News
Tesla Stores Will Reportedly Take Model 3 Deposits 10am Worldwide
Following the widely reported news that Tesla will begin taking the first Model 3 deposits in stores beginning on March 31 at 10am Pacific Time, a new tip comes our way that suggests reservation deposits may begin 10am worldwide. According to Cesar Deschamps who inquired about the Model 3 reservation process while visiting his local Tesla Store, he was told by two staff members that Tesla Corporate had begun instructing stores to immediately process reservations upon store opening.
Deschamps tells us, “I was told they will open here in Miami [Dania] Beach Store at 10am to take reservations. They thought they would be opening at 1pm [ET] to coincide with California, but they confirmed that they heard this morning from Corporate that they will be processing reservations immediately upon opening.”
Existing Tesla owners were first informed through the Model 3 (lottery) invitation email that “reservations will open in Tesla stores on March 31 at 10am PST”, and priority would be given to existing owners. Not surprisingly the announcement was unpopular among non-Tesla owners, many of which have waited years to see the company approach its goal of producing an affordable $35,000 mass-market electric vehicle, and worried they would miss out on redeeming a diminishing electric vehicle tax credit.

Invitation to enter a Model 3 unveiling event lottery sent to existing Tesla owners on March 15, 2016
The latest update allowing Tesla stores to begin taking Model 3 reservation deposits during their local 10am might be a way to curtail some of the negative sentiment that’s developed from non-owners, according to Deschamps when speaking to the Tesla store rep.
“I spoke to two people at the store together, at the same time. They said the info came from their briefing. One said that Elon got a lot of emails complaining about the owners getting preference. This was their way of placating owners whilst pushing loaded cars.”
The strategy makes a lot of sense in many ways. By allowing all parties to place orders during their local time of 10am, this not only appeases those who live in time zones where 10am Pacific would translate to an inopportune local time, but it also incentivizes non-owners to ultimately configure highly optioned cars. By having two sets of variables to determine ones position in the Model 3 production queue makes it more of an equal playing field especially for non-owners.
Deschamps further tells us, from his dialogue with the Tesla store staff, “Each region in the country will have their own queue and yes owners will receive priority first, but only after optioned cars first. In other words, the optioned cars are grouped first (highest will be delivered first) but inside this sub-list owners will get theirs first. So, it will be possible to get my car before an owner if my car has more options and a higher list.”
Just this week Tesla released specifics through its blog on how to reserve a Tesla Model 3. Upon further analysis, there’s no indication of 10am Pacific Time – the time originally outlined by Tesla as when the Model 3 reservation window begins – listed anywhere within the announcement.
More Tesla Model 3 News
- Tesla Model 3 could dominate the entry level luxury class
- Scoring an invite to the Model 3 unveiling event
- Tesla will livestream the Model 3 event
- Analyst predicts Tesla Model 3 will see first deliveries in 2017
News
Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025.
The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall safety score of any vehicle tested by ANCAP in 2025. The Tesla Model 3 also delivered strong results, reinforcing the automaker’s safety leadership in Australia and New Zealand.
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025. ANCAP’s 2025 tests evaluated vehicles across four key pillars: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist technologies.
The Model Y posted consistently strong results in all four categories, distinguishing itself through a system-based safety approach that combines structural crash protection with advanced driver-assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring.

This marked the second time the Model Y has topped ANCAP’s annual safety rankings. The Model Y’s previous version was also ANCAP’s top performer in 2022.
The Tesla Model 3 also delivered a strong performance in ANCAP’s 2025 tests, contributing to Tesla’s broader safety presence across segments. Similar to the Model Y, the Model 3 also earned impressive scores across the ANCAP’s four pillars. This made the vehicle the top performer in the Medium Car category.
ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg stated that the results highlight a growing industry shift toward integrated safety design, with improvements in technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and lane support translating into meaningful real-world protection.
“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist. The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.
“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection,” Hoorweg said.
News
Tesla Sweden uses Megapack battery to bypass unions’ Supercharger blockade
Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery.
Tesla Sweden has successfully launched a new Supercharger station despite an ongoing blockade by Swedish unions, using on-site Megapack batteries instead of traditional grid connections. The workaround has allowed the Supercharger to operate without direct access to Sweden’s electricity network, which has been effectively frozen by labor action.
Tesla has experienced notable challenges connecting its new charging stations to Sweden’s power grid due to industrial action led by Seko, a major Swedish trade union, which has blocked all new electrical connections for new Superchargers. On paper, this made the opening of new Supercharger sites almost impossible.
Despite the blockade, Tesla has continued to bring stations online. In Malmö and Södertälje, new Supercharger locations opened after grid operators E.ON and Telge Nät activated the sites. The operators later stated that the connections had been made in error.
More recently, however, Tesla adopted a different strategy altogether. Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery, as noted in a Dagens Arbete (DA) report.
Because the Supercharger station does not rely on a permanent grid connection, Tesla was able to bypass the blocked application process, as noted by Swedish car journalist and YouTuber Peter Esse. He noted that the Arlandastad Supercharger is likely dependent on nearby companies to recharge the batteries, likely through private arrangements.
Eight new charging stalls have been launched in the Arlandastad site so far, which is a fraction of the originally planned 40 chargers for the location. Still, the fact that Tesla Sweden was able to work around the unions’ efforts once more is impressive, especially since Superchargers are used even by non-Tesla EVs.
Esse noted that Tesla’s Megapack workaround is not as easily replicated in other locations. Arlandastad is unique because neighboring operators already have access to grid power, making it possible for Tesla to source electricity indirectly. Still, Esse noted that the unions’ blockades have not affected sales as much.
“Many want Tesla to lose sales due to the union blockades. But you have to remember that sales are falling from 2024, when Tesla sold a record number of cars in Sweden. That year, the unions also had blockades against Tesla. So for Tesla as a charging operator, it is devastating. But for Tesla as a car company, it does not matter in terms of sales volumes. People charge their cars where there is an opportunity, usually at home,” Esse noted.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s X goes down as users report major outage Friday morning
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Elon Musk’s X experienced an outage Friday morning, leaving large numbers of users unable to access the social media platform.
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Downdetector reports
Users attempting to open X were met with messages such as “Something went wrong. Try reloading,” often followed by an endless spinning icon that prevented access, according to a report from Variety. Downdetector data showed that reports of problems surged rapidly throughout the morning.
As of 10:52 a.m. ET, more than 100,000 users had reported issues with X. The data indicated that 56% of complaints were tied to the mobile app, while 33% were related to the website and roughly 10% cited server connection problems. The disruption appeared to begin around 10:10 a.m. ET, briefly eased around 10:35 a.m., and then returned minutes later.

Previous disruptions
Friday’s outage was not an isolated incident. X has experienced multiple high-profile service interruptions over the past two years. In November, tens of thousands of users reported widespread errors, including “Internal server error / Error code 500” messages. Cloudflare-related error messages were also reported.
In March 2025, the platform endured several brief outages spanning roughly 45 minutes, with more than 21,000 reports in the U.S. and 10,800 in the U.K., according to Downdetector. Earlier disruptions included an outage in August 2024 and impairments to key platform features in July 2023.