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Tesla to hold Plaid Model S Team Appreciation Event at Fremont Factory

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wears a Plaid Mode jacket at the company's Model S Plaid Delivery Event on June 10th, 2021. (Credit: Tesla)

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Tesla is planning to hold an Appreciation Event at the Fremont Factory in Northern California on Thursday, July 29th, 2021, documents obtained by Teslarati show.

Earlier this year, Tesla announced the launch of the Plaid Model Model S, a revamped and refreshed version of the company’s flagship electric sedan. CEO Elon Musk announced in January that the vehicle would begin deliveries in February, but several bottlenecks and unexpected delays prevented Tesla from meeting this timeline. Instead, Tesla started delivering the Model S Plaid at a Delivery Event at Fremont on June 10th.

Tesla’s Model S Plaid Delivery Event on June 10th allowed fans and owners to check out the automaker’s new, refreshed version of the flagship sedan. (Credit: @kimpaquette/Twitter)

Musk has expressed gratitude to many of Tesla’s teams, but the Plaid Team is getting its own dedicated Appreciation Event on July 29th, according to documents from the City of Fremont. Musk, who has been at the forefront of criticism and displeasure from some Plaid reservation holders, has apologetically and regularly updated Tesla supporters about the Plaid Powertrain’s status for months.

After deliveries were then slated for June 3rd, Musk pushed it back another week, citing “one more week of tweak.” It was not the first delay in the Plaid Model S’ release, but it was the last ahead of first deliveries.

The challenging nature of the Plaid Powertrain took nearly two years to perfect. After the Plaid Model S was first sighted at the Nürburgring in Germany in late 2019, Musk updated fans in April 2020, stating that the powertrain was “getting too complex.” It took another fourteen months to complete, and still, Tesla combats with semiconductor shortages that are out of the automaker’s control. The stressful nature of the Model S Plaid ramp has warranted a little bit of extra appreciation, and the event will likely give the engineers, team of production technicians, and others a pat on the back for all of their hard work.

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Details regarding the event are vague currently, but Tesla did file to have the event, just like it did with the Delivery Event in June, with the City of Fremont.

Credit: City of Fremont

The Model S Plaid is currently the fastest production vehicle in the world, capturing the fastest 1/4-mile time at the Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, California, earlier this year. The vehicle recently had a temporary hold on deliveries, and Tesla resumed the shipment of Model S Plaid units late last week.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with tips! Email us at tips@teslarati.com, or you can email me directly at joey@teslarati.com.

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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Tesla V2L adapter for Model Y stirs up a new complaint among owners

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Credit: Tesla

On Friday, Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter that enabled Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) energy transfer, meaning owners could essentially utilize their cars as a power source for things like laptops, electric grills, or string lights.

However, even owners of some of the newest builds of the Model Y are finding out that their cars are not compatible with the new $80 accessory, stirring up a new complaint among members of the community.

Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.

Upon the release of the Outlet Adapter on Friday, I signed into my Tesla account to order the accessory. However, I was met with the dreaded “This product is not compatible with your 2026 Model Y” message at the bottom of the screen.

Some said their accounts also displayed the same message, but they ordered anyway. However, they might be surprised to find that this is no mistake; some of the newest Model Ys do not have the appropriate Power Conversion System (PCS). Mine, which was ordered on this day last year and delivered on August 31, has the old 48A, single-phase PCS.

Vehicles with the new, two-piece PCS are able to utilize V2L features on their cars:

Obviously, it’s disappointing. Many owners have taken delivery this year and still can not utilize the Outlet Adapter because their cars feature the old PCS:

It looks like if you have one of these older PCS units, you can upgrade, but the parts alone are $1,750, and that’s before Tesla adds labor for installing. It is honestly more logical to get some kind of portable power supply or power station at that point.

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It is great that Tesla has enabled V2L for Model Y vehicles, but it is also unfortunate that vehicles that are less than one year old are not able to take advantage of this awesome new feature.

With that being said, it truly is a first-world problem; can you really complain when Full Self-Driving is available, maintenance is incredibly inexpensive, and the car has been so good through a year of ownership?

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Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has launched a new Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y vehicles in the United States, meaning you can now power devices like laptops or light strings with your vehicle’s battery.

It appears the capability will be available for any Model Y Premium trim, including those that were purchased prior to the Adapter being launched. It will also only impact Juniper Model Y vehicles, so the first-gen owners will unfortunately not have access to this capability.

If your Model Y was purchased before Tesla renamed the trim levels to “Premium” and “Standard,” it does not seem to be compatible. My Model Y is technically a Premium build, as it is the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive. However, Tesla says it is not compatible with my vehicle.

For $80, you can now utilize your car as a portable charger for small appliances or devices. This is perfect for things like tailgates, concerts, or camping, as you can now plug in devices that you might use. Those string lights for camping? That laptop for the other games that are on at the tailgate?

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They’ll both utilize energy from your Tesla’s battery to be powered. This is the first time Tesla has expanded the capability to vehicles outside of the Model Y Performance and Cybertruck. However, this feature has been highly requested by owners for an extended period of time.

Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter in China last year:

Tesla China rolls out Model Y L V2L adapter, and it’s free for early owners

You will need the Mobile Connector to operate the Outlet Adapter: the Outlet Adapter will plug into the main housing of the Mobile Connector, where the appropriate adapter to charge your vehicle will plug in.

It is rated for 120 volts and 20 amps, and has a max power rating of 2.4kW.

You can buy it here from Tesla for $80.

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Tesla Roadster unveiling nears, and it will fly: The Information

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(Credit: Dami Kolz/Twitter)

Tesla is nearing its long-awaited unveiling of the all-electric Tesla Roadster, a new report from The Information claims, as the company has said several times this year that the event would take place “soon.”

Now, it appears there is movement on Tesla’s end regarding when it will happen.

The report says that Tesla will unveil the Roadster as soon as this month with a SpaceX version that will utilize cold-gas thrusters to help the vehicle float for a short period of time. This is something CEO Elon Musk has talked about with the Roadster for years.

Additionally, due to the delays, Tesla explored “a variety of designs” for the Roadster, potentially planning to abandon the design it showed off for the first time in 2017 and adopting an entirely new aesthetic.

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According to The Information, Tesla considered utilizing a repurposed Model S Plaid and even wanted to upgrade the look to something like a Lamborghini Countach.

Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again

We’ve heard all of these things before, including teases about the date and how “soon” the Roadster will finally be ready to be shown off to the world (for the second time). Musk said that the event would occur in April, then May, then Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen continued to say it would be coming “soon.”

We do expect to see the Roadster by the end of the year, and now with this new report swirling, it appears it could be sooner rather than later.

The wait has been incredibly long, but there is likely a good reason for it. Tesla’s desire to make the Roadster the craziest vehicle on the road was non-negotiable, and it likely took a lot of time and resources to develop and perfect into something that was safe and suitable for a vehicle like this.

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