Lifestyle
Which Tesla Model Y flavor is best for you? Performance vs. Long Range
At some point in time, every Tesla Model Y prospective buyer faces that tough decision to weigh the pros and cons of a Performance variant over the Long Range. Tesla’s Model Y design studio is as simple as it can get. Two toggle buttons labeled “Long Range” and another labeled “Performance” stands between you and ownership.
For some, it’s an emphatic and instinctive yes when it comes to buying a fully-loaded Tesla, and for others, the decision to splurge a tiny more on a Model Y Performance takes some pondering.
YouTube channelΒ The Kilowatts compared the two Model Ys, highlighting the main similarities and subtle differences between the Long Range and Performance variants. The results revealed something quite interesting: the efficiency of the two vehicles was remarkably similar.
In the short but spirited comparison between the two cars, the handling and acceleration of the Model Y Performance seemed to stick out as a critical difference. Equipped with 21″ Γberturbine wheels, performance brakes, lowered suspension, and a carbon fiber rear spoiler, the Model Y Performance variant combined with the optional Performance Upgrade Package is ideal for an owner who wants a quicker and more intense driving experience.
Host Ryan Levenson pushed the handling and speed capabilities of the Model Y in his comparison of the two Model Y variants. Navigating through a series of sharp turns, Model Y with the Performance Upgrade package maneuvered with confidence and ease. The all-electric crossover hugged the road smoothly and handled the turns with exceptional quality.
The vehicle’s stability and handling were also highlighted by automotive veteran Sandy Munro, who once said driving the Model Y was like “riding on rails.”
A long-distance test of the two vehicles proved that the efficiency was not much different between the Long Range Model Y and the Performance version.
After a 205-mile venture from the Tesla’s famed Kettleman City Supercharger to the San Francisco Bay Area, under regular driving conditions and without a purposely intent to hypermile, the Long Range configuration of the vehicle showed an efficiency of 323 watt-hours per mile. In contrast, Model Y Performance had an efficiency of 327 watt-hours per mile, proving the efficiency is strikingly similar between both vehicles in long-distance driving scenarios.
The Model Y Performance and Long Range both have the same 75 kWh battery pack, but the Performance with the optional Performance Upgrade has 31 miles less range than its adversary, as a result of the larger and heavier wheels. The Long Range has a 4.8 second 0-60 MPH acceleration rate, while the Performance has a 3.5 second time.
Model Y Performance boasts a higher top speed by 10 mph and 1.3-second improvement in 0-60 time. In addition, the Performance version comes with improved brakes, larger wheels, a spoiler, and aluminum alloy pedals will cost $8,000 more. The Long Range starts at $52,990, while the Performance variant has a starting price of $60,990, before incentives.
Tesla continues to improve efficiency and range through software updates and battery advancements. A study by Kevin Rooke showed that Tesla’s battery efficiency among its fleet of Model S, Model X, and Model 3 has continued to improve, year over year.

Tesla continues to increase the total driving range of its vehicles, pushing past the 400-mile per single charge range, through improvements in battery efficiency and not necessarily increases in battery capacity.
When making that decision between the Model Y Performance and Long Range variant, you’ll want to determine the personal value of winning that stoplight drag race and improved cornering capabilities. After all, not many of us will come even close to maximizing the value of a 155 mph top speed.Β In terms of efficiency, the vehicles are nearly identical.
WatchΒ the Kilowatts Model Y comparison video below.
Elon Musk
Tesla primes Cybercabs for 4K streaming and high bandwidth gaming with Starlink integration
Tesla is now shipping Cybercabs from Giga Texas with Starlink hardware built in as standard.
Tesla’s Cybercabs are now leaving Gigafactory Texas with Starlink hardware on the rear hatch in significant numbers, according to drone footage captured Tuesday by longtime Austin drone observer Joe Tegtmeyer. Production at the factory ramped back up after the Labor Day weekend, and his flyover of the outbound lot showed rows of gold Cybercabs alongside Model Y Long Wheelbase units, many carrying the satellite module for the first time as standard equipment rather than a one off retrofit.
Giga Texas today is busy with production coming back up following the long weekend. Of interest today in the outbound lot is the appearance of hundreds of Mode; YLβs and many more Cybercabs and for the 1st time equipped with the Starlink module one the hatch in big numbers.
At⦠pic.twitter.com/G9yl6s51m4
β Joe Tegtmeyer π π€ πΈπ (@JoeTegtmeyer) September 8, 2026
Tesla first showed Starlink built into an actual Cybercab on August 10, when the Robotaxi account posted images of a single gold unit with the antenna integrated into the roofline above the taillights and called it the first Cybercab with Starlink integration. That followed a July reveal where Tesla and Starlink jointly posted a cutaway diagram of the antenna placement without a working vehicle to back it up. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI software, said at the time that the connection isn’t required for the car to drive itself. It exists mainly for navigation, customer service and keeping tabs on the fleet.
Musk has made a different case in public. During Tesla’s Q2 earnings call, he said the company can’t afford robotaxis stranded in what he called “Bermuda Triangles of lack of cellular connectivity,” and he separately claimed on X that Starlink will eventually reach every Tesla built, calling it the only way to deliver high bandwidth to billions of vehicles. He has also pitched the antenna as an entertainment upgrade, telling riders they would be able to stream 4K video or play games during a trip.
The rollout has moved fast since. Robotaxi service opened to the public in Austin on September 3, and Cybercabs had already been spotted with Starlink hardware in Houston and near Miami International Airport in the weeks before Tuesday’s factory footage showed the module shipping at volume rather than on scattered test units. Whether the satellite link earns its keep is still an open question. Tesla’s unsupervised service currently runs in dense metro geofences in Texas and Florida, markets where cellular coverage is already strong, which is not where the rural dead zones Musk describes tend to show up.
Lifestyle
Tesla Cybertruck targets job site crews with new Tailgate Utility Track and Bed Gear Box accessory
Tesla launched a $350 tailgate track and a $985 lockable Bed Gear Box for Cybertruck.
Tesla’s Cybertruck team added two more items to the Tesla Shop, targeting job site crews and owners who use the truck bed for actual work rather than just showing it off. The official Cybertruck X account posted the Tailgate Utility Track and the Bed Gear Box within minutes of each other, part of a five item batch that also included a reflective jacket, a spray paint hat and an updated reflective tee.
The Tailgate Utility Track runs $350 and turns the folded down tailgate into another mounting surface. It’s a single aluminum track with a T-slot for sliding accessories and two L-track attachment points, plus two load stops included in the box. The pitch is straightforward: strap down oversized cargo, like lumber or a cooler, that hangs off the back of the bed without it sliding out mid-drive. It bolts onto the existing tailgate and works on every Cybertruck trim.
Tailgate Utility Trackhttps://t.co/PCAYXlFBvS pic.twitter.com/sCV2NVxf1W
β Cybertruck (@cybertruck) September 3, 2026
The Bed Gear Box costs $985 and is a different kind of accessory. It’s a lockable aluminum storage box, 55.78 inches long, 19.8 inches wide and 7.79 inches tall, that mounts to the bed’s L-track rails and comes with two internal bins for smaller items. According to Tesla, at just over 57 pounds empty, it’s meant to stay in place rather than come in and out with each trip, giving owners a factory-fit alternative to loose totes for tools, recovery gear or emergency supplies. Tesla’s listing notes that Long Range and Dual Motor AWD Cybertrucks need the L-Tracks accessory installed separately before the Gear Box will mount, since L-tracks come standard only on certain configurations.
Both accessories lean on the idea Tesla has been building toward since Elon Musk first described the Cybertruck’s third-party attachment strategy at the 2023 shareholder meeting, when he said the truck would ship with mounting points so outside companies, and Tesla itself, could keep adding gear without redesigning the bed. That’s the same L-track backbone underneath the tailgate shield and jumpseats Tesla launched last year, and the off-road armor package that arrived through the same X account in 2025.
Owners looking to round out the rest of the L-track ecosystem, cargo dividers, MOLLE panels, bed racks and similar gear, can find a wider range of options through our Cybertruck accessories collection.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk says he knows how to save Earth for a billion years
Elon Musk says sentient AI satellites launched from the Moon could keep Earth livable forever.
Elon Musk spent part of his weekend describing a plan to keep the planet livable for roughly a billion years, and it starts with satellites that can think for themselves.
In a post on X, Musk argued that swapping fossil fuels for solar and wind power will not be enough to protect humanity from what he called extremely severe extinction events, the kind that occur roughly every 100 million years. His fix is what he called sentient satellites, or solar-powered satellites, controlled by AI, that would sit in a fixed spot between Earth and the Sun after being launched off the Moon using a giant electromagnetic catapult instead of rockets.
The satellites’ onboard AI would make continuous, small adjustments rather than waiting on human instructions. The mass driver is Musk’s proposed way of getting the raw material there cheaply by using an electromagnetic launch track built on the Moon, where lower gravity and no atmosphere make it far easier to fling cargo into space than it is from Earth.
But we do need to act much faster than that if people still want to live where the beach is today. We have about 50 years or so to take action, which should be more than enough time for the space satellites to solve any heating problems. https://t.co/xhrVQALwQw
β Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2026
Musk shared a Grok generated estimate suggesting roughly 5 percent of Florida’s land, or about 1.68 million acres, could face regular flooding by 2070 under a high sea level rise scenario, and said humanity has about 50 years to act before coastal living looks very different than it does today.
This is not the first time Musk has floated the idea. He raised a similar concept in November, describing a solar powered AI satellite constellation that could make tiny adjustments to incoming sunlight to fine tune Earth’s temperature. Musk has also tied planetary risk to his broader vision at SpaceX, where his compensation package is explicitly linked to establishing a self-sustaining Mars colony, one he has described as an insurance policy against the kind of extinction event he referenced this weekend, and where he has said humans could set foot within five to seven years.
