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Stellantis has paid almost $200 million in fuel economy penalties

Credit: Stellantis

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Stellantis has paid nearly $200 million in fuel economy penalties, with the multinational automaker set to pay significantly more, according to government documents.

Dodge-Chrysler parent company has paid roughly $190.7 million in civil penalties so far, over failure to meet certain U.S. fuel economy requirements in both 2019 and 2020, as disclosed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in government documents this week (via Automotive News).

Stellantis paid the penalty amount in March and May, and the documents suggest that the company still owes another $459.7 million, due to not reaching requirements for the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard. On Friday, the penalties paid and the total amount due were confirmed by the NHTSA, following similar penalties charged to the automaker in past years.

Stellantis CEO confirms $25k Jeep EV — and it’s coming sooner than you think

In 2023, Stellantis paid a record-high penalty of $235.5 million for failure to comply with CAFE requirements in 2018 and 2019, along with $156.6 million paid for the 2016 and 2017 years.

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Along with the penalties, Stellantis has in recent months faced several key executive departures, and it has warned that it may stop producing zero-emission vehicles in the United Kingdom, if the country’s sales target for the technology is not reduced.

General Motors (GM) earlier this month was forced to relinquish around 50 million metric tons of carbon allowances, along with charging the automaker $145.8 million for failure to correctly report data on its fuel economy compliance.

Just weeks ago, both Stellantis and GM were reported to be receiving hundreds of millions of dollars each from the Biden administration for future electric vehicle (EV) battery projects. Stellantis is set to get $334.8 million for its Belvidere Assembly plant in Illinois, along with another $250 million for an EV drive module factory in Indiana. GM is set to get $500 million for its Lansing Grand River Assembly plant Michigan.

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.

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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 Cybercab tests are going on overdrive with production-ready units

Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the vehicle being reported across social media this week.

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Credit: @JT59052914/X

Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the autonomous two-seater being reported across social media this week. Based on videos of the vehicle that have been shared online, it appears that Cybercab tests are underway across multiple states.

Recent Cybercab sightings

Reports of Cybercab tests have ramped this week, with a vehicle that looked like a production-ready prototype being spotted at Apple’s Visitor Center in California. The vehicle in this sighting was interesting as it was equipped with a steering wheel. The vehicle also featured some changes to the design of its brake lights.

The Cybercab was also filmed testing at the Fremont factory’s test track, which also seemed to involve a vehicle that looked production-ready. This also seemed to be the case for a Cybercab that was spotted in Austin, Texas, which happened to be undergoing real-world tests. Overall, these sightings suggest that Cybercab testing is fully underway, and the vehicle is really moving towards production.

Production design all but finalized?

Recently, a near-production-ready Cybercab was showcased at Tesla’s Santana Row showroom in San Jose. The vehicle was equipped with frameless windows, dual windshield wipers, powered butterfly door struts, an extended front splitter, an updated lightbar, new wheel covers, and a license plate bracket. Interior updates include redesigned dash/door panels, refined seats with center cupholders, updated carpet, and what appeared to be improved legroom.

There seems to be a pretty good chance that the Cybercab’s design has been all but finalized, at least considering Elon Musk’s comments at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting. During the event, Musk confirmed that the vehicle will enter production around April 2026, and its production targets will be quite ambitious. 

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Tesla gets a win in Sweden as union withdraws potentially “illegal” blockade

As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal. 

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Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Swedish union Vision has withdrawn its sympathy blockade against Tesla’s planned service center and showroom in Kalmar. As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal. 

Vision’s decision to pull the blockade

Vision announced the blockade in early December, stating that it was targeting the administrative handling of Tesla’s facility permits in Kalmar municipality. The sympathy measure was expected to start Monday, but was formally withdrawn via documents sent to the Mediation Institute and Kalmar Municipality last week. 

As noted in a Daggers Arbete report, plans for the strike were ultimately pulled after employer group SKR highlighted potential illegality under the Public Employment Act. Vision stressed its continued backing for the Swedish labor model, though Deputy negotiation manager Oskar Pettersson explained that the Vision union and IF Metall made the decision to cancel the planned strike together.

“We will not continue to challenge the regulations,” Petterson said. “The objection was of a technical nature. We made the assessment together with IF Metall that we were not in a position to challenge the legal assessment of whether we could take this particular action against Tesla. Therefore, we chose to revoke the notice itself.”

The SKR’s warning

Petterson also stated that SKR’s technical objection to the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla strike framed the protest as an unauthorized act. “It was a legal assessment of the situation. Both for us and for IF Metall, it is important to be clear that we stand for the Swedish model. But we should not continue to challenge the regulations and risk getting judgments that lead nowhere in the application of the regulations,” he said. 

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Vision ultimately canceled its planned blockade against Tesla on December 9. With Vision’s withdrawal, few obstacles remain for Tesla’s long-planned Kalmar site. A foreign electrical firm completed work this fall, and Tesla’s Careers page currently lists a full-time service manager position based there, signaling an imminent opening.

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Tesla Semi program Director teases major improvements

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla Semi Program Director Dan Priestly teased the major improvements to the all-electric Class 8 truck on Thursday night, following the company’s decision to overhaul the design earlier this year.

Priestley said he drove the Semi on Thursday, and the improvements appear to be welcomed by one of the minds behind the project. “Our customers are going to love it,” he concluded.

The small detail does not seem like much, but it is coming from someone who has been involved in the development of the truck from A to Z. Priestley has been involved in the Semi program since November 2015 and has slowly worked his way through the ranks, and currently stands as the Director of the program.

Tesla Semi undergoes major redesign as dedicated factory preps for deliveries

Tesla made some major changes to the Semi design as it announced at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting that it changed the look and design to welcome improvements in efficiency.

Initially, Tesla adopted the blade-like light bar for the Semi, similar to the one that is present on the Model Y Premium and the Cybertruck.

Additionally, there are some slight aesthetic changes to help with efficiency, including a redesigned bumper with improved aero channels, a smaller wraparound windshield, and a smoother roofline for better aero performance.

All of these changes came as the company’s Semi Factory, which is located on Gigafactory Nevada’s property, was finishing up construction in preparation for initial production phases, as Tesla is planning to ramp up manufacturing next year. CEO Elon Musk has said the Semi has attracted “ridiculous demand.”

The Semi has already gathered many large companies that have signed up to buy units, including Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., which have been helping Tesla test the vehicle in a pilot program to test range, efficiency, and other important metrics that will be a major selling point.

Tesla will be the Semi’s first user, though, and the truck will help solve some of the company’s logistics needs in the coming years.

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