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Renewables to overtake coal as largest global electricity source in 2025

Credit: Tesla

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During the COP28 climate conference held in Dubai last month, world leaders from over 130 governments agreed to set a goal to triple world renewable energy installations by 2030. While more effort is needed to reach that goal, one energy organization has predicted that renewables will overtake coal generation as the world’s largest electricity source in early 2025.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its Renewables 2023 report earlier this month, marking the first of the organization’s comprehensive climate analyses released since the 2030 goal was set at the COP28 conference. The report contains countless important insights about the next several years in renewable energy, as well as details about the sector’s expansion in 2023.

“The report shows that under existing policies and market conditions, global renewable power capacity is now expected to grow to 7,300 GW over the 2023-28 period covered by the forecast,” the IEA wrote in a press release. “Solar PV and wind account for 95% of the expansion, with renewables overtaking coal to become the largest source of global electricity generation by early 2025.”

In addition to the 2025 prediction, the agency notes that global renewable energy capacity added to energy systems increased by 50 percent in 2025, and it expects the industry to enter the largest growth period yet over the next five years.

Despite the optimistic tone, the IEA also says that renewable energy expansion will need to accelerate even more to reach the COP28 2030 goal, and the world faces the primary barrier of financing for these projects in emerging and developing economies.

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“But despite the unprecedented growth over the past 12 months, the world needs to go further to triple capacity by 2030, which countries agreed to do at COP28,” the release continues.

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Renewable energy sources detailed in the report include both utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and distributed solar PV systems (like Tesla’s Virtual Power Plant pilots using Powerwalls), hydro power, onshore and offshore wind, and other smaller sources like H2 production, concentrating solar power, ocean, bioenergy and geothermal.

“Onshore wind and solar PV are cheaper today than new fossil fuel plants almost everywhere and cheaper than existing fossil fuel plants in most countries,” says Faith Birol, IEA executive director. “There are still some big hurdles to overcome, including the difficult global macroeconomic environment.”

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“For me, the most important challenge for the international community is rapidly scaling up financing and deployment of renewables in most emerging and developing economies, many of which are being left behind in the new energy economy. Success in meeting the tripling goal will hinge on this.”

IEA Renewables 2023 report: a few key insights

The details in this report are vast, though we’ll highlight just a few key insights the IEA points out.

  • Global solar PV prices declined by nearly 50 percent year over year in 2023, and the IEA expects cost reductions and accelerated deployment to continue.
  • Last year, China commissioned as much solar PV as the entire world did in 2022, while the country’s wind power increased 66 percent year over year.
  • In the U.S., the European Union (EU), India, and Brazil, solar PV and onshore wind projects are expected to more than double between now and 2028 compared to the past five years.
  • Solar PV and wind account for 95 percent of the predicted 7,300 GW renewable expansion between 2023 and 2028.
  • The IEA recommends more rapid policy implementation with accelerated case breakdown, which would boost renewable power capacity growth by 21 percent in the coming years, if implemented.

You can watch the IEA’s full, 45-minute presentation on the Renewables 2023 report below, or you can see the agency’s interactive Renewable Energy Progress Tracker here.

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

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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 CEO Elon Musk sends rivals dire warning about Full Self-Driving

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed today on the social media platform X that legacy automakers, such as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, do not want to license the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, at least not without a long list of their own terms.

“I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy,” Musk said on X. “When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless.”

Musk made the remark in response to a note we wrote about earlier today from Melius Research, in which analyst Rob Wertheimer said, “Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is,” in terms of autonomy and self-driving development.

Wertheimer believes there are hundreds of billions of dollars in value headed toward Tesla’s way because of its prowess with FSD.

A few years ago, Musk first remarked that Tesla was in early talks with one legacy automaker regarding licensing Full Self-Driving for its vehicles. Tesla never confirmed which company it was, but given Musk’s ongoing talks with Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time, it seemed the Detroit-based automaker was the likely suspect.

Tesla’s Elon Musk reiterates FSD licensing offer for other automakers

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Ford has been perhaps the most aggressive legacy automaker in terms of its EV efforts, but it recently scaled back its electric offensive due to profitability issues and weak demand. It simply was not making enough vehicles, nor selling the volume needed to turn a profit.

Musk truly believes that many of the companies that turn their backs on FSD now will suffer in the future, especially considering the increased chance it could be a parallel to what has happened with EV efforts for many of these companies.

Unfortunately, they got started too late and are now playing catch-up with Tesla, XPeng, BYD, and the other dominating forces in EVs across the globe.

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Tesla backtracks on strange Nav feature after numerous complaints

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is backtracking on a strange adjustment it made to its in-car Navigation feature after numerous complaints from owners convinced the company to make a change.

Tesla’s in-car Navigation is catered to its vehicles, as it routes Supercharging stops and preps your vehicle for charging with preconditioning. It is also very intuitive, and features other things like weather radar and a detailed map outlining points of interest.

However, a recent change to the Navigation by Tesla did not go unnoticed, and owners were really upset about it.

Tesla’s Navigation gets huge improvement with simple update

For trips that required multiple Supercharger stops, Tesla decided to implement a naming change, which did not show the city or state of each charging stop. Instead, it just showed the business where the Supercharger was located, giving many owners an unwelcome surprise.

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However, Tesla’s Director of Supercharging, Max de Zegher, admitted the update was a “big mistake on our end,” and made a change that rolled out within 24 hours:

The lack of a name for the city where a Supercharging stop would be made caused some confusion for owners in the short term. Some drivers argued that it was more difficult to make stops at some familiar locations that were special to them. Others were not too keen on not knowing where they were going to be along their trip.

Tesla was quick to scramble to resolve this issue, and it did a great job of rolling it out in an expedited manner, as de Zegher said that most in-car touch screens would notice the fix within one day of the change being rolled out.

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Additionally, there will be even more improvements in December, as Tesla plans to show the common name/amenity below the site name as well, which will give people a better idea of what to expect when they arrive at a Supercharger.

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Dutch regulator RDW confirms Tesla FSD February 2026 target

The regulator emphasized that safety, not public pressure, will decide whether FSD receives authorization for use in Europe.

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The Dutch vehicle authority RDW responded to Tesla’s recent updates about its efforts to bring Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in Europe, confirming that February 2026 remains the target month for Tesla to demonstrate regulatory compliance. 

While acknowledging the tentative schedule with Tesla, the regulator emphasized that safety, not public pressure, will decide whether FSD receives authorization for use in Europe.

RDW confirms 2026 target, warns Feb 2026 timeline is not guaranteed

In its response, which was posted on its official website, the RDW clarified that it does not disclose details about ongoing manufacturer applications due to competitive sensitivity. However, the agency confirmed that both parties have agreed on a February 2026 window during which Tesla is expected to show that FSD (Supervised) can meet required safety and compliance standards. Whether Tesla can satisfy those conditions within the timeline “remains to be seen,” RDW added.

RDW also directly addressed Tesla’s social media request encouraging drivers to contact the regulator to express support. While thanking those who already reached out, RDW asked the public to stop contacting them, noting these messages burden customer-service resources and have no influence on the approval process. 

“In the message on X, Tesla calls on Tesla drivers to thank the RDW and to express their enthusiasm about this planning to us by contacting us. We thank everyone who has already done so, and would like to ask everyone not to contact us about this. It takes up unnecessary time for our customer service. Moreover, this will have no influence on whether or not the planning is met,” the RDW wrote. 

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The RDW shares insights on EU approval requirements

The RDW further outlined how new technology enters the European market when no existing legislation directly covers it. Under EU Regulation 2018/858, a manufacturer may seek an exemption for unregulated features such as advanced driver assistance systems. The process requires a Member State, in this case the Netherlands, to submit a formal request to the European Commission on the manufacturer’s behalf.

Approval then moves to a committee vote. A majority in favor would grant EU-wide authorization, allowing the technology across all Member States. If the vote fails, the exemption is valid only within the Netherlands, and individual countries must decide whether to accept it independently.

Before any exemption request can be filed, Tesla must complete a comprehensive type-approval process with the RDW, including controlled on-road testing. Provided that FSD Supervised passes these regulatory evaluations, the exemption could be submitted for broader EU consideration.

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