Lifestyle
Tesla Model 3 with bolt-on parts matches Porsche 911 GT2 RS record at Buttonwillow
Elon Musk was not kidding when he stated that Tesla does not make slow cars. Case in point: the Model 3. The Model 3 may be the company’s entry-level car, but its performance is nothing to scoff at. Its top-tier trim, the Model 3 Performance, blitzes from 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds bone stock, allowing it to match even high-end sports cars on the quarter-mile.
But track driving is a completely different animal compared to an honest-to-goodness straight-line drag race. When it comes to track driving, Tesla’s reputation is still not as established. The Model S Plaid may have set a decent record on the Nurburgring, but for some car enthusiasts, Teslas are still vehicles that cannot match the best internal combustion cars in a closed circuit. This is a perception that Unplugged Performance has been hacking away at for years now, to much success.
Unplugged Performance has been tuning Teslas for years, and the company has seen its fair share of victories. Last year, its Model S Plaid won the Exhibition Class at Pikes Peak, and in 2014, its custom Model S was the first Tesla ever featured at the SEMA Show. With the Model 3, Unplugged’s tuning work has continued, culminating in its bolt-on Ascension-R package, which essentially transforms the entry-level Tesla into a capable track weapon. Just how capable, one might ask? During a recent run at Buttonwillow, the Model 3 with bolted-on parts completed a lap in 1.49.90.
That number may sound impressive, but it is downright shocking when one puts it in perspective as it puts the lap time of Unplugged’s Model 3 in the same ballpark as the formidable Porsche 911 GT2 RS and GT3 RS. A look at the fastest laps recorded in Buttonwillow reveals that the GT2 RS has a record of 1:50.42 around the track. It should be noted that the Porsche 911 GT2 RS is arguably one of Porsche’s best cars to date, having conquered the Nurburgring in 6:43.30, far quicker than the Model S Plaid’s record-setting 7:35.579 run.
So does this mean that Unplugged’s Model 3 is better than Porsche’s track monster in a closed circuit? Unplugged CEO Ben Schaffer notes that an apples-to-apples comparison between the two vehicles’ lap times cannot really be done since the Unplugged Model 3 and the Porsche 911 GT2 RS are such different vehicles. The Model 3 Ascension-R is essentially the same entry-level sedan from Tesla with bolt-on parts, and even with its full suite of modifications, it is still a fraction of the cost of the GT2 RS. The GT2 RS is also designed specifically for the track, and its records on the Nurburgring show it.
“So, is our 1:49.90 lap apples to apples with a latest spec 911 GT2 RS lap of 1:50.42? Of course not. It can’t be summed up that simply. Valid arguments can be had on both sides. The crazy thing though, and our goal with this project is, a debate can be had comparing a Tesla Model 3 with our bolt-ons vs. the ultimate price-is-no-object, track-focused weapon from Porsche, the $400k+ 991 911 GT2 RS. The debate can be had because if you put both on the track and drive them both flat out, you have an improbable and close race!” Schaffer said.
It is difficult not to give credit to Unplugged Performance for its work on the Model 3. As noted by the tuning house CEO, the Model 3 Ascension-R program’s initial target was to come within striking distance of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, a vehicle that slots below the GT2 RS. Such a target was already considered insane, but it sure does not feel that way now.
Watch Unplugged Performance’s Tesla Model 3 run a hot lap around Buttonwillow in the video below.
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Lifestyle
Tesla saves its passengers again – This time after a 300-foot cliff fall in Malibu
A Tesla Model 3 fell 300 feet off a Malibu cliff and both passengers survived.
A Tesla Model 3 plunged roughly 300 feet off a cliff on Mulholland Highway in Malibu on Friday morning, May 29, 2026, and both occupants survived. The crash was reported at approximately 7:30 a.m. near the 2500 block of Mulholland Highway, triggering a multi-agency rescue operation involving Malibu Search and Rescue, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the California Highway Patrol, and McCormick Ambulance.
When first responders arrived, the male driver was outside the vehicle shouting for help while the female passenger remained pinned inside the Tesla. Rescue crews rappelled down the cliffside on ropes to reach the wreckage. A flight medic was lowered by helicopter to begin treating both victims, and the driver was hoisted up to the roadway before crews used the Jaws of Life to free the trapped passenger. Both were airlifted to a local trauma center with moderate injuries despite a remarkable result for a fall that steep.
The outcome is not surprising, considering Model 3 earned an overall 5-star rating from NHTSA in every category and sub-category, and recorded the lowest probability of injury of any car ever evaluated by the U.S. New Car Assessment Program. The absence of a traditional engine in the front of the vehicle creates a longer crumple zone that absorbs impact energy before it reaches occupants, and the battery pack running along the floor gives the car an unusually low center of gravity that reinforces structural rigidity.
This is not the first time a Tesla has kept passengers alive after going off a cliff. A Tesla Model Y carrying a family of four survived a plunge off a cliff at Devil’s Slide near San Francisco in January 2023, with two adults and two children walking away from a 250-foot fall. That incident drew widespread attention to how the structural integrity of Tesla’s electric platform performs in extreme crash scenarios that most vehicles would not survive.
Tesla Model Y driver who drove off cliff with family attempts to avoid criminal conviction
Elon Musk
NASA’s first human outpost on the Moon starts now – SpaceX on deck
NASA named the rovers, landers, and vendors that will build America’s first Moon Base.
NASA has laid out its most detailed Moon Base plan to date, describing a permanent outpost near the Moon’s south pole that the agency intends to build over the coming decade as a direct stepping stone to Mars. “The Moon Base will be America’s and humanity’s first outpost on another celestial world,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, adding that every mission crewed and uncrewed “will be a learning opportunity as we return to the lunar surface, build the infrastructure to stay, and master the skills required to live and operate in one of the most demanding and dangerous environments imaginable.”
The plan is structured in three phases involving both uncrewed and crewed missions to deliver equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure to the surface, with the first three moon base missions targeted to launch before the end of 2026.
Moon Base I, targeting fall 2026, will use Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander to deliver scientific instruments to the Shackleton Connecting Ridge, the same region where Artemis astronauts will land. Moon Base II will send Astrobotic’s Griffin lander carrying more than 1,100 pounds of cargo including Astrolab’s FLIP rover to begin developing mobility systems on the surface. Moon Base III will carry the Lunar Vertex science mission on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C Trinity lander to study lunar swirls near the south pole, with ESA and Korean science payloads aboard.
On the rover side, NASA awarded Astrolab $219 million and Lunar Outpost $220 million to build the first phase of Lunar Terrain Vehicles, with both rovers targeted for deployment to the lunar surface by 2028. Astrolab’s crewed rover weighs roughly 2,000 pounds and can reach over 6 mph. Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus rover can operate autonomously or via remote control at over 9 mph. Blue Origin separately received $188 million with an option worth $280.4 million to deliver cargo landers for rover transport.
NASA also confirmed that MoonFall, a mission deploying four survey drones to scout Artemis landing sites, has selected Firefly Aerospace to build the transport spacecraft, with a 2028 launch target.
SpaceX sits at the center of that commercial layer. SpaceX holds the NASA Human Landing System contract for the Starship-derived lander that will put astronauts on the surface under Artemis IV, currently targeting 2028. Before that can happen, SpaceX must demonstrate in-orbit propellant transfer at scale, a process requiring multiple Starship tanker launches to fuel a single mission. Water ice at the lunar south pole is central to the base’s long-term viability, as it can be converted into drinking water, breathable oxygen, and rocket fuel, directly reducing dependence on Earth resupply. That resource loop becomes far more practical if Starship can land and be refueled on or near the Moon itself.
Elon Musk has publicly stated that Starship V3, which recently completed its first flight, should be capable enough for initial Mars missions. The Moon Base plan announced Tuesday is the infrastructure layer that connects everything between those two ambitions, and SpaceX is the only American company currently contracted to build the rocket that gets humans to either destination.
Elon Musk
Tesla ditches India after years of broken promises
Tesla has ditched its plans to build a factory in India after years of failed negotiations.
Tesla’s long-running effort to establish a manufacturing presence in India is officially over. India’s Minister of Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy confirmed on May 19, 2026 that Tesla has informed authorities it will not proceed with a manufacturing facility in the country.
Tesla first signaled serious interest in India around 2021, when it began hiring local staff and lobbying the Indian government for lower import tariffs. The ask was straightforward: reduce duties enough for Tesla to test the market with imported vehicles before committing capital to a local factory. India’s position was equally firm, with an ask of Tesla to commit to manufacturing first, then receive tariff relief. Neither side moved, and the talks quietly collapsed.
Tesla to open first India experience center in Mumbai on July 15
India had offered a policy that would reduce import duties from 110% down to 15% on EVs priced above $35,000, provided companies committed at least $500 million toward local manufacturing investment within three years. Tesla declined to participate. The tariff standoff was only part of the problem. Analysts pointed to significant gaps in India’s local supply chain, inadequate industrial infrastructure, and a mismatch between Tesla’s premium pricing and the purchasing power of India’s automotive market as additional factors that made the investment difficult to justify.
First signs of an unraveling relationship came in April 2024, when Musk abruptly cancelled a planned trip to India where he was set to meet Prime Minister Modi and announce Tesla’s market entry. By July 2024, Fortune reported that Tesla executives had stopped contacting Indian government officials entirely. The government at that point understood Tesla had capital constraints and no plans to invest.
The more fundamental issue is that Tesla’s existing factories are currently operating at approximately 60% capacity, making a commitment to building new manufacturing capacity in a new market difficult to defend to investors. Tesla will continue selling imported Model Y vehicles through its existing showrooms in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru, but local production is no longer part of the plan.
Tesla saves its passengers again – This time after a 300-foot cliff fall in Malibu
Tesla Full Self-Driving expansion in Europe continues with new addition
