The auto market has come to a point where it’s now difficult to deny that electric vehicles will be the dominant form of transportation in the near future. With companies like Tesla pushing the envelope for what electric cars can do and events such as Battery Day previewing technology that could bring EVs even closer to the mass market, it is starting to become evident that the age of electric cars is coming ahead of schedule.
The electric vehicle segment has shown remarkable strength, with EVs in Europe growing even as the rest of the automotive segment collapses under the pandemic. Part of this is due to the prices of electric cars coming closer to the cost of their internal combustion-powered counterparts. Vehicles such as the Tesla Model 3 have also proven that there is a legitimate demand for well-designed, reasonably-priced electric vehicles.
Electric cars have transitioned from niche vehicles into mass-market family cars in the span of about 12 years, and over this time, EVs and the cost of producing them have decreased significantly. This is most evident in the production costs of electric cars’ batteries. Current battery packs for EVs today are estimated to cost around $150-$200 per kWh. That’s about 80% lower than the cost of batteries since 2008.
With electric vehicles expanding into the mainstream market, the automobile industry is now approaching a tipping point when EVs could become as cheap as their fossil fuel-powered counterparts, even without government subsidies. And just as it is with any disruptive shift, the carmaker that reaches or exceeds price parity with the internal combustion engine first will be poised to dominate the segment.
Thanks to the efforts of companies like Tesla, electric vehicle technology is progressing faster than expected. As noted in a New York Times report, industry experts a few years ago were estimating that the turning point for EVs and their tech would come in 2025. But with automakers like Tesla pushing the envelope and events such as Battery Day potentially revealing technology that could push electric cars past the internal combustion engine, this 2025 estimate may end up being conservative.
Carnegie Mellon University associate professor Venkat Viswanathan, who closely follows the battery industry, described how the electric vehicle market is on an accelerated timeframe. “We are already on a very accelerated timeline. If you asked anyone in 2010 whether we would have price parity by 2025, they would have said that was impossible,” the professor said.
Perhaps what is truly remarkable about the rapid pace of the electric car market is the fact that EVs are still pretty much open to innovation. Batteries and electric powertrains still have a lot of room to grow, and companies like Tesla have proven that they will push the available technology as far as it could go to create the best EVs possible. This could be quite scary for traditional automakers that rely on fossil fuel-powered vehicles, since the internal combustion engine has already fully matured.
For now, the EV segment is turning into a race aimed at catching Tesla, which stands as the undisputed leader in electric cars today. The company may be a young carmaker, but its experience in electric car development is vast. Events such as Battery Day, which is expected to discuss the EV maker’s next-generation cells, have the potential to widen the gap between Tesla and its competitors even further. For traditional carmakers, it is now a matter of catching up to Tesla as fast as they could. But it won’t be easy.
In a statement to the Times, Jürgen Fleischer, a professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in southwestern Germany who is working on battery manufacturing research, noted that there will be a steep learning curve for veteran automakers that are dipping their feet into electric cars. “We have been mass-producing internal combustion vehicles since Henry Ford. We don’t have that for battery vehicles. It’s a very new technology. The question will be how fast can we can get through this learning curve?” he said.
Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
