Tesla owner Lily Fetterer shared her story of how she began racing her Model 3. It was a chilly September Sunday morning in San Francisco when I met with Lily to explore the city in her silver Tesla Model 3. Lily, a member of the Tesla Owners Club of East Bay, had kindly offered to give me a tour of the city, including a few places to look out over the bay.
The morning fog showed up to join us for most of the day, and as I climbed hills and mountains, well, they seemed like mountains to me, I got to know Lily. One of the first things I noticed about her Model 3 was that it had TeslaCorsa 24 emblazoned on both the driver’s and passenger’s side doors.
TeslaCorsa, sponsored by Unplugged Performance, was founded to encourage Tesla owners to experience the limits of their cars in a professionally managed race track environment. Lily is a race car driver who shared her story with me.
I asked her how she got into racing and how long she’d been racing. Lily and her family are fans of Tesla and already owned a Model X.
“The plan was to get the Model 3 as soon as it came out, and that’s exactly what we did. The 2018 model 3 RWD long range is the car that I race in.”
“I tried to find new hobbies to pursue that would be safe given Covid restrictions. I love driving fast in my Tesla, so I was ecstatic when I found TeslaCorsa while browsing the web.”
“I joined for the 10th TeslaCorsa event at Laguna Seca. They told me that if I could do that course in two minutes, I might have some talent that would be worth pursuing. I got two minutes and four seconds, which was close enough. I’ve been racing ever since.”
Lily told me it was a bit intimidating as a middle-aged woman who races in an EV.
“I am often the only female racing. At my first Tesla Corsa event, another female was also trying it out for the first time with her boyfriend. At other events, racers have had their parents participate too. I love how it’s an experience that people want to share with others. Racing is something that many can enjoy, not just hard-core racers.”
Lily pointed out that a big reason for her success is the great support she gets from other racers.
“Tom Mak, one of the best TeslaCorsa racers, has been my mentor throughout the process. He’s always showing me videos, giving me feedback, riding with me, and encouraging me to be better.” Steven Case has also driven with me and driven my car, so I can understand how to push my car to its limits”
Around the same time Lily began racing, she got involved with the Tesla Owners Club of East Bay.
“I absolutely love the club. I think they do so many wonderful activities,” she told me. Lily noted that there are a lot of great Tesla clubs in the area but what she likes most about the East Bay club is that they have a lot of family-friendly events.
“We did a cruise to the top of Mount Diablo recently. They have a lot of fundraisers as well. I think that’s the thing I love the most. They give back to the community. It’s not just about getting people together and having fun, but it’s about giving back. At almost every event, there’s a donation aspect.”
“The Tesla Owners Club of East Bay frunk or treat event is coming, and I hope to win that competition. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I love The Nightmare Before Christmas. I’m a huge addict, so my house and my frunk will be decked out with that theme. The frunk or treat will be at Ehrenberg cellars in Livermore so the kids will have candy, and the parents will have wine. “
“There’s also an upcoming TOEB event on November 18th where club members will help us change our cabin air filters, and in exchange for the help, we bring a bag of groceries to donate for less fortunate people. “
I asked Lily to share her advice for any women and girls who may want to get into racing.
“Don’t be afraid to give it a try. It’s different than driving on a freeway because you have tight turns, corners, and walls. Not all tracks are the same, so you can work your way up to trying more difficult tracks later. Racing is exhilarating, and if you like skiing or any speed activity, you’ll probably enjoy it too. I think that when people give it a try, they’ll find themselves hooked.”
Disclosure: Johnna is a $TSLA shareholder and believes in Tesla’s mission.
Your feedback is essential. If you have any comments or concerns or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter at @JohnnaCrider1.
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Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna revealed that the Italian automaker’s future will not involve self-driving, a point that echoes that of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s — sort of.
You might be thinking, “Are you insane? Musk has been so incredibly hellbent on delivering self-driving vehicles to the public, so much so that he has even hinted that Tesla won’t need the ever-popular and widely-requested Model Y L in the U.S.”
However, when it comes to electric supercars with high-performance specs and lofty price tags, Vigna’s stance is exactly what Musk wants for Tesla’s own hypercar project, the Tesla Roadster.
🚨 Tesla Roadster vs. Ferrari Luce
Price – $250,000 vs. $640,000
Horsepower – 1,000+ vs. 1,035
0-60 MPH – 1.1s OR 1.9s vs. 2.4s
Top Speed – 250+ MPH vs. 194 MPH
Range – 620 miles vs. 280 miles https://t.co/uEgswwVLeD pic.twitter.com/XcP58ZRO6Z— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
In a new interview with Australian media outlet Drive, Vigna made it clear that Ferrari’s ambitions for the future do not involve autonomy, simply because the company’s cars are not designed for anything but manual, spirited driving.
He said:
“We will not make fully autonomous cars — loud and clear. We want the people to have fun, not the [computer] chips. We want to have a steering wheel and a man or a woman behind the steering wheel. Otherwise, why do you buy a Ferrari?”
This seems to be a reasonable assertion. Ferraris are not made for daily commutes, cross-country road trips, or bumper-to-bumper traffic. They’re made for fast, spirited driving, and many of their buyers will only put a few thousand miles on them throughout their lifetime. True, exciting, fun driving is meant to be done manually.
That is not to say Full Self-Driving or other semi-autonomous suites are not “fun,” but they are meant to take the stress out of driving. They are made for the daily commutes, the rush hour traffic, and the parking lots and garages. It’s made to take the stress out of driving.
Tesla Full Self-Driving attempts 150-mile stress test: the good and the bad
Musk had stated in an interview in early 2026 that the Roadster would also be geared toward fun, manually-controlled driving. On the Moonshots podcast with Peter Diamandis, Musk said about the Roadster:
“This is not a…safety is not the main goal. If you buy a Ferrari, safety is not the number one goal. I say, if safety is your number one goal, do not buy the Roadster…We’ll aspire not to kill anyone in this car. It’ll be the best of the last of the human-driven cars. The best of the last.”
There are cars out there that simply are meant to be driven by humans, and Ferraris and Roadsters are a few of them. Ferrari has no true advantage in developing self-driving; their cars sell at low volumes with high price tags, and their performance specs and engineering are all geared toward spirited driving.
Tesla has upgraded the Model Y’s two most affordable trims, the Rear-Wheel-Drive and All-Wheel-Drive, with two new interior features that bring them level with their “Premium” siblings.
The Rear-Wheel-Drive (RWD) and All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) trims, formerly known as the “Standard” offerings of Tesla’s most popular vehicle, are now fitted with the all-black headliner and a higher-quality 16-inch center screen, two features that were added to the Premium trims earlier this year.
Here’s what the new Black Headliner looks like compared to the old design in the Model Y RWD and AWD: https://t.co/vaMUZz30UC pic.twitter.com/i1yXjJNu7L
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
The RWD and AWD trims of the Model Y now have a more premium interior feel with these upgrades, and it also appears to be a move by Tesla to streamline manufacturing by eliminating variance across configuration levels.
It makes production less complicated when the interior colors are all identical. Additionally, all Model Y builds now have the larger and higher-resolution screen than previous model years.
Priced at $39,990 and $41,990, respectively, the Model Y RWD and AWD are quite different from the Premium trims. Tesla aimed to make an affordable version of what has been the best-selling car in the world on several occasions, enabling more accessibility.
The differences from an interior standpoint are noticeable, as there is significantly less storage, a lack of A/C seats, and no glass roof. However, the car is still a great option and features a good powertrain, strong range ratings of 321 miles for the RWD and 294 miles for the AWD, and a great ride quality.
Tesla Model Y Standard Full Review: Is it worth the lower price?
Other shortcomings are the lack of acoustic-lined windows, which are featured in the Premium trims to help with excess cabin noise. In our testing of the Model Y Standard back in late 2025, this was perhaps the most noticeable difference between it and the Premium trim. The stereo was also a huge difference:
This now includes the Model Y RWD and AWD, the two trims that were formerly know as “Standard”
You can see what the big differences are between the RWD/AWD and the Premium below:
https://t.co/ptLnm95KjX https://t.co/vaMUZz30UC pic.twitter.com/scuRNErXoC
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
The RWD and AWD trims of the Model Y are still a great vehicle at an affordable price, and you can experience them for yourself at your local Tesla showroom. Test drives are always available, and it’s a great way to experience an EV for yourself, especially if you have no knowledge about them.
Tesla has its answer to grow its automotive sales over the next few years, TD Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli says, but it just has to bring it to the U.S.
On Thursday, Michaeli reiterated his $490 price target and the ‘Buy’ rating he already held on Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA). However, its automotive division has struggled to show sequential growth over the past few years, mostly due to its focus on AI and Full Self-Driving. Tesla already axed two of its lower-volume vehicles with the Model S and Model X earlier this year.
However, Tesla does not need to engineer an entire new vehicle to trigger an upward tick in sales; it just has to bring it from China to the U.S., Michaeli said.
He is talking about the Model Y L, a slightly larger version of the all-electric crossover that is already available in China. U.S. customers have been pleading with CEO Elon Musk to bring it to the country since its launch in Asia last year, but he’s not convinced of it because of the advent of self-driving and its importance in this particular market.
The problem is that Tesla owners have been requesting something larger that could fit a typical American family. The Model Y L is slightly larger than the standard Model Y, but some are concerned that it could still be too small to fit what most people might need.
Instead, they have asked for a full-size SUV from Tesla.
Tesla gives big hint that it will build Cyber SUV, smaller Cybertruck
Nevertheless, the Model Y L still presents a great opportunity for Tesla in the U.S., and Michaeli says that there is an additional sales opportunity of about 100,000 units, with demand potential falling somewhere between 60,000 and 135,000 units.
TD Cowen’s note to investors also analyzed that Tesla’s growth could come from a stock perspective as well, positively impacting the stock price, as it has been widely reliant on vehicle sales, even though Tesla has truly phased itself away from that being an important metric.
Tesla stands to gain greatly from the introduction of the Model Y L in the U.S., but only if Elon Musk sees it as a viable fit for the market. Families may need to see Tesla bring something larger to the U.S., or they might be forced to buy from another automaker that offers something that fits is needs for more interior space to haul around the kids.
Ferrari CEO’s self-driving stance echoes Elon Musk’s — sort of
Tesla upgrades Model Y’s affordable trims with new interior features
