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Elon Musk shows off Tesla pulling a 250,000-pound load

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Elon Musk, Tesla CEO,  addresses a press conference in October 2015. 
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Elon Musk posted a video on Twitter of a Tesla Model X pulling what he says is a 250,000-pound load.

No real surface is perfect, but it did pull about 250,000 lbs of muck rail cars out of a tunnel

The tweet was in response to a question about the limit a Tesla can drag.

Musk had just shared post by the electric vehicle site Electrek showing a Tesla pulling 95,000 pounds.

Model X pulls a 95,000 lb (15,000 above US road legal limit) semi truck on a pure snow surface

He had also recently shared a story from the aficionado site Teslarati showing a Tesla Model X beating out a Chevy Camaro in a tug-of-war challenge. In this sort of challenge, the two vehicles tie themselves to each other back to back and both accelerate, trying to overcome the other car with force.

Better to be in the Model X

To be clear, none of these stunts are recommended.

According to the Model X's owner's manual, the car has a maximum towing capacity of just 4960 pounds, depending on the tires.

And exceeding the limit comes with a dire warning: "Warning: Do not overload the vehicle or trailer. Doing so can cause poor performance, vehicle damage and loss of vehicle control, resulting in serious injury or death," reads the manual says on page 77.

Musk posted the tweet with a video of a Tesla towing what he claims to be 125 tons on March 22, the day after Tesla shareholders approved an unprecedented multibillion-dollar compensation package for the CEO.

The compensation plan gives Musk a reported $2.6 billion to more than $55 billion in stock options via 12 tranches, or portions, which vest as Tesla reaches various performance milestones over 10 years.

For the first tranche of stock option to vest, Tesla has to reach a market cap of $100 billion. Each additional $50 billion in market value Tesla ads, Musk receives another tranche. So for the entire package to vest, Tesla has to hit a market capitalization of $650 billion. If that happens, Musk will earn up to $55.8 billion in stock and awards.

Currently, Tesla's market capitalization is $50 billion.

See also:

Elon Musk's 'intergalactic media empire' could lead to innovation

Elon Musk announces a big change to his tunneling venture: It will 'prioritize pedestrians and cyclists over cars'

Elon Musk: 'Mark my words — A.I. is far more dangerous than nukes'

Elon Musk's personally responding to questions and complaints from his customers
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Elon Musk's personally responding to questions and complaints from his customers

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