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Tesla Model Y completes the equation for the average household
Tesla Model Y’s performance and practicality will complete the equation for households in the US, China, and beyond.
In the United States, demand for crossovers has increased over the last two decades. Crossovers only accounted for about 4% of vehicle sales in 2000 and meteorically rose to roughly 40 percent of US sales in 2018. In China, the biggest automotive market in the world, the picture is basically the same as more people veer away from light vehicles and go for crossovers and SUVs. Tesla will answer the need of households for a vehicle that presents a good balance between a sedan and an SUV.
The Model Y makes sense for families looking for a bigger ride (but not as big as full-sized SUVs) that offers more space for people and cargo while not burning a big hole in one’s bank account. The Model Y is perfect for families leading an active lifestyle or for those looking for a second vehicle that complements their daily driver such as a Model 3. The Model Y is not just a chunkier Model 3. The electric crossover answers these needs of the average household and has the potential to become another cash cow for Tesla to help it achieve consistent profitability.
Tesla Model Y’s range and efficiency were highlighted during the Q4 2019 earnings call of the Silicon Valley-based electric carmaker. CEO Elon Musk told the electric vehicle community that the Model Y now boasts the highest energy efficiency rating among electric SUVs at 4.1 miles per kWh and has an EPA rating of 315 miles on a single charge. Tesla has started limited volume production in January and expects to make first deliveries of the electric crossover on March 15.
“…make sure we get that production ramp going and reach volume production as soon as possible with Model Y. Yes, go as fast we can with Model Y and make sure it’s a great product. I think there are some things that will differentiate it. I think… when people do a teardown of the Model Y, I think they will be impressed about some of the things they see,” Musk said during the Q4 2019 earnings call.
While a Model Y teardown is still a long shot, the latest sightings of the much-awaited electric crossover show why the vehicle can be a practical choice for people on the go or families with an active lifestyle.
Tesla Model Y Roof Rack
A Tesla Model Y with roof rack was recently spotted along the State Route 237 in Sunnyvale, California. The sighting gives Model Y fans a glimpse of how roof-mounted rails will look on the electric crossover.
The video posted by RKT on YouTube shows a roof rack that reminds one of the currently available Model 3 roof rack that can easily be installed by securing four mounting points on the all-glass roof of the vehicle. With the Model Y sharing roughly 75% of its DNA with the Model 3, there’s a high possibility that a similar roof rack for the Model Y will be sold by Tesla.
With a roof rack, the Model Y can be a perfect road trip vehicle for a group of five or even seven bringing bikes, skis, other sports gear, or cargo boxes. The average maximum load rating or roof racks is around 150 lbs.
Check out RTK’s video of the Model Y with a roof rack:
Tesla Model Y Towing
Last December, a Tesla Model Y with a clearly visible tow hitch was spotted hinting that the all-electric crossover would be perfect for towing small trailers or campers for families who love the outdoors.
Just last week, another Model Y was seen on the road, this time towing a dirt bike. An image originally captured by Rober Rorschach was shared on Twitter by @Testletter.
Model Y towing a dirt bike. I think the towing package is going to come standard in the Model Y (at least in LR versions)
📷: Robert Rorschach https://t.co/fpFyxoaWlK thanks @AnythingTesla for the tip! pic.twitter.com/r7SfLd78px
— Tesletter (@tesletter) February 21, 2020
This is another great demonstration of how the upcoming electric crossover is ideal for people who lead an active lifestyle. It is not yet confirmed if the Model Y will come standard with a tow hitch or if it will come as an option but it is a clear indication that Tesla’s testing such feature and it knows how the crossover could be used by the electric vehicle community. Model 3 in Europe comes with an option for a tow hitch but this option is not available in North America.
Tesla Model Y Spacious Trunk Storage
It has been highlighted how Tesla seems to haven been underpromising and overdelivering when it comes to Model Y and this strategy can clearly upset the naysayers of the electric carmaker. The Model Y, according to Tesla will have higher gross margins than Model 3 and Elon Musk even predicts that it can outsell its other vehicles in the lineup. And with Model Y sightings slowly revealing the details of how the vehicle can be so useful for people. The 2nd-row seats that can be individually folded are a stroke of design genius in terms of practicality but it can be clearly seen now that Tesla paid attention to the details that matter most to consumers.
New Model Y images that surfaced over the weekend show that the Model Y also offers generous space in its trunk and there could also be additional space under the main trunk. The order page on the Tesla website indicates that the vehicle will have a max cargo volume of 66 cu.ft. making it comparable to the amount of cargo the more affordable Honda CR-V can carry and offers a bit more space than its touted rival Ford Mustang Mach-E that comes with 59.6 cubic feet of room.
Below are the images of the Model Y trunk first posted by Thomas Andre Davik on the Tesla Model Y Enthusiast Facebook Page and the extra storage below the main trunk photo by Josh Jones on the same fan page:
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- Tesla Model Y trunk (Source: Thomas Andre Davik | Model Y Enthusiast Facebook Page)
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- Tesla Model Y extra storage under main trunk(Source: Josh Jones | Model Y Enthusiast Facebook Page)
The latest images also clearly show that the second-row seats offer generous headroom and that the spacious trunk can easily be reconfigured to give enough space for the third-row seats to allow the vehicle to carry seven adults. And that is another practicality factor that can help the Model Y stand tall against its rivals.
Tesla Full Self-Driving is now the centerpiece of the company’s newly revised Referral Program, which launched on October 29.
Instead of referring people to purchase vehicles and the referrer receiving $250 in Tesla Credit, the new program now incentivizes Full Self-Driving subscriptions.
If a Tesla owner is on an FSD trial and uses a referral code to subscribe to Full Self-Driving, the person whose Referral Link was used will receive one month of FSD (Supervised). Their code can be utilized 12 times per year, with January 1 marking the reset date.
Realistically, this means that if your Referral Code is used by 12 Tesla owners on an FSD trial, you will receive a full year of FSD for free.
🚨 Here is Tesla’s new Referral Program for Full Self-Driving (Supervised):
When someone subscribes to FSD using your link, you’ll get a month free. Up to a year of FSD is available to you for free!
If you’d like to use my link: https://t.co/g00IX9OCE3 https://t.co/GFBzEO2jjS
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 30, 2026
The previous program made it pretty difficult to get referrals; buying a vehicle is obviously a much larger financial strain than subscribing to Full Self-Driving for a month.
Of course, the previous Referral Program also offered a tangible benefit: $250 in credits you could use on Service, Supercharging, or anything in the Tesla Shop. It truly could pay for someone’s travel for a year. It recently bought me a new backpack and a T-shirt.
However, this new program is much more attainable for those who do not have a massive online presence of a slew of friends in the Tesla community who will use the code and max out subscriptions for vehicle purchases.
Woke up to maxed out Referrals! Thank you guys, that’s awesome!
Share your referral link below so others can use it! https://t.co/kesbwTcoTV
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 30, 2026
The Full Self-Driving suite will now be the keystone of the Referral Program, which makes it more inclusive and more fun for everyone with an awesome benefit.
It also gives the impression that Tesla is truly focused on FSD subscriptions, something that saw a tremendous increase in volume in Q3, as 75 percent of deliveries for the quarter came with an FSD subscription attached.
Full Self-Driving data is so instrumental to the suite’s improvement that this kind of program benefits Tesla as much as it does the consumer.
Elon Musk
Tesla made napping in a Robotaxi easier with its latest update
Tesla’s quiet mode reaches Model Y Robotaxis, blacking out the screen for riders wanting rest.
Tesla’s quiet mode, the setting that blacks out the screen for riders who want to rest, has moved beyond the Cybercab. A video posted Thursday by Spencer (@scotsrule08) shows the feature running in a Model Y Robotaxi on a night ride that appears to be in Dallas.
New quiet mode now on @Robotaxi https://t.co/2cM2eM9NeN — Spencer (@scotsrule08) October 29, 2026
The rider taps a small crescent moon icon in the bottom right corner of the map screen. The map, media player, app shortcuts and Grok prompt disappear, leaving a dark display with “Arriving soon,” the destination and a line reading “Tap display to exit quiet mode.” Controls a passenger may still need, including Pull Over, cabin temperature, volume and Support, stay visible. One tap anywhere brings the full map back.
Quiet mode first showed up in the Cybercab last week, which Teslarati reported alongside a new rear camera view. Tesla has been trimming cabin noise in other ways too. On October 25, Spencer reported that Robotaxi turn signals now chime for the first four blinks and then go silent. Tesla has not published release notes for either change.
Elon Musk has been pitching this use for more than a decade. In October 2014, he said that “maybe five or six years from now I think we’ll be able to achieve true autonomous driving where you could literally get in the car, go to sleep and wake up at your destination,”
By 2017 he was setting a higher bar. Speaking at TED, Musk said the hard part was not making self-driving work 99.9 percent of the time, “because, like, if a car crashes one in a thousand times, then you’re probably still not going to be comfortable falling asleep. You shouldn’t be, certainly.”
Owners asked for something similar in their own cars. In December 2019, a Tesla owner requested a Nap Mode that would keep the climate running and wake the occupant with an alarm, and Musk answered “Ok,” as Teslarati covered at the time.
The line returned when the Cybercab was unveiled at the We, Robot event in October 2024. “We’ll move from supervised Full Self-Driving to unsupervised Full Self-Driving, where you can fall asleep and wake up at your destination,” Musk said. On Tesla’s first quarter earnings call in April 2025, he called it the deciding measure: “The acid test is, can you go to sleep in your car and wake up in your destination and I’m confident that will be available in many cities in the US by the end of this year,”
Tesla has run driverless Model Y rides in Dallas and Houston since April, so a passenger dozing off on the way home is now a realistic use of the button. Tesla is also offering new riders a free first trip in both cities, according to an in-app screen shared by tracker Ethan McKanna, and said on its third quarter call that Cybercab rides would launch in Dallas next month.
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FCC green lights SpaceX’s move to a showdown with Verizon and AT&T
The FCC advanced plans opening 482 MHz to satellite phone service, boosting SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile.
The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to move forward with a proposal that would open an additional 482 MHz of spectrum to satellite service beamed directly to ordinary phones, a step that could widen the road for SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile to compete with the country’s largest wireless carriers.
The commission adopted the notice of proposed rulemaking at its October open meeting in Washington, Reuters reported. The proposal would raise the number of bands eligible for Supplemental Coverage from Space from five to 13, according to the FCC fact sheet. Commissioners also advanced a companion item proposing an auction of 25 MHz in the 1675 to 1695 MHz and 2020 to 2025 MHz bands, which could be used for terrestrial service, direct to device service or both.
Thursday’s vote does not hand any spectrum to SpaceX. It opens a public comment period, and final rules will come later. Under the draft, comments would be due 60 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register. The FCC had not released the adopted text at the time of writing, so it is not yet clear whether any bands were changed before the vote.
That question is where the fight now moves. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, through industry group CTIA, asked the FCC to drop the 2.5 GHz and 3.45 GHz bands, which make up 290 MHz of the 482 MHz on the table, as Teslarati reported ahead of the vote. T-Mobile argued satellite interference could wipe out up to 96% of a cell site’s uplink coverage area. SpaceX asked the commission to go the other way and add the 902 to 928 MHz band.
The rule change that matters most to SpaceX may be a structural one. Today, a satellite operator must lease spectrum from every carrier holding co-channel licenses across an entire region such as the contiguous United States. The proposal would replace that with a certification that the operator has coexistence agreements covering only the areas it plans to serve, or that it holds the terrestrial licenses itself.
SpaceX has spent this year building that second path. It bought EchoStar’s AWS-4 and H-block licenses in a deal worth roughly $17 billion, and earlier this month agreed to acquire Grain Management’s nationwide 800 MHz portfolio, which the company said would pave the way for Starlink to become a major US mobile carrier. The FCC approved SpaceX’s purchase of three unused AWS-3 licenses from Tristar on October 21, and cleared its plan for 15,000 next generation direct to cell satellites on October 6.
The regulator has not always sided with SpaceX. In April, the FCC dismissed a SpaceX petition seeking access to Mobile Satellite Service spectrum held by incumbents, and it rejected 2.5 GHz for satellite coverage when it first adopted the framework in 2024.
The carriers are also building their own defenses. In May, the three companies agreed in principle to form a joint venture pooling spectrum for satellite service, and T-Mobile remains SpaceX’s US launch partner for Starlink Mobile even as it leads the push to keep satellites out of 2.5 GHz. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell has said service on SpaceX’s own airwaves is targeted for early 2028.
Tesla Full Self-Driving becomes main pillar of new Referral Program
Tesla made napping in a Robotaxi easier with its latest update
