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Tesla Model 3 battles Toyota Supra, Audi e-tron, and Jaguar I-PACE in 4-way bout

(Credit: carwow/YouTube)

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A Tesla Model 3 was recently involved in a four-way battle that featured two premium electric vehicles and one of the most interesting sports cars to come out of Japan in years — the Toyota Supra. Through a drag race, a rolling race, and a braking test, the Model 3 proved that it takes far more than a bigger battery pack and a lighter overall weight to take down a four-door family sedan from Silicon Valley. 

The four-way battle was conducted by UK-based auto group carwow, which previously listed the Model 3 as the best EV buyers can purchase today due to its tech, quality, and driving dynamics. As noted by carwow host Mat Watson, each vehicle in the test brings something interesting to the table. 

The Jaguar I-PACE EV400, a premium crossover SUV, is a very quick vehicle, with a 90 kWh battery pack, 400 hp, 700 Nm of torque, and dual motor AWD. For its size, the Jaguar I-PACE is quite heavy at around 2.2 tons (4,400 lbs). The Audi e-tron 55 is the largest car of the bunch, with its 95 kWh battery, 406 hp, 664 Nm of torque, dual motors AWD, and a weight of about 2.5 tons (5,000 lbs).

In comparison, the Tesla Model 3 Performance is equipped with a 75 kWh battery pack, 450 hp, 640 Nm of torque, dual-motor AWD, and a pretty balanced weight of about 1.8 tons (3,600 lbs). The Toyota Supra, the only vehicle in the group equipped with an internal combustion engine, is fitted with 3.0-liter straight-six turbo from BMW with 340 hp and 500 Nm of torque. Unlike its electric challengers, the Supra is Rear-Wheel Drive. It’s also the lightest at just around 1,560 kg (3,400 lbs). 

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The four vehicles were subjected to three tests: a classic quarter-mile drag race, a rolling race from 50 mph, and a brake test from 70 mph. The results of the quarter-mile race proved favorable to the Model 3 Performance, as the vehicle was able to cross the finish line in 11.8 seconds. The Tesla was followed by the Jaguar I-PACE, which finished the quarter-mile in 12.6 seconds; the Toyota Supra, which completed the race in 12.8 seconds; and finally, the Audi e-tron, which took 13.5 seconds to finish the run. 

The Tesla Model 3 almost seemed a class above its competitors in the 50 mph rolling race. The Model 3 Performance simply pulled ahead, followed by the Jaguar I-PACE. Unfortunately for the Jaguar, the Supra eventually caught it at 128mph, though the Japanese sports car still couldn’t catch the Tesla. Similar to the previous race, the Audi e-tron came last.

Perhaps most surprising were the results of the braking test. Despite being the lightest car in the group, the Toyota Supra only came second to the Tesla Model 3 Performance. Quite surprisingly, the Audi e-tron performed very well in the braking test despite its heft, beating the lighter Jaguar I-PACE and stopping only a few feet beyond the Supra.

What’s impressive about the results of carwow‘s test is that the Tesla Model 3 Performance is actually the most affordable car of the bunch at just around GBP 50,000 ($61,400 in the UK). For comparison, the Toyota Supra is sold in the UK at around GBP 52,000 ($65,000), the Jaguar I-PACE is priced at around GBP 64,000 ($78,600), and the Audi e-tron is priced at a premium GBP 70,000 ($85,900). 

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Watch carwow‘s four-way battle featuring the Tesla Model 3, the Toyota Supra, the Jaguar I-PACE, and the Audi e-tron in the video below. 

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk

Tesla is sending its humanoid Optimus robot to the Boston Marathon

Tesla’s Optimus robot is heading to the Boston Marathon finish line

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Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot will be stationed at the Tesla showroom at 888 Boylston Street in Boston, right along the final stretch of the Boston Marathon today, ready to cheer on runners and pose for photos with spectators.

According to a Tesla email shared by content creator Sawyer Merritt on X, Optimus will be at the Boston Boylston Street showroom on April 20, coinciding with Marathon Monday weekend. The Boston Marathon finishes on Boylston Street, and the surrounding area draws hundreds of thousands of spectators along with international broadcast coverage. Placing Optimus there puts it in front of a massive public audience at zero advertising cost.

The Tesla showroom is at 888 Boylston Street, between Gloucester Street and Fairfield Street. The final mile of the marathon runs directly along Boylston Street, with runners passing the big stores before reaching the finish line at Copley Square.

Optimus was first announced at Tesla’s AI Day event on August 19, 2021, when Elon Musk presented a vision for a general-purpose robot designed to take on dangerous, repetitive, and unwanted tasks. In March 2026, Optimus appeared at the Appliance and Electronics World Expo in Shanghai, where on-site staff stated that mass production of the robot could begin by the end of 2026. Before that, it showed up at the Tesla Hollywood Diner opening in July 2025 and at a Miami showroom event in December 2025.

Tesla’s well-calculated display of Optimus gives the public a low-pressure first encounter with a robot that Tesla is preparing  to soon deploy at scale. The company has previously indicated plans to manufacture Optimus robots at its Fremont facility at up to 1 million units annually, with an Optimus production line at Gigafactory Texas targeting 10 million units per year.

Tesla showcases Optimus humanoid robot at AWE 2026 in Shanghai

Musk has said that Optimus “has the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business over time,” and separately that roughly 80 percent of Tesla’s future value will come from the robot program. Whether that holds depends on production execution. For now, Boston gets a preview of what that future looks like, standing at the finish line on Boylston Street while 32,000 runners pass by.

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Elon Musk

Tesla’s golden era is no longer a tagline

Tesla “golden era” teaser video highlights the future of transportation and why car ownership itself may be the next thing to change.

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Tesla Cybercab Golden Era is Here (Credit: Tesla)
Tesla Cybercab Golden Era is Here (Credit: Tesla)

The golden age of autonomous ridesharing is arriving, and Tesla is making sure we can all picture a future that looks like the future. A recent teaser posted to X shows a Cybercab parked outside a home, and with a clear message that your everyday life may soon look like this when the driverless vehicles shows up at your door.

Tesla has begun the rollout of its Robotaxi service across US cities, and the production of its dedicated, fully-autonomous Cybercab vehicle. The first Cybercab rolled off the Giga Texas assembly line on February 17, 2026, with volume production now targeted for this month. Additionally, the Robotaxi service built around it is already running, without human drivers, in US cities.

Tesla Cybercab production ignites with 60 units spotted at Giga Texas

The Cybercab is built without a steering wheel, pedals, or side mirrors, designed from the ground up for unsupervised autonomous operation. Musk described the manufacturing approach as closer to consumer electronics than traditional car production, targeting a cycle time of one unit every ten seconds at full scale.

Drone footage from April 13, 2026 captured over 50 Cybercab units on the Giga Texas campus, with several clustered near the crash testing facility. Musk has noted that Tesla plans to sell the Cybercab to consumers for under $30,000, and owners will be able to add their vehicles to the Tesla robotaxi network when not in personal use, potentially generating income to offset the vehicle’s purchase cost. That model changes the math on vehicle ownership in a meaningful way, making a car something closer to a depreciating asset that can also earn by paying itself off and generate a profit.

During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call, the company confirmed plans to expand the Robotaxi program to seven new cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas. The service already runs without safety drivers in Austin, and public road testing of the Cybercab has expanded to five states, including California, Texas, New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts.

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Firmware

Tesla 2026 Spring Update drops 12 new features owners have been waiting for

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Tesla announced its Spring 2026 software update, and it’s the most feature-dense seasonal release the company has put out. The update covers twelve named changes spanning FSD, voice AI, safety lighting, dashcam storage, and pet display customization, among other things.

The centerpiece for owners with AI4 hardware is a redesigned Self-Driving app. The new interface lets owners subscribe to Full Self-Driving with a single tap and view ongoing FSD usage stats directly in the vehicle.

Grok gets its biggest in-car upgrade yet. The update adds a “Hey Grok” hands-free wake word along with location-based reminders, so a driver can now say “remind me to pick up groceries when I get home” without touching the screen. Grok first arrived in vehicles in July 2025, but each update has pushed it closer to genuine daily utility. Musk framed the broader vision clearly at Davos in January, saying Tesla is “really moving into a future that is based on autonomy.”

On safety, the update introduces enhanced blind spot warning lights that integrate directly with the cabin’s ambient lighting, building on the blind spot door warning that arrived in update 2026.8.

Dog Mode has been renamed Pet Mode and now lets owners choose a dog, cat, or hedgehog icon and add their pet’s name to the display.

Dashcam retention now extends up to 24 hours, up from the previous one-hour rolling loop, with a permanent save option for any clip. Weather maps now show rain and snow with better color differentiation and include the past hour of precipitation data along the route.

Tesla has now established a clear rhythm of two major OTA pushes per year. As with last year’s Spring update, that cycle started taking shape in 2025 with adaptive headlights and trunk customization. The 2025 Holiday Update then added Grok to the vehicle for the first time. This Spring follows that structure: the Holiday update introduces new architecture, and the Spring update broadens it across the fleet.

Two notable features still did not make it. IFTTT automations, which launched in China earlier this year, were held back from this North American release for unknown reasons, and Apple CarPlay remains absent, reportedly still delayed by iOS 26 and Apple Maps compatibility issues.

Below is the full list of feature updates released by Tesla.

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