Lifestyle
Tesla Model S P100D slays twin Dodge Challenger SRT Demons in drag race
There is something satisfying about seeing two incredibly powerful cars taking on each other at the drag strip. In the case of the Tesla Model S P100D and the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, any battle involving these two vehicles are always bound to be compelling. This is because the two vehicles have quite a lot of history between them.
Back in February 2017, auto publication Motor Trend crowned the Tesla Model S P100D with Ludicrous Mode as the first production car that was able to break the 2.3-second barrier. In the publication’s test, the all-electric family sedan was able to hit the 60 mph mark in precisely 2.275507139 seconds. A few months after this, Dodge took the wraps off its premier muscle car, the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, a vehicle designed to dominate the drag strip completely. During the Demon’s unveiling, Dodge executives noted that the 840-hp monster (808 hp without 100 octane racing fuel) would be quicker from 0-60 than the Tesla Model S P100D. Dodge also revealed the Demon’s performance results in the quarter-mile, and they were nothing short of incredible. Zero to 60 in 2.1 seconds, 0-100 mph in 5.1 seconds, and a quarter-mile time of 9.65 seconds at 140 mph.
As later bouts with the Model S P100D would later show, pulling out all the potential of the Dodge Demon takes a very skilled driver and a particular set of conditions. This was evident during Dodge’s 2.1-second 0-60 run, which was conducted on a regulation drag strip that was coated with sticky resin. This gave the monster muscle car extra grip, preventing it from spinning out and losing precious milliseconds. Motor Trend‘s test of the P100D, on the other hand, was conducted on regular dry asphalt.
Thus, if conditions are preferable, and if the Dodge Demon hooks, it should have no problem beating the Model S P100D. As a recent video from the Tesla Racing Channel would show, the Model S P100D won’t go down easily even if the Dodge Demon does not run into any traction issues.
Tesla Racing Channel has been around for a while, at one point even racing with a gutted Model S P100D, which was able to stand toe-to-toe even with the most extreme fossil fuel-powered drag cars. This time around, though, the veteran electric racer took a stock Model S P100D to the track, to see how well it does on bracket racing. Bracket Racing is a form of drag racing that places a premium on the consistency of the driver and car’s performance. To win in Bracket Races, drivers need to excel in reaction times, as well as hitting the finish line as close to their dial-in time as possible. In the case of Model S P100D and the Dodge Demon, the drivers opted for a dial-in time of 11.0 seconds.
- Tesla Model S P100D vs Dodge Demon drag race results. [Credit: Tesla Racing Channel/YouTube]
- Tesla Model S P100D vs Dodge Demon drag race results. [Credit: Tesla Racing Channel/YouTube]
Tesla Model S P100D vs Dodge Demon drag race results. [Credit: Tesla Racing Channel/YouTube]
The first race involved the Model S P100D completely dominating the Dodge Demon, crossing the finish line at 10.837 seconds (0.163 seconds off the dial-in time). The Demon, for its part, crossed the quarter-mile mark in 11.185 seconds (0.185 seconds off the dial-in time). The Dodge Demon in the next race actually performed better, catching up to the Model S P100D midway through the race. The Demon’s driver seemed to have gotten a bit overexcited, though, causing the muscle car to “break-out.” Breaking out happens when a racer crosses the finish line in less time than the dial-in time. This happened to the second Demon’s driver, who missed the 11.0 dial-in time by 0.307 seconds. Exhibiting his veteran drag racing skills, the Model S P100D driver actually braked close to the finish line, crossing the quarter-mile mark in 10.941 seconds, just 0.059 seconds off the dial-in time.
Overall, the Model S P100D’s recent races with the twin Dodge Demons exhibited just how quick and consistent Tesla’s electric cars are in terms of their performance. With an experienced driver behind the wheel, even Tesla’s family sedan becomes a monster of its own on the drag strip – one that takes a perfect set of conditions and a perfect setup to beat.
Watch Tesla Racing Channel‘s battle with the twin Dodge Challenger SRT Demons in the video below.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s answer to Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey got way more specific
Elon Musk escalated his monthslong feud with Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey this week, pledging that his own AI video tool will produce a competing version before the year is out. Responding to a fan-made, AI-generated clip of the ancient epic, Musk wrote on X, “Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer.”
In June, Musk quoted an xAI-shared trailer built entirely with Grok Imagine Video 1.5, a two-minute-plus reimagining of The Odyssey styled after a 1970s classical Hollywood epic, and predicted “full movies by the end of the year,” as Teslarati reported at the time. That trailer, built from 36 consistent shots by a single creator, was Musk’s proof of concept. This week’s pledge turns that prediction into a specific commitment, tied directly to Homer’s text rather than a generic demo.
Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer https://t.co/bVHzUmY9WN
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 22, 2026
When a fan separately proposed that Musk fund a live-action alternative, to “give Mel Gibson $100 million to film an Odyssey adaptation with painstakingly historically accurate ships, armour, weapons, and casting, with all dialogue taken straight from the original poem and delivered in Homeric Greek,” Musk replied with two words: “I’m down.”
The Grok Imagine pledge lands as the tool’s underlying infrastructure has changed hands. Grok is no longer a standalone product, it folded into SpaceXAI after SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI closed in February, meaning the compute behind any Odyssey production traces back to the same Colossus supercomputers now bundled into SpaceX’s pitch to investors. Musk has separately said SpaceX’s own engineering data is being fed into the next major Grok training run, a two trillion parameter model he’s called the “2T run.”
Whether Grok Imagine can sustain a feature length narrative, rather than a series of impressive individual shots, remains the open question.
Cybertruck
Tesla Mobile App gets a new feature that wrap fans are going to love
Tesla’s Summer Update removes the USB drive step from customizing your car’s digital wrap design.
Tesla’s latest 2026 Summer Update quietly closes out one of the more tedious steps in personalizing a Tesla’s digital appearance. Uploading a custom wrap design used to require a USB drive. Now it doesn’t.
The feature is listed in Tesla’s release notes as “Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App.” The company described it plainly: “Skip the USB drive and upload a custom wrap of your car from the mobile app. Instructions for creating a custom wrap here: github.com/teslamotors/custom-wraps.”
The digital wrap tool has been around since Tesla’s 2024 Holiday Update, when it launched for Cybertruck owners first, as Teslarati reported at the time. Getting a design onto the car meant formatting a USB drive, creating a folder named exactly “Wraps,” dropping in PNG files sized between 512×512 and 1024×1024 pixels and under 1 MB each, then plugging the drive in and applying the wrap through Toybox. Tesla expanded the tool to other models and renamed it from “Colorizer” to “Paint Shop” with the 2025 Holiday Update, while also adding license plate and window tint customization alongside the wraps.
Custom wraps via mobile app https://t.co/5OydZ26g9p pic.twitter.com/uexU0ZePxu
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 22, 2026
The latest Summer Update removes the USB step from that process. Owners will be able to pull a design from wherever they saved it, whether that’s a download from social media or something built from Tesla’s own GitHub templates, and push it to the car directly through the app.
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
It’s a small fix relative to the rest of this latest release, which also included expanded Grok voice commands, automatic navigation that learns regular routes, and self-driving stats inside the mobile app, all detailed in our rundown of the full Summer Update. The USB requirement was one of the more common complaints about Paint Shop since it launched. Tesla did not say when the wrap upload change would reach individual vehicles, only that the broader update is rolling out now in waves.
Elon Musk
Tesla Diner is throwing a birthday party with a Franz-signed special treat
Tesla Diner turns one on July 21 with Optimus, roller skates, and a Franz-signed hat.
Tesla is throwing its Hollywood Diner a first birthday party on July 21 and the celebration comes with a guest list of unique items, including a limited run of Tesla Diner birthday hats personally signed by Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen for the first 50 customers who place an in-car order at midnight.
One year after lines wrapped around the block on Santa Monica Boulevard for a diner that most of the restaurant industry did not take seriously, Tesla is making the case that the concept was worth the years it took to build. The concept had been in Musk’s head since at least 2018, when he floated the idea of “an old school drive-in, roller skates and rock restaurant” on X, describing it years later as “‘Grease’ meets ‘The Jetsons’ with Supercharging.”
Tesla Optimus Gen 3 is coming to the Tesla Diner with new ambitions
What made the diner genuinely different from any restaurant that came before it was not the menu or the nostalgia. It was the ordering model. Tesla owners could place food orders directly from their vehicle’s touchscreen before arriving, a small feature that hints at something much larger on the horizon. As the Cybercab and unsupervised FSD expand across major cities, the diner model becomes a template for an entirely new kind of commerce. A robotaxi pulling in to charge does not need a human to walk up to a counter. The vehicle places the order, the food is ready on arrival, and the passenger never interrupts the experience of being driven somewhere else. It is the first glimpse of what drive-through commerce looks like when the car is doing the driving.
As Teslarati has reported, Musk signaled immediately after opening that the Hollywood location was only the beginning, posting that Tesla would expand the concept to major cities worldwide and along Supercharger corridors on long-distance routes if the first location proved successful. One year in, the birthday celebration on July 21 makes a strong case that it has. Tesla announced a full day of events including a Cybercab on display, a birthday menu, Optimus in attendance, face painting, a photo booth, roller skating servers, a light show, a Skypad DJ, and complimentary collectibles.
If Musk’s ambition holds, the Hollywood diner is year one of something much bigger. The birthday party is the proof of concept. The robotaxi fleet is the business model waiting behind it.
Tesla Diner is turning 1 on July 21st, so we’re throwing a party
Come swing by for a day full of fun:
– Cybercab on display
– Birthday menu
– @Tesla_Optimus
– Face painting for kids & adults
– Photo booth
– Servers on roller skates delivering your order
– Light show
– Skypad DJ… pic.twitter.com/TD8pOjihYs— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) July 18, 2026



