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Tesla Model 3 invasion in Europe becomes imminent as cargo ship arrives in Belgium
After conquering the United States’s luxury car market in 2018, the Tesla Model 3 is now heading to foreign territories. In Elon Musk’s letter to employees last month, the CEO noted that the Model 3’s push in Europe and China this first quarter would be critical to the company’s profitability, particularly since deliveries in these territories would start with higher-priced variants like the Long Range AWD and the Performance variant. Amidst the anticipation of the Model 3’s worldwide distribution, reports have now emerged indicating that the first large batch of electric sedans has safely arrived at the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium.
Tesla has not shared details of the first Model 3 shipment that recently arrived in European shores. That said, reports from local media outlets back in December noted that Tesla would be shipping around 3,000 Model 3 to the Zeebrugge port every week. Reports also pointed out that the electric sedans would be shipped quickly, with the vehicles being loaded on RoRo (roll-on, roll-off) ships to facilitate quick loading and unloading. As another way to optimize the deliveries of Model 3 to the region, the transportation of the cars from the United States to Zeebrugge will reportedly take only about 15 days, considering that the cargo ships carrying the vehicles would be passing through the Panama Canal.
The first of these Model 3-filled cargo ships — the Glovis Captain — has been tracked religiously by the Tesla community from its departure in the United States to its arrival at the Belgian port. As noted by a number of dedicated Tesla enthusiasts who have been tracking the ship’s whereabouts, Glovis Captain has recently docked at Zeebrugge. With this, it would likely be just a matter of time before Tesla starts delivering the Model 3 to the first batch of reservation holders in the region. Following are pictures of the cargo ship in the Belgian port as shared by members of the Tesla community.
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- (Photo: Ulric Dabe/Twitter)
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- (Photo: Ulric Dabe/Twitter)
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- (Photo: Ulric Dabe/Twitter)
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- (Photo: Ulric Dabe/Twitter)
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- (Photo: Kristof Lambrecht/Twitter)
The Glovis Captain arrives at the port of Zeebrugge. (Photos: Ulric Dabe and Kristof Lambrecht/Twitter)
With the arrival of the Model 3 in Europe, the disruption of the auto industry that the vehicle started in the United States could very well extend to the European region. In 2018, the Model 3 all but shook the US auto market, becoming such a force that it started closing in on mainstream passenger sedans like the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry. By the end of 2018, the Model 3 was also hailed as a best-selling car in the US’ luxury auto market, selling more than 145,000 units during the year. It should be noted that the Model 3 accomplished these feats in the US despite Tesla’s production issues with the vehicle.
In a way, the true potential of the Model 3 might actually be seen in the vehicle’s performance in the European market, considering that passenger cars are an active, lucrative segment in the region. Compared to the United States, which largely favors SUVs and pickup trucks, Europe is far friendlier to sedans. In the company’s Q3 2018 Update Letter, Tesla noted that the mid-sized premium sedan market in Europe is “more than twice as big as the same segment in the US. In the recently released Q4 2018 letter, the company reiterated this point, stating that “the market opportunity for Model 3 in Europe and China exceeds North America based on the most recent sales of mid-sized premium sedans.”
Over the past months, the pieces have fallen in place for the Model 3’s European invasion. In January, it was confirmed that the electric sedan had achieved homologation approval, paving the way for a seamless rollout of the vehicles in the region. Test drive programs for the Model 3 have also begun in select European areas, giving reservation holders and potential customers a taste of what the electric sedan has to offer.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2026 on Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what the company reported compared to what Wall Street analysts expected.
The earnings results come after Tesla reported a massive beat on vehicle deliveries for the second quarter, delivering 489,126 vehicles and building 451,758 cars during the three-month span.
This was a major shock for those on Wall Street as they anticipated somewhere around 400,000 deliveries for the quarter, and showed Tesla still has plenty of demand for its vehicles around the world and in the U.S. despite losing the $7,500 EV Tax Credit last year.
Tesla Q2 2026 Earnings Results
- Non-GAAP EPS – $0.33 reported vs. $0.53 expected
- Revenues – $28.236 billion reported vs. $26.4 billion expected
- Free Cash Flow- -$1.092B
- Profit -$ 4.751B
Tesla (beat/missed) analyst expectations, so the market response to the company’s quarter is what we will look for next.
Tesla shares closed today down just over 1 percent, trading at $374.01.
In the past, it has been anyone’s guess with what Tesla shares will do after they report earnings. Strong quarters have resulted in sharp drops, while lackluster quarters have seen the stock shoot up considerably.
Tesla will hold its Q2 2026 Earnings Call in about 90 minutes at 5:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Remarks will be made by CEO Elon Musk and other executives, who will shed some light on the investor questions that we covered earlier this week.
You can stream it below. Additionally, we will be doing our Live Blog on X and Facebook.
Q2 2026 Earnings Call https://t.co/zZS6ii2TWK
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 22, 2026
Tesla is about to make parking in busy parking lots at businesses and other points of interest less stressful than ever by allowing drivers more control over where they park and how, CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X.
Tesla has been working to improve the parking performance of vehicles utilizing the Full Self-Driving suite, but now it is looking to add more customization, allowing drivers to choose the specific space they park in, but also potentially the orientation the car pulls into the spot:
It’s coming soon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2026
Musk has reiterated on X twice over the past several weeks that Tesla is working to make things with the FSD suite based more on the driver’s specific preferences and behaviors that were seen in past drives.
Essentially, it sounds like if you tend to park away from a business to avoid other vehicles, Tesla FSD will soon recognize that preference of yours and start parking further away as well. Additionally, the prospect of assigned parking spaces has been something many owners have voiced concerns about.
Living in a community with assigned parking spaces makes using FSD incredibly difficult as it will rarely park in the correct spot when there are so many to choose from. This is also pertinent in work settings where there are sometimes assigned parking spaces.
The updates to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite in terms of listening to driver preferences with parking are also extending to routing. Tesla announced yesterday that with the release of its 2026 Summer Update, it was adding Automatic Navigation and Preferred Routes:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla has always maintained the idea that any human input is bad input, and that, ideally, Tesla Full Self-Driving will always make the right decision. Of course, this is all in theory, but the issue is that so many of Tesla’s interventions have come because it does something that is not necessarily wrong, but perhaps not what the driver would prefer.
Taking these preferences into account will help Tesla alleviate some of the potentially unnecessary interventions that drivers perform.
Tesla is starting to prepare for the launch of the Optimus robot in its smartphone app, new coding strings show. Elon Musk has referred to Optimus as what will be the greatest-selling product of any kind of all time, and now, Tesla is getting ready for its launch.
Tesla’s smartphone app had several first-time mentions of the Optimus program, according to Tesla App Updates, who intially reported on the appearance. Here’s what they found:
A Dedicated “Robot” Phone Key Authentication
Tesla is working on a Bluetooth Low Energy, or BLE, authentication that is specifically for robots. This does not only apply to Optimus, though, as Robotaxi, which is Tesla’s autonomous ride-hailing platform, might also identify vehicles within the fleet as robots as well.
Tesla shows rapid teardown of Model S and X lines, paving the way for Optimus at Fremont
Essentially, pairing your phone as a key to anything Tesla identifies as a robot to a “whitelist” of authorized devices. Optimus, Robotaxi, or other products that fall into this category will only respond if the device trying to communicate with it is authorized.
This is a great security feature that will eliminate at least face-value and low-level threats.
Home Data Collection and System Alerts
This appears to be somewhat of a neural network for Optimus within your house. There will be a dedicated screen that asks for consent to collect both video and spatial data while Optimus performs in-home tasks. Everything from vacuuming, washing dishes, dusting, and other activities will be tracked.
There will also be a comprehensive alert system that will track everything from low battery to mechanical issues.
Other Changes
Most of the changes tracked in this particular app update are related to Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update, and include things such as image assets for new features, a preview of the new custom wraps feature, and other unique features.
You can check out our coverage on what is included with the 2026 Summer Update here:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla is about to make parking in busy lots less stressful than ever
