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Next-gen Tesla Roadster makes rare appearance at Hawthorne, CA delivery site

[Credit: Christopher Alan Stanley/Twitter]

Published

8 years ago

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Reservation holders who were taking deliveries of their electric cars in Hawthorne, CA were treated to a rare sight on Sunday, as Tesla brought over its upcoming halo car — the next-generation Roadster — to its delivery site.

All hands were on deck this past weekend as Tesla conducted a massive rush to deliver as many vehicles as it can to reservation holders. Employees from different departments, including some executives, reportedly helped handover electric cars. In Hawthorne, CA, Tesla’s Design Center close to SpaceX HQ seemed to have been used as a temporary delivery center. Elon Musk was on site, seemingly delivering cars himself. A SpaceX employee who received his Model 3 on the Hawthorne, CA site even shared images on Twitter depicting Elon Musk doing the handover for his car.

The next-generation Tesla Roadster attracted a lot of attention, both from those who were waiting to receive their electric cars and even SpaceX employees, whose headquarters was located nearby. The Roadster that made an appearance was the red, operational prototype that the company used for test drives during the vehicle’s unveiling, as well as in a recent segment of Jay Leno’s Garage, where the veteran host’s inner child was unleashed when Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen launched the all-electric supercar from a dead stop.

The next-generation Tesla Roadster on display at Hawthorne, CA. [Credit: Christopher Alan Stanley and The Tesla Life/Twitter]

The United States is not the only country that was recently graced by the next-generation Tesla Roadster. Last month, Tesla brought the vehicle — albeit a non-operational 1:1 model — to the Grand Basel Auto Show in Switzerland. The Swiss auto show is traditionally populated by the industry’s most remarkable vehicles, and the next-gen Roadster, painted in a stunning white, fit right in with the event’s other premium automobiles.

While the next-generation Tesla Roadster would not be produced in mass quantities like the Model 3 sedan, the vehicle still has the potential to cause a small “disruption” of its own in the European market. The region, after all, is home to some of the world’s most prestigious supercar makers, including Ferrari, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Pagani, and Koenigsegg. These carmakers are known for their pedigree in creating cars that are stunning in design and insanely fast — two adjectives that can also be applied to the next-gen Roadster.

The next-generation Tesla Roadster at the Grand Basel Auto Show.

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In a way, Tesla’s upcoming halo car could prove to be the most bang-for-your-buck supercar in the market when it gets released. During the vehicle’s unveiling, Elon Musk announced that the next-gen Roadster would start at $200,000. That’s more affordable than mid-level supercars like the McLaren 720S and the Ferrari 812 Superfast (which are priced in the ~$300,000 range), despite having performance figures that rival (or even exceed) million-dollar halo cars like the McLaren P1 and the Ferrari LaFerrari. With this in mind, it would not be surprising if the vehicle ends up finding a strong following among supercar enthusiasts in Europe and its surrounding regions.

During its unveiling, Elon Musk stated that the whole point of the vehicle is to deliver a “hardcore smackdown” to gasoline-powered cars. Looking at the car’s specs, this definitely seems to be the case. Thanks to its three electric motors, the vehicle has a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, a 0-100 mph time of 4.2 seconds, and a top speed of more than 250 mph. Its 200 kWh battery pack also gives it an industry-leading 620 miles per charge.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features

Published

14 hours ago

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July 28, 2026

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has started to deploy the 2026 Summer Update to owners across its fleet, and among the biggest changes are improvements to Navigation, a new startup animation for the Model 3 and Model Y, Caraoke scoring, and new capabilities for Grok.

As the update has started making its way to some cars, we can now see a few of the features operating in real-time. We will show you what some of the new features look like in this article, along with some additional details on what changed.

Not all of the new features in the 2026 Summer Update have quite made an appearance, but some of them have, so we’ll show those here:

New Animation Screen for 3/Y

Tesla is rolling out a new startup animation for Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners. This is present in Launch Edition and Performance Model 3 and Model Y, but other trim levels do not have anything like this.

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Owners can adjust the color associated with the startup animation to suit their preferences. It is a surprise that more automakers do not focus on this animation for their vehicles; it can be a great first impression piece and make the car immediately feel more luxurious.

Tesla has included this on more premium trims, but it is nice to see it on the Model 3 and Model Y.

Grok Improvements

Grok can now adjust more things in the car outside of the Navigation system. Now, drivers can adjust anything from climate to driving settings by simply speaking to the AI assistant in the car:

You don’t even have to push a button, either. Instead, you can just say “Hey, Grok,” if you have it enabled. That feature rolled out with the 2026 Spring Update just a few months back.

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This is a great feature, especially pertinent for the Robotaxi platform, as there will be no buttons inside the Cybercab when it eventually starts giving rides to the public. It also broadens Grok’s capabilities, which were relatively limited in terms of vehicle setting adjustments beforehand.

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Tesla briefly offered this Robotaxi part for your personal car

Published

16 hours ago

on

July 28, 2026

By

Credit: @tpgoebel | X

Tesla briefly offered one Robotaxi part in its Parts Catalog for your personal car, only to remove it just a short time after it was first noticed.

Tesla’s Robotaxi camera washer apparatus was briefly available for purchase on the company’s Online Parts Catalog. The camera washer was first noticed on Model Y Robotaxi vehicles about six months ago in Austin.

First noticed by Not a Tesla App, the Camera Washer entries appeared for the new “Juniper” Model Y under a category called “Halo,” which has also now disappeared. Interestingly, Halo probably is related to Tesla’s internal “Project Halo,” which was a project that aimed to retrofit customer-owned Model Ys into functional Robotaxis.

This hardware addition would likely be required for the vehicle to operate as a Robotaxi, as the Camera Washer seems to be a non-negotiable part of the vision-based system Tesla utilizes for self-driving efforts.

However, this part has since been removed and is no longer visible on the EPC.

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Now the true question lingers: Why would Tesla add this Camera Washer to the Model Y parts catalog? Is it planning to make it available for owners to utilize on their own cars for personal use, or will it become a prerequisite for Robotaxi operation in customer-owned cars?

While discussing the upgrade options for Hardware 3 vehicles during the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that the company could establish small, satellite shops that would upgrade cameras and self-driving computers. Perhaps this same strategy could be utilized for vehicles that want to be included in Robotaxi but do not have the correct hardware.

AI4 is currently represented as capable of unsupervised self-driving, and the same was said about HW3 at one point, only for Tesla to admit last quarter that it would, unfortunately, not be possible. Perhaps AI4 vehicles might need this camera washer as a prerequisite, just as HW3 cars will need that camera and computer upgrade.

This could be the first hint of that’s where we are headed.

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Tesla Robotaxi gets sweeping but polarizing change

Published

18 hours ago

on

July 28, 2026

By

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has started rolling out a broader change to the ride experience for its Robotaxi fleet by silencing turn signals, but the change is certainly polarizing.

Tesla has generally made it clear that its purpose-built ride-hailing platform, Robotaxi, will cater to the rider in nearly every way possible. This includes having climate preferences, music, and other personal settings loaded up in the car as the rider enters.

But Tesla is taking it a step further by muting turn signal chimes altogether, a change that appears to be a way to make the ride more peaceful:

However, there are a handful of people who are not thrilled about this change. Turn signals are a conditioned part of the human mind for those who ride in a car regularly.

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Taking a turn without one feels strange and odd, and not hearing it click while activated could set off some alarms for riders, who might use the noise as confirmation that other drivers know of their intention to turn.

Turn signal noises are still audible in customer cars, so if you use FSD in your personal vehicle, you will still hear the turn signal.

The move is certainly one that is unique, but not one that separates it from other ride-sharing services. In a normal car, the clicking sound confirms to the driver that the blinker is active. In a fully driverless Robotaxi, that feedback serves no purpose for passengers, other than peace of mind.

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