News
“Boring” EQC fails to provide Mercedes-Benz with EV momentum
The Mercedes-Benz EQC was supposed to be the German automaker’s answer to Tesla’s emergence as the dominant force in electric transportation. After an introduction that could only be described as a disappointment, Mercedes’ parent company Daimler’s Shareholder meeting on Wednesday revealed how some investors felt about the EQC’s underwhelming performance.
“Too late, too expensive, and too boring,” Speich said about the EQC, which has had less-than-desirable sales figures, according to the German Federal Motor Transport Authority.
In 2019, only 397 units of the EQC were sold, and as of May 28, 2020, an additional 276 have been sold. The combination of these two figures is indicative of less than 700 units sold since the vehicle’s launch in late 2019.
2019 was a rough year for Daimler, and the EQC undoubtedly contributed to the struggles the automaker felt over the previous twelve months. Deka Investment, which holds about 5.4 million shares of Daimler stock, was vocal when the EQC came to light during the Shareholder meeting.
The all-electric EQC was released last year, and Deka’s Head of Sustainability and Corporate Governance Ingo Speich had prepared remarks that broke down the disappointing performance of the car, Yahoo reported.
Not all is bad for Mercedes-Benz, though. The company’s deliveries in China climbed to a record in Q2 2020, and truck and global car sales rose in June compared to the same month in 2019. The company did state that it will not turn a profit in the quarter due to the coronavirus, which halted the automaker’s momentum that included a plan to implement “thousands” of efficiency measures, according to Daimler CEO Ola Kallenius.
“Our previous efficiency goals covered the upcoming transformation, but not a global recession,” Kallenius said. “Daimler can do better, and we are determined to deliver.”
Mercedes will unveil the compact EQA electric car later this year, Kallenius said. The luxury car company will also offer five electric models and more than 20 plug-in hybrids by the end of the year. The push toward electrification is geared toward meeting strict European emissions rules in 2020 and 2021. Kallenius stated that reaching the CO2 limits will be “challenging.”
Daimler shares have declined by 24% so far in 2020, giving the company a market cap of €40 billion, or $45.3 billion. This figure is less than 20% of Tesla’s $257.26 billion market cap.
Daimler also announced a restructuring plan in November that foresaw the elimination of more than 10,000 jobs worldwide. The move will save the company €1.4 billion, or $1.58 billion in personnel spending by 2022.
Although the EQC did not live up to the hype that Mercedes-Benz expected, there is still hope. With the German automaker planning to produce several more fully-electric models and a broad spectrum of hybrid vehicles in the future, the push toward a sustainable fleet is still within reason. Mercedes has a long history of manufacturing luxury automobiles, and shifting to electric transportation presents a variety of exciting challenges that have stumped some of the biggest car companies in the world, like Volkswagen.
There is room for improvement, but the EQC is not necessarily an indicator of what Mercedes-Benz has to offer. The company must learn from the underwhelming performance of the EQC and push for the development of more advanced EV technologies for its future models.
Tesla has added the 15th automaker to the growing list of companies whose EVs can utilize the Supercharger Network this year, as BMW is the latest company to gain access to the largest charging infrastructure in the world.
BMW became the 15th company in 2025 to gain Tesla Supercharger access, after the company confirmed to its EV owners that they could use any of the more than 25,000 Supercharging stalls in North America.
Welcome @BMW owners.
Download the Tesla app to charge → https://t.co/vnu0NHA7Ab
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) December 10, 2025
Newer BMW all-electric cars, like the i4, i5, i7, and iX, are able to utilize Tesla’s V3 and V4 Superchargers. These are the exact model years, via the BMW Blog:
- i4: 2022-2026 model years
- i5: 2024-2025 model years
- 2026 i5 (eDrive40 and xDrive40) after software update in Spring 2026
- i7: 2023-2026 model years
- iX: 2022-2025 model years
- 2026 iX (all versions) after software update in Spring 2026
With the expansion of the companies that gained access in 2025 to the Tesla Supercharger Network, a vast majority of non-Tesla EVs are able to use the charging stalls to gain range in their cars.
So far in 2025, Tesla has enabled Supercharger access to:
- Audi
- BMW
- Genesis
- Honda
- Hyundai
- Jaguar Land Rover
- Kia
- Lucid
- Mercedes-Benz
- Nissan
- Polestar
- Subaru
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
- Volvo
Drivers with BMW EVs who wish to charge at Tesla Superchargers must use an NACS-to-CCS1 adapter. In Q2 2026, BMW plans to release its official adapter, but there are third-party options available in the meantime.
They will also have to use the Tesla App to enable Supercharging access to determine rates and availability. It is a relatively seamless process.
News
Tesla adds new feature that will be great for crowded parking situations
This is the most recent iteration of the app and was priming owners for the slowly-released Holiday Update.
Tesla has added a new feature that will be great for crowded parking lots, congested parking garages, or other confusing times when you cannot seem to pinpoint where your car went.
Tesla has added a new Vehicle Locator feature to the Tesla App with App Update v4.51.5.
This is the most recent iteration of the app and was priming owners for the slowly-released Holiday Update.
While there are several new features, which we will reveal later in this article, perhaps one of the coolest is that of the Vehicle Locator, which will now point you in the direction of your car using a directional arrow on the home screen. This is similar to what Apple uses to find devices:
Interesting. The location arrow in the Tesla app now points to your car when you’re nearby. pic.twitter.com/b0yjmwwzxN
— Whole Mars Catalog (@wholemars) December 7, 2025
In real time, the arrow gives an accurate depiction of which direction you should walk in to find your car. This seems extremely helpful in large parking lots or unfamiliar shopping centers.
Getting to your car after a sporting event is an event all in itself; this feature will undoubtedly help with it:
The nice little touch that Tesla have put in the app – continuous tracking of your vehicle location relative to you.
There’s people reporting dizziness testing this.
To those I say… try spinning your phone instead. 😉 pic.twitter.com/BAYmJ3mzzD
— Some UK Tesla Guy (UnSupervised…) (@SomeUKTeslaGuy) December 8, 2025
Tesla’s previous app versions revealed the address at which you could locate your car, which was great if you parked on the street in a city setting. It was also possible to use the map within the app to locate your car.
However, this new feature gives a more definitive location for your car and helps with the navigation to it, instead of potentially walking randomly.
It also reveals the distance you are from your car, which is a big plus.
Along with this new addition, Tesla added Photobooth features, Dog Mode Live Activity, Custom Wraps and Tints for Colorizer, and Dashcam Clip details.
🚨 Tesla App v4.51.5 looks to be preparing for the Holiday Update pic.twitter.com/ztts8poV82
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 8, 2025
All in all, this App update was pretty robust.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk shaded Waymo in a post on X on Wednesday, stating the company “never really had a chance” and that it “will be obvious in hindsight.”
Tesla and Waymo are the two primary contributors to the self-driving efforts in the United States, with both operating driverless ride-hailing services in the country. Tesla does have a Safety Monitor present in its vehicles in Austin, Texas, and someone in the driver’s seat in its Bay Area operation.
Musk says the Austin operation will be completely void of any Safety Monitors by the end of the year.
🚨 Tesla vs. Waymo Geofence in Austin https://t.co/A6ffPtp5xv pic.twitter.com/mrnL0YNSn4
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 10, 2025
With the two companies being the main members of the driverless movement in the U.S., there is certainly a rivalry. The two have sparred back and forth with their geofences, or service areas, in both Austin and the Bay Area.
While that is a metric for comparison now, ultimately, it will not matter in the coming years, as the two companies will likely operate in a similar fashion.
Waymo has geared its business toward larger cities, and Tesla has said that its self-driving efforts will expand to every single one of its vehicles in any location globally. This is where the true difference between the two lies, along with the fact that Tesla uses its own vehicles, while Waymo has several models in its lineup from different manufacturers.
The two also have different ideas on how to solve self-driving, as Tesla uses a vision-only approach. Waymo relies on several things, including LiDAR, which Musk once called “a fool’s errand.”
This is where Tesla sets itself apart from the competition, and Musk highlighted the company’s position against Waymo.
Jeff Dean, the Chief Scientist for Google DeepMind, said on X:
“I don’t think Tesla has anywhere near the volume of rider-only autonomous miles that Waymo has (96M for Waymo, as of today). The safety data is quite compelling for Waymo, as well.”
Musk replied:
“Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight.”
Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2025
Tesla stands to have a much larger fleet of vehicles in the coming years if it chooses to activate Robotaxi services with all passenger vehicles. A simple Over-the-Air update will activate this capability, while Waymo would likely be confined to the vehicles it commissions as Robotaxis.
Tesla adds 15th automaker to Supercharger access in 2025
Tesla adds new feature that will be great for crowded parking situations
