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Tesla Tequila is Elon Musk’s latest proof that advertising isn’t necessary
Tesla makes cars, big batteries, solar panels, and now tequila. But the few hours that the most recent product on that list was available shows that advertising isn’t needed to create brand loyalty or a strong consumer base. Instead, Tesla creates a great series of electric cars and sustainable energy systems. Pair that with an innovative CEO that people believe in, and you can sell basically anything: Just ask Tesla, or the Boring Company, for that matter.
After years of teasing a high-quality, agave-based liquor known as tequila that would dawn the electric car company’s name, Tesla Tequila finally hit the shelves after two and a half years of anticipation. It didn’t last long, though, as the $250 + tax bottle of booze that was shaped like a lightning bolt wasn’t available for more than a few hours. A company that has never made tequila, or any drinks for that matter, and spends 99.999999% of its time trying to figure out the world’s transition to sustainable energy sold out of its first batch in a relatively short period of time.
Tesla Tequila sold out in just a few hours, no advertising needed.
Not knowing the quality of the booze they were buying, nor whether it would be available again, Tesla fans flocked to the company’s shop and bought up to two bottles per person. Disappearing in a few hours, Tesla hasn’t stated whether a second batch will become available. But if you didn’t get one, bottles are still being sold on eBay for more than they were originally worth. But don’t expect it to have tequila inside.
Tesla has managed to sell a product that isn’t a car or a battery, all by Elon Musk making an April Fool’s joke two years ago. It is the latest testament to the company’s strange and unorthodox advertising campaign. The thing is: it’s only strange if it doesn’t work. And besides, that money is going toward product development, which is more important to the company’s future, anyway.
But it did work, and it isn’t the first time. In January 2018, Musk’s Boring Company sold 20,000 Flamethrowers for $500 apiece. Selling out in a few days, Musk vowed on the Joe Rogan Experience that they’ll never make more of them and that it was a horrible idea. “You shouldn’t buy one. I said, ‘Don’t buy this Flamethrower. Don’t buy it.”
But people bought it, and they bought them quickly. It isn’t a secret why, either. Flamethrowers are cool, they were limited edition, and they were something that was thought up by Musk, and fans wanted every part of it.
But on a more serious note, the same thing is going on with Tesla’s actual products. While the company has a concerted effort to create a massive volume of electric cars and energy storage systems, Tesla is working on expanding its production capabilities to keep up with demand. The Tesla Tequila and the Flamethrower are novelty items. However, these cars will keep the Earth free of fossil fuels and massive batteries that will keep energy available for outage occurrences.
The automaker is opening new production facilities in the United States and Europe and trying to solve the challenges that come with manufacturing. It turns out that electric cars are gaining momentum over their gas-powered counterparts, and Tesla didn’t need to buy any airtime or cool social media ads to convince people to drive their cars.
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It all comes down to creating a product that people believe in. If you can build a solid base of customers who believe in the mission, you can sell anything. Advertising isn’t necessary, and Elon Musk and Tesla have recognized that.
SpaceX will report second quarter results after the market closes on Tuesday, August 4, marking the first time the company has opened its books to the public since its record IPO in June. Management will host a live audio only webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET, streamed on X, with no dial in option.
The debut carries more weight than a typical first quarter as a public company. Two trading days after the release, on August 6, the first tranche of SpaceX’s lockup expires, freeing roughly 911.5 million insider and employee shares, worth well over $100 billion at current prices and the largest such release in Wall Street history. A second, larger tranche tied to the stock trading 30 percent above its $135 IPO price never triggered, since shares have spent most of July trading below that price.
Wall Street’s models point to revenue near $6.9 billion for the quarter, up sharply from the $4.69 billion SpaceX reported in the first quarter, with a narrower per share loss than the $1.27 posted three months earlier, according to estimates compiled by Motley Fool. Those numbers will be the first look at how SpaceX’s three segments, Starlink, launch and AI, are performing independently.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
Investors heading into the call have a specific list of questions. How many net new Starlink subscribers did SpaceX add after ending March with 10.3 million, and is average revenue per user holding up as the service expands into lower income markets. How much of the AI segment’s revenue reflects contract signings with Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI this year, deals that combined could annualize to nearly $28 billion if fully ramped. Whether capital expenditures, which nearly doubled in the AI segment alone between 2024 and 2025, are still accelerating or starting to plateau. And whether management offers any forward guidance at all, something SpaceX has never done publicly.
The report will also land days after Elon Musk publicly denied a Wall Street Journal report describing internal planning to separate Tesla’s China business ahead of a potential Tesla-SpaceX merger. Whether Musk or SpaceX executives address that speculation on the call, even indirectly, maybe something investors will be listening for on Tuesday.
As Teslarati reported after Musk’s own warning to short sellers last week, the CEO has made clear he expects skeptics to be proven wrong over time. Tuesday will be the first chance for the numbers themselves to make that case.
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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
SpaceX’s biggest test yet arrives this week and it’s not a rocket launch
SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo
