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Tesla Model 3 takes on World War II-era trailer in range efficiency towing test

Credit: YouTube | Teslanomics with Ben Sullins

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A video showing a Tesla Model 3 towing a 550-pound trailer recently provided a glimpse at how real world range is affected when the all-electric sedan pulls heavy items.

The real-world Model 3 towing test was conducted by Ben Sullins of the Teslanomics YouTube channel. Ben’s channel is known for reviews and lifestyle videos with electric vehicles, and this time he decided to clarify the many questions EV owners have about the real-world effect on range when towing with the Model 3.

Sullins’ Tesla Model 3 is officially rated with 325 miles of range, but his real-world average efficiency of about 78% usually meant that his vehicle is only able to travel about 253 miles per charge. It is essential to keep in mind that the range of an electric vehicle depends on several variables, including driving style, weather, climate control within the vehicle’s cabin, and weight inside the car. When more features of the vehicle are in use, the battery is going to be under more stress. More use of vehicle features will inevitably decrease the range.

The trailer used in the test is a converted World War II work truck or jeep that weighs 550 lbs. The trailer was stacked with an outdoor fold-out tent and its necessary rack for use that weighs an additional 200 extra pounds, making the total weight of the trailer about 750 lbs. Sullins’ total trip covered 26.7 miles of both inner-city streets and freeways both ways. This gives the test more validity as drivers likely use a combination of highways and city streets when towing a trailer.

Sullins noted that his total energy usage during the test was 12 kilowatt-hours (kWh), and his vehicle showed an average consumption of 448 Watt-hours per mile (Wh/mile). This energy output differs from his normal driving efficiency, as his car showed an average consumption of 320 Wh/mi when it traversed the same route without a trailer.

Credit: YouTube | Teslanomics with Ben Sullins

These figures suggest that the additional weight from the trailer resulted in a 40% loss in range, which translates to a 49% efficiency rate. With this in mind, Sullins noted that with the 750-lb WWII trailer, his Model 3 would have a total real-world range of 160 miles. This is ample for the casual weekend camping trip, but likely challenging for inter-state long-distance travel.

As the Teslanomics host emphasized, there are many variables involved when it comes to electric vehicles and their efficiency. The Tesla Model 3 in the video, for example, seemed to be equipped with Turbine Wheels, which are larger and not specifically designed for the Model 3. The average speed of the vehicle during the trip also played a factor in the Model 3’s efficiency while towing. As noted by commenters on Sullins’ video, electric car towing veterans from countries such as Norway usually travel at about 55 mph when they are pulling heavy loads to help maximize range.

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Credit: YouTube | Teslanomics with Ben Sullins

While this decrease in range is expected and inconvenient, there are plenty of precautions Tesla drivers can take to avoid the troubles that come with towing. Luckily, Superchargers are readily available, and Tesla has worked diligently to increase the presence of charging stations across the world.

If a trailer or other item that needs to be towed is attached to a Tesla, expect decreases in range and plan by stopping at Superchargers on the way. Tesla’s in-car trip planning software will get drivers to their destinations in the most efficient way possible, even if the vehicle is towing a heavy trailer.

Watch Ben Sullins’ video on the Model 3’s range when towing a 750-lb trailer below.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Elon Musk

How to use Grok Bot to block spam calls and texts

Musk told users to ask Grok Bot to scrub their phone numbers from spam lists.

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Elon Musk has a new use case for Grok Bot, and it is the spam call. On Thursday he replied to an X user named Arash with a short instruction: “Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!” Arash had said he got tired of the calls, had an AI bot find his number on listing sites and file removal requests, and packaged the process as a free skill for others.

The skill is called Spam-Call Scrubber, which is described to find a phone number on people search sites and data brokers, submits the opt outs, completes the confirmation emails those sites send back, and rechecks on a schedule the user picks. Using it requires the Grok Bot app. The pitch is time saved, since most broker opt outs sit behind separate forms on separate sites.



Musk said Grok Bot now gives each bot its own email address, and that it can detect scam emails. On Thursday he also said SpaceX would make users whole if the bot botches a purchase or leaks a card, then told users to shop away from Amazon after the retailer blocked the agent, as Teslarati reported. The terms of service we reviewed at the time put responsibility for what an agent does on the user.

For Tesla owners, Grok Bot is not just a phone app. Tesla brought Grok Bot into its vehicles on September 22, and we argued earlier this week that the Cybercab’s real advantage may be the errands it runs during a ride. Every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y Robotaxi fleet has it enabled. The more routine tasks like this one become, the more a rider has reason to hand over something personal in the back seat.

The new Spam-Call Scrubber skill can be downloaded for free and works on sites that honor removal requests, while noting that listings can reappear, and illegal robocallers do not check any registry. Whether Spam-Call Scrubber cuts anyone’s call volume is something the first wave of users will find out, and Musk’s endorsement guarantees that wave is coming.

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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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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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