Lifestyle
Tesla’s march to mainstream Model 3 consumers
Some great books of literature involve traveling down a road or up a river, and can provide great insight on human nature, such as Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.” This novella was the basis for the movie, Apocalypse Now, where Colonel Kurtz has to be eliminated “with extreme prejudice.” Kurtz had gone mad and created his own army in this fictional story.
The movie’s cryptic themes resonate, such as who are the good guys and sound institutions as seen through Capt. Willard’s eyes.
So, with that as a background, how are certain institutions and Tesla supporters perceived in 2016? We know some of the characters: the Koch brothers and their multi-million dollar media campaign against electric vehicles; the conservative — whatever that means these days — LA Times, the short sellers at Seeking Alpha; and the tired histrionics of the old guard automotive press.
https://twitter.com/russellgold/status/793144519885590528
We’ve all seen the hit jobs, which portray Musk’s companies as some raging socialist entity receiving all these huge subsidies while everybody else is pure as the capitalist, driven snow. Volkswagen’s sweet dollops of government incentives for its Tennessee plant are just business for this old guard company or nevermind the fact that Tesla Motors has never gone bankrupt and bailed out like Chrysler and GM.
Musk recently acknowledged the continuous hypocrisy regarding green incentives during the last earnings call last week:
“And then – I need to maybe write a longer blog piece sort of going through this, but Tesla’s sometimes criticized for relying on kind of tax credits and that kind of thing. People really misunderstand this. What matters is, what does Tesla receive relative to its competitors? Not, what does Tesla receive in the absolute?”
And, right on cue, an article titled Behind the Myth: Has the Onetime Valley Visionary Lost His Magic? from Salon.com touched all the bases.
The piece is pure rubbish but the well-written headline does tantalize. Maybe some insights on the manufacturing ramp-up for the Model 3? Or, the very real integration challenges between Solar City and Tesla, and possible cash drain for the company?
Nope, nada. Of course, the article provides a litany of nanny-state “points” for why this fledgling automaker is still standing.
To Musk’s point, there’s no mention in the article that the federal $7,500 tax credit is capped at the first 200,000 electric vehicles or that other car manufacturers actually receive the same credits. And, for old time sake, the author cites the Department of Energy (DoE) program loan program, created by the Bush administration, and delivered to Tesla in 2010 as a point of real contention in 2016. Yep.
Dear cult members, I love you https://t.co/1OzRaSQzhT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2016
How about a dollop of government contracts for SpaceX as a huge conspiracy for this socialist rocket company to spread its political correctness to the universe, eh? Check.
The shit screed never mentioned that SpaceX builds its own motors and 80% of its components for its rockets and has literally upended the aerospace business model.
That could be the reason for the big contract, eh?
How about Boeing or Lockheed Martin — and United Launch Alliance — taken to task for their government contracts or $63 million in incentives from state of Illinois some 15 years ago. Ruins the narrative, I guess.
The argument from relatively sane Tesla detractors is that the media or enthusiast sites are just Tesla supporters. All these sites have reports of Musk turning everything into gold. However, Tesla does miss. Like the Model X falcon wing doors, delivery numbers and deadlines. It’s reported everywhere.
But Tesla and Elon Musk has hit from day one with the Model S. Does anybody remember the derision thrown at Musk for introducing a luxury electric car first. Mmmmmm?
CNBC missed on that one and did they ever admit their mistake? No and what do they do now? They have Bob Lutz trot out the same old tired nanny state talking points. This shit is tired.
That’s partially why the Tesla Army is on guard or the Tesla Cult is in force, to call out these these rubes and ghouls…and well-financed freaks, too. The other side of it is following a transformative company that is completely dedicated to its mission.
As my wife says, maybe it’s a “death rattle” for the old guard and thinking. Let’s hope so.
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.
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.
Golden era pic.twitter.com/AS6pX2dK8N
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) April 16, 2026
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.
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 13, 2026
Lifestyle
Tesla hit by Iranian missile debris in Israel
A Tesla in Israel absorbed a direct hit from missile debris, and the glassroof held.
On March 30, 2026, Lara Shusterman was in Netanya, Israel when Iranian ballistic missiles triggered air raid sirens across the city. While she remained in safety, her 2024 Tesla Model Y did not escape untouched. A heavy piece of missile debris struck the car’s massive glass roof, leaving a deep crater but without shattering. In a Facebook post to the Tesla Israel community the following morning, Shusterman described what happened: “The glass did not shatter into dangerous shards. She stopped the damage and pushed the metal part to the ground.” She closed by thanking Elon Musk and the Tesla team for building what she called “security and a sense of trust even in extreme situations.”
Netanya is a coastal city in central Israel, roughly 18 miles north of Tel Aviv and has been among the areas most frequently struck during Iran’s ongoing missile campaign, following coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian military infrastructure. Falling shrapnel from intercepted missiles is a common occurrence.
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- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
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- A piece of Iranian missile debris that struck Lara Shusterman’s Tesla Model Y in Netanya, Israel on March 30, 2026, after being intercepted by Israeli air defenses.
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- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
Source: Tesla Israel Facebook Group
The incident is a testament to Tesla’s structural engineering. Tesla’s glass roof is designed to support over four times the vehicle’s own weight. That strength has shown up in real-world accidents too. In 2021, a Model Y in California was struck by a falling tree during a storm, with the glass roof holding firm and the cabin remaining intact. In another widely reported incident, a Tesla Model Y plunged 250 feet off the cliff at Devil’s Slide in California in January 2023, with all four occupants, including two young children, surviving.
Disturbing details about Tesla’s 250-foot cliff drop emerge amid initial investigation
Tesla officially launched sales in Israel in early 2021 and captured over 60 percent of Israel’s EV market in the first year. The brand’s foothold in Israel remains significant. Tens of thousands of Teslas are now on Israeli roads, making incidents like Shusterman’s easy to corroborate. On the same week her Model Y took the hit, the U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $178.5 million contract to launch missile tracking satellites, a separate but fitting reminder of how intertwined the Musk ecosystem has become with the realities of modern conflict.
Tesla expands Unsupervised Robotaxi service to two new cities
Tesla is pushing Robotaxi features to owner cars with Spring Update
