News
Tesla launches revamped Referral Program with credit system
Tesla’s popular Referral Program is back. As per reports from Tesla owners in the United States, the electric vehicle maker has rolled out a credit-based Referral Program that allows customers to select which rewards they wish to acquire for their referrals. The rewards range from official Tesla merchandise to in-vehicle upgrades like the Full Self-Driving suite.
Tesla’s Referral Program was a key marketing tool for the EV maker in its early years, especially as it incentivized owners to encourage their friends, family, and acquaintances to enter the Tesla ecosystem. Tesla’s initial Referral Program resulted in a wave of owners pushing the company and its products to such a point that some ended up gaining enough referrals to qualify for several free vehicles.
The Referral Program was later revamped by Tesla to include a more modest set of prizes, which made sense considering that it was rolled out as the Model 3, and later, the Model Y, gained popularity. This program, which provided free Supercharging miles and some cool free items, was formally discontinued by Tesla last year.
Signs that the Referral Program was making a comeback were initially reported by Tesla software tracker Teslascope last month, as the Tesla mobile app featured new text strings referring to redeeming referrals. The text strings referred to free Supercharging miles, official merchandise, and vehicle accessories. As it turned out, these reports were right on the money, as Tesla’s revamped Referral Program features these very incentives.
A look at Tesla’s current Referral Program shows that owners can now gain credits for every referral. So far, only Tesla’s Sola Roof and Solar Panels are listed with referral credits, but it would not be surprising if an update gets rolled out to include the company’s vehicle lineup as well. The credits earned from each Solar Roof and Solar Panel referral (6,000 credits each) could then be utilized to redeem items or services through the Tesla mobile app’s Loot Box.
Videos and photos shared by Tesla owners online showed that numerous items in the Tesla Shop could be redeemed through the Referral Program’s credits. Tesla’s “Let the Sun Shine” tee, for example, is worth 700 credits, while novelty items like the Tesla Sipping Glasses are 1,750 credits. Larger items like a Wall Connector are worth 6,000 credits, while a J1772 Wall Connector is worth 11,000 credits.
Tesla’s Support Page for the new Referral Program notes that while there is no limit to the number of credits that someone can earn, the credits themselves expire 12 months from their respective grant dates. A no-return, no-exchange policy is also implemented for redeemed items. Tesla owners in the United States who wish to start gaining credits for their referrals are also advised to make sure that their mobile app is updated to the latest version, v4.14.4, so they can access the new Loot Box.
Further details of Tesla’s revamped credit-based Referral Program can be viewed here.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner in Los Angeles dominated the company’s global usage rankings after just one year, proving the concept is more than just a one-off novelty location that will fade away.
The performance could incite the company to build more locations, something that CEO Elon Musk has hinted at for some time.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner delivered 21.2 GWh of energy in its first year of operation, the company’s head of Charging, Max de Zegher, revealed on X. Of the top 10 most utilized Supercharger locations in Tesla’s global infrastructure, the Diner in Los Angeles was the most used by drivers, and it wasn’t particularly close:
Tesla Diner opened exactly 1 year ago. Inspiring that futuristic places like this exist.
It’s our highest usage Supercharger in the world: 21.2 GWh delivered in a year, 1.6k sessions/day.
Top 10 Superchargers by energy delivered: https://t.co/9YvJ8lw696 pic.twitter.com/koB3AUJHws
— Max (@MdeZegher) July 21, 2026
On its launch day one year ago, nobody was too sure what the Tesla Diner would be about. It seemed like an interesting concept, and considering it had been in the works for years, it was a highly anticipated launch that many were looking forward to.
Based on its success, we could see additional Diners with Superchargers built throughout the United States, and potentially beyond. Musk has said on several occasions that the company would be willing to bring the Diner idea to more markets.
Tesla makes major change at Supercharger Diner amid epic demand
Of the markets that Musk has mentioned, both Palo Alto and Austin have come to be perceived as ideal selections. However, there are no concrete plans as of now to build new Supercharger Diners anywhere; the location on Santa Monica Boulevard will remain the exclusive spot to pick up Tesla-inspired eats, at least for the time being.
Tesla short sellers won big following the company’s massive fall on Wall Street after it reported subpar Earnings on Wednesday.
Tesla short sellers collected about $4.12 billion in single-day profits on Thursday, according to Bloomberg. Shares fell as much as 15 percent during Thursday’s session. It closed as one of the worst days for Tesla on Wall Street in the past three years.
Investors sold off the stock after Tesla said it would aggressively direct its spending toward AI and its Optimus robot project. The company had record revenues, which were driven by one of the strongest quarters in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history.
However, it missed EPS estimates by reporting just $0.33, a far cry from the $0.53 analysts expected.
S3 Partners reported that about 3 percent of Tesla’s outstanding stock is sold short. Managing Director at S3, Ihor Dusaniwsky, provided the short seller’s potential profit, as well as another figure: shorts have likely had paper gains of $8.92 billion this year, as Tesla shares are down 30 percent in 2026.
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla has burned short sellers many times in the past, but the company’s latest Earnings Call was a chance for those skeptics to taste some payback. Although the company gave some very transparent information regarding future projects, the rollout of Robotaxi, Optimus, and Semi, many investors took their profits on Thursday.
Notable short sellers like Michael Burry have been transparent about their skepticism around Tesla shares. Burry just revealed three weeks ago that he had opened up a new short on the stock, stating he shorted Tesla shares at $416.22. “Happy it jumped back to this level,” he said in a blog post.
At the time of publication, Tesla shares were down about 3 percent and the stock was trading at $309.92.
Tesla’s long-standing saga regarding its door handles and a manual release has entered its latest chapter, and as a result, a big change is coming.
On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) denied Tesla’s petition that was seeking a defect investigation into roughly 180,000 Model 3 vehicles for an issue involving the emergency mechanical door release.
🚨 The NHTSA denied a petition from Tesla that would have thrown out concerns regarding its door handles.
NHTSA said Tesla’s petition did not present evidence of a safety-related defect warranting an investigation. The agency said a rulemaking process would be a better strategy. pic.twitter.com/j6PzUBM1mT
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 24, 2026
NHTSA said that Tesla’s petition did not present evidence of a safety-related defect in the door handles or their emergency releases. Instead, the agency determined that it would rather solve the issue of the lack of labeling or location of emergency mechanical door releases and the federal safety rules that govern them.
Essentially, the NHTSA wants to create and enforce rules that would require automakers to make emergency door latch releases more clearly labeled in a car. Despite a Tesla having manual door releases on all four passenger doors, many people do not know they exist or how they work.
Tesla addresses door handle complaints with simple engineering fix
In recent times, Tesla has faced some criticism involving its door handles, specifically because some occupants have reported that they are unable to exit their vehicles after losing power. The door handles on a Tesla are electronically operated, but in the event that the 12V battery dies, there is a manual release that can be used.
The NHTSA only identified a single complaint involving the mechanical door releases: a 2022 Model 3 owner said the release was concealed and unlabeled after the vehicle lost power after a front-end collision. It has also already started to create a separate rulemaking process to make emergency door-egress systems more obvious.
It should be noted that all Teslas have mechanical emergency door releases, but they are placed in various locations as the vehicles have aged and been redesigned from year to year. Refer to the safety manual for your vehicle if you have any confusion about where the emergency releases are and how they work.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner probably just secured more locations
Tesla short sellers win big after shares fall after earnings
