Episode 540: Teslas Among Most Reliable Cars, Says Consumer Reports
Ride the Lightning: Tesla and EV Podcast
Ryan McCaffrey
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 December 2025
⏱️ 95 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
New Consumer Reports data puts Tesla in the top ten most reliable car brands. Plus: a Tesla higher-up teases a possible Robovan-based RV platform, Rivian launches a bold new limited-edition paint color option, and more!
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support my efforts, please check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/teslapodcast and consider a monthly or (10% discounted!) annual pledge. Every little bit helps and there are stacking bonuses in it for you at each pledge level, like early access to each episode at the $5 tier and the weekly Lightning Round bonus mini-episode (AND the early access!) at the $10 tier! And NO ADS at every Patreon tier!
Also, don't forget to leave a message on the Ride the Lightning hotline anytime with a question, comment, or discussion topic for next week's show! The toll-free number to call is 1-888-989-8752.
LAST CALL – DOUBLE-EV RAFFLE FOR A GREAT CAUSE: ClimateXChange is back with their 10th annual EV raffle, and this year there are TWO raffles: a Luxury Raffle with a grand prize of ANY EV you want up to $120,000, and a second Mini-Raffle with a grand prize of any EV up to $45,000 (such as a Model 3 or Model Y). Enter now at https://www.carbonraffle.org/rtl – December 8 is your last chance to enter!
INTERESTED IN A FLEXIBLE EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR YOUR TESLA? Be a part of the future of transportation with XCare, the first extended warranty designed & built exclusively for EV owners, by EV owners. Use the code Lightning to get $100 off their "One-time Payment" option! Go to www.xcelerateauto.com/xcare to find the extended warranty policy that's right for you and your Tesla.
P.S. Get 15% off your first order of awesome aftermarket Tesla accessories at AbstractOcean.com by using the code RTLpodcast at checkout. Grab the SnapPlate front license plate bracket for any Tesla at https://everyamp.com/RTL/ (don't forget the coupon code RTL too!).
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | On this week's episode of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV podcast, new consumer reports data puts Tesla in the top 10 most reliable car brands. |
| 0:10.3 | Plus, a Tesla higher up teases a possible Reboven-based RV platform. |
| 0:16.4 | Rivian launches a bold new limited edition paint color option and more. |
| 0:48.7 | Thank you. launches a bold new limited edition paint color option and more what's What's happening, friends, Ryan McCaffrey here joining you for episode 540 of Ride the Lightning, your weekly Tesla and EV podcast. |
| 0:52.7 | This one's publishing on December 7, 2025. |
| 0:58.4 | I've got both dogs right nearby, right literally on my feet right now, |
| 1:03.9 | is Lily the Silly Labrador puppy, and to my left relaxing on the couch. Daisy the Boxer puppy, and I hope all of you enjoyed last week's special episode with my special guest, while my family and I took some time away to be |
| 1:14.2 | with each other and just unplug for a bit. So now though, it's December. We sprint to the end of |
| 1:21.8 | 2025. There is plenty to get to both at my day job and no doubt here on Ride the Lightning as well. |
| 1:28.3 | And I'll tell you, speaking of sprints, this week prepping the podcast this week was a bit of a sprint for me. |
| 1:34.6 | I'm recording early. It's a Thursday night as I'm recording this. |
| 1:39.2 | So as usual, when I do record early on occasion, Please accept my apologies if anything big ends up |
| 1:46.0 | happening on Friday. I am heading off to visit my parents for the weekend. I wanted to go down |
| 1:51.6 | and visit my dad specifically because he just finished up radiation treatments for his prostate |
| 1:57.5 | cancer. He's okay. He should be totally fine. It's, it's very, very minuscule. |
| 2:03.3 | His PSA level. He'd actually already had, well, I don't need to get into the whole story, |
| 2:07.8 | but he should be fine is the good news. But he did just go through four weeks of radiation. |
| 2:15.0 | I think it was it was either four days a week or maybe even five, but it was a lot. |
| 2:20.2 | So I just, I wanted to go down before the holidays and spend a little time with him and with my |
| 2:24.9 | parents. So heading down on Friday, thus recording here on Thursday so that I can get the |
| 2:30.4 | podcast out of the way and focus on family for the weekend. |
| 2:35.4 | If you are traveling, specifically in California and between L.A. and San Francisco, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ryan McCaffrey, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Ryan McCaffrey and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

