News
Mercedes-Benz EQC shows off its cornering prowess in Nurburgring track tests
German automaker Mercedes-Benz seems to be ensuring that its first all-electric vehicle, the EQC, will be an SUV that can deliver some serious performance. The vehicle might have raised some eyebrows immediately following its launch due to questions about its range and efficiency, but if a video of the SUV taking on the Nürburgring Nordschleife is any indication, it appears that Mercedes-Benz’s luxury EV can be a pretty fun car to drive.
A video of the SUV doing continuous testing was captured by YouTube auto enthusiast Automotive Mike. In the clip, the EQC could be seen hugging the track pretty well. The vehicle’s quick acceleration thanks to the instant torque of its two electric motors was quite evident too. For an SUV that’s large and almost bulky compared to competitors like the Jaguar I-PACE and the Tesla Model X, the Mercedes-Benz EQC seems to be surprisingly nimble.
If there was anything that could be noticed from the video of its Nürburgring runs, though, the EQC appears to exhibit a notable amount of body roll, particularly when cornering at high speeds. While this might allude to the EQC having softly-tuned suspension, such a setup nevertheless points to the all-electric SUV offering its passengers a comfortable ride.
Mercedes-Benz unveiled the EQC early in September, with Daimler AG Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche boldly declaring in front of an audience at Stockholm, Sweden, that the EQC symbolizes the company’s commitment to the electrification of the transport industry. The Daimler CEO even noted that there simply is “no alternative to betting on electric cars.”
The Mercedes-Benz EQC looks and feels like a traditional vehicle from the veteran luxury carmaker, being plush with luxurious accents and designed with understated lines and an aggressive stance. The specs of the car are quite decent, with two electric motors that produce 402 hp and 564 lb-ft of torque. Despite its size and bulk, the EQC is capable of accelerating from 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds and reaching a top speed of 112 mph. The EQC also has a towing capability of 3,968 lbs.
Inasmuch as the performance specs of the vehicle are impressive, though, the EQC’s battery and range were met with some raised eyebrows from the auto community, after initial press materials quoted the vehicle’s range from its 80 kWh battery pack at just ~200 miles. Mercedes-Benz later corrected the information, stating that the EQC actually has a range of 279 miles per charge.
When the vehicle was announced, Mercedes-Benz announced that it is expecting to start the production of the EQC sometime in 2020. In a later report, though, the legacy carmaker stepped back from its estimates, stating that it was adopting a gradual rollout for the vehicle instead. Speaking to Europe Auto News, Mercedes-Benz head of production and supply chain management Markus Schaefer noted that the vehicle’s more deliberate rollout was due to the company’s concerns about the new technologies in the EQC, particularly in its battery.
“We want to be sure we deliver Mercedes quality from day one in all aspects, and we have to watch the warranty side for customers as well. We don’t want customers ending up at the mechanic later. Slowing down the ramp-up is a tool to make sure we do it right, to address all the unknowns that an electric car brings,” he said.
While electric car enthusiasts who wish to acquire the Mercedes-Benz EQC might end up waiting a little longer for the vehicle, Schaefer nonetheless stated that the company is confident it can ramp the production of the all-electric SUV quickly. The veteran carmaker plans to manufacture the EQC at its facilities in Bremen, Germany, and Beijing, China, on the same line as the company’s gas-powered SUVs such as the Mercedes-Benz GLC.
Watch the Mercedes-Benz EQC take on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in the video below.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the third quarter of 2026, marking a reasonable performance on the various financial metrics. Tesla still plans to hold a call that will field investor questions at 5:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. CT.
Here’s where Earnings came in:
- Total Revenues: $28.046 reported vs. $28.34B expected
- Non-GAAP EPS: $0.48 reported vs. $0.45 expected
- Operating Margin: 2.6 % reported vs. 2.5% expected
- Operating Income: $718M reported vs. $721M expected
- Free Cash Flow: $1.531B reported vs. ~-$4.51B expected
Tesla $TSLA Earnings Results:
Revenues: $28.046B
Non-GAAP EPS: $0.48
Operating Margin: 2.6%
Operating Income: $718M
FCF: $1.531B— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 21, 2026
Major Takeaways
Full Self-Driving (Supervised)
“FSD (Supervised)⁴ attach rate continued to grow, reaching over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America – our most mature market – a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available, and we continue to work with regulators to get it approved in other markets.”
Tesla Semi
“We began volume production of Tesla Semi, our Class 8 heavy-duty truck. The top variant can go 500 miles at full 82,000 lbs gross combination weight while achieving an efficiency of 1.7 kWh/mile. That efficiency allows the Tesla Semi to use a third of the energy used by a comparable diesel truck to haul the same payload. In a transportation market where energy is one of the largest components of total cost per mile, this will provide a meaningful advantage to Tesla Semi operators.”
SI Compute
“We plan to reach 400 MW of SI training compute by the end of the year, supporting the development of both vehicle and humanoid robot autonomy software. Additionally, we continued construction for the Austin Fab, where we plan to start commissioning equipment in 2027.”
Robotaxi
“We began deployment of Cybercab into our Robotaxi fleet in Austin. We reached nearly two million cumulative unsupervised miles for our Robotaxi service as of the end of the quarter. Operating hours in Austin are now 6am to midnight, and we expect to reduce wait times via increased fleet supply and improvement of Robotaxi orchestration algorithms. Grok is available in Cybercab with access to Grok Bot and Connectors, which allows users to manage their inbox, calendars, files, chats and tasks – all hands free via voice command – making Cybercab a mode of transport, a productivity space and, with our entertainment options, a second living room.”
Interested in ordering a Tesla? Use my referral code for three free months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) here.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reports its earnings for Q3 today. Here’s what to expect, as the company will reveal its balance sheet after the market closes on Wednesday.
Tesla already reported deliveries just after Q3 ended, and it demolished Wall Street consensus estimates of roughly 462,000 vehicles. Tesla delivered 486,532 cars in the third quarter, which was a big beat, but was down 2.1 percent from the same quarter last year. Energy storage deployments were 13.7 GWh, up year-over-year.
Tesla showrooms picked clean ahead of Q3 end as demand looks strong
For the quarter, analysts have already compiled their predictions for what Tesla will report this afternoon:
- Total Revenues: $28.34B
- Non-GAAP EPS: $0.43
- Operating Margin: 2.5%
- Operating Income: $721M
- Free Cash Flow: ~-$4.51B
Here are a few things we are looking forward to hearing about on the call:
Automotive Gross Margin and Overall Profitability
This was 16.3 percent in Q2, down from 19.2 percent in Q1, and was impacted by warranty charges and some fading regulatory credits. Consensus implies overall gross margin near 18 percent, but a miss here would potentially reinforce concerns about pricing pressure on its vehicles.
Pay attention to energy storage margins as well, especially since Tesla missed GWh expectations, although it was still a strong quarter.
Robotaxi/Cybercab, Unsupervised FSD, and Optimus Progress
The Say questions from retail investors usually focus on these types of projects, and this quarter is no different. Scaling the Cybercab fleet beyond Austin amid the open NHTSA safety review, timeline for Unsupervised FSD in customer cars, Robotaxi unit economics, and Optimus cost per unit plus when it could start generating revenue, are all things to be looking for.
Any concrete timelines or regulatory path details will likely move the stock more than the near-term numbers. SpaceX merger speculation, which was detailed during SpaceX’s earnings call last night, may also surface, although the key details were shared last night.
Elon Musk just confirmed the Tesla and SpaceX merger step everyone was waiting for
Say Investor Questions
- How does the Cybercab fleet scale past Austin, and what’s the regulatory path outside Texas given NHTSA’s open safety review?
- When can we anticipate FSD unsupervised in customer cars?
- When will the CyberCab be available for customer purchase/ownership?
- What’s the unit economics per paid robotaxi mile, and how does it compare to the thirty-cent target?
- Tesla has acknowledged that HW3 vehicles cannot support unsupervised FSD. When will owners know whether they can upgrade their hardware for free, and when will Tesla provide a clear plan?
The full Earnings Call will be streamed this evening after market close around 5 p.m. this evening.
SpaceX confirmed the date of Starship’s 15th launch window with some massive ambitions for the mission, as it will attempt to catch Ship for the first time.
CEO Elon Musk confirmed during SpaceX’s Earnings Call last night on October 20 that it would launch Starship for its 15th test flight in November, and there are some incredible things the company wants to try, making it perhaps the most groundbreaking launch in the program’s history.
SpaceX delivers blockbuster Q3 results as Super Intelligence segment booms
The most major development of the call was SpaceX’s intention to catch Ship alongside catching the Super Heavy Booster, something that has happened in the past. SpaceX showed an animation of the Ship catch, which will be done on the launch tower’s chopsticks:
SpaceX has released a new Starship tower catch animation for the upcoming Flight 15! https://t.co/kStn01Da8u
— Truthful🛰️ (@Truthful_ast) October 20, 2026
This monumental goal is to catch both the Ship and Booster in a dual-catch scenario, an incredible feat since SpaceX has never been able to reuse a Ship after launch. Musk said it would be “the first time that an orbital launch vehicle has been fully recovered,” and said it would be a “profound technology milestone.”
Musk said the odds of success on this first Ship catch attempt are “more likely than not,” but SpaceX is ultimately prepared for more tries moving forward. The SpaceX frontman said that, starting next year, Starship would have a “steady stream” of flights through the end of the year.
The cadence will accelerate in 2027, with Musk stating the company plans to target weekly flights in the first half of 2027 and twice-weekly by year-end.
The Flight 15 attempt follows that of Flight 14, which took off in late September and was Starship’s first orbital mission. It deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, accomplished a controlled ocean splashdown of both stages, and shed more light on potential challenges for the program moving forward.
As of now, the Starship program is firing on all cylinders.
Interested in ordering a Tesla? Use my referral code for three free months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) here.
Tesla Q3 2026 Earnings results: in-line revenues, slight beat on EPS
Tesla reports Q3 Earnings today: here’s what to expect
