Lifestyle
Reliving Model 3 Mania: Buying a Tesla I’ve Never Seen
The Model 3 is quite possibly the most important car to Tesla’s future. The Roadster, Model S and Model X were somewhat exclusive cars given the high price and low production volume, but the Model 3 is targeted to mid-market consumers and has been part of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s not-so-secret Master Plan for years. Musk is finally at a point where he’ll be delivering on this incredible long term vision and I’m proud to be a part of it.
As much of the world already knows, Tesla Stores began taking reservations on the morning of March 31 for the Model 3. The announcement prompted anxious fans to line up hours before official store opening hours with some going as far as camping out overnight to be first in line to drop a $1,000 for a Model 3 reservation. But despite the efforts, Tesla has already stated that several factors come into play that will determine your real place in line to receive the coveted Model 3.
- Reservation Number
- Existing Tesla owners get preference
- Higher optioned cars will be delivered earlier
- Where you live (will start rolling out on US West Coast first)
In essence there isn’t as much benefit being the very first in line to reserve a Model 3 at stores than some might think.
Reserving a Model 3 was as simple as filing out a basic form
TESLARATI Premium Membership
$19.99 USDHundreds of people lined up in front of stores, with some reports indicating 800+ people in line before store opening. Despite the long lines the reservation process itself was quick and painless.
Like thousands of people worldwide, I got in line before store opening for my chance to grab an early reservation number and participate in the event. I own a Model S and love the car, but I also have three other ICE vehicles in my family many of which are nearing 200k miles, an age where the vehicle begins to deteriorate and cost more to maintain than the value of the car itself. I see the Model 3 as a viable replacement for at least one of those ICE vehicles so my hope is to stretch the life of these cars until the Model 3 becomes available.
I got to my local Tesla store at Natick Mall in Natick Massachusetts just before 8am to find 70 people lined up already. The line grew to about 225 by the time reservations began at the 10am store opening time.
Most of the people I met in line did not yet own a Tesla which was not only a surprise but fantastic to hear. It was really encouraging to learn that many people waited years for this opportunity to drive electric, but more importantly drive electric in a Tesla.
The experience waiting in line was pleasant. Tesla did a great job of managing the throngs of people funneling into the store once it opened. Each reservation took approximately 2 minutes per person with 4 stations taking reservations simultaneously. By 10:30 am ET my reservation was complete and I was now a proud future owner of a Model 3.
A line remained in front of the store until 1:30pm local time and shortly dissipated to the point that one can simply walk in to reserve a Model 3 with no wait.
An hour before Elon officially unveiled the Model 3, Tesla opened up its online reservation system for the Model 3. The servers were sluggish and required some patience but they held up. Elon would later announce during his speech at the event that Tesla had booked over 115,000 reservations for the Model 3, and in less than 24 hours. His master plan was being validated considering this impressive number of reservations was for a car nobody knew much about or even seen.
Tesla Model 3 Specifications
Tesla live streamed the event. Elon started by revealing new details for the vehicle followed by a live demo and test ride of working prototypes. Even at a base price of $35,000, the Model 3 is well-equipped with features that makes it a compelling car to own.
- EPA range: 215 miles
- The EPA range for the Tesla Model S 60kWh is 208 miles so this is even better.
- Superchargers have been strategically placed such that you can drive the Model S 60 across the country between superchargers (but on the S60 you must be more careful) so this means whatever you can do with a S60 you will be able to do with the Model 3 which is fantastic news!
- 0 – 60: Under 6 seconds
- For reference my Model S is 5.4 seconds and this number is for the basic Model 3. I have no need for more performance than what I have now and 5.4 feels very quick. People will love this level of performance.
- Like the Model S, there will be performance options for the Model 3 to make it even faster for significantly more money.
- Seating for 5 adults
- Tesla made a point of mentioning the work they did to move the front driving position forward thanks to the empty room in the front of the car where an engine would normally go. I think there’s going to be a lot of legroom in the Model 3 — more than competing cars within its category such as the Audi A4 and BMW 3 series. This fact will be a key selling point.
- 5 Star Safety Rating
- Elon led with this point again just like he did when he revealed the Model X. Most people have the mindset that the bigger the vehicle, the more safe it is, but knowing a Model 3 has a 5 star safety rating in all categories, this could give Tesla a real competitive advantage and shift buying behavior.
- Autopilot Safety Features
- The Model 3 will have Autopilot hardware and have autopilot safety features included but, like the Model S and X, it won’t have autopilot enabled unless you pay an upgrade price.
- Supercharging Standard
- Elon said the Model 3 will include Supercharging as a standard feature. I took this to mean there’s no extra charge for it, not just the ability to use it with a surcharge.
- Reducing the friction to charge especially for first time Tesla owners is a great idea, but one thing the company must keep in mind is that this action could lead to more local Supercharger abuse. Tesla will have to figure out a strategy that will account for this.
One important point Elon made during his presentation was around the 215 mile range and 0 – 60 mph acceleration in under 6 seconds being the specs for the entry level Model 3. It’s almost certain that Elon will surprise us with a lot more range and performance when he presents Part 2 of the Model 3.
Tesla Model 3 Design – Exterior
During the Model 3 presentation Elon pointed out a few key points to the design:
- The roof is one continuous pane of glass for extra headroom and a sense of openness
- Front trunk (frunk) and Trunk (hatchback) are part of the design
- The Model 3 will have more cargo capacity of any ICE car with the same external dimensions
My initial reaction to the front of the Model 3 was one of ambivalence, but as I continue to look at Model 3 pictures the visual styling of the car has grown on me. I had a similar initial reaction when I first saw the Models S and Model X. I got past it on the S and actually like it now, but on the X I haven’t gotten there yet.
We know the Model 3 will have a dual motor all wheel drive capability, but it’s unclear whether this will be standard or available as an upgrade. The Model 3 prototypes seen at the unveil event also had varying door handles among the three vehicles present. As we begin to see more Model 3 sightings across California, we’ll soon find out which direction the Tesla team will take in terms of the final specs.
Tesla Model 3 Design – Interior
The Model has a spacious interior and one that differs significantly over its Model S and Model X siblings. Photos of the Model 3 shows a missing dashboard and a 15″ center-mounted touchscreen in landscape orientation.
Similar to early pictures of the Model X prototype that showed a large screen protruding from the dash, I believe the Model 3 touchscreen in its current configuration is just a placeholder and will change once in production. I doubt the screen will remain in its current set up as it would be prone to being damaged due to lack of structural rigidity in its mounting position.
Tesla also seems to have gotten over their aversion to center consoles. New Model S and Model X come with a center console as a standard offering, and the Model 3 seems to have one as well.
Summary
Part of Elon’s presentation that I thought was critical to Tesla’s future success is the continued expansion of the Supercharger network, Stores, and the Service centers they operate across the world. The company plans on doubling the Supercharger network and quadrupling destination chargers by the end of next year.
Overall I was very impressed with the Model 3 launch event. The stores handled the volume well, the presentation was pretty much on time, and provided just enough information to keep potential buyers intrigued, while holding back on future details. The Model 3 didn’t have that many surprises and thats a good thing. Tesla didn’t need another over-engineered car.
Watch the full Model 3 unveiling presentation by Elon Musk:
Investor's Corner
Tesla Robotaxi gets a massive upgrade in Nevada
Nevada regulators just approved a massive expansion of Tesla’s robotaxi fleet across the entire county.
Tesla’s robotaxi footprint in Nevada just grew by roughly 500 times in a single regulatory vote.
The Nevada Transportation Authority approved Tesla’s full Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit on Thursday, clearing the way for the company to deploy up to 5,000 driverless vehicles across Clark County over the next 12 months. The decision came during a four hour general session meeting that Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt watched live and reported on X, noting the vote replaces the interim order that had limited Tesla to just 10 robotaxis on a narrow stretch of the Las Vegas Strip.
EXCLUSIVE: Tesla has just officially received approval for its full Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit in Nevada, clearing the way for Tesla to launch a paid public Robotaxi service in Las Vegas.
This officially allows @Tesla to deploy up to 5,000 robotaxis over the next… pic.twitter.com/DPs5UtUlrE
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 20, 2026
That earlier cap, covered here after it surfaced on August 13, came with restrictions that looked stricter than what Tesla runs in Austin: a 45 mph speed ceiling, no airport pickups, and a geofence confined to the Strip corridor. The new approval extends Tesla’s operating authority to all of Clark County, with room to request an even wider geofence across the state.
Tesla representatives at the meeting said they have no intention of putting 5,000 cars on the road right away. Commercial rides are expected to start within 30 days, pending vehicle inspections, insurance filings, and fare approval, the standard steps every robotaxi operator in Nevada has had to clear.
Tesla’s own Robotaxi account replied to the news with a short line, The golden future is upon us.
The timing lines up with Tesla’s broader robotaxi push this month. The company is preparing to open Cybercab rides to the public in Austin as soon as this month, and it opened a sweepstakes for riders to win a seat at the launch event. Tesla filed its original application for a 5,000 vehicle Nevada fleet back in June, a request regulators trimmed to 10 vehicles when they issued the interim order in July. Thursday’s vote effectively grants the number Tesla asked for from the start.
Zoox, the Amazon owned robotaxi operator, has run in Nevada since 2025 and was capped at 100 vehicles before Thursday’s decision. Tesla’s new ceiling puts it well ahead of that comparison on paper, though the company has said its actual fleet size will depend on how quickly FSD v15 rolls out, the software update executives have called the gateway to scaling unsupervised robotaxi operations nationwide.
Elon Musk
India tells Elon Musk’s X to “Follow the Law” in latest censorship update
Elon Musk says X now exposes government censorship, but India’s secrecy laws complicate that promise.
Elon Musk’s promise to make government censorship requests on X “clearly visible” is running into a wall in India, where the law forbids the very disclosure Musk is promising.
On August 15, Musk responded to an update from X’s open-source algorithm team by writing “Any censorship required by governments is now clearly visible.” The claim referred to a change X pushed two days earlier to its public xai-org/x-algorithm repository, which now includes a controversial filter written directly into the code. The filter suppresses posts from 665 accounts flagged by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court from appearing in the For You feed of any viewer located in Brazil, unless the viewer already follows the account. The election tied to the filter is scheduled for October 4.
India’s government wasn’t as impressed, and responded on Monday that “X will have to follow the law of the land,” in response to Musk’s transparency push covered by the Times of India. The problem is structural rather than political. India issues content blocking orders under Section 69A of its IT Act, and Rule 16 of the accompanying 2009 Blocking Rules requires those orders to stay confidential. Publishing an India equivalent of the Brazil filter, naming specific accounts and citing specific government orders, would itself violate Indian law. Government use of Section 69A has grown from roughly 6,000 orders a year between 2018 and 2023 to about 24,300 in 2025, according to a Tech Times report.
The contrast puts Musk’s transparency pledge in an odd spot. It works largely as advertised in Brazil, where electoral law requires disclosure and X can point to specific account IDs and a specific court order in public code. It cannot work the same way in India, where the law requires the opposite. X users in India will keep seeing content disappear from search and their feeds without any public accounting of why, even as X tells the rest of the world that its censorship compliance is now inspectable.
This isn’t the first time X’s fights with a national government have shaped how the platform operates. Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered X to suspend the accounts of sitting lawmakers and journalists in 2024, a standoff that cost X its Brazilian revenue for months and froze Starlink’s local accounts before the investigation into Musk and X was closed in March with no evidence of wrongdoing found. X also sued California over a state law requiring moderation disclosures, arguing the mandate itself violated the First Amendment.
Whether India’s government pursues anything beyond a public statement remains to be seen. For now, the mismatch between what X can legally publish and what different governments legally allow it to publish is the real story behind Musk’s seven word claim.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
Florida’s governor rode Tesla’s Cybercab at a closed test track and called the experience impressive.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rode in a Tesla Cybercab on a closed test track this week and came away impressed, posting on X that the vehicle “successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.” He called the ride “impressive.”
The stop was part of a broader event Monday at SunTrax, a 775 acre state owned proving ground in Auburndale that Florida built specifically to test autonomous and connected vehicles before they reach public roads. Standing next to a gold Cybercab, DeSantis described the car in plain terms: “You go in there and you just sit. You have a screen. There’s no steering wheel, no pedals. Clearly these things could be very beneficial.”
We took a ride on a robotaxi on the Suntrax course and it successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.
Impressive! https://t.co/FVAkzFLz3r
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 11, 2026
DeSantis paired the praise with a caveat that has followed autonomous vehicles since the category existed. “You don’t want to be in an autonomous vehicle and it drives you into a ditch. That would not be good,” he said, framing safety validation as the gate before wider deployment.
SunTrax, the 2.25 mile oval which the state calls the only high speed autonomous vehicle test track in the Southeast, can simulate rain, pedestrian crossings, hills and crowded urban conditions at highway speeds, letting companies push a car past what an early public rollout would risk. Tesla, Waymo and Beep all use the facility, and Florida’s regulatory approach, among the most permissive for autonomous vehicles in the country, doesn’t require a human operator inside a fully autonomous car.
Tesla has reason to want the blessing of Florida and states beyond, as the Cybercab entered volume production at Gigafactory Texas this spring and has since self certified as SAE Level 4 under Texas law. Public road testing so far has kept a safety monitor in the passenger seat, and Florida is where Tesla has been expanding its existing Model Y based Robotaxi service instead, adding Miami in July and then Orlando and Tampa two weeks later. A closed track endorsement from a sitting governor doesn’t change any of that, but it does put Tesla’s newest hardware in front of a state that has already shown it will move fast on rules.
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