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Tesla crushes other electric car makers in the Netherlands to end 2019

Tesla Model 3 (Source: Tesla)

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If electric vehicle sales can be likened to a drag race, it’s safe to say Tesla utterly slayed the competition in the Netherlands this year. The US electric car manufacturer closed Q4 with a bang by raking in 16,877 registrations and led other popular brands with a total of 30,882 electric vehicle registrations in 2019.

Toyota was in a far second with 14,824 cumulative EV (electrified) registrations in the Netherlands while Kia sold 9,369 units. Hyundai and Audi were in the middle of the pack with 8,190 and 7,699 EVs sold, respectively. Nissan sold 3,925 vehicles, while BMW registered 3,616.

Looking at the graph from EV data portal EU-EVs.com, it wasn’t an easy start for Tesla as it was trailing the competition. Registrations during Q1 were pegged at 2,747, just behind the 3,365 units of Toyota. It was the same picture for Q2 with 3,482 registrations for Tesla and 4,276 for Japanese automotive giant Toyota.

Tesla vs Other EV Manufacturers – Total Registrations 2019 in the Netherlands (Source: Eu-Evs.com)

Q3 2019 is a different story as Tesla seemingly had a boost and left the other car brands behind. It finished first during the quarter with 7,776 units and Toyota didn’t have the grip and only had 3,593 new EVs registered.

The H2 2019 uptick can be attributed to the increasing Benefit-In-Kind taxes this 2020, which spells higher costs for consumers who want to get behind the wheel of a green car. The BIK doubles to 8% as the new year starts and the price threshold also goes down to 45,000 euros.

The Tesla Model 3 was also a big factor in the success of the brand in the country. The surge of Model 3 sales in Q4 2019 was impressive at 16,289, a big jump from the Q3 sales of 7,549. The brand sold 3,360 Model 3s during Q2 and 2,702 in Q1.

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Overall, Tesla’s numbers in the Netherlands will definitely be a factor in helping the brand meet its Q4 goal of delivering 105,000 units and its yearly guidance of 360,000 to 400,000 vehicles. The country has become the biggest market of the brand in Europe, overtaking Norway before the end of 2019.

In the United States, Tesla also pushed hard to close the year with CEO Elon Musk rushing back to the Fremont Tesla Delivery Center to assist with vehicle deliveries.

Likewise, Tesla has also hit its production goal in its Gigafactory in Shanghai, rolling out 280 Made-In-China Model 3 per 10-hour shift or more than 1,500 units per week. The production is expected to ramp up as more frontline workers are added to the production line.

HT to @JPR007

A curious soul who keeps wondering how Elon Musk, Tesla, electric cars, and clean energy technologies will shape the future, or do we really need to escape to Mars.

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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

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.

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.

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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