Lifestyle
Why the Tesla Model X 60D is a big deal
My husband sort of wondered why I was so thrilled when Tesla announced the Model S 70 last year, since we already had a S 85 and certainly were not in the market for a second Tesla. “Because it increases the size of the circle of people who can afford a Tesla!” A status-driven owner may shudder at the thought, but a true enthusiast knows this is a good thing. In fact, a buddy recently asked me if I was pissed that after spending so much on a car, there’s a new, cheaper version coming out. Uh, no! Quite the opposite. Aside from the fact that the Model 3 will make it financially feasible for my own household to be able to go all Tesla, it will make it financially feasible for hundreds of thousands more households to add their first Tesla. And this is a good thing.
One of the fears we had when making the big decision to order a Model S in 2014, aside from the price tag, was that this company would fold, and getting our car serviced would be difficult. With every new success Tesla registers, that fear becomes a more distant memory. Another fear was that the Supercharger network would either cease to exist or, at least, cease to expand if the company didn’t do so well. Again, poof! One look at the map and that fear is gone.
So why is the Model X 60D a big deal to me? The circle gets bigger. Actually, another circle gets bigger. Plenty of folks, especially here in the US, swear they “need” an SUV. My own mother is one of them. (All of 5’1″, driving a rather large 2001 Trailblazer.) When the Model X came out and provided that option, it was still out of the realm of possibility for all but those with the very largest vehicle budgets. Just like the newly released Model S 60, adding the Model X 60D brings the starting price point down and thus brings it closer to being within reach.
I’ve tried to sell my insurance agent on getting a Tesla. He has several kids and drives the largest Nissan SUV. He drives a ton of miles and spends well more between gas and his payment than we do for electricity and our Model S payment. Well more. I even sent him an email when the Model S 60 came back, because fitted with the optional rear facing seats, it could meet his needs. The problem, I suspect, is that he “needs” an SUV. (Read in most cases: likes to sit up high.) Surely there are plenty of people out there like him, who either dismiss the idea of spending six figures for a car, or who dismiss that a sedan could possible suit their needs. Now what’s the argument? A true cost of ownership comparison between an Model X 60D and Nissan Armada would be pretty eye-opening I bet. If anyone has time, work it out and add it to the comments.
The above is the obvious part. Making the car more attainable is good for us all. A more successful car company means growth, more Superchargers, and hopefully plenty more service centers.
What’s not so obvious is how proud I am of Tesla for doing their best to make the car affordable. They could easily stick to leaving the Model S and Model X as their premium line, without adding more affordable configurations, but they aren’t. They could easily get away with having the Model 3 start at $35,000 and go all the way up to $70,00, then making every Model S and X start at $80,000. They can do this and say “tough cookies” because demand is still pretty great from what I can see. They could do a lot of things that they don’t, like cower when the media picks on them or admit fault when there is none. But Tesla is a special company is so many more ways than I can write. (Wait But Why does an excellent job of this.) I can, however, boil it down to one conclusion:
This is what happens when a company is driven by its mission and not the other way around.
Lifestyle
Tesla Semi hauls fresh Cybercab batch as Robotaxi era takes hold
A Tesla Semi was filmed hauling Cybercab units out of Giga Texas for the first time.
A Tesla Semi loaded with Cybercab units was recently filmed leaving Gigafactory Texas, marking what appears to be the first documented delivery run of Tesla’s autonomous two-seater. The footage shows multiple Cybercabs secured on a flatbed trailer being hauled by a production Tesla Semi, a truck rated for a gross combination weight of 82,000 lbs. The location is consistent with Giga Texas in Austin, where Cybercab production has been ramping since February 2026.
The sighting follows a wave of Cybercab activity at the Austin facility. In late April, drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer spotted approximately 60 Cybercabs parked in two organized groups in the factory’s outbound lot, the largest concentration observed to date. Units being staged in an outbound lot is a standard pre-delivery step, and the Semi footage is the logical next frame in that sequence.
En route with @tesla_semi pic.twitter.com/ZfuOjaeLH1
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) May 7, 2026
This is not the first time Tesla has used its own Semi to move Tesla products. When the Semi was unveiled in 2017, Musk noted it would be used for Tesla’s own operations, and over the years Semi prototypes were spotted carrying cargo ranging from concrete weights to Tesla vehicles being delivered to consumers. In 2023, a Semi was photographed transporting a Cybertruck on a trailer ahead of that vehicle’s delivery launch.
The Cybercab itself was first revealed publicly at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event on October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, where 20 pre-production units gave attendees rides around the studio lot. Musk stated at the event that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027. The first production unit rolled off the Giga Texas line on February 17, 2026, with Musk posting on X: “Congratulations to the Tesla team on making the first production Cybercab.”
Tesla’s annual production goal is 2 million Cybercabs per year once multiple factories reach full design capacity, with the company targeting a price under $30,000 per unit. Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.
Tesla has taken home the “Overall Loyalty to Make” award from S&P Global Mobility for the fourth consecutive year, reinforcing Tesla owners’ willingness to come back. The 2025 awards are based on S&P Global Mobility’s analysis of 13.6 million new retail vehicle registrations in the U.S. from October 2024 through September 2025. The complete list of 2025 winners includes General Motors for Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer, Tesla for Overall Loyalty to Make, Chevrolet Equinox for Overall Loyalty to Model, Mini for Most Improved Make Loyalty, Subaru for Overall Loyalty to Dealer, and Tesla again for both Ethnic Market Loyalty to Make and Highest Conquest Percentage.
Tesla’s streak in this category started in 2022, and the brand has now won the Highest Conquest Percentage award for six straight years, meaning it keeps pulling buyers away from other brands at a rate no competitor has matched. Tesla’s retention among Asian households reached 63.6% and among Hispanic households 61.9%, rates that significantly outpace national averages for those groups. That breadth of appeal across demographics adds a layer of significance to a win that some might dismiss as routine.
The timing matters too. After several consecutive quarters of decline, Tesla’s share of U.S. EV sales jumped to 59% in Q4 2025. That rebound, arriving just as competitors were flooding the market with new models and incentives, suggests Tesla’s loyalty numbers are not simply the result of limited alternatives. Buyers are still choosing it when they have plenty of other options.
What keeps Tesla owners coming back has a lot to do with the and convenience of charging. The Supercharger network is the most straightforward example. With over 65,000 Superchargers globally, it remains the largest and most reliable fast-charging network in the world, and owners who have built their routines around it face a real practical cost when considering a switch. Competitors have made progress, but the consistency, speed, and availability of Tesla’s network is still the benchmark the rest of the industry is chasing. Then there is the software side. Tesla has built a model where the car you own today is functionally different from the car you bought two years ago, through over-the-air updates that add continuous game-changing improvements such as Full Self-Driving that has moved from a driver-assist feature to an increasingly capable autonomous system. For many Tesla owners, leaving the brand means starting over with a car that will not get meaningfully better over time, and that is a trade-off fewer and fewer are willing to make.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybercab just rolled through Miami inside a glass box
Tesla paraded a Cybercab in a glass display at Miami’s F1 Grand Prix event this week.
Tesla set up an “Autonomy Pop-Up” at Lummus Park in Miami Beach from April 29 through May 3, 2026, embedded within the official F1 Miami Grand Prix Fan Fest. The centerpiece was a Cybertruck towing the Cybercab inside a glass display case marked “Future is Autonomous,” rolling through the beachfront crowd.
Miami is on Tesla’s confirmed list of cities for robotaxi expansion in the first half of 2026, making the promotion a strategic promotion that lays groundwork in a target market.
This was not Tesla’s first time using Miami as a showcase city. In December 2025, Tesla hosted “The Future of Autonomy Visualized” at its Miami Design District showroom, coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach. That event featured the Cybercab prototype and Optimus robots interacting with attendees. The F1 pop-up this week marks Tesla’s return to Miami and follows a pattern Tesla has been running since early 2026. Just two weeks before Miami, Tesla stationed Optimus at the Tesla Boston Boylston Street showroom on April 19 and 20, directly on the final stretch of the Boston Marathon, letting tens of thousands of runners and spectators meet the robot for free, generating massive earned media at zero advertising cost.
Tesla is sending its humanoid Optimus robot to the Boston Marathon
Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year. On the production side, Musk told shareholders that the Cybercab manufacturing process could eventually produce up to 5 million vehicles per year, targeting a cycle time of one unit every ten seconds. Scaling robotaxis to 10 million operational units over the next ten years is a key condition of his compensation package, alongside selling 20 million passenger vehicles.
As for the Cybercab’s price, Musk has said buyers will be able to purchase one for under $30,000, with an average operating cost around $0.20 per mile. Whether those numbers hold through full production remains to be seen.
Cybercab at F1 Fan Fest in Miami
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u/Joshalander in
teslamotors
Tesla launches its solution to rare but relevant Supercharger problem
Tesla Optimus is already benefiting investors, top Wall Street firm says
