Lifestyle
Tesla Model 3 Performance conquers CA raceway with multiple laps in Track Mode
While speaking at the Joe Rogan Experience last September, Elon Musk remarked that he believes “a Tesla is the most fun thing” anyone can buy. Musk pointed out that Tesla’s electric cars are not just simple vehicles — they are things designed to “maximize enjoyment.” This is something that owners of the Model 3 Performance are feeling now, especially since Tesla has started rolling out the “release version” of the vehicle’s Track Mode, a feature that optimizes the electric car’s performance and handling so that it could be driven hard on the track.
A Tesla program manager recently related her experience with her Model 3 Performance — and Track Mode in particular — on social media. Earlier this month, Kristy Morgan, whose LinkedIn page notes that she is “is an engineer and supply chain professional with expertise in materials and services procurement, strategic sourcing, and supplier auditing” took her Model 3 to the Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA, where she attended an event that taught how to drive on a closed circuit. Kristy participated at the BMW Car Club of America Golden Gate Chapter’s High-Performance Driver Education (HPDE) program, which teaches drivers the elements of racetrack driving in the 3-mile east course at the CA Raceway.
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- [Credit: Kristy Morgan/Facebook]
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- [Credit: Kristy Morgan/Facebook]
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- [Credit: Kristy Morgan/Facebook]
Tesla engineer Kristy Morgan’s Model 3 Performance at the 2018 BMW CCA GGC HPDE. [Credit: Kristy Morgan/Facebook]
In a Facebook post after the event, Kristy noted that her Model 3 Performance’s Track Mode did not disappoint. “It made me feel like a hero, kept me safe, and let me have WAY too much fun!” she wrote. The engineer was instructed by a friend and fellow employee at Tesla, who encouraged her to push both the limits of her vehicle and her own “nerves.” Kristy was supported by her husband, who acted as her pit crew, torquing the Model 3 Performance’s lugs, checking the car’s tires, and Supercharging the vehicle in between her runs.
One of Kristy’s hot laps around Thunderhill Raceway was shared on YouTube, showing how the Model 3 Performance’s Track Mode allowed the vehicle to hug the racetrack and handle all its turns and straights with authority. In the description of her video, Kristy noted that she was able to complete all the laps and sessions over the two days of the 2018 BMW CCA GGC HPDE. The Tesla engineer further stated that she experienced “no power limiting, no thermal limiting, no ‘limp mode,’ and no brake fade” during the duration of the course.
Perhaps the most notable image from Kristy Morgan’s Track Mode sessions, though, was the consumption chart of her Model 3 Performance. As could be seen in one of her Facebook uploads, the Model 3 Performance with Track Mode showed an energy consumption of 890Wh/mi — something that is rarely seen in Tesla’s electric cars.
The Model 3 Performance is Tesla’s first track-capable vehicle. Equipped with the company’s larger, more energy-dense 2170 battery cells, the vehicle is designed to stand toe-to-toe against the best high-performance sedans in the auto market. The vehicle has impressive specs, with a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds, a top speed of 155 mph, and dual motors that provide a combined 450 hp and 471 lb-ft of torque. When Tesla began the release of Track Mode for the vehicle, the company noted that it aimed to utilize the power of the electric car’s dual motors and instant torque to “make cornering on the track feel just as natural as forward acceleration.”
Unlike conventional Sport Modes from traditional automakers, the majority of which disable features like stability control, Tesla’s Track Mode actually adds features to the vehicle. Tesla was able to do this by replacing the electric car’s stability control system with its own Vehicle Dynamics Controller — a software specifically developed for the company’s electric vehicles that acts as both a stability control system and a performance enhancement on the track. Prior to releasing Track Mode to its Model 3 Performance fleet, Tesla collaborated with professional racecar driver and Motor Trend journalist Randy Pobst to refine the “release version” of the function. Testing Track Mode’s release version around the “Streets” of the Willow Springs International Raceway in CA, Randy was able to complete a lap with the Model 3 Performance in 1:21.49 — faster than one of the auto publication’s Best Driver’s Car winners in the past, the 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia, which completed a lap around the same course in 1:22.30.
Watch one of Kristy Morgan’s hot laps around the Thunderhill Raceway in the video below.
Lifestyle
Tesla Semi hauls fresh Cybercab batch as Robotaxi era takes hold
A Tesla Semi was filmed hauling Cybercab units out of Giga Texas for the first time.
A Tesla Semi loaded with Cybercab units was recently filmed leaving Gigafactory Texas, marking what appears to be the first documented delivery run of Tesla’s autonomous two-seater. The footage shows multiple Cybercabs secured on a flatbed trailer being hauled by a production Tesla Semi, a truck rated for a gross combination weight of 82,000 lbs. The location is consistent with Giga Texas in Austin, where Cybercab production has been ramping since February 2026.
The sighting follows a wave of Cybercab activity at the Austin facility. In late April, drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer spotted approximately 60 Cybercabs parked in two organized groups in the factory’s outbound lot, the largest concentration observed to date. Units being staged in an outbound lot is a standard pre-delivery step, and the Semi footage is the logical next frame in that sequence.
En route with @tesla_semi pic.twitter.com/ZfuOjaeLH1
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) May 7, 2026
This is not the first time Tesla has used its own Semi to move Tesla products. When the Semi was unveiled in 2017, Musk noted it would be used for Tesla’s own operations, and over the years Semi prototypes were spotted carrying cargo ranging from concrete weights to Tesla vehicles being delivered to consumers. In 2023, a Semi was photographed transporting a Cybertruck on a trailer ahead of that vehicle’s delivery launch.
The Cybercab itself was first revealed publicly at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event on October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, where 20 pre-production units gave attendees rides around the studio lot. Musk stated at the event that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027. The first production unit rolled off the Giga Texas line on February 17, 2026, with Musk posting on X: “Congratulations to the Tesla team on making the first production Cybercab.”
Tesla’s annual production goal is 2 million Cybercabs per year once multiple factories reach full design capacity, with the company targeting a price under $30,000 per unit. Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.
Tesla has taken home the “Overall Loyalty to Make” award from S&P Global Mobility for the fourth consecutive year, reinforcing Tesla owners’ willingness to come back. The 2025 awards are based on S&P Global Mobility’s analysis of 13.6 million new retail vehicle registrations in the U.S. from October 2024 through September 2025. The complete list of 2025 winners includes General Motors for Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer, Tesla for Overall Loyalty to Make, Chevrolet Equinox for Overall Loyalty to Model, Mini for Most Improved Make Loyalty, Subaru for Overall Loyalty to Dealer, and Tesla again for both Ethnic Market Loyalty to Make and Highest Conquest Percentage.
Tesla’s streak in this category started in 2022, and the brand has now won the Highest Conquest Percentage award for six straight years, meaning it keeps pulling buyers away from other brands at a rate no competitor has matched. Tesla’s retention among Asian households reached 63.6% and among Hispanic households 61.9%, rates that significantly outpace national averages for those groups. That breadth of appeal across demographics adds a layer of significance to a win that some might dismiss as routine.
The timing matters too. After several consecutive quarters of decline, Tesla’s share of U.S. EV sales jumped to 59% in Q4 2025. That rebound, arriving just as competitors were flooding the market with new models and incentives, suggests Tesla’s loyalty numbers are not simply the result of limited alternatives. Buyers are still choosing it when they have plenty of other options.
What keeps Tesla owners coming back has a lot to do with the and convenience of charging. The Supercharger network is the most straightforward example. With over 65,000 Superchargers globally, it remains the largest and most reliable fast-charging network in the world, and owners who have built their routines around it face a real practical cost when considering a switch. Competitors have made progress, but the consistency, speed, and availability of Tesla’s network is still the benchmark the rest of the industry is chasing. Then there is the software side. Tesla has built a model where the car you own today is functionally different from the car you bought two years ago, through over-the-air updates that add continuous game-changing improvements such as Full Self-Driving that has moved from a driver-assist feature to an increasingly capable autonomous system. For many Tesla owners, leaving the brand means starting over with a car that will not get meaningfully better over time, and that is a trade-off fewer and fewer are willing to make.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybercab just rolled through Miami inside a glass box
Tesla paraded a Cybercab in a glass display at Miami’s F1 Grand Prix event this week.
Tesla set up an “Autonomy Pop-Up” at Lummus Park in Miami Beach from April 29 through May 3, 2026, embedded within the official F1 Miami Grand Prix Fan Fest. The centerpiece was a Cybertruck towing the Cybercab inside a glass display case marked “Future is Autonomous,” rolling through the beachfront crowd.
Miami is on Tesla’s confirmed list of cities for robotaxi expansion in the first half of 2026, making the promotion a strategic promotion that lays groundwork in a target market.
This was not Tesla’s first time using Miami as a showcase city. In December 2025, Tesla hosted “The Future of Autonomy Visualized” at its Miami Design District showroom, coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach. That event featured the Cybercab prototype and Optimus robots interacting with attendees. The F1 pop-up this week marks Tesla’s return to Miami and follows a pattern Tesla has been running since early 2026. Just two weeks before Miami, Tesla stationed Optimus at the Tesla Boston Boylston Street showroom on April 19 and 20, directly on the final stretch of the Boston Marathon, letting tens of thousands of runners and spectators meet the robot for free, generating massive earned media at zero advertising cost.
Tesla is sending its humanoid Optimus robot to the Boston Marathon
Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year. On the production side, Musk told shareholders that the Cybercab manufacturing process could eventually produce up to 5 million vehicles per year, targeting a cycle time of one unit every ten seconds. Scaling robotaxis to 10 million operational units over the next ten years is a key condition of his compensation package, alongside selling 20 million passenger vehicles.
As for the Cybercab’s price, Musk has said buyers will be able to purchase one for under $30,000, with an average operating cost around $0.20 per mile. Whether those numbers hold through full production remains to be seen.
Cybercab at F1 Fan Fest in Miami
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