Lifestyle
Tesla Model 3 Performance battles Dodge Challenger, Model X & Model S in multiple drag races
The Tesla Model 3 Performance might be the most affordable among the company’s performance-branded vehicles, but it is still a very quick driving machine in straight line races. This was recently proven on the drag strip, where the electric sedan battled a series of opponents including a Dodge Challenger R/T, a Tesla Model X 100D, and a Tesla Model S P100D with Ludicrous Mode.
The video of the races was posted by Tesla owner-enthusiast Erik Strait, who is also the host of YouTube’s DÆrik channel. The Model 3 Performance that Erik took to the strip was the same vehicle that he used for acceleration tests before. In a past test with the electric car’s battery fully charged, the Model 3 Performance was able to run from 0-60 mph in as little as 3.18 seconds according to VBOX data — and that’s with the vehicle being completely stock.
This time around, the Model 3 Performance was taken to the drag strip to compete, and its first challenger was a fellow Tesla — a Model X 100D. The Model 3 Performance’s 0-60 mph acceleration, which is listed at 3.5 seconds by Tesla, beats the Model X 100D’s listed 0-60 time of 4.7 seconds. The two electric cars battled each other twice, and on both times, the Model 3 Performance came out on top, finishing the quarter mile in 11.81 seconds at 114.64 mph compared to the Model X 100D’s 12.86 seconds at 109.73 mph.
Perhaps the most notable rival of the Model 3 Performance in DÆrik’s recent upload was a vehicle that is the complete antithesis of the electric sedan — a Dodge Challenger R/T. The Dodge Challenger is an iconic American muscle car with a lot of history, and its current iterations stay true to its roots. The Challenger R/T is equipped with either a 375 hp 5.7-liter or 485 hp V8 engine paired with a 6-speed manual or 9-speed automatic transmission.
Both drivers of the gas-powered Dodge Charger and the all-electric Model 3 Performance launched at the same time. Just a fraction of a second later, it was evident that the Tesla’s dual electric motors, which produce a combined 450 hp and 471 lb-ft of torque, was a key difference-maker. The Model 3 Performance got a headstart on the Challenger R/T, and then it just kept pulling away from there. The electric car finished the race in 11.85 seconds at 114.06 mph, while its gas-powered rival completed the run in 14.42 seconds at 99.53 mph.
After beating the Model X 100D and the Dodge Challenger R/T, the Model 3 Performance prepared to race Tesla’s fastest vehicle in the market today — the Model S P100D with Ludicrous Mode. The Tesla Model S P100D is a legendary electric car, capable of humiliating supercars in a consistent basis on the drag strip. The electric sedan is listed with a 0-60 mph time of below 2.5 seconds with Ludicrous Mode, which is a full second faster than the Model 3 Performance’s 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds.
Unfortunately for the Model S P100D’s driver, he ended up having a hard time setting up the vehicle for a launch in Ludicrous Mode before the light turned green; thus, preventing the cars from having a proper side-by-side race. The results of the two runs show that the Model S P100D completed the quarter mile in 11.14 seconds at 121.17 mph, while the Model 3 Performance finished the run in 11.79 seconds at 115.07 mph.
The Model 3 Performance seems to be the first of Tesla’s new breed of vehicles. Equipped with the company’s newer, larger 2170 cells, the Model 3 Performance is actually capable of being driven on the track. The car even has an upcoming feature dubbed as “Track Mode,” which Elon Musk described as an “Expert User Mode” for the vehicle’s drivers.
Watch the Model 3 Performance battle a Dodge Challenger R/T, a Model X 100D, and a Model S P100D in the video below.
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.
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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.
Elon Musk
Trump’s invite for Elon just reshuffled Tesla’s big Signature Delivery Event
Tesla rescheduled its final Model S farewell to May 20 after Musk joined Trump in China.
Tesla has rescheduled its Model S and Model X Signature Edition delivery event to Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after abruptly calling off the original May 12 celebration. The event will take place at Tesla’s factory at 45500 Fremont Boulevard in Fremont, California, the same location where the Model S first rolled off the line in 2012. Invitees received a follow-up email asking them to reconfirm attendance and download a new QR code ticket, with Tesla noting that all travel and accommodation expenses remain the buyer’s responsibility.
The reason behind the original cancellation came into focus the same day it was announced. President Trump invited Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, and executives from Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Citigroup, and Meta to join his trip to China this week for a summit with President Xi Jinping. The agenda covers trade, artificial intelligence, export controls, Taiwan, and the Iran war, following weeks of escalating friction between Washington and Beijing over AI technology, sanctions, and rare earth exports. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I am very much looking forward to my trip to China, an amazing Country, with a Leader, President Xi, respected by all.”
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The vehicles at the center of all this are the last Model S and Model X units Tesla will ever build. Priced at $159,420 each, the 250 Model S and 100 Model X Signature Edition units come finished in Garnet Red with a one-year no-resale agreement, giving Tesla right of first refusal if the owner decides to sell. As Teslarati reported, the Model S defined Tesla’s early identity as a serious luxury automaker, and the Fremont factory line that built it is now being converted to manufacture Optimus humanoid robots.
Musk’s inclusion in the China delegation drew attention given his very public relationship with Trump, and the invitation signals the two have moved past and past grievances. Trump originally brought Musk on to lead the Department of Government Efficiency following his inauguration, and despite a sharp public dispute in mid-2025, the two have appeared together repeatedly in recent months. A seat on the China trip, the most diplomatically consequential visit of Trump’s current term, puts Musk back at the table on U.S. economic policy at a moment when Tesla’s China revenue remains one of the company’s most important financial pillars.
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.
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