Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) unveiled its new Plaid Model S last night and rolled out deliveries to those who have been waiting patiently to take delivery of the “Refreshed” version of the company’s flagship sedan. While there were several takeaways from the event that took place at Tesla’s Fremont Factory, Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch indicated that his biggest idea from the delivery event was Tesla’s donning of a new, fully autonomous era, and the company is prepping itself, along with its owners, for a future that requires little to no intervention from the driver.
Rusch, who is one of Tesla’s biggest bulls on Wall Street with a massive $1,080 price target, appeared on CNBC’S Squawk Box earlier today to talk about the event and what the major takeaways are. While many automotive enthusiasts, analysts, and spectators were more focused on the lightning-fast performance and 390-mile range of the Model S Plaid, Rusch took away Tesla’s installation of several new features that are evidently preparing drivers to become passengers. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite has made tremendous improvements ever since the company rolled out the FSD Beta program in October 2020. While the Beta program features a small group of members, Tesla eventually plans to roll out a more robust version of FSD to owners everywhere. The question is: What will drivers do when they’re not required to pay attention to road conditions at all times?
This is a question Tesla has thought long and hard about, and the evidence of that lies within the software capabilities of the new Model S Plaid. It was revealed several weeks ago that Tesla would be installing AMD processors and GPSs in the Model S and X, giving the two vehicles “PS5 level entertainment computing power,” according to CEO Elon Musk. Musk hinted toward new gamification features in the past. Still, it really came down to the company’s ability to provide robust and well-rounded entertainment and infotainment systems to drivers and passengers. After all, if you’re not going to be driving the vehicle, you’re going to need something to do.
Effectively, this is what catalyzed Rusch’s idea that Tesla is preparing to bring in self-driving cars. While speaking to Squawk Box during the interview this morning, Rusch detailed Tesla’s event last night, focusing on the idea that self-driving, and not blistering performance, is what the event was really the essence of the event.
Rusch said that Tesla’s domination as the most-savvy tech company in terms of powertrain and product design in the automotive sector is important, and that was accomplished last night with the event. However, Rusch maintains that his price target is really based on the company’s ability to deliver autonomous vehicles, and the event proved to him that Tesla is moving in that direction.
Credit: Tesla
“What we saw last night was that they’re preparing for full autonomy in terms of the user experience within the vehicle,” Rusch said. “And, that’s important to see them migrating towards that full autonomous experience inside the car. Between the backseats, the display, and some of the other features within the display. This is preparing folks to not really have their hands on the wheel,” Rusch said.
“What we saw last night was that they’re preparing for full autonomy in terms of the user experience within the vehicle. That’s important,” says Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch on @Tesla‘s Model S Plaid $TSLA pic.twitter.com/A6DNgmIVLu
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) June 11, 2021
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Rusch holds an incredible #6 rating on TipRanks out of 7,547 analysts. His price target on TSLA stands at $1,080, and Rusch has a “Buy” rating on the automaker’s stock.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
Tesla flexed the new features of the Model Y L with a dedicated media event at the company’s Diner on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The Model Y L is the extended-wheelbase version of the all-electric crossover, which has been voted the best-selling car in the world on three occasions. The vehicle is already rolling off production lines at Gigafactory Texas, and first deliveries are slated to take place later this year.
Tesla brings Model Y L ‘Launch Series’ to the U.S. at $61,990
Teslarati was invited to the event, but due to some scheduling conflicts, we could not make it to Los Angeles. Instead, we will have our hands on a media unit sometime in August, so we’ll be able to spend some more extended time with the Model Y L.
However, plenty of those who made it to LA shared some cool features that set the Model Y L apart from the Model Y.
Multi-Row Climate Control
Tesla fitted the Model Y L with full climate control on all three rows on the front screen. It can be adjusted by selecting which row you’d like to modify on the right-hand side of the touch screen:
The Model Y L has a little row of icons on the right side of the climate screen so the front passenger can more quickly jump to whatever row they want to control. pic.twitter.com/uJS44mgCvk
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 30, 2026
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Better Rear Window Visibility
One of the strangest things about the Model Y, especially the Juniper iteration, is the rear window has extremely limited visibility when looking into the rearview mirror.
Tesla has improved upon this with the Model Y L:
This is a drastic difference. https://t.co/wTdhitD5aA pic.twitter.com/z6hFs0Jkss
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 30, 2026
PowerShare will be included
Model Y L will come with PowerShare in North America, with an 11.5kW output to your home. Tesla said it would require Powerwall 3 for operation.
Wireless Charging Pad
There has been some speculation that Tesla would upgrade the wireless charging pads in the United States, but this is not the case.
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Tesla owner fixes common feature complaint with crafty DIY retrofit
Tesla confirmed that it does not come with the cooled pads as the Y L in China does. This is because North America has not adopted Qi charging yet.
Thermal Management Improvements
These improvements in the Model Y L were seen with thermal management:
- Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
- +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather, 7 miles of real-world range gained
- 8x more solar energy reflection off of glass roof
- 30% reduction in solar energy entering the cabin
Some of the thermal management improvements in the new Model Y L Premium:
• Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
• Up to 15 min faster cabin cooling in sunny conditions
• +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather +7 miles of real-world range gained
• +10 miles recovered after… pic.twitter.com/jZirFWFdtO— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 31, 2026
Demand
Tesla said the Model Y L is almost sold out in the U.S. It comes with
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- 1 year of FSD Supervised
- 1 year of Supercharging
- 1 year of Premium Connectivity
- Free exterior paint color, interior, and wheel option at no additional cost
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to his social media platform X on Thursday night to deny a ridiculous rumor regarding the sale of the company’s Chinese vehicle production plant, Gigafactory Shanghai.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, claimed in a scathing new report that Tesla was exploring a potential sale of the entire China business in an effort to help bolster a potential merger between SpaceX and Tesla.
Musk immediately denied the rumor not once but twice, initially calling it “fake news,” and then calling it “absurdly fake news” in a separate post just a few moments later:
This is fake news
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026
The original poster of the Wall Street Journal article that Musk saw deleted the initial post sharing the headline and the rumored sale of Tesla’s China business.
This has never even come up in a discussion ever.
Absurdly fake news.
-People should assume news is fake until proven otherwise.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026
The report seemed absolutely and unequivocally false to begin with; Tesla’s business in China is among the most important pieces of the company’s business. Not only does the factory supply vehicles for the domestic market, but also for various other markets in Asia and Europe.
China is also one of the largest automotive markets in the world, and Tesla has performed well there despite the robust competition.
The speculation regarding a Tesla and SpaceX merger has started to gain steam this year as the space exploration company went public just a month ago. There has been speculation that Musk will bridge all of his companies under one “umbrella company,” and analysts believe this could happen before the end of the decade.
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
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This is the latest iteration of Musk’s very evident war on mainstream media. Reports regarding any of Musk’s companies are quick to get the dreaded “false” or “fake news” response from the CEO when they are unfounded.
Elon Musk
Tesla AI boss reveals how big Optimus is going to get
Tesla’s Optimus chief corrected himself on X, confirming a staggering 10 million robot production target.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus program has a new number attached to it, after Ashok Elluswamy, the executive who has run the humanoid robot program since June 2025, posted a three word correction on X Thursday, “Correction, 10 million robots.”
The line clarifies the long term annual capacity Tesla is building toward its planned second Optimus production line at Gigafactory Texas, a figure Musk has cited repeatedly since last year’s shareholder meeting.
The scale is worth noting, because ten million robots a year would mean Tesla building more units annually than most countries sell in new cars. Tesla has framed this as a second line, not the first. The buildout is happening in two phases: a roughly one million unit per year line inside Tesla’s Fremont factory, installed on the floor space vacated when Model S and Model X production ended earlier this year, and a much larger dedicated facility under construction at Giga Texas that broke ground on its first steel structure in May. That Texas facility is the one Elluswamy’s correction refers to, and is expected to reach volume production sometime in 2027.
Correction, 10 million robots https://t.co/0z4nyQNTzp
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) July 30, 2026
Tesla Optimus project fires up as Musk sees production line progress
Elluswamy took over Optimus from Milan Kovac last summer and has spent the months since talking up the program’s trajectory. Elon Musk has also floated the ten million figure at Tesla’s 2025 shareholder meeting.
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Ending Model S and Model X production to make room for the first Optimus line was one of the more consequential manufacturing decisions in the company’s recent history, retiring two flagship vehicles in favor of a robot that has yet to enter mass production. Musk has previously estimated per unit production costs at $20,000 to $25,000 once Tesla reaches a million units a year, though he hasn’t said what that cost looks like at ten times the volume.
Tesla Model Y L’s new features flexed at unveiling event at Diner
Tesla CEO Elon Musk denies ridiculous Gigafactory Shanghai rumor
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner-80x80.jpg)
