News
Tesla’s 400-mile Model S is a subtle update, but it’s a chilling reminder to rival carmakers
There is a particularly interesting trend happening in the electric vehicle sector. While it is undeniable that Tesla is leading the industry’s shift to EVs, veteran carmakers are prone to claim that they have or are developing technology that is at par or superior to the electric car maker’s innovations. The Tesla Model S’ 402-mile EPA rating subtly sends a message that this is not necessarily the case.
For some time now, there has been a lot of talk surrounding Tesla and its upcoming Battery Day event. The company has been pretty thin on the specifics of the event, but speculations are abounding that discussions will be held surrounding the company’s next-generation batteries. Tesla has not formally hinted at the details of these batteries, though all signs point to cells that would be able to last a million miles. Discussions about other innovations such as cobalt-free cells for China-made Model 3s are also expected to be held at the event.
Similar to how vehicles like the Porsche Taycan and the Audi e-tron were dubbed as “Tesla Killers” in previous years, veteran automakers such as GM appear to be keen on establishing the idea that it is not being left behind in the EV race. Just last month, for example, GM Executive Vice President Doug Parks stated that the automaker’s own “million-mile” battery is “almost there.” Parks stated that there are multiple teams within GM that are working on zero cobalt batteries as well.
Such statements from GM only validate Tesla’s points about electric vehicles. The fact that the veteran automaker’s battery plans seem to be inspired, at least in some way, by the younger EV maker means that the auto industry has now reached a point where electric powered transportation is a given. That being said, there is very little doubt that the Model S’ updated EPA ratings, which show that the 100 kWh flagship sedan could go 402 miles on a single charge, is likely sending some chills down the spine of Tesla’s rivals.
As noted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, every Model S that has been produced since January has been equipped with a 402 mile range. This feat, as stated by the company in an announcement on its official website, was accomplished through a variety of means, including significant mass reduction, new aero wheels that optimize efficiency, increased drive unit efficiencies, and optimized regenerative braking.
What this means is that Tesla was able to draw out 400 miles of EPA range from a 100 kWh battery pack using its current battery technology. The 400-mile Model S today is just a hyper-optimized version of the Raven series that came out last year. Unless Tesla states otherwise on Battery Day, it appears that the current generation Raven Model S is not yet equipped with the company’s next-generation million-mile batteries.
It should be noted that other companies have pledged to release vehicles with a range of 400 miles as well. Electric pickup maker Rivian’s flagship R1T pickup truck goes 400 miles too, but that vehicle is equipped with a 180 kWh battery pack. The GMC Hummer EV, widely speculated to be a legitimate competitor to the Tesla Cybertruck, is also poised to be released with a 400-mile range. But just like the Rivian R1T, there’s a good chance that its battery pack will be substantially bigger than the 100 kWh pack used in Tesla’s flagship sedan.
Of course, it would be easy to argue that larger vehicles like the Rivian R1T and the GMC Hummer EV would obviously need more batteries due to their size, but it should be noted that Tesla’s Cybertruck, which will likely have a battery that’s far larger than the Model S’ 100 kWh pack, has some impressive range as well. During its unveiling, Elon Musk noted that the all-electric pickup’s tri-motor variant will have over 500 miles of range. The specifics of the Cybertruck’s battery have not been disclosed by Tesla yet, though it is almost certain that it will be utilizing the company’s million mile battery cells.
So what does this mean for the Model S? With a million-mile battery and a 100 kWh pack, the flagship sedan’s succeeding generations will most likely achieve a range estimate that’s even more impressive than its current 402-mile EPA rating. And this, ultimately, is something that will be very hard to meet or compete with, especially among veteran automakers that have not dedicated the same amount of time and effort into developing battery technology from the ground up.
Lifestyle
Tesla teases “Halloween Mode” update with Optimus rising from a graveyard
Tesla’s Halloween teaser hides a covered vehicle and an Optimus hand rising from the ground.
Tesla has started teasing a Halloween software update for its vehicles, with a short clip on X that reads, “Halloween is coming.” The clip opens on a glowing pumpkin before pulling back to the car’s center touchscreen, where the usual parked visualization has been replaced by a graveyard scene, and the vehicle draped with a white sheet so it reads as a cartoon ghost.
Halloween is coming pic.twitter.com/lM3ASUeOqX
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 1, 2026
The second detail is a robotic hand clawing its way out of the dirt like a zombie, which looks to be the hand of Tesla’s latest Optimus V3 humanoid robot. While Tesla still has not formally shown Optimus Gen 3 walking around in service, renders pulled from Tesla’s Android app last month gave the clearest look yet, including far more refined hands that Tesla has said carry 22 degrees of freedom. The hand has been the hardest part of the program. Musk has called it the majority of the robot’s engineering difficulty, and Tesla’s patents describe a design driven by tendons with the actuators moved into the forearm.
Tesla Optimus V3 hand and arm details revealed in new patents
Optimus also has a Halloween track record. Last October the robot handed out candy in Times Square, and a costumed “zombie” Optimus shuffled around the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles on Halloween night.
On the software side, Tesla’s 2025 Holiday Update expanded Santa Mode with a Santa sleigh, snowmen, snow effects, and a festive lock chime, so it wouldn’t be too far fetched if we saw something similar but themed for a Halloween Mode.
Tesla Full Self-Driving is set to receive improvements to address its two biggest issues, according to a company engineer.
Director of Engineering at Tesla AI, Phil Duan, revealed in a post on X that improvements to both pothole avoidance and navigation “are coming,’ something we have heard many times in the past. However, there are a few things that seem to hint that things might be different this time around.
Improvements on both are coming.
— Phil Duan (@pduan) October 1, 2026
Pothole avoidance, navigation, speed control, and left lane camping are some of the most prevalent and frequently mentioned shortcomings of the Full Self-Driving suite. These are a few of the biggest issues that have kept Tesla Full Self-Driving as a Supervised suite, meaning drivers must remain attentive during operation.
Pothole Avoidance
Pothole avoidance was first mentioned as an “Upcoming Improvement” with the Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3 update back in early April of this year. It was listed alongside “Expand reasoning to all behaviors beyond destination handling.”
It’s been six months since we first saw pothole avoidance explicitly mentioned, and it has not moved beyond that and joined the main release notes yet.
Tesla has not shed any light on why pothole avoidance has been such an issue for it to solve, but it also has issues identifying large bumps much of the time, so its modeling of sudden changes in road conditions is likely pretty weak at this particular point. I’ve had more issues with large bumps than potholes, personally, but both are issues that need to be resolved.
This is that big bounce that I mentioned in the quoted post.
It’s just a tad too drastic to take at the speed FSD wants to go over it. You can see me quickly swipe down into Sloth, but I intervened. https://t.co/K20PK9ysBg pic.twitter.com/81Oc82ZJcZ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 2, 2026
It makes sense that things might be pretty close to being released to the public, as we are going on such an extensive period of time between it being mentioned and it actually being deployed.
Navigation
Navigation is likely the most painful part of using Full Self-Driving, as it routinely takes strange routes, has trouble with local rules (like Except Right Turn Stop Signs in Pennsylvania), and sometimes does not realize that maneuvers it is suggesting are against the law. Turning out of my neighborhood, you cannot turn left, yet my Model Y still suggests it roughly 70 percent of the time when I’m leaving.
However, Tesla might be close to a breakthrough on this. With the Summer Update, Tesla added “Preferred Routes” alongside “Automatic Navigation.”
Preferred Routes prioritized roads that the driver had actually taken before, instead of always defaulting to what the vehicle believes is the most efficient path. This has already solved many of my issues. Formerly, I would turn off the Online Routing setting, and that would eliminate most of my complaints with routing, but then you lose out later on the Live Traffic Visualization.
Tesla’s Navigation has improved tremendously thanks to the Preferred Routes release with the Summer Update, but it still could use some polishing, as it still suggests strange routes from time to time, and it also has a lot of issues getting out of a parking lot. I find that those truly confuse FSD sometimes.
News
SpaceX’s midnight spy satellite launch quietly set a new record
Falcon Heavy launched its first NRO mission while SpaceX landed four boosters in one day.
SpaceX closed out one of its busiest days ever with a midnight Falcon Heavy launch from Florida, and the rocket’s two side boosters came home to finish off a landing record the company had never set before.
Falcon Heavy lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:54 p.m. ET Thursday carrying NROL-97, a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. It was the first time the NRO has flown on Falcon Heavy after 22 missions on Falcon 9, and the first NRO mission bought through the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 2 contract awarded in 2025, according to Spaceflight Now.
Falcon Heavy lifts off from pad 39A in Florida for the 14th time! pic.twitter.com/uuZLKNTdD7
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 2, 2026
Roughly eight minutes after liftoff, side boosters B1104 and B1072 touched down at Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, setting off double sonic booms across Brevard County. B1104 was flying for the second time and B1072 for the fourth. Both last flew on August 30 on NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, making NROL-97 the quickest turnaround between Falcon Heavy missions to date. The brand new center core, B1106, was expended in the Atlantic so the payload could reach its high energy orbit, and SpaceX’s mission page noted the fairing had previously flown on the NROL-95 mission in July.
The two landings capped a record for SpaceX. Earlier Thursday, Falcon 9 booster B1101 returned to Landing Zone 40 after sending the Crew-13 astronauts to the International Space Station, and another Falcon 9 launched the Transporter-18 rideshare with 130 payloads from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Spaceflight Now reported it was the first time SpaceX has landed four boosters in a single day, wrapping up the triple header Teslarati previewed on Wednesday.
Falcon Heavy’s side boosters land on LZ-1 and LZ-2 pic.twitter.com/dBPcNeggFx
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 2, 2026
The mission also brought Landing Zone 1 back for what may be its final landing. SpaceX first landed an orbital class booster there in December 2015, but its lease on the former Launch Complex 13 site ended in 2025 as the company moved Florida landings to new pads at its own launch complexes. With LZ-40 already holding the Crew-13 booster, SpaceX brought LZ-1 back into service for one more night. Launch tracker Next Spaceflight listed NROL-97 as the final expected landing at the site.
NROL-97 adds to a fast growing stack of national security work for SpaceX. The company has flown four Space Force missions from Vandenberg since mid August, several believed to carry Starshield satellites, pushing its Pentagon contract total for 2026 past $8 billion. Elon Musk was also named this week to help lead the Pentagon’s Project Meridian study on the future of warfare.
The Florida doubleheader stood out for another reason. The Space Coast saw only one launch in all of September as SpaceX shifts more of its East Coast infrastructure toward Starship, which reached orbit for the first time on Flight 14 just three days earlier.
Tesla teases “Halloween Mode” update with Optimus rising from a graveyard
Tesla says fixes on Full Self-Driving’s two biggest issues are on the way
