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Tesla Model X Range Impact When Towing

The Model X is a great tow vehicle — quiet, comfortable, and powerful. But its range is severely reduced when towing a heavy load. Actual range may be less than half that available in normal driving.

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Tesla Model X owner Max Kennedy took full advantage of the optional tow package by towing his 4,850 lb. boat and trailer to Tampa Bay, FL on New Year’s Day. He reports his Model X makes an excellent tow vehicle — quiet, comfortable, and powerful as demonstrated in the last segment of the video (6:51 min. marker) where Kennedy effortlessly accelerates from 55 mph to 80 mph within seconds. However, the ability to tow a near 5,000 payload doesn’t come without a cost, and in this case it’s energy consumption.

With a full charge at the beginning of the trip, Kennedy observes the amount of energy consumption by comparing the Tesla’s Instant Range reading with the change in speed and surface street elevation. The Model X  consumed an average of 575 watt-hours per mile while traveling at 55 mph in steady state cruising on level roads. Not surprisingly, the amount of energy used drastically increased when the 5,441 lb. Model X plus the additional 4,850 lb. boat and trailer combination was faced with an incline and a slight increase in speed, to the tune of 800 – 900 Wh/mi.

At that rate of energy consumption, the range impact when towing could be cut by 60% or more.

Model X range impact while towing

Model X consumed 922 Wh/mi at 60mph (5 mi avg) while towing a 4,850 up a slight incline [Source: Max Kennedy via YouTube]

Reaction to the video on Reddit was immediate. TheSpocker posted, “That’s a huge hit on range. Yikes. I mean, we all knew it would be this way. Aerodynamics are a huge part of Tesla design and that boat wasn’t designed with those concerns. It’s just unfortunate that towing hurts range so much. I hope that most owners of the X can still make it between superchargers while towing on their long-haul routes.”

He continued, “I love Tesla’s. I love electric cars. We still need to recognize that the range when towing on an electric is almost laughable. That’s not a big problem for most people who don’t tow, but it has to be overcome for electric vehicles to directly compete with ICE vehicles.”

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The question then becomes, Can the Tesla Model X really compete with conventional trucks or SUVs as a tow vehicle? The answer really depends on a number of factors. If there is no charger available where you are going, your destination may need to be within 50 miles of home or a roundtrip of 100 miles from the originating charging facility. “The problem is it’s more or less irrelevant with an ICE. A truck might have half the range, but it takes a whole two minutes to fill up and keep going.”, writes another user.

In other words, if you are towing a heavy payload up into the mountains or in areas where there’s prolonged inclines (ie. Flagstaff, AZ to Moab, UT), the Model X may not have the range to get you there unless the distance between Supercharger stations are shortened. Some people will have no problem with frequent charging along the way, but for some, towing using an internal combustion engine might still be king.

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Cybertruck

Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes

According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla’s new Cybertruck offering has had its delivery date pushed back once again. This is now the second time, and deliveries for the newest orders are now pushed well into 2027.

According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:

Just three days ago, the initial delivery date of June 2026 was pushed back to early Fall, and now, that date has officially moved to April 2027.

The fact that Tesla has had to push back deliveries once again proves one of two things: either Tesla has slow production plans for the new Cybertruck trim, or demand is off the charts.

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Judging by how Tesla is already planning to raise the price based on demand in just a few days, it seems like the company knows it is giving a tremendous deal on this spec of Cybertruck, and units are moving quickly.

That points more toward demand and not necessarily to slower production plans, but it is not confirmed.

Tesla Cybertruck’s newest trim will undergo massive change in ten days, Musk says

Tesla is set to hike the price on March 1, so tomorrow will be the final day to grab the new Cybertruck trim for just $59,990.

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It features:

  • Dual Motor AWD w/ est. 325 mi of range
  • Powered tonneau cover
  • Bed outlets (2x 120V + 1x 240V) & Powershare capability
  • Coil springs w/ adaptive damping
  • Heated first-row seats w/ textile material that is easy to clean
  • Steer-by-wire & Four Wheel Steering
  • 6’ x 4’ composite bed
  • Towing capacity of up to 7,500 lbs
  • Powered frunk

Interestingly, the price offering is fairly close to what Tesla unveiled back in late 2019.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt

Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

Elon Musk has clarified when SpaceX will first attempt to catch Starship’s upper stage with its launch tower. The CEO’s update provides the clearest teaser yet for the spacecraft’s recovery roadmap.

Musk shared the details in recent posts on X. In his initial post, Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.

“Starship V3 SN1 headed for ground tests. I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability,” Musk wrote.

In a follow-up post, Musk addressed when SpaceX would attempt to catch the upper stage using the launch tower’s robotic arms. 

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“Should note that SpaceX will only try to catch the ship with the tower after two perfect soft landings in the ocean. The risk of the ship breaking up over land needs to be very low,” Musk clarified. 

His remarks suggest that SpaceX is deliberately reducing risk before attempting a tower catch of Starship’s upper stage. Such a milestone would mark a major step towards the full reuse of the Starship system.

SpaceX is currently targeting the first Starship V3 flight of 2026 this coming March. The spacecraft’s V3 iteration is widely viewed as a key milestone in SpaceX’s long-term strategy to make Starship fully reusable. 

Starship V3 features a number of key upgrades over its previous iterations. The vehicle is equipped with SpaceX’s Raptor V3 engines, which are designed to deliver significantly higher thrust than earlier versions while reducing cost and weight. 

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The V3 design is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability, a critical step if SpaceX intends to scale the spacecraft’s production toward frequent launches for Starlink, lunar missions, and eventually Mars. 

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Tesla FSD (Supervised) could be approved in the Netherlands next month: Musk

Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared that Full Self-Driving (FSD) could receive regulatory approval in the Netherlands as soon as March 20, potentially marking a major step forward for Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance rollout in Europe.

Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin, noting that the date was provided by local authorities.

“Tesla has the most advanced real-world AI, and hopefully, it will be approved soon in Europe. We’re told by the authorities that March 20th, it’ll be approved in the Netherlands,’ what I was told,” Musk stated

“Hopefully, that date remains the same. But I think people in Europe are going to be pretty blown away by how good the Tesla car AI is in being able to drive.”

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Tesla’s FSD system relies on vision-based neural networks trained on real-world driving data, allowing vehicles to navigate using cameras and AI rather than traditional sensor-heavy solutions. 

The performance of FSD Supervised has so far been impressive. As per Tesla’s safety report, Full Self-Driving Supervised has already traveled 8.3 billion miles. So far, vehicles operating with FSD Supervised engaged recorded one major collision every 5,300,676 miles. 

In comparison, Teslas driven manually with Active Safety systems recorded one major collision every 2,175,763 miles, while Teslas driven manually without Active Safety recorded one major collision every 855,132 miles. The U.S. average during the same period was one major collision every 660,164 miles.

If approval is granted on March 20, the Netherlands could become the first European market to greenlight Tesla’s latest supervised FSD (Supervised) software under updated regulatory frameworks. Tesla has been working to secure expanded FSD access across Europe, where regulatory standards differ significantly from those in the United States. Approval in the Netherlands would likely serve as a foundation for broader EU adoption, though additional country-level clearances may still be required.

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