Author: Sean Whitmore

Tesla has filed new trademark applications for the terms “Cybercar” and “Cybervehicle,” as the U.S. electric vehicle maker prepares alternative branding options for its upcoming autonomous vehicle amid ongoing legal and regulatory challenges. The filings come as Tesla works through complications surrounding its original plan to brand the vehicle as “Cybercab,” a name unveiled alongside the company’s robotaxi ambitions. That trademark application has been suspended by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, according to public records. See also: Tesla Plans Robotaxi Expansion to Orlando and Tampa in 2026 U.S. Rollout The suspension stems from an earlier trademark filing for “Cybercab”…

Tesla’s Model Y has been named the Best Electric Vehicle in Consumer Reports’ newly released 2026 Top Picks list, earning the only category win for a fully electric vehicle in the annual rankings. Consumer Reports evaluates more than 260 vehicles each year, combining proprietary road tests with predicted reliability, safety performance and owner satisfaction data. Its 2026 list includes just 10 vehicles across the entire market. While the organisation highlighted a broader industry shift toward electrification and hybrid powertrains, the Model Y emerged as the sole pure battery-electric vehicle to secure a top category position. See also: Tesla Keeps Strong…

The Delaware Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Tesla, sharply reducing legal fees awarded to shareholder attorneys in a settled lawsuit against the automaker’s directors after finding the original calculation overstated the value of the settlement. In its decision, the court cut the legal fee award to $70.9 million from $176.1 million, concluding that the lower court had improperly included the intrinsic value of returned stock options when assessing the settlement’s worth. The revision represents savings of about $105 million for Tesla. See also: Tesla Fremont Manufacturing Director Benjamin Bate Departs After Eight Years The shareholder lawsuit had been…

Tesla has confirmed a $2 billion equity investment in xAI, the artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk, marking a significant deepening of ties between the electric vehicle maker and the AI startup despite an earlier shareholder vote that opposed a larger potential investment. In a statement included under “Other Updates” in its fourth-quarter 2025 shareholder deck, Tesla said it entered into an agreement on Jan. 16, 2026, to acquire shares of Series E Preferred Stock in xAI as part of a previously disclosed financing round. Tesla said the transaction was conducted on market terms consistent with those accepted by…

Tesla has disclosed for the first time how many customers globally are using its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software, revealing that the total number of active users reached 1.1 million in 2025. The figure was published in Tesla’s fourth-quarter 2025 shareholder presentation and represents a combined count of customers who either purchased FSD outright or are paying for the feature through a monthly subscription. Tesla did not break down how many users fall into each category. See also: Lemonade Launches Insurance Tied to Tesla’s FSD, Promising Lower Per-Mile Rates The number marks a sharp increase from previous years, rising from about…

Elon Musk has held preliminary discussions about potentially consolidating parts of his business empire, including exploring whether SpaceX could merge with Tesla or absorb his artificial intelligence startup xAI, according to company filings and sources cited by Reuters and Bloomberg. SpaceX has evaluated the feasibility of a combination with Tesla, an idea that some investors have encouraged, the sources said. Executives have also discussed an alternative scenario in which xAI would be folded into SpaceX ahead of a potential public offering later this year that could value the combined entity at up to $1.5 trillion. No decisions have been taken,…

Tesla will cease production of its flagship Model S sedan and Model X sport utility vehicle as the company pivots toward robotics and artificial intelligence, Chief Executive Elon Musk said during the automaker’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call. “It is time to bring the Model S and Model X programs to an end with an honorable discharge,” Musk said. “It’s part of our overall shift to an autonomous future.” See also: Tesla Beats Q4 Earnings Expectations as Margins Improve and Energy Business Sets Records Tesla will transition the Model S and Model X production lines at its Fremont, California factory to…

Tesla has stopped including certain driver-assistance features with new vehicles sold in the United States and Canada, requiring customers who want self-steering and similar capabilities to subscribe to its $99-per-month Full Self-Driving (Supervised) package. According to Tesla’s online vehicle configuration pages, new buyers will continue to receive Traffic Aware Cruise Control, which maintains a set speed and follows traffic at a safe distance. However, Autosteer—previously part of Tesla’s Autopilot suite and designed to keep vehicles centered in highway lanes—will no longer be included as standard equipment. Tesla has also discontinued sales of Enhanced Autopilot, which added features such as automatic…

Tesla has released a redesigned CCS charging adapter that is fully compatible with its Cybertruck, ending a long-standing issue that had limited the stainless-steel pickup’s access to third-party fast-charging networks in United States and Canada. The new CCS1-to-NACS adapter is now available for purchase, allowing Cybertruck owners to use a much wider range of DC fast chargers beyond Tesla’s Supercharger network. The move comes more than two years after the Cybertruck’s launch, during which owners discovered that Tesla’s original CCS adapter could not be used with the vehicle. Although the Cybertruck is equipped with Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS)…

Tesla has discontinued Autopilot, its entry-level driver-assistance system, as the company seeks to steer customers toward its more advanced software, Full Self-Driving (Supervised), amid regulatory and legal pressure in California. Tesla’s online vehicle configurator now shows that new cars come standard only with Traffic-Aware Cruise Control, removing Autopilot branding entirely. The change follows a December ruling by a California judge that found Tesla had engaged in deceptive marketing by overstating the capabilities of both Autopilot and Full Self-Driving over several years. The California Department of Motor Vehicles, which brought the case, temporarily stayed the ruling to give Tesla time to…

Digital insurer Lemonade said it is launching a new auto insurance product designed for users of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) driver assistance system, promising to cut per-mile rates by about 50% when the software is engaged. The offering, which Lemonade is calling “Autonomous Car insurance,” is among the first insurance products to explicitly price risk based on how driving software performs versus a human driver. It signals a shift by insurers toward new models as partial autonomy becomes more widespread. Lemonade said it is leveraging vehicle telemetry data made available through a technical collaboration with Tesla, though it declined to…

Elon Musk used a last-minute appearance at the World Economic Forum on Thursday to criticise U.S. tariffs on solar power, outline ambitious plans for Tesla including humanoid robot sales next year, and signal that European regulatory approval for its self-driving technology could arrive within weeks. Musk, who has for years described the forum as elitist and detached from ordinary people, was interviewed by Larry Fink, interim co-chair of the World Economic Forum. Fink opened the session by expressing admiration for Musk, setting the tone for a wide-ranging discussion that touched on artificial intelligence, robotics, reusable rockets and Musk’s long-standing fascination…