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Chevrolet is holding EV training workshops for dealers

Credit: General Motors

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General Motors’ (GM) Chevrolet is holding a tour of electric vehicle (EV) training workshops in the U.S., set to help educate dealers and salespeople about the technology as more consumers look to go electric.

Chevy has been hosting an EV training tour across five U.S. states over the summer and fall, in efforts to increase dealer confidence and product knowledge, as detailed in a report over the weekend from Automotive News. The program is expected to feature a total attendance of around 7,000 dealership workers, and it comes as the brand prepares to launch additional EVs and variants of existing products.

“We’ve had live drive events in the past,” notes Michael MacPhee, Director of Sales Operations at Chevy. “We’ve done five-city tours before. But this is the first time that we’ve been so EV-focused.”

The training program aims to achieve two main goals: to educate dealers about common EV misconceptions, and to let employees drive various EVs from both GM brands and those from other automakers. The trainings have so far been held in Monticello, New York, Fort Worth, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia, with upcoming workshops set to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada and Indianapolis, Indiana.

GM announces NACS access for its EVs, but charges $225 per adapter

Currently, Chevy sells the Equinox crossover EV, the Blazer mid-size crossover EV, and the Silverado electric pickup in the U.S. The company is also set to launch additional variants for the vehicles, including a base-level trim for the Equinox EV starting at $34,995 and sporting a 319-mile range. The automaker is also planning to launch a next-generation version of its early Chevy Bolt in the coming years.

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According to Chevy, 52 percent of Blazer EV buyers in August had been new to the brand, coming from automakers like Ford, Honda, Stellantis, and Toyota.

“It’s 100 percent the goal behind the training tours: How do we grow our business to meet customers’ needs who have the interest and propensity to buy an electric vehicle?” MacPhee added. “We’re confident that the Chevy showroom is the right place to buy those.”

MacPhee says that the training includes topics such as charging infrastructure questions and EV range, along with demonstrations of GM’s cold-weather technology, EV ownership cost comparisons with gas cars, and more. He also notes that GM may include additional sessions in 2025, if dealerships ask for more.

“What can move the needle on getting into an EV? Cost of ownership is one of our biggest levers that we can pull,” he adds. “Even with the electricity costs, savings on fuel can easily save you $100 a month. And as you get into the larger vehicles, like Silverado, that’s even more true. So that’s one that’s really been resonating well with our sales professionals.”

Despite facing some production struggles with its Blazer and other EVs, GM has plans to invest around $390 million into a Kansas manufacturing facility for the next-generation Chevy Bolt EV, after it ended production of the Malibu earlier this year.

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RELATED:

General Motors pauses self-driving vehicle development for Chevy Bolt 2.0

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Tesla extends FSD Supervised ride-alongs in Europe by three months

Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe. 

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Credit: Grok Imagine

Tesla appears to be doubling down on its European Full Self-Driving (Supervised) push, with the company extending its demo ride-along program by three months until the end of March 2026. The update seems to have been implemented due to overwhelming demand. 

Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe. 

Extended FSD demonstrations

Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager Ivan Komušanac shared on LinkedIn that the company is offering ride-along experiences in Germany, France and Italy while working toward FSD (Supervised) approval in Europe.

He noted that this provides a great feedback opportunity from the general public, encouraging participants to record and share their experiences. For those unable to book in December, Komušanac teased more slots as “Christmas presents.”

Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt highlighted the extension on X, stating that dates now run from December 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, in multiple cities including Stuttgart-Weinstadt, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf in Germany. This suggests that the FSD ride-along program in Europe has officially been extended until the end of the first quarter of 2026. 

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Building momentum for European approval

Replies to Merritt’s posts buzzed with excitement, with users like @AuzyMale noting that Cologne and Düsseldorf are already fully booked. This sentiment was echoed by numerous other Tesla enthusiasts on social media. Calls for the program’s expansion to other European territories have also started gaining steam, with some X users suggesting Switzerland and Finland as the next locations for FSD ride-alongs.

Ultimately, the Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager’s post aligns with the company’s broader FSD efforts in Europe. As per recent reports, Tesla recently demonstrated FSD’s capabilities for Rome officials. Reporters from media outlets in France and Germany have also published positive reviews of FSD’s capabilities on real-world roads. 

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Tesla’s six-seat extended wheelbase Model Y L sold out for January 2026

Estimated delivery dates for new Tesla Model Y L orders now extend all the way into February 2026.

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Credit: Tesla China

The Tesla Model Y L seems to be in high demand in China, with estimated delivery dates for new orders now extending all the way into February 2026. 

This suggests that the Model Y L has been officially sold out from the rest of 2025 to January 2026. 

Model Y L estimated delivery dates

The Model Y L’s updated delivery dates mark an extension from the vehicle’s previous 4-8 week estimated wait time. A detailed chart shared by Tesla data tracker @Tslachan on X shows the progressions of the Model Y L’s estimated delivery dates since its launch earlier this year. 

Following its launch in September, the vehicle was given an initial October 2025 estimated delivery date. The wait times for the vehicle were continually updated over the years, until the middle of November, when the Model Y L had an estimated delivery date of 4-8 weeks. This remained until now, when Tesla China simply listed February 2026 as the estimated delivery date for new Model Y L orders.

Model Y demand in China

Tesla Model Y demand in China seems to be very healthy, even beyond the Model Y L. New delivery dates show the company has already sold out its allocation of the all-electric crossover for 2025. The Model Y has been the most popular vehicle in the world in both of the last two years, outpacing incredibly popular vehicles like the Toyota RAV4. In China, the EV market is substantially more saturated, with more competitors than in any other market.

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Tesla has been particularly kind to the Chinese market, as it has launched trim levels for the Model Y in the country that are not available anywhere else, such as the Model Y L. Demand has been strong for the Model Y in China, with the vehicle ranking among the country’s top 5 New Energy Vehicles. Interestingly enough, vehicles that beat the Model Y in volume like the BYD Seagull are notably more affordable. Compared to vehicles that are comparably priced, the Model Y remains a strong seller in China. 

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NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang commends Tesla’s Elon Musk for early belief

“And when I announced DGX-1, nobody in the world wanted it. I had no purchase orders, not one. Nobody wanted to buy it. Nobody wanted to be part of it, except for Elon.”

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Credit: NVIDIA

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Wednesday and commended Tesla CEO Elon Musk for his early belief in what is now the most valuable company in the world.

Huang and Musk are widely regarded as two of the greatest tech entrepreneurs of the modern era, with the two working in conjunction as NVIDIA’s chips are present in Tesla vehicles, particularly utilized for self-driving technology and data collection.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang regrets not investing more in Elon Musk’s xAI

Both CEOs defied all odds and created companies from virtually nothing. Musk joined Tesla in the early 2000s before the company had even established any plans to build a vehicle. Jensen created NVIDIA in the booth of a Denny’s restaurant, which has been memorialized with a plaque.

On the JRE episode, Rogan asked about Jensen’s relationship with Elon, to which the NVIDIA CEO said that Musk was there when nobody else was:

“I was lucky because I had known Elon Musk, and I helped him build the first computer for Model 3, the Model S, and when he wanted to start working on an autonomous vehicle. I helped him build the computer that went into the Model S AV system, his full self-driving system. We were basically the FSD computer version 1, and so we were already working together.

And when I announced DGX-1, nobody in the world wanted it. I had no purchase orders, not one. Nobody wanted to buy it. Nobody wanted to be part of it, except for Elon.

He goes ‘You know what, I have a company that could really use this.’ I said, Wow, my first customer. And he goes, it’s an AI company, and it’s a nonprofit and and we could really use one of these supercomputers. I boxed one up, I drove it up to San Francisco, and I delivered it to the Elon in 2016.”

The first DGX-1 AI supercomputer was delivered personally to Musk when he was with OpenAI, which provided crucial early compute power for AI research, accelerating breakthroughs in machine learning that underpin modern tools like ChatGPT.

Tesla’s Nvidia purchases could reach $4 billion this year: Musk

The long-term alliance between NVIDIA and Tesla has driven over $2 trillion in the company’s market value since 2016.

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