Episode 549: Tesla Introduces New Model Y Variant
Ride the Lightning: Tesla and EV Podcast
Ryan McCaffrey
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 February 2026
⏱️ 108 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tesla has introduced a new variant of the Model Y in the US, but sadly it's not the Model Y L. At least not yet. Plus: Apple CarPlay is reportedly still on the way for Teslas, Consumer Reports gives the Model Y a major accolade, and more!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | On this week's episode of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV podcast, Tesla has introduced a new variant of the Model Y in the United States, but sadly, it's not the Model Y L, at least not yet. |
| 0:13.0 | Plus, Apple CarPlay is reportedly still on the way for Tesla's Consumer Reports gives the Model Y a major accolade and more. What's happening, friends, Ryan McCaffrey joining you for episode 549 of Ride the Lightning. |
| 0:47.7 | It's your weekly Tesla and EV podcast. |
| 0:50.4 | I've got a relaxed Daisy the Boxer to my left on the couch looking out the window and laying on the ground out near my wife somewhere in the living room is Lily the Silly Labrador who is in her last night of having to wear the e-collar or as it is maybe more commonly known the cone of shame she's actually been doing really well with with it. She's adapted to it quite well, |
| 1:13.5 | but she is definitely going to be happy to have that thing off tomorrow. Fortunately, she hasn't |
| 1:17.6 | been going for her spay surgery stitches. So I think, knock on wood, that it's going to be fine |
| 1:24.3 | when we take that e-collar off tomorrow morning. |
| 1:33.9 | As expected after last week's episode, which of course covered last week's huge shocking news of the discontinuation of the Model S and the Model X. I got a lot of Ride the Lightning |
| 1:39.4 | hotline calls, plenty of emails, plenty of messages on social media, all in response to that. |
| 1:46.0 | And I'm grateful to all of you for sending in those messages. |
| 1:50.4 | And I promised you a longer Ride the Lightning Hotline segment this week. |
| 1:55.0 | And I will deliver that later on in the podcast. |
| 1:58.1 | So stay tuned for that. |
| 1:59.6 | But first, as we get warmed up, I made this big news, |
| 2:03.9 | the subject of this week's Patreon poll, because last week that news broke too late to make it a |
| 2:10.0 | poll. I'd already put up a poll. So here we go. This week's Patreon poll question, |
| 2:14.8 | which as a friendly reminder, is open to anyone and everyone. |
| 2:18.9 | You don't have to be supporting me on Patreon. |
| 2:21.4 | You just have to stop by my Patreon page each week, which is found at patreon.com slash |
| 2:27.8 | Tesla podcast to cast your vote in each week's free poll. |
| 2:32.5 | So the question this week was, |
| 2:37.7 | how does the cancellation of the Model S and X immediately affect your thinking about your next car? |
... |
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