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Tesla owners unite in Austria for epic Black Mountain meetup
Tesla owners from eight countries took electric vehicles to new heights as they drove to the top of the highest mountain in Austria. The Großglockner or ‘black mountain’ towers 3,798 meters above the surrounding mountains. According to legends, a black crystal concentrates the energy of the mountain and is hidden somewhere inside the Glockner.
Today with @TeslaClubAT we climbed the highest mountain in Austria with 60 Teslas from 8 countries 🇺🇸🇸🇪🇫🇮🇳🇴🇨🇭🇩🇪🇦🇹 and 🇺🇦
Supporting Peace, Love & Tesla @elonmusk #silencerallye @Tesla pic.twitter.com/DlnPgtxFR4— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) July 3, 2022
The Tesla Owners Club of Austria brought together 60 Tesla vehicles with owners from eight nations to share a powerful message. “Let’s work hard to preserve this and all other treasures on this planet,” they shared on Twitter.
The message is a symbol of peace. The club president of Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley represented the United States which had just celebrated its 246th Independence Day. The Tesla owners came together to support peace, love, and Tesla.
Austria is such an amazing, beautiful and S3XY country. It was a great honor to show it to 60 tesla drivers from 8 nations. Let’s work hard to preserve this and all other treasures on this planet 💪✌️🇦🇹😍 @elonmusk @teslaclubfin @OwnersWest @TeslaClubNorway @teslaownersSV pic.twitter.com/QjDtwmaWnH
— Tesla Club Austria (@TeslaClubAT) July 4, 2022
I reached out to the Tesla Owners Club of Austria and asked them to share how the experience was for them. They told me,
“I almost cried because in this time of crisis everywhere it felt so good to experience so much fun and love together with the Tesla community. We had 60 Teslas from 8 nations (including one team from Ukraine and club presidents from Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Silicon Valley), perfect weather, and great fun.”
“The Großglockner is the highest mountain in Austria and there are 300.000 cars every year driving the world-famous road. We wanted to show that you can do that without emissions, sexy and silent. You get so much energy back during regenerative braking while driving down so that was no problem at all charging all the 60 cars. And you get so many good feelings back when you participate in such events.”
Why They Chose The Peace Sign
It’s about building something new at events. The Tesla Owners Club of Austria participated in the Silence Rallye and chose the peace sign for a reason. The Rallye, they told me, is the club’s largest annual event.
“It is our biggest event and we organize it every year in a different region in Austria. There are fun competitions, amazing road trips, and good food for three days. This year we tried to bring some Sound of Music Style into it with a special VIP tour through Salzburg city and the Vintage Party. Großglockner is also in the Salzburg area so it was a Must that we had to climb this mountain.”
“We always try to build something new at our bigger events. After a Tesla Logo and a heart shape, it just felt right to do this sign. The theme of this Silence Rallye was Sound of Music because we visited Salzburg. We organized a vintage disco with Dresscode. Some people came as hippies so setting up the peace sign on one of the highest mountains in the Alps was a perfect way, to sum up, our Rallye.”
Supporting Ukraine
There was one team from Ukraine and the club wanted to show support. They also raised donations and helped Tesla drivers from Ukraine that were traveling to safer locations. The majority of the teams were from Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. Several club presidents from West Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Silicon Valley were also there.
John Stringer, the president of the Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley told me that the Austria club spent an extensive amount of time mapping out each car to get it perfect. He added,
“It was super cool to meet the owners of Austria and be able to take a Sound of Music tour and take 60 Teslas to the highest peak in Austria.”
Tesla is offering a tasty Supercharging incentive on certain Model 3 trims, but the company has officially put a concrete end date on it, so those interested should act fast.
Tesla is offering Free Supercharging for One Year on the Model 3 Premium and Performance trims, the top two offerings of the all-electric sedan. There are three trims of the Model 3 that will have the Free Supercharging offer attached:
- Premium Rear-Wheel-Drive – $42,490
- Premium All-Wheel-Drive – $47,490
- Performance – $54,990
Tesla has now announced that this offer will expire on June 15, giving potential buyers about ten days to take advantage of the incentive.
This could be an additional incentive for car buyers to transition to electric vehicles. Many states are showing gas prices well over $4 per gallon, with the national average currently sitting at $4.22, according to AAA.
A free year of Supercharging miles would allow people to charge and travel for free, other than routine maintenance, which is already incredibly cheap compared to a gas car.
🚨 Tesla is now showing that it’s Free Supercharging offer for Model 3 Premium and Performance trims ends June 15 pic.twitter.com/VCLeddNSj8
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
At Tesla Superchargers, peak rates, meaning prices between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., average between $0.45 and $0.60. One year of driving at an average of 12,000 miles would cost between $1,000 and $1,500 at $0.50 per kWh. It’s a pretty good deal.
Supercharging prices have also increased recently:
Many of the Superchargers in my area just had their peak rates increased from $0.44 per kWh to $0.49, $0.52, and $0.54 per kWh
If you’re looking to save on your commute/travel for the next year, this Model 3 Free Supercharging incentive might not be a bad idea https://t.co/YDwwl4xxHk pic.twitter.com/DleURW7eqa
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
Tesla has used Free Supercharging to move units in the past, and it’s a great strategy for those who plan to use the car for longer commutes, cross-country drives, or do not have reliable access to home charging.
It should be noted that Tesla recommends that Supercharging be used at a minimum to preserve the life of the battery, as fast-charging is more stressful on the cells.
However, some people might not have an option, so the Free Supercharging incentive could truly be a great reason for many people to charge their cars.
The Supercharging incentive is short-term, and it is pretty rare that Tesla utilizes it, so once this offer is gone, we probably will not see it on the Model 3 for some time.
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 Model 3 has a tasty Supercharging incentive, but it’s ending soon
Ferrari CEO’s self-driving stance echoes Elon Musk’s — sort of
