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Tesla is becoming the company of choice for next-generation auto workers
Tesla’s first handover ceremony for its Made-in-China Model 3 in Gigafactory 3 was memorable for a variety of reasons. For one, it proved that Tesla could meet or even exceed the already-ambitious goals of CEO Elon Musk. It was also an event that was made extra special when a young GF3 worker decided to propose to his partner with his blue MIC Model 3.
The scene is representative of a trend that seems to be present in Tesla’s ranks: the company is becoming the de facto carmaker of choice for the next generation of auto workers. Gigafactory 3’s workers who were present at the handover ceremony were mostly young. This extends to the company’s executives as well. Unlike conventional executives from legacy auto, who are populated by veterans who have been in the business for decades, Tesla’s executives are young, aggressive, and even a tad bit ambitious.
This observation was mentioned by Tesla owner-enthusiast @Ray4Tesla in a tweet following the handover event in Shanghai. Several executives from Tesla attended the MIC Model 3 delivery event, and all of them were in their 30s and 40s. They were articulate, energetic, and seemingly very motivated. In a way, the energy exuded by Tesla China’s executives was fitting for a company whose mission is literally to accelerate the advent of sustainability.
Tesla’s allure for young professionals is not just limited to China. Recent comments from Jorg Steinbach, the Economics Minister of Brandenburg, suggested that Germany may be looking to Tesla to attract young talent as well. “I am optimistic that young people from all over Germany and far beyond want to take part in this project,” he said, adding that the arrival of the electric car maker could allow the region’s workers to future-proof their jobs.
Perhaps it’s Tesla’s disruptive nature, or its startup nature, but the company continues to rank high among young job seekers. Working at Tesla is notoriously challenging, filled with long hours and hyper-ambitious targets. It’s essentially a Silicon Valley startup, but instead of a mobile app or an internet-based service, the company’s product happens to be electric cars and battery storage devices. Stories from former workers at Tesla tell of intense work environments and sudden changes of pace. Yet, it is also one that the best and brightest find very difficult to pass up.
Employer branding specialist Universum’s 2019 survey found that Tesla and SpaceX, two of CEO Elon Musk’s companies, are perceived by engineering students as the best employers in the country. For many young workers, particularly those whose idealism is still intact, there are few companies in the world worth working for, and one of them happens to be Tesla. Overall, it appears that for many of these young workers, the challenges that come with a job at Tesla are well worth it.
Another reason for this is likely Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Bold and daring, Musk has been compared by the media to billionaire-genius-superhero Tony Stark/Iron Man. Just like the fictional Stark, Musk barrels through his projects with an intensity that’s near-obsessive, and at times, with seemingly little regard for his personal safety. While conventional auto CEOs are thought to spend their days behind a desk and at meetings, Musk is out on the roads testing the limits of Autopilot and Full Self-Driving on his personal vehicle. Musk is also known to get his hands dirty when needed, with the CEO being spotted torquing bolts with Tesla’s workers during the buildout of Tesla’s GA4 line for the Model 3 in the Fremont factory.
Ultimately, it is quite inspiring to work for a company whose goal is not just to make money every quarter, but one that fights a far more important battle. It is also inspiring to work under a leader who puts himself in the front lines. This certainly seems to be the case, with a survey from job search marketplace Hired indicating that Musk is currently perceived by job seekers as the most inspiring leader in tech. This is something that has been noticed by veteran Shark Tank judge Kevin O’Leary, better known by his tongue-in-cheek nickname, Mr. Wonderful, as well.
Prior to being a TSLA investor, O’Leary had been critical of the electric car maker. But one of the tipping points for the investing veteran came after watching electric vehicle races that involve engineering students from various schools. Automakers would usually send their HR teams to these races, in an effort to attract up-and-coming talent. But after each race, the Shark Tank judge realized that the winning teams all head over to one company: Tesla. This, according to O’Leary, is a big advantage for the electric car maker.
“Every one of these engineers, the smoking hot kids that sit with their cars, the men and women that sleep with them for 24 hours a day; it’s an unusual culture I’ve never seen before. They all want to work at Tesla. Why? Because the teams are six to eight people. If they go to a legacy car company, they get drowned out in the back somewhere. These smart, young, men and women make a big difference as interns. I can’t believe the access to talent they have,” O ‘Leary said.
With this in mind, it appears that Tesla’s future as an electric car maker is secured, at least with regards to its talent pool. Provided that the company maintains its course, and its leadership remains as motivated, there is very little doubt that the disruptor from Silicon Valley could attract the best and brightest workers when needed.
The Tesla Model Y L is arguably the most hyped trim of the all-electric crossover, other than the Performance configuration that comes with white-knuckle speed and sports car-level handling.
However, it is not all perfect. Tesla owners in China who took delivery of the Model Y L, denoted with an L to highlight its longer wheelbase, are experiencing what they are referring to as “collapsing” of the rear wheels, as suspension issues appear to be an issue with some of the builds.
🚨 Model Y L owners in China report rear suspension sag
• Six-seat long-wheelbase Y. Shanghai. On sale since August 2025
• Owners say the rear tire-to-arch gap shrinks after mileage or a full load. Some cases after about 9,000 km loaded. Others near 30,000 km
• Tesla service… pic.twitter.com/Lr6i5Tbi07— Joe Hansen (@joehansen) September 1, 2026
The gap between the wheel arch and tire has narrowed to the point that “not even a single finger” could fit, according to a report from Car News China. The failures are not tied to a specific mileage, as one owner said that after just 9,000 kilometers (5,600 miles), they noticed the suspension issue when their car was fully loaded.
Another one had the issue at 30,000 kilometers (18,640 miles) and noticed that the wheel gap shrank to two fingers, so not as drastic as the person who reported a similar issue at 9,000 km.
Tesla Model Y L is gaining momentum in China’s premium segment
Along with the visual recognition of the issue, others are saying the sagging is causing abnormal wear on the inside of the tires. Extra weight and instant torque already provide additional stress on the tires in electric vehicles during normal operation, so it is no surprise that this is another complaint.
There has been no recall issued by Tesla, and the company has not yet publicly acknowledged the issue.
Some are suggesting that owners use a “finger test” to self-diagnose whether there is an issue with the suspension. There should be four fingers between the tire and the wheel well; anything less than that starts to get dicey.
Tesla is starting to truly tease and hype its groundbreaking Cybercab event, which takes place tomorrow in Austin, Texas. It will be the first time members of the public will be able to ride in a Cybercab, a vehicle without any manual controls, on public roads.
Tesla has been dropping some hype on X over the past several days, but this morning, the excitement has truly started to build up for the event. Although Cybercab has been unveiled before, this is truly Tesla’s announcement that it is ready to start offering autonomous rides for public passengers in its new ride-hailing-geared vehicle for the first time.
The hype has started with a variety of different social media posts that are a true indication that Tesla is preparing for something big. Teasing so much of the potential of Cybercab, including its ability to truly revolutionize how people hail rides for local travel, is what the big idea for the event entails. The time that many Tesla owners, fans, and investors have been waiting for is potentially here:
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 2, 2026
The event has remained slim on details. Even invitees are still awaiting true details about what the event will entail, where they’ll go, and what is in store for the evening. This is pretty typical for an event run by Tesla; they keep things under wraps for the most part until the very last minute.
However, there is no secret about what the real intention of Tesla is for this event: it is going to be a huge reveal party for a vehicle that has no steering wheel and no pedals. It is a truly massive step for the company moving forward.
No steering wheel, no pedals
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) September 2, 2026
Speculation persists as to whether this is going to be an event that simply announces that rides will begin with the Cybercab, or it will be something more substantial. Tesla has said in the past that they plan to sell the Cybercab to the general public in what could become a great way to earn passive income by adding it to a more global fleet of Robotaxi-geared vehicles.
Tomorrow, the show begins in Austin, and the Cybercab goes live at some capacity; we just don’t know exactly how quite yet.
News
SpaceX tells the FCC that Starship Flight 14 is going to orbit
SpaceX filed with the FCC for Starship Flight 14, its first true orbital launch attempt.
SpaceX has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to fly Starlink terminals during Starship’s fourteenth flight test, and the filing lays out a genuine trip to orbit, something the program has never attempted.
Every Starship flight so far, including Flight 13’s successful splashdown in the Indian Ocean on July 24, has flown a suborbital arc that ends with the ship reentering the atmosphere within the same hour it launches. The FCC paperwork describes a mission profile built around an actual orbital insertion instead.
The payload is the other half of the story. Flight 13 carried 20 production Starlink V3 satellites, but because that mission never reached orbit, the satellites reentered along with the ship rather than joining the constellation, something Teslarati covered in detail after SpaceX released footage shot from one of those satellites as it drifted away from Starship in space. Flight 14 is designed to close that gap. If the orbital insertion holds, the roughly 20 V3 satellites onboard would separate into an operational orbit and could eventually go into service, each one rated for about 1 terabit per second of downlink capacity by SpaceX’s own account.
SpaceX announces new Starbase for ‘thousands of Starship launches annually’
Elon Musk first flagged the orbital attempt during SpaceX’s August 4 earnings call, the company’s first as a public entity following its June IPO under the ticker SPCX. He also floated catching the ship with the Starbase tower on the same flight, an idea he walked back on August 20, saying the catch attempt would more likely come “in a few months,” as Teslarati reported at the time. Flight 14 will instead target a splashdown for the ship in the Indian Ocean, the same recovery method used since Flight 12.
Hardware has been catching up to the ambition. Booster 21 completed a full 33-engine static fire on August 28, and Ship 41 finished its own six-engine test the week before. An airspace briefing circulated to pilots on August 20 listed September 15 as the target date, later than the end of August window Musk mentioned on the earnings call, though SpaceX has not confirmed a launch date publicly and Starship schedules routinely slip while hardware and FAA paperwork line up.
The FCC filing itself does not guarantee a launch date. It covers communications authority, and not flight readiness, considering SpaceX still needs Ship 41 fully stacked and cleared by the FAA before Flight 14 can fly. But the filing is a real marker of intent and it puts a specific regulatory process behind what had so far only been Musk’s word on the earnings call.
Tesla Model Y L gets suspension complaints in over odd issue China
Tesla Cybercab event gains steam ahead of massive launch
