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Tesla Model 3 Performance stealthily destroys Ford Mustang GT in drag race

[Credit: Vivianna Van Deerlin/YouTube]

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The Model 3 Performance is quite unique among Tesla’s current vehicles in the way that it can handle the demands of track driving without throttling its output after a few laps. With its Track Mode activated, the Model 3 Performance becomes a monster in a closed course, capable of competing against the auto industry’s best track-capable high-performance sedans like the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.

While the Model 3 Performance is notable for its drifting and cornering prowess, though, the vehicle is still capable of impressive straight-line acceleration, similar to the electric sedan’s more pricey siblings — the Model S P100D and the Model X P100D. Tesla did not equip the Model 3 Performance with a feature like Ludicrous Mode, but the vehicle’s dual electric motors that produce a combined 450 hp and 471 lb-ft of torque are enough to propel the vehicle from 0-60 in just 3.3 seconds nonetheless (Tesla’s initial estimates listed the Model 3 Performance with a 3.5-second 0-60 mph time). That’s still very impressive, especially for an electric car pushing itself on raw power.

Tesla has now reached a point where it could produce the Model 3 en masse. North America, for one, has been saturated by Model 3 for months, as the electric car maker ramped production of the vehicle in its Fremont, CA factory. With more Model 3 on the road, it is no surprise that videos of the vehicle racing on the quarter-mile are starting to become prevalent on video sharing platforms such as YouTube. As it turns out, the Model 3 Performance is just like its more expensive siblings — it loves dominating fossil fuel-powered cars on the 1/8 and 1/4 mile.

One such video, uploaded by Vivianna Van Deerlin, featured a Model 3 Performance battling what appeared to be a 5th-generation Ford Mustang GT 5.0 at the Atco Dragway in NJ. The Mustang is one of Ford’s most notable creations, and for good reason. The Mustang GT, for one, is equipped with a 5.0-liter V8 engine producing 420 hp and 390 ft-lbs of torque. During Motor Trend‘s tests of the vehicle, the publication listed the muscle car with a 4.3-second 0-60 mph time and a quarter-mile time of 12.7 seconds.

Inasmuch as the Mustang GT has a lot of automotive history behind it, though, the winner of its quarter-mile race against the Model 3 Performance was evident as soon as the race started. Propelled by the instant torque from its dual electric motors, the high-performance electric sedan from Silicon Valley immediately took the lead over the muscle car from Detroit. Unfortunately for the Mustang, the Model 3 just kept pulling until the end of the race.

The Tesla Model 3 Performance ultimately completed the quarter mile in 11.863 seconds while traveling at 114.02 mph. The Ford Mustang GT 5.0, on the other hand, was able to cross the quarter-mile mark in 12.452 seconds at 114.32 mph. That’s a difference of 0.589 seconds between the electric vehicle and the muscle car.

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Thanks to its prowess in both straight line races and closed circuit courses, the Tesla Model 3 Performance is starting to attract some veteran “car guys.” Among the most notable ones is racecar driver and automotive news reporter Henry Payne. A true-blooded car enthusiast and a 30-year veteran of the auto industry, Payne knows cars inside out, having raced innumerable automobiles around racetracks for years. Payne owns a Model 3, and despite his vehicle being a non-Performance vehicle (he owns a Long Range RWD version), he has nonetheless stated that he is impressed with the vehicle’s track and overall capabilities. 

Just how impressed? Enough to dub the Tesla Model 3 as The Detroit News‘ 2018 Car of the Year.

Watch the Tesla Model 3 Performance battle the Ford Mustang GT 5.0 in the video below.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Lifestyle

Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi’s real advantage won’t be the ride service

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Concept art of a Tesla Cybercab in Las Vegas Strip as rendered via Grok

For a century, the car has asked the same thing of its owner, which is basically to pay attention. Even the best ride-hailing app like Uber or Lyft only moved the problem into someone else’s hands. You stopped driving, but you still sat in a stranger’s car, while half listening, and wondering whether to take a phone call in the car without being rude. The Cybercab has no wheel, no pedals and no driver. With Grok @bot now live inside it, it becomes something else entirely, and I think that matters more than the fleet count that everyone is tracking.

Grok @bot is an agent, not a voice assistant. A rider signs in once, and from then on can say what they need and watch it happen. Order dinner from a favorite restaurant. Fill the grocery cart. Move money, answer email, adjust a calendar, push a work project forward. Tesla engineer Yun-Ta Tsai confirmed it is enabled across every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y fleet, and Tesla’s own pitch is that Full Self-Driving handles the commute while Grok handles the errands.

Think about what that does to a thirty minute ride. Uber sells you a trip, while Waymo sells you the same trip in a more private setting. Tesla is selling the thirty minutes themselves, returned to you with an assistant attached. Errands that used to eat a Saturday get done between pickup and drop off. The ride stops being dead time between two places and becomes a place of its own.

Tesla integrates Grok Bot into its vehicles for the ultimate personal assistant

Best of all, your Bots follow you into any Cybercab, and presumably your own Tesla, then logs you out automatically when you step out. Anyone can bolt a chatbot onto a screen, but much harder to own the vehicle, the autonomy stack and the assistant at once. It also quietly ties SpaceX’s Super Intelligence business to Tesla’s fleet, after Tesla converted its xAI stake into SpaceX equity. The relationship between those two companies is getting harder to describe as separate.

This is also where the hard questions start, because an agent that can spend your money in a vehicle other people also ride in needs some answers. How does it handle a voice it shouldn’t trust? What gets recorded, who can see it, and for how long? What happens when a rider leaves halfway through a task?

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If Tesla gets those answers right, the scoreboard changes. We have been counting Cybercabs and wait times. The more telling number may be what riders accomplish per trip. That is data almost no one else will ever have, and it is the real reason to watch Grok @bot.

What do you think? Leave me a comment.

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Lifestyle

Tesla’s mirrorless Cybercab will give riders a visibility upgrade

Tesla engineer confirms Cybercab update letting riders pull up rear and repeater cameras on demand.

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Tesla Cybercab camera visibility for passengers (Credit: Dan Burkland via X)
Tesla Cybercab camera visibility for passengers (Credit: Dan Burkland via X)

Tesla is working on a Cybercab update that would let passengers pull up the vehicle’s rear and side cameras on demand, and the request came straight from a rider.

The exchange played out on X late Friday. Cybercab rider Dan Burkland shared photos of the two-seater’s cabin screen after an evening ride, praised the UI team’s work, and left one request: let riders open the rear and repeater cameras whenever they want, “especially for peace of mind.” Tesla UI software engineer Evan (@CarCoder) answered with two words: “In development.”

The idea fits a pattern Teslarati has tracked since public rides began. Days after paid Cybercab service opened in Austin, Tesla sent riders a survey that asked them to rate the touchscreen, the app and the cabin, and to pick the features they wanted most. We reported on that survey in September, and a camera view is the kind of small software change Tesla can push quickly if riders keep asking.

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It also speaks to something unique about the vehicle. With no steering wheel, no pedals and no driver, passengers have no mirror to check and no way to see behind them. The hardware is clearly built for camera awareness, from the repeater cameras to the rear camera. Letting a passenger look through those same cameras would give a nervous first time rider a way to confirm what is around the car.

The timing matters because the fleet is growing fast. Tesla’s Robotaxi account said on Saturday that more than 300 Cybercabs are now serving Austin, an eightfold increase in 30 days, and Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy named Dallas as the next city. More cars and more cities mean more people riding in a driverless vehicle for the first time, which is exactly when small trust features carry weight.

For now, the feature is confirmed only as in development. If Tesla follows its usual pattern with Cybercab software, riders could see it appear in a point release without any announcement, and Teslarati will watch for it.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s surprise addition to the X Takeover lineup has fans talking

Elon Musk will join Saturday’s X Takeover at Giga Texas for a live virtual interview.

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Credit: Tesla Owners Silicon Valley
Credit: Tesla Owners Silicon Valley

Elon Musk will join X Takeover at Giga Texas on Saturday for a live virtual interview, according to Sawyer Merritt, who shared the news late Thursday. Musk will not be on stage in Austin. The conversation is set to stream for free on the @teslaownersSV account on X.

Organizers had kept expectations in check. In a September update, Tesla Owners Silicon Valley said Musk had appeared at the event twice before but was not promising a third appearance, even as fans hoped he would walk the Giga Texas grounds in person. A virtual spot matches 2024, when Musk gave a surprise interview of about an hour to the crowd in San Luis Obispo, as Teslarati reported at the time.

This year’s edition is a first in several ways. It is the first X Takeover held outside California and the first at a Tesla facility, with tickets selling out in eight days. Tesla provides the venue, but the event is produced independently by Tesla Owners Silicon Valley. The main event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT, followed by a drone and light show at 9 p.m. Maye Musk is the keynote speaker, Franz von Holzhausen is set for a virtual keynote, and Nicki Minaj is the special guest. Joe Tegtmeyer, whose drone footage Teslarati used to track the Optimus factory steel frame at Giga Texas, is also on the speaker list.

Musk’s interview topics have not been revealed, but the backdrop is busy. Tesla doubled its Cybercab fleet in Austin in late September, and last week Musk explained why Robotaxi hours only moved from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.. Merritt also reported Thursday that Texas DMV records now show 319 registered Cybercabs, up from 169. NHTSA’s deadline for Tesla’s sworn answers on Cybercab certification is October 30, and Tesla reports third quarter earnings on October 21.

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Fans who cannot make it to Austin can watch the livestream on X. Musk tends to say more in unscripted settings than he does in prepared remarks, which is the reason this one is worth having open on Saturday.

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