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Mercedes EQG spotted completing winter testing
The upcoming Mercedes EQG, the electric variant of the historic G-Class SUV, has been spotted completing winter testing in Germany.
The Mercedes G Class SUV is one of the oldest model names in the automotive industry, and despite its long heritage, it has changed in design and purpose very little. It remains a boxy offroading SUV that offers the driver and passengers unparalleled comfort. As Mercedes electrifies its lineup, the electrified version of the vehicle, the EQG, has been seen testing ahead of a possible launch this year or next.
The Mercedes EQG was spotted in Germany by the car spotting Instagram, @race356:
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The two pictures show a surprisingly uncamouflaged electric G class, identified not only by its electric circuit-themed wrap, but by its lack of tailpipe and covered grill.
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The concept/prototype version of the Mercedes EQG was first revealed in 2021 when the chief designer, Emmerich Schiller, outlined some basic but intriguing technical specifications of the vehicle. Mr. Schiller stated that the vehicle would use a quad-motor all-wheel-drive system paired with a unique ladder frame, an integrated battery, and an intricate 2-speed “transfer case” (for lack of a better term). One central point was made clear by these upgrades; the electric G wagon would not lose its offroading capabilities as it changed its drivetrain.
Other specifications, including pricing, electric range, and more, have not yet been made public by Mercedes, but they may be predicted with reasonable estimates.
The upcoming electric Mercedes should obviously not be expected to come in at a budget-friendly starting price. The gas version of the Mercedes G Class starts at an eye-watering $139,900. Considering the price of other electric models has closely mimicked similar Mercedes gas offerings, it would be surprising to see the vehicle start for less than $140,000.
Considering the range of options and trims that Mercedes makes available, including AMG variants, a Mercedes EQG could be priced from the low $140,000 range to close to $200,000 for a top-trim AMG version.
In terms of performance specifications, it should be noted that Mercedes’ next-gen EV platform is just around the corner. Mercedes has promised better motor efficiency, higher battery density, and improved performance specifications with the new platform. Nonetheless, you can still get a good idea of the minimum specifications by using the specifications of the parts available today.
If Mercedes used parts from the EQS SUV, the EQG would be fitted with a 107.8kWh battery. This battery, which gives the EQS SUV a range of 305 miles, would likely be strained in the larger, more powerful, and far less aerodynamic EQG. Hence, even if the EQG saw a modest 20% drop in efficiency compared to the EQS SUV, it would only be capable of a range between 200 and 250 miles.
Regarding its output numbers, considering the vehicle uses four motors, the EQG could produce between 1000 and 1400 cumulative horsepower and between 1200 and 1600 pound-feet of torque if it used motors found within the EQS SUV.
Despite the German luxury brand’s numerous videos on the EQG concept, the company has not yet clarified when the vehicle will be launched. Yet with the company completing testing on what is no longer a first-gen prototype vehicle, many anticipate that the vehicle could be revealed in production form later this year or next.
Luckily, due to America’s never-ending demand for SUVs over the past few years, Mercedes is more incentivized than ever to release the vehicle as quickly as possible. Hopefully, this demand, compounded with the company’s drive towards electrification, will mean the historic G wagon becomes electric sooner rather than later.
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SpaceX Starship Flight 13 faces wrath of the Texas skies
SpaceX pushed Starship Flight 13 to Friday, blaming weather instead of the previous engine issues.
SpaceX called off Thursday’s launch attempt of Starship Flight 13, pushing the mission to Friday because of weather tied to Tropical Storm Bertha. The company confirmed the delay on X, noting “Now targeting Friday, July 24 for Starship’s thirteenth flight test, due to weather. A key objective for the flight test is to get clear imagery from the ground of Starship’s heatshield as it flies at a higher dynamic pressure during ascent, which won’t be possible with today’s weather conditions.”
This is the second delay for Flight 13 in two weeks. SpaceX first tried to launch the mission on July 16, but the countdown ended in an automated abort at T-0 when four of Super Heavy Booster 20’s 33 Raptor engines failed to ignite. Musk said at the time that two Raptors would need to be removed and replaced, as Teslarati reported. The company spent the following week destacking Ship 40 and Booster 20, swapping engines, and running leak checks before restacking the vehicle on Pad 2 Wednesday night, according to Spaceflight Now’s live coverage.
Unlike the engine problem, Thursday’s delay has nothing to do with the hardware. SpaceX wants clean footage of Starship’s heat shield captured from the ground as the vehicle flies through max dynamic pressure, something the storm’s cloud cover over South Texas would not allow. The company said visibility should improve for Friday’s attempt, with the same 90 minute window opening at 5:45 p.m. CT.
Flight 13 will be the second outing for the V3 versions of Starship and Super Heavy, following their debut on Flight 12 in May. The mission carries 20 production Starlink V3 satellites, the first time SpaceX has flown operational satellites rather than mass simulators on Starship. Six of those satellites are fitted with cameras to inspect the heat shield from a different angle during ascent, giving engineers a second data source beyond the ground imagery the weather is currently blocking.
Booster 20 will attempt a boostback burn and a splashdown landing burn in the Gulf of America, while Ship 40 follows a suborbital trajectory toward a landing in the Indian Ocean. The flight plan largely mirrors Flight 12, though the booster will run a more aggressive ascent burn after max Q this time, and the ship’s heat shield includes load sensing tiles meant to measure stress at the higher dynamic pressure SpaceX is targeting.
If Friday’s attempt succeeds, Flight 13 could be the last suborbital test in the program. SpaceX is already looking to push for an orbital flight on Flight 14.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) endured one of its sharpest single-day declines in years on July 23, tumbling approximately 14.5 percent and closing near $320 after opening the session around $374. The drop erased more than $140 billion in market value amid heavy trading volume and left the shares at multi-week lows.
The sell-off followed the company’s second-quarter 2026 results, released the previous evening. Tesla reported record revenue of $28.2 billion, up 26 percent year over year, driven by a Q2-record 480,126 vehicle deliveries. Energy storage deployments also rose strongly.
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Yet profitability disappointed sharply. Operating income fell 57 percent to $398 million, compressing the operating margin to just 1.4 percent. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $0.33, well below the roughly $0.53 analysts had expected. Free cash flow turned negative by $1.1 billion as capital expenditures surged 142 percent to $5.8 billion, largely tied to accelerated spending on artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomous systems.
The losses on capex were expected, as Tesla said it would be spending heavily in 2026.
Investors also reacted to lingering uncertainty surrounding key product timelines. During the Earnings Call, management reiterated ambitions for Robotaxi deployment and the Optimus humanoid robot, but offered limited new concrete milestones, renewing questions about execution pace that have long accompanied Tesla’s ambitious roadmap.
The magnitude of the decline places it among Tesla’s more severe one-day percentage losses since its 2010 initial public offering. Historically, the two largest single-day drops (split-adjusted) remain September 8, 2020, when shares fell 21.1 percent amid broader market volatility and valuation concerns, and January 13, 2012, with a 19.3 percent plunge during the company’s early growth struggles.
Other notable declines include an 18.6 percent drop on March 16, 2020, at the onset of pandemic-related market turmoil. Thursday’s move ranks roughly ninth on the all-time list but stands out as the steepest in more than a year.
Despite the short-term pain, Tesla’s long-term trajectory has repeatedly recovered from such volatility. The latest results underscore both the strength of its core automotive and energy businesses and the near-term costs of heavy investment in next-generation technologies.
Elon Musk clapped back at France’s decision to withhold the approval for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised system, projecting a clear and blunt message to French Transport Minister Phillippe Tabarot, after he publicly rejected the technology in its current form.
Tabarot outlines several concerns with Tesla Full Self-Driving in a detailed video statement, where he said, “The safety trade-offs are not yet sufficient to authorize it as it currently stands,” he said. He emphasized that FSD is not a true self-driving system and that the driver remains fully responsible.
Key issues Tabarot also brought up included allowing speeding when surrounding traffic exceeds limits and what he believes are insufficient guarantees of driver attention during complex urban maneuvers such as lane changes, intersections, and roundabouts.
Delaying the approval of FSD in France will cost lives
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 22, 2026
While acknowledging technological progress and France’s support for autonomous innovation, Tabarot stressed that deployment must prioritize road safety. He noted ongoing technical discussions with Tesla, the Netherlands, and other European partners, with further ecosystem meetings planned for the fall.
Musk’s rebuke highlights the human cost of regulatory caution. Tesla’s latest safety reports provide compelling data supporting accelerated adoption. In the most recent 12-month period, vehicles using FSD (Supervised) recorded one major collision per approximately 5.1 million miles driven, dramatically better than the U.S. national average of one crash per 698,000 miles.
Even Tesla vehicles driven manually with active safety features outperform the average by a wide margin. These figures come from billions of real-world miles of telemetry, showing FSD vehicles involved in far fewer incidents than both manual Teslas and the broader U.S. fleet.
Critics argue Tesla’s comparisons require careful scrutiny regarding reporting thresholds and fleet demographics, yet the data consistently positions FSD as a potential lifesaver. With road fatalities remaining a leading cause of death worldwide, Musk contends that proven safer technology should not face prolonged bureaucratic hurdles.
France’s measured approach reflects the broader European regulatory caution, which many, especially Musk, have been critical of in the past. However, as autonomous systems from Tesla and competitors like Waymo demonstrate superior safety in independent studies, pressure is mounting for harmonized approvals.
Musk’s warning carries the belief that every month of delay may equate to avoidable tragedies on European roads.
SpaceX Starship Flight 13 faces wrath of the Texas skies
Tesla stock tumbles after earnings, one of its sharpest single-day declines
