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Tesla could benefit as South Korea pushes to update EV incentives
South Korea is the world’s 11th largest car market according to IHS Automotive but 5th in sales of luxury cars like the Mercedes S Class and BMW 7 Series. That means it could be an important market for Tesla’s Model S and Model X. The country ranks in the top six in terms of the number of reservations for the upcoming Tesla Model 3 midsize sedan.
South Korea offers buyers of electric cars a subsidy equivalent to 22 million won or approximately $18,000 dollars but the incentive only applies to cars that can be recharged in 10 hours or less using 220 volt household current.The rule was enacted in 2012 and was intended to encourage manufacturers to limit the charging time required for electric cars. But electric cars today have much larger batteries than they did then. Those larger batteries may take more than 10 hours to recharge on household current, making them ineligible for the subsidy.
Minister of Environment Cho Kyeung-kyu says it may be time for his country to revisit that rule. A ministry official tells Reuters that a government appointed panel will submit recommendations “by June, but it could be much earlier. We haven’t decided whether to keep the rule alive, or kill it, or come up with complementary rules.”
Last month, opposition lawmaker Lee Sang-don called the rule an “unreasonable non-tariff barrier” that discourages drivers from considering long range EVs. “The rule is meaningless,” Kim Pil-soo, president of the Korean Electric Vehicle Association, told Reuters. “We have kept telling the government they should remove it.” In October, Tesla Vice President of North Asia and SEA Nicolas Villeger said the company is working with the government to change a “unique rule” that does not reflect advances in battery technology.
Tesla is about to open its first showroom in the upscale Starfield shopping district east of Seoul. In fact, it was supposed to be open before the end of 2016, but a sign in the window saying “Opening Soon” was still in the window as of last week. A delay in obtaining the permits required to begin sales has pushed the opening to early next year, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Tesla has been accepting orders from Korean customers since August for its Model S and Model X as well as reservations for the Model 3. With the present rule in place, a car that the company expects to sell strongly in the South Korean luxury car market — the Model S 90D — will not be eligible for the electric car incentive because its battery is too large to recharge in less than 10 hours on household current.
Chinese automaker BYD also intends to offer its long range electric car, the e6, for sale in Korea but has delayed starting sales until the incentive rule is amended. The e6 also will require more than 10 hours to fully recharge on household current.
Sales of electric cars in South Korea have been weak so far. To date, there are only about 4,000 EVs registered in the entire country despite the generous subsidy. South Korea has been proactive when it comes to building charging infrastructure. There are 750 fast chargers available to Korean EV drivers at present and the government plans to increase that number to 3,000 by 2020. Tesla is also planning to construct Supercharger locations in Seoul, Busan and Pyeongchang.
News
Tesla launches new Model 3 financing deal with awesome savings
Tesla is now offering a 0.99% APR financing option for all new Model 3 orders in the United States, and it applies to all loan terms of up to 72 months.
Tesla has launched a new Model 3 financing deal in the United States that brings awesome savings. The deal looks to move more of the company’s mass-market sedan as it is the second-most popular vehicle Tesla offers, behind its sibling, the Model Y.
Tesla is now offering a 0.99% APR financing option for all new Model 3 orders in the United States, and it applies to all loan terms of up to 72 months.
It includes three Model 3 configurations, including the Model 3 Performance. The rate applies to:
- Model 3 Premium Rear-Wheel-Drive
- Model 3 Premium All-Wheel-Drive
- Model 3 Performance
The previous APR offer was 2.99%.
NEWS: Tesla has introduced 0.99% APR financing for all new Model 3 orders in the U.S. (applies to loan terms of up to 72 months).
This includes:
• Model 3 RWD
• Model 3 Premium RWD
• Model 3 Premium AWD
• Model 3 PerformanceTesla was previously offering 2.99% APR. pic.twitter.com/A1ZS25C9gM
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) February 15, 2026
Tesla routinely utilizes low-interest offers to help move vehicles, especially as the rates can help get people to payments that are more comfortable with their monthly budgets. Along with other savings, like those on maintenance and gas, this is another way Tesla pushes savings to customers.
The company had offered a similar program in China on the Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, but it had ended on January 31.
The Model 3 was the second-best-selling electric vehicle in the United States in 2025, trailing only the Model Y. According to automotive data provided by Cox, Tesla sold 192,440 units last year of the all-electric sedan. The Model Y sold 357,528 units.
News
Tesla hasn’t adopted Apple CarPlay yet for this shocking reason
Many Apple and iPhone users have wanted the addition, especially to utilize third-party Navigation apps like Waze, which is a popular alternative. Getting apps outside of Tesla’s Navigation to work with its Full Self-Driving suite seems to be a potential issue the company will have to work through as well.
Perhaps one of the most requested features for Tesla vehicles by owners is the addition of Apple CarPlay. It sounds like the company wants to bring the popular UI to its cars, but there are a few bottlenecks preventing it from doing so.
The biggest reason why CarPlay has not made its way to Teslas yet might shock you.
According to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, Tesla is still working on bringing CarPlay to its vehicles. There are two primary reasons why Tesla has not done it quite yet: App compatibility issues and, most importantly, there are incredibly low adoption rates of iOS 26.
Tesla’s Apple CarPlay ambitions are not dead, they’re still in the works
iOS 26 is Apple’s most recent software version, which was released back in September 2025. It introduced a major redesign to the overall operating system, especially its aesthetic, with the rollout of “Liquid Glass.”
However, despite the many changes and updates, Apple users have not been too keen on the iOS 26 update, and the low adoption rates have been a major sticking point for Tesla as it looks to develop a potential alternative for its in-house UI.
It was first rumored that Tesla was planning to bring CarPlay out in its cars late last year. Many Apple and iPhone users have wanted the addition, especially to utilize third-party Navigation apps like Waze, which is a popular alternative. Getting apps outside of Tesla’s Navigation to work with its Full Self-Driving suite seems to be a potential issue the company will have to work through as well.
According to the report, Tesla asked Apple to make some changes to improve compatibility between its software and Apple Maps:
“Tesla asked Apple to make engineering changes to Maps to improve compatibility. The iPhone maker agreed and implemented the adjustments in a bug fix update to iOS 26 and the latest version of CarPlay.”
Gurman also said that there were some issues with turn-by-turn guidance from Tesla’s maps app, and it did not properly sync up with Apple Maps during FSD operation. This is something that needs to be resolved before it is rolled out.
There is no listed launch date, nor has there been any coding revealed that would indicate Apple CarPlay is close to being launched within Tesla vehicles.
Elon Musk
Starlink restrictions are hitting Russian battlefield comms: report
The restrictions have reportedly disrupted Moscow’s drone coordination and frontline communications.
SpaceX’s decision to disable unauthorized Starlink terminals in Ukraine is now being felt on the battlefield, with Ukrainian commanders reporting that Russian troops have struggled to maintain assault operations without access to the satellite network.
The restrictions have reportedly disrupted Moscow’s drone coordination and frontline communications.
Lt. Denis Yaroslavsky, who commands a special reconnaissance unit, stated that Russian assault activity noticeably declined for several days after the shutdown. “For three to four days after the shutdown, they really reduced the assault operations,” Yaroslavsky said.
Russian units had allegedly obtained Starlink terminals through black market channels and mounted them on drones and weapons systems, despite service terms prohibiting offensive military use. Once those terminals were blocked, commanders on the Ukrainian side reported improved battlefield ratios, as noted in a New York Post report.
A Ukrainian unit commander stated that casualty imbalances widened after the cutoff. “On any given day, depending on your scale of analysis, my sector was already achieving 20:1 (casuality rate) before the shutdown, and we are an elite unit. Regular units have no problem going 5:1 or 8:1. With Starlink down, 13:1 (casualty rate) for a regular unit is easy,” the unit commander said.
The restrictions come as Russia faces heavy challenges across multiple fronts. A late January report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that more than 1.2 million Russian troops have been killed, wounded, or gone missing since February 2022.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War also noted that activity from Russia’s Rubikon drone unit declined after Feb. 1, suggesting communications constraints from Starlink’s restrictions may be limiting operations. “I’m sure the Russians have (alternative options), but it takes time to maximize their implementation and this (would take) at least four to six months,” Yaroslavsky noted.
Tesla launches new Model 3 financing deal with awesome savings
Tesla hasn’t adopted Apple CarPlay yet for this shocking reason
