News
Effects of Winter on Tesla Battery Range and Regen
Winter conditions has begun to set in here in New England with temperatures not exceeding the 20’s. Thankfully I’ve already prepared my winter wheels and tires in advance so I’m not overly worried about the potential for snow, however I’m quickly learning the effects of winter on the battery and overall energy efficiency.
Cabin Temperature
Preheating the cabin temperature through the mobile Tesla Motors app.
The first order of business is making sure I’m comfortable when I get into the car each day. This means preheating the Model S cabin temperature through the Tesla App (if I happen to remember to) or, better yet, have it scheduled to automatically preheat via the VisibleTesla app.
My daily schedule looks something like this: VisibleTesla preheats the car 30 minutes before I enter and while it’s still plugged in from my overnight charge. This ensures I enter a warm car every morning with no affect on my range – the best of both worlds!
Leaving for work at the end of the day, however, is a bit more erratic so I usually use the Tesla App to preheat on an ad-hoc basis. I realize that this preheating will eat into my overall battery range, but I’m not overly concerned because I have plenty of range to spare even with a 100 mile commute each day. It’s well worth it for a little more comfort.
I enjoy turning on the air conditioner during the summer months but getting into a warm car in the dead of winter is even better!
Limited Regenerative Braking
Prior to the winter, the only times I have experienced limited regenerative braking (regen) was directly after performing range charges in anticipations of my Tesla road trip adventures. The Tesla battery does not have the capacity to receive additional energy (when at a 100% state of charge) thus it disables regenerative braking all together.
Winter months, however, bring a completely different experience with regen. When the Model S is cold it limits the ability to regen since the batteries need to be at an optimal temperature before it receives any additional charge.
A dashed yellow line appears on the center display indicating that regenerative braking is limited. If you’ve been accustomed to driving with regen on, this new behaviour (with regen disabled) will feel and drive very differently.
I found myself quickly rolling towards the cars in front of me as I instinctively ignored the brakes and assumed that the car would just come to a gradual stop by letting go of the accelerator pedal. That obviously didn’t happen with regen limited. You’ll need to use your brakes so be careful not to “over press” it as you quickly adjust to driving with brakes again.
This winter-induced form of limited regeneration lasts for a very long. I wasn’t sure if the lack of regen was isolated to the weather conditions for that particular day so I decided to log my results over a larger sample of several days.
Here’s what I noticed about the effects of winter on Tesla’s regenerative braking:
- There appears to be a linear easing off of the “regen cap” through the first 30 minutes. At 0 miles, when the car is just started, the amount of regen is capped at 20 kW.
- 25 minutes into my drive, the regen cap is loosened to 40 kW.
Graph depicting the amount of energy that can be regained through regen over time.
As you can see from some of my data points, it took me over 45 minutes of driving (30 miles covered) before the regenerative braking behavior was back to normal — that’s almost my entire drive home!
I’ve been experimenting with various approaches to avoid the regen capping. One of which is timing my overnight charge so that it completes right at the time I’m about to leave for work. This ensures that the batteries are at a good temperature, by the time I begin driving, and with no regen cap in place. Timing it perfectly can be tricky.There’s been a few occasions where my charge completed earlier than expected and as a result the batteries cooled off before I got to drive.Here again VisibleTesla can help, but it’s an area that I wish Tesla would address directly —
add a feature to allow users to specify the END time for a charge as opposed to the start time. The Model S should calculate when charging begins based on the set end time.
I’ve been experimenting with ways to reduce the after-work limited regenerative braking occurrences but since there’s no charging infrastructure at my work, I can’t pre-warm the batteries. I’ve even tried warming up the cabin temperature in advance to see if this would have an impact on regenerative braking but unfortunately it doesn’t.
Higher Energy Use
Cold weather definitely affects energy use on the Model S. My tires, while great for winter, are less efficient — they’re not the low rolling resistance tires that came with the Model S. I’m also using extra energy for warming the cabin (despite my chilly 66 F year-round cabin temperature setting). The Model S is also using extra power when managing the battery temperature.
Prior to winter my average energy consumption was around 300-315 kWh/mi but now I’m averaging 350-365 kWh/mi or approximately 16% more energy used than summer months. I’m also using my brakes more during the winter, as a result of the limited regenerative braking, so that will also introduce more wear and tear.
One piece of advice from Tesla is to use seat heaters to warm yourself up over cabin heat. The seat heaters apply heat directly to your body and thus a more efficient use of energy. If you have your cabin temperature set at 72 F , try reducing it to 68 F and use your seat heaters to warm yourself up.
I’m sure I’ll be uncovering a lot more tips and interesting findings over the next few months especially as the snow storms start blowing in and temperatures dip into single digits! Stay tuned!
Elon Musk
Tesla announces crazy new Full Self-Driving milestone
The number of miles traveled has contextual significance for two reasons: one being the milestone itself, and another being Tesla’s continuing progress toward 10 billion miles of training data to achieve what CEO Elon Musk says will be the threshold needed to achieve unsupervised self-driving.
Tesla has announced a crazy new Full Self-Driving milestone, as it has officially confirmed drivers have surpassed over 8 billion miles traveled using the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite for semi-autonomous travel.
The FSD (Supervised) suite is one of the most robust on the market, and is among the safest from a data perspective available to the public.
On Wednesday, Tesla confirmed in a post on X that it has officially surpassed the 8 billion-mile mark, just a few months after reaching 7 billion cumulative miles, which was announced on December 27, 2025.
Tesla owners have now driven >8 billion miles on FSD Supervisedhttps://t.co/0d66ihRQTa pic.twitter.com/TXz9DqOQ8q
— Tesla (@Tesla) February 18, 2026
The number of miles traveled has contextual significance for two reasons: one being the milestone itself, and another being Tesla’s continuing progress toward 10 billion miles of training data to achieve what CEO Elon Musk says will be the threshold needed to achieve unsupervised self-driving.
The milestone itself is significant, especially considering Tesla has continued to gain valuable data from every mile traveled. However, the pace at which it is gathering these miles is getting faster.
Secondly, in January, Musk said the company would need “roughly 10 billion miles of training data” to achieve safe and unsupervised self-driving. “Reality has a super long tail of complexity,” Musk said.
Training data primarily means the fleet’s accumulated real-world miles that Tesla uses to train and improve its end-to-end AI models. This data captures the “long tail” — extremely rare, complex, or unpredictable situations that simulations alone cannot fully replicate at scale.
This is not the same as the total miles driven on Full Self-Driving, which is the 8 billion miles milestone that is being celebrated here.
The FSD-supervised miles contribute heavily to the training data, but the 10 billion figure is an estimate of the cumulative real-world exposure needed overall to push the system to human-level reliability.
News
Tesla Cybercab production begins: The end of car ownership as we know it?
While this could unlock unprecedented mobility abundance — cheaper rides, reduced congestion, freed-up urban space, and massive environmental gains — it risks massive job displacement in ride-hailing, taxi services, and related sectors, forcing society to confront whether the benefits of AI-driven autonomy will outweigh the human costs.
The first Tesla Cybercab rolled off of production lines at Gigafactory Texas yesterday, and it is more than just a simple manufacturing milestone for the company — it’s the opening salvo in a profound economic transformation.
Priced at under $30,000 with volume production slated for April, the steering-wheel-free, pedal-less Robotaxi-geared vehicle promises to make personal car ownership optional for many, slashing transportation costs to as little as $0.20 per mile through shared fleets and high utilization.
Credit: wudapig/Reddit< /a>
While this could unlock unprecedented mobility abundance — cheaper rides, reduced congestion, freed-up urban space, and massive environmental gains — it risks massive job displacement in ride-hailing, taxi services, and related sectors, forcing society to confront whether the benefits of AI-driven autonomy will outweigh the human costs.
Let’s examine the positives and negatives of what the Cybercab could mean for passenger transportation and vehicle ownership as we know it.
The Promise – A Radical Shift in Transportation Economics
Tesla has geared every portion of the Cybercab to be cheaper and more efficient. Even its design — a compact, two-seater, optimized for fleets and ride-sharing, the development of inductive charging, around 300 miles of range on a small battery, half the parts of the Model 3, and revolutionary “unboxed” manufacturing — is all geared toward rapid production.
Operating at a fraction of what today’s rideshare prices are, the Cybercab enables on-demand autonomy for a variety of people in a variety of situations.
Tesla ups Robotaxi fare price to another comical figure with service area expansion
It could also be the way people escape expensive and risky car ownership. Buying a vehicle requires expensive monthly commitments, including insurance and a payment if financed. It also immediately depreciates.
However, Cybercab could unlock potential profitability for owning a car by adding it to the Robotaxi network, enabling passive income. Cities could have parking lots repurposed into parks or housing, and emissions would drop as shared electric vehicles would outnumber gas cars (in time).
The first step of Tesla’s massive production efforts for the Cybercab could lead to millions of units annually, turning transportation into a utility like electricity — always available, cheap, and safe.
The Dark Side – Job Losses and Industry Upheaval
With Robotaxi and Cybercab, they present the same negatives as broadening AI — there’s a direct threat to the economy.
Uber, Lyft, and traditional taxis will rely on human drivers. Robotaxi will eliminate that labor cost, potentially displacing millions of jobs globally. In the U.S. alone, ride-hailing accounts for billions of miles of travel each year.
There are also potential ripple effects, as suppliers, mechanics, insurance adjusters, and even public transit could see reduced demand as shared autonomy grows. Past automation waves show job creation lags behind destruction, especially for lower-skilled workers.
Gig workers, like those who are seeking flexible income, face the brunt of this. Displaced drivers may struggle to retrain amid broader AI job shifts, as 2025 estimates bring between 50,000 and 300,000 layoffs tied to artificial intelligence.
It could also bring major changes to the overall competitive landscape. While Waymo and Uber have partnered, Tesla’s scale and lower costs could trigger a price war, squeezing incumbents and accelerating consolidation.
Balancing Act – Who Wins and Who Loses
There are two sides to this story, as there are with every other one.
The winners are consumers, Tesla investors, cities, and the environment. Consumers will see lower costs and safer mobility, while potentially alleviating themselves of awkward small talk in ride-sharing applications, a bigger complaint than one might think.
Elon Musk confirms Tesla Cybercab pricing and consumer release date
Tesla investors will be obvious winners, as the launch of self-driving rideshare programs on the company’s behalf will likely swell the company’s valuation and increase its share price.
Cities will have less traffic and parking needs, giving more room for housing or retail needs. Meanwhile, the environment will benefit from fewer tailpipes and more efficient fleets.
A Call for Thoughtful Transition
The Cybercab’s production debut forces us to weigh innovation against equity.
If Tesla delivers on its timeline and autonomy proves reliable, it could herald an era of abundant, affordable mobility that redefines urban life. But without proactive policies — retraining, safety nets, phased deployment — this revolution risks widening inequality and leaving millions behind.
Elon on the MKBHD bet, stating “Yes” to the question of whether Tesla would sell a Cybercab for $30k or less to a customer before 2027 https://t.co/sfTwSDXLUN
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 17, 2026
The real question isn’t whether the Cybercab will disrupt — it’s already starting — it’s whether society is prepared for the economic earthquake it unleashes.
News
Tesla Model 3 wins Edmunds’ Best EV of 2026 award
The publication rated the Model 3 at an 8.1 out of 10, and with its most recent upgrades and changes, Edmunds says, “This is the best Model 3 yet.”
The Tesla Model 3 has won Edmunds‘ Top Rated Electric Car of 2026 award, beating out several other highly-rated and exceptional EV offerings from various manufacturers.
This is the second consecutive year the Model 3 beat out other cars like the Model Y, Audi A6 Sportback E-tron, and the BMW i5.
The car, which is Tesla’s second-best-selling vehicle behind the popular Model Y crossover, has been in the company’s lineup for nearly a decade. It offers essentially everything consumers could want from an EV, including range, a quality interior, performance, and Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite, which is one of the best in the world.
The Tesla Model 3 has won Edmunds Top EV of 2026:
“The Tesla Model 3 might be the best value electric car you can buy, combining an Edmunds Rating of 8.1 out of 10, a starting price of $43,880, and an Edmunds-tested range of 338 miles. This is the best Model 3 yet. It is… pic.twitter.com/ARFh24nnDX
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 18, 2026
The publication rated the Model 3 at an 8.1 out of 10, and with its most recent upgrades and changes, Edmunds says, “This is the best Model 3 yet.”
In its Top Rated EVs piece on its website, it said about the Model 3:
“The Tesla Model 3 might be the best value electric car you can buy, combining an Edmunds Rating of 8.1 out of 10, a starting price of $43,880, and an Edmunds-tested range of 338 miles. This is the best Model 3 yet. It is impressively well-rounded thanks to improved build quality, ride comfort, and a compelling combination of efficiency, performance, and value.”
Additionally, Jonathan Elfalan, Edmunds’ Director of Vehicle Testing, said:
“The Model 3 offers just about the perfect combination of everything — speed, range, comfort, space, tech, accessibility, and convenience. It’s a no-brainer if you want a sensible EV.”
The Model 3 is the perfect balance of performance and practicality. With the numerous advantages that an EV offers, the Model 3 also comes in at an affordable $36,990 for its Rear-Wheel Drive trim level.
Tesla announces crazy new Full Self-Driving milestone
Tesla Cybercab production begins: The end of car ownership as we know it?
