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Tesla Model 3 was best-selling EV in the Netherlands in March

Credit: Reddit u/42755663

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The Tesla Model 3 was the best-selling electric vehicle in the Netherlands in March 2021, capturing its first monthly gold medal since September 2020.

New data from the EV Sales Blog shows the Model 3 was the most popular electric car in the Netherlands, surpassing the Volvo XC40 PHEV, and the recently released Volkswagen ID.4. Tesla sold 341 units of the Model 3 in March, while Volvo’s XC40 was sold 257 times, and the VW crossover had 247 total units sold.

The Volvo XC40 has been the leader in the Netherlands for several months. Meanwhile, the Model 3 has been absent from the top 20 list since December 2020, where it captured 3,938 total sales, good enough for the bronze medal during that month. However, the Model 3 was the second-most popular EV in the Netherlands in 2020, capturing 9% of the total market share for electric car sales for the entire year with 8,374 cars sold. Only the Volkswagen ID.3 sold more, capturing 12% of the market with 10,954 units sold.

Credit: EV Sales Blog

In all, the Netherlands’ total EV market dropped by 4% in March, a main factor in what seems like lower-than-normal sales figures for automobiles. José Pontes of the EV Sales Blog writes:

“The Dutch PEV market dropped 4% in March, to 4,834 plugin registrations, but that result wasn’t all that bad, considering that the overall market fell even more (-18% YoY), placing last month PEV Share at 20% (9% BEV), pushing the year to date PEV share to 15% (5.6% BEV), which is still significantly down on last year result (25%), but already on par with the 2019 score (15%).”

A Tesla Model 3 invasion is starting in the US’ second-hand auto segment

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Interestingly, the VW ID.3 did not appear on the March Top 20 and has slumped in 2021 in the Netherlands so far. After selling 126 units in January to place 20th and only 68 units in February for 10th place, the ID.3 has slid off of the Top 20 list and the Year-to-Date list, as the ID.4 crossover is becoming a more favorable option. Due to the popularity of crossover vehicles, the ID.4 could be the more reasonable option for many car buyers, including those with children as the more spacious interior is favorable for parents.

The Model 3’s popularity across the world still is remarkable as it continues to be Tesla’s most popular vehicle. As the company prepares for the first production pushes of Giga Berlin in Germany later this Summer, some European markets could expect an increased number of Tesla registrations through the second half of 2021 and early 2022 as the Model Y will make its first appearances in the European EV market.

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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Tesla Model 3 gets perfect 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating

Tesla prides itself on producing some of the safest vehicles on the road today.

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Credit: Tesla Singapore/X

Tesla prides itself on producing some of the safest vehicles on the road today. Based on recent findings from the Euro NCAP, the 2025 Model 3 sedan continues this tradition, with the vehicle earning a 5-star overall safety rating from the agency.

Standout Safety Features

As could be seen on the Euro NCAP’s official website, the 2025 Model 3 achieved an overall score of 90% for Adult Occupants, 93% for Child Occupants, 89% for Vulnerable Road Users, and 87% for Safety Assist. This rating, as per the Euro NCAP, applies to the Model 3 Rear Wheel Drive, Long Range Rear Wheel Drive, Long Range All Wheel Drive, and Performance All Wheel Drive.

The Euro NCAP highlighted a number of the Model 3’s safety features, such as its Active Hood, which automatically lifts during collisions to mitigate injury risks to vulnerable road users, and Automatic Emergency Braking System, which now detects motorcycles through an upgraded algorithm. The Euro NCAP also mentioned the Model 3’s feature that prevents initial door opening if someone is approaching the vehicle’s blind spot.

Standout Safety Features

In a post on its official Tesla Europe & Middle East account, Tesla noted that the company is also introducing new features that make the Model 3 even safer than it is today. These include functions like head-on collision avoidance and crossing traffic AEB, as well as Child Left Alone Detection, among other safety features.

“We also introduced new features to improve Safety Assist functionality even further – like head-on collision avoidance & crossing traffic AEB – to detect & respond to potential hazards faster, helping avoid accidents in the first place. 

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“Lastly, we released Child Left Alone Detection – if an unattended child is detected, the vehicle will turn on HVAC & alert caregivers via phone app & the vehicle itself (flashing lights/audible alert). Because we’re using novel in-cabin radar sensing, your Tesla is able to distinguish between adult vs child – reduced annoyance to adults, yet critical safety feature for kids,” Tesla wrote in its post on X.

Below is the Euro NCAP’s safety report on the 2025 Tesla Model 3 sedan.

Euroncap 2025 Tesla Model 3 Datasheet by Simon Alvarez on Scribd

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USDOT Secretary visits Tesla Giga Texas, hints at national autonomous vehicle standards

The Transportation Secretary also toured the factory’s production lines and spoke with CEO Elon Musk.

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Credit: Elon Musk/X

United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Sean Duffy recently visited Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas complex, where he toured the factory’s production lines and spoke with CEO Elon Musk. In a video posted following his Giga Texas visit, Duffy noted that he believes there should be a national standard for autonomous vehicles in the United States.

Duffy’s Giga Texas Visit

As could be seen in videos of his Giga Texas visit, the Transportation Secretary seemed to appreciate the work Tesla has been doing to put the United States in the forefront of innovation. “Tesla is one of the many companies helping our country reach new heights. USDOT will be right there all the way to make sure Americans stay safe,” Duffy wrote in a post on X. 

He also praised Tesla for its autonomous vehicle program, highlighting that “We need American companies to keep innovating so we can outcompete the rest of the world.”

National Standard

While speaking with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the Transportation Secretary stated that other autonomous ride-hailing companies have been lobbying for a national standard for self-driving cars. Musk shared the sentiment, stating that “It’d be wonderful for the United States to have a national set of rules for autonomous driving as opposed to 50 independent sets of rules on a state-by-state rules basis.”

Duffy agreed with the CEO’s point, stating that, “You can’t have 50 different rules for 50 different states. You need one standard.” He also noted that the Transportation Department has asked autonomous vehicle companies to submit data. By doing so, the USDOT could develop a standard for the entire United States, allowing self-driving cars to operate in a manner that is natural and safe.

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Tesla posts Optimus’ most impressive video demonstration yet

The humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network.

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Credit: Tesla Optimus/X

When Elon Musk spoke with CNBC’s David Faber in an interview at Giga Texas, he reiterated the idea that Optimus will be one of Tesla’s biggest products. Seemingly to highlight the CEO’s point, the official Tesla Optimus account on social media platform X shared what could very well be the most impressive demonstration of the humanoid robot’s capabilities to date.

Optimus’ Newest Demonstration

In its recent video demonstration, the Tesla Optimus team featured the humanoid robot performing a variety of tasks. These include household chores such as throwing the trash, using a broom and a vacuum cleaner, tearing a paper towel, stirring a pot of food, opening a cabinet, and closing a curtain, among others. The video also featured Optimus picking up a Model X fore link and placing it on a dolly.

What was most notable in the Tesla Optimus team’s demonstration was the fact that the humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network. The robot’s actions were also learned directly from Optimus being fed data from first-person videos of humans performing similar tasks. This system should pave the way for Optimus to learn and refine new skills quickly and reliably.

Tesla VP for Optimus Shares Insight

In a follow-up post on X, Tesla Vice President of Optimus (Tesla Bot) Milan Kovac stated that one of the team’s goals is to have Optimus learn straight from internet videos of humans performing tasks, including footage captured in third person or by random cameras.

“We recently had a significant breakthrough along that journey, and can now transfer a big chunk of the learning directly from human videos to the bots (1st person views for now). This allows us to bootstrap new tasks much faster compared to teleoperated bot data alone (heavier operationally).

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“Many new skills are emerging through this process, are called for via natural language (voice/text), and are run by a single neural network on the bot (multi-tasking). Next: expand to 3rd person video transfer (aka random internet), and push reliability via self-play (RL) in the real-, and/or synthetic- (sim / world models) world,” Kovac wrote in his post on X.

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