BYD is seeing a lot of momentum in Europe, so much so that mainstream media has taken every opportunity to argue that the Chinese automaker has beaten Tesla in the region. But while BYD sales this year in Europe are rising and Tesla’s registrations remain challenged, the raw capabilities of vehicles like the Model Y are difficult to deny. 

This was highlighted in a 500-mile challenge by What Car? magazine, which showed that the new Tesla Model Y is more efficient, cheaper to run, and more reliable than rivals like the BYD Sealion 7, and even the nearly 400 KW-charging MG IM6.

Range and charging promises

On paper, the BYD Sealion 7 and MG IM6 promised standout capabilities against the Model Y. The Sealion 7 had more estimated range and the IM6 promised significantly faster charging. When faced with real-world conditions, however, it was still the Model Y that proved superior.

During the 500-mile test, the BYD nearly failed to reach a charging stop, arriving with less range than its display projected, as noted in a CarUp report. MG fared better, but its charging speeds never reached its promised nearly-400 kW charging speed. Tesla’s Model Y, by comparison, managed energy calculations precisely and arrived at each stop without issue.

Tesla leads in the areas that matter

Charging times from 25% to 80% showed that the MG was the fastest at 17 minutes, while Tesla and BYD were close at 28 and 29 minutes, respectively. Overall efficiency and cost told a different story, however. The Model Y consumed 19.4 kWh per 100 km, compared to 22.2 for MG and 23.9 for BYD. Over the full trip, Tesla’s charging costs totaled just £82 thanks to its supercharger network, far below BYD’s £130 and MG’s £119. 

What Car? Magazine’s testers concluded that despite BYD’s rapid sales growth and the MG IM6’s seriously impressive charging speeds, Tesla remains the more compelling real-world choice. The Model Y just offers stability, efficiency, and a proven charging infrastructure through its Supercharging network. And as per the magazine’s hosts, the Model Y is even the cheapest car to own among the three that were tested.

Watch What Car? Magazine’s 500-mile test in the video below.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) got another new price target this week after one firm said that recent events “have removed a large overhang on the stock.”

This year, Tesla has had an up-and-down performance on Wall Street, but gains over the past month have overshadowed much of the skepticism and pressure on the stock.

However, over the past 30 days, a lot of good things have happened: Tesla has shown it has a lot of demand for its vehicles, which will likely translate to good delivery figures, it figured out a compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk, and the company’s clear focus on Robotaxi and Optimus puts it in a good position for the future as the focus comes off of quarterly deliveries.

Tesla board reveals reasoning for CEO Elon Musk’s new $1 trillion pay package

Deutsche Bank recognized these potential catalysts and wrote in a note to investors:

“Ahead of 3Q25 deliveries next week, we raise our near-term estimates given stronger volume in the quarter, but keep our full-year and 2026 outlook mostly unchanged. We think Elon Musk’s clear focus on Tesla’s most important efforts (Robotaxi and Optimus) and the recent compensation package have removed a large overhang on the stock going forward, will allow Tesla to benefit from being a leader in embodied AI.”

These points specifically pushed Deutsche Bank’s reasoning for pushing its price target to $435 from $345.

In terms of quarterly deliveries, the firm expects Tesla to report 461,500 for the quarter. “We expect +20% growth in China and N. America, with some decline in Europe as competition and branding continue to weigh in on demand,” Deutsche Bank said.

Wall Street firm makes shock move for Tesla Q3 delivery prediction

Overall, IR-compiled consensus estimates put deliveries at 443,100:

$TSLA IR-compiled 3Q consensus deliveries for next week is 443.1K -4.3% YoY and +15.4% QoQ. Our 3Q estimate remains 470K so we are still looking for a material beat when TSLA reports 3Q deliveries and production on 10/2. The FY’2025 consensus is 1,603.2K so -10.4% YoY. pic.twitter.com/yuFh9Igvb9

— Gary Black (@garyblack00) September 26, 2025

Tesla received other price target boosts this week, including one from Wedbush’s Dan Ives, who bumped his outlook on the stock from $500 to a Street-high $600.

Elon Musk says Tesla is working hard to scale what will end up being its biggest product in his eyes: Optimus.

Tesla Optimus is the company’s humanoid robot project, which was first announced several years ago but has gained more relevance and become a larger focus over the past year.

Tesla truly had its big breakout with Optimus last year at its “We, Robot” event in October, where it was used to serve drinks, provide entertainment, and mingle with attendees.

Tesla’s next-gen Optimus prototype with Grok revealed

However, it has been a challenge for Tesla to truly scale Optimus and, although it has huge plans for production numbers, certain parts of the project have proven to be more difficult than others.

One of the most notable things is that of its hands, as Tesla wants them to be nimble enough to thread a needle.

This has proven to be very difficult.

Scaling production and refining manufacturing are also likely challenges. Musk says Tesla is “working hard on scaling Optimus,” something that is a crucial issue to solve as the project is a major contributor to the company’s future.

Musk said:

🚨 Tesla has big plans for Optimus production

It has plans for an annual production run-rate of 1 million by 2030

Earlier this year, the plan was to build 5,000 in 2025

Elon Musk has said Optimus should make up roughly 80% of Tesla’s value https://t.co/nAMKGq4yGz pic.twitter.com/NIGUKH248i

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 27, 2025

Musk has made some pretty tremendous predictions for Optimus and how important it could be to Tesla in the future.

Earlier this month, he said Optimus will make up about 80 percent of the company’s value in the future. In January, he also noted during Tesla’s Q4 2024 Earnings Call that Optimus would be “overwhelmingly the value of the company.”

Elon Musk details Tesla’s road to selling Optimus and Robotaxi affordably

He has not only talked about Optimus’s importance in terms of money and revenue. He also said it would be “the biggest product of all-time by far,” because of its ability to revolutionize human life. He said it would be like “having your own personal C-3PO and R2-D2.”