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Spero Worldwide is raffling a Tesla Model S Plaid to save Afghan families from the Taliban
Spero Worldwide is raffling a Tesla Model S Plaid with Freedom Raffle to save Afghan families from the Taliban. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization evacuates extremely at-risk Afghan allies and their families to safety and resettles them in Brazil.
Together with Breaux Vineyards, the nonprofit hopes to save a total of 812 people who are still in hiding.
Tom Silva**, who runs a safe house network and ground evacuation operation inside Afghanistan, told Teslarati that Spero needs this fundraiser to be a success so that the nonprofit can continue to rescue these incredibly at-risk families and give them a future.
He then shared the story of a six-year-old girl named Yousra who was just recently rescued.
“She’s an Afghan child we evacuated from Afghanistan with her extremely at-risk family. She lived in a network of safe houses inside Afghanistan for the last year until we could get them resettled in Brazil last month.”
“She started school today in freedom in Brazil!”
In a statement to Teslarati, Spero Worldwide’s President, Jennifer Cervantes said that there has been a small team quietly evacuating these families since August 2021.
“On average, to safely evacuate one Afghan and get them to Brazil and provide 12 months of sustainment, it costs us $8,500 per person,” she said in an email. She also emphasized the urgency of the situation for the families in need.
“This year we have evacuated 530 people and we are trying to get our last 151 families (approximately 812 people) out of Afghanistan, but we do not currently have the funding to support these next efforts. Two weeks ago, one of the families on our list had their house broken into by the Taliban.”
“Dad was already in hiding and being moved around. Mom was beaten and tortured trying to get her to give up her husband’s whereabouts. When Mom wouldn’t talk, the Taliban put a bayonet on her 1-year-old daughter’s head, threatening to kill her, and slicing her forehead with the tip. Then they took a hot iron and burned the daughter trying to get her mother to tell where her father was located.”
“This family remains in Afghanistan because we simply do not have funds to move them out. And in all honesty, this is not an abnormal story right now. The great majority of the families we are working with worked in counter-terrorism – essentially making sure that our U.S. forces were safe and working to prevent terrorist attacks against civilians across the country.”
“They also worked to uncover networks of terrorists to prevent attacks on U.S. soil. These families are an enormous target for the Taliban, and they have been ruthlessly hunting them down, torturing and killing them when they are able to find them.”
Win The Tesla Model S Plaid And Help Spero Worldwide save 151 families (812 people)
The prize is a new 2022 Tesla Model S Plaid and the winner will also have their federal and state taxes for the prize covered. The prize is worth over $190,000 and it only costs $150 to purchase a ticket. The prize details are:
Vehicle: 2022 Tesla Model S Plaid – Tri-Motor All-Wheel Drive
Paint: Midnight Silver Metallic
Wheels: 19″ Tempest Wheels
Interior: All Black Included Carbon Fiber Décor
Plaid Upgrades Included:
- Quickest accelerating car in production today
- 0-60 mph: 1.99s
- 1/4 mile: 9.23@155 mph trap speed
- 1,020 horsepower
- Three high-performance motors with carbon-sleeved rotors
- Torque vectoring
Entrants must be 18 years old or older and the raffle is prohibited in the following states: Alabama, California, Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Ticket sales end Saturday, October 1, 2022, at 3 pm EST unless the tickets sell out earlier. The winner will be announced on October 1, 2022, at 5:15 pm EST via a live stream. Click here to visit Freedom Raffle and purchase a ticket or donate.
** For safety purposes, Tom Silva is the pseudonym that was given to protect the identity of the safe house operator.
Your feedback is important. If you have any comments, concerns, or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @JohnnaCrider1
News
Tesla wins another award critics will absolutely despise
Tesla earned an overall score of 49 percent, up 6 percentage points from the previous year, widening its lead over second-place Ford (45 percent, up 2 points) to a commanding 4-percentage-point gap. The company also excelled in the Fossil Free & Environment category with a 50 percent score, reflecting strong progress in reducing emissions and decarbonizing operations.
Tesla just won another award that critics will absolutely despise, as it has been recognized once again as the company with the most sustainable supply chain.
Tesla has once again proven its critics wrong, securing the number one spot on the 2026 Lead the Charge Auto Supply Chain Leaderboard for the second consecutive year, Lead the Charge rankings show.
NEWS: Tesla ranked 1st on supply chain sustainability in the 2026 Lead the Charge auto/EV supply chain scorecard.
“@Tesla remains the top performing automaker of the Leaderboard for the second year running, and increased its overall score by 6 percentage points, while Ford only… pic.twitter.com/nAgGOIrGFS
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) March 4, 2026
This independent ranking, produced by a coalition of environmental, human rights, and investor groups including the Sierra Club, Transport & Environment, and others, evaluates 18 major automakers on their efforts to build equitable, sustainable, and fossil-free supply chains for electric vehicles.
Tesla earned an overall score of 49 percent, up 6 percentage points from the previous year, widening its lead over second-place Ford (45 percent, up 2 points) to a commanding 4-percentage-point gap. The company also excelled in the Fossil Free & Environment category with a 50 percent score, reflecting strong progress in reducing emissions and decarbonizing operations.
Perhaps the most impressive achievement came in the batteries subsection, where Tesla posted a massive +20-point jump to reach 51 percent, becoming the first automaker ever to surpass 50 percent in this critical area.
Tesla achieved this milestone through transparency, fully disclosing Scope 3 emissions breakdowns for battery cell production and key materials like lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite.
The company also requires suppliers to conduct due diligence aligned with OECD guidelines on responsible sourcing, which it has mentioned in past Impact Reports.
While Tesla leads comfortably in climate and environmental performance, it scores 48 percent in human rights and responsible sourcing, slightly behind Ford’s 49 percent.
The company made notable gains in workers’ rights remedies, but has room to improve on issues like Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
Overall, the leaderboard highlights that a core group of leaders, Tesla, Ford, Volvo, Mercedes, and Volkswagen, are advancing twice as fast as their peers, proving that cleaner, more ethical EV supply chains are not just possible but already underway.
For Tesla detractors who claim EVs aren’t truly green or that the company cuts corners, this recognition from sustainability-focused NGOs delivers a powerful rebuttal.
Tesla’s vertical integration, direct supplier contracts, low-carbon material agreements (like its North American aluminum deal with emissions under 2kg CO₂e per kg), and raw materials reporting continue to set the industry standard.
As the world races toward electrification, Tesla isn’t just building cars; it’s building a more responsible future.
News
Tesla Full Self-Driving likely to expand to yet another Asian country
“We are aiming for implementation in 2026. [We are] doing everything in our power [to achieve this],” Richi Hashimoto, president of Tesla’s Japanese subsidiary, said.
Tesla Full Self-Driving is likely to expand to yet another Asian country, as one country seems primed for the suite to head to it for the first time.
The launch of Full Self-Driving in yet another country this year would be a major breakthrough for Tesla as it continues to expand the driver-assistance program across the world. Bureaucratic red tape has held up a lot of its efforts, but things are looking up in some regions.
Tesla is poised to transform Japan’s roads with Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology by 2026.
Richi Hashimoto, president of Tesla’s Japanese subsidiary, announced the ambitious timeline, building on successful employee test drives that began in 2025 and earned positive media reviews. Test drives, initially limited to the Model 3 since August 2025, expanded to the Model Y on March 5.
Once regulators approve, Over-the-Air (OTA) software updates could activate FSD across roughly 40,000 Teslas already on Japanese roads. Japan’s orderly traffic and strict safety culture make it an ideal testing ground for autonomous driving.
Hashimoto said:
“We are aiming for implementation in 2026. [We are] doing everything in our power [to achieve this].”
The push aligns with Hashimoto’s leadership, which has been credited for Tesla’s sales turnaround.
In 2025, Tesla delivered a record 10,600 vehicles in Japan — a nearly 90% jump from the prior year and the first time exceeding 10,000 units annually.
BREAKING 🇯🇵 FSD IS LIKELY LAUNCHING IN JAPAN IN 2026 🚨
Richi Hashimoto, President of Tesla’s Japanese subsidiary, stated: “We are aiming for implementation in 2026” and added that they are “doing everything in our power” to achieve this 🔥
Test drives in Japan began in August… pic.twitter.com/jkkrJLszXN
— Ming (@tslaming) March 5, 2026
The strategy shifted from online-only sales to adding 29 physical showrooms in high-traffic malls, plus staff training and attractive financing offers launched in January 2026. Tesla also plans to expand its Supercharger network to over 1,000 points by 2027, boosting accessibility.
This Japanese momentum reflects Tesla’s broader international expansion. In Europe, Giga Berlin produced more than 200,000 vehicles in 2025 despite a temporary halt, supplying over 30 markets with plans for sequential production growth in 2026 and battery cell manufacturing by 2027.
While regional EV sales faced headwinds, the factory remains a cornerstone for Model Y deliveries across the continent.
In Asia, Giga Shanghai continues to be recognized as Tesla’s powerhouse. China, the company’s largest market, saw January 2026 deliveries from the plant rise 9 percent year-over-year to 69,129 units, with affordable new models expected later this year.
FSD advancements, already progressing in the U.S. and South Korea, are slated for Europe and further Asian rollout, complementing plans to expand Cybercab and Optimus to new markets as well.
With OTA-enabled autonomy on the horizon and retail strategies paying dividends, Tesla is strengthening its footprint from Tokyo showrooms to Berlin assembly lines and Shanghai exports. As Hashimoto continues to push Tesla forward in Japan, the company’s global vision for sustainable, self-driving mobility gains traction across Europe and Asia.
News
Tesla ships out update that brings massive change to two big features
“This change only updates the name of certain features and text in your vehicle,” the company wrote in Release Notes for the update, “and does not change the way your features behave.”
Tesla has shipped out an update for its vehicles that was caused specifically by a California lawsuit that threatened the company’s ability to sell cars because of how it named its driver assistance suite.
Tesla shipped out Software Update 2026.2.9 starting last week; we received it already, and it only brings a few minor changes, mostly related to how things are referenced.
“This change only updates the name of certain features and text in your vehicle,” the company wrote in Release Notes for the update, “and does not change the way your features behave.”
The following changes came to Tesla vehicles in the update:
- Navigate on Autopilot has now been renamed to Navigate on Autosteer
- FSD Computer has been renamed to AI Computer
Tesla faced a 30-day sales suspension in California after the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles stated the company had to come into compliance regarding the marketing of its automated driving features.
The agency confirmed on February 18 that it had taken a “corrective action” to resolve the issue. That corrective action was renaming certain parts of its ADAS.
Tesla discontinued its standalone Autopilot offering in January and ramped up the marketing of Full Self-Driving Supervised. Tesla had said on X that the issue with naming “was a ‘consumer protection’ order about the use of the term ‘Autopilot’ in a case where not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem.”
This was a “consumer protection” order about the use of the term “Autopilot” in a case where not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem.
Sales in California will continue uninterrupted.
— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) December 17, 2025
It is now compliant with the wishes of the California DMV, and we’re all dealing with it now.
This was the first primary dispute over the terminology of Full Self-Driving, but it has undergone some scrutiny at the federal level, as some government officials have claimed the suite has “deceptive” names. Previous Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was one of those federal-level employees who had an issue with the names “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving.”
Tesla sued the California DMV over the ruling last week.
Tesla wins another award critics will absolutely despise
Tesla Full Self-Driving likely to expand to yet another Asian country
