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Tesla takes advantage of rare tactic on Model Y to battle cabin noise

Credit: Kelley Blue Book

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Tesla electric vehicles are some of the quietest cars on the market due to their lack of combustion engine parts. While electric cars are particularly quiet to those outside of the vehicle, it is not the same scenario for those who sit inside the cabin. Interestingly, some EVs and Hybrid vehicles on the market have excessive cabin noise, which comes from air and wind that bounces off the outside of the car during operation.

However, Tesla has worked to combat these noise issues by offering more robust insulation and better liners on doors and windows. Some third-party manufacturers have also developed aftermarket kits for noise-deadening. Tesla has taken it a step further, it seems, by adding a double-paned glass design to recent builds of the Model Y.

Reddit member u/OrbitalATK of the r/TeslaMotors subreddit took delivery of a new Model Y yesterday. It seems one of the first things he noticed was the double-paned glass, which hasn’t been on previous builds of the all-electric crossover.

Tesla has implemented double-paned windows for the Model Y to combat cabin noises. (Credit: Reddit | u/OrbitalATK)

“Model Y’s are starting to come with double-pane windows (VIN upper 63K delivered yesterday),” their post said in the subreddit.

In October 2019, CEO Elon Musk was confronted about cabin noise issues with the Model 3. A Model 3 owner pointed out that his vehicle’s noise was excessive and had the data to prove it. A test from Bjørn Nyland, a popular Tesla content creator, showed the Model 3 ranked in the bottom 50% of an extensive test to see which vehicles had the best cabin noise ratings.

However, Musk and Tesla were aware of the noise and stated that the car’s production models built in October 2019 and after had been equipped with “significantly improved” cabin noise combatants.

How Tesla improved the design isn’t known, but higher quality builds and a more robust liner buildout along the windows and doors seem to be the most logical solution. Additionally, Tesla had designed an acoustic tire that specifically was designed to reduce interior cabin noises.

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Double-paned glass windows are certainly a great strategy to use when combating the sounds that come naturally from wind and road noise. A commonly used tactic in some of the most luxurious cars like Mercedes-Benz Maybachs, it is also used by Ford in some of their more popular cars, like the Explorer and Taurus.

Nevertheless, Tesla continues to use customer suggestions to improve the performance of their cars. While the cabin noise issues have been overly stated in the past, there is still plenty of work to be done when talking about avoiding the sounds. However, more strategies are being implemented in Tesla’s cars, but it is unknown if these adjustments will be made to builds of the Model 3.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla reveals early Robotaxi charging strategy, showing scrappy DNA

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s early strategy for charging units operating within its Robotaxi fleet reveals that the company surely has not lost any of that scrappy DNA that took it from an unlikely success story to the most valuable carmaker in the world.

An observer at a Tesla Supercharger in Austin spotted ten total Robotaxi vehicles arrive: one Cybercab and nine Model Y units. A Tesla employee was waiting at the lot and allowed each unit to park itself; every car that arrived had nobody in it.

Tesla wins FCC approval for wireless Cybercab charging system

The Tesla employee would walk around and plug each car in, adjusting the parking if needed:

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It’s a very interesting strategy, but extremely understandable at this early point in the Robotaxi program. It’s only been out for about 15 months, and Cybercab just entered the fleet in early September.

On top of that, Tesla is still working tirelessly on its wireless charging apparatus, and a new patent was just published regarding that product last week.

However, this is just another example of how Tesla still has plenty of that scrappy DNA leftover from the “production hell” days, when CEO Elon Musk slept on the floor of the factory, employees were working crazy hours, Tesla was building Sprung Structures to build cars in, and the company was tiptoeing on the brink of bankruptcy.

For now, Tesla is utilizing a simple system for recharging its ride-hailing vehicles, and that is a Tesla employee doing it manually until another solution presents itself. Sure, it’s not the most high-tech thing, and it certainly is not what people might have expected at this point in time, but it works, and it’s keeping the entire suite running.

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Tesla Robotaxi expands hours, Musk explains why it’s been a challenge

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is expanding its Robotaxi service hours by pushing the time back by one hour, keeping the ride-hailing service operational until 11 p.m., one hour later than previously.

CEO Elon Musk confirmed the change and offered a specific reason the expansion has been gradual: the system still needs to reliably avoid small pets that are difficult to see after dark, as they commonly blend into the color of the road, especially when they’re grey.

The latest adjustment restores only a fraction of the operating window the service once held. When paid Robotaxi rides began in Austin on June 22, 2025, vehicles ran from 6 a.m. to midnight.

Tesla Robotaxi will be a 24/7 service: here’s when

In September 2025, Tesla lengthened the day to a 2 a.m. close, producing a 20-hour window that stayed in place for most of the following year. By early August of this year, the cutoff had already been pulled back; an August 26 update formalized hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. across Austin and several other markets.

The October move to 11 p.m. therefore leaves the Austin day one hour shorter than the original launch schedule and three hours shorter than the 2025 peak.

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Musk addressed the constraint directly after the announcement. “The main thing we’re trying to solve is making sure that we don’t run over pets when they’re hard to see at night,” he wrote. “Literally trying to avoid grey kittens on grey tarmac in the dark.”

The example points to a low-contrast perception problem in which a small animal can blend into the road surface under limited lighting.

Tesla’s vehicles rely on cameras and neural-network processing rather than lidar; Musk has previously argued that advanced vision software can extract useful information even in low light by analyzing photon counts, but the pet-detection case remains the stated limiter in later hours.

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The modest schedule change arrives alongside faster growth in the purpose-built Cybercab fleet. Texas registration data tracked by observers showed the Austin Cybercab count rising sharply in recent weeks, reaching 169 vehicles after more than 100 were added in a short span.

Tesla has indicated that a broader shift toward 24-hour operation is tied to the upcoming FSD v15 software release expected this month on Robotaxi vehicles. Until that capability is validated for the edge cases Musk described, the company continues to add service time incrementally rather than jumping straight to overnight coverage.

The one-hour extension gives Austin riders a later option for evening trips while the underlying detection work continues.

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Tesla snags Semi supply deal with major logistics firm

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has snagged a deal with IMC Logistics to supply the company with 50 Semi units for its logistics operations.

IMC handles drayage and landside logistics and has over 2,700 asset trucks in its fleet. In its over forty years of service, it has established more than 50 locations across the United States and spans operations from coast to coast.

Jim Gillis of IMC said that the addition of the Tesla Semi will help IMC move toward a “zero-emission service for long-haul lanes.”

The move is one that has become more common over the past few years, as more and more companies doing large-scale logistics have moved to sustainable powertrains, using either Tesla or others.

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Tesla’s Semi program just entered its first truly public phase, as the company handed over its first production units to companies in September, although a pilot program with companies like PepsiCo. and Frito-Lay has been ongoing for years.

IMC announced its intention to purchase 50 Semi units from Tesla in September, and according to VP of Marketing and Public Relations on September 29 to Trucking Drive, the company will take delivery either this week or took delivery late last week.

Tesla has a ‘no human contact’ approach for Semi production

With surging prices of diesel and high logistics costs, Tesla and the Semi could truly revolutionize how companies manage their fleets. With the advent of Full Self-Driving, the Semi will potentially cut down on driver fatigue and increase productivity, while decreasing the cost of operation per mile by being cheaper to refuel.

Tesla had a dedicated Semi handover event at the Semi factory in Sparks, Nevada, a few weeks back, as it officially introduced its truck to many company fleets that have been waiting to add these sustainable powertrains.

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