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Which countries and companies are poised to win the electric car race?
Electric cars are on a collision course with the status quo. Oilprice just published an article titled, Electric Vehicles And The 5 Trillion Dollar Market Transition, in which Peter Tertzakian writes, “There is little debate in my mind that big changes are forthcoming… When it comes to oil and autos, big is a word that is not big enough. Transitioning not one, but two of the largest industries in the world simultaneously is unprecedented. Both have multi-trillion-dollar roots” and the stakes are high.
That said, who’s poised to win this epic vehicle electrification race? Which countries and carmakers are best positioned? It turns out that there’s a company trying to figure all this out. Quartz reports that, “AlixPartners, a global business advisory firm, launched a new index this month to track the progress of companies and countries electrifying their vehicle fleets. As a whole, the world is barely off the starting line.” Ladies and gentlemen, start your… ummm, batteries.
Above: AlixPartners’ Marcus Kleinfeld and Jens Haas discuss global changes impacting electric vehicle adoption (Youtube: AlixPartners, LLP)
First, which automaker is leading the electric race towards the future? No surprise here — Tesla is clearly the company that’s all-in on EVs. “Tesla leads the world in devoting its entire lineup to electric vehicles, but… China’s market, split among dozens of EV manufacturers, has also seen several manufacturers make EVs a centerpiece of their lineup… The rest of the field will have to play catch up. Behind Tesla and eight Chinese companies, BMW brings up the rear with 0.7% share of is vehicles as EV in the second quarter of 2017.”
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Above: Electric vehicle share of each automakers volume in Q2 2017 (Chart: Quartz via AlixPartners)
Next, which country is out front on the world’s EV stage? According to AlixPartners, China’s electric cars are really racking up the miles. And, “what ultimately matters [most] is miles. For electric cars to dent emissions and fossil fuel consumption, the cars must displace conventional vehicles. To measure this potential, AlixPartners summed the total electric battery range of all hybrid and EVs sold. It found that China leads the pack with total potential range of 13 million miles for all-electric vehicles, nearly triple the US, its nearest contender.” That said, there’s a big opportunity for automakers that sell their electric cars in China, especially Tesla.
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Above: China sells the most electric range capacity for e-cars in the world (Chart: Quartz via AlixPartners)
Not surprisingly, Tesla is looking to establish a wholly-owned factory in Shanghai in order to take advantage of this fast-growing customer base in the Chinese electric car market. It turns out that China is also the world leader for electric car registrations. In fact, “China seized the lead [from the U.S.] in 2014, and shows no signs of slowing. It is growing at twice the global average rate of 42% per year, according to Fleetcarma, despite being the world’s largest market. Globally, China accounted for 45% of all EV sales last year.”
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Above: China is leading the world in the number of new EV registrations (Chart: Quartz via AlixPartners)
So China is the winning country in the worldwide electric car race, right? Not so fast. “No country has done more (on a per capita basis) than Norway to go electric. In September, all-electric and hybrid vehicles accounted for a record 60% of new car sales, reports the Financial Times (paywall)…. [and] those numbers are still rising fast thanks to generous subsidies and incentive policies. The country is aiming for zero emissions of all new cars by 2025. Even AlixPartners’ analysis which excludes hybrids and EVs with ranges below 311 miles (500 km)—most of the country’s EVs still have less than 400 km range—Norway is leading the way.”
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Above: When analyzing electric vehicles as share of total sold, by country, Norway tops the charts (Chart: Quartz via AlixPartners)
So depending on how you look at it, Norway and China are leading the world (via different metrics) toward an exciting, electric vehicle future. And, although China has a number of fast-growing electric automakers, AlixPartners concludes, “Tesla Inc. is by far the top-ranking manufacturer in the auto-company measures, with sales in the second quarter of 2017 (the most recent quarter measured in the Index) totalling 6.6 million miles’ (10.6 million kilometers’) worth of e-range and with a fleet e-share of 100%.”
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Note: Article originally published on evannex.com, by Matt Pressman
Source: Quartz via AlixPartners
News
Tesla expands Robotaxi in a way that was long anticipated
Instead, it has to do with the consumer base it offers Robotaxi to, because it has not offered it to everyone in the past.
Tesla has expanded Robotaxi in a way that was long anticipated, and it does not have to do with a new, larger geofence in a city where it already offered its partially autonomous ride-hailing suite, or a new city altogether.
Instead, it has to do with the consumer base it offers Robotaxi to, because it has not offered it to everyone in the past.
Tesla has taken a major step forward in its autonomous ride-hailing ambitions with the official launch of the Tesla Robotaxi app for Android users. Released on the Google Play Store on April 24. Titled simply “Tesla Robotaxi,” the app is now available to download directly from Tesla.
The @Tesla Robtoaxi App has just officially launched for Android users. Go get some rides y’all!
Download: https://t.co/D2jIONXc91 pic.twitter.com/rQ6TD14zkC
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) April 24, 2026
This rollout fulfills a long-anticipated expansion that opens the service to hundreds of millions of Android smartphone users who were previously unable to access it on iOS alone.
The app delivers a streamlined, driverless ride experience powered by Tesla’s automated driving technology.
Users sign in with a Tesla Account, view the current service area map within the app, enter a destination, and receive an estimated fare and arrival time before confirming the ride. When a Model Y from the Robotaxi fleet arrives, riders confirm the license plate, enter the vehicle, fasten their seatbelt, and tap “Start Ride” on either the app or the vehicle’s touchscreen.
During the trip, passengers have access to all the same controls that iOS users do, and can adjust climate settings, seat positions, and music while tracking progress on an in-app map. The interface also allows drop-off changes or support requests if needed. After the ride, users exit, close the doors, and submit feedback.
This Android availability directly broadens the rider base for Robotaxi in its initial service areas. Unfortunately, Android users are used to being subject to delayed launches of new features available to Tesla owners.
By removing the iOS-only barrier, Tesla instantly expands the addressable market, enabling far more people to summon and use the autonomous vehicles already operating on public roads.
The move is a foundational requirement for scaling ride volume and gathering the real-world data needed to refine the unsupervised Full Self-Driving system that powers every trip.
For the Robotaxi program itself, the launch signals steady operational progress. It prepares the service for higher utilization rates as the fleet grows and supports the transition from limited early deployments to a more robust network.
Tesla expands Unsupervised Robotaxi service to two new cities
Tesla has indicated that users outside current service areas can sign up at the company’s website for future notifications, pointing to a deliberate, phased geographic rollout.
Looking ahead, the company plans to incorporate Cybercab vehicles to increase fleet capacity and efficiency while continuing to expand service territories. With the Android app now live, Tesla has removed a key adoption hurdle and positioned Robotaxi for the next phase of growth in autonomous urban transportation.
The infrastructure is now in place to support significantly larger rider demand as production and deployment accelerate.
News
UPDATE: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy that launched a Tesla into space is back on a mission
SpaceX Falcon Heavy returns after 18 months away to deliver a satellite that only it could carry.
UPDATE: 10:29 a.m. et: SpaceX is standing down from today’s Falcon Heavy launch of the ViaSat-3 F3 mission due to unfavorable weather. A new target date will be shared once confirmed.
After an 18-month absence, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is returning to mission on Monday morning when it’s scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 10:21 a.m. EDT.
The mission is called ViaSat-3 F3, and the heavy satellite payload needs to reach geostationary orbit, sitting 22,236 miles above Earth where its speed matches the planet’s rotation. Getting a satellite that heavy to that altitude demands more thrust than a single-core Falcon 9 can deliver.
This marks the Falcon Heavy’s 12th flight overall since its debut in February 2018, and its first since NASA’s Europa Clipper mission in October 2024.
Arguably, the most exciting element for spectators will be watching the booster recoveries in action when the two side boosters, B1072 and B1075, will attempt simultaneous landings at Landing Zone 2 and the newer Landing Zone 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, while the center core will be expended over the ocean.
SpaceX wins its first MARS contract but it comes with a catch
Following satellite deployment, expected roughly five hours after launch, ViaSat-3 F3 will spend several months traveling to its final orbital slot before undergoing in-orbit testing, with service entry expected by late summer 2026
As Teslarati reported, NASA awarded SpaceX a $175.7 million contract on April 16, 2026, to launch the ESA Rosalind Franklin Mars rover aboard a Falcon Heavy no earlier than late 2028, which would mark the first time SpaceX has ever sent a payload to Mars. That contract came on top of an already deep pipeline that includes the Roman Space Telescope, the Dragonfly Saturn mission, and multiple national security payloads.
SpaceX executed 165 missions in 2025 and now accounts for approximately 85% of all global orbital launches. With Starlink surpassing 10 million subscribers and an IPO targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation still ahead, Monday’s launch is one more data point in a company that has quietly become the backbone of both commercial and government space access worldwide.
News
Tesla launches solution to end Supercharger fights once and for all
Tesla is launching its solution to end Supercharger fights once and for all, eliminating any confusion on who is to charge next at a congested location.
Last year, a notable incident at a Tesla Supercharger led to a fight, and it all stemmed from a disagreement over who arrived at the location first.
Congestion at Tesla Superchargers is a pretty infrequent occurrence for most of us, but there are more congested and popular areas where wait times can be extensive. An unfortunate growing pain of EV ownership is the plain fact that chargers are not as available as gas pumps, and there are, at times, lines to charge.
This can cause tensions to flare and people to get entitled when visiting Superchargers. Nobody wants to spend hours at a Supercharger, but now, there will be no more confusion when there is a queue, and that’s thanks to Tesla’s new Virtual Queue for Superchargers.
Tesla is finally starting to build out the Virtual Supercharger Queue, according to Not a Tesla App, but it still relies on drivers to make it work.
When a driver is near a Supercharger that is full, a message will pop up on the Tesla App, using the driver’s location to determine their eligibility to join the virtual queue.
The app states:
“While the app is closed, Tesla uses your location to notify you of accurate wait times at Superchargers when you arrive.”
Another message within the app states:
“There is a waitlist to charge. Are you sure you want to start a charging session now?”
This sounds as if it will require drivers to act appropriately and only plug in when the app prompts them to do so, by letting them know it is their turn.
The app will notify the driver of their position in the queue, as well as how many vehicles are ahead of them.
Tesla launches first ‘true’ East Coast V4 Supercharger: here’s what that means
The company announced a while back that it would be working on a solution for this issue. Personally, I’ve only had to wait at a Supercharger for a charge on one occasion, and there was a line of between 3 and 10 cars during this singular occurrence.
I’m out at the Lancaster, PA Supercharger and showed up with a queue of three vehicles.
It’s now up to five and there have been several issues with order of arrival and confusion about who is first.
Any update on Supercharger queue? @elonmusk @aelluswamy @r_jegaa
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 31, 2026
There were no conflicts or arguments about who had arrived first, but there was some discussion between several drivers during my time there about who was to charge first. Throw a non-Tesla EV into the mix, one that can only charge at a pull-in spot, and that causes even more of a complication.



