News
Tesla Excluded From Washington Sales Tax Exemption
According to a report from Oregon Public Broadcasting, the legislature in Washington passed a bill in the closing moments of the 2015 session that renewed a sales tax exemption designed to promote non-polluting cars. The extension will continue the exemption for 4 more years and was part of a larger highway spending bill.
However, the exemption is now limited to cars with an MSRP of $35,000 or less. That means the Tesla Model S and Model X are now excluded from the Washington sales tax exemption. The BMW i3 is also excluded.
“Here at the most crowded price point of our new vehicles, we’re putting in a cliff, and we’re picking winners and losers,” said frustrated Republican state representative Chad Magendanz. What he finds especially galling is the carbon fiber that goes into making the BMW i3 is sourced from a factory in central Washington. Democrats in the Washington legislature had made it clear from the beginning of this year’s session that they didn’t want to subsidize luxury car buyers anymore.
The underlying transportation funding measure is on its way to the governor’s desk and Democratic governor Jay Inslee is expected to sign it. A spokeswoman for Washington’s Department of Revenue wrote in an email that prospective buyers of a qualifying clean fuel vehicle might want to wait until Inslee signs the bill because the previous tax exemption expired on June 30.
Another provision of the same legislation raised the registration renewal fee that owners of electric and plug-in hybrid car owners in Washington must pay from $100 to $150. That annual fee is designed to make electric vehicle drivers contribute something toward highway upkeep in lieu of the gas taxes they do not pay.
As sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars increase, states are reassessing the incentives they provide. Georgia repealed its tax credit program for alternative fuel cars completely as of July 1 and imposed a $200 a year registration instead. Previously, Georgia had the highest tax credit in the nation at $5,000.
Legislatures get nervous when they see how much money incentive programs for electric and plug-in hybrid cars are costing. The problem is, there is no accurate way to show the economic value of removing tens of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the lower health costs for all state residents that result. If you are an electric or plug-in hybrid car owner and are concerned that incentive programs may be cut in your state, now would be a good time to contact your elected officials and let them know you support those programs.
News
Tesla’s biggest rival in China reported a big profit decline once again
Tesla’s biggest rival in China reported a big decline in its profitability for the second straight quarter, and a loss of one-third compared to the same quarter last year.
BYD overtook Tesla as the best-selling EV maker in China in the fourth quarter of 2023, finally surpassing the company in terms of sales in the region.
Is Tesla really losing to BYD, or just playing a different game?
The Chinese market is one of the most competitive in the world, especially for EVs, as the industry is healthy with young and scrappy companies looking to sell the best possible tech in their vehicles.
BYD reported its earnings on Thursday and said that its profit had slumped by 33 percent compared to the same quarter last year. For this year’s third quarter, BYD reported a net profit of 7.8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), a 32.6 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2024.
Its revenue was 195 billion yuan ($27.4 billion), which was only a 3 percent decrease compared to Q3 2024.
The drop in profits and revenue can mostly be attributed to the ongoing growth of competition in the Chinese market. The increased competition in China has pushed companies to turn to overseas markets in response, according to CnEVPost.
BYD is one of those companies, and it is attempting to push sales upward by entering new markets, especially in Europe, where the company sold more than 13,000 units in EU countries in September alone.
This was a 272 percent increase year over year, a major piece of evidence that it has a lot of potential in foreign markets.
The drop in financial figures is likely a short-term issue for BYD, as it has already established itself as a formidable competitor to many companies in many markets. In Q1, it reported an increase in profit by 100 percent compared to the same time span the year prior.
As it works to expand to even more markets in the world, it will continue to build upon its already-solid reputation.
News
GM takes latest step to avoid disaster as EV efforts get derailed
There was an even larger step taken this morning, as the Detroit Free Press reported that GM was idling its Factory Zero plant in Michigan until late November, placing about 1,200 workers on indefinite layoff status.
General Motors has taken its latest step to avoid financial disaster as its electric vehicle efforts have been widely derailed.
GM’s electric vehicle manufacturing efforts started off hot, and CEO Mary Barra seemed to have a real hold on how the industry and consumers were starting to evolve toward sustainable powertrains. Even former President Joe Biden commended her as being a major force in the global transition to EVs.
However, the company’s plans have not gone as they’ve drawn them up. GM has reported some underwhelming delivery figures in recent quarters, and with the loss of the $7,500 tax credit, the company is planning for what is likely a substantial setback in its entire EV division.
Earlier this month, the company reported it would include a $1.6 billion charge in its quarterly earnings results from EV investments. It was the first true sign that things with GM’s EV projects were going to slow down.
There was an even larger step taken this morning, as the Detroit Free Press reported that GM was idling its Factory Zero plant in Michigan until late November, placing about 1,200 workers on indefinite layoff status.
This is in addition to the 280 employees it has already laid off after production cuts that happened earlier this year at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant.
After November 24, GM will bring back 3,200 people to work until January 5 to operate both shifts. On January 5, GM is expected to keep 1,200 workers on indefinite layoff.
GM is not the only legacy automaker to make a move like this, as Ford has also started to make a move that reflects a cautious tone regarding how far and how committed it can be to its EV efforts.
After the tax credit was lost, it seemed to be a game of who would be able to float their efforts longest without the government’s help. Tesla CEO Elon Musk long said that the loss of these subsidies would help the company and hurt its competitors, and so far, that is what we are seeing.
Elon Musk was right all along about Tesla’s rivals and EV subsidies
However, Tesla still has some things to figure out, including how its delivery numbers will be without the tax credit. Its best quarter came in Q3 as the credit was expiring, but Tesla did roll out some more affordable models after the turn of the quarter.
News
Tesla expands Robotaxi geofence, but not the garage
This has broadened its geofence to nearly three times the size of Waymo’s current service area, which is great from a comparative standpoint. However, there seems to be something that also needs to be expanded as the geofence gets larger: the size of the Robotaxi fleet.
Tesla has expanded its Robotaxi geofence four times, once as recently as this week.
However, the company has seemingly kept its fleet size relatively small compared to the size of the service area, making some people — even pro-Tesla influencers — ask for more transparency and an expansion of the number of vehicles it has operating.
Over the past four months, Tesla has done an excellent job of maintaining growth with its service area in Austin as it continues to roll out the early stages of what is the Robotaxi platform.
The most recent expansion brought its size from 170 square miles (440.298 sq. km) to 243 square miles (629.367 sq. km).
Tesla sends clear message to Waymo with latest Austin Robotaxi move
This has broadened its geofence to nearly three times the size of Waymo’s current service area, which is great from a comparative standpoint. However, there seems to be something that also needs to be expanded as the geofence gets larger: the size of the Robotaxi fleet.
Tesla has never revealed exactly how many Model Y vehicles it is using in Austin for its partially driverless ride-hailing service (We say partial because the Safety Monitor moves to the driver’s seat for freeway routes).
When it first launched Robotaxi, Tesla said it would be a small fleet size, between 10 and 20 vehicles. In late August, after its second expansion of the service area, it then said it “also increased the number of cars available by 50 percent.”
The problem is, nobody knows how many cars were in the fleet to begin with, so there’s no real concrete figure on how many Robotaxis were available.
This has caused some frustration for users, who have talked about the inability to get rides smoothly. As the geofence has gotten larger, there has only been one mentioned increase in the fleet.
Trying to book a RoboTaxi in the new geofence and can’t get paired with a car.
Really think Tesla needs to add more cars to the fleet in Austin. Has become tougher and tougher to use the service reliably @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/KHqea3oUxU
— Farzad (@farzyness) October 29, 2025
Tesla did not reveal any new figures or expansion plans in terms of fleet size in the recent Q3 Earnings Call, but there is still a true frustration among many because the company will not reveal an exact figure.
-
Elon Musk2 weeks agoSpaceX posts Starship booster feat that’s so nutty, it doesn’t even look real
-
Elon Musk2 weeks agoTesla Full Self-Driving gets an offer to be insured for ‘almost free’
-
News2 weeks agoElon Musk confirms Tesla FSD V14.2 will see widespread rollout
-
News2 weeks agoTesla is adding an interesting feature to its centerscreen in a coming update
-
News2 weeks agoTesla widens rollout of new Full Self-Driving suite to more owners
-
Elon Musk2 weeks agoTesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package hits first adversity from proxy firm
-
News2 weeks agoTesla might be doing away with a long-included feature with its vehicles
-
News1 week agoTesla updates fans on its plans for the Roadster


