Fred Lambert

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the Tesla Semi, Toyota Highlander EV, Rivian R2, Ferrari Luce, and more.

Tesla has announced the Powerwall 3P, a new variant of its home battery with a native three-phase inverter built into a single unit. The product, announced for the German market first, eliminates the clunky workaround that previously required European homeowners to install up to three separate Powerwalls to achieve whole-home backup on the continent’s standard three-phase residential grids. Sign-ups are now live on Tesla’s website.

Tesla’s US sales fell an estimated 17% year-over-year in January 2026, according to registration data from Motor Intelligence.

The automaker moved an estimated 40,100 vehicles during the month, down from 48,500 in January 2025. Tesla doesn’t report monthly US sales figures, so third-party registration estimates are the best available proxy — and they point to a fourth consecutive month of declining domestic demand.

Waymo is now running its 6th-generation Driver without safety drivers on public roads, marking the beginning of fully autonomous operations with the company’s latest and most cost-effective hardware stack.

The announcement, authored by Waymo VP of Engineering Satish Jeyachandran, confirms that the 6th-generation system, first unveiled in August 2024, is now validated for driverless operations across multiple cities. Waymo describes it as the product of seven years of service and nearly 200 million fully autonomous miles logged across 10+ major U.S. cities.

BYD and Geely are among three finalists competing to purchase a Nissan-Mercedes-Benz joint venture plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico, according to a Reuters exclusive report. The plant, which has a production capacity of 230,000 vehicles per year, would give either Chinese automaker an instant manufacturing foothold in North America, bypassing years of regulatory delays that have stalled their greenfield factory plans in the country.

The third finalist is Vietnamese EV maker VinFast. The three were selected from a pool of nine companies that expressed interest, including Chinese automakers Chery and Great Wall Motor.

Tesla has been granted a 30-day extension by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to decide whether to formally oppose UNIBEV’s “Cybercab” trademark application, pushing Tesla’s deadline to March 14, 2026. The extension comes as Tesla prepares to begin mass production of the vehicle — whatever it ends up being called, in April.

According to USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) records, Tesla filed the extension request on February 11, 2026, and it was granted the same day. The move signals that Tesla is not ready to walk away from the “Cybercab” name, but it’s also not ready to launch a full legal fight over it.

Tesla’s domestic sales in China collapsed 45% year-over-year in January, falling to just 18,485 units — the automaker’s lowest monthly retail figure in the country since November 2022. The data, released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), paints a grim picture of Tesla’s demand in the world’s largest EV market.

The figure represents an 80% plunge from December’s record-high 93,843 domestic deliveries. While seasonal declines between December and January are normal in China, a 45% year-over-year drop is not.

Tesla filed a criminal complaint and called police to its Gigafactory Berlin after accusing an IG Metall union representative of secretly recording a closed works council meeting on Tuesday. Police seized the representative’s laptop. The incident comes just three weeks before roughly 11,000 employees vote in a works council election that could reshape the future of the plant.

The confrontation marks the latest, and most dramatic, escalation in the increasingly bitter fight between Tesla and Germany’s most powerful industrial union at the automaker’s only European factory.

Tesla has launched its first vehicle-to-grid (V2G) program in the United States, starting in select Texas markets. The “Powershare Grid Support” program allows Cybertruck owners to discharge their truck’s massive 123 kWh battery, equivalent to roughly nine Powerwalls, back to the grid during high-demand events and earn bill credits in return.

The announcement, made by Tesla Energy on social media, marks a significant milestone for a company that has been promising bidirectional charging capabilities for years but has consistently delayed delivering them across its vehicle lineup.

Tencent Cloud announced today that it has partnered with Tesla to integrate WeChat-linked features directly into Tesla vehicles in China. The over-the-air update will roll out to over 1 million Model 3 and Model Y vehicles built at Giga Shanghai, delivering one-tap location sharing from WeChat and AI-powered service suggestions — a significant concession by Tesla to China’s dominant digital ecosystem.

Hyundai Motor is reportedly looking to supply Waymo with 50,000 IONIQ 5 autonomous vehicles by 2028 in what would amount to a roughly $2.5 billion deal, and if it goes through, it would be a massive signal that the robotaxi industry is entering a new phase of real, industrial-scale deployment.

Tesla has named Joe Ward, its Vice President for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), to oversee global sales operations, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The move comes as Tesla’s automotive business continues to struggle, particularly in Europe where sales have collapsed over the past two years.

Tesla is quoting customers $290,000 for the 500-mile Long Range version of the Tesla Semi, Electrek has learned. The pricing is consistent with data from California’s HVIP voucher program, finally giving us clarity on what the production electric truck will cost after years of speculation.

Tesla VP Raj Jegannathan, who was tapped to lead North American sales after the previous head was dismissed, has announced his departure after 13 years at the automaker. It’s the latest in a string of high-profile exits as Tesla’s sales continue to struggle.

Ferrari has officially named its first all-electric vehicle: the Ferrari Luce. The Italian automaker unveiled parts of the interior design today in San Francisco, showcasing a cabin co-designed with Jony Ive’s creative collective LoveFrom that prioritizes physical controls over touchscreens.

BYD sold 5,001 vehicles in Australia in January, a staggering 641% increase year-over-year, while Tesla managed just 501, leaving the American automaker in 24th place as Chinese brands continue their takeover of the Australian EV market.

Tesla has quietly updated its official Semi website with final specifications for the production version of its all-electric Class 8 truck, confirming two trim levels — Standard Range and Long Range — as customer deliveries approach.

Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy told a Senate committee this week that no one has ever remotely taken control of Tesla vehicles. That claim doesn’t hold up to the facts of history.

In fact, a single hacker once gained control of Tesla’s entire fleet.

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Tesla getting hit hard by the Epstein files, Roadster is still alive, new Chinese EVs, and more.

Tesla has filed two new trademark applications for the Roadster, including one that reveals what appears to be the first official updated silhouette of the long-delayed electric sports car.

The filings, submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office on February 3, offer a glimpse at the branding Tesla plans to use for the vehicle that has been “coming next year” for nearly a decade.

Tesla has launched an artificial intelligence training center in China, a critical development for the automaker’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) ambitions in the world’s largest electric vehicle market.

Xiaomi has officially filed for the YU7 GT, a nearly 1,000-horsepower performance version of its popular YU7 electric SUV that will hit a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph), making it one of the fastest electric SUVs ever built.

Xpeng has unveiled the first official images of the GX, its new flagship six-seat SUV that takes clear design inspiration from the Range Rover while packing the company’s most advanced technology yet.

The Chinese EV maker shared three images of the GX on Weibo today, revealing a sleek full-size SUV that will compete directly with premium rivals like the Li Auto L9, Huawei’s Aito M9, Zeekr 9X, and the upcoming Nio ES9.

A Xiaomi SU7 owner in China has achieved what might be the most impressive real-world battery longevity test we’ve seen yet: 265,000 kilometers (165,000 miles) in just 18 months of ownership, with battery health still at 94.5%.