Tesla Model S
Comparing Tesla battery technology against the competition
I bought my Model S for many reasons, but battery efficiency was not one of them. The question of whether Tesla battery technology is really better than the competition has been weighing heavy on my mind so I set out to try and find some definitive answers.
BEV Competitive Landscape
I started by making a list of only 100% electric cars, what people call Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). I wanted to cut out the hybrids and other types as their batteries would be smaller and they would be less dependent on the quality of the battery. I ended up with 10 cars in my list. All the cars in the list use Lithium-ion batteries reported to have the highest energy and power density combined of any energy-storage medium. Each vendor uses various methodologies to achieve the best efficiency and performance, not limited to lay out of the batteries, heating and cooling as well as how charge min and max charge levels are controlled.
Battery Pack Innards
Next I used a number of online sources to collect the basic information on battery size, EPA range, MPGe rating, max charge rate, etc and came up with the following list:
Note: the RAV4 EV had a Tesla-provided battery pack. The car and pack arrangement have ended production.
Initial BEV Battery & Range Analysis
One thing that immediately jumps out is that all the EPA range per kWh results look somewhat similar. The worst is the RAV-4 but the others are all within 30% of the best, the Tesla Roadster. In second place is the Smart Electric Drive. Some other things stand out from this data:
- The Tesla Roadster, with its low weight and relatively large battery, is much more efficient than the Model S and was the most efficient car in this group.
- Second place in miles/kWh is the Smart Electric Drive. Another low weight small car — Smaller, lighter cars lead the pack on miles/kWh efficiency.
- No surprise to anyone, the Tesla’s all have the largest batteries and furthest range of any EV.
- Also not a surprise, battery size directly correlates with range.
- The Model S is not the most efficient car in terms of converting kWh to miles driven.
- The Model S is also not the most efficient car in terms of MPGe ratings.
- The larger the battery, the larger the charge rate the vendor seems (needs?) to support.
- Tesla has the largest battery packs on the market, at least 2x any competitor.
From this data it seems that Tesla has an edge in size and/or charge rate but not efficiency (the way it’s measured in the chart). But I suspect there is more to it than this so I ended up digging deeper to uncover some more data.
Deep-dive Analysis
The amount of passenger and cargo weight you’re able to move with those kWh used is not clearly outlined in the competitive analysis. You can make an extremely efficient electric bike but its not very practical for moving your family around or hauling groceries. What does the data look like if you try to account for weight or cargo capacity?
With this additional data we start to see different leaders emerge. The larger batteries add a lot of extra weight of their own, but even with that, the Model S is more efficient at moving a pound of weight over a mile per kWh than any other EV. Other vendors aren’t too far off with the Ford Focus Electric in second place followed closely by the Mercedes B-Class.
Moving weight around is useful, but that needs to translate into utility. Looking at how efficiently the EVs move a cubic foot of cargo space Tesla also comes out on top. Interestingly, in every efficiency category I found the 60kWh Model S beats the 85 kWh Model S. Like weight, some competitors are not far behind like the Mercedes B-Class at 71 vs 98 for the Model S 85.
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Summary
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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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