News
Tesla and other EVs’ strong sales helped drop Europe’s CO2 emissions in 2021
A recent report from market trend analysis firm JATO Dynamics has revealed that Tesla’s strong sales in Europe, coupled with the introduction of more environmentally-friendly SUVs, have helped drive a 16% reduction in CO2 emissions among new vehicles sold across the region in 2021.
JATO Dynamics’ findings were related in a report titled Driving the Change for Good: The EV Boom. According to the report, the volume-weighted average emissions of new vehicles across 17 markets in Europe dropped from 117.7g/km to 99g/km year-over-year. This drop happened to coincide with Tesla’s massive push into the electric market in Europe last year, which was made possible by exporting the Model 3 and Model Y from Gigafactory Shanghai in China.
It’s not just Tesla either, according to JATO’s report, as OEMs also showed a willingness to adopt more environmentally-friendly options in popular segments such as the SUV market. The analytics firm noted that prior to 2021, the lack of electric and even electrified SUVs in Europe was a limiting factor in the region. But in 2021, carmakers showed their willingness to meet consumer demand for green SUVs.
“The enhanced offering of new and improved electrified SUV models has further fuelled demand while also having a positive impact in reducing average CO2 emissions with midsize SUVs emerging as some of greenest vehicles in Europe,” the report read.
But while SUVs remained popular in Europe in 2021, other segments such as midsized cars also saw a reduction in CO2 emissions. This is where things get particularly interesting, as JATO noted that the drop in CO2 emissions among midsize cars was partly due to the strength of the Tesla Model 3, which became Europe’s most-registered midsize car in 2021. The Model 3 became very prolific in Europe last year, and the results were notable.
“There have also been interesting results across the traditional segments. For example, midsized cars (D-Segment) posted almost the same average as city cars, with 75.9 g/km compared to 76.9 g/km. This success is due to the Tesla Model 3 – the most registered midsize car in Europe in 2021 – with a volume increase of 64% compared with 2020. Last year, almost one in five D-segment cars registered in Europe was a Model 3, and this has started to have a real impact on the average emissions of the segment. In 2017, before the Model 3 arrived in Europe, the segment’s average was 120.1 g/km under NEDC,” JATO’s report read.
Amidst Europe’s focus on clean transportation, there appears to be a power shift among automakers that are operating in the region. With Tesla now being a very active player in the field, all-electric cars are positioned better than ever to expand their reach. The landscape would likely get even better for Tesla and electric vehicles in the near future as well, as Gigafactory Berlin has now started Model Y production.
“However, as a result of Tesla’s huge success since its arrival in Europe, we have seen a rebalancing of power. The popularity of the Tesla Model 3 and, more recently, the Model Y, pushed Tesla into the top 25 for the first time. With a record 165,700 units in Europe-17 and 169,200 across the whole region last year, Tesla became Europe’s preferred brand for electric vehicles. Overall, it was the 20th most registered make in 2021 and unsurprisingly, led the ranking of emissions by brand with 0.0 g/km.1,” the report read.
JATO Dynamics’ Driving the Change for Good: The EV Boom report can be accessed below.
JATO Consulting CO2 Report Full Year 2021 by Simon Alvarez on Scribd
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Lifestyle
California hits Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi driverless cars with new law
California just gave police power to ticket driverless cars, including Tesla’s Cybercab fleet.
California DMV formally adopted new rules on April 29, 2026 that allow law enforcement to issue “notices of noncompliance”, or in other words ticket autonomous vehicle companies when their cars commit moving violations. The rules take effect July 1, 2026 and officially closes a regulatory gap that previously let driverless cars operate on public roads with nearly no traffic enforcement consequences.
Until now, state traffic laws only applied to human “drivers,” which meant that when no person was behind the wheel, police had no mechanism to issue a ticket. Officers were limited to citing driverless vehicles for parking violations only. A well-known example came in September 2025, when a San Bruno officer watched a Waymo robotaxi execute an illegal U-turn and could do nothing but notify the company.
Under the new framework, when an officer observes a violation, the autonomous vehicle company is effectively treated as the driver. Companies must report each incident to the DMV within 72 hours, or 24 hours if a collision is involved. Repeated violations can result in fleet size restrictions, operational suspensions, or full permit revocation. Local officials also gained new authority to geofence driverless vehicles out of active emergency zones within two minutes and require a live emergency response line answered within 30 seconds.
Tesla Cybercab ramps Robotaxi public street testing as vehicle enters mass production queue
California’s new enforcement rules arrive at a pivotal moment for Tesla. The company is ramping Cybercab production at Giga Texas toward hundreds of units per week, targeting at least 2 million units annually at full capacity, while simultaneously pushing to expand its Robotaxi service to dozens of U.S. cities by end of 2026. Unsupervised FSD for consumer vehicles is currently targeted for Q4 2026, and when it arrives, Tesla’s fleet may not have a human to absorb legal accountability, under the July 1 rules.
Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its Robotaxi service to seven new cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, with the service already running without safety drivers in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.
News
Tesla Model X shocks everyone by crushing every other used car in America
The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.
The Tesla Model X was the fastest-selling used vehicle in the United States in the first quarter of the year, crushing every other used car in America.
iSeeCars data for the first quarter shows that the Model X was the fastest-selling used car, lasting just 25.6 days on the market on average, two days better than that of the second-place Lexus RX 350h. The Cybertruck, Model Y, and Model S, in seventh, ninth, and thirteenth place, respectively, also made the list.
The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.
Tesla brings closure to flagship ‘sentimental’ models, Musk confirms
Bringing closure to these two vehicles signaled the end of the road for the cars that have effectively built Tesla’s reputation for luxury and high-end passenger vehicles.
Relying on the sales of its mass market Model Y and Model 3, as well as leaning on the success of future products like the Cybercab, is the angle Tesla has chosen to take.
Teslas are also performing extremely well as a whole on the resale market. iSeeCars data shows that, “while the average price of a 1- to 5-year-old non-Tesla EV fell 10.3% in Q1 2026 year-over-year, the average price of a used Tesla was essentially flat at 0.1% lower across the same period. Traditional gas car prices dropped 2.8% during this same period.”
Additionally, market share for gas cars has dropped nearly 3 percent since the same quarter last year. Tesla has remained level, while the non-Tesla EV market share has increased 30 percent, mostly due to more models available.
Nevertheless, those non-Tesla EVs have seen their value drop by over 10 percent, while Tesla’s values have remained level.
Executive Analyst Karl Brauer said:
“Used electric vehicles without a Tesla badge have lost more than 10% of their value in the past year. This compares to stable values for Teslas and hybrids, and a modest 2.8% drop for traditional gasoline vehicles.”
Teslas, as well as non-luxury hybrids, are displaying the strongest resistance in the face of faltering demand, the publication says. But the more impressive performance is that of the Model X alone.
Tesla’s decision to stop production of the Model X may have played some part in the vehicle’s pristine performance in Q1. With the car already placed at a premium price point, used models are already more appealing to consumers. Perhaps second-hand versions were more than enough for those who wanted a Model X, and only a Model X.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck’s head-scratching trim sold terribly, recall documents reveal
The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.
After Tesla decided to build a Rear-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck trim back in 2025, which was void of many features and only featured a small discount.
The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.
The recall deals with a potentially separating wheel stud and potentially impacts 173 Cybertruck units with the 18-inch steel wheels. The Cybertruck RWD was the only trim level to feature these, and the 173 potentially impacted units represent a portion of the population of pickups. Therefore, it’s not the entire number of RWD Cybertruck sold, but it could show how little interest it gathered.
The NHTSA document states:
“On affected vehicles, higher severity road perturbations and cornering may strain the stud hole in the wheel rotor, causing cracks to form. If cracking propagates with continued use and strain, the wheel stud could eventually separate from the wheel hub.”
Only 5 percent are expected to be impacted, meaning less than 10 units will have the issue if the NHTSA and Tesla estimates are correct. Nevertheless, the true story here is how terribly the RWD Cybertruck sold.
Tesla ended production and stopped offering the RWD Cybertruck to customers last September. For just $10,000 less than the All-Wheel-Drive trim, Tesla offered the RWD Cybertruck with just one motor, textile seats instead of leather, only 7 speakers instead of 15, no Rear Touchscreen, no Powered Tonneau Cover for the truck bed, and no 120v/240v outlets.
For just $10,000 more, at $79,990, owners could have received all of those premium features, as well as a more capable All-Wheel-Drive powertrain that featured Adaptive Air Suspension. The discount simply was not worth the sacrifices.
Orders were few and far between, and sources told us that when it was offered, sales were extremely tempered because customers could not see the value in this trim level.
Even Tesla’s most loyal supporters thought the offering was kind of a joke, and the $10,000 extra was simply worth it.
California hits Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi driverless cars with new law
Tesla Model X shocks everyone by crushing every other used car in America
