Founded in 2003, Tesla is the top manufacturer of electric vehicles in the US. Led by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, the automaker upended the industry with the futuristic designs and technology of the Gigafactory, the Model S sedan, the Model X SUV, the mass-market Model 3, and soon, the Model Y compact SUV and the unconventional, Blade Runner-inspired pickup Cybertruck. The company has also experienced a number of growing pains on the path to that status as a leader, including public clashes with government agencies, and it commonly faces questions about its technology, issues with its manufacturing, and the treatment of its workforce. The Verge covers all of Tesla’s product launches and ambitions, including energy generation and storage, and the push towards autonomous cars.
There is a growing number of incidents of Tesla owners becoming trapped in their burning vehicles after crashes, thanks to flush door handles, electrical power, and mechanical releases. US regulators have taken little action despite complaints about Tesla’s door handles “piling up” in the federal government’s database, Bloomberg reports.
[Bloomberg]
Politico reports that the company is seeking ridehailing permits from San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose airports. But this is a bit like putting the robo-cart before the horse. Tesla still hasn’t acquired permits from California’s DMV to operate a fully driverless robotaxi service in the state. Instead, it has safety monitors in the driver seat in all its ridehailing vehicles in the state.
Tesla once commanded a dominant position in the EV market. But rising competition and an aging vehicle lineup — not to mention Elon Musk’s unique ability to alienate his liberal customer base — has taken a significant toll. The company’s share of the EV market in the US dropped to 38 percent in August, falling below 40 percent for the first time since 2017, Reuters reports.
The sports car company is finally offering adapters so Taycan and Macan EV owners can charge at Tesla’s Supercharger stations. New Porsche EVs will come with a complimentary adapter, while the company will send adapters free-of-charge to current Porsche owners. Charging sessions are initiated through the Tesla app for now, but soon can be started through the My Porsche app. Still no word on when Volkswagen and Audi EV owners can get their adapters.
Oh sorry, I misread, it’s just the app that’s available to all. You still need to join a waitlist — for a supervised “driverless” vehicle that may never actually come. Tesla’s robotaxis are currently only operating in Austin and San Francisco to select users.
A couple of Cybertruck-looking models make a brief appearance in the background of this video that Tesla produced for its Master Plan 4. Is it a van? A crossover? Whatever it is, it has the Cybertruck’s distinctive design, which suggests the automaker is preparing to double down on the polarizing (and commercially unsuccessful) vehicle.
The fourth installment in the automaker’s Master Plan series seizes on flashy new buzzwords: sustainable abundance.
Tesla has revealed the fourth part of its “Master Plan.” Part three dropped in 2023, promising to create “a sustainable energy civilization.” The new plan is instead about “sustainable abundance,” promoting clean energy and automation that will “give people back more time to do what they love.” Or, as Electrek puts it:
“This is a bunch of utopic nonsense, complete with AI ‘abundance’ buzzwords that Grok could have easily written.”
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7,301 2025 models in Australia will receive a software update to correct the issue affecting the driver’s side automatic window, according to the regulator:
If a body part is in the window space when the driver’s side window is closing, it can increase the risk of injury to a vehicle occupant.
European registrations for new Tesla cars were down 40 percent in July compared to the same month last year, while EVs from BYD were up 225 percent. It’s the seventh consecutive month of declines for Musk, in a month that saw sales of EVs grow, according to ACEA data.
Either the end of 2026, or not at all, according to Elon Musk. The new six-seater Model Y L variant is creating some buzz after just launching in China, but Musk said that the rise of autonomous vehicles may preclude its arrival in the US. Whatever that means.
A few weeks after losing its first wrongful death jury trial, Tesla is facing a new set of legal problems. A judge in California approved a request to bundle a number of lawsuits alleging the company misled customers about autonomous driving into one class action suit. That could mean a much bigger payout if Tesla loses. The company is also facing a lawsuit from the California DMV over similar claims.
The six-seater EV starts at ¥339,000, or about $47,000. That’s about $3,600 more expensive than the Model Y Long Range AWD in China. The range is 751 km (466 miles) on the CLTC driving cycle, which is typically more generous than the WLTP and EPA estimates. Here in the US, we’re still waiting for the cheaper version of the Model Y.
What’s that? An Elon Musk project is falling short of expectations? The Tesla Diner has scraped half its menu, including the “all-day breakfast” option? You don’t say!
‘There are two Teslas,’ attorney Brett Schreiber told us. ‘There’s Tesla in the showroom and then there’s Tesla in the courtroom.’
Another day, another lawsuit claiming Tesla is covering up safety problems with its self-driving tech. The latest one was filed in Texas by a Tesla shareholder and seeks class action status. And like previous legal challenges, it claims that Tesla and CEO Elon Musk overstated the effectiveness of its autonomous vehicles. It comes on the heels of a shocking defeat in a wrongful death case, in which Tesla was ordered to pay more than $240 million in damages.
When it’s in the Bay Area. Tesla has sent out invites for its “ride-hailing service,” conspicuously absent any Robotaxi branding.
Tesla doesn’t have permits for autonomous taxis in California, so its rides include a supervisor in the driver’s seat, who Reuters reports must be “ready to take over at all times” — in Austin the supervisor sits in the passenger seat. A first fan video shows the car doing most of the work, but the human driver’s hands always stay near the wheel.
A regulatory filing surfaced Monday morning in Korea showing the underperforming electronics giant won an order to build chips for an unnamed large global tech company in a contract that runs through 2033.
Then, a few hours later, Elon Musk tweeted the arrangement was for Tesla’s “next-generation AI6 chip,” built at Samsung’s plant in Texas, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg.
Update: Added info from Elon Musk’s tweet.
Tesla has been promising more affordable models as the thing that will help pull it out of its current rut. But in an earnings call Wednesday, the company’s CEO came right out and confirmed rumors that it would just be a stripped down version of the Model Y, rather than a brand new vehicle program. “It’s a Model Y,” Musk said. “I let the cat out of the bag there.” The cheaper Model Y is currently in production and expected to go on sale in the fourth quarter of 2025. (Musk’s response to the question starts at 1:00:14.)
The delivery took place in Austin, Texas, last month. Apparently the vehicle did fine until it arrived at its destination, at which point it promptly parked in a fire lane. This photo appeared in the company’s second quarter earnings report for shareholders. Nice work, everyone.
