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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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Tesla has expanded its Tesla Assisted Driving (TAD) suite to its tenth European country, as Latvia joined a growing list of European Union member states authorizing the company’s advanced driver assistance technology.
Tesla Europe announced this morning that the system is now approved in Latvia, with a software rollout to begin soon.
The approval and rollout follow recognition of a provisional European type approval originally granted by the Netherlands’ RDW authority on April 10.
🚨 Latvia has just received approval for Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised)
This is the 10th country in the EU to gain approval:
1. Netherlands — 10 April 2026 (original RDW approval)
2. Lithuania — 20 May 2026
3. Estonia — 29 May 2026
4. Denmark — 9 June 2026
5. Belgium — 10 June 2026
6. Slovenia — 7 September 2026
7. Czechia — 21 September 2026
8. Croatia — 29 September 2026
9. Slovakia — 16 October 2026— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 26, 2026
Latvia’s Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD) evaluated the Dutch documentation, coordinated with the other national authorities, and reviewed updates from Tesla. These included tightened limits on speed offsets, automatic resets of any manual speed adjustments after each trip, and stronger driver monitoring.
In Europe, the feature is marketed as Tesla Assisted Driving after a recent rule change that labeled the name “Full Self-Driving” as misleading.
The system remains an SAE Level 2 driver assistance tool, not unsupervised autonomy. It can control speed, steering, braking, lane changes, and intersections while following a navigation route. Drivers need not keep their hands on the wheel at all times, yet they must continuously monitor the road and be prepared to intervene immediately.
The sequence of EU recognitions began with the Netherlands in April and continued through Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Belgium, Slovenia, Czechia, Croatia, and Slovakia. Most have relied on mutual recognition of the single Dutch provisional approval rather than independent national testing.
These national clearances do not yet constitute bloc-wide authorization. An EU-wide decision requires a qualified majority in the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles: at least 15 of 27 member states representing 65 percent of the EU population. Larger markets, like Germany, France, and Italy, remain under review, and a vote is expected this December.
However, for Latvian Tesla owners with compatible vehicles and software, the imminent rollout expands access to the supervised system while underscoring that attentive human oversight remains essential.
Tesla expanded its Robotaxi geofence in Houston, Texas, today, enlarging the service area and drawing a new rocket-shaped boundary across the city’s northwestern and central parts.
Although CEO Elon Musk said it was just a coincidence, the expansion seems to be an ode to SpaceX and its potential merger with Tesla.
🚨 Tesla has just expanded its Robotaxi geofence in Houston
It looks a lot like a rocket — we all remember the shape in Austin 🤣 https://t.co/cFOPEuiJ4u
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 26, 2026
The official Tesla Robotaxi account announced the change with the lines “Houston, we have liftoff” and “Bigger service area now live,” pairing them with a map overlay.
The prior white geofence, roughly 25 square miles covering Jersey Village, Harvest Bend, and the Willowbrook corridor along U.S. 290 and State Highway 249, now sits inside a larger blue zone that stretches southeast toward Bellair and closer to central Houston.
Houston’s Robotaxi service launched on April 18, 2026, the same day as Dallas, as Tesla’s first unsupervised public expansion beyond Austin. From the start, the vehicles were Model Ys running without anyone in the front seats, booked through the dedicated Tesla Robotaxi app and open to the public inside the geofence.
Trackers measured the initial zone at about 25 square miles; by late September it had not grown substantially. Community and registry data indicated a modest local fleet of unsupervised Model Ys, while dozens to nearly 200 Cybercabs, the purpose-built, steering-wheel-free two-seaters, have been spotted staging and testing in Houston lots, though public Cybercab rides remain limited to Austin for now.
Across the broader Robotaxi program, Tesla began public Robotaxi rides in Austin in June 2025, as a small geofence and vehicles with safety monitors became available for a ride-hailing service. Later on, Tesla removed the monitors and steadily expanded the service area until it covered most of the Austin metro area.
Unsupervised Robotaxi services now run in six cities: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. Cumulative driverless miles reported by the company have reached several million. The Cybercab entered public service in Austin in early September 2026 and has scaled rapidly there. The company has also said that Dallas is next for Cybercab rides in November, with further cities and 24/7 hours targeted by year-end, plus fleet-operator sales of the vehicle.
Waymo also operates a fully driverless service in Houston, which has been open to the public since August of this year.
The Houston expansion continues Tesla’s pattern of starting with tightly controlled validation zones before widening coverage as real-world data accumulates, while the rocket motif on the map underscores the company’s habit of injecting visual flair into its autonomy rollout.
Riders inside the new boundary can request unsupervised Model Y trips in the Robotaxi app; exact operating hours and further Cybercab availability remain subject to app updates and company statements.
News
Tesla Cybercabs take over Austin’s F1 weekend
Tesla Cybercabs swarmed Austin’s F1 Grand Prix as sightings hit a record during race weekend.
Tesla’s driverless Cybercabs used the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin as their biggest public stress test yet. On Sunday afternoon, Tesla head of AI software Ashok Elluswamy quoted a photo from X user Ben Steindl showing a long line of gold Cybercabs and Model Y Robotaxis stacked up on a road near Circuit of the Americas. “Robotaxis as far as the eye can see!” Elluswamy wrote. Steindl’s original post was more matter of fact: “@Tesla @robotaxi is busy for the Austin F1.”
The fleet also handled the trip home. The race started at 3 p.m. Central, and once it ended, Cybercab Spotter, an account that logs Cybercab sightings around Austin, posted that “People are requesting Cybercabs to get home.”
Robotaxis as far as the eye can see! 🤩
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) October 25, 2026
Tesla set this up days in advance without announcing it. Late on October 22, rider David Moss posted Robotaxi app screenshots showing the Austin service area wrapping around the track toward Elroy and FM 812, with ride requests open until 1 a.m. A banner in the app read “Last call is 1am · Limited to nearby dropoffs.” Austin rides ended at 11 p.m. as recently as early October, as Teslarati reported, before moving to midnight on October 17.
Not every rider got dropped at the gate. Early app searches showed spots like COTA Karting as “Service blocked,” and one rider who took a Cybercab to the track Friday said the rideshare area was less than a 20 minute walk from the front gate.
The weekend also produced a new activity record. Cybercab Spotter counted 1,250 Cybercab sightings in Austin on Saturday, qualifying day. The previous high was 1,072 on October 16. Sightings count the same car more than once, so they measure how busy the fleet is rather than how big it is. For size, the Texas automated vehicle registry listed 463 Cybercabs at midday Sunday, up from the 300+ Tesla claimed on October 10, when Elluswamy also said Dallas is next for Cybercab.
The track was out of reach for Tesla’s main rival. Waymo runs in Austin only through Uber, and its service area stops well short of COTA. Waymo did not announce any race day service.
Tesla has not said how many rides it gave to and from the circuit, or whether the expanded zone and 1 a.m. cutoff will stay after race weekend. On the third quarter earnings call, Elluswamy said 2 a.m. service is coming “pretty soon” and that Tesla plans to run Robotaxi around the clock before the end of the year. The company is also aiming to hand the first Cybercabs to customers before 2026 ends, which would put cars like these outside Tesla’s own fleet for the first time.
Tesla Assisted Driving expands to tenth EU country
Tesla expands Robotaxi geofence in Houston with an ode to SpaceX merger
