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Tesla critic gets ‘converted’ after in-depth Model X P100D experience
There is something about the Tesla experience that cannot be replicated unless one gets behind the wheel of one of the company’s electric cars. Once experienced, Teslas tend to convert even the most dedicated fans of fossil-fuel powered vehicles. Detroit veteran and longtime Tesla critic John McElroy recently had that experience, after he was able to borrow a Tesla Model X P100D from a friend over the weekend.
John McElroy does not identify as a Tesla enthusiast. Far from it. Over the years, the auto veteran from Detroit has taken a rather critical stance regarding the electric car maker. Back in 2016, McElroy was among the industry experts who openly criticized Tesla for releasing its Autopilot driver-assist system as a beta feature. In his YouTube channel, Autoline TV, McElroy is also known to point out the flaws of Tesla and its vehicles. Earlier this year alone, McElroy and Sandy Munro pretty much took turns criticizing the build quality of an early-production Model 3.
After extensively experiencing the Model X firsthand, John McElroy is now singing a rather different tune, even admitting that he has “drank the Tesla Kool-Aid and became a believer.” The auto veteran wrote about his experience in a post at Wards Auto, where he outlined his insights as he drove the all-electric SUV for a weekend. McElroy admitted that prior to his weekend with the Model X, he has had limited time with Tesla’s electric cars. He had a brief drive in a Model S some years ago and drove around with Sandy Munro in a Model 3, but apart from that, McElroy has largely evaluated the company’s vehicles from afar.
McElroy noted that the Tesla Model X P100D he used was not a perfect vehicle by any means. It reportedly had buzzes, squeaks, rattles, and its fit and finish left much to be desired. That being said, McElroy noted that in areas that customers “love and care deeply about,” Tesla is around 10 years ahead of the auto industry. The auto veteran outlined the Model X’s convenience features as one of these, such as how the SUV recognizes its driver as it is approached, and how every setting in the vehicle is saved according to its driver’s preference. McElroy also lauded the Model X’s design elements such as its panoramic windshield, which he noted was unlike anything in the industry.
“It’s like watching a high-resolution version of the outside world roll by through a giant IMAX screen,” he wrote.
Being loaned a Model X P100D, it was a bit impossible for McElroy not to take notice of the electric car’s performance. The veteran took a particular liking to the vehicle’s details and little pop culture references as well, which gave the car personality. A free Supercharging session that involved a pleasant experience with Tesla owners rounded up McElroy’s Model X experience. Ultimately, McElroy noted that Tesla’s competitors, particularly those from Germany, would likely be able to match everything that Tesla has accomplished. But regardless of this, it would be difficult for competitors to capture the “fun, whimsical, and sassy attitude” that Tesla has created.
Personal experiences have “converted” other staunch Tesla critics in the past. Earlier this year, Jeremy Clarkson, who was involved in a lawsuit from Elon Musk over the original Roadster’s portrayal in an old episode of Top Gear, drove a Model X P100D in an episode of The Grand Tour. Just like McElroy, it was the vehicle’s performance and whimsical details that ultimately won Clarkson over (Clarkson was particularly fond of Summon and the Model X’s Celebration Mode Easter Egg). The host described the Model X as “serious and lighthearted, sensible and daft,” even going so far as to dub the vehicle as “fabulous.”
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SpaceX will report second quarter results after the market closes on Tuesday, August 4, marking the first time the company has opened its books to the public since its record IPO in June. Management will host a live audio only webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET, streamed on X, with no dial in option.
The debut carries more weight than a typical first quarter as a public company. Two trading days after the release, on August 6, the first tranche of SpaceX’s lockup expires, freeing roughly 911.5 million insider and employee shares, worth well over $100 billion at current prices and the largest such release in Wall Street history. A second, larger tranche tied to the stock trading 30 percent above its $135 IPO price never triggered, since shares have spent most of July trading below that price.
Wall Street’s models point to revenue near $6.9 billion for the quarter, up sharply from the $4.69 billion SpaceX reported in the first quarter, with a narrower per share loss than the $1.27 posted three months earlier, according to estimates compiled by Motley Fool. Those numbers will be the first look at how SpaceX’s three segments, Starlink, launch and AI, are performing independently.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
Investors heading into the call have a specific list of questions. How many net new Starlink subscribers did SpaceX add after ending March with 10.3 million, and is average revenue per user holding up as the service expands into lower income markets. How much of the AI segment’s revenue reflects contract signings with Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI this year, deals that combined could annualize to nearly $28 billion if fully ramped. Whether capital expenditures, which nearly doubled in the AI segment alone between 2024 and 2025, are still accelerating or starting to plateau. And whether management offers any forward guidance at all, something SpaceX has never done publicly.
The report will also land days after Elon Musk publicly denied a Wall Street Journal report describing internal planning to separate Tesla’s China business ahead of a potential Tesla-SpaceX merger. Whether Musk or SpaceX executives address that speculation on the call, even indirectly, maybe something investors will be listening for on Tuesday.
As Teslarati reported after Musk’s own warning to short sellers last week, the CEO has made clear he expects skeptics to be proven wrong over time. Tuesday will be the first chance for the numbers themselves to make that case.
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Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo
SpaceX released new footage of Starship in space captured by the Starlink satellites it deployed.
SpaceX released a new video Friday evening showing Starship from an angle showcased by its own Starlink satellites, watching the rocket drift away in orbit.
The 65 second clip, posted on X, stitches together footage from four cameras mounted on a single Starlink V3 satellite. It opens with a close view of Starship’s 171 foot upper stage, still catching sunlight, then pulls back as the two spacecraft separate.
The footage comes from Starship’s 13th flight test, which launched July 24 from Starbase after a scrubbed attempt and an abort caused by an engine issue the week before. When Flight 13 finally flew, it carried the first batch of functional Starlink V3 satellites Starship has ever deployed, twenty of them, with six equipped with cameras meant to scan the ship’s heat shield during reentry.
View of Starship in space from a Starlink V3 satellite on Flight 13.
This composite is made of imagery from four separate cameras on a single satellite. Six of the satellites were equipped with cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to… pic.twitter.com/sNTHHz5vLr
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 31, 2026
Flight 13 checked most of its boxes. Starship deployed all 20 satellites, relit a Raptor engine in space, and splashed down softly in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. Musk’s longer term plan calls for a Starlink V3 constellation of 100,000 satellites, according to a recent FCC filing, with Starship as the only vehicle capable of launching them at the volume that requires. Each Starship flight is designed to carry up to 60 V3 satellites once the vehicle reaches routine service, well beyond what Falcon 9 can carry in a single mission.
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Starship is next expected to fly with an attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower’s mechanical arms, a maneuver SpaceX has so far reserved for the Super Heavy booster.
Tesla flexed the new features of the Model Y L with a dedicated media event at the company’s Diner on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The Model Y L is the extended-wheelbase version of the all-electric crossover, which has been voted the best-selling car in the world on three occasions. The vehicle is already rolling off production lines at Gigafactory Texas, and first deliveries are slated to take place later this year.
Tesla brings Model Y L ‘Launch Series’ to the U.S. at $61,990
Teslarati was invited to the event, but due to some scheduling conflicts, we could not make it to Los Angeles. Instead, we will have our hands on a media unit sometime in August, so we’ll be able to spend some more extended time with the Model Y L.
However, plenty of those who made it to LA shared some cool features that set the Model Y L apart from the Model Y.
Multi-Row Climate Control
Tesla fitted the Model Y L with full climate control on all three rows on the front screen. It can be adjusted by selecting which row you’d like to modify on the right-hand side of the touch screen:
The Model Y L has a little row of icons on the right side of the climate screen so the front passenger can more quickly jump to whatever row they want to control. pic.twitter.com/uJS44mgCvk
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 30, 2026
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Better Rear Window Visibility
One of the strangest things about the Model Y, especially the Juniper iteration, is the rear window has extremely limited visibility when looking into the rearview mirror.
Tesla has improved upon this with the Model Y L:
This is a drastic difference. https://t.co/wTdhitD5aA pic.twitter.com/z6hFs0Jkss
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 30, 2026
PowerShare will be included
Model Y L will come with PowerShare in North America, with an 11.5kW output to your home. Tesla said it would require Powerwall 3 for operation.
Wireless Charging Pad
There has been some speculation that Tesla would upgrade the wireless charging pads in the United States, but this is not the case.
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Tesla owner fixes common feature complaint with crafty DIY retrofit
Tesla confirmed that it does not come with the cooled pads as the Y L in China does. This is because North America has not adopted Qi charging yet.
Thermal Management Improvements
These improvements in the Model Y L were seen with thermal management:
- Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
- +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather, 7 miles of real-world range gained
- 8x more solar energy reflection off of glass roof
- 30% reduction in solar energy entering the cabin
Some of the thermal management improvements in the new Model Y L Premium:
• Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
• Up to 15 min faster cabin cooling in sunny conditions
• +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather +7 miles of real-world range gained
• +10 miles recovered after… pic.twitter.com/jZirFWFdtO— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 31, 2026
Demand
Tesla said the Model Y L is almost sold out in the U.S. It comes with
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- 1 year of FSD Supervised
- 1 year of Supercharging
- 1 year of Premium Connectivity
- Free exterior paint color, interior, and wheel option at no additional cost
SpaceX’s biggest test yet arrives this week and it’s not a rocket launch
SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo
