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Tesla, EV makers leave gas cars in the dust with new German stimulus bill

(Credit: CrAzYDr1veR/YouTube)

Published

5 years ago

on

Tesla and other electric vehicle manufacturers who have a presence in Germany are poised to benefit from the country’s new stimulus bill that is worth €130 million. The bill offers specific incentives for sustainable vehicles, while no benefits are provided for cars equipped with the internal combustion engine.

The current EV incentive is €3,000, but German officials plan to double that figure to €6,000 if the car costs less than €40,000 brand new. Also, adjusted tax benefits for EVs are now available to any vehicle that costs €60,000. Previously, the limit was €40,000.

German state governments that host automotive manufacturers initially proposed incentives of €3,000 for internal combustion engine cars, and €4,000 for electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles, E Auto Info reported. Another €1,000 would be given to anyone who scrapped a gas-powered car, with an additional €1,000 if an EV was purchased after getting rid of the petrol-powered vehicle.

This proposal was declined, and Germany favored an incentivized system that allowed electric vehicle owners to have more benefits. Meanwhile, gas-powered car owners would hold no financial benefit driving their vehicles. With this, the German government appears to be encouraging EV ownership by offering incentives for driving Earth-friendly automobiles.

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The only incentive in the new stimulus bill that would benefit drivers of ICE vehicles is the lowering of Value Added Tax, or VAT. This has been decreased from 19% to 16%, but this incentive also applies to electric cars. To put this into perspective, a 3% drop in VAT and a €6,000 EV incentive would bring the cost of the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range+ from €40,990 to €36,881 after taxes.

Ultimately, Tesla stands to benefit significantly from the reformed stimulus package.

Tesla is currently in the process of building its Giga Berlin facility. As of June 3, construction crews on the site have laid the first layers of concrete, and the groundbreaking of the facility is underway.

Giga Berlin will produce 500,000 vehicles annually. With this number of cars rolling out of the facility, Europe will have a dedicated Tesla production plant in the region, alleviating the need for vehicles to be imported.

German citizens stand to benefit the most from Giga Berlin. Not only is the Gigafactory located in the country, but the government incentive plan will benefit consumers who choose to drive electric cars. Not only will this move stand to help drivers, but Tesla will likely see an increase in demand due to the tax breaks and government incentives.

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The full list of the stimulus package’s benefits are listed below:

  • Electric vehicle tax exemption prolonged from ending in 2025 to end 2030
  • Increase of vehicle tax for CO2 heavy vehicles
  • A decrease in electricity cost to consumers and business
  • Support of the car industry (including suppliers) R&D of 2 billion in the next two years (this is general, includes ICE)
  • Support of fleet electrification for social NGOs worth €200 million
  • Support of EV R&D, charging infrastructure and battery manufacturing worth 2.5 billion euros (plan to require every gas station to have charging points)
  • Program to electrify commercial and public bus and truck fleets worth 1.2 billion until the end of 2021, including a subsidy for electric buses and their charging infrastructure.
  • Lowering of VAT from 19% to 16% for the second half of 2020
  • Increase of EV subsidy from €3,000to €6,000 until the end of 2021
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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Cybertruck

Tesla begins wide rollout of Full Self-Driving v14 to Cybertruck

Published

3 hours ago

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November 3, 2025

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Credit: Weibo (via YYDS on X)

Tesla has officially begun the wide rollout of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14 to the Cybertruck about a month after the company started rolling it out to other vehicles in the fleet.

On Monday, Tesla officially started rolling out v14.1.5 to Cybertruck owners, the first FSD v14 rollout for owners of the all-electric pickup.

Owners have been anxiously waiting for Tesla to begin the wide release of v14 to Cybertruck, as the company said it would refine the suite for the vehicle.

Tesla has finally started rolling out to many owners, who are reporting that their Cybertrucks are downloading Software Update 2025.38.8.5, which contains FSD v14.1.5:

Tesla has to be more cautious with rolling out FSD on the Cybertruck than on other vehicles for a few reasons. Initially, the Cybertruck utilizes an all-wheel steering system that turns differently than the S3XY lineup. This creates a challenge for the Tesla AI team as they have to cater to this specific maneuvering change.

Additionally, the Cybertruck is much larger, and the exterior cameras responsible for seeing the vehicle’s surroundings are placed differently than those of the other vehicles.

This requires additional calibration to ensure safety.

The full release notes for Full Self-Driving v14.1.5 are as follows:

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  • Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, in a Parking Garage, or at the Curbside.
  • Added handling to pull over or yield for emergency vehicles (e.g. police cars, fire trucks, ambulances).
  • Added navigation and routing into the vision-based neural network for real-time handling of blocked roads and detours.
  • Added additional Speed Profile to further customize driving style preference.
  • Improved handling for static and dynamic gates.
  • Improved offsetting for road debris (e.g. tires, tree branches, boxes).
  • Improve handling of several scenarios including: unprotected turns, lane changes, vehicle cut-ins, and school buses.
  • Improved FSD’s ability to manage system faults and recover smoothly from degraded operation for enhanced reliability.
  • Added alerting for residue build-up on interior windshield that may impact front camera visibility. If affected, visit Service for cleaning!

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Elon Musk shuts down Tesla ‘AMG’ division speculation: ‘Focus is autonomy’

“I think it’s best to leave that to the custom shops. Tesla’s focus is autonomous cars, building futuristic autonomous cars. We want the future to look like the future.”

Published

5 hours ago

on

November 3, 2025

By

Credit: Unplugged Performance

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was asked by Joe Rogan late last week whether the company would ever consider establishing an “AMG division” like Mercedes-Benz has established for powerful, race-inspired vehicles.

However, Musk turned down any talk of that, highlighting that the company is laser-focused on autonomous vehicles, seemingly hinting that any distraction from autonomy would be a detriment to the future.

Rogan drives a Tesla Model S himself, but it is not your run-of-the-mill all-electric sedan. Already outfitted with the Plaid powertrain that Tesla developed, Rogan took his vehicle to Unplugged Performance for a true performance outfitting.

The vehicle is completely overhauled with performance parts and seats. Known as the Model S-APEX, Rogan took delivery of it from Unplugged in January.

Rogan asked Musk on Friday during his most recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast whether Tesla would ever establish an “AMG division” that would focus on catering Teslas to performance-based standards.

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Musk said:

“I think it’s best to leave that to the custom shops. Tesla’s focus is autonomous cars, building futuristic autonomous cars. We want the future to look like the future.”

Tesla fans have said for years that the company should consider acquiring Unplugged Performance and its Upfit Tesla division, which recently outfitted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s fleet of Cybertruck cruisers.

However, it seems Tesla will keep things separate. Musk is primarily focused on autonomy, which will drive the technology forward and drive shareholder growth. Something like an outfitter for performance would be a cool thing for the owners who have the interest and the money.

It’s not a tremendous revenue driver or anything that would contribute to the financial state of the company. Mercedes-Benz, for example, is more accessible for consumers as it sold over 140,000 units from its AMG brand in 2024.

Tesla Model Y driver starts race in reverse, still wins against AMG SUV

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It helps with driving revenue higher by as much as 15 percent compared to similar models that are not AMGs. However, would Tesla see this much of a benefit? Likely not, because the Performance trim already caters to many owners.

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Cybertruck

Tesla Cybertruck fleet takes over at SpaceX’s Starbase

Interestingly, the Cybertruck uses the same exterior, a stainless steel alloy, as SpaceX rockets. This synergy between the two companies and their very different products shows a very unified mentality between Musk companies.

Published

7 hours ago

on

November 3, 2025

By

Credit: @derek1ee | X

Tesla Cybertrucks have taken over at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas, as hundreds of the all-electric pickup trucks were spotted late last week rounding out a massive fleet of vehicles.

The Cybertruck fleet is geared toward replacing gas vehicles that are used at Starbase for everyday operations. The only surprise about this is that it was not done sooner:

Deliveries have been going on for a few weeks, as Cybertrucks have made their way across the state of Texas from Austin to Starbase so they could be included in SpaceX’s fleet of vehicles at the facility.

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Interestingly, the Cybertruck uses the same exterior, a stainless steel alloy, as SpaceX rockets. This synergy between the two companies and their very different products shows a very unified mentality between Musk companies.

However, there are some other perspectives to consider as SpaceX is utilizing such a massive fleet of Cybertrucks. Some media outlets (unsurprisingly) are seeing this as a move of weakness by both Tesla and SpaceX, as the aerospace company is, in a sense, “bailing out” lagging sales for the all-electric pickup.

It’s no secret that Tesla has struggled with the Cybertruck this year, and deliveries have been underwhelming in the sense that the company was anticipating between 1 million and 2 million orders for the vehicle before it was widely produced.

A lot of things changed with the Cybertruck between its 2019 unveiling and 2023 initial deliveries, most notably, price.

The price of the Cybertruck swelled significantly and priced out many of those who had pre-ordered it. Some have weighed the option of whether this purchase was a way to get rid of sitting inventory.

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However, it seems more logical to consider the fact that SpaceX was likely always going to transition to Teslas for its fleet, especially at Starship, at some point.

It doesn’t seem out of the question that one Musk company would utilize another Musk company’s products, especially considering the Cybertruck has been teased as the vehicle that would be present on Mars.

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