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Tesla introduces ‘Annual Awards’ in latest Referral Program: VIP event access, P100D

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Not one to waste any time, Tesla is back with a seventh Referral Program this time introducing an ‘Annual Award’ that will be given to Tesla owners who refer the most Model S and Model X sales by the end of the year.

Details for Tesla’s latest Referral Program were posted to the company’s site shortly after the previous incentive program reached its January 15 end of day expiration. Incidentally, January 15 is also the deadline to the Silicon Valley electric car company’s free lifetime Supercharger policy. Model S and Model X vehicles ordered after this date will be given 400 kWh of Supercharger credits, per year, after which usage will be billed under a new fee structure.

Tesla’s new referral program will be broken down into a ‘Current Phase’ – which will reward owners that refer the most sales between January 16 and March 15, 2017, prizes – and an annual award that will gift winning owners with exclusive VIP access to events, VIP concierge service, a complimentary weekend getaway at a Tesla destination charging resort, and more.

The top prize for winning the Annual Award will be given to the first person within each sales region  North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific  that refers 20 sales. The winner will be rewarded a Ludicrous Tesla Model S or Tesla Model X P100D.

Also, worth noting is Tesla’s mention of a ‘Model 3 delivery event’ under the Current Phase program. Existing owners that make 7 or more qualifying referral sales will receive an invitation to attend the Model 3 delivery event.

Full details of Tesla’s seventh referral program, good between January 16 to March 15, 2017, is outlined in its entirety below.

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If you’ve enjoyed visiting our site and seeing our live behind the scenes coverage of events, please consider using our referral code for $1,000 off the purchase of your Model S and Model X. Your support helps us with content production. We’re particularly interested in bringing your the first photos of the Elon Musk-signed Red Powerwall 2.0.

Referral Program (Jan. 16 to Mar. 15, 2017)

Customers who order a new Model S or Model X using the referral link of a Tesla owner will get a $1,000 credit towards the purchase price. To show our appreciation, referring owners will be eligible for our Referral Program awards.

Current Phase

Owners can refer up to 8 friends during the current phase of the program, lasting from January 16 to March 15, 2017.

7+ Qualifying Referrals
Owners who make 7 qualifying referrals will receive an invitation for themselves and a guest to attend our Model 3 delivery event.

5+ Qualifying Referrals
Those who make 5 or more qualifying referrals will receive an exclusive red Founders Series Powerwall 2. This limited edition Powerwall is not available to the public.

3+ Qualifying Referrals
Those who make 3 qualifying referrals will receive a Founders Series Tesla Model S for Kids. This miniature driveable electric Model S includes working headlights, sound system, and charge port.

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2+ Qualifying Referrals
Those who make 2 or more referrals will receive a rolling Tesla carry-on.

Ludicrous P100D Model S or Model X
Each qualified referral customers make gives them an additional entry into a drawing to win their choice of either a Ludicrous P100D Model S or Model X.

Annual Awards

Owners will now also receive exclusive benefits and awards throughout the year, based on their total number of referrals from January 16, 2017.

First to 20 Per Region – Ludicrous P100D Model S or Model X
The first person to refer 20 friends starting from January 16 in each sales region— North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific — will receive a P100D Model S or Model X. They will be invited to configure their award once all 20 friends have taken delivery of their new Tesla vehicles.

20+ Qualifying Referrals
Those who make 20 qualifying referrals will receive a weekend getaway at a destination charging resort as well as the ability to swap their car with the latest Tesla of their choice for a week.

15+ Qualifying Referrals
Those who make 15 qualifying referrals will receive exclusive priority access and benefits lasting until December 31, 2018, including:

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VIP Concierge – 24/7 access via phone for assistance with all ownership matters

VIP access to Tesla events

10 overnight test drive passes for friends and family

10 passes for 4 to tour Tesla’s Fremont Factory

We know that without our customers we would not be where we are today. This is our way of thanking you for your support in building the Tesla community and accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

Limits
Related order must be placed between January 16, 2017 and March 15, 2017 to qualify for current phase awards, and after January 16, 2017 to qualify for annual awards. Referrals must be delivered before awards are redeemed. Pre-owned vehicles are not eligible. Limit of 8 referrals per owner until March 15, 2017.

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Must be at least 18 years old to be eligible for awards. No entry fee, payment or purchase required for the drawing. A random drawing will be held on or around March 31, 2017 to determine the winner. The winner will be contacted thereafter. Awards are non-transferable and not redeemable for cash. The winner is responsible for all taxes and local requirements and fees. Program and awards are conditional on and subject to local laws and regulations. Unfortunately, Ohio and Virginia residents are not eligible for awards.

The customer is not an employee, legal representative or partner of Tesla or any Affiliate of Tesla. Nothing in the Referral Program shall be deemed to create any kind of (commercial) relationship between Supplier and Tesla or any of Tesla’s Affiliates. The customer has no authority to represent or bind Tesla.

Good Faith
We introduce programs such as these in good faith and expect the same good faith in return. Please note that we may withhold awards where we believe customers are acting in bad faith or otherwise acting contrary to the intent of this program. To be clear, commercializing or otherwise selling referral codes is not appropriate, and we will not honor such codes. We cannot cover every nefarious scenario, nor will we attempt to, but we do promise to be fair and reasonable.

Gene has been obsessed with cars since before he could legally sit in the front seat. Writer, researcher, unofficial CS support, accountant, native suit guy when needed, and overall stick poker. He approaches every story the way he approaches a road trip: with too much enthusiasm, not enough planning, and a surprisingly good outcome. gene@teslarati.com

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Why automakers keep turning down Elon Musk’s Tesla Full Self-Driving offer

Elon Musk confirms no automaker has ever accepted Tesla’s offer to license Full Self-Driving software.

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Elon Musk gave a brief answer on X Monday that confirmed that Tesla’s standing offer to license Full Self-Driving to other automakers still has zero takers. Sawyer Merritt wrote that “Tesla has for years openly invited other automakers to license FSD. None of them have accepted,” responding to a prediction from Boom Supersonic founder Blake Scholl that Tesla would eventually open FSD the way it opened its Supercharger network to rival brands. Musk’s reply to Merritt was one word: “Exactly.”

It is not the first time Musk has made this point. He said something similar in November, when he called legacy automakers reluctance to adopt FSD “crazy,” and Tesla has floated the offer publicly since at least 2021. Scholl’s prediction touches on something real. Once NACS became the de facto charging standard, adoption from Ford, GM, Rivian and others followed within about a year. FSD licensing was supposed to work the same way once Tesla built enough of a lead that switching made sense for everyone.

The case for licensing now is stronger than it was two years ago. Waymo and Zoox are logging hundreds of thousands of unsupervised autonomous miles, along with Tesla’s own Robotaxi fleet. Every automaker still selling driver assist systems that lag FSD has given the robotaxi conversation to Tesla, Waymo and Zoox by default. Licensing FSD would let a GM or a Ford compete on the same field without spending a decade and billions of dollars building a stack from scratch, the same argument Tesla made when it opened the Supercharger network to bring more EVs onto its chargers.

But FSD is not a connector standard. As one reply to Musk’s post pointed out, licensing FSD is not a software license the way NACS was a plug spec. It requires adopting Tesla’s eight camera layout and its onboard compute architecture, meaning a licensee’s cars would effectively become Tesla hardware wearing someone else’s badge. That is the visible obstacle. The less visible one is data. A licensed FSD stack would report back the same telemetry Tesla collects from its own fleet, giving Tesla a continuous read on how a competitor’s cars are actually driven, where they struggle, and how often drivers intervene. For an automaker trying to build its own autonomy program, or simply trying to keep its build quality and safety record private, handing Tesla that visibility could be a bigger cost than the hardware bill. It is the reason the Supercharger comparison only goes so far. Opening a charging plug cost Tesla very little. Opening FSD would cost a rival something it cannot get back.

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Tesla Roadster is available for order once again following brief hold

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(Credit: luxunsheep/Instagram)

Tesla has reopened reservations for its long-delayed next-generation Roadster, asking buyers for a $50,000 deposit just days before an October 1 reveal event in Waco, Texas. The move revives a reservation process first launched in 2017 and later paused when Tesla pulled pricing from its website in 2021.

The reservation page requires an immediate $5,000 credit-card payment, described as fully refundable, followed by a $45,000 wire transfer due within 10 days, which is identical to what was expected previously. Reservations are not considered final until the wire clears.

The structure matches the 2017 terms Tesla used when it first collected deposits after unveiling a prototype. Tesla has not published a confirmed retail price or production start date on the order page.

The October 1 event is scheduled in Waco, about 90 minutes north of Tesla’s Austin headquarters and near SpaceX’s McGregor rocket test site. Tesla sent invitations to existing reservation holders and posted a “Go for launch” teaser on September 12.

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established a temporary flight restriction over the McGregor area from September 18 through October 2, consistent with plans for a demonstration involving SpaceX-designed cold-gas thrusters. Elon Musk has previously described the optional package as enabling extreme acceleration or brief hovering. Tesla has said the event will include pricing, specifications, and production targets.

The second-generation Roadster was first shown in November 2017 during Tesla’s Semi launch. Musk promised production in 2020, with claimed performance of 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds, more than 250 mph top speed, and roughly 620 miles of range.

Those targets have slipped repeatedly.

Tesla later pointed to 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025-2026 before indicating production would not begin until 2027 or 2028 at Gigafactory Texas. Design work has continued, with reports of a sharper, Cybertruck-influenced look replacing the original curvy prototype.

Original reservation holders who paid $50,000 in 2017, or $250,000 for the Founders Series, have waited nearly nine years without a production car. Some high-profile customers canceled. Tesla’s decision to reopen orders now, after previously shutting them down, tests whether new buyers will commit substantial funds before seeing a finalized production vehicle. The October 1 event is intended to answer remaining questions about what those buyers will actually receive and when.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving expands to another European country

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is heading to Czechia after the Czech Ministry of Transport recognised the Dutch RDW’s provisional type approval, making the country the seventh EU member state to clear the system for public roads. Tesla Europe announced on 21 September 2026 that “FSD Supervised is now approved in Czechia” and that rollout “will begin soon.”

The decision marks a notable reversal. Earlier in 2026, Prague had declined to automatically recognise the Netherlands’ April approval, citing concerns over speed-limit compliance, traffic-sign recognition and driver-attention monitoring, and arguing that a coordinated EU approach was preferable. Officials said months of expert review, talks with Tesla and other member states, and real-world data from countries already using the system resolved those issues.

“Safety remains the top priority,” the ministry stated.

FSD Supervised remains a Level 2 driver-assistance system: the driver must stay engaged and is legally responsible. Eligible vehicles need AI4, the company’s most up-to-date hardware version. Tesla is expected to push the feature over the air in the coming days, following the pattern seen after earlier national approvals.

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Europe’s rollout began when Dutch regulator RDW issued a provisional EU type approval on 10 April 2026 after extensive testing. Mutual recognition then produced a rapid cascade: Lithuania (20 May), Estonia (29 May), Denmark (9 June), Belgium (10 June) and Slovenia (7 September). Czechia now completes that list of seven.

The approvals cover only a modest share of the EU population, but they add political weight ahead of a 6 October vote by the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles. A qualified majority, at least 15 of 27 member states representing 65 percent of the EU population, could open the remaining markets, including large ones such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain that have so far preferred to wait for a bloc-wide decision.

For Czech Tesla owners, the immediate prize is access to the same supervised highway and city driving already available in the other six countries. For Tesla, each new market generates additional European driving data and strengthens the case that FSD Supervised can operate safely under the continent’s varied road rules. The Czech approval is therefore both a local milestone and another incremental step toward a wider European launch.

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