy
they offer over 600 step-by-step videos if you live in southern california you can even visit their
showroom for professional installation in fact i hope i'm not speaking out of school here i don't
think i am the the gentleman that that runs rpm tesla is the lovely guy named mark he purchased
one of the final signature series model s's and it is currently on display in that southern california
showroom so if you're in so cal and you've not had the privilege of seeing garnet red seeing a
signature red final signature model s in person you can stop on by rpm tesla to get a look at it
they've got it there in the showroom he sent me a picture and it looks fantastic under that showroom
lighting anyway visit rpm tesla dot com to upgrade your tesla today the infinity shield now uh did i
i know i have it's maybe been a few a little while since i told you all about the time that i
accidentally lowered my garage door onto my tesla well it was not long after i got the car it was in
the very early days back when the you could set your your automatic your garage door opener the
home link within the car to automatically open it or close it and i didn't realize it was going
down at one point and i was halfway out and it touched down and it tapped the it hit the door
stopped on top of the roof glass i got lucky because the again the tires were or the the sensor
was between the tires and so it the the door didn't stop right it it it started going down
after my rear wheels had cleared it and so i'm super lucky that i got away with literally just
the smallest of scratches on my roof glass you probably wouldn't even be able to tell unless
i directly pointed it out but if i had had the infinity shield back then it never would have
happened because most garages like mine only have that single beam sensor that detects objects about
what a couple inches off the floor and this is as i found out firsthand a leading cause of damaged
car hatches bumpers glass roofs and garage doors themselves so infinity shield is the world's
first full coverage garage door sensor utilizing 25 beams it looks like the hope diamond like the
lasers that protect the hope diamond or in a heist movie right so that's those 25 beams are
going to detect protruding bumpers open hatches or anything else in the way of the garage door
it's super easy to install yourself with no special tools it doesn't need to be aligned ever
and it's compatible with all garage door openers it's really quite a piece of engineering get yours
at infinity-shield.com and use promo code RTL at checkout for a $25 discount
the snap plate and plus which is the stronger stainless steel hardened version of it
they're available for you at everyamp.com slash RTL and this is the front license plate bracket
that i recommend if you either want or are legally required to put a front license plate on your car
because the snap plate is a nice clean minimalist design and it when it installs it's not putting
any permanent it's not risking any damage to your car because it's you can take it off like and have
it be like it was never there but when it's on it's on securely the tesla one that tesla gives you
sticks to the front of the car with automotive tape so i would say it's worth the very reasonable
investment buy yourself a snap plate or plus don't use the one that tesla gives you
get yours at everyamp.com slash RTL and use the coupon code RTL for a discount
if you're in or going to be in the greater san francisco bay area with your tesla or other car
that you love make an appointment ahead of time to take it to immaculate reflections
my professional detailer that i use and have used for eight years now
jeff is the owner there he is fantastic i guarantee you you will leave happy whether you want to do
paint protection film on the front of the car or other parts of the car or all of the car
whether you want to do ceramic coating whether you want to do paint correction or some combination
of those three immaculate reflections will have your car looking better than ever and help you
keep it that way with that and specifically in the case of that ppf help you keep it that way
use make sure to use the ride the lightning listener discount if you end up utilizing
any service at immaculate reflections and the way to do that is well first you got to get in touch
and book your appointment so go to irdetailing.com you'll see a contact button in both the upper
left corner of the website and in the center of the homepage click either of those and when you
reach out you know you're going to mention hey i'm looking for this you know how much is that blah
blah blah make sure to mention that you're a ride the lightning listener and so that any work you
ultimately have done will have the ride the lightning listener discount graciously applied
one more time for my patreon again you can find it at and all the information at patreon.com
slash tesla podcast this is where you can go to give back to the podcast to support me support
what i'm doing here the support tiers start at just five bucks a month or you can also do an
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giving you a 10 discount on that annual pledge the support tiers start again at just five bucks
a month that gets you ad-free early access every week you step up to the ten dollar per month tier
which is the most popular one you get the ad-free early access and all 200 and counting of those
weekly lightning round mini episodes that i post specifically and exclusively on patreon so find
all that information check it out and i'd be humble and grateful if you considered some support
over at patreon.com slash tesla podcast most of you already get this podcast some way somehow
but the easiest way to get it totally for free as always this podcast has always been and will
always be free but the easiest way to get it is to follow ride the lightning on your favorite
podcast service whether that's apple podcasts spotify tune in google podcasts etc or i should
say youtube podcast is what it changed to now sorry anyway just search ride the lightning tesla
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following me on whatever your favorite podcast service is lastly you can follow me on social
media if you like i'm on both x and instagram i have the same username on both that username is
dmc underscore ryan you can also email me anytime about any tesla or ev related thing at tesla
podcast at gmail.com finally before i go i'd just like to say hello and thank you to the top
tier patreon backers these extra generous folks get their names shattered out at the end of each
week's podcast as a thank you they also get a standing invitation to each month's patreon zoom
hangout which as i'm recording this will be tomorrow looking forward to that uh they also get all the
other perks and bonuses the early access the ad free the weekly lightning rounds all that stuff
so i'll start at the tippy top of the patreon pyramid if you will thank you so much to the
roadster in space to your backers 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 next up the maximum
plaid backers hello to jonathan wales cameron clark daniel grummer seth capello the galpin family
ryan from new york city darren nickle cos barns patrick wasnesky todd badger joe edgel
kevin yank the tesla owners club of sandwalkine valley willsteadman jeremy harris chris beach
tom mills choreo donnell aron joel sap paul caserino chris osbourne kb adam lavoix jason
chelukas travis krenzel bruce otterstein tom behan josh pennington john from cream ridge new jersey
dustin hart derek finley charles clement daemon kline jeff brown jerry slinger
kenneth corbett brian bertoglio kim bae troy sievers chip hooper matt chinander
robert moran rav christopher man michael williams eric harbert scott shepherd and tom tharp
and finally the grandfathered in plaid tier supporters big thanks to george cassiopo
logan willis peter chalet eric randolph dory and steve guberman the tesla owners club of taiwan
ron lee charlie gillespie jeff angwin chase cabaneas the lydia family erin alchool jamie dalton
mike and barber from louisville matt nixon the tesla owners club of wisconsin ish not elan musk
in quotes peter and the bear boys of colorado and that'll wrap it up for episode 571 of ride the
lightning your weekly tesla and ev podcast it'll be regular business as usual for next week's show
and then the week after that will be my typical quarterly earnings call recap highlights and
analysis so usually there's never a dull week in the tesla and ev space so we'll see what next
week brings before we get that earnings call in a couple weeks until then happy electric
motoring my friends and i'll see you soon
elan musk people don't like elan musk the guy found a paypal and tesla and people were 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
A summer-focused roundup kicks off with Tesla’s new $595 Model Y dual-zone fridge cooler, a 37-quart sub-trunk accessory that can run from 0°F to 68°F—aimed at road trips, camping, and beach days. The show then pivots to listener favorites from a Patreon poll, where all-weather floor mats dominate. The headline is a head-to-head FSD v14 Lite test: the host’s AI4 hardware 3 car (v14.3.4) is compared against Tesla Raj’s hardware 3 car running v14 Lite on the same Redwood City route, with surprising results—v14 Lite nails a tricky parking maneuver, while AI4 struggles.
I got to experience the long-awaited FSD v14 Lite for the older Hardware 3 cars, and I want to tell you all about it. Plus: the Model Y gets a "cool" new accessory, California offers up a new EV incentive, the US market gets a very affordable new EV (but there's a catch), and more! Oh, and if you'd like to watch the FSD v14 (AI4) vs. FSD v14 Lite (HW3) comparison video I did with Tesla Raj, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31aHojmgMEc
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 any Patreon tier!
Also, don't forget to leave a message on the Ride the Lightning hotline anytime with a question, comment, or discussion topic for next week's show! The toll-free number to call is 1-888-989-8752.
INTERESTED IN A FLEXIBLE EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR YOUR TESLA? Be a part of the future of transportation with XCare, the first extended warranty designed & built exclusively for EV owners, by EV owners. Use the code RTL250 to get $250 off your XCare Premium or Battery & Drive Unit Protection Plan using the one-time payment option! Offer expires July 31! Go to https://xcare.com 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 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 $25 discount.
