The future of transportation is electric. Tesla proved with the Model S that customers would want to buy luxury vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries. Other EV startups like Faraday Future, Byton, Lucid Motors, and SF Motors are chasing after Elon Musk. And major automakers like Jaguar, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz have each released their own Tesla challengers. There are obstacles, such as the need for a more robust charging network. But battery-powered cars are here to stay.
Last month Musk promised there would be “500 or more” of the (supervised) Robotaxis in Texas by the end of the year. Today he told an X user the fleet should “roughly double next month.” But given best estimates put the current number of cars around 30, double that is... nowhere near 500.
October sales are down 48.5 percent across Europe compared to 2024, according to data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association on Tuesday. For the year, Tesla’s sales are down about 30 percent in the region, while industrywide EV sales jumped 26 percent. While the company’s car business struggled, Elon Musk was focused on robots and winning shareholder approval for his newly minted $1 trillion pay package.
[ACEA - European Automobile Manufacturers' Association]
US-based car reviewers are going gaga over Chinese EVs. Their audiences wonder why they can’t buy them.
A woman died and her husband was seriously injured after first responders struggled to retrieve them from a burning Model 3, according to a new lawsuit filed against the company. The crash took place January 2023 in Washington state and is the latest to allege that Tesla’s door handle design is trapping people inside their vehicles.
The Gravity Touring, with 337 miles of range and a native NACS charging port for Tesla Supercharger access, will start at $79,900 (excluding destination fees). That puts Lucid’s SUV in direct competition with a host of luxury EVs, including the Rivian R1S, BMW iX, Polestar 3, and Tesla Model X.
The company was awarded a ridehailing permit by the state’s Department of Transportation, which clears the way for Tesla to launch a robotaxi service — potentially without safety drivers. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said he wants to launch in 8-10 new markets before the end of 2025.
It’s without a head chef, as Eric Greenspan cuts ties after his 15 minutes of fame (infamy?) to open Jewish deli Mish.
The diner opened in July, drawing protests, and scrapped half its menu within a month. More changes are coming, with plans to convert to a full-service restaurant by January.
[Los Angeles Times]
The parent company of Jeep, Dodge, and Ram was one of the last to say it would adopt the North American Charging Standard, or NACS, for its EVs. So as such, its one of the last to finally flip the switch and allow its EV owners to charge at Tesla Supercharger stations.
Tesla Supercharger network availability will start in 2026 with existing North American BEVs, such as Jeep Wagoneer S and Dodge Charger Daytona, followed by the 2026 Jeep Recon and other future products to be announced.
Advocates worry that weakening the ban will derail the march to a carbon-free future.
Tesla might be about to give in and adopt Apple’s CarPlay system in its cars. It’s a welcome change, but somehow I suspect this commenter isn’t the only one holding out on a Model Y purchase for slightly different reasons.
Brian Ford:
Unfortunately, the addition of CarPlay won’t erase the other dealbreaker for me.
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The joint venture, which operates under the official name Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies, is prepping its first prototypes for winter testing in the first quarter of 2026, InsideEVs reports. These include VW, Audi, and Scout test mules equipped with zonal architectures, with consolidated ECUs and less wiring. The first crop of passenger vehicles will also be Audi, Scout, and VW branded models, including the VW’s ultra-low cost ID.EVERY1. Audi and Scout will feature three zonal ECUs, like the second-generation R1T and R1S vehicles, while the VW ID.EVERY1 will come with just one zonal ECU.
It’s been almost two years since the German automaker said it was adopting Tesla’s NACS standard for its electric vehicles. And at last, long after pretty much all the other automakers have already adopted the standard, VW is following through. Starting November 18th, VW ID.4 and ID Buzz owners can buy a NACS adapter online or from their local dealer for $200, which they can then use to fast charge at any of the 25,000 Supercharger outlets in North America. That’s super!
Just hours after Tesla’s former Cybertruck chief announced he would be stepping down, Model Y program manager Emmanuel Lamacchia said on LinkedIn that he’s also leaving the company, Electrek reports.
Siddhant Awasthi, who was also in charge of the Model 3 program, announced his departure on LinkedIn after three years overseeing the Cybertruck’s dismal rollout. A recent recall notice shows that just 63,619 have been sold in the US since its 2023 launch — far from the 250,000 annual sales that Elon Musk once predicted.
You can’t get more minimal than removing the rear windshield.
The long-delayed, next-gen Roadster is maybe, finally going to see the light of day, Elon Musk said during the company’s shareholder meeting Thursday.
Production is scheduled to start 12-18 months after the demo, or sometime in mid-to-late 2027. The seemingly interminable delays have already caused MKBHD and Sam Altman to cancel their reservations. And Musk hedged on whether the April demo will actually take place. I’m sure the fact that Musk is planning the demo on April 1st isn’t a big red flag.
Elon Musk just floated the idea of a chip fabrication facility, or “tera-fab,” to keep up with Tesla’s own demand for semiconductors. He was speaking during the company’s annual shareholder meeting, where he just was awarded a $1 trillion pay package tied to growing Tesla’s value by orders of magnitude.
Tesla is holding its annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, today, where investors will decide the fate of CEO Elon Musk’s enormous $1 trillion compensation package. The meeting starts at 4 pm ET and will be livestreamed on X.com.
The proposal is widely expected to pass, considering Musk’s popularity with retail shareholders, and his ability to vote his own extensive holdings. Polymarket currently has its likely passage at 94 percent, same as Kalshi.
The Wall Street Journal cites unnamed sources at the company in its report on the electric truck’s possible demise.
In some respects, it makes sense. EV demand is much weaker now that President Trump killed the $7,500 EV tax credit. Electric trucks have always been a tough sell, with their big, expensive batteries pushing prices up higher than most consumers are willing to spend. And now Ford is heavily invested in a brand new EV platform, making the F-150 Lightning an awkward fit for the company’s future lineup.
[Wall Street Journal]
Yes. The answer is yes.
More than yet another insanely expensive toy, the Czinger 21C is the poster car for a new era of manufacturing as a service.
New industry-backed research shows how waste from deep-sea mining could have far-reaching effects on fish and their food.
The suit alleges that the company’s vehicle design trapped five people inside a burning Model S following a 2024 crash in Wisconsin, killing all of them. Tesla is already facing a federal investigation into complaints that its door handles, which sit flush against the vehicle and are electronically controlled, can trap people inside their vehicle during a crash. The company has said it would redesign the handles.
The concept version of the three-row Ioniq 9, which is coming to the annual SEMA show next week, has a lifted suspension, auxiliary lighting, and unique wheels paired with aggressive all-terrain tires. It was co-designed by Jeremiah Burton and Zach Jobe, who left Donut Media last year to form their own YouTube channel, BigTime. Burton said he was “stoked” to work with Hyundai on the revamped Ioniq 9. “EVs have come a long way, so getting a chance to put our own spin on an off-road-themed Ioniq 9 is pretty cool,” he added.
Just like MKBHD in September, the OpenAI CEO has now canceled his Roadster preorder — or tried to, at least, given his email request bounced back. Altman said he understands delays, “but 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait.” Using it to advance his feud with Elon Musk was probably a bonus.
This one seems pretty minor, all things considered. It’s for a possible issue with the installation of an off-road light bar accessory that could detach while driving. But it’s notable given that the truck has already racked up a whopping 10 recalls in just two years on the road. Most have been related to poor build quality, which could also be a factor in the truck’s dismal sales record.
GM destroyed most of the original EV1s, as documented by the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? But a few remain, mostly in museum or university collections. The Autopian recently discovered one of the original OG electric vehicles in auction in Atlanta, and before you know, CarTube creators descended, bidding up the price to over $100,000. This for a non-running relic of an EV! We’ll keep our eye out for the inevitable YouTube video.
Elon Musk’s political activities — buying Twitter, renaming it X, and letting election deniers and white supremacists back on; donating nearly $300 million to elect Donald Trump; heading DOGE — have dramatically harmed Tesla’s financial fortunes, according to a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research by Yale University economists. Musk’s polarizing behavior likely cost the company up to 1.26 million vehicle sales in the US alone, the group estimates. Meanwhile, EV sales from other automakers popped 17-22 percent, as Musk-disgusted shoppers spent their cash elsewhere.
