Tesla has never run commercials, and it doesn’t have a Public Relations or Advertising Department. Evidence over the years suggests that it doesn’t need one as the company’s products, events, and uncommonly vocal CEO Elon Musk have shown that spending money on commercials is overrated. Instead, they’ve let the company do its own talking, and despite not spending a dollar on ads, it’s arguably the most talked-about car company on the planet.
Before I wrote about electric cars for a living and considered myself an “EV enthusiast,” I knew that other electric cars existed. There’s a BMW i3 that I see on a daily basis on my daily commute to the gym, there’s a Chevy Bolt owner in my neighborhood, and there were a handful of Teslas around. Now, Teslas dominate my area, despite the fact that the company has never spent any money on advertising its products. I know I’ve seen Chevy Bolt and BMW i3 commercials on several occasions, but nobody talks about them.
From Elon Musk’s Twitter feed to rapper Yung Gravy’s hit single “Whip a Tesla,” there are plenty of ways Tesla has received the spotlight of the public eye through the years. Here are a few of the ones that I feel are the best example of how powerful Tesla’s PR machine is, even though it uses that money to continue developing its products.
1. The Tesla Model X “Dance”
While this one is extremely old and worn-out, it was usually the first thing I showed people who didn’t know what a Tesla is. It’s a flashy, flamboyant, fun Easter Egg that has the Model X dancing to the Trans Siberian Orchestra, and it’s an extremely annoying feature, according to several long-time Tesla owners who I keep in touch with. Despite its overuse by Tesla’s newcomers, it’s still a feature that spread throughout the internet like wildfire. It was a combination of inventiveness and Elon Musk’s bold sense of humor, and it undoubtedly gets the attention of many people who have no clue what is so special about Tesla vehicles.
Yeah, it might be old and outdated to some, but there’s no doubt it got the word out to some new Tesla followers. Rarely used in the wild anymore, it was recently used in China to attract college grads to consider working for the company.
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2. Elon Musk’s Twitter Feed
From Tesla stock synopses to product release details, to updates to Tesla’s lineup, Elon Musk’s Twitter feed is a legendary PR tool for the automaker. It’s free to create a Twitter, and Elon Musk uses it for literally any reason he can. His over 55 million Twitter followers feast at nearly every Tweet he writes, and the main difference for me is the responses he receives.
Musk is a comical man, someone who holds a great sense of humor and a light-heartedness that only a few people in his stressful position would be able to display. While most professional athletes attract responses from fans and foes who are interested in the sport they play, Musk attracts attention from nearly everyone from every walk of life. While you can usually expect some to share their newest memes, looking for approval from the unequivocal Lord of Memes, most commonly there are questions from Tesla owners and fans who are interested in when the next big development will be released.
Musk gains around 1 million new followers every week, according to his profile on Social Blade, A million extra sets of eyes feast upon his Tweets every night, whether they deal with automotive or his other projects, or his recent dive into Cryptocurrency, they attract massive attention from everyone in every corner of the World.
3. The Cybertruck Broken Glass Episode
During the 2019 unveiling of the Tesla Cybertruck, a demonstration of the vehicle’s durability was underway. First, Tesla’s Cheif Designer Franz von Holzhausen slammed a sledgehammer into the driver’s side door of the all-electric pickup. With no dents, dings, or imperfections to be found, the next part of the demonstration would reveal the nearly impossible to break Cybertruck glass, and it would solidify Tesla’s nearly indestructible vehicle.
Except the glass broke.
And for weeks and weeks, and months even, video of the Cybertruck’s glass breaking plagued the internet. For most companies, it would have been an embarrassing episode of a PR nightmare that would need massive amounts of explaining. Instead, Tesla used it to expand the brand.
Yup. Sledgehammer impact on door cracked base of glass, which is why steel ball didn’t bounce off. Should have done steel ball on window, *then* sledgehammer the door. Next time …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2019
Tesla created the Cybertruck glass shirt for its store, which simply had the dinged-up glass put on the front of a black t-shirt. Not shying away from the event, Tesla used the cards it was dealt, and it was really incredible how something that would derail a product unveiling for something that claimed to be so strong and robust was used to continue the public’s awareness of the Cybertruck.
Only Tesla.
There’s three of my favorite examples of Tesla’s PR brilliance. Of course, there are plenty more, including one that occurred last weekend with UFC Lightweight Beneil Dariush.
Be sure to let me know what your favorite examples of Tesla’s PR are!
I use this newsletter to share my thoughts on what is going on in the Tesla world. If you want to talk to me directly, you can email me or reach me on Twitter. I don’t bite, be sure to reach out!
Elon Musk
Tesla announces crazy new Full Self-Driving milestone
The number of miles traveled has contextual significance for two reasons: one being the milestone itself, and another being Tesla’s continuing progress toward 10 billion miles of training data to achieve what CEO Elon Musk says will be the threshold needed to achieve unsupervised self-driving.
Tesla has announced a crazy new Full Self-Driving milestone, as it has officially confirmed drivers have surpassed over 8 billion miles traveled using the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite for semi-autonomous travel.
The FSD (Supervised) suite is one of the most robust on the market, and is among the safest from a data perspective available to the public.
On Wednesday, Tesla confirmed in a post on X that it has officially surpassed the 8 billion-mile mark, just a few months after reaching 7 billion cumulative miles, which was announced on December 27, 2025.
Tesla owners have now driven >8 billion miles on FSD Supervisedhttps://t.co/0d66ihRQTa pic.twitter.com/TXz9DqOQ8q
— Tesla (@Tesla) February 18, 2026
The number of miles traveled has contextual significance for two reasons: one being the milestone itself, and another being Tesla’s continuing progress toward 10 billion miles of training data to achieve what CEO Elon Musk says will be the threshold needed to achieve unsupervised self-driving.
The milestone itself is significant, especially considering Tesla has continued to gain valuable data from every mile traveled. However, the pace at which it is gathering these miles is getting faster.
Secondly, in January, Musk said the company would need “roughly 10 billion miles of training data” to achieve safe and unsupervised self-driving. “Reality has a super long tail of complexity,” Musk said.
Training data primarily means the fleet’s accumulated real-world miles that Tesla uses to train and improve its end-to-end AI models. This data captures the “long tail” — extremely rare, complex, or unpredictable situations that simulations alone cannot fully replicate at scale.
This is not the same as the total miles driven on Full Self-Driving, which is the 8 billion miles milestone that is being celebrated here.
The FSD-supervised miles contribute heavily to the training data, but the 10 billion figure is an estimate of the cumulative real-world exposure needed overall to push the system to human-level reliability.
News
Tesla Cybercab production begins: The end of car ownership as we know it?
While this could unlock unprecedented mobility abundance — cheaper rides, reduced congestion, freed-up urban space, and massive environmental gains — it risks massive job displacement in ride-hailing, taxi services, and related sectors, forcing society to confront whether the benefits of AI-driven autonomy will outweigh the human costs.
The first Tesla Cybercab rolled off of production lines at Gigafactory Texas yesterday, and it is more than just a simple manufacturing milestone for the company — it’s the opening salvo in a profound economic transformation.
Priced at under $30,000 with volume production slated for April, the steering-wheel-free, pedal-less Robotaxi-geared vehicle promises to make personal car ownership optional for many, slashing transportation costs to as little as $0.20 per mile through shared fleets and high utilization.
Credit: wudapig/Reddit< /a>
While this could unlock unprecedented mobility abundance — cheaper rides, reduced congestion, freed-up urban space, and massive environmental gains — it risks massive job displacement in ride-hailing, taxi services, and related sectors, forcing society to confront whether the benefits of AI-driven autonomy will outweigh the human costs.
Let’s examine the positives and negatives of what the Cybercab could mean for passenger transportation and vehicle ownership as we know it.
The Promise – A Radical Shift in Transportation Economics
Tesla has geared every portion of the Cybercab to be cheaper and more efficient. Even its design — a compact, two-seater, optimized for fleets and ride-sharing, the development of inductive charging, around 300 miles of range on a small battery, half the parts of the Model 3, and revolutionary “unboxed” manufacturing — is all geared toward rapid production.
Operating at a fraction of what today’s rideshare prices are, the Cybercab enables on-demand autonomy for a variety of people in a variety of situations.
Tesla ups Robotaxi fare price to another comical figure with service area expansion
It could also be the way people escape expensive and risky car ownership. Buying a vehicle requires expensive monthly commitments, including insurance and a payment if financed. It also immediately depreciates.
However, Cybercab could unlock potential profitability for owning a car by adding it to the Robotaxi network, enabling passive income. Cities could have parking lots repurposed into parks or housing, and emissions would drop as shared electric vehicles would outnumber gas cars (in time).
The first step of Tesla’s massive production efforts for the Cybercab could lead to millions of units annually, turning transportation into a utility like electricity — always available, cheap, and safe.
The Dark Side – Job Losses and Industry Upheaval
With Robotaxi and Cybercab, they present the same negatives as broadening AI — there’s a direct threat to the economy.
Uber, Lyft, and traditional taxis will rely on human drivers. Robotaxi will eliminate that labor cost, potentially displacing millions of jobs globally. In the U.S. alone, ride-hailing accounts for billions of miles of travel each year.
There are also potential ripple effects, as suppliers, mechanics, insurance adjusters, and even public transit could see reduced demand as shared autonomy grows. Past automation waves show job creation lags behind destruction, especially for lower-skilled workers.
Gig workers, like those who are seeking flexible income, face the brunt of this. Displaced drivers may struggle to retrain amid broader AI job shifts, as 2025 estimates bring between 50,000 and 300,000 layoffs tied to artificial intelligence.
It could also bring major changes to the overall competitive landscape. While Waymo and Uber have partnered, Tesla’s scale and lower costs could trigger a price war, squeezing incumbents and accelerating consolidation.
Balancing Act – Who Wins and Who Loses
There are two sides to this story, as there are with every other one.
The winners are consumers, Tesla investors, cities, and the environment. Consumers will see lower costs and safer mobility, while potentially alleviating themselves of awkward small talk in ride-sharing applications, a bigger complaint than one might think.
Elon Musk confirms Tesla Cybercab pricing and consumer release date
Tesla investors will be obvious winners, as the launch of self-driving rideshare programs on the company’s behalf will likely swell the company’s valuation and increase its share price.
Cities will have less traffic and parking needs, giving more room for housing or retail needs. Meanwhile, the environment will benefit from fewer tailpipes and more efficient fleets.
A Call for Thoughtful Transition
The Cybercab’s production debut forces us to weigh innovation against equity.
If Tesla delivers on its timeline and autonomy proves reliable, it could herald an era of abundant, affordable mobility that redefines urban life. But without proactive policies — retraining, safety nets, phased deployment — this revolution risks widening inequality and leaving millions behind.
Elon on the MKBHD bet, stating “Yes” to the question of whether Tesla would sell a Cybercab for $30k or less to a customer before 2027 https://t.co/sfTwSDXLUN
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 17, 2026
The real question isn’t whether the Cybercab will disrupt — it’s already starting — it’s whether society is prepared for the economic earthquake it unleashes.
News
Tesla Model 3 wins Edmunds’ Best EV of 2026 award
The publication rated the Model 3 at an 8.1 out of 10, and with its most recent upgrades and changes, Edmunds says, “This is the best Model 3 yet.”
The Tesla Model 3 has won Edmunds‘ Top Rated Electric Car of 2026 award, beating out several other highly-rated and exceptional EV offerings from various manufacturers.
This is the second consecutive year the Model 3 beat out other cars like the Model Y, Audi A6 Sportback E-tron, and the BMW i5.
The car, which is Tesla’s second-best-selling vehicle behind the popular Model Y crossover, has been in the company’s lineup for nearly a decade. It offers essentially everything consumers could want from an EV, including range, a quality interior, performance, and Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite, which is one of the best in the world.
The Tesla Model 3 has won Edmunds Top EV of 2026:
“The Tesla Model 3 might be the best value electric car you can buy, combining an Edmunds Rating of 8.1 out of 10, a starting price of $43,880, and an Edmunds-tested range of 338 miles. This is the best Model 3 yet. It is… pic.twitter.com/ARFh24nnDX
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 18, 2026
The publication rated the Model 3 at an 8.1 out of 10, and with its most recent upgrades and changes, Edmunds says, “This is the best Model 3 yet.”
In its Top Rated EVs piece on its website, it said about the Model 3:
“The Tesla Model 3 might be the best value electric car you can buy, combining an Edmunds Rating of 8.1 out of 10, a starting price of $43,880, and an Edmunds-tested range of 338 miles. This is the best Model 3 yet. It is impressively well-rounded thanks to improved build quality, ride comfort, and a compelling combination of efficiency, performance, and value.”
Additionally, Jonathan Elfalan, Edmunds’ Director of Vehicle Testing, said:
“The Model 3 offers just about the perfect combination of everything — speed, range, comfort, space, tech, accessibility, and convenience. It’s a no-brainer if you want a sensible EV.”
The Model 3 is the perfect balance of performance and practicality. With the numerous advantages that an EV offers, the Model 3 also comes in at an affordable $36,990 for its Rear-Wheel Drive trim level.
Tesla announces crazy new Full Self-Driving milestone
Tesla Cybercab production begins: The end of car ownership as we know it?
