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Tesla’s next-gen Roadster will have a rival when it enters production, and it’s German-bred
Just like the Model S and the Model 3, Tesla’s next-generation Roadster has the potential to disrupt an industry. In the case of the Roadster, this would be the supercar market — a segment dominated mainly by premium, high-performance vehicles from Europe. With its specs and its price, the Roadster would likely start making waves among supercar enthusiasts once it enters production sometime in 2020.
If recent reports from Germany are any indication, though, a legitimate rival to Tesla’s “hardcore smackdown” to gasoline cars would be waiting for it when it starts rolling off the production floor. In an announcement earlier this month, German automaker Audi noted that it would be bringing its next-generation PB18 e-tron all-electric supercar to low-volume production. With just around 50 units of the vehicle expected to be built, the PB18 e-tron would likely arrive at the market just in time, or even ahead, of the next-gen Tesla Roadster.
Audi’s PB18 e-tron supercar was unveiled last summer, with the German carmaker hyping the vehicle as a car equipped with the best technologies available today, such as an 800-volt charging system and solid-state batteries that can be fully charged in 15 minutes. At the recently-held Mission Zero Event in Amsterdam, Audi boss Bram Schot announced that the supercar, which was initially speculated to be a one-off prototype, would actually be entering low-volume production.
In a press release for the PB18 e-tron, Audi noted that the supercar would be equipped with three electric motors that deliver a power output of 150 kW to the front axle and 350 kW to the rear. Maximum output for the vehicle is 500 kW, though drivers can boost this to 570 kW during operation. Thanks to the electric motors’ combined torque of up to 830-newton meters (612.2 lb-ft), the German-bred electric supercar can accelerate from 0-60 mph in “scarcely more than 2 seconds.”
While certainly impressive, though, Audi’s upcoming all-electric supercar does fall short when compared to some of the next-generation Tesla Roadster’s specs. The Audi PB18 e-tron, for one, comes with a 95 kWh battery pack, which the company states will give the vehicle 500 km (310 miles) of range per charge. The next-generation Tesla Roadster, on the other hand, is equipped with a 200 kWh battery pack that gives the vehicle a range of 1000 km (620 miles) per charge. That said, Audi’s upcoming all-electric supercar is also capable of 350 kW charging, which should make up for the vehicle’s otherwise average range.
Tesla’s next-generation Roadster. (Photo: Tesla)
Performance figures aside, the Audi PB18 e-tron would likely be priced higher than the Tesla Roadster. With a limited production of just 50 vehicles, Audi could charge top dollar for its all-electric supercar. Thus, it would not be surprising if the PB18 e-tron ends up commanding a price closer to the Rimac C_Two (also a low-volume all-electric supercar priced at $2.1 million) than its Silicon Valley-bred rival. In this sense, the next-generation Tesla Roadster would still be far more attainable than the PB18 e-tron, considering the vehicle’s starting price of $200,000 for the base variant.
Elon Musk notes that the next-generation Tesla Roadster is a supercar designed to take away the halo effect that gas cars have in the performance segment. In classic Elon Musk form, though, the Tesla CEO has announced some pretty crazy ideas for the upcoming vehicle, including a “SpaceX package” that would allow the Roadster to have “hovering” abilities. The base version of the next-gen Tesla Roadster already boasts a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds and a top speed above 250 mph. With the SpaceX package, the vehicle’s specs would likely look, quite literally, out of this world.
Watch Audi’s teaser for the PB18 e-tron supercar in the video below.
https://youtu.be/el-4dupoIWg
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 (NASDAQ: TSLA) will report its earnings for the second quarter of 2026 this evening after market close, and investors and analysts are waiting anxiously to see what the company will report for the second three-month span of the year.
Analysts have already put out their expectations from a financial standpoint for the company’s second quarter, but what’s unknown is what Tesla plans to discuss during the call.
Financial Expectations
Wall Street consensus expectations put Tesla’s Earnings Per Share (EPS) at $0.53, while revenues are expected to come in around $26.4 billion.
This would compare to an EPS of $0.39 and $22.19 billion compared to Tesla’s Q2 2025. Last quarter, EPS came in at $0.41 on $22.387 billion of revenue. Additionally in Q1, Tesla beat analyst expectations, but shares dropped over 3 percent the following trading day.
What We Expect
In terms of discussions, Tesla earnings are pretty sporadic and depend on a handful of things, including current events, investor questions, and more.
Tesla uses a platform called Say to field questions from investors and analysts. These questions are what will be used during the call. Here are the top 5 from the Retail side and top 3 from the Institutional side:
Retail:
“Tesla has missed short-term guidance on robotaxi 3 earnings reports in a row, from 50% coverage of USA by end of 2025 to most recently 7 new cities in 1H26. What is keeping Tesla back from accomplishing these short term goals that they’ve set for themselves?”
“What are the main constraints to expanding robotaxi operations faster, and how do you see that lining up with Cybercab production?”
“What’s the current status of Optimus Gen 3 production ramp, initial deployment in factories, and external sales timeline/volume for 2027? What tasks can we expect the Optimus to perform by end of 2027?”
“To reward long-term Tesla retail shareholders for their loyalty, can you commit to achieving at least half of the goals outlined in your 2025 compensation plan before considering any offers to acquire or merge Tesla?”
“Why has growth of robotaxi vehicles stalled? When will we see cybercab start customer rides?”
Institutional
“Previously, you’ve said Tesla would lead the R&D while SpaceX would lead production for Terafab. Can you provide an update on how that division of responsibilities is evolving, and any additional clarity on the expected capital contributions from Tesla and SpaceX?”
“For autonomous driving, Tesla’s fleet created a huge data advantage by collecting billions of real-world miles. That advantage doesn’t yet exist for Optimus. How should we think about data availability and its impact on Optimus development?”
“Why is it necessary to limit robotaxi operations within specific zones within cities to start? Will every city have to be rolled out this way?”
Tesla will report earnings for Q2 this evening with the Shareholder Deck at 4 p.m. ET, with the call starting around 5:30 p.m. ET.
Tesla is about to make parking in busy lots less stressful than ever
Tesla starts preparing for Optimus in its smartphone app
