Tesla is testing the new 2021 Model S “Refresh” on the street in preparations for its release, new photographs show.
Rumors of a revamped Model S and Model X design have been flowing through the community since December. Tesla shut down Model S and Model X production lines at the Fremont production factory in December 2020. The Fremont facility is the only location that the S sedan and X SUV are produced, as Tesla’s other currently-operational production plant, Giga Shanghai in China only builds the Model 3 and Y. Fremont also handles 3 and Y production, but it appears to be business as usual at the plant, as no revisions have been made to either car since the Model 3’s refresh in late 2020.
Teslarati sighted the Model S refresh outside of the Fremont Factory over the weekend. Tesla was using the test track it purchased from the Union Pacific Railroad in 2013, which sits near the Fremont Factory, to test the Model S Refresh. These photographs revealed several changes in the exterior shape, like a wider body used to hold wider wheels, a refined central air intake vent, a new rear bumper, and modified fog lights.
The changes were definitely noticeable, but they were from a distance, so not all of the revisions that Tesla may have made could be spotted. However, new, closer photographs have been captured, giving enthusiasts a closer look at what could be a “Refreshed” Model S.
These photographs were taken on E. Warren Ave, a street that runs East to West and sits directly South of Tesla’s Fremont Factory. As you can see from the photographs, the car runs on public roads near the factory, testing the vehicle’s durability and performance while handling everyday streets.
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- Photo: Teslarati
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- Photo: Teslarati
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- Credit: Google Maps
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- Photo: Teslarati
The two photos give a clearer indication of what Teslarati reported yesterday. The changes to the exterior are relatively minor as the shape of the Model S is basically the same. However, there are numerous improvements to the car that will reap positive benefits to the battery, aerodynamic performance, and the look of the car. One of the most notable changes is what appears to be a revised version of the Arachnid wheel that the Model S Refresh is seen with in the picture.
Comparing the photograph that shows the Model S at an angle with another similar photograph of the flagship sedan, we can see the fog light is shaped differently and seems to include a new shape that is more modern and sleek.
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- Photo: Teslarati
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- Credit: CNBC
The front lip has a larger opening, helping to cool the battery pack down, leading to longevity and more efficient cooling. The inclusion of a diffuser also appears to be sitting under the front lip of the car. On the Plaid Model S at the Nürburgring, the diffuser was located under the rear of the car. This helps improve aerodynamics by displacing air more efficiently.
Tesla has a knack for having release candidates drive around Northern California before its official release. Before the Model 3 was launched by Tesla in the Summer of 2017, several release candidates were spotted driving around Palo Alto, and Elon Musk even released a video of the Model 3 before the final design was approved. Additionally, the Model Y was spotted with testing apparatuses attached to the vehicle in December 2019, three months before the car was initially delivered to its first owner in March 2020.
There is no planned release date for the new Model S as of yet. However, there is certainly something going on at the Fremont factory, as some Body In White vehicles were spotted covered in the parking lot of the production facility last week. The covered bodies looked to maintain an irregular shape, but there were no doors or windows installed. Some anticipate the announcement of the Refresh to be made on Wednesday during the Tesla Earnings Call for Q4 2020, but that remains to be seen.
The Kilowatts also shared their thoughts on the sighting of the Model S Refresh, so be sure to check out their video below.
Starlink is launching a new beta path for ordinary property owners and local operators to turn a single Starlink kit into a small shared-access business for passive income.
Under the Starlink for Communities program, a host installs one dish and router setup in a location with nearby demand: an apartment complex, campground, rural crossroads, or event site. Neighbors or local users can buy short-term passes rather than full individual subscriptions, giving the Starlink provider a potential path to passive income.
Hour, day, and week passes cover one device. A month pass covers up to four. Starlink handles account creation, payments, access controls, and the satellite link itself. The host’s role is mainly placement, power, and basic upkeep, with earnings tied to each paid connection.
Big news! SpaceX is introducing a new @Starlink for Communities program that lets you earn money by providing Starlink internet to your neighbors or people nearby, who can pay for access by the hour, day, week, or month.
Neighbors pay for the access they need, while the person… pic.twitter.com/DtOUs0Ekvt
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 1, 2026
The model echoes the passive-income vision long attached to Tesla’s Robotaxi plans, and it seems like it’s something Musk has hinted toward in the past as he believes AI will make the need to work relatively optional. In both cases, the platform owns the hard parts of matching, billing, and network management, while an individual supplies a physical asset that sits idle much of the time.
A Starlink host’s dish can serve multiple nearby users without each household buying and installing its own terminal. A Tesla owner, under the stated Robotaxi concept, would leave a vehicle enrolled in the fleet during unused hours so the car generates rides while the owner is at work or asleep.
Both arrangements convert under-utilized hardware into a revenue stream. They also let the company scale coverage or capacity without owning every endpoint.
Differences are practical. A Starlink kit is a fixed, relatively low-cost terminal whose main constraint is local congestion and line-of-sight. A Tesla Robotaxi is a mobile, high-value vehicle whose earnings depend on demand density, utilization rates, insurance, cleaning, and charging.
Starlink’s program is already accepting host applications in multiple countries and describes the revenue split as ongoing. Tesla’s owner-network version remains more aspirational.
The company currently operates a limited company-controlled robotaxi service in select areas and has solicited interest from fleet buyers for Cybercab vehicles, while private Full Self-Driving owners have not yet been able to dispatch their own cars for paid rides at scale.
Tesla primes Cybercabs for 4K streaming and high bandwidth gaming with Starlink integration
Starlink is a satellite broadband service operated by SpaceX that uses a constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites to deliver internet to locations where terrestrial broadband is slow, expensive, or absent. It has grown to millions of subscribers worldwide by selling direct residential, mobile, and enterprise terminals, and have become widely available at a wide array at retail locations like Target and Best Buy.
The Communities program extends that reach by letting hosts resell short bursts of capacity to people nearby, while also providing high-speed internet access to those who are simply around a Starlink user.
Tesla just upgraded its headlights through a software update, making them even better without any physical or hardware upgrade.
Tesla’s latest software update is quietly improving nighttime driving for a small number of owners. Version 2026.38 includes a new capability called Dynamic Headlight Leveling.
The feature automatically adjusts the aim of the low beams in response to driving conditions and nearby traffic, with the goal of giving the driver more usable light on the road while reducing glare for oncoming vehicles and traffic ahead.
2026.38 just dropped.
Model 3 gets Dynamic Headlight Leveling — low beams auto-aim around traffic for max visibility, less glare. Model 3 / Y (AMD HW3) also pick up sharper Tesla visuals + an enhanced park scene on the center display.
Legacy Intel cars get Supercharger Site… pic.twitter.com/45ac4AH6Vs
— Frunk To Trunk (@FrunkToTrunk) September 30, 2026
Unlike Tesla’s matrix high-beam system, which selectively dims individual LED segments to create shadows around other cars, Dynamic Headlight Leveling physically tilts the low-beam projectors. Internal motors respond to changes in vehicle pitch.
When the car accelerates hard, climbs a steep grade, or carries extra weight in the rear, the headlights can otherwise point higher than intended. The software counters that movement in real time so the beam stays aimed at the road surface rather than into the eyes of other drivers.
Early indications reveal the update is reaching a limited set of vehicles, including certain Model 3 and Cybertruck examples in the United States and the United Arab Emirates. The rollout does not appear tied to a single hardware revision, and Tesla has not published a broader schedule. It is simply a common waiting game until your car receives it.
The change arrives against a backdrop of wider complaints about headlight glare. Some earlier Model 3 and Model Y vehicles were the subject of an NHTSA recall related to excessive low-beam glare; the software adjustment offers a potential mitigation for cars equipped with the necessary leveling hardware. It does not replace adaptive high beams where those are already available, nor does it alter the basic low-beam pattern itself.
Instead, it keeps an existing beam pointed where it is most useful.
For drivers who have received the update, the system requires no new settings or user input. The headlights simply respond as road conditions and traffic change. As the feature reaches more vehicles, it adds another example of Tesla using over-the-air software to refine existing hardware rather than waiting for a new model year. Nighttime visibility and reduced glare for others are the practical results owners are expected to notice first.
Lifestyle
Tesla teases “Halloween Mode” update with Optimus rising from a graveyard
Tesla’s Halloween teaser hides a covered vehicle and an Optimus hand rising from the ground.
Tesla has started teasing a Halloween software update for its vehicles, with a short clip on X that reads, “Halloween is coming.” The clip opens on a glowing pumpkin before pulling back to the car’s center touchscreen, where the usual parked visualization has been replaced by a graveyard scene, and the vehicle draped with a white sheet so it reads as a cartoon ghost.
Halloween is coming pic.twitter.com/lM3ASUeOqX
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 1, 2026
The second detail is a robotic hand clawing its way out of the dirt like a zombie, which looks to be the hand of Tesla’s latest Optimus V3 humanoid robot. While Tesla still has not formally shown Optimus Gen 3 walking around in service, renders pulled from Tesla’s Android app last month gave the clearest look yet, including far more refined hands that Tesla has said carry 22 degrees of freedom. The hand has been the hardest part of the program. Musk has called it the majority of the robot’s engineering difficulty, and Tesla’s patents describe a design driven by tendons with the actuators moved into the forearm.
Tesla Optimus V3 hand and arm details revealed in new patents
Optimus also has a Halloween track record. Last October the robot handed out candy in Times Square, and a costumed “zombie” Optimus shuffled around the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles on Halloween night.
On the software side, Tesla’s 2025 Holiday Update expanded Santa Mode with a Santa sleigh, snowmen, snow effects, and a festive lock chime, so it wouldn’t be too far fetched if we saw something similar but themed for a Halloween Mode.
Starlink launches Communities Program for passive income through internet sharing
Tesla just made its headlights even better through a software update
