Lifestyle
Tesla Model X humbles Lamborghini Urus and Mercedes-AMG G63 in ultimate 4-way SUV drag race
There is just something incredibly satisfying about seeing all-electric cars standing toe-to-toe with vehicles that are designed optimally for speed and performance. Take a recent 4-way drag race featuring the Tesla Model X P100D and the Lamborghini Urus, the Mercedes-AMG G63, and the Range Rover Sport SVR, for example. With such a lineup of vehicles, the matchup is nothing short of the ultimate SUV drag race.
Among the Model X P100D’s opponents, the Lamborghini Urus is arguably the most interesting. The vehicle, after all, is an SUV built by one of the world’s most radical supercar makers. Equipped with a 4.0 liter V8 twin-turbo engine that produces 641 bhp, the Urus has supercar DNA flowing through its veins. This is evident in the SUV’s design, its sound, and its daunting stance. The Lamborghini Urus looks fast, and it is fast, capable of going from 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds.
The Mercedes-AMG G63, on the other hand, is pretty much an off-roader that has no business of being as fast as it is. Keeping with tradition, Mercedes-AMG kept the G63’s traditional boxy frame, giving the vehicle the appearance of a serious off-road vehicle, but compromising the SUV’s aerodynamics. Despite this, though, the Mercedes-AMG G63 is quick. Propelled forward by its 4.0-liter V8 twin-turbo engine that makes 563 hp, the German-made monster SUV could accelerate from 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds.
The Range Rover Sport SVR is also a traditional SUV that just happens to be incredibly fast. Equipped with a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 engine that produces 575 hp, the British-made SUV is capable of hitting 60 mph in as little as 4.3 seconds. With all its muscle and surprising performance, Car and Driver even joked that the Range Rover Sport SVR is a vehicle that almost defies physics.
While the Lamborghini Urus, the Mercedes-AMG G63, and the Range Rover Sport SVR are formidable, the Tesla Model X P100D boasts impressive specs on its own. The seven-seater SUV is equipped with a 100 kWh battery and dual electric motors that produce a combined 772 hp. Thanks to the instant torque provided by its electric motors, the Model X P100D is capable of a supercar-beating 0-60 mph time of 2.9 seconds.
So what happens when Silicon Valley’s quickest SUV competes against the best of Germany, Italy, and Britain’s fastest SUVs? As it turns out, the Model X P100D does well — very, very well. The vehicles engaged each other in a classic drag race and a rolling race, and in both times, the Model X P100D came out on top. In the first race alone, the P100D immediately dropped the Urus hard, overtaking the beast from Italy off the line. At the end of the race, the Model X P100D completed the quarter mile in 11.3 seconds. The Lamborghini Urus ran the race in 11.9 seconds, while the Mercedes-AMG G63 crossed the quarter-mile mark in 12.3 seconds. The Range Rover Sport SVR was last, crossing the finish line in 12.9 seconds.
What is rather interesting is that the Model X P100D completely walked all over its opponents despite having only 186 miles of range left. That’s around 64% of its battery. Considering that Tesla’s electric cars perform better when their batteries are fully charged, the Model X P100D actually ended up dominating the 4-way ultimate SUV drag race on a handicap.
The Model X P100D has a long list of drag race victims under its belt. Earlier this year, the all-electric SUV also dominated one of America’s fastest SUVs — the 6.2-liter V8 Hellcat-powered Jeep Trackhawk. Just like the Lamborghini Urus, the Trackhawk was hailed as a massive SUV that is as fast as it looks. When faced with the Model X P100D, though, the vehicle proved inadequate to topple the seven-seater SUV.
Watch carwow’s 4-way ultimate SUV battle in the video below.
For a century, the car has asked the same thing of its owner, which is basically to pay attention. Even the best ride-hailing app like Uber or Lyft only moved the problem into someone else’s hands. You stopped driving, but you still sat in a stranger’s car, while half listening, and wondering whether to take a phone call in the car without being rude. The Cybercab has no wheel, no pedals and no driver. With Grok @bot now live inside it, it becomes something else entirely, and I think that matters more than the fleet count that everyone is tracking.
Grok @bot is an agent, not a voice assistant. A rider signs in once, and from then on can say what they need and watch it happen. Order dinner from a favorite restaurant. Fill the grocery cart. Move money, answer email, adjust a calendar, push a work project forward. Tesla engineer Yun-Ta Tsai confirmed it is enabled across every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y fleet, and Tesla’s own pitch is that Full Self-Driving handles the commute while Grok handles the errands.
Think about what that does to a thirty minute ride. Uber sells you a trip, while Waymo sells you the same trip in a more private setting. Tesla is selling the thirty minutes themselves, returned to you with an assistant attached. Errands that used to eat a Saturday get done between pickup and drop off. The ride stops being dead time between two places and becomes a place of its own.
Tesla integrates Grok Bot into its vehicles for the ultimate personal assistant
Best of all, your Bots follow you into any Cybercab, and presumably your own Tesla, then logs you out automatically when you step out. Anyone can bolt a chatbot onto a screen, but much harder to own the vehicle, the autonomy stack and the assistant at once. It also quietly ties SpaceX’s Super Intelligence business to Tesla’s fleet, after Tesla converted its xAI stake into SpaceX equity. The relationship between those two companies is getting harder to describe as separate.
This is also where the hard questions start, because an agent that can spend your money in a vehicle other people also ride in needs some answers. How does it handle a voice it shouldn’t trust? What gets recorded, who can see it, and for how long? What happens when a rider leaves halfway through a task?
If Tesla gets those answers right, the scoreboard changes. We have been counting Cybercabs and wait times. The more telling number may be what riders accomplish per trip. That is data almost no one else will ever have, and it is the real reason to watch Grok @bot.
What do you think? Leave me a comment.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s mirrorless Cybercab will give riders a visibility upgrade
Tesla engineer confirms Cybercab update letting riders pull up rear and repeater cameras on demand.
Tesla is working on a Cybercab update that would let passengers pull up the vehicle’s rear and side cameras on demand, and the request came straight from a rider.
The exchange played out on X late Friday. Cybercab rider Dan Burkland shared photos of the two-seater’s cabin screen after an evening ride, praised the UI team’s work, and left one request: let riders open the rear and repeater cameras whenever they want, “especially for peace of mind.” Tesla UI software engineer Evan (@CarCoder) answered with two words: “In development.”
The Tesla UI team absolutely crushed it with the infotainment software. Nicely done @CarCoder!
One feature request: Allow folks to pull up the rear & repeater cameras on demand. This would be great especially for peace of mind. https://t.co/mNAOSLx6pE
— Dan Burkland (@DBurkland) October 10, 2026
The idea fits a pattern Teslarati has tracked since public rides began. Days after paid Cybercab service opened in Austin, Tesla sent riders a survey that asked them to rate the touchscreen, the app and the cabin, and to pick the features they wanted most. We reported on that survey in September, and a camera view is the kind of small software change Tesla can push quickly if riders keep asking.
It also speaks to something unique about the vehicle. With no steering wheel, no pedals and no driver, passengers have no mirror to check and no way to see behind them. The hardware is clearly built for camera awareness, from the repeater cameras to the rear camera. Letting a passenger look through those same cameras would give a nervous first time rider a way to confirm what is around the car.
The timing matters because the fleet is growing fast. Tesla’s Robotaxi account said on Saturday that more than 300 Cybercabs are now serving Austin, an eightfold increase in 30 days, and Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy named Dallas as the next city. More cars and more cities mean more people riding in a driverless vehicle for the first time, which is exactly when small trust features carry weight.
For now, the feature is confirmed only as in development. If Tesla follows its usual pattern with Cybercab software, riders could see it appear in a point release without any announcement, and Teslarati will watch for it.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s surprise addition to the X Takeover lineup has fans talking
Elon Musk will join Saturday’s X Takeover at Giga Texas for a live virtual interview.
Elon Musk will join X Takeover at Giga Texas on Saturday for a live virtual interview, according to Sawyer Merritt, who shared the news late Thursday. Musk will not be on stage in Austin. The conversation is set to stream for free on the @teslaownersSV account on X.
Organizers had kept expectations in check. In a September update, Tesla Owners Silicon Valley said Musk had appeared at the event twice before but was not promising a third appearance, even as fans hoped he would walk the Giga Texas grounds in person. A virtual spot matches 2024, when Musk gave a surprise interview of about an hour to the crowd in San Luis Obispo, as Teslarati reported at the time.
Wasn’t expecting this 🫡
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 9, 2026
This year’s edition is a first in several ways. It is the first X Takeover held outside California and the first at a Tesla facility, with tickets selling out in eight days. Tesla provides the venue, but the event is produced independently by Tesla Owners Silicon Valley. The main event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT, followed by a drone and light show at 9 p.m. Maye Musk is the keynote speaker, Franz von Holzhausen is set for a virtual keynote, and Nicki Minaj is the special guest. Joe Tegtmeyer, whose drone footage Teslarati used to track the Optimus factory steel frame at Giga Texas, is also on the speaker list.
Musk’s interview topics have not been revealed, but the backdrop is busy. Tesla doubled its Cybercab fleet in Austin in late September, and last week Musk explained why Robotaxi hours only moved from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.. Merritt also reported Thursday that Texas DMV records now show 319 registered Cybercabs, up from 169. NHTSA’s deadline for Tesla’s sworn answers on Cybercab certification is October 30, and Tesla reports third quarter earnings on October 21.
Fans who cannot make it to Austin can watch the livestream on X. Musk tends to say more in unscripted settings than he does in prepared remarks, which is the reason this one is worth having open on Saturday.
Tesla’s flying Roadster just revealed something bigger than the car
How Tesla’s Roadster fan system and thrusters are built to dominate the corners
Tesla Roadster: Three configs, one can fly, 0-60 in 0.8 seconds
SpaceX reveals how its 1 Million AI satellite network will work and prevent space collisions
Elon Musk’s Boring Company lands a new Middle East deal, and Nashville is about to get faster
