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Tesla Model 3 Performance on car carriers spotted departing Giga Shanghai
Tesla China appears to be shipping Model 3 Performance sedans from Giga Shanghai, based on recent photographs captured by the country’s electric car enthusiasts. Tesla China also received approval from the country’s regulators to begin selling longer-range Model 3 variants.
Photographs of the Model 3 Performance were uploaded by Tesla enthusiast @JayInShanghai. The pictures clearly show not only the Chinese Tesla insignia that comes standard on all vehicles produced at Giga Shanghai but also the red-underlined “Dual Motor” badge. This badge, as well as red brake calipers on the sedans at the trucks, confirms that the sedans are Performance vehicles.
BREAKING: MIC Tesla Model 3 Performance spotted on a vehicle transporter straight from Giga Shanghai. That’s right PERFORMANCE this is an unannounced model in China 🇨🇳 Thank you to one of my followers sharing this with us.#Tesla #TeslaChina #MIC #Model3P #特斯拉 #中国 $TSLA pic.twitter.com/DFrWghZ8Jo
— Jay in Shanghai 电动 Jay 🇨🇳 (@JayinShanghai) March 6, 2020
The only Model 3 variant that was formally announced for Giga Shanghai so far is the Model 3 Standard Range+. Tesla China does list the SR+, and Dual Motor Long Range and Performance variants for sale on its website, though no announcements have been made about the next Model 3 trim that will be produced at the Shanghai-based facility.
As the Model 3 Performance starts getting shipped from Giga Shanghai, the Financial Post reported that Tesla also received approval from the Chinese government’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on March 6 for the vehicle’s Long Range RWD variant.
The approval states that new vehicles will have a range of more than 600 kilometers or about 327 miles. The SR+ variant offered to Chinese customers since Giga Shanghai’s first days of production provides 445 kilometers of range per charge. The Long Range and Performance variants provide 590 and 595 kilometers of range, respectively.
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Giga Shanghai has a current reported run rate of 3,000 vehicles per week. There is no shortage of demand from Chinese customers. The company’s Chinese production site is managing to keep up with an influx of orders and deliveries thanks to quickly improving production efficiency.
There has also been no shortage of challenges that Giga Shanghai faced since it began delivering Model 3s to customers in January. As the global coronavirus epidemic remained present throughout China right after the country’s Spring Festival, Tesla shut its doors, halting production and delaying deliveries for a short period.
However, the company has caught back up and is now planning to not only deliver the fastest variant of the Model 3 but begin manufacturing vehicles with longer ranges. The approval from the Chinese government indicates that Tesla is working on producing longer-range options of the car from its Shanghai-based site, especially as the company continues to offer more miles per charge to customers through Over-the-Air software updates.
Tesla Energy has introduced the Powerwall Lease in conjunction with Tesla Electric, making the service available in Texas. This new option delivers whole-home backup power using two Powerwall units for a net monthly cost of $35 after credits, accompanied by a low fixed electricity rate.
Under the lease terms, customers pay a one-time order fee of $100. The base lease payment for the two Powerwalls is approximately $122 per month during the first year, subject to a 3 percent annual escalator thereafter. Enrollment in a qualifying Tesla Electric Backup plan or Virtual Power Plant plan provides an $87 monthly credit.
Powerwall Lease is now available with Tesla Electric in Texas
Whole-home backup for $35/month, with a low fixed electricity rate
– Two Powerwalls, $0 installation
– Storm Watch outage protection
– One app to manage it all pic.twitter.com/oTzqc6K3aF— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) August 13, 2026
This credit lowers the effective cost to roughly $35 per month plus applicable tax.
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Installation of the standard system carries no additional charge. The package features Storm Watch for outage protection and allows complete management through a single Tesla application. The system supplies continuous whole-home backup capability.
The Powerwall system enables households to maintain electricity during severe storms that disrupt the utility grid. When outages occur, the batteries automatically provide seamless backup power to the home.
Tesla announces 100k Powerwalls are participating in Virtual Power Plants
Tesla Storm Watch monitors weather forecasts and ensures the units are fully charged ahead of anticipated severe weather events so that power remains available throughout the disruption, keeping lights, refrigeration, and other essential systems operating without interruption.
Availability is restricted to select Texas locations where retail electric choice exists. Participants must lease exactly two Powerwall units and maintain continuous enrollment with Tesla Electric. Solar panels cannot be included under this particular lease arrangement.
The monthly credit activates automatically once the system is installed, receives permission to operate, and enrollment is confirmed. To retain the credit, customers are required to stay enrolled in Tesla Electric and fulfill all program conditions.
Nonstandard installations that involve electrical upgrades or special permitting may lead to extra expenses and might impact eligibility for the credit, so be sure to check with either your installer or Tesla to ensure you will still qualify.
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Elon Musk continues to tease the unveiling event for the Tesla Roadster, a continuing trend that has grown into a bigger game of “When” for fans who have been waiting years for the car to finally enter production.
A video shared on X of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Musk appeared on last year, teasing the Roadster unveiling, was shared once again on the social media platform. The poster said the Roadster event will be “unforgettable.”
Musk agreed:
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
The timing is interesting because just yesterday, Musk said that we will be getting flying cars, and for years, Tesla has hinted that it could develop a SpaceX cold gas thruster package that would help the car float or fly for a short period of time.
It would be reasonable to assume Tesla’s major delays with this unveiling event are likely caused by the company’s need to break the rules and push the envelope on nearly everything. Last July, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said:
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“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on and he got a little excited.”
The latest updates that Tesla has given us are that the Roadster is in design development, and it did have several potential dates for an unveiling event this year, including April. It was then pushed to August.
However, there are no clues as to when Tesla will be ready, and fans are certainly getting frustrated with the delays.
For what it is worth, Franz von Holzhausen told Jay Leno this week that the event would be “very soon.”
We sure hope.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
Florida’s governor rode Tesla’s Cybercab at a closed test track and called the experience impressive.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rode in a Tesla Cybercab on a closed test track this week and came away impressed, posting on X that the vehicle “successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.” He called the ride “impressive.”
The stop was part of a broader event Monday at SunTrax, a 775 acre state owned proving ground in Auburndale that Florida built specifically to test autonomous and connected vehicles before they reach public roads. Standing next to a gold Cybercab, DeSantis described the car in plain terms: “You go in there and you just sit. You have a screen. There’s no steering wheel, no pedals. Clearly these things could be very beneficial.”
We took a ride on a robotaxi on the Suntrax course and it successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.
Impressive! https://t.co/FVAkzFLz3r
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 11, 2026
DeSantis paired the praise with a caveat that has followed autonomous vehicles since the category existed. “You don’t want to be in an autonomous vehicle and it drives you into a ditch. That would not be good,” he said, framing safety validation as the gate before wider deployment.
SunTrax, the 2.25 mile oval which the state calls the only high speed autonomous vehicle test track in the Southeast, can simulate rain, pedestrian crossings, hills and crowded urban conditions at highway speeds, letting companies push a car past what an early public rollout would risk. Tesla, Waymo and Beep all use the facility, and Florida’s regulatory approach, among the most permissive for autonomous vehicles in the country, doesn’t require a human operator inside a fully autonomous car.
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Tesla has reason to want the blessing of Florida and states beyond, as the Cybercab entered volume production at Gigafactory Texas this spring and has since self certified as SAE Level 4 under Texas law. Public road testing so far has kept a safety monitor in the passenger seat, and Florida is where Tesla has been expanding its existing Model Y based Robotaxi service instead, adding Miami in July and then Orlando and Tampa two weeks later. A closed track endorsement from a sitting governor doesn’t change any of that, but it does put Tesla’s newest hardware in front of a state that has already shown it will move fast on rules.
Tesla launches Powerwall Lease for affordable home backup
Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again
