News
Tesla’s Model 3 will be big news in 2017 and why you should care
The Tesla Model 3 will reach a pinnacle of excitement and hype in 2017, with projected international pricing and production scheduled to begin mid-year. These are important times for Tesla, as the Model 3 is the vehicle that CEO Elon Musk envisioned with his original Master Plan.
A new audience for Tesla
A minimum of 215 miles of range per single charge. Under 6 seconds: Zero to 60 mph. Seating for 5 adults. Designed to achieve 5-star safety rating. Autopilot hardware. Supercharging capable. Musk has said that “you will not be able to buy a better car for $35,000,” while also indicating that options will bring the typical price of a Model 3 to about $42,000.
All indications are that the Model 3 will be a four-door sedan that’s a bit smaller than the Tesla Model S. Likely comparable cars are the BMW 3 Series, Jaguar XE, and Mercedes C-Class. Those models are no mid-range Hondas or Hyundais, no Nissan Versas or Chevy Sparks with base prices under $15,000. So the Model 3 will have an upscale audience but not the mass public— at least not yet.
So, yes, it’s nice to see another Tesla vehicle coming to market, but aside of that, what’s so significant about the Model 3?
The Tesla Master Plan as embodied in the Model 3
Over a decade ago, Musk announced that Tesla’s long term plan was to build a wide range of vehicles, including affordably priced family cars. This was part of a larger goal to help expedite the move from a “mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy towards a solar electric economy.” Most electricity is produced at an electric power plant where some fuel source, such as coal, oil, natural gas, or nuclear energy, produces heat that boils water to create steam. The steam, under high pressure, is used to spin a turbine. Centralized electricity, then, frequently perpetuates reliance on fossil fuels. Recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels are the highest in history, and climate changes have had widespread impacts on human and natural systems. When we reduce our reliance on fossil-fuels, we can decrease the proportion of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Human activity, after all, has contributed to anthropogenic climate change.
What’s the Model 3 got to do with all this?
The important distinction to note here is between electric vehicles powered from a centralized grid and electric vehicles powered by decentralized solar energy. When combined with a modestly sized and priced solar panel from SolarCity — the Tesla-owned solar service provider — a Model 3 consumer can draw upon decentralized energy. When energy is produced close to where it will be used, rather than at a large plant elsewhere and sent through the national grid, a Tesla consumer reduces carbon emissions and contributes to a greener climate and economy.
The Model 3 will bring the capacity to become relatively energy independent to a whole new segment of society. Tesla’s reconceptualization of a transportation and electricity generation linkage will become increasingly apparent and important in 2017 as the Model 3 comes closer to our city streets.
The triad of Model 3 electric vehicle, solar roof, and Powerwall 2
In addition to ramping up Model 3 production, Tesla’s engineering teams will work in conjunction with Panasonic to set manufacturing at SolarCity’s Buffalo plant in 2017. That is the starting point for SolarCity solar roof products. The result? Solar cells, solar modules, and solar roof tiles.
Here’s how it works. A residence can capture the sun’s free, abundant energy source through rooftop solar tiles, turning sunlight into electricity for immediate use. Tesla’s solar roof tiles will be designed in four different and very appealing styles. Once the Jones family gets these solar roof tiles, so, too, will the Smiths want them. You see where this is going…
And there’s more to the solar roof tiles than merely converting sunlight. That sunlight-turned-electricity can be stored in a Powerwall 2 home battery pack. In early 2017, Tesla will initiate the first deliveries and installations of the Powerwall 2, which is being produced at the Gigafactory in Nevada. The Powerwall 2 can power an average two-bedroom home for a full day.
It can also be used to fire up your Model 3.
So, let’s review. Solar produces zero carbon emissions and reduces dependence on fossil fuels. The Model 3 electric vehicle is priced to meet the needs of an entirely new market. That market will be able to use solar roof tiles to turn sunlight into electricity, and the Powerwall 2 will store electricity that can, in turn, power up the Model 3. By matching Tesla solar roof tiles with the Powerwall to power your Model 3, you can extend the environmental and cost benefits of solar energy.
This is big stuff, and it’s clearly been under-reported. The Model 3 has the capacity to have huge consequences on the way the typical U.S. consumer considers electricity generation and transportation alternative. It’s Tesla in the lead, all over again.
Elon Musk
How to use Grok Bot to block spam calls and texts
Musk told users to ask Grok Bot to scrub their phone numbers from spam lists.
Elon Musk has a new use case for Grok Bot, and it is the spam call. On Thursday he replied to an X user named Arash with a short instruction: “Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!” Arash had said he got tired of the calls, had an AI bot find his number on listing sites and file removal requests, and packaged the process as a free skill for others.
The skill is called Spam-Call Scrubber, which is described to find a phone number on people search sites and data brokers, submits the opt outs, completes the confirmation emails those sites send back, and rechecks on a schedule the user picks. Using it requires the Grok Bot app. The pitch is time saved, since most broker opt outs sit behind separate forms on separate sites.
Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2026
Musk said Grok Bot now gives each bot its own email address, and that it can detect scam emails. On Thursday he also said SpaceX would make users whole if the bot botches a purchase or leaks a card, then told users to shop away from Amazon after the retailer blocked the agent, as Teslarati reported. The terms of service we reviewed at the time put responsibility for what an agent does on the user.
For Tesla owners, Grok Bot is not just a phone app. Tesla brought Grok Bot into its vehicles on September 22, and we argued earlier this week that the Cybercab’s real advantage may be the errands it runs during a ride. Every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y Robotaxi fleet has it enabled. The more routine tasks like this one become, the more a rider has reason to hand over something personal in the back seat.
The new Spam-Call Scrubber skill can be downloaded for free and works on sites that honor removal requests, while noting that listings can reappear, and illegal robocallers do not check any registry. Whether Spam-Call Scrubber cuts anyone’s call volume is something the first wave of users will find out, and Musk’s endorsement guarantees that wave is coming.
Investor's Corner
Tesla’s flying Roadster just revealed something bigger than the car
Analysts say the Roadster demo puts a Tesla and SpaceX merger back on the table.
The Roadster unveiling near Waco ended Thursday night, and by Friday morning much of the investor reaction had less to do with the car than with who owns the rocket technology inside it.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the event “puts the Tesla/SpaceX relationship on the table in a tangible way,” pointing to the propulsion, pressure vessel and control hardware sitting on a Tesla product. Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management called the demo “a ridiculous display of engineering” with “no commercial value” beyond embarrassing traditional automakers, though he said it showed Musk wants the two companies together.
The more specific forecast came a day earlier from Barclays. Analyst Dan Levy told clients a deal could be announced before Tesla’s annual meeting, which must happen by December 6, and that an announcement in late October or early November could make shareholder approval harder. Barclays expects SpaceX to be the buyer in an all stock deal, with Tesla holders receiving SpaceX shares at a premium, based on market values of roughly $2.1 trillion for SpaceX and $1.5 trillion for Tesla. If nothing lands around the meeting, the bank still sees an announcement within 6 to 12 months.
The Roadster demo just added more weight to merger speculations. Tesla’s demo used cold gas thrusters and pressure tanks of the kind SpaceX uses on Falcon 9, and Musk described the car as a collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX engineers, as we mentioned in our breakdown of the three Roadster configurations.
Musk has not publicly addressed a deal since the event, as far as we have seen. His most direct answer remains the one he gave at the All In Summit, when he said that with so much collaboration, “who can imagine what action one might take” without ruling anything out. Ives has held to a 2027 timeline since his March note, and Musk pushed back on the China piece of the speculation when ARK floated a year end announcement in August.
The next test is Tesla’s third quarter earnings call on October 21. However, we recall in July that Musk told analysts, “we can’t talk about combining companies and that kind of thing on an earnings call,” so a clear answer wouldn’t be expected.
News
How Tesla’s Roadster fan system and thrusters are built to dominate the corners
Tesla’s Roadster uses fans, active wings and cold gas thrusters to create grip at any speed.
Tesla’s new Roadster is best known for flipping through the air in Texas, but the technology that matters most for a race track is the stuff that keeps it on the ground. Tesla’s Roadster page describes a multi-mode fan and ground sealing system that acts as a downforce generator, pulling air out from beneath the car. Tesla says it provides enough suction to hold the vehicle upside down, even when stationary.
That is the key difference from the wings and diffusers on a normal supercar. Conventional aero only makes downforce when the car is moving, and it grows with speed, so a car has the least grip in the slow corners and under hard braking. A fan system makes downforce at any speed. Tesla’s patent, which we covered last year, describes fans and deployable skirts that create sealed or partially sealed regions under the car, with the fans extracting air to lower the pressure and increase grip and stability.
Still processing this … the most unreal thing I’ve seen. https://t.co/HtEuvnkZjY
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 16, 2026
Tesla pairs that with active wings, a next generation steer by wire system and a Track Mode that lowers the car and changes the suspension, with high downforce and low drag settings for the circuit. To keep weight down, Tesla points to magnesium, titanium and carbon fiber, manual controls and a fixed seat position, which it says lets the car respond to driver inputs almost instantly.
Tesla Roadster: Three configs, one can fly, 0-60 in 0.8 seconds
The cold gas thrusters are the other half. On the Thrust version they sit at the rear and Tesla says they take the car from 0 to 60 mph in under 0.9 seconds, while the Rocket version adds perimeter thrusters for forward, upward and lateral rotational movement. Tesla says the all electric actuators make micro adjustments within a fraction of a second.
Roadster transforms in Track Mode
These aero features aren’t just for looks: they provide the best passive downforce package of any road car (approaching F1 levels!) with wing actuation driven by the @Tesla_Optimus actuator system https://t.co/AqrC4qUga9
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 16, 2026
Musk has been talking about records for years. In June 2019 he said, “We’re going to do things with the new Roadster that are kind of unfair to other cars.” That September, when a follower asked whether the Roadster would beat the Nürburgring production car record, he replied with one word, “Absolutely,” as we reported at the time. In February 2024 he said Tesla had “radically increased the design goals” for the car and that its sub one second 0 to 60 time would be “the least interesting part.”
There are caveats. Tesla has not published a lap time or a verified cornering figure, so the record talk is still a promise rather than a result. Tesla also says the car is not approved for public road use, and the thruster features are limited to the Rocket trim, which is invite only. Fan cars have also been banned or withdrawn before, and getting a sealed underbody to work on a rough public road is a harder problem than on a smooth track. The first real test will be an official lap at a circuit.