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Tesla Model 3 wins ‘Car of the Year’ award from prestigious UK auto magazine
The Tesla Model 3 was given four separate awards, including “Car of the Year,” by a prestigious automotive magazine in the United Kingdom.
Among its recognition as “Car of the Year” by Parker’s Car Guides, the Model 3 was also named “Best Electric Car”, “Best Company Car”, and won the “Best Safety” Award for any vehicle on the market. Experts say they were impressed with the Model 3, stating it is “capable, likable, and extremely good to drive.”
The cost-effectiveness of the car in terms of range per £1 spent on power was a significant factor in why the vehicle scored so well with Parker’s editors. The Model 3 Standard Range Plus will travel 32 miles per £1 spent on charging, significantly more than any petrol-powered vehicle. Drivers of ICE engines are extremely lucky if they manage to drive 32 miles on a single gallon of gas. And as of October 21, the average price of a gallon of gas is $2.64, according to AAA.
Editor of Parker’s Car Guides, Keith Adams stated that “Although we’re a long way from the end of days for petrol and diesel, it’s good to know that the forward-thinking among us have a choice of some very talented alternatively-powered cars. The Tesla Model 3 isn’t just a good electric car. It is a good car full stop.”
Parker’s gives 22 different awards for various categories, including “Best Towing Car” and “Best Car for Thrill-Seekers.” But the Model 3 took home the most prestigious award of all, as it was recognized as the best car in the world by the firm’s experts.
Parker’s website states that “The Model 3’s clean-sheet approach not only achieves reduced emissions overall but also within its immediate environment. A new approach to interior design and interaction creates a relaxing environment, and genuinely usable autonomous driving modes take the human stress out of congestion and monotonous, constant-speed motorway driving.”
The most affordable Model 3 available for purchase through Tesla’s website is the Standard Range Plus. The car is available for $39,490, and features 250 miles of range on a single charge. The Silicon Valley-based automaker recently added 10 miles of range and $500 to the price. The car seems to be in high demand, as the company extended the delivery window for customers within the United States to 6-10 weeks.
The Model 3 was also awarded the “Best Company Car award” by Parker’s. The UK-based car magazine stated “Company car drivers can make significant savings by switching to an electric car, as zero-emission models attract no BIK next year.” The vehicle’s price, paired with the fact Tesla has an – network of Supercharger stations, were the reasons the Model 3 won the award.
Unfortunately for ICE manufacturers, the Model 3 was not done receiving awards. The car also managed to win the “Safest Car” award, as Parker’s stated that its impressive performance in crash tests and its development of Autopilot were more than enough to name the car as the safest on the road.
Tesla has entered an interesting situation with its Full Self-Driving suite in California, as the State’s Department of Motor Vehicles had adopted an order for a suspension of the company’s sales license, but it immediately put it on hold.
The company has been granted a reprieve as the DMV is giving Tesla an opportunity to “remedy the situation.” After the suspension was recommended for 30 days as a penalty, the DMV said it would give Tesla 90 days to allow the company to come into compliance.
The DMV is accusing Tesla of misleading consumers by using words like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving on its advanced driver assistance (ADAS) features.
The State’s DMV Director, Steve Gordon, said that he hoped “Tesla will find a way to get these misleading statements corrected.” However, Tesla responded to the story on Tuesday, stating that this was a “consumer protection” order for the company using the term Autopilot.
It said “not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem.” It added that “sales in California will continue uninterrupted.”
This was a “consumer protection” order about the use of the term “Autopilot” in a case where not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem.
Sales in California will continue uninterrupted.
— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) December 17, 2025
Tesla has used the terms Autopilot and Full Self-Driving for years, but has added the term “(Supervised)” to the end of the FSD suite, hoping to remedy some of the potential issues that regulators in various areas might have with the labeling of the program.
It might not be too long before Tesla stops catching flak for using the Full Self-Driving name to describe its platform.
Tesla Robotaxi goes driverless as Musk confirms Safety Monitor removal testing
The Robotaxi suite has continued to improve, and this week, vehicles were spotted in Austin without any occupants. CEO Elon Musk would later confirm that Tesla had started testing driverless rides in Austin, hoping to launch rides without any supervision by the end of the year.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) closed at an all-time high on Tuesday, jumping over 3 percent during the day and finishing at $489.88.
The price beats the previous record close, which was $479.86.
Shares have had a crazy year, dipping more than 40 percent from the start of the year. The stock then started to recover once again around late April, when its price started to climb back up from the low $200 level.
This week, Tesla started to climb toward its highest levels ever, as it was revealed on Sunday that the company was testing driverless Robotaxis in Austin. The spike in value pushed the company’s valuation to $1.63 trillion.
Tesla Robotaxi goes driverless as Musk confirms Safety Monitor removal testing
It is the seventh-most valuable company on the market currently, trailing Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta.
Shares closed up $14.57 today, up over 3 percent.
The stock has gone through a lot this year, as previously mentioned. Shares tumbled in Q1 due to CEO Elon Musk’s involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which pulled his attention away from his companies and left a major overhang on their valuations.
However, things started to rebound halfway through the year, and as the government started to phase out the $7,500 tax credit, demand spiked as consumers tried to take advantage of it.
Q3 deliveries were the highest in company history, and Tesla responded to the loss of the tax credit with the launch of the Model 3 and Model Y Standard.
Additionally, analysts have announced high expectations this week for the company on Wall Street as Robotaxi continues to be the focus. With autonomy within Tesla’s sights, things are moving in the direction of Robotaxi being a major catalyst for growth on the Street in the coming year.
Elon Musk
Tesla needs to come through on this one Robotaxi metric, analyst says
“We think the key focus from here will be how fast Tesla can scale driverless operations (including if Tesla’s approach to software/hardware allows it to scale significantly faster than competitors, as the company has argued), and on profitability.”
Tesla needs to come through on this one Robotaxi metric, Mark Delaney of Goldman Sachs says.
Tesla is in the process of rolling out its Robotaxi platform to areas outside of Austin and the California Bay Area. It has plans to launch in five additional cities, including Houston, Dallas, Miami, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.
However, the company’s expansion is not what the focus needs to be, according to Delaney. It’s the speed of deployment.
The analyst said:
“We think the key focus from here will be how fast Tesla can scale driverless operations (including if Tesla’s approach to software/hardware allows it to scale significantly faster than competitors, as the company has argued), and on profitability.”
Profitability will come as the Robotaxi fleet expands. Making that money will be dependent on when Tesla can initiate rides in more areas, giving more customers access to the program.
There are some additional things that the company needs to make happen ahead of the major Robotaxi expansion, one of those things is launching driverless rides in Austin, the first city in which it launched the program.
This week, Tesla started testing driverless Robotaxi rides in Austin, as two different Model Y units were spotted with no occupants, a huge step in the company’s plans for the ride-sharing platform.
Tesla Robotaxi goes driverless as Musk confirms Safety Monitor removal testing
CEO Elon Musk has been hoping to remove Safety Monitors from Robotaxis in Austin for several months, first mentioning the plan to have them out by the end of 2025 in September. He confirmed on Sunday that Tesla had officially removed vehicle occupants and started testing truly unsupervised rides.
Although Safety Monitors in Austin have been sitting in the passenger’s seat, they have still had the ability to override things in case of an emergency. After all, the ultimate goal was safety and avoiding any accidents or injuries.
Goldman Sachs reiterated its ‘Neutral’ rating and its $400 price target. Delaney said, “Tesla is making progress with its autonomous technology,” and recent developments make it evident that this is true.
Tesla enters interesting situation with Full Self-Driving in California
Tesla stock closes at all-time high on heels of Robotaxi progress
