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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 Robotaxi ride-hailing without a Safety Monitor is proving to be a difficult task, according to some riders who made the journey to Austin to attempt to ride in one of its vehicles that has zero supervision.
Last week, Tesla officially removed Safety Monitors from some — not all — of its Robotaxi vehicles in Austin, Texas, answering skeptics who said the vehicles still needed supervision to operate safely and efficiently.
BREAKING: Tesla launches public Robotaxi rides in Austin with no Safety Monitor
Tesla aimed to remove Safety Monitors before the end of 2025, and it did, but only to company employees. It made the move last week to open the rides to the public, just a couple of weeks late to its original goal, but the accomplishment was impressive, nonetheless.
However, the small number of Robotaxis that are operating without Safety Monitors has proven difficult to hail for a ride. David Moss, who has gained notoriety recently as the person who has traveled over 10,000 miles in his Tesla on Full Self-Driving v14 without any interventions, made it to Austin last week.
He has tried to get a ride in a Safety Monitor-less Robotaxi for the better part of four days, and after 38 attempts, he still has yet to grab one:
Wow just wow!
It’s 8:30PM, 29° out ice storm hailing & Tesla Robotaxi service has turned back on!
Waymo is offline & vast majority of humans are home in the storm
Ride 38 was still supervised but by far most impressive yet pic.twitter.com/1aUnJkcYm8
— David Moss (@DavidMoss) January 25, 2026
Tesla said last week that it was rolling out a controlled test of the Safety Monitor-less Robotaxis. Ashok Elluswamy, who heads the AI program at Tesla, confirmed that the company was “starting with a few unsupervised vehicles mixed in with the broader Robotaxi fleet with Safety Monitors,” and that “the ratio will increase over time.”
This is a good strategy that prioritizes safety and keeps the company’s controlled rollout at the forefront of the Robotaxi rollout.
However, it will be interesting to see how quickly the company can scale these completely monitor-less rides. It has proven to be extremely difficult to get one, but that is understandable considering only a handful of the cars in the entire Austin fleet are operating with no supervision within the vehicle.
Tesla has given its biggest hint that Full Self-Driving in Europe is imminent, as a new feature seems to show that the company is preparing for frequent border crossings.
Tesla owner and influencer BLKMDL3, also known as Zack, recently took his Tesla to the border of California and Mexico at Tijuana, and at the international crossing, Full Self-Driving showed an interesting message: “Upcoming country border — FSD (Supervised) will become unavailable.”
FSD now shows a new message when approaching an international border crossing.
Stayed engaged the whole way as we crossed the border and worked great in Mexico! pic.twitter.com/bDzyLnyq0g
— Zack (@BLKMDL3) January 26, 2026
Due to regulatory approvals, once a Tesla operating on Full Self-Driving enters a new country, it is required to comply with the laws and regulations that are applicable to that territory. Even if legal, it seems Tesla will shut off FSD temporarily, confirming it is in a location where operation is approved.
This is something that will be extremely important in Europe, as crossing borders there is like crossing states in the U.S.; it’s pretty frequent compared to life in America, Canada, and Mexico.
Tesla has been working to get FSD approved in Europe for several years, and it has been getting close to being able to offer it to owners on the continent. However, it is still working through a lot of the red tape that is necessary for European regulators to approve use of the system on their continent.
This feature seems to be one that would be extremely useful in Europe, considering the fact that crossing borders into other countries is much more frequent than here in the U.S., and would cater to an area where approvals would differ.
Tesla has been testing FSD in Spain, France, England, and other European countries, and plans to continue expanding this effort. European owners have been fighting for a very long time to utilize the functionality, but the red tape has been the biggest bottleneck in the process.
Tesla Europe builds momentum with expanding FSD demos and regional launches
Tesla operates Full Self-Driving in the United States, China, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.
Elon Musk
SpaceX Starship V3 gets launch date update from Elon Musk
The first flight of Starship Version 3 and its new Raptor V3 engines could happen as early as March.
Elon Musk has announced that SpaceX’s next Starship launch, Flight 12, is expected in about six weeks. This suggests that the first flight of Starship Version 3 and its new Raptor V3 engines could happen as early as March.
In a post on X, Elon Musk stated that the next Starship launch is in six weeks. He accompanied his announcement with a photo that seemed to have been taken when Starship’s upper stage was just about to separate from the Super Heavy Booster. Musk did not state whether SpaceX will attempt to catch the Super Heavy Booster during the upcoming flight.
The upcoming flight will mark the debut of Starship V3. The upgraded design includes the new Raptor V3 engine, which is expected to have nearly twice the thrust of the original Raptor 1, at a fraction of the cost and with significantly reduced weight. The Starship V3 platform is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability.
The Starship V3 Flight 12 launch timeline comes as SpaceX pursues an aggressive development cadence for the fully reusable launch system. Previous iterations of Starship have racked up a mixed but notable string of test flights, including multiple integrated flight tests in 2025.
Interestingly enough, SpaceX has teased an aggressive timeframe for Starship V3’s first flight. Way back in late November, SpaceX noted on X that it will be aiming to launch Starship V3’s maiden flight in the first quarter of 2026. This was despite setbacks like a structural anomaly on the first V3 booster during ground testing.
“Starship’s twelfth flight test remains targeted for the first quarter of 2026,” the company wrote in its post on X.
Tesla Robotaxi ride-hailing without a Safety Monitor proves to be difficult
Tesla gives its biggest hint that Full Self-Driving in Europe is imminent
