Lifestyle
What an Electric NASCAR series can learn from Formula E/Rally Cross
NASCAR might be exploring an electric series, and they can learn much from Formula E and electric Rally Cross.
After news broke earlier this year that NASCAR may be pursuing an electric version of their series as soon as next year, I was incredibly interested and received a flood of emails from both eager viewers and quick critics alike. But one message was clear from everyone; NASCAR might only have one shot at this, so they better do it right.
Looking at two very predominant electric racing series, Formula E and Rally Cross, there are a lot of lessons that can be learned, especially as both series came from pre-existing racing systems with gas cars, much like NASCAR today. And in short, five key takeaways could easily apply to NASCAR’s first attempt at electrification.
Shorter Races –
Formula E might be onto something with its racing structure, all racing is complete in a single day, and the actual race event only takes 45min. In a world of ever shorter attention spans, this differentiation has allowed the European racing series to establish a significantly younger audience, something that NASCAR desperately needs.
This style of racing also means that the racecars can run the batteries at 100% the whole time, drivers don’t have to lift off, nor do teams have to organize “car switches”; Formula E has had to learn this lesson the hard way, NASCAR would be wise to learn as well.
Make the Cars as Fast as Possible –
When people talk about Formula E, the sad reality is that many look at the cars as cleaner, greener, slower, and less exciting F1 cars. And sadly, to a degree, these people are correct. While Formula E has learned a lot from its debut, this is still a lesson, or perhaps a challenge, that they have not been able to overcome.
So what does this mean for NASCAR? This means that NASCAR has a unique opportunity to make their vehicles even faster with electric drivetrains and even to be faster than some of their arch-rivals. Imagine an ad where the new electric NASCAR is lined up with a current, hybrid drivetrain Formula 1 car. How successful would that ad be if the stock car was faster? Throw in a couple of screaming_eagle.mp3’s and a guitar solo or two, and you’ve got the return of NASCAR to greatness.
Give Manufacturers Some Freedom –
As someone who has worked in Formula E, I can tell you precisely what many manufacturers are looking for and why some have even chosen to leave FE; not enough design freedom. Manufacturers, now more than ever, want to test charging, battery chemistry, tire compounds, motor architectures, battery management systems, and everything in between. And sadly, they can’t get that amount of freedom at Formula E or Rally Cross. NASCAR could be the first!
The premise of modern Nascar is the uniformity of the cars, but even if the teams were allowed to mess with just one of the components I listed above, they would be tripping over themselves to join the sport.
Use New Technology to Show the Race –
Rally Cross has done a fantastic job putting their races on TV. The (relative) quiet nature of the electric drivetrains means they can place music throughout the broadcast. Furthermore, they make every race look like a Ken Block gymkhana video from five years ago! Drones get within inches of the cars as they rocket around corners; there are more jumps and drifting areas on the courses than ever before. All this adds to a more exciting race to watch in person and on a screen.
NASCAR has already mastered the art of driver cams for years now, but adding music and drones could make the experience even better. Allow the viewers to feel like the race is a movie, and help them feel the speed and violence of the racing happening around them!
Lean into Driver Character –
This may be due to NASCAR’s American nature, or perhaps my own, but the passion-filled drivers and their numerous quirks give NASCAR a unique appeal. Don’t just watch racecars go around a circuit, watch a battle between the punky newcomer who swears a lot and the old timer who just needs one good final race and who smokes in his car (both during and after the race). While Formula E has attempted to create this aspect, going as far as allowing drivers to get voted on for performance boosts (DON’T do that, NASCAR), their polished European drivers don’t offer the same excitement as Roy “Buckshot” Jones or Dick Trickle.
More, More Exciting Racing –
Along the same line as shorter races, you also need more good racing in that condensed driving time. I’ve watched my fair share of Formula 1, and I love the excitement of seeing a driver go from last to first (Sergio Perez) or even the reverse (also, Sergio Perez). Rally Cross and Formula E have ensured that there is ALWAYS excitement to watch. Overtakes are constantly happening, and this is not an accident. Both electric series have rules that temporarily force drivers off the racing line (Formula E’s Attack Mode is the best example). At the same time, the cars have been shrunk to allow more space on the track, once again encouraging overtakes.
If NASCAR can encourage more action per minute, drivers and viewers alike will have much more to pay attention to.
Needless to say, I’m excited about electric NASCAR, and I hope it becomes a reality. At the same time, a dedicated focus on improving the racing and viewing experience could yield outstanding results for the heritage racing series and could ultimately resuscitate NASCAR as a top-tier racing series once more.
What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!
Elon Musk
How to use Grok Bot to block spam calls and texts
Musk told users to ask Grok Bot to scrub their phone numbers from spam lists.
Elon Musk has a new use case for Grok Bot, and it is the spam call. On Thursday he replied to an X user named Arash with a short instruction: “Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!” Arash had said he got tired of the calls, had an AI bot find his number on listing sites and file removal requests, and packaged the process as a free skill for others.
The skill is called Spam-Call Scrubber, which is described to find a phone number on people search sites and data brokers, submits the opt outs, completes the confirmation emails those sites send back, and rechecks on a schedule the user picks. Using it requires the Grok Bot app. The pitch is time saved, since most broker opt outs sit behind separate forms on separate sites.
Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2026
Musk said Grok Bot now gives each bot its own email address, and that it can detect scam emails. On Thursday he also said SpaceX would make users whole if the bot botches a purchase or leaks a card, then told users to shop away from Amazon after the retailer blocked the agent, as Teslarati reported. The terms of service we reviewed at the time put responsibility for what an agent does on the user.
For Tesla owners, Grok Bot is not just a phone app. Tesla brought Grok Bot into its vehicles on September 22, and we argued earlier this week that the Cybercab’s real advantage may be the errands it runs during a ride. Every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y Robotaxi fleet has it enabled. The more routine tasks like this one become, the more a rider has reason to hand over something personal in the back seat.
The new Spam-Call Scrubber skill can be downloaded for free and works on sites that honor removal requests, while noting that listings can reappear, and illegal robocallers do not check any registry. Whether Spam-Call Scrubber cuts anyone’s call volume is something the first wave of users will find out, and Musk’s endorsement guarantees that wave is coming.
For a century, the car has asked the same thing of its owner, which is basically to pay attention. Even the best ride-hailing app like Uber or Lyft only moved the problem into someone else’s hands. You stopped driving, but you still sat in a stranger’s car, while half listening, and wondering whether to take a phone call in the car without being rude. The Cybercab has no wheel, no pedals and no driver. With Grok @bot now live inside it, it becomes something else entirely, and I think that matters more than the fleet count that everyone is tracking.
Grok @bot is an agent, not a voice assistant. A rider signs in once, and from then on can say what they need and watch it happen. Order dinner from a favorite restaurant. Fill the grocery cart. Move money, answer email, adjust a calendar, push a work project forward. Tesla engineer Yun-Ta Tsai confirmed it is enabled across every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y fleet, and Tesla’s own pitch is that Full Self-Driving handles the commute while Grok handles the errands.
Think about what that does to a thirty minute ride. Uber sells you a trip, while Waymo sells you the same trip in a more private setting. Tesla is selling the thirty minutes themselves, returned to you with an assistant attached. Errands that used to eat a Saturday get done between pickup and drop off. The ride stops being dead time between two places and becomes a place of its own.
Tesla integrates Grok Bot into its vehicles for the ultimate personal assistant
Best of all, your Bots follow you into any Cybercab, and presumably your own Tesla, then logs you out automatically when you step out. Anyone can bolt a chatbot onto a screen, but much harder to own the vehicle, the autonomy stack and the assistant at once. It also quietly ties SpaceX’s Super Intelligence business to Tesla’s fleet, after Tesla converted its xAI stake into SpaceX equity. The relationship between those two companies is getting harder to describe as separate.
This is also where the hard questions start, because an agent that can spend your money in a vehicle other people also ride in needs some answers. How does it handle a voice it shouldn’t trust? What gets recorded, who can see it, and for how long? What happens when a rider leaves halfway through a task?
If Tesla gets those answers right, the scoreboard changes. We have been counting Cybercabs and wait times. The more telling number may be what riders accomplish per trip. That is data almost no one else will ever have, and it is the real reason to watch Grok @bot.
What do you think? Leave me a comment.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s mirrorless Cybercab will give riders a visibility upgrade
Tesla engineer confirms Cybercab update letting riders pull up rear and repeater cameras on demand.
Tesla is working on a Cybercab update that would let passengers pull up the vehicle’s rear and side cameras on demand, and the request came straight from a rider.
The exchange played out on X late Friday. Cybercab rider Dan Burkland shared photos of the two-seater’s cabin screen after an evening ride, praised the UI team’s work, and left one request: let riders open the rear and repeater cameras whenever they want, “especially for peace of mind.” Tesla UI software engineer Evan (@CarCoder) answered with two words: “In development.”
The Tesla UI team absolutely crushed it with the infotainment software. Nicely done @CarCoder!
One feature request: Allow folks to pull up the rear & repeater cameras on demand. This would be great especially for peace of mind. https://t.co/mNAOSLx6pE
— Dan Burkland (@DBurkland) October 10, 2026
The idea fits a pattern Teslarati has tracked since public rides began. Days after paid Cybercab service opened in Austin, Tesla sent riders a survey that asked them to rate the touchscreen, the app and the cabin, and to pick the features they wanted most. We reported on that survey in September, and a camera view is the kind of small software change Tesla can push quickly if riders keep asking.
It also speaks to something unique about the vehicle. With no steering wheel, no pedals and no driver, passengers have no mirror to check and no way to see behind them. The hardware is clearly built for camera awareness, from the repeater cameras to the rear camera. Letting a passenger look through those same cameras would give a nervous first time rider a way to confirm what is around the car.
The timing matters because the fleet is growing fast. Tesla’s Robotaxi account said on Saturday that more than 300 Cybercabs are now serving Austin, an eightfold increase in 30 days, and Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy named Dallas as the next city. More cars and more cities mean more people riding in a driverless vehicle for the first time, which is exactly when small trust features carry weight.
For now, the feature is confirmed only as in development. If Tesla follows its usual pattern with Cybercab software, riders could see it appear in a point release without any announcement, and Teslarati will watch for it.
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