News
Tesla will remove performance limiting algorithm from cars in next software update
Tesla’s President of Global Sales and Service, Jon McNeill, has indicated that performance limiting software will be removed from Model S and Model X vehicles in the next over-the-air software update. McNeill’s announcement, made on the Tesla Motors Club (TMC) forum, follows reports that the company was limiting power on performance versions of its Model S and Model X vehicles through a software algorithm designed to protect the vehicle’s powertrain from excessive wear and tear. However, despite the intended safeguards, Tesla owners questioned whether it was right for the electric car maker to ‘downgrade’ performance on a vehicle that was intentionally purchased for its touted acceleration capabilities.
UPDATE: Tesla removes performance restrictions in new software update
Tesla Performance Limiting Discovered
Teslarati was first notified of the potential issue back in September of last year when local friend and Ludicrous Model S P90D owner, best known as Tech_Guy on TMC, sent us graphs showing the loss in power on his vehicle. At first, the issue was thought to be a result of the Firmware 8.0 update that introduced Tesla’s, then, latest Autopilot feature which put radar technology at the forefront.
Power graph provided via the PowerTools app
Not sure of the cause for the power loss, Tech_Guy solicited feedback from his local Tesla Service Center only to be told that software on his Ludicrous Model S has limited power output because of too many uses of Tesla’s Launch Mode feature. The issue would eventually be surfaced across TMC, with other owners reporting the same loss in power. More alarming is the discovery that Tesla’s power limiting safeguard was taking place on non-Ludicrous cars and affecting owners with Tesla’s P85D vehicle. Even early P85 cars that pre-dated the company’s dual motor configuration were reported to be affected.
Tesla would later add a disclaimer to its online Design Studio confirming that limiting controls may be placed to protect the performance and longevity of the powertrain.
It’s not just ‘Launch Mode’ and ‘Max Power’
Service descriptions coming from owners who were concerned that their newly purchased inventory car, or in some instances their certified pre-owned Performance variant, might have been affected by the power limiting software, revealed that Tesla did in fact use an algorithm to ‘count’ presumably the number of times a vehicle was driven under wide open throttle.
The discovery of a possible performance ‘counter’ raises a question of ethics. If an owner purchased a used P85D that was performance limited as a result of too many hard acceleration runs in the past, will the owner know and is it right for Tesla to downgrade the vehicle to essentially an 85D status though they paid for a P85D? The same goes for inventory vehicles which one can argue is more likely to be driven under wide open acceleration, for demonstration purposes, than a brand new vehicle belonging to an owner.
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Show me the Power
Hailed as a hero among the Tesla owners community, Tech_Guy blew the whistle and surfaced an issue that quite possibly may have never been discovered.
On Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 4:41 PM Pacific Time, Jon McNeill, Tesla’s President of Global Sales and Service responded to concerns surfaced on TMC with the following:
Based on your input, we have decided to remove all software performance reductions tied to frequent max power usage. These changes will roll out with our next software update (in about three weeks).
We had put these reductions in place to proactively protect the powertrain from wear and tear. Instead, we will monitor the condition of the powertrain and let our customers know if service is needed so that we can take proactive steps, such as by replacing parts if necessary, to maintain the vehicle’s performance.
Heavy-footed Tesla drivers rejoice. You’re getting your power back.
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo
SpaceX released new footage of Starship in space captured by the Starlink satellites it deployed.
SpaceX released a new video Friday evening showing Starship from an angle showcased by its own Starlink satellites, watching the rocket drift away in orbit.
The 65 second clip, posted on X, stitches together footage from four cameras mounted on a single Starlink V3 satellite. It opens with a close view of Starship’s 171 foot upper stage, still catching sunlight, then pulls back as the two spacecraft separate.
The footage comes from Starship’s 13th flight test, which launched July 24 from Starbase after a scrubbed attempt and an abort caused by an engine issue the week before. When Flight 13 finally flew, it carried the first batch of functional Starlink V3 satellites Starship has ever deployed, twenty of them, with six equipped with cameras meant to scan the ship’s heat shield during reentry.
View of Starship in space from a Starlink V3 satellite on Flight 13.
This composite is made of imagery from four separate cameras on a single satellite. Six of the satellites were equipped with cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to… pic.twitter.com/sNTHHz5vLr
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 31, 2026
Flight 13 checked most of its boxes. Starship deployed all 20 satellites, relit a Raptor engine in space, and splashed down softly in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. Musk’s longer term plan calls for a Starlink V3 constellation of 100,000 satellites, according to a recent FCC filing, with Starship as the only vehicle capable of launching them at the volume that requires. Each Starship flight is designed to carry up to 60 V3 satellites once the vehicle reaches routine service, well beyond what Falcon 9 can carry in a single mission.
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Starship is next expected to fly with an attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower’s mechanical arms, a maneuver SpaceX has so far reserved for the Super Heavy booster.
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
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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.
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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
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- 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
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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.
SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo
Tesla Model Y L’s new features flexed at unveiling event at Diner
