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Tesla’s Giga Texas completely solves the Cybertruck’s ‘Cowboy Problem’
Yesterday, Elon Musk posted a cryptic tweet asking the Twitterverse about the possibility of Tesla establishing a Giga Texas facility. The response was overwhelmingly positive, despite some Tesla supporters questioning the rationale behind the notion of investing in a state that has been practically hostile to the company. Yet Tesla’s upcoming lineup of vehicles, particularly its Cybertruck, the addition of Giga Texas to the company’s growing list of factories may very well be a godsend. It could, for one, address the Cybertruck’s “Cowboy Problem” in Texas.
Texas is a large market for pickup trucks. Pickups are so popular in the Lone Star state that the automotive auctioneering firm Mecum did not even bother including sedans and other cars in its auction in Houston last year. Texas accounts for about one of every six pickups sold in the United States. Considering that trucks are among the most popular vehicles in the country, this number is very substantial. This is a goldmine that disruptive all-electric companies like Tesla can tap into, provided their vehicles are embraced by consumers.
In a recent article, author David Freedman noted that real truck buyers primarily worship a vehicle’s specs and utility when considering their next purchase. This is the reason why workhorses such as the Ford F-150 have become such a juggernaut in the United States auto market, and in Texas in particular. Former GM executive Tony Posawatz, who was behind the Chevy Volt, highlighted this in a statement. “Truck buyers are more sophisticated than car buyers in what they’re looking for. They look at their truck as a tool,” he said.
Tesla and its Cybertruck team appear to be fully aware of this, as evidenced by the vehicle’s features and specs, many of which seemed to have been included following CEO Elon Musk’s brainstorming session with his followers on Twitter. From hauling capacity to sheer unadulterated power, the Cybertruck has it all. The vehicle even offers a range of over 500 miles per charge in its sub-$70,000 configuration, something that is yet to be matched by other upcoming EV truck makers like Rivian. The Cybertruck is designed to take an immense amount of punishment without flinching as well, thanks to its stainless steel exoskeleton.
Its controversial looks aside, the Cybertruck objectively has the features and specs that can make it a massive disruptor in the EV segment. Yet there are psychological barriers that work against the vehicle’s favor, and one of them may very well be Tesla’s reputation as a California-bred, Silicon Valley-based company that makes sleek, futuristic cars. Simply put, Tesla does not have the reputation of a car maker that can produce tough vehicles for work. Ford, GM, and other veteran automakers do, and they could be counting on this for their own upcoming electric trucks.
Gabriel Smart of Planet Ford in Houston, which primarily sells trucks, describes the automaker’s pitch for its F-150. “When someone comes in for a Ford truck, it’s because that’s what their buddy drives, it’s what their dad drives, it’s what their granddad drives. So that’s what they want to drive, too,” he said. Tesla, then, has a challenge ahead of it. The company would not only have to buck the stereotypes of electric vehicles with the Cybertruck; it would also have to prove to dedicated truck buyers that its all-electric pickup is a serious alternative to tried and tested vehicles such as the F-150.
One of the ways that the company can do this is to simply make the Cybertruck as the de facto electric vehicle of Texas by producing the truck right in the state itself. If Giga Texas does pan out, and if the facility ends up producing vehicles like the Cybertruck, it would be very difficult for Texas’ regulators and truck buyers to not support the vehicle. The Cybertruck is already compelling enough with its specs, features, and price alone. Add the fact that it is built using American labor at the heart of pickup country, and the vehicle may very well become the symbol of the US’ next-generation of trucking. This, ultimately, solves any possible “Cowboy Problem” Tesla may have with its all-electric pickup, and it may open up the state to more of the company’s vehicles as well.
Elon Musk noted during the fourth-quarter earnings call that the demand for the Cybertruck has been impressive so far, with the company getting enough orders to correspond to several years’ worth of production. “I have never seen actually such a level of demand as this — we’ve never seen anything like it basically. I think we will make as many as we can sell for many years. So — as many — we’ll sell as many as we can make, it’s going to be pretty nuts,” Musk said. And this is all before the Cybertruck can even tap into the heart of the US’ pickup market.
The Cybertruck is expected to enter the market next year. Tesla plans to start with the tri-motor AWD and dual motor AWD. The $39,990 single motor RWD Cybertruck, which undercuts competitors such as the Rivian R1T, is expected to start production in late 2022.
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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
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.
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
- 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
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to his social media platform X on Thursday night to deny a ridiculous rumor regarding the sale of the company’s Chinese vehicle production plant, Gigafactory Shanghai.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, claimed in a scathing new report that Tesla was exploring a potential sale of the entire China business in an effort to help bolster a potential merger between SpaceX and Tesla.
Musk immediately denied the rumor not once but twice, initially calling it “fake news,” and then calling it “absurdly fake news” in a separate post just a few moments later:
This is fake news
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026
The original poster of the Wall Street Journal article that Musk saw deleted the initial post sharing the headline and the rumored sale of Tesla’s China business.
This has never even come up in a discussion ever.
Absurdly fake news.
People should assume news is fake until proven otherwise.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026
The report seemed absolutely and unequivocally false to begin with; Tesla’s business in China is among the most important pieces of the company’s business. Not only does the factory supply vehicles for the domestic market, but also for various other markets in Asia and Europe.
China is also one of the largest automotive markets in the world, and Tesla has performed well there despite the robust competition.
The speculation regarding a Tesla and SpaceX merger has started to gain steam this year as the space exploration company went public just a month ago. There has been speculation that Musk will bridge all of his companies under one “umbrella company,” and analysts believe this could happen before the end of the decade.
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
This is the latest iteration of Musk’s very evident war on mainstream media. Reports regarding any of Musk’s companies are quick to get the dreaded “false” or “fake news” response from the CEO when they are unfounded.
Elon Musk
Tesla AI boss reveals how big Optimus is going to get
Tesla’s Optimus chief corrected himself on X, confirming a staggering 10 million robot production target.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus program has a new number attached to it, after Ashok Elluswamy, the executive who has run the humanoid robot program since June 2025, posted a three word correction on X Thursday, “Correction, 10 million robots.”
The line clarifies the long term annual capacity Tesla is building toward its planned second Optimus production line at Gigafactory Texas, a figure Musk has cited repeatedly since last year’s shareholder meeting.
The scale is worth noting, because ten million robots a year would mean Tesla building more units annually than most countries sell in new cars. Tesla has framed this as a second line, not the first. The buildout is happening in two phases: a roughly one million unit per year line inside Tesla’s Fremont factory, installed on the floor space vacated when Model S and Model X production ended earlier this year, and a much larger dedicated facility under construction at Giga Texas that broke ground on its first steel structure in May. That Texas facility is the one Elluswamy’s correction refers to, and is expected to reach volume production sometime in 2027.
Correction, 10 million robots https://t.co/0z4nyQNTzp
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) July 30, 2026
Tesla Optimus project fires up as Musk sees production line progress
Elluswamy took over Optimus from Milan Kovac last summer and has spent the months since talking up the program’s trajectory. Elon Musk has also floated the ten million figure at Tesla’s 2025 shareholder meeting.
Ending Model S and Model X production to make room for the first Optimus line was one of the more consequential manufacturing decisions in the company’s recent history, retiring two flagship vehicles in favor of a robot that has yet to enter mass production. Musk has previously estimated per unit production costs at $20,000 to $25,000 once Tesla reaches a million units a year, though he hasn’t said what that cost looks like at ten times the volume.
Tesla Model Y L’s new features flexed at unveiling event at Diner
Tesla CEO Elon Musk denies ridiculous Gigafactory Shanghai rumor
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner-80x80.jpg)
