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The best EVs that won’t be available in the U.S.

Credit: Mercedes-Benz

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While the United States has plenty of great electric vehicles to offer, there is a laundry list of great EVs that aren’t coming to the United States any time soon.

While the EV revolution seems to be in full swing in much of the world, it has yet to catch up here in the United States. Many brands, including Mercedes, Volkswagen, and even Jeep, have been forced to sell some EVs outside of the U.S. first or potentially not sell them in North America at all. Here, we will list 5 of the best ones we wish would come across the pond in the next few years.

Jeep Avenger –

(Credit: Stellantis)

Being Jeep’s first EV, many anticipated that the American company would first serve its largest/home market in North America, but sadly, that isn’t the case. The fun little Jeep Avenger has already made a name for itself in Europe, winning Europe’s SUV of the year.

The zippy little Jeep comes in at a fairly affordable 36,500 euros ($38,623) but still offers impressive specs. Jeep says the crossover will go roughly 250 miles on a single charge, charge from 20-80% in just 24 minutes, and qualifies for numerous incentives throughout Europe. The only drawback is its less-than-exciting performance, producing 156 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque with a single-motor FWD system.

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NIO es8 –

Credit: NIO

Looking at the largest car market in the world, China, you find many fascinating EVs, but perhaps one of the most intriguing comes from NIO. The NIO es8 is a large three-row SUV, which in the electric vehicle market is incredibly rare in the first place. On top of that, its impressive performance per dollar could make it a world-beater if it were to enter the United States.

Starting at 528,000 Chinese yuan ($76,431), the NIO es8 is certainly a premium offering, but its luxurious interior space and great performance match the higher price. With a dual-motor AWD system producing 644 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque, the es8 full-size SUV rockets to 60mph in just 4.1 seconds. And luckily, with an optional 100kWh long-range pack, the es8 still achieves a range of between 300-400 miles, though China’s generous CLTC range test should be taken with a grain of salt.

Volkswagen ID.3 –

The Volkswagen ID.3. (Credit: Volkswagen)

Considering the incredible popularity of the VW Golf in North America over the past 30 years, many were shocked to hear that the mass-market German automaker would not be bringing its electric equivalent to the new world. Perhaps even more bewildering, despite the VW ID.3’s sales success in Europe, Volkswagen has remained firm, stating that it will not be coming to the North American market.

Starting at 36,900 euros ($39,046), the VW ID.3 is only slightly under the price of a new Tesla Model 3, but its eye-catching design stemming from the historic Golf makes it clear why the hatchback has garnered such a following. The ID.3 sounds like a blast using a single-motor RWD system, but with its meager 167 horsepower, it won’t be breaking any land speed records. Though, as noted by many owners online, this lack of power is more than made up by the impressive range of 265 miles. Charging is a middle of the pack 30-40 minutes from 10-80%.

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Mercedes EQA –

Credit: Mercedes-Benz

As Mercedes’s most recent sales reports have indicated, the premium automaker is doing quite well in the EV market. Its top-of-the-line Mercedes EQS has become a class-defining sedan, while its newer EQE and EQB have been making headway in their respective markets. But disappointingly missing from the U.S. Mercedes lineup of EVs is the EQA.

The Mercedes A-Class is the brand’s smaller crossover/hatchback offering available in most major markets, but the EQA has only been made available in China and Europe thus far. Starting at 50,777 euros ($53,730), it is pointed squarely at the Tesla Model Y but is attempting to lure potential Tesla customers with refinement, luxury, and a legacy nameplate; Mercedes-Benz.

The small Mercedes SUV uses a single-motor FWD system, producing a modest 187 horsepower and 276 pound-feet of torque; plenty of power to get out of its own way. Further, its 321 miles of range is impressive for the segment and should be more than adequate for the layman. The Mercedes EQA will charge from 0-90% in just 32 minutes, leading numerous offerings from traditional competitors, Porsche, BMW, and Audi.

Renault Zoe –

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Credit: Renault

Last but certainly not least, one of the cheapest EVs available in Europe, the Renault Zoe e-tech. Being the French brand’s first foray into electric vehicles, it is no secret that the Zoe isn’t fast, won’t go very far, and won’t charge very fast. Still, at its price point of just 29,000 pounds in the U.K. ($34,850), and with the option to lease the battery to lower the upfront cost, it has proved to be a competitive offering.

What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!

Will is an auto enthusiast, a gear head, and an EV enthusiast above all. From racing, to industry data, to the most advanced EV tech on earth, he now covers it at Teslarati.

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Elon Musk

Tesla is sending its humanoid Optimus robot to the Boston Marathon

Tesla’s Optimus robot is heading to the Boston Marathon finish line

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Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot will be stationed at the Tesla showroom at 888 Boylston Street in Boston, right along the final stretch of the Boston Marathon today, ready to cheer on runners and pose for photos with spectators.

According to a Tesla email shared by content creator Sawyer Merritt on X, Optimus will be at the Boston Boylston Street showroom on April 20, coinciding with Marathon Monday weekend. The Boston Marathon finishes on Boylston Street, and the surrounding area draws hundreds of thousands of spectators along with international broadcast coverage. Placing Optimus there puts it in front of a massive public audience at zero advertising cost.

The Tesla showroom is at 888 Boylston Street, between Gloucester Street and Fairfield Street. The final mile of the marathon runs directly along Boylston Street, with runners passing the big stores before reaching the finish line at Copley Square.

Optimus was first announced at Tesla’s AI Day event on August 19, 2021, when Elon Musk presented a vision for a general-purpose robot designed to take on dangerous, repetitive, and unwanted tasks. In March 2026, Optimus appeared at the Appliance and Electronics World Expo in Shanghai, where on-site staff stated that mass production of the robot could begin by the end of 2026. Before that, it showed up at the Tesla Hollywood Diner opening in July 2025 and at a Miami showroom event in December 2025.

Tesla’s well-calculated display of Optimus gives the public a low-pressure first encounter with a robot that Tesla is preparing  to soon deploy at scale. The company has previously indicated plans to manufacture Optimus robots at its Fremont facility at up to 1 million units annually, with an Optimus production line at Gigafactory Texas targeting 10 million units per year.

Tesla showcases Optimus humanoid robot at AWE 2026 in Shanghai

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Musk has said that Optimus “has the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business over time,” and separately that roughly 80 percent of Tesla’s future value will come from the robot program. Whether that holds depends on production execution. For now, Boston gets a preview of what that future looks like, standing at the finish line on Boylston Street while 32,000 runners pass by.

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Elon Musk

Tesla’s golden era is no longer a tagline

Tesla “golden era” teaser video highlights the future of transportation and why car ownership itself may be the next thing to change.

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Tesla Cybercab Golden Era is Here (Credit: Tesla)
Tesla Cybercab Golden Era is Here (Credit: Tesla)

The golden age of autonomous ridesharing is arriving, and Tesla is making sure we can all picture a future that looks like the future. A recent teaser posted to X shows a Cybercab parked outside a home, and with a clear message that your everyday life may soon look like this when the driverless vehicles shows up at your door.

Tesla has begun the rollout of its Robotaxi service across US cities, and the production of its dedicated, fully-autonomous Cybercab vehicle. The first Cybercab rolled off the Giga Texas assembly line on February 17, 2026, with volume production now targeted for this month. Additionally, the Robotaxi service built around it is already running, without human drivers, in US cities.

Tesla Cybercab production ignites with 60 units spotted at Giga Texas

The Cybercab is built without a steering wheel, pedals, or side mirrors, designed from the ground up for unsupervised autonomous operation. Musk described the manufacturing approach as closer to consumer electronics than traditional car production, targeting a cycle time of one unit every ten seconds at full scale.

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Drone footage from April 13, 2026 captured over 50 Cybercab units on the Giga Texas campus, with several clustered near the crash testing facility. Musk has noted that Tesla plans to sell the Cybercab to consumers for under $30,000, and owners will be able to add their vehicles to the Tesla robotaxi network when not in personal use, potentially generating income to offset the vehicle’s purchase cost. That model changes the math on vehicle ownership in a meaningful way, making a car something closer to a depreciating asset that can also earn by paying itself off and generate a profit.

During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call, the company confirmed plans to expand the Robotaxi program to seven new cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas. The service already runs without safety drivers in Austin, and public road testing of the Cybercab has expanded to five states, including California, Texas, New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts.

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Firmware

Tesla 2026 Spring Update drops 12 new features owners have been waiting for

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Tesla announced its Spring 2026 software update, and it’s the most feature-dense seasonal release the company has put out. The update covers twelve named changes spanning FSD, voice AI, safety lighting, dashcam storage, and pet display customization, among other things.

The centerpiece for owners with AI4 hardware is a redesigned Self-Driving app. The new interface lets owners subscribe to Full Self-Driving with a single tap and view ongoing FSD usage stats directly in the vehicle.

Grok gets its biggest in-car upgrade yet. The update adds a “Hey Grok” hands-free wake word along with location-based reminders, so a driver can now say “remind me to pick up groceries when I get home” without touching the screen. Grok first arrived in vehicles in July 2025, but each update has pushed it closer to genuine daily utility. Musk framed the broader vision clearly at Davos in January, saying Tesla is “really moving into a future that is based on autonomy.”

On safety, the update introduces enhanced blind spot warning lights that integrate directly with the cabin’s ambient lighting, building on the blind spot door warning that arrived in update 2026.8.

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Dog Mode has been renamed Pet Mode and now lets owners choose a dog, cat, or hedgehog icon and add their pet’s name to the display.

Dashcam retention now extends up to 24 hours, up from the previous one-hour rolling loop, with a permanent save option for any clip. Weather maps now show rain and snow with better color differentiation and include the past hour of precipitation data along the route.

Tesla has now established a clear rhythm of two major OTA pushes per year. As with last year’s Spring update, that cycle started taking shape in 2025 with adaptive headlights and trunk customization. The 2025 Holiday Update then added Grok to the vehicle for the first time. This Spring follows that structure: the Holiday update introduces new architecture, and the Spring update broadens it across the fleet.

Two notable features still did not make it. IFTTT automations, which launched in China earlier this year, were held back from this North American release for unknown reasons, and Apple CarPlay remains absent, reportedly still delayed by iOS 26 and Apple Maps compatibility issues.

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Below is the full list of feature updates released by Tesla.

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