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I can’t believe we made it to issue number three hundred! We sent our first Tesletter on March 29, 2018, three days before our second child was born. The first issue of Tesletter was sent to 21 users, and now we send it periodically to around 13,000, with almost 8,000 opens and over 2,000 clicks sent to the articles we include in it. In all this time, we’ve only skipped sending the newsletter for three weeks, all due to major personal issues, one being an emergency trip I had to make to Spain to take care of my mom, who passed away at the beginning of December.
A lot has changed in the Tesla community since we started, but we’ve kept Tesletter true to our values, always focusing on providing the best possible weekly summary to Tesla owners and soon-to-be owners. We always avoid topics like the stock, production numbers, Elon’s personal life, or his other companies and controversies. While it might be easy to add some of the most controversial content for the clicks, we believe that sticking to what we think is the most interesting and constructive content keeps our mission and focus clear.
The newsletter has had times of rapid growth and times where growth almost stalled. This has depended a lot on our energy to promote it in places like Twitter, Reddit, and others. While we would love to have more time and for our subscriber numbers to continue growing rapidly, we are limited by the time we have, with both Vanessa and I having full-time jobs, and two kids that also require our time and energy. That said, you can help us by recommending Tesletter to other fellow Tesla owners, either via email, Twitter, or any other social media you use.
We will keep trying week after week to collect and summarize the most interesting content, from our point of view, and we hope you enjoy Tesletter as much as we enjoy putting it together.
Love and electrons,
Ignacio and Vanessa
Since Optimus was first announced in August 2021, there has been a lot of progress. When it was first announced, it was a person on a stud, not impressive to be honest. But since then, we have seen real robots, currently in their second version, performing day-to-day tasks. In the video released this week, we can see Optimus folding a shirt, it does it pretty smoothly, and assuming from previous information, it probably has learned it by just observing a human performing the same task. Who is ready for some Tesla wash & fold?
Newly manufactured Model Y and 3 are removing the Roll and Creep options and will only feature Hold. This is the mode that maximizes range and reduces brake wear by applying regenerative braking all the way to zero without the driver needing to use the brake pedal. I’ve personally only been using this mode since we got our Model Y. I hope new owners can adapt to that quickly and happily.
Sawyer just tweeted a detailed list of what is new in the Model 3 Highland, which can be ordered in the US since last week. If you are interested, take a look!
As we’ve mentioned in the past, Tesla is opening a drive-in theater Supercharging station in LA. If you look it up, there are many renders. In the video, we can see a current aerial view of the site, showing how Tesla has started with the building, and they are planning on opening it up this year. So exciting!
This Tesla owner has developed his solar array to self-charge his car when parked. The system weighs 165 lbs (75 kg) and, when expanded, fits a standard parking spot. With five hours of sun, the system can add about 20 miles (32 kilometers) of range. While I don’t see myself using it, it’s cool seeing others tinkering with these ideas. It may be a viable option for those who want to spend time off-road without access to a charger.
Tesla has made changes, so you can receive the $7500 off from the purchase price, instead of having to wait until you do your taxes to get it back. This is good news if you are interested in the Model Y or X under $80,000 or the Model 3 Performance at or below $55,000.
If you are purchasing a Tesla and need a referral code, consider using ours to get 3 months of FSD for free: http://ts.la/ignacio9266
Non-employees have started to report deliveries of the Cybertruck. I recommend you take a look at scottbuscemi’s Twitter account to see some good Cybertruck content.
The Cybertruck comes with steering by wire as well as rear-wheel steering, which allows for a much smaller turning radius (or turning circle) than it otherwise would have. The current rear steering angle is 3°, but after a software update that Elon mentioned on Twitter, it will increase substantially to 10°.
Winter is here and there is a cold wave in parts of Europe and the US. It’s known that frameless windows have some issues with cold, as they need to be able to go down just a tiny bit to clear the door frame. If your door is stuck, even after using the defrost options, seems like a simple pastic knife would do the trick. Also, remember that if your handles are frozen, this happens in the Y and 3, you can use the unlatch door function to pop the door open.
As Tesla fan I find myself sometimes having to remember what are all those acronyms, here is a list of the ones you can find in this issue.
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