Tesla Model S
Will electric sports cars fully replace petrol-based performance cars?
About 20 years ago, when you thought of electric cars, you probably envisioned a safe sedan puttering along the roadway, carrying the eco-conscientious about their daily errands. Today, though, Tesla’s sexy sports cars have become synonymous with electric vehicles. With the new Tesla Model S P100D tearing up the tracks with a 10.7 second quarter mile, will these electric sports cars take the place of our favorite gasoline engines?
Forget Fossil Fuels
We’ve been taught since grade school that fossil fuels are a finite resource, with most sources projecting that we could potentially exhaust natural fuel reserves as soon as 2052. We might not have to wait that long, though. Some experts in the electric car industry are predicting that fossil fuels in general will be totally obsolete by 2030. Why?
Two words – electric vehicles.
Projections are showing that once electric cars are mass-produced, they will cost less to charge, less to build and subsequently, be less expensive to purchase as well.
Of course, the automotive and oil industries are not happy with this prediction, but it doesn’t seem like there’s much that will prevent the electric car revolution.
Pros and Cons
Electric cars do have some major benefits to be sure. Some pros of owning an electric sports car include:
- They’re quieter than the traditional internal combustion engine
- You never have to line up as the gas pump ever again
- They’re more efficient and less expensive to operate
- They help reduce your carbon footprint
- They’re the newest, shiniest toys
If you’re a fan of the traditional sports car, though, a few of these pros can quickly become cons. While the motor of an electric car can be quieter than its internal combustion counterpart, some will argue that it can never match the roar of a tricked-out sports car engine as it tears its way down the track. For some, that’s one of the main reasons they get a car only to spend thousands on mods that will give them that perfect rumble.
The P100D might be able to rocket from 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds, courtesy of its Ludicrous mode – a nod to Mel Brooks’ movie “Spaceballs” and to Elon Musk’s love of all things pop culture – but does the quiet electric motor have the soul that a V8 Mustang or Corvette engine does?
-
Will Electric Really Take Over?
This battle to the death between electric cars and classic gasoline-powered ones will likely be a long one. Growing concerns about carbon emissions and dwindling fossil fuel stores will carry the electric car revolution to its logical conclusion, but classic car lovers will likely not go down without a fight.
Like the automatic transmission before it, car lovers will likely be slow to accept the changeover to electric sports cars. Even today, there are still people arguing that the manual transmission provides a better driving experience, because they would rather have the “original, pure” way. Even as laws change to favor electric, change will likely be slow. Just think of all the times you see cars with pitch black windows, despite there being laws that only allow certain limits. Very few people would un-tint their windows when the laws change, and even fewer are going to stop driving their classic gas-powered cars as laws on those tighten as well.
There’s no way to tell what the final outcome of this battle will be, but if previous automotive advances are any indication, there will always be a few holdouts that cling to their internal combustion engines. Nothing will ever replace the roar of a V8 tearing its way down the track, but the automotive industry is changing and we will simply have to follow the path of innovation or risk being left in the dust.
Firmware
Tesla unlocks in-car web conferencing to extend Google Meet, Teams and beyond
Tesla’s Summer Update lets owners join Google Meet, Teams, and Discord calls via cabin camera.
Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update, which just began rolling out to customer vehicles, now links the built-in web browser with the in-cabin camera feed and microphone input, thereby letting owners join video calls on nearly any browser-based service instead of just Zoom.
The change appears in Tesla’s own release notes for software version 2026.26 under “Web Browser,” which states that the vehicle can now use its interior camera and cabin microphone when a website requests access, with permission granted the same way a desktop browser handles it. As NotATeslaApp notes, this feature opens the door to Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Discord, and other webcam-enabled sites to activate the in-car cabin-facing camera. The feed automatically crops and zooms to center the driver in frame.
Tesla has offered in-car video calling before, but only through a dedicated Zoom app that launched at the end of 2022, a stripped-down browser preloaded with Zoom’s own web client and gated behind Premium Connectivity. Opening the full browser to any camera-requesting site removes that walled garden. Elon Musk first called video conferencing “definitely a future feature” back in 2020, when the pandemic pushed remote meetings into daily life, so this update effectively finishes something Tesla has been promising for six years.
Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features
The feature keeps the same restrictions that applied to Zoom on Tesla vehicles. It only works while the car is parked; shifting into Drive disables the camera feed, according to the release notes. It is also limited to vehicles running Tesla’s AMD Ryzen infotainment hardware, meaning older Intel-based Model S and Model X units, along with early Model 3 and Model Y builds, don’t get it.
Turning the browser into a general entry point for the in-cabin camera, rather than routing everything through one local app, widens the number of third-party sites that can ask for access, even though Tesla’s permission prompt.
With the Summer update only days into its rollout, be sure to stay with us on TikTok and X to see the latest video demonstrations.
-
In a move echoing its earlier commitment to open innovation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced recently that the company plans to make the design and software of its Model S and Model X fully open source.
This follows the same approach Tesla took with its original Roadster, releasing all available design, engineering, and diagnostic materials in November 2023 so that “whatever we have, you now have.”
Just as Tesla made the original Roadster design & software open source, we plan to do the same with Model S & X
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2026
The Model S, introduced in 2012, was Tesla’s first mass-produced vehicle and a groundbreaking luxury electric sedan. It offered impressive range, rapid acceleration, and over-the-air software updates that redefined expectations for electric cars.
The Model X, launched in 2015, built on that foundation as a high-performance electric SUV notable for its distinctive falcon-wing doors, spacious interior, and advanced safety features. Both models served as flagships that helped establish Tesla as a leader in the EV industry and popularized long-range battery-electric vehicles.
Production of the Model S and Model X was wound down earlier in 2026, with manufacturing ending in the second quarter. Tesla redirected the Fremont factory space previously used for these vehicles toward higher-priority projects, including Optimus humanoid robots and the Cybercab autonomous vehicle.
-
By the time of Musk’s open-source announcement, custom orders had closed and only remaining inventory was available.
Open-sourcing the designs and software offers several clear advantages. Owners of these aging but still capable vehicles gain better access to technical documentation, diagnostic tools, and software resources, making independent repairs and modifications easier and more affordable.
Independent repair shops and third-party specialists can support the large existing fleet without relying solely on Tesla’s service network. Enthusiasts and engineers can study real-world implementations of Tesla’s battery, powertrain, and software systems, potentially accelerating broader industry progress in electric mobility.
The step aligns with Tesla’s 2014 patent pledge and its overall mission to advance sustainable transport by sharing hard-won knowledge rather than locking it behind proprietary walls.
By releasing these materials now that the models have left production, Tesla ensures continued support for its early adopters while freeing internal resources for future technologies. The open-source release of the original Roadster already enabled simulations, community projects, and deeper technical understanding.
Extending that practice to the Model S and Model X should deliver similar benefits on a larger scale, helping keep these influential vehicles relevant and repairable for years to come
-
Cybertruck
Tesla Mobile App gets a new feature that wrap fans are going to love
Tesla’s Summer Update removes the USB drive step from customizing your car’s digital wrap design.
Tesla’s latest 2026 Summer Update quietly closes out one of the more tedious steps in personalizing a Tesla’s digital appearance. Uploading a custom wrap design used to require a USB drive. Now it doesn’t.
The feature is listed in Tesla’s release notes as “Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App.” The company described it plainly: “Skip the USB drive and upload a custom wrap of your car from the mobile app. Instructions for creating a custom wrap here: github.com/teslamotors/custom-wraps.”
The digital wrap tool has been around since Tesla’s 2024 Holiday Update, when it launched for Cybertruck owners first, as Teslarati reported at the time. Getting a design onto the car meant formatting a USB drive, creating a folder named exactly “Wraps,” dropping in PNG files sized between 512×512 and 1024×1024 pixels and under 1 MB each, then plugging the drive in and applying the wrap through Toybox. Tesla expanded the tool to other models and renamed it from “Colorizer” to “Paint Shop” with the 2025 Holiday Update, while also adding license plate and window tint customization alongside the wraps.
Custom wraps via mobile app https://t.co/5OydZ26g9p pic.twitter.com/uexU0ZePxu
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 22, 2026
The latest Summer Update removes the USB step from that process. Owners will be able to pull a design from wherever they saved it, whether that’s a download from social media or something built from Tesla’s own GitHub templates, and push it to the car directly through the app.
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
-
It’s a small fix relative to the rest of this latest release, which also included expanded Grok voice commands, automatic navigation that learns regular routes, and self-driving stats inside the mobile app, all detailed in our rundown of the full Summer Update. The USB requirement was one of the more common complaints about Paint Shop since it launched. Tesla did not say when the wrap upload change would reach individual vehicles, only that the broader update is rolling out now in waves.
The Boring Company’s newest tunnel vehicle runs on Tesla parts and no one is driving it
Elon Musk and SpaceX shrugs off the trading day Wall Street feared most
