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Tesla secures defamation suit win against popular car reviewer in China

Credit: Stefan Chen via Tesla China/Twitter

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Tesla China has secured a legal win in its defamation suit against a popular car reviewer. The reviewer, who is known online as “Boss Cai,” was sued by the electric vehicle maker for reportedly damaging its reputation in China. 

The saga started in 2021 when the popular car reviewer posted a video on Douyin (the local version of TikTok) claiming that a friend who worked as a supplier for Tesla had revealed some shocking information about the EV maker. “Boss Cai” claimed, among other things, that Tesla’s quality inspectors did a substandard job, and they allegedly used their position to gain personal favors. 

In June 2022, Tesla China took legal action against “Boss Cai,” with the company stating that the false rumors promoted by the popular car reviewer damaged its reputation. Tesla also demanded that the reviewer pay 5 million yuan ($720,000) as compensation. 

Court documents revealed some weaknesses in the car reviewer’s arguments. For one, “Boss Cai” reportedly stated that it was impossible to get the source of his information to testify in court because the pressure from the case caused him to forget his friend’s name, as noted in a Car News China report. Tesla also pointed out that the popular car reviewer promoted his own company in his videos against the EV maker. 

In October 2022, Tesla’s case took a favorable turn after the court deemed the TikTok user’s video content as fabricated to insult and defame the EV maker. The court did, however, only issue a 100,000 yuan (about $14,400) fine to the car reviewer. Despite this, “Boss Cai” still appealed to the court, though the original verdict was later upheld.

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As part of the court’s decision, “Boss Cai” would now have to post a public apology to Tesla within 15 days. The public apology must be kept up for at least 90 days in the popular car reviewer’s TikTok, WeChat, and Weibo accounts. He also must compensate Tesla 100,000 yuan for damages.  

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk just dropped a huge detail on the Tesla Roadster

“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one.”

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tesla roadster
Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk dropped a huge detail on the Tesla Roadster on his latest appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Tesla has been teasing the Roadster for years. The company has constantly delayed the vehicle, hoping to push its limits past anything that is even imaginable by the human mind.

Earlier this year, the company said it would put on a “most epic demo” for the Roadster, displaying and unveiling all its capabilities, some new, some previously talked about. However, nobody really knows what to expect.

On the JRE Podcast, Musk joined Rogan for an over three-hour conversation about a variety of topics, but Tesla was something that was evidently on the agenda.

One of the parts of the Tesla conversation that is getting a lot of attention is Musk’s new teasing of the Roadster, saying it has “crazy technology” that might not even qualify as an automobile in the classic sense.

Musk confirmed that Tesla is “getting close to demonstrating the prototype,” and said he can guarantee the demo “will be unforgettable.”

He continued:

“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one.”

Musk went on to say, with a smile, that Joe would have to “wait and see” what Tesla had come up with.

He went on:

“I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever. [It will be unveiled] hopefully before the end of the year. You know, we need to make sure that it works. This is some crazy technology in this car. Let’s just put it this way: if you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that.”

Tesla has said for years that the Roadster would be able to at least hover, thanks to a SpaceX package that would feature cold gas thrusters that would help the vehicle get in the air.

The new Tesla Roadster will be able to fly: Elon Musk

Musk seemed very confident in his answers and very excited to show off what the Tesla Roadster is capable of. The real question is: how long will it take Tesla to get the car to market after the launch and unveiling? How many units will it manufacture? How much will it cost?

All of those things are details we will have to wait for Tesla to reveal at the Roadster event.

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Tesla targets gas car owners with this crazy new promotion

Tesla is now offering 2,000 free Supercharging miles to any gas car owner who chooses to trade their car in on a Tesla. The promotion requires a gas or hybrid electric vehicle to be turned in for any of the vehicles in Tesla’s lineup.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is targeting gas car owners with a crazy new promotion launched on October 31, its latest move to boost sales amidst the loss of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, which went away on September 30.

Tesla is now offering 2,000 free Supercharging miles to any gas car owner who chooses to trade their car in on a Tesla. The promotion requires a gas or hybrid electric vehicle to be turned in for any of the vehicles in Tesla’s lineup.

If you do that, you get 2,000 free miles of Supercharging, which can be utilized at any of the chargers on the Tesla network within the next two years:

Supercharging is rarely a Tesla owner’s primary source of charging, but for some owners, it is critical to their ownership experience.

While many homeowners or apartment dwellers are able to utilize charging infrastructure they either installed themselves or were provided by their property management company, others are totally reliant on the wide variety of charging options that are available today.

Tesla’s Supercharging Network has expanded rapidly over the past few years, mostly in preparation for the company to open it to other EV manufacturers, most of which have adopted the company’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) in the United States.

Its latest quarterly earnings Shareholder Deck revealed a 16 percent increase in stations in Q3 compared to the same timeframe in 2024. Meanwhile, connectors have increased by 18 percent in the same timeframe. There are over 73,800 connectors in the Tesla Supercharger Network globally.

The move could be looked at as a way to incentivize people to switch to electric vehicles, and it is something we have seen Tesla experiment with over the past month.

It has played with leasing terms, and we will likely see more incentive offers, like this Supercharging one or even Full Self-Driving trials for those who choose to make the switch over the next two months.

Tesla routinely offers some tasty deals in Q4 as it aims to round out the year with a strong delivery and production report for investors. Q4 is statistically Tesla’s strongest three-month period in any given year. However, Q3 was Tesla’s strongest performance in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history, as it narrowly missed the elusive 500,000 mark for a quarter.

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Tesla Cybercab sighting highlights big change since 2024 unveiling

Based on an image recently taken of the vehicle, it appears that Tesla has made the Cybercab’s cabin easier to get in and out of.

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Credit: @tzmartin/YouTube

A recent sighting of the Tesla Cybercab in the wild has teased a pretty interesting update that has been implemented on the autonomous two-seater. 

Based on an image recently taken of the vehicle, it appears that Tesla has made the Cybercab’s cabin easier to get in and out of. 

Recent Cybercab sightings

As per recent posts on social media, it appears Tesla has started testing the Cybercab on public roads. Images posted by Tesla community members in Palo Alto showed a Cybercab prototype being driven near the company’s engineering headquarters. Interestingly enough, the vehicle was equipped with a steering wheel. 

It’s not just the Cybercab’s steering wheel that caught a lot of attention, however. Based on observations by EV watchers online, it appears that Tesla has also made the Cybercab’s door a bit larger. This should make it easier for passengers to get into and out of the autonomous two-seater. The position of the camera in the B-pillar also appears to have been adjusted slightly. 

All-in on autonomy

While Cybercab prototypes that are seen in the wild today are fitted with a steering wheel, the vehicle will be produced strictly as an autonomous Robotaxi. This was highlighted by Elon Musk during the third-quarter earnings call. Musk also expects about 2 million Cybercabs to be produced every year, making it the company’s highest-volume vehicle. 

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“The single biggest expansion in production will be the Cybercab, which starts production in Q2 next year. That’s really a vehicle that’s optimized for full autonomy. It, in fact, does not have a steering wheel or pedals and is really an enduring optimization on minimizing cost per mile for fully considered cost per mile of operation,” Musk said during the Q3 2025 earnings call. 

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