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Tesla, SpaceX enthusiasts embraced at X Takeover this month
The X Takeover, formerly called the Tesla Takeover, is coming up later this month, and it’s expanding its scope this year to include more than just the electric vehicle (EV) company’s enthusiasts.
Taking place in San Luis Obispo, California, from July 26-28, the X Takeover has increased its offerings this year to accommodate fans of Tesla, SpaceX, and other tech and digital connectivity themes. Along with group rides, a massive live Tesla light show, and more, the event will include keynote speeches from Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen and SpaceX-affiliated entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman.
The event is being organized by Tesla Owners Silicon Valley at the Madonna Inn, with opening events taking place on Friday, while breakout sessions and keynote speeches will happen on Saturday and Sunday. More than 60 exhibitors will be selling accessories, services, and other products, along with a camping expo, a Super modified Tesla contest, a Cybertruck showcase, and more.
“We are thrilled to unveil X Takeover and provide attendees with a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the worlds of Tesla, SpaceX, and beyond,” says John Stringer, Tesla Owners Silicon Valley President. “Our event will allow attendees to learn from industry experts, connect with like-minded individuals, and experience Tesla’s and SpaceX’s latest technological advancements, and we can’t wait to share them with the world.”
Event sponsors include T-Sportline, Tesplus, Michelin, and Tesla, and a portion of the proceeds from the event will also go toward the 17 Strong charity and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Tickets start at $45 for a one-day pass, or $60 for a Saturday-Sunday pass.
Last year’s Tesla Takeover had over 2,000 in attendance, and organizers expect this year to land somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000.
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You can see the full schedule for the 2024 X Takeover below, or check out the full Eventbrite page here to buy tickets.
X Takeover Schedule: Friday, July 26, 2024
- 5:00 p.m. – Open House at Tesla San Luis Obispo
- 6:00 p.m. – Pre-Event Central Coast Scenic Ride & Drive
- 9:00 p.m. – Epic Synchronized Tesla Light Show
X Takeover Schedule: Saturday, July 27, 2024
- 10:30 a.m. – Welcome and Introductions (ft. John Stringer, Kelvin Gee)
- 11:10 a.m. – Cyberbull$: Many Opportunities Ahead for Tesla in the Coming Years (ft. Alexandra Merz, Jeff Lutz, Galileo Russell, Herbert Ong)
- 11:50 a.m. – Enhance Your Tesla Experience: Discover TESPLUS’ Latest Accessories Lineup (ft. Chris Li, Ted Marena)
- 12:30 p.m. – Charge Ahead: Unlocking the Future of EV Charging with EVject’s Breakaway Adapter (ft. Kreg Peeler, Ted Marena)
- 1:10 p.m. – Tesla Adventure: Unleashing the Potential of Camping with Your Electric Ride (ft. Matthew Hofmann, Ted Marena)
- 1:50 p.m. – Living Electric: Exploring the Tesla Lifestyle and Community (ft. Kim Java, Ryan McCaffrey)
- 2:30 p.m. – Unleashing Efficiency: Michelin’s EV-Ready Product Line and the e.Primacy Tire (ft. Russell Shepherd, Ryan McCaffrey)
- 3:10 p.m. – Customizing the Future: T Sportline’s Innovations with Cybertruck Modification (ft. Brian Reese)
- 3:50 p.m. – Into the Future: Exploring Tesla’s Full Self-Driving, Robotics, and Neuralink (ft. Dr. Know It All, Whole Mars Catalog, Ryan Tanaka, Meet Kevin)
- 4:40 p.m. – Keynote: Shaping the Future of Automotive Innovation (ft. Franz von Holzhausen, John Stringer, Kelvin Gee)
- 5:30 p.m. – Group Photo, Super Modified Tesla Contest Winner, Passport Drawing, and Wrap Up (ft. Joe Jefferson)
X Takeover Schedule: Sunday, July 28, 2024
- 10:30 a.m. – Unplugged and Unstoppable: Revolutionizing the Cybertruck and America’s Police (ft. Ben Schaffer, John Stringer)
- 11:00 a.m. – Journey to the Stars: Exploring SpaceX’s Quest for Space Exploration (ft. Ellie in Space, Felix Schlang)
- 11:30 a.m. – Powering Perspectives: Discussions with Tesla Influencers (ft. Dirty Tesla, Bearded Tesla, Everyday Chris, Brian White)
- 12:40 p.m. – Keynote: From Entrepreneurship to the Cosmos: A Journey of Inspiration (ft. Jared Isaacman, John Stringer, Kelvin Gee)
- 1:30 p.m. – Passport Prize Giveaway and Wrap Up
Over 1,000 Tesla owners host largest light show yet in South Korea
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
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
