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A Tesla Motors Hit Job via Australia’s News Limited

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FREMONT, CA - AUGUST 16: Tesla Model S sedans are seen parked in front of a row of new Tesla Superchargers outside of the Tesla Factory on August 16, 2013 in Fremont, California. Tesla Motors opened a new Supercharger station with four stalls for public use at their factory in Fremont, California. The Superchargers allow owners of the Tesla Model S to charge their vehicles in 20 to 30 minutes for free. There are now 18 charging stations in the U.S. with plans to open more in the near future. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Tesla-Dual-Charger

It’s great to see that Australia’s News Limited site is completely nefarious when it comes to a new automaker landing on its shores. How dare Tesla Motors bring innovation and a new drivetrain to our shores, and think Australians will get the truth about these electricity-draining, “special” vehicles from Rupert Murdoch’s media site news.com.au.

Last week, Teslarati documented deliveries of Model S vehicles to Australia and then I saw this article via Uncle Rupert’s site, “Tesla electric car has its plug pulled because its recharger needs too much power.

That was quick. Looks like the Australian market for Tesla is gone due to these Australian rubes not having electricity, right?

The article insinuates how the “dual-charger” option is not easy to install in residential homes and plus it “may” cost around $10,000 for it to installed.  However, the hit-job never describes the range of charging options for a Tesla product or, actually, uses the word “dual-charger” in its description.

It’s a doozy.

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This is the “beginning” of the article:  “Unlike other electric cars, the Tesla cannot be recharged via a normal power point and requires a special charger to be installed at home or work at a cost of up to $10,000—and may also need to have the local electricity substation upgraded at a cost of more than $50,000, according to experts.”

According to what experts? This is mind-numbing but what if you’re not an engineer, auto enthusiast or early adopter? This first sentence allows a person to draw a pretty quick conclusion on these “fancy, electric cars” from that Billionaire in the U.S.

The article does allow Tesla to chime in, though, in the thirteenth paragraph.

Here’s the quote from Tesla spokesman, Heath Walker,“Most houses can cope with (the 40 amp charger) due to off-peak (electricity demand),” said Mr Walker.

Or, he could have said, “Last time I checked, Australia is not on the moon.”

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Other evil tripe from the article:

  • Despite the uncertainty and restrictions, an estimated 50 Australians have placed orders for the new Tesla Model S which costs between $100,000 and $220,000 depending on options and battery range. ($222,000?)
  • Electric cars already on sale in Australia can be charged on 10 amp household power or require a relatively simple 15 amp upgrade for about $400. But because the Tesla requires a 40 amp single phase charger, the Master Electricians Association says there may be restrictions on upgrading household power supply and connecting to the local electricity grid. (Again, no mention of the charging options for the car.)

Wherever Rupert breathes, the Against-It freaks will be waiting to provide misinformation and “hit-jobs” about this American beauty.

"Grant Gerke wears his Model S on his sleeve and has been writing about Tesla for the last five years on numerous media sites. He has a bias towards plug-in vehicles and also writes about manufacturing software for Automation World magazine in Chicago. Find him at Teslarati

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Tesla’s Supercharger Diner probably just secured more locations

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tesla diner
Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s Supercharger Diner in Los Angeles dominated the company’s global usage rankings after just one year, proving the concept is more than just a one-off novelty location that will fade away.

The performance could incite the company to build more locations, something that CEO Elon Musk has hinted at for some time.

Tesla’s Supercharger Diner delivered 21.2 GWh of energy in its first year of operation, the company’s head of Charging, Max de Zegher, revealed on X. Of the top 10 most utilized Supercharger locations in Tesla’s global infrastructure, the Diner in Los Angeles was the most used by drivers, and it wasn’t particularly close:

On its launch day one year ago, nobody was too sure what the Tesla Diner would be about. It seemed like an interesting concept, and considering it had been in the works for years, it was a highly anticipated launch that many were looking forward to.

Based on its success, we could see additional Diners with Superchargers built throughout the United States, and potentially beyond. Musk has said on several occasions that the company would be willing to bring the Diner idea to more markets.

Tesla makes major change at Supercharger Diner amid epic demand

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Of the markets that Musk has mentioned, both Palo Alto and Austin have come to be perceived as ideal selections. However, there are no concrete plans as of now to build new Supercharger Diners anywhere; the location on Santa Monica Boulevard will remain the exclusive spot to pick up Tesla-inspired eats, at least for the time being.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla short sellers win big after shares fall after earnings

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A red Tesla Roadster driving around a turn
(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla short sellers won big following the company’s massive fall on Wall Street after it reported subpar Earnings on Wednesday.

Tesla short sellers collected about $4.12 billion in single-day profits on Thursday, according to BloombergShares fell as much as 15 percent during Thursday’s session. It closed as one of the worst days for Tesla on Wall Street in the past three years.

Investors sold off the stock after Tesla said it would aggressively direct its spending toward AI and its Optimus robot project. The company had record revenues, which were driven by one of the strongest quarters in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history.

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However, it missed EPS estimates by reporting just $0.33, a far cry from the $0.53 analysts expected.

S3 Partners reported that about 3 percent of Tesla’s outstanding stock is sold short. Managing Director at S3, Ihor Dusaniwsky, provided the short seller’s potential profit, as well as another figure: shorts have likely had paper gains of $8.92 billion this year, as Tesla shares are down 30 percent in 2026.

Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue

Tesla has burned short sellers many times in the past, but the company’s latest Earnings Call was a chance for those skeptics to taste some payback. Although the company gave some very transparent information regarding future projects, the rollout of Robotaxi, Optimus, and Semi, many investors took their profits on Thursday.

Notable short sellers like Michael Burry have been transparent about their skepticism around Tesla shares. Burry just revealed three weeks ago that he had opened up a new short on the stock, stating he shorted Tesla shares at $416.22. “Happy it jumped back to this level,” he said in a blog post.

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At the time of publication, Tesla shares were down about 3 percent and the stock was trading at $309.92.

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Tesla door handle saga gets its latest chapter and a big change is coming

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Credit: Tesla | Model 3 Owner's Manual

Tesla’s long-standing saga regarding its door handles and a manual release has entered its latest chapter, and as a result, a big change is coming.

On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) denied Tesla’s petition that was seeking a defect investigation into roughly 180,000 Model 3 vehicles for an issue involving the emergency mechanical door release.

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NHTSA said that Tesla’s petition did not present evidence of a safety-related defect in the door handles or their emergency releases. Instead, the agency determined that it would rather solve the issue of the lack of labeling or location of emergency mechanical door releases and the federal safety rules that govern them.

Essentially, the NHTSA wants to create and enforce rules that would require automakers to make emergency door latch releases more clearly labeled in a car. Despite a Tesla having manual door releases on all four passenger doors, many people do not know they exist or how they work.

Tesla addresses door handle complaints with simple engineering fix

In recent times, Tesla has faced some criticism involving its door handles, specifically because some occupants have reported that they are unable to exit their vehicles after losing power. The door handles on a Tesla are electronically operated, but in the event that the 12V battery dies, there is a manual release that can be used.

The NHTSA only identified a single complaint involving the mechanical door releases: a 2022 Model 3 owner said the release was concealed and unlabeled after the vehicle lost power after a front-end collision. It has also already started to create a separate rulemaking process to make emergency door-egress systems more obvious.

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It should be noted that all Teslas have mechanical emergency door releases, but they are placed in various locations as the vehicles have aged and been redesigned from year to year. Refer to the safety manual for your vehicle if you have any confusion about where the emergency releases are and how they work.

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