Tesla Model Y is full of new convenience features that make the ownership experience of the electric crossover second to none. However, what goes unseen are secret tidbits that Tesla engineers implemented in the Model Y that make it stand even further apart from other vehicles in its category.
YouTuber and Tesla owner Tesla Raj delved into his six favorite “secrets” of the Model Y that you may not know of.
Magnetic Sun Visors
The first change on the Model Y that Raj notes as one of his favorites on the new crossover is the magnetic sun visor “clip.” In past Tesla vehicles, like the Model 3, the sun visor has utilized a clip and bar system, where the bar snaps into the clip, locking the visor into place.
Tesla improved upon the visor by implementing a magnet system that simply closes the visor into place without excessive pulling or pushing that can create a hassle for a driver when operating the vehicle. The visor still extends and is maneuverable so it can be adjusted to block the sun at any angle. The magnetic system creates a more relaxed lodging and dislodging experience for drivers when they would like to use it to keep the bright light in the sky out of their eyes.
Door Seals
Arguably, one of the most satisfying feelings that define luxury over economy is the sound of a closing door.
Tesla has installed a sturdier, thicker, and firmer door seal with the Model Y, creating a distinctive and robust sound indicating the car door is sealed shut. Raj compared the sound Model Y makes when shutting the door with that of the Model 3 and took notice of a deeper and sturdier sound from the all-electric crossover. Moreover, the seal in the Model Y is of better quality and contours around the vehicle’s curves with more precision over Model 3.
Trunk Vents
Model Y includes trunk vents on both corners of the rear trunk where the side compartments are located. The driver’s side vent houses the Charge Port pull tab, that can alleviate a jammed charging port door if it becomes stuck.
The passenger side vent contains the vehicle’s subwoofer and acts as relief for the air that pushes through the speaker.
Under-Seat Storage Space
The driver’s and passenger’s seats of the Model Y both have a 5″ tall by 14″ wide by 7″ long space beneath them, creating the impression that it could be used to store anything from books, to games, to possibly a homemade drawer under it. Raj believes someone with the proper craftsmanship could build a small drawer that could be fashioned under the seat, creating extra storage space any sort of object. With kids, this could be a perfect opportunity to store coloring books, handheld game systems, DVDs, or other entertainment outlets during a long drive.
Hood/Frunk Polymer Seal
The frunk on previous Tesla models seemed to have a considerable space between the actual frunk door and the bottom of the storage compartment, leaving space for items, like food or drinks, to move around excessively. This increased the risk of spillage or movement, so Tesla created a large seal that gets rid of this extra space. The storage is still the same as the seal does not pass the upper-outer lip of the frunk, but it certainly creates a more secure environment for whatever is stored in the compartment.
Pedestrian Warning Speaker
In Early September 2019, Tesla complied with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) mandate that required electric vehicles traveling below 19 MPH to omit a noise to increase pedestrian awareness of quiet electric cars. Model 3’s manufactured around that time were all outfitted with this speaker, and it appears the Model Y also has speakers as well. While the mandate does not go into effect until September 2020.
Tesla Raj’s full video on six Model Y secrets is below.
Lifestyle
NTSB findings on fatal Tesla crash tell a very different story
The NTSB confirmed the driver, not Tesla’s FSD, caused the fatal Texas house crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board released preliminary findings Wednesday confirming that a Tesla driver, not the vehicle’s software, caused a fatal crash in Katy, Texas in June. The driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, had engaged Full Self-Driving Supervised mode on Rose Hollow Lane, a residential street with a 30 mph speed limit, before manually overriding the system by pressing the accelerator pedal all the way to 100%. Data recovered from the 2025 Tesla Model 3 showed the vehicle was traveling over 70 miles per hour when it struck a home and killed 76-year-old Martha Avila, who was inside. Weather was clear, the road was dry, and it was daylight.
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Butler told authorities he had passed out at the wheel. But security camera footage obtained by the NTSB told a different story, and showed the car accelerating through an intersection before leaving the road entirely. Police also found that Butler’s phone had Google searches including the terms “Tesla FSD not aggressive enough 2026” and “Tesla FSD too timid,” raising serious questions about how he was using the system before the crash. Butler has since been charged with manslaughter. The victim’s family has filed a lawsuit against both Butler and Tesla, alleging negligence.
The NTSB findings aligned directly with what Tesla VP of AI Software Ashok Elluswamy had already stated publicly on X in the weeks after the crash, writing that “the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%.” The data confirmed his account.
Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 22, 2026
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s Texas ranch to showcase the lifelong work that changed the world
Elon Musk is building a product gallery at his Texas ranch spanning his lifelong inventions.
Elon Musk took to X earlier today, noting “Am putting together a product gallery at my ranch in Texas.” in response to a resurfaced famous quote from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s wherein he draw parallels of the Tesla CEO to legendary physicist Albert Einstein.
Dimon made the remark at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland back in January 2025, telling CNBC at the time, “SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, I mean, the guy is our Einstein.” The remark seemingly ended a long-time feud between the two high profile execs.
While details are thin about the exact location of Elon Musk’s Texas ranch and any pending projects that would serve as a gallery and homage to his portfolio of revolutionary product inventions spanning from 1984 to 2025, land acquisition records point to roughly a location of several thousand acres in Bastrop County, east of Austin near the Colorado River and held through an LLC called Horse Ranch LLC that’s managed by Musk’s longtime personal friend and family wealth manager Jared Birchall. Birchall also serves as the CEO of Neuralink.
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The broader Bastrop County footprint surrounding the ranch has grown significantly. Entities tied to Musk have accumulated approximately 2,000 acres in Bastrop County as of mid-2026, up from 700 acres earlier in the year, with possibly as much as 6,000 acres acquired in total across Bastrop and Travis counties based on deed records.
No completion date for the gallery has been announced and Musk has not confirmed whether it will be open to the public. As Teslarati has reported, SpaceX just completed the largest IPO in history raising $75 billion, a milestone that makes this particular moment in Musk’s career a natural inflection point for looking back at what he has built through the years.
Am putting together a product gallery at my ranch in Texas https://t.co/xQf5FRy4uz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2026
Starting with Blastar, a simple space shooter game Musk coded at 12 years old and sold to a South African magazine for $500. From there the timeline moves through a commercial career that started with Zip2 in 1995, a city guide software company sold to Compaq for roughly $300 million in 1999. That was followed by X.com in 1999, which merged with Confinity to become PayPal, acquired by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. SpaceX came in 2002, Tesla in 2003, SolarCity in 2006, the Supercharger network in 2012, Neuralink in 2016, The Boring Company in 2016, OpenAI co-founded in 2015, X acquired in 2022, xAI in 2023, Optimus in 2024, the Cybercab in 2026, and most recently SpaceXAI following the SpaceX and xAI merger. The gallery will also likely include items that blur the line between product and cultural artifact, among them The Boring Company’s Not-a-Flamethrower from 2018, Tesla Short Shorts from 2020, and Burnt Hair perfume released under X in 2022.
Lifestyle
Tesla makes the cut on California’s newest EV Rebate program
California just signed a $270 million EV rebate into law and it starts this summer.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 168 into law on Monday, July 13, 2026, creating a $270 million EV rebate program that delivers money directly at the dealership rather than as a tax credit applied months later. The program, called MyFirstEV, is funded equally by California’s state budget and participating automakers, with each contributing $135.5 million to make the math work.
The timing is directly tied to the loss of federal support when the $7,500 federal EV tax credit ended, removing the most significant consumer incentive that had driven EV adoption in the U.S. California, which accounts for roughly one-third of all EVs sold nationally, moved to fill that gap with a state-level replacement.
The rebate structure is straightforward. First-time EV buyers can receive $3,500 off any new battery-electric vehicle with an MSRP up to $50,000. Used EVs priced at $25,000 or below qualify for a $1,750 rebate. The credit is applied at the point of sale, which removes the friction of the old federal system where buyers had to wait for tax season to see the benefit. The program goes live later this summer, with the California Air Resources Board expected to release full participation details next month.
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For Tesla buyers, the implications are mixed. The Tesla Model 3 RWD at $42,490 and the Model 3 Long Range at $47,490 both fall under the $50,000 cap and would qualify for the full $3,500 rebate for first-time buyers. The Model Y, which starts at $44,990 after Tesla’s recent price adjustment, also qualifies. The Model X, Model S, and Cybertruck all exceed the cap and receive no benefit. As Teslarati has reported, the program also includes a carve-out exempting California-based automakers like Rivian and Lucid from the price cap entirely, a provision that puts Tesla at a disadvantage since it relocated its headquarters to Texas in 2021.
Other qualifying vehicles include the Chevrolet Equinox EV, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and Volkswagen ID.4.
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