Robotaxi launch, Model S/X updates, & Elon Drama | Tesla Motors Club Podcast #74
About this episode
Robotaxi rollout chatter dominates: Tesla’s Austin launch keeps slipping (12th to 22nd), with talk of geofencing, “Robotaxi” labeled cars, and chase vehicles. The hosts debate whether Tesla’s camera-only approach is ready, pointing to a recent Arizona pedestrian fatality tied to sun glare and questioning Elon’s “direct photon counting” explanation. They also cover modest Model S/X refreshes—new colors, range tweaks, front camera, noise/suspension updates, and more ambient lighting—while calling the changes underwhelming. The rest is Elon drama: xAI/X merger, NASA nomination turmoil, and SpaceX/space-station contract threats.
In this episode of the Tesla Motors Club podcast, hosts Louis, Doug, and Mike anticipate the Tesla Robotaxi rollout. We discuss Elon’s claim that sun glare doesn’t affect the FSD cameras, the updated Models S and X, Louis’s take on xAI acquiring X (formerly Twitter), updates on SpaceX, and more!
Show notes and comments
Live version on YouTube
Visit our website at https://teslamotorsclub.com/
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:41 Tesla's Robotaxi Rollout
03:45 Elon Time
08:29 Burn a Tesla, Save Democracy???
10:40 Tesla's Vision-Only Approach and Its Limitations
12:59 Elon's "Photon Count" Solution to Sun Glare
23:31 Recent Updates to Models S and X
26:43 New S & X Pricing Strategy
27:46 The S & X Updates We Wanted
30:58 Louis on xAI Buying X
35:37 Elon Yoinking Sci-Fi Terms
37:40 NASA and SpaceX Updates
40:25 Fallout from the Elon/Trump Twitter Spat
42:03 Taking My Toys and Going Home
48:10 Outro
Co-hosts-
Louis: @nebusoft
Mike: @SteelClouds
Doug: @doug
Producers-
Daniel: @danny
Doug: @doug
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Metro Austin Metro
"...concerning, right? And this rollout is gonnabe in Austin metro area. I don't know how much ofan issue the low su..."
Tesla Model Y
"...les withBright sunYeah, and so this accidentwas a model Y in 2023, November. assuming, I don't know definit..."
Tesla Model S
"...uck it in there. Some of that made mejealous as a Model S owner. Mike, can you give us a bit of a breakdown..."
Tesla Model X
"...was 348, the new one will be 368. If you've got a Model X longrange, you go from 329 to 352. If you've got ..."
Tesla Cybertruck
"...dded a front camera. They've taken a page fromthe Cybertruck and the, new Ythe 2025 Y Juniper and gaveit the f..."
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