Lifestyle
Choosing Model 3 configuration options when it’s your second Tesla
In case any of you have heard me both praise my Tesla and bash my Hyundai, here’s the scoop: “My” Model S is really “our” Model S. In fact, it’s mostly “his” Model S. Depending on the week, I get to drive the Tesla 1-3 days. I feel a lot more connected to the car than most people would in my situation but there is good reason. I’m a lifelong car enthusiast who first saw a Model S in November of 2012, read more about it on vacation in 2013, and convinced my husband we should test drive it in early 2014. As many of you know, once you test drive it’s game over. It took nearly 3 months to decide whether to take the plunge or not, with incessant research and meeting fellow owners needed before finally clicking reserve. It took another 3 months for the car to be delivered, and already I was hooked. My new obsession didn’t fade once delivered and in October of 2015 when I rushed out to make a video at 7am after receiving the Autopilot update, it got even stronger.
Needless to say, I am counting down the gas fill ups until our household becomes a fully Tesla household. What will need to happen before that date, however, is deciding which options to order for my (really mine) Model 3. Here is my opinion, as of today, on what I think I will want. I’m basing the costs on the following two assumptions: battery and motor upgrades will cost 50% of what they are on a Model S and feature upgrades will cost roughly 75% of what they are on a Model S. These are wild guesses of course, as are my proposed battery sizes.
- Model 3 base (45 kWh, rear wheel drive): $35,000
- Model 3 60D (+15 kWh range/duel motor upgrade – prerequisite for P): $7,500
- Model 3 P60D (adding P to the above): $10,000
- Supercharger access (free with 60D upgrade): $0
- Piano black interior: $0
- Black textile seats: $0
- Standard 18″ slip stream wheels: $0
- Matte Gray paint: $1,200
- All glass roof (stationary): $1,000
- Autopilot convenience features: $1,875
Total price excluding destination/doc fees: $56,575
That, folks, is my dream car. I actually dislike leather seats and wood trims, care not for premium sound or special interior lighting, and will get by just fine without a heated steering wheel. What I really want is for it to be the Performance version. Insane mode is just fine, I have no need to shave off another few tenths and won’t upgrade beyond that. There’s one big problem though – it’s a bit more than I want to spend. Our Model S is a of the 85 variety. Its RWD handles wonderfully in the wintry mix or snow situations we get a few times a year where I live. I also adore the larger frunk. For that reasons, I’d opt for a RWD Model 3 if available, but I fear that the P version will only be offered in a dual motor configuration. I also fear that it will only be offered with the largest battery option. That being said, the P upgrade over the base model in my estimation costs as much as a Corolla. Ouch! If Tesla pulls of a manufacturing miracle and it looks like I will be eligible for the full tax credit on this car, I will probably go P. The same holds true if my estimates are wrong and it costs much less. My better half also advocates for a P, since we may very well end up sharing the two cars 50/50.
If, however, I’m correct about the above prices and the tax credit happens to be already gone, I’ll probably skip the P. That’s a bit disappointing to think about, but it also begs the question whether or not to upgrade beyond the base at all. If that model gets 215 miles of ideal range and costs $35,000, it’s way more than enough to be a second car. I could very easily get to and from work 4 times on a single charge and we’d just opt to take our Model S long distance trips. It has more room for luggage anyway and is the more appropriate car to bring a dog. (My preference is not to have dogs in the seats.) My configuration would probably look something like this:
Model 3 base (45 kWh, rear wheel drive): $35,000
- Supercharger access: $1,500
- Piano black interior: $0
- Black textile seats: $0
- Standard 18″ slip stream wheels: $0
- Metallic blue paint: $1,000
- All glass roof (panoramic opening): $1,500
- Autopilot convenience features: $1,875
- Subzero cold weather package: $750
Total price excluding destination/doc fees: $41,625.
You’ll notice I treated myself to the panoramic roof (if that’s a thing) and cold weather package. We know access to Superchargers will cost something and even if I plan not to use this car for road trips, I will enable Supercharging. I believe in the network and am happy to contribute to its cost as one time fee rather than pay-per-use. I’ve also decided that only a performance version is worthy of the sick matte gray color I saw at the reveal, so blue it is. Make no mistake that this car as configured is amazing. I expect it to still have head-whipping acceleration and sturdy handling like our S85 does. I expect it to be beautiful and uniquely Tesla. It will turn heads on the street and draw crowds at car shows. It will make a BMW 3-series look like a foolish car choice. (In fact, it’ll make any sedan over $35,000 look like a foolish car choice.) It will save me from keeping a glove in the car to handle nasty gas pumps, spare me getting oil changes and rescue me from the time consuming and infuriating process of buying a car at a dealership. Even more than when I wrote the first paragraph, I can not wait for this car.
But Tesla, if you’re listening, let them eat cake! If you truly want to annihilate the competition, please uncouple the performance upgrade with a mandatory range and D upgrade. I’ll let you figure out the logistics, but upgrading to a single, larger rear motor for $5,000 would be a no-brainer.
What options do you hope to order? Tell me in the comments!
Elon Musk
Tesla ditches India after years of broken promises
Tesla has ditched its plans to build a factory in India after years of failed negotiations.
Tesla’s long-running effort to establish a manufacturing presence in India is officially over. India’s Minister of Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy confirmed on May 19, 2026 that Tesla has informed authorities it will not proceed with a manufacturing facility in the country.
Tesla first signaled serious interest in India around 2021, when it began hiring local staff and lobbying the Indian government for lower import tariffs. The ask was straightforward: reduce duties enough for Tesla to test the market with imported vehicles before committing capital to a local factory. India’s position was equally firm, with an ask of Tesla to commit to manufacturing first, then receive tariff relief. Neither side moved, and the talks quietly collapsed.
Tesla to open first India experience center in Mumbai on July 15
India had offered a policy that would reduce import duties from 110% down to 15% on EVs priced above $35,000, provided companies committed at least $500 million toward local manufacturing investment within three years. Tesla declined to participate. The tariff standoff was only part of the problem. Analysts pointed to significant gaps in India’s local supply chain, inadequate industrial infrastructure, and a mismatch between Tesla’s premium pricing and the purchasing power of India’s automotive market as additional factors that made the investment difficult to justify.
First signs of an unraveling relationship came in April 2024, when Musk abruptly cancelled a planned trip to India where he was set to meet Prime Minister Modi and announce Tesla’s market entry. By July 2024, Fortune reported that Tesla executives had stopped contacting Indian government officials entirely. The government at that point understood Tesla had capital constraints and no plans to invest.
The more fundamental issue is that Tesla’s existing factories are currently operating at approximately 60% capacity, making a commitment to building new manufacturing capacity in a new market difficult to defend to investors. Tesla will continue selling imported Model Y vehicles through its existing showrooms in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru, but local production is no longer part of the plan.
Elon Musk
Trump’s invite for Elon just reshuffled Tesla’s big Signature Delivery Event
Tesla rescheduled its final Model S farewell to May 20 after Musk joined Trump in China.
Tesla has rescheduled its Model S and Model X Signature Edition delivery event to Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after abruptly calling off the original May 12 celebration. The event will take place at Tesla’s factory at 45500 Fremont Boulevard in Fremont, California, the same location where the Model S first rolled off the line in 2012. Invitees received a follow-up email asking them to reconfirm attendance and download a new QR code ticket, with Tesla noting that all travel and accommodation expenses remain the buyer’s responsibility.
The reason behind the original cancellation came into focus the same day it was announced. President Trump invited Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, and executives from Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Citigroup, and Meta to join his trip to China this week for a summit with President Xi Jinping. The agenda covers trade, artificial intelligence, export controls, Taiwan, and the Iran war, following weeks of escalating friction between Washington and Beijing over AI technology, sanctions, and rare earth exports. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I am very much looking forward to my trip to China, an amazing Country, with a Leader, President Xi, respected by all.”
Tesla launches 200mph Model S “Gold” Signature in invite-only purchase
The vehicles at the center of all this are the last Model S and Model X units Tesla will ever build. Priced at $159,420 each, the 250 Model S and 100 Model X Signature Edition units come finished in Garnet Red with a one-year no-resale agreement, giving Tesla right of first refusal if the owner decides to sell. As Teslarati reported, the Model S defined Tesla’s early identity as a serious luxury automaker, and the Fremont factory line that built it is now being converted to manufacture Optimus humanoid robots.
Musk’s inclusion in the China delegation drew attention given his very public relationship with Trump, and the invitation signals the two have moved past and past grievances. Trump originally brought Musk on to lead the Department of Government Efficiency following his inauguration, and despite a sharp public dispute in mid-2025, the two have appeared together repeatedly in recent months. A seat on the China trip, the most diplomatically consequential visit of Trump’s current term, puts Musk back at the table on U.S. economic policy at a moment when Tesla’s China revenue remains one of the company’s most important financial pillars.
Lifestyle
Tesla Semi hauls fresh Cybercab batch as Robotaxi era takes hold
A Tesla Semi was filmed hauling Cybercab units out of Giga Texas for the first time.
A Tesla Semi loaded with Cybercab units was recently filmed leaving Gigafactory Texas, marking what appears to be the first documented delivery run of Tesla’s autonomous two-seater. The footage shows multiple Cybercabs secured on a flatbed trailer being hauled by a production Tesla Semi, a truck rated for a gross combination weight of 82,000 lbs. The location is consistent with Giga Texas in Austin, where Cybercab production has been ramping since February 2026.
The sighting follows a wave of Cybercab activity at the Austin facility. In late April, drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer spotted approximately 60 Cybercabs parked in two organized groups in the factory’s outbound lot, the largest concentration observed to date. Units being staged in an outbound lot is a standard pre-delivery step, and the Semi footage is the logical next frame in that sequence.
En route with @tesla_semi pic.twitter.com/ZfuOjaeLH1
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) May 7, 2026
This is not the first time Tesla has used its own Semi to move Tesla products. When the Semi was unveiled in 2017, Musk noted it would be used for Tesla’s own operations, and over the years Semi prototypes were spotted carrying cargo ranging from concrete weights to Tesla vehicles being delivered to consumers. In 2023, a Semi was photographed transporting a Cybertruck on a trailer ahead of that vehicle’s delivery launch.
The Cybercab itself was first revealed publicly at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event on October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, where 20 pre-production units gave attendees rides around the studio lot. Musk stated at the event that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027. The first production unit rolled off the Giga Texas line on February 17, 2026, with Musk posting on X: “Congratulations to the Tesla team on making the first production Cybercab.”
Tesla’s annual production goal is 2 million Cybercabs per year once multiple factories reach full design capacity, with the company targeting a price under $30,000 per unit. Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.
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