Tesla Shares Weird Video of S3XY Winter Testing in New Zealand, Gets the Season Wrong

Over the summer, Tesla released several pictures showing how it tests its vehicles in challenging weather conditions. The images, taken in Dubai, left us with more questions than answers, wondering what the hell Tesla was doing there anyway. There were so many weird things going on, starting with the clean production cars and the lack of information about whatever was tested.

Now, Tesla shared a dynamic video of winter testing, this time sharing more info. Nevertheless, we’re not entirely convinced that Tesla did some actual testing this time. The video is narrated by JD Price, who specializes in data analytics, automotive engineering, and software engineering, according to his LinkedIn profile. Price explained how the testing was paramount to fine-tuning the Track Mode for the Model Y Performance, which arrived with the 2022 Holiday Update. The video reveals that the tests were done in July in New Zealand, where it’s winter when the summer scorches the Northern hemisphere.

Price doesn’t reveal anything about the tests other than showing his enthusiasm for having the over-the-air updates to make alterations to the car’s behavior in real-time. The engineers in New Zealand would send data and their feedback to the main team in California, where an OTA update was cooked and pushed to the cars, allowing for testing the changes immediately. While this is cool and useful, nothing in the video suggests these guys have ever tested a vehicle.

The video looks nothing like a test session for anyone who’s ever seen or attended such an activity. It’s more like a fun day in the snow on a test track with a bunch of undisciplined guys. Everyone who’s ever been on a track knows that drivers are not encouraged to go wild when several cars are so close to one another. In the video, we see all four Tesla models in production doing absurd powerslides. At the end of the track, they all turn around seemingly uncoordinated, as if there’s no one in charge.

We get the need to fine-tune Track Mode for the Model Y Performance, but we’re not sure what was with the other cars in the video. For all we care, they might’ve been there just to make it more difficult for the Model Y test driver to do his job. The video shows the team watching some PowerPoint slides, potentially analyzing graphics on a computer screen, which might give the impression that they were actually working. Nevertheless, there’s also a snow fight and a cake being cut at some point in the video. Work hard, party hard, right?