Latest news with #TeslaModel3Performance
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla driver makes startling discovery about vehicle after 4 years of ownership: 'Absolutely obsolete'
The owner of a Tesla Model 3 Performance said that they came to a startling conclusion about their electric vehicle: It was "absolutely obsolete in 4 years." What's happening? In r/RealTesla — a subreddit founded in 2017 to critically discuss all matters related to Tesla — the poster discussed their disappointment after realizing that the automaker's technology is evolving beyond what their Model 3 can handle. "A huge selling point for me when I bought my Performance model 3 about 4 years ago was that everyone talked about how you get upgraded for life. Since then we've upgraded to version 13 that my car will never get," they said, adding, "I won't be getting the FSD I paid for." The OP also took issue with their Model 3's inability to handle Grok, an AI chatbot developed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk's xAI. Earlier this summer, Musk said that Tesla would begin integrating Grok into its EVs. Now, on its website, the automaker says all new Teslas delivered July 12 or later will have Grok. Yet older EVs without AMD processors don't qualify at this time. Why is this important? Known for reviving the concept of EVs for the modern world, Tesla has long set the standard in EV manufacturing and vehicle safety. Because of this, chances are high that it is one of the first brands that comes to mind when someone is considering making their next car an EV. However, Tesla's volatile start to the year has eroded consumer trust. Beyond reports of frustrations over unmet expectations — like those shared by the OP — Tesla has touted its supervised FSD (Full Self-Driving) feature as being capable of handling "the most stressful parts of daily driving" with minimal human intervention. Yet disturbing footage of mishaps involving FSD and other autonomous features (like those in Tesla's Robotaxi) continues to emerge, raising serious questions about the technology's safety. Musk's polarizing politics and social media behavior have also proved to be a hindrance to the company's bottom line, contributing to declining sales and fluctuating stock prices. Given Tesla's name recognition, if these trends continue, more people could have doubts about transitioning to EVs. Ultimately, that could set back efforts to protect public health and the planet, as EVs account for significantly less asthma-linked, heat-trapping pollution over time than gas-guzzlers because they don't have tailpipe pollution. Do you think Tesla can bounce back from its recent struggles? Yes It depends on Elon's actions I don't think it's struggling Nope Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. What's being done about this? While some critics are wary of Tesla given Musk's history of overpromising and underdelivering, things may not be as dire for the company as they seem. Despite a stunning drop in sales over the first half of the year, including in key global markets such as Europe and China, Tesla has proved its products have staying power (though a growing number of EV makers are challenging the company for EV market dominance). For instance, in Norway, Tesla sales soared to a 54% year-over-year increase from June 2024. In the U.S., Teslas accounted for 43% of all EVs sold in Q2, according to Cox Automotive. As for consumers with older Tesla models, the automaker indicates that Grok may become available to them in the future via over-the-air software updates. Meanwhile, the OP revealed they intended to keep driving their Model 3. "I don't really want to go back to gas or an electric car with worse range or one that's more expensive. It would just be nice if this one worked as advertised in any way whatsoever," they said. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Business Insider
31-07-2025
- Automotive
- Business Insider
'Don't bet against Elon': What I saw from the true believers at Tesla's fan event
On Saturday, I attended X Takeover, a gathering for fans of Tesla, electric vehicles, and SpaceX. The Tesla Owners Club of Silicon Valley ran the event. I'm not a member, but I drive a Tesla Model 3 Performance, and my house has a Powerwall battery that's fed by solar panels. I love my Model 3, and I've been fascinated by the Cybertruck ever since the daring, divisive design came out. Given the debate over Tesla CEO Elon Musk 's political activities this year and the hit to sales, I went along to the fanfest to see how the Tesla faithful are holding up. I arrived at around 1:30 pm at the San Mateo County Event Center. I expected the parking lot to be full, but I found it was about half empty. Near the entrance, Tesla and Lucid offered attendees short test drives of new electric vehicles. A small handful of attendees tried this out, but there were no lines (perhaps because most people there already knew EVs so well?). When I walked into the event, it didn't feel that packed. I estimate maybe 1,000 people attended in total, although it could have been more. When Lars Moravy, Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering, got onstage at around 3 pm, a lot of people gathered to watch, but the audience and VIP area still had some empty seats. 'Don't bet against Elon' However, passion abounded among those who showed up. They brought radically modified Tesla cars and Cybertrucks in wild colors. Someone had turned a Model 3 into a convertible (yes, I want one of those, please, Tesla). Another owner had installed a cannon on the back of their Cybertruck. I'm not sure if it was real, and I didn't ask. Original Tesla Roadsters in beautiful condition were parked next to a giant Tesla Semi truck. Kids played games, including coloring cardboard Cybertruck models with crayons. Families snapped selfies. Someone wore a "Don't bet against Elon" T-shirt. Another sported a shirt with Tesla's Austin robotaxi service area emblazoned on the front. (It's shaped a certain way, if you're wondering.) I sensed that Tesla's core fan base remains loyal and believes in the company and its leaders, possibly even more intensely than before the recent political backlash against Musk. However, it felt like others in Silicon Valley, including those who drive an EV to help the planet, have moved on and may not want to attend an event like X Takeover right now. Cybercabs and Cybertrucks One highlight for me was seeing the Cybercab close up, parked next to an Optimus robot. Several people crowded around snapping photos. The Cybercab looked cooler in person, especially the stubby, angular front nose and the satiny gold paint job. Still, one Tesla fan standing next to me wondered aloud why the company put only two seats in a vehicle that will carry people around via a rideshare service. What if the whole family needs to go somewhere? he wondered. Two-person rides are probably more common, we mused. Another Tesla fan, called Eurone, stood by the Cybercab with his girlfriend, taking photos. I asked him about robotaxi tests and the company's efforts to get this up and running in San Francisco. Eurone said he'd signed up to get an invitation in Austin and in San Francisco. If he gets one, he plans to fly from LA to either city to experience a ride. "It has to work," he said of Tesla's autonomous vehicle efforts. Eurone mentioned that he bought Tesla stock about two years ago at around $140 a share. The shares have more than doubled since then, but he hopes for more gains and thinks they're undervalued still. A couple from Washington state had driven their Cybertruck down to the Silicon Valley event and set up a tent and camping system on the vehicle. They let me climb up into the tent — it was cozy in there! I asked the wife what she thought of the robotaxi tests. She said she'd still be cautious about getting in a robotaxi without a test driver at the wheel. I chatted with a visitor from Texas who was looking at the Cybercab up close. He said he'd taken a robotaxi in Austin and was impressed by the smooth ride. Another driver cut him off during the test, and the robotaxi braked hard but smoothly. He compared this to his own Model Y with full self-driving (FSD), which he said sometimes brakes more abruptly in similar situations. I also met a couple from Houston who'd driven their bright orange Cybertruck all the way to this event in Silicon Valley. The truck also had a camping tent system on top, and the woman was cooking a cheeseburger on the back. They said they use FSD all the time and drove most of the way from Houston to San Mateo in FSD with no problems. Tesla engineering chief Lars Moravy speaks When Tesla vehicle engineering chief Moravy started his talk onstage, a group of guys stood up and chanted, "Lars! Lars! Lars!" Moravy was asked about the intense "anti-Tesla environment" over the last few months and how he and his engineering teams weathered the storm, and how it affected the Tesla brand. "I was like, 'hey, let's meet hate with love,' and I know a lot of you guys went out with doughnuts and did that, and I really appreciate that," Moravy said. "Having such a strong community that you can fall back on when you have tough times is super humbling, and it's awesome to know that we have all of you guys here to do that for us and make us feel like we're actually doing the right things." That elicited rounds of applause from the audience. Moravy said many engineers put their heads down and just worked harder and longer. The first half of the year was intense for these employees because Tesla was launching the updated Model Y globally, he said. "For the most part, that's how my team handled it and kind of pushed through it. And you know, it's nice to see some positive news again," he said, citing the opening of Tesla's diner and supercharger location in LA recently. "It was just a cool environment to see everyone there and the positivity around it. The last car for human drivers Moravy also described the company's "unboxed" manufacturing process, central to Tesla's coming Cybercab robotaxi service. It assembles vehicle modules separately and joins them later in the process. This improves line speed and reduces factory footprint dramatically, he said. The executive also said that Tesla designed the Cybercab for efficiency, durability, and low per-mile operating costs, with replaceable plastic body panels to simplify repairs. Moravy shared that Tesla conducted its first Cybercab crash test, which passed successfully. He spotlighted progress on the Tesla Semi, too, which is targeting production in 2026. Of all Tesla's projects right now, he said he's most excited about this product, calling it a no-brainer for fleets due to the expected low total cost of ownership. Meanwhile, he said Tesla is building Optimus, its humanoid robot, with micron-level precision to scale manufacturing to thousands of units a week, showcasing the company's ambition beyond vehicles. He described Tesla's new Roadster as an effort to design the last car for human drivers. This swan song has to be incredible, so the company has been taking its time to ensure that the capabilities are top-notch before releasing it, Moravy said. 'I hope we're still here' At the end, Moravy was asked what he hopes Tesla has achieved in five years' time that would make him proud as an engineering leader. "If you'd asked me this question five years ago, I would have said 'man, I hope we're still here,'" Moravy replied. "And so now I'm saying the same thing: 'Man, I hope we're still here," he added, to laughter from the audience. "Because we take big swings and sometimes that risk, you know, it can come with a lot of downside." "And I think we are in a big-swing moment with autonomy, with robotics and with Optimus, and with Semi," Moravy said. "I hope those all work out."
Forbes
20-07-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Tesla's Model 3 Flagship Finally Has A Serious Rival
The Ioniq 6 N packs 641-hp. Launched just over a year ago, the Tesla Model 3 Performance pumps out 510-hp from its twin electric motors and sprints from 0-60 mph in a supercar-equalling 2.9 seconds thanks to a potent all-wheel-drive system. But now, there's a new kid on the block and it's looking to knock horns with the American EV superstar. The Ioniq 6 N packs a 641-hp punch Hyundai's Ioniq 6 N is by far the hottest sedan to come along since the Model 3 Performance surfaced in April 2024. Launched at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the world's premier motor sport gathering last weekend, the new halo car—which borrows mush of its underpinnings from the Ioniq 5 N—is expected to generate up to 641-hp and hit 0-60 mph in 3.0 seconds flat. Like BMW's high performance 'M' division, the 'N' division inside Hyundai denotes the brand's 'N' philosophy of 'Corner Rascal, Racetrack Capability and Everyday Sportscar.' The 6 N comes with all kinds of wizz-bang N-spec tech to elevate the driving experience The 6 N's battery is also carried over from the 5 N, referring to an 84kWh unit that should quick-charge from 10 to 80 per cent in under 20 minutes and deliver around 290 miles of range, or so says Hyundai. The 6 N also gets a revised 'N Battery Conditioning' system permitting the driver to choose either 'Drag', 'Sprint' or 'Endurance' modes which heats the battery to the optimum temperature for the selected driving mode. Where as performance is expected to be almost identical—as both the Tesla and Hyundai hover around the 3.0 second mark from zero to 60mph, the Model 3 Performance sells for around $56,000 where as the Ioniq 6 N is expected to land in showrooms nearly five figures more at around $65,000. The 6 N is fitted with re-engineered suspension geometry, stroke-sensing ECS dampers, and a new battery management system that's optimized for performance in a wide range of driving situations. Aerodynamics has an important role as portrayed by beefier fenders, a swan-neck rear wing and aggressive downforce modifications. Inside the car, the Ioniq 6 N employs features like the N e-Shift boasting simulated gear changes and N Active Sound+ produces simulated engine and exhaust sounds through the speakers. That's right, simply put, the 6 N is a high performance electric sedan with fake gear changes and fake engine noise. It just seems so poetic that carmakers are swapping manual transmissions for automatic gearboxes and replacing the vocal internal combustion engines from today's cars with silent electric powertrains, and then they are forced to create synthetic gearbox gimmicks because drivers miss changing gears, and add fake engine and exhaust sounds because drivers feel more at home behind the wheel with actual sound. And Hyundai is not the only one doing it. Tailored for track days and serious sideways-to-glory drifting sessions, the 6 N's 'N Drift Optimizer' now employs more settings to customise your drift initiation, angle and wheel slip. A recent 5 N update added 10 levels to the system for beginners right up to a pro setting, but we're told the 6 N goes takes that to a whole new level. But what is arguably the most fascinating aspect of the 6 N is the fact that Hyundai apparently told its engineers to just 'do it,' despite the fact their marketing types said it might be a hard sell. Hyundai's Performance Development Tech Unit head and ex-Porsche engineer Manfred Harrer told Australia's that the company was aware of the Ioniq 6's limited sales success, but that the purpose of the Ioniq 6 N is not to be a best-seller. So just how well this showcase for Hyundai's latest hot tech will sell in anyone's guess.
Miami Herald
15-07-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Can the Hyundai Ioniq 6 N Dethrone the Tesla Model 3 Performance?
Tesla arguably kicked off the introduction of performance EV models with the Tesla Roadster way back in 2008, but it's a wildly different landscape now, and you can purchase a very fast EV from automakers like BMW, Ford, and everything in between. One of the most competent performance EVs out there is the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N, and now, there's a sedan version in town. Sharing a powertrain but getting smaller and cheaper means the new IONIQ 6 N has the Tesla Model 3 Performance squarely in its sights. The IONIQ 6 N takes an early lead on the Tesla Model 3 Performance - on paper, anyway. The IONIQ 6 N shares a powertrain with its predecessor, the 5 N, which means up to 641 horsepower on tap when you click into N-Grin Boost mode, and 567 pound-feet of torque available whenever. Hyundai quotes a zero to 60 mph time of 3.2 seconds. Both the IONIQ 6 N and the Tesla rely on all-wheel drive and dual electric motors, but while the Tesla Model 3 Performance isn't a slouch, it loses the initial comparison. Base horsepower and torque figures sit at 510 and 554, respectively. Surprisingly, though, Tesla claims a quicker zero to 60 mph time, estimating the sprint takes just 2.9 seconds. One reason for the quicker sprint to 60 mph might be the Tesla's lower curb weight. The fastest Model 3 tips the scales at a fairly light 4,054 pounds. We don't have official numbers for Hyundai's IONIQ 6 N, but we can take a guess. Comparing the IONIQ 5 to the IONIQ 5 N reveals the standard all-wheel drive car weighs 4,608 pounds, while the N version weighs 4861 pounds. A regular IONIQ 6 with all-wheel drive weighs 4,462 pounds. Assuming the 6 N gains the same amount of weight from the full N treatment, we can guess the IONIQ 6 N's weight at around 4,715 pounds. That 700-pound disadvantage relative to the Model 3 Performance could cost it first place on the dragstrip. So, finally, there's the price. A bigger horsepower figure doesn't always mean a higher MSRP, but the IONIQ 6 N will start a little bit higher than the Tesla Model 3 Performance. Hyundai hasn't released pricing yet, but since the IONIQ 6 is around $5,000 less expensive than the IONIQ 5, the base MSRP should be right around $60,000. That's a $5,000 premium compared to the Tesla, which starts at $54,990. The Tesla also likely touts a longer range. The mechanically identical 5 N offers an estimated 221 miles, while the Model 3 Performance makes it 298 miles on a full charge. On the surface, the IONIQ 6 N may look decidedly more like a sidegrade than an upgrade compared to the Tesla Model 3 Performance. However, there are also other key areas where the Hyundai sedan should excel. The Hyundai IONIQ 6 N gets massive brake rotors that dwarf the Tesla Model 3's, measuring 15.7 inches in the front and 14.1 inches in the rear. That's about an inch bigger in the back and nearly two in front. While both vehicles share 20-inch aluminum wheels, only the IONIQ 6 N offers 275-section tires on all four wheels. Finally, the IONIQ 6 N offers a lauded "fake shift," which allows drivers to "change gears" via paddle shifters. These differences may seem small, but they could make a big difference, especially in the kind of driving situations the cars are ostensibly built for. The Hyundai IONIQ 6 N and Tesla Model 3 Performance are more similar than different, and both look to be incredibly competent performance sedans. Do we think the IONIQ 6 N is objectively superior to the Model 3 Performance? We'll have to drive it to find out. That said, it certainly has some clear advantages. At the very least, the competition will force Tesla to take notes. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Hindustan Times
27-06-2025
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Mercedes-AMG CLA EV spied with minimal camouflage internationally. Take a peek…
The 2026 Mercedes-AMG CLA EV is being tested internationally.. Notify me As the standard Mercedes-Benz CLA EV is still rolling out in select markets, the high-performance AMG variant is already taking shape. New spy shots reveal the development of the AMG-tuned version is in full swing, with several design elements and performance features now visible beneath the thinning camouflage. 2026 Mercedes-AMG CLA EV: Design Up front, the AMG version Sports a reworked bumper with large air intakes and a new central opening featuring a distinct mesh pattern. While the details are still partially obscured, key differences from the regular CLA EV include an enclosed grille and Mercedes' signature 'starry" LED headlights. Along the sides, sportier side skirts and lightweight wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport tires point to the AMG's performance intentions. Behind the wheels sits a heavy-duty braking system with red callipers at the front, while AMG badging can be spotted on the front fenders, a subtle nod to its more serious capabilities. The rear design appears relatively restrained at first glance, but closer inspection reveals an active spoiler. A tweaked rear bumper and diffuser setup are also expected to distinguish the AMG model from its standard sibling, contributing both to downforce and visual aggression. Also Read : Mercedes-Benz AMG GT XX Concept unveiled with 360 kmph top speed 2026 Mercedes-AMG CLA EV: Interior Spy photographers weren't able to capture a clear view of the cabin, but based on AMG's typical approach, we can expect a minimalist layout with performance cues like a flat-bottom steering wheel and exclusive trim. Tech features are likely to include a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, a 14-inch infotainment display, and a matching 14-inch passenger screen. 2026 Mercedes-AMG CLA EV: Expected powertrain While Mercedes remains quiet on specifications, earlier reports hint at serious firepower under the skin. The AMG CLA EV is rumoured to feature axial flux motors developed by Mercedes' Yasa subsidiary, with a potential tri-motor layout producing over 493 bhp. If true, that would put it in direct contention with the Tesla Model 3 Performance, which delivers 503 bhp and a 0 to 100 kmph time of 2.9 seconds. Also Read : Mercedes AMG GT 63, GT 63 Pro to launch on June 27. Here's everything we know so far Adding a touch of drama, the performance CLA EV is also expected to come with a 'V8 Mode' that mimics the sound of an internal combustion engine, specifically a V8, offering a nostalgic aural experience for enthusiasts. A unique AMG-specific battery pack is also expected, though technical details remain under wraps. 2026 Mercedes-AMG CLA EV: Expected reveal and rivals While a debut date hasn't been confirmed, the steady progress and decreasing camouflage suggest the AMG CLA EV could be revealed later this year or in early 2026. Once launched, it will take aim at high-performance electric sedans like the Tesla Model 3 Performance and BMW i4 M50. Check out Upcoming Cars in India 2024, Best SUVs in India. First Published Date: 27 Jun 2025, 11:32 AM IST
