Lifestyle
Stealthy Tesla Model 3 bullies muscle cars and tuned imports in multiple drag races
The Tesla Model 3 is becoming more and more commonplace in the United States. With its ubiquity, the electric sedan is now being spotted rather frequently in drag races, just like its larger siblings — the Model S and X. And just like the Model S and X, the Model 3 is also gaining a reputation for being a serious contender in straight-line races.
One such Model 3 recently made an appearance in a drag strip meet at the SDCCU Stadium in San Diego, CA, where it battled several vehicles including muscle cars, souped-up imports, and even a couple of roaring SUVs in intense 1/8-mile races. Just like a mysterious blue Model 3 that dominated a series of drag races earlier this year, the exact trim of the stealthy red electric sedan that competed in the recent event was not announced. Based on how well the vehicle performed and how it beat its opponents, though, the car was likely a Model 3 Performance or a Long Range Model 3 AWD.
The vehicle in the video, which was uploaded on YouTube’s auto-themed 7zerex channel, did not have a Dual Motor badge or a carbon fiber rear spoiler. The electric sedan did not seem to be equipped with red brake calipers as well, as could be seen from the gaps of its aftermarket wheels. That said, the Model 3 was also fitted with what appeared to be 20″ Michelin Pilot Sport 4S wheels, which were released for the Performance variant.
The electric sedan battled numerous fossil fuel-powered vehicles during its drag racing session. Included among the Model 3’s opponents were a muscle car and several tuned imports, all of which were thoroughly dominated by the electric sedan. Only one vehicle was able to give the Model 3 a run for its money in the uploaded video — an SUV that seemingly managed to beat the electric car off the line. At the midpoint of its race with the SUV, though, the Model 3 appeared to have caught up with the gas guzzler.
Since the vehicle’s release, the Model 3 has been proving itself as a vehicle capable of performing well both on the drag strip and on the track. Over the past few months, the Model 3 has battled several formidable vehicles like the McLaren 570S, and it was able to hold its own very well. In another RaceLegal.com-sponsored event, a Model 3 Performance actually managed to outrun a Dodge Demon in a 1/8-mile race — a feat that is incredibly impressive since the muscle car was designed to beat the Model S P100D, the Model 3 Performance’s larger, quicker sibling.
When the Model 3 was unveiled back in 2016, Elon Musk candidly remarked that Tesla does not “make slow cars.” Considering the specs of the Model 3 that have been released so far, Musk’s statement definitely appears to ring true. Even the Mid Range Model 3 RWD — Tesla’s most conservative variant of the vehicle — has acceleration that is comparable to a muscle car, with its 0-60 mph time of 5.6 seconds and its top speed of 125 mph. The two dual motor variants of the vehicle — the Long Range Model 3 AWD and the Model 3 Performance — are even more impressive, with the former having a 0-60 mph time of 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 145 mph, and the latter featuring a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph.
Watch the stealthy Model 3 battle opponents in the video below.
Lifestyle
NTSB findings on fatal Tesla crash tell a very different story
The NTSB confirmed the driver, not Tesla’s FSD, caused the fatal Texas house crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board released preliminary findings Wednesday confirming that a Tesla driver, not the vehicle’s software, caused a fatal crash in Katy, Texas in June. The driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, had engaged Full Self-Driving Supervised mode on Rose Hollow Lane, a residential street with a 30 mph speed limit, before manually overriding the system by pressing the accelerator pedal all the way to 100%. Data recovered from the 2025 Tesla Model 3 showed the vehicle was traveling over 70 miles per hour when it struck a home and killed 76-year-old Martha Avila, who was inside. Weather was clear, the road was dry, and it was daylight.
Texas man charged in fatal Tesla crash where he blamed Autopilot
Butler told authorities he had passed out at the wheel. But security camera footage obtained by the NTSB told a different story, and showed the car accelerating through an intersection before leaving the road entirely. Police also found that Butler’s phone had Google searches including the terms “Tesla FSD not aggressive enough 2026” and “Tesla FSD too timid,” raising serious questions about how he was using the system before the crash. Butler has since been charged with manslaughter. The victim’s family has filed a lawsuit against both Butler and Tesla, alleging negligence.
The NTSB findings aligned directly with what Tesla VP of AI Software Ashok Elluswamy had already stated publicly on X in the weeks after the crash, writing that “the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%.” The data confirmed his account.
Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 22, 2026
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s Texas ranch to showcase the lifelong work that changed the world
Elon Musk is building a product gallery at his Texas ranch spanning his lifelong inventions.
Elon Musk took to X earlier today, noting “Am putting together a product gallery at my ranch in Texas.” in response to a resurfaced famous quote from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s wherein he draw parallels of the Tesla CEO to legendary physicist Albert Einstein.
Dimon made the remark at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland back in January 2025, telling CNBC at the time, “SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, I mean, the guy is our Einstein.” The remark seemingly ended a long-time feud between the two high profile execs.
While details are thin about the exact location of Elon Musk’s Texas ranch and any pending projects that would serve as a gallery and homage to his portfolio of revolutionary product inventions spanning from 1984 to 2025, land acquisition records point to roughly a location of several thousand acres in Bastrop County, east of Austin near the Colorado River and held through an LLC called Horse Ranch LLC that’s managed by Musk’s longtime personal friend and family wealth manager Jared Birchall. Birchall also serves as the CEO of Neuralink.
Tesla’s “ecological paradise” in Giga Texas may be larger than expected
The broader Bastrop County footprint surrounding the ranch has grown significantly. Entities tied to Musk have accumulated approximately 2,000 acres in Bastrop County as of mid-2026, up from 700 acres earlier in the year, with possibly as much as 6,000 acres acquired in total across Bastrop and Travis counties based on deed records.
No completion date for the gallery has been announced and Musk has not confirmed whether it will be open to the public. As Teslarati has reported, SpaceX just completed the largest IPO in history raising $75 billion, a milestone that makes this particular moment in Musk’s career a natural inflection point for looking back at what he has built through the years.
Am putting together a product gallery at my ranch in Texas https://t.co/xQf5FRy4uz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2026
Starting with Blastar, a simple space shooter game Musk coded at 12 years old and sold to a South African magazine for $500. From there the timeline moves through a commercial career that started with Zip2 in 1995, a city guide software company sold to Compaq for roughly $300 million in 1999. That was followed by X.com in 1999, which merged with Confinity to become PayPal, acquired by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. SpaceX came in 2002, Tesla in 2003, SolarCity in 2006, the Supercharger network in 2012, Neuralink in 2016, The Boring Company in 2016, OpenAI co-founded in 2015, X acquired in 2022, xAI in 2023, Optimus in 2024, the Cybercab in 2026, and most recently SpaceXAI following the SpaceX and xAI merger. The gallery will also likely include items that blur the line between product and cultural artifact, among them The Boring Company’s Not-a-Flamethrower from 2018, Tesla Short Shorts from 2020, and Burnt Hair perfume released under X in 2022.
Lifestyle
Tesla makes the cut on California’s newest EV Rebate program
California just signed a $270 million EV rebate into law and it starts this summer.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 168 into law on Monday, July 13, 2026, creating a $270 million EV rebate program that delivers money directly at the dealership rather than as a tax credit applied months later. The program, called MyFirstEV, is funded equally by California’s state budget and participating automakers, with each contributing $135.5 million to make the math work.
The timing is directly tied to the loss of federal support when the $7,500 federal EV tax credit ended, removing the most significant consumer incentive that had driven EV adoption in the U.S. California, which accounts for roughly one-third of all EVs sold nationally, moved to fill that gap with a state-level replacement.
The rebate structure is straightforward. First-time EV buyers can receive $3,500 off any new battery-electric vehicle with an MSRP up to $50,000. Used EVs priced at $25,000 or below qualify for a $1,750 rebate. The credit is applied at the point of sale, which removes the friction of the old federal system where buyers had to wait for tax season to see the benefit. The program goes live later this summer, with the California Air Resources Board expected to release full participation details next month.
California hits Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi driverless cars with new law
For Tesla buyers, the implications are mixed. The Tesla Model 3 RWD at $42,490 and the Model 3 Long Range at $47,490 both fall under the $50,000 cap and would qualify for the full $3,500 rebate for first-time buyers. The Model Y, which starts at $44,990 after Tesla’s recent price adjustment, also qualifies. The Model X, Model S, and Cybertruck all exceed the cap and receive no benefit. As Teslarati has reported, the program also includes a carve-out exempting California-based automakers like Rivian and Lucid from the price cap entirely, a provision that puts Tesla at a disadvantage since it relocated its headquarters to Texas in 2021.
Other qualifying vehicles include the Chevrolet Equinox EV, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and Volkswagen ID.4.
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