Tesla’s current Referral Program offers a variety of incentives for owners who wish to share the Tesla experience with their network of friends and acquaintances. Among these prizes is a free Model Y that’s granted quarterly to a lucky Tesla owner. But inasmuch as the program has been ongoing for some time now, accounts of Model Y raffle winners have been very rare.
Back in March, reports emerged that the first Tesla Model Y Referral Program winner has been drawn, and the lucky owner was from Taiwan. During the brief discussions of the raffle online, it was revealed that the Taiwan-based Tesla owner only had two referrals, which makes the win even more remarkable. And as it turned out, it appears that the next free Model Y winner will follow the same trend.
Tesla Model 3 owner-enthusiast Tesla Raj recently featured one of the recent winners of the electric car maker’s free Model Y raffle on his YouTube channel. The owners, Teresa and Mark, provided some interesting insights about what exactly happens when one wins a free Tesla Model Y. Needless to say, the experience was something truly noteworthy.
According to Mark, he and his wife had bought a Tesla Model 3 after their 13-year-old Hyundai Veracruz needed to be replaced. Being retired himself and having worked on software and hardware, Mark knew that cars were becoming more and more connected. Thus, the decision to purchase a Model 3 was made, since it was a vehicle that would likely last the couple for some time. Interestingly enough, this was not to be the case.
Mark and Teresa were casual Tesla owners, though they did get one referral credited to their account. And as luck would have it, they eventually received an email from the electric car maker informing them that they had won a free Model Y. Mark admitted that he was initially skeptical of the email, especially considering the prevalence of online scams today. Teresa was just as skeptical, though both decided to respond to the email just the same.
Needless to say, the email that the couple received was not a scam. It was real, and a free Model Y was indeed coming to the couple. Teresa and Mark exchanged calls and emails with Tesla, with a representative from the company asking the couple to sign some forms online. As indicated by the Tesla representative that reached out to the couple, the company would create a reservation number for the free Model Y on the back end so Teresa and Mark could avoid the $100 deposit. Interestingly enough, the couple was not asked to configure their free Model Y.
As noted by Mark in a conversation with the Tesla Raj host, Tesla pretty much threw every option available in the free all-electric crossover, such as the Full Self-Driving suite and the Performance Package. The company even gave the couple a Midnight Silver Model Y, which was the same color as their Model 3. That being said, Tesla sent over a Model Y with black interior to the couple, which is different from the white interior Teresa and Mark ordered for their Model 3. The delivery process of the free Model Y was seamless and touchless, and after some inspections of the vehicle, the couple received their free Model Y.
Mark and Teresa’s experience shows that Tesla’s Referral Program is definitely ongoing, and free vehicles are indeed making their way to lucky owners. That being said, those who end up winning free Model Ys in the future should expect to pay about $401.00 in their Tesla account online to cover various fees, so the crossover is not completely free. As noted by Mark, though, such an amount is minuscule considering the cost of the free vehicle. The couple’s experience also highlighted the insane demand for the company’s vehicles, as the Model 3 that the free Model Y replaced found a buyer just a day after it was posted for sale.
-
Watch Tesla Raj’s feature on the free Model Y winners in the video below.
Tesla flexed the new features of the Model Y L with a dedicated media event at the company’s Diner on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The Model Y L is the extended-wheelbase version of the all-electric crossover, which has been voted the best-selling car in the world on three occasions. The vehicle is already rolling off production lines at Gigafactory Texas, and first deliveries are slated to take place later this year.
Tesla brings Model Y L ‘Launch Series’ to the U.S. at $61,990
Teslarati was invited to the event, but due to some scheduling conflicts, we could not make it to Los Angeles. Instead, we will have our hands on a media unit sometime in August, so we’ll be able to spend some more extended time with the Model Y L.
However, plenty of those who made it to LA shared some cool features that set the Model Y L apart from the Model Y.
Multi-Row Climate Control
Tesla fitted the Model Y L with full climate control on all three rows on the front screen. It can be adjusted by selecting which row you’d like to modify on the right-hand side of the touch screen:
The Model Y L has a little row of icons on the right side of the climate screen so the front passenger can more quickly jump to whatever row they want to control. pic.twitter.com/uJS44mgCvk
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 30, 2026
Better Rear Window Visibility
One of the strangest things about the Model Y, especially the Juniper iteration, is the rear window has extremely limited visibility when looking into the rearview mirror.
Tesla has improved upon this with the Model Y L:
This is a drastic difference. https://t.co/wTdhitD5aA pic.twitter.com/z6hFs0Jkss
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 30, 2026
PowerShare will be included
Model Y L will come with PowerShare in North America, with an 11.5kW output to your home. Tesla said it would require Powerwall 3 for operation.
Wireless Charging Pad
There has been some speculation that Tesla would upgrade the wireless charging pads in the United States, but this is not the case.
Tesla owner fixes common feature complaint with crafty DIY retrofit
Tesla confirmed that it does not come with the cooled pads as the Y L in China does. This is because North America has not adopted Qi charging yet.
Thermal Management Improvements
These improvements in the Model Y L were seen with thermal management:
- Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
- +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather, 7 miles of real-world range gained
- 8x more solar energy reflection off of glass roof
- 30% reduction in solar energy entering the cabin
Some of the thermal management improvements in the new Model Y L Premium:
• Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
• Up to 15 min faster cabin cooling in sunny conditions
• +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather +7 miles of real-world range gained
• +10 miles recovered after… pic.twitter.com/jZirFWFdtO— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 31, 2026
Demand
Tesla said the Model Y L is almost sold out in the U.S. It comes with
- 1 year of FSD Supervised
- 1 year of Supercharging
- 1 year of Premium Connectivity
- Free exterior paint color, interior, and wheel option at no additional cost
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to his social media platform X on Thursday night to deny a ridiculous rumor regarding the sale of the company’s Chinese vehicle production plant, Gigafactory Shanghai.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, claimed in a scathing new report that Tesla was exploring a potential sale of the entire China business in an effort to help bolster a potential merger between SpaceX and Tesla.
Musk immediately denied the rumor not once but twice, initially calling it “fake news,” and then calling it “absurdly fake news” in a separate post just a few moments later:
This is fake news
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026
The original poster of the Wall Street Journal article that Musk saw deleted the initial post sharing the headline and the rumored sale of Tesla’s China business.
This has never even come up in a discussion ever.
Absurdly fake news.
People should assume news is fake until proven otherwise.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026
The report seemed absolutely and unequivocally false to begin with; Tesla’s business in China is among the most important pieces of the company’s business. Not only does the factory supply vehicles for the domestic market, but also for various other markets in Asia and Europe.
China is also one of the largest automotive markets in the world, and Tesla has performed well there despite the robust competition.
The speculation regarding a Tesla and SpaceX merger has started to gain steam this year as the space exploration company went public just a month ago. There has been speculation that Musk will bridge all of his companies under one “umbrella company,” and analysts believe this could happen before the end of the decade.
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
This is the latest iteration of Musk’s very evident war on mainstream media. Reports regarding any of Musk’s companies are quick to get the dreaded “false” or “fake news” response from the CEO when they are unfounded.
Elon Musk
Tesla AI boss reveals how big Optimus is going to get
Tesla’s Optimus chief corrected himself on X, confirming a staggering 10 million robot production target.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus program has a new number attached to it, after Ashok Elluswamy, the executive who has run the humanoid robot program since June 2025, posted a three word correction on X Thursday, “Correction, 10 million robots.”
The line clarifies the long term annual capacity Tesla is building toward its planned second Optimus production line at Gigafactory Texas, a figure Musk has cited repeatedly since last year’s shareholder meeting.
The scale is worth noting, because ten million robots a year would mean Tesla building more units annually than most countries sell in new cars. Tesla has framed this as a second line, not the first. The buildout is happening in two phases: a roughly one million unit per year line inside Tesla’s Fremont factory, installed on the floor space vacated when Model S and Model X production ended earlier this year, and a much larger dedicated facility under construction at Giga Texas that broke ground on its first steel structure in May. That Texas facility is the one Elluswamy’s correction refers to, and is expected to reach volume production sometime in 2027.
Correction, 10 million robots https://t.co/0z4nyQNTzp
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) July 30, 2026
Tesla Optimus project fires up as Musk sees production line progress
Elluswamy took over Optimus from Milan Kovac last summer and has spent the months since talking up the program’s trajectory. Elon Musk has also floated the ten million figure at Tesla’s 2025 shareholder meeting.
Ending Model S and Model X production to make room for the first Optimus line was one of the more consequential manufacturing decisions in the company’s recent history, retiring two flagship vehicles in favor of a robot that has yet to enter mass production. Musk has previously estimated per unit production costs at $20,000 to $25,000 once Tesla reaches a million units a year, though he hasn’t said what that cost looks like at ten times the volume.
Tesla Model Y L’s new features flexed at unveiling event at Diner
Tesla CEO Elon Musk denies ridiculous Gigafactory Shanghai rumor
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner-80x80.jpg)
