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Tesla Model 3 Performance endures 31 hard launches with no throttling
The Tesla Model 3 could be considered as the electric car maker’s endurance champion in its current lineup. Not quite as quick as a Model S or Model X Performance in Ludicrous Plus Mode but capable of being driven hard for extended periods in a racetrack, the Model 3 Performance is a vehicle that has charmed even the staunchest gearheads of motoring media. Top Gear host Chris Harris, for one, described the Model 3 Performance as an “AK-47 disguised as a butter knife” during his review of the vehicle, which he found to be too plain in design compared to comparable ICE cars like the BMW M3. It should be noted that after his review, Harris noted on Twitter that he will be buying a Model 3 Performance for himself soon.
The Model 3’s endurance, both on the track and the highway, has been tested and proven by professionals and enthusiasts alike. Tesla and electric vehicle veteran Bjorn Nyland tested the Model 3 in the Autobahn last June, going flat at full speed in an attempt to overheat the car. He failed. The same is true for other reviewers such as Harris, who pitted the Model 3 Performance against the BMW M3-beating Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio in a time attack battle. True to Elon Musk’s statements on Twitter, the Model 3 Performance, thanks to its instant torque that allows the vehicle to launch from 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds, soundly beat the Giulia Q4 in a closed circuit.
Last week, Porsche made headlines when the company allowed Fifth Gear and Fully Charged host Jonny Smith to take one of its Taycan Turbo pre-production vehicles for a launch mode repeatability test. Conducted on an empty airfield, the test involved the EV veteran launching the Taycan Turbo at max power 26 times with no power throttling. The exhibition was impressive, and it invoked just how much work Porsche has put into the Taycan and its development. The Taycan’s feat also brought comparisons to Tesla’s Model S P100D, which was quicker off the line with its 0-60 mph time of 2.4 seconds, but is prone to limiting its power after multiple max power launches.
After watching the Taycan’s demonstration, Tesla owner Patrick Lawson opted to see if his vehicle, a Tesla Model 3 Performance, could accomplish multiple max power launches without losing power as well. Accompanied by his son, Lawson headed to a (mostly) empty stretch of road to test the endurance of his Model 3. In a message to Teslarati, the Tesla owner noted that with Track Mode on, he figured that his vehicle should be able to perform comparably to the Taycan.
By the 10th 0-60 mph test, Lawson noted that he was already feeling the effects of the Model 3’s multiple hard launches. The father and son duo continued over the next 30 minutes, hitting 31 consecutive launches in the Model 3. At that point, Lawson noted that his son was probably good for about 10 more launches, but that was about all he could handle. Interestingly, the Model 3 Performance, just like the Porsche Taycan Turbo, did not throttle its power at all. The 31st launch registered a 0-60 mph time of 3.11 seconds, which is in the same territory as the Taycan Turbo.
Granted, Lawson’s test did not involve the same parameters as Fully Charged’s test of Porsche’s all-electric car. The Taycan Turbo, for one, performed 26 runs that topped up at speeds of 200 kph (124 mph), while Lawson’s Model 3 Performance test only involved 31 0-60/0-70 mph runs. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the Tesla owner’s tests were conducted on a public road in the United States, which usually have speed limits of around 60-70 mph.
The Tesla Model 3 could be considered, in more ways than one, as a Trojan Horse of sorts. While the vehicle is considered as the “cheaper” Tesla (and this is accurate, of course), and while the vehicle experienced a notable period of anti-selling by the company, the electric car has been showing signs that there is more to it than meets the eye. With track capability and a price point that is notably more affordable than other premium EVs in the market, the Model 3 will likely be the vehicle that ultimately brings electric cars into the mainstream.
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Watch Partick Lawson and his son’s Tesla Model 3 Performance 31-launch endurance test in the video below.
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)
