News
Tesla destroys German critic’s electric car prejudice after Model 3 test drive
German automotive veteran Nando Sommerfeldt has not had good experiences with electric cars. At one time, the electric vehicles he was testing ended up running out of charge, making him stranded in the middle of a trip. Other vehicles proved too slow to charge, testing his family’s patience. Sommerfeldt has reservations about electric cars, even a prejudice, if you may, but it only lasted until he drove a Tesla Model 3.
The Silicon Valley-based electric car maker sent a bold message to the auto veteran, offering to change his mind about electric cars. “We would like to convince you otherwise. Our impression is that you simply have not tested the ‘right electric cars’ yet,” Tesla wrote. That’s a bold statement, and Sommerfeldt opted to take the offer. Tesla provided the EV critic with a Model 3 Performance, one of its latest vehicles that currently sells for 69,000 euros in Germany.
Being “spoiled” by vehicles from premium manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, Sommerfeldt was largely unimpressed with the build quality of the Model 3. In his review, which was published at German publication Welt.de, Sommerfeldt complained about the panel gaps in the car, and he argued that while the white seats of the Model 3 were good, they do not compare favorably to the seats of the Audi e-tron. “The workmanship of body, interior, actually everything, is not up to premium standards,” he wrote. Nevertheless, with his evaluation of the vehicle’s build quality out of the way, the EV critic started driving the electric sedan.
It took 50 kilometers (31 miles) before his prejudices against electric cars started to fade. Even with the electric revolution underway today, there is still a persistent belief that EVs don’t drive as well as the best gas-powered vehicles on the market. “What nonsense. The Model 3 drives terrific,” Sommerfeldt declared. German industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer from Center Automotive Research (CAR) highlighted Sommerfeldt’s observations. “The car is much better than all models of electric competition. The technical lead is easily four to five years. Range and driving pleasure are unmatched,” he said.
Elaborating on his experience, Sommerfeldt noted that the Model 3 feels like a sports car, an “extremely fast sports car.” This is quite notable considering that the vehicle is a family car at its core. But it’s not just the vehicle’s driving dynamics that impressed the EV critic. In terms of bleeding-edge technology inside the car, the Model 3 does not disappoint either. Industry expert Stefan Bratzel of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) noted that the migration of car buyers from traditional vehicles to electric cars like Tesla is due to veterans being unable to offer similar innovations. “The future is offered here (at Tesla), which the Germans have not been able to do so far,” Bratzel said.
Beyond the excellent driving dynamics and the technology in the Model 3, perhaps what really removed the EV critic’s prejudice against electric cars was Tesla’s Supercharger Network. During his time with the vehicle, Sommerfeldt took his family out on a road trip once more, and this time around, they did not have to wait for hours on end for their vehicle to charge. Using one of Tesla’s Superchargers, Sommerfeldt and his family opted for a quick coffee and ice cream break, and by the time they returned to the Model 3, it had already gained 300 km (186 miles) of additional range. Sommerfeldt found the Supercharger Network’s design well-placed for long trips, and the Tesla community as a whole pleasant to interact with.
Dudenhöffer noted that among electric car makers, Tesla is the one that really thought about the big picture when they released their vehicles. Teslas, while not capable of charging at speeds similar to a gas-powered car yet, can charge at their owner’s homes (allowing drivers to leave with a “full tank” every day), and the company has backups in place if the Supercharger Network is unevailable. “Right from the beginning, the company had a clear plan of where its customers’ traffic flows. The Tesla owner can also refuel at all the other pillars of this country. But first of all, it would probably be too slow for him. And second, he does not need them,” he said. This is a particularly notable point for Sommerfeldt, as he admits to having deep range anxiety issues due to his past experiences with EVs. These issues, he found, were nonexistent with the Model 3.
With range anxiety gone thanks to the Supercharger Network and its contingencies, Sommerfeldt noted that Tesla drivers could trust their vehicles once more. And that, for Germany’s car buying public, at least, is a very big deal. “This Tesla destroys all my prejudices against the electric car,” he wrote.
Lifestyle
California hits Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi driverless cars with new law
California just gave police power to ticket driverless cars, including Tesla’s Cybercab fleet.
California DMV formally adopted new rules on April 29, 2026 that allow law enforcement to issue “notices of noncompliance”, or in other words, ticket autonomous vehicle companies when their cars commit moving violations. The rules take effect July 1, 2026, officially closes a regulatory gap that previously let driverless cars operate on public roads with nearly no traffic enforcement consequences.
Until now, state traffic law only applied to human “drivers,” which meant that when no person was behind the wheel, police had no mechanism to issue a ticket. Officers were limited to citing driverless vehicles for parking violations only. A well-known example came in September 2025, when a San Bruno officer watched a Waymo robotaxi execute an illegal U-turn and could do nothing but notify the company.
Under the new framework, when an officer observes a violation, the autonomous vehicle company is effectively treated as the driver. Companies must report each incident to the DMV within 72 hours, or 24 hours if a collision is involved. Repeated violations can result in fleet size restrictions, operational suspensions, or full permit revocation. Local officials also gained new authority to geofence driverless vehicles out of active emergency zones within two minutes and require a live emergency response line answered within 30 seconds.
Tesla Cybercab ramps Robotaxi public street testing as vehicle enters mass production queue
California’s new enforcement rules arrive at a pivotal moment for Tesla. The company is ramping Cybercab production at Giga Texas toward hundreds of units per week, targeting at least 2 million units annually at full capacity, while simultaneously pushing to expand its Robotaxi service to dozens of U.S. cities by end of 2026. Unsupervised FSD for consumer vehicles is currently targeted for Q4 2026, and when it arrives, Tesla’s fleet may not have a human to absorb legal accountability, under the July 1 rules.
Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its Robotaxi service to seven new cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, with the service already running without safety drivers in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.
News
Tesla Model X shocks everyone by crushing every other used car in America
The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.
The Tesla Model X was the fastest-selling used vehicle in the United States in the first quarter of the year, crushing every other used car in America.
iSeeCars data for the first quarter shows that the Model X was the fastest-selling used car, lasting just 25.6 days on the market on average, two days better than that of the second-place Lexus RX 350h. The Cybertruck, Model Y, and Model S, in seventh, ninth, and thirteenth place, respectively, also made the list.
The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.
Tesla brings closure to flagship ‘sentimental’ models, Musk confirms
Bringing closure to these two vehicles signaled the end of the road for the cars that have effectively built Tesla’s reputation for luxury and high-end passenger vehicles.
Relying on the sales of its mass market Model Y and Model 3, as well as leaning on the success of future products like the Cybercab, is the angle Tesla has chosen to take.
Teslas are also performing extremely well as a whole on the resale market. iSeeCars data shows that, “while the average price of a 1- to 5-year-old non-Tesla EV fell 10.3% in Q1 2026 year-over-year, the average price of a used Tesla was essentially flat at 0.1% lower across the same period. Traditional gas car prices dropped 2.8% during this same period.”
Additionally, market share for gas cars has dropped nearly 3 percent since the same quarter last year. Tesla has remained level, while the non-Tesla EV market share has increased 30 percent, mostly due to more models available.
Nevertheless, those non-Tesla EVs have seen their value drop by over 10 percent, while Tesla’s values have remained level.
Executive Analyst Karl Brauer said:
“Used electric vehicles without a Tesla badge have lost more than 10% of their value in the past year. This compares to stable values for Teslas and hybrids, and a modest 2.8% drop for traditional gasoline vehicles.”
Teslas, as well as non-luxury hybrids, are displaying the strongest resistance in the face of faltering demand, the publication says. But the more impressive performance is that of the Model X alone.
Tesla’s decision to stop production of the Model X may have played some part in the vehicle’s pristine performance in Q1. With the car already placed at a premium price point, used models are already more appealing to consumers. Perhaps second-hand versions were more than enough for those who wanted a Model X, and only a Model X.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck’s head-scratching trim sold terribly, recall documents reveal
The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.
After Tesla decided to build a Rear-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck trim back in 2025, which was void of many features and only featured a small discount.
The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.
The recall deals with a potentially separating wheel stud and potentially impacts 173 Cybertruck units with the 18-inch steel wheels. The Cybertruck RWD was the only trim level to feature these, and the 173 potentially impacted units represent a portion of the population of pickups. Therefore, it’s not the entire number of RWD Cybertruck sold, but it could show how little interest it gathered.
The NHTSA document states:
“On affected vehicles, higher severity road perturbations and cornering may strain the stud hole in the wheel rotor, causing cracks to form. If cracking propagates with continued use and strain, the wheel stud could eventually separate from the wheel hub.”
Only 5 percent are expected to be impacted, meaning less than 10 units will have the issue if the NHTSA and Tesla estimates are correct. Nevertheless, the true story here is how terribly the RWD Cybertruck sold.
Tesla ended production and stopped offering the RWD Cybertruck to customers last September. For just $10,000 less than the All-Wheel-Drive trim, Tesla offered the RWD Cybertruck with just one motor, textile seats instead of leather, only 7 speakers instead of 15, no Rear Touchscreen, no Powered Tonneau Cover for the truck bed, and no 120v/240v outlets.
For just $10,000 more, at $79,990, owners could have received all of those premium features, as well as a more capable All-Wheel-Drive powertrain that featured Adaptive Air Suspension. The discount simply was not worth the sacrifices.
Orders were few and far between, and sources told us that when it was offered, sales were extremely tempered because customers could not see the value in this trim level.
Even Tesla’s most loyal supporters thought the offering was kind of a joke, and the $10,000 extra was simply worth it.
California hits Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi driverless cars with new law
Tesla Model X shocks everyone by crushing every other used car in America
