Tesla news for Monday, Oct 26, 2026 (covering Sunday, Oct 25): 50+ Cybercabs shuttle fans at the F1 race in Austin,
Race day in Austin. Everyone leaves the U.S. Grand Prix at once, and the cheapest ride out of COTA has no driver.
Robotaxi, COTA to downtown: about $76 to $78
Uber: over $112
Roughly $4 a mile vs $6 a mile
Robotaxi Radar's screenshots had a Model Y Robotaxi 4 minutes away while Uber Comfort was 12 minutes out and $126.98.
Cheaper, faster, and it only gets better as the fleet grows. 
NHTSA proposes optional cyan lights for driverless cars, a first look at the new Roadster's fighter-jet-inspired UI, 55 new Semis spotted in Nevada, and an analyst calls Tesla's Q3 call one of its most bullish.  

Robot Traffic Controllers Undergo Testing in China

The DR02 robot, developed by Deep Robotics, has been deployed to assist traffic police in Hangzhou. These robots help maintain order and provide guidance to pedestrians and drivers; however, they do not issue fines. Instead, they communicate using voice messages and gestures.

Standing approximately 175 cm tall and weighing 65 kg, the robot is designed for outdoor use. Its IP66-rated enclosure provides protection against dust and powerful jets of water. It is specified to operate within a temperature range of −20°C to +55°C.

The trials are intended to evaluate how effectively these humanoid robots navigate among people and vehicles, as well as their ability to perform these tasks in rainy weather. If such systems can be implemented more broadly, police officers will be able to dedicate more time to investigating traffic accidents and handling other responsibilities that require human intervention.

Sales and markets

Lucid cuts production by 38%

Lucid built 2,954 vehicles and delivered 3,806 in Q3. Deliveries slipped about 4% from Q2, and production fell 38%. The cut is deliberate: Lucid dropped the second shift at its AMP-1 plant in June and is selling down inventory as part of a reset aimed at $1.4 billion in cash flow improvements this year. Q3 earnings follow on November 9.

BYD's growth now comes from abroad

BYD sold 463,561 vehicles in September, up 17% and its fifth straight month of growth. Domestic sales fell 13%, but overseas sales jumped 154% to 180,700 vehicles. Its pure-electric passenger sales rose 33.2% year over year to a record 273,143. Leapmotor also passed 100,000 monthly deliveries for the first time, with 105,656 in September.

Mercedes sets an EV record as China drags

Mercedes sold a record 68,400 electric passenger cars in Q3, up 61% year over year, led by the electric GLC. Total group sales fell 6%, mostly because of weak demand in China.

Canada up, US down for GM

GM's Canadian zero-emission sales rose 118% in Q3, led by Cadillac EVs, the Equinox EV, Bolt and Silverado EV. South of the border, GM delivered 25,473 EVs in the US, down 61.7% from 66,501 a year earlier.

Europe posts record months

• Norway: EVs took 98.8% of new registrations, and the Tesla Model Y alone took 25.7% of the market
• UK: almost 100,000 new EVs in September, a record, led by the Tesla Model 3
• Spain: the Model 3 was the most-registered car of any kind, the first EV to top the monthly chart
• Germany: EV registrations up almost 95% to 88,599, a 34.5% share that beat petrol and diesel combined

Tesla

• Austin's registered Cybercab fleet grew to 169 vehicles, and robotaxi service now runs later into the evening.
• Slovakia is close to approving FSD (Supervised), based on a provisional Dutch approval. In Germany the system may launch as "Assisted Driving."
• New Model 3 and Model Y cars can now back up a home through Powershare when paired with a Powerwall 3.
• The Supercharger network passed 85,000 stalls at more than 9,000 sites worldwide.
• Tesla is in talks with TSMC about a role in a planned AI chip factory in Texas called Terafab.
• Q3 results arrive on Wednesday, October 21.

New models

BMW iX5 opens for orders

Orders opened on October 8 for the iX5 60 xDrive: a 141 kWh battery, 845 km (525 mi) of WLTP range and DC charging at up to 460 kW. US production is at Spartanburg, with deliveries from Q1 2027 and an estimated 435 miles of EPA-style range. BMW also added an all-wheel-drive iX3 40 xDrive from €65,900.

Jaguar, Porsche, Mercedes and Lucid

• Jaguar showed the Type 01, a three-motor electric GT with a 118 kWh battery, aimed at a small luxury audience.
• Porsche is slowing its EV plans and leaning more on combustion models. An electric 718 is still coming; an all-electric 911 is not.
• Mercedes drops the EQE sedan from its US lineup for model year 2027. It isn't being discontinued worldwide.
• The Lucid Cosmos is now planned for the second half of 2027.

Policy, industry and charging

• The EU is weighing rules that would tie purchase incentives to a high share of European-made vehicles and batteries. Automakers say the timeline isn't realistic.
• Toyota has approval to invest about $1.3 billion in a new EV plant in Argentina. An electric Hilux is the likely model.
• Porsche is testing battery cells whose cathode material is made entirely from recycled raw materials.
• FedEx ordered 2,000 electric trucks from Harbinger, worth more than $300 million, for delivery by the end of 2027.
• Germany's Deutschlandnetz opened its 100th highway charging park, on the A81, with six chargers rated at up to 400 kW.

What to watch next week

The split is getting wider. Outside the US, EV sales are hitting records almost every month. Inside it, only Tesla and Rivian are holding volume without the tax credit. Tesla's October 21 earnings call is the next big signal, especially on robotaxi expansion and the cost of its chip plans.

Why New York, and why America

The choice of venue was deliberate. JLR confirmed the New York launch at its investor day in June, and the brand's US leadership has been open about the strategy behind it. Jaguar North America expects the US to become its number one market for both volume and profit, and plans to sell the Type 01 through a slimmed-down network of about 80 retailers, most of which already sell Range Rover.

The price jump is steep. Jaguar's average US transaction price is currently around $70,000; the company wants that figure to reach roughly $130,000 once the new range is on sale. Jaguar boss Rawdon Glover has also played down the backlash against the brand's 2024 rebrand, arguing that most of the critics were never going to be Type 01 customers in the first place.

What the Type 01 brings

The Type 01 is the production version of the two-door Type 00 concept shown in December 2024, reworked as a four-door, four-seat grand tourer. It is the first car on the new Jaguar Electric Architecture (JEA), a platform that cannot accept a combustion engine, and Jaguar has ruled out any hybrid or range-extender version.

Power comes from three motors, one on the front axle and two at the rear, producing more than 1,000 PS and 1,300 Nm. Jaguar quotes 0–60 mph in the low three-second range and a 250 km/h (155 mph) top speed. An 850-volt electrical system and a 120 kWh battery support charging at up to 350 kW, enough to add about 320 km (200 miles) in 15 minutes.

Inside, a full-length central spine divides the cabin into four individual seats, with travertine stone trim and a minimalist steering wheel with haptic controls. There is no rear window: a camera-based mirror replaces the conventional rear-view mirror, as on the Polestar 4. Air suspension with active dampers is standard, and 23-inch wheels are fitted to most markets.

Jaguar Type 01 key specifications

Figures as announced by Jaguar ahead of launch; final homologated range and pricing to be confirmed by market.

A big bet in a small segment

The Type 01 is Jaguar's first new car since the F-Pace was retired, ending a production gap of around 18 months. Its targets are no longer the BMW 5 Series or Mercedes E-Class but the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron GT, Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door EV and, on price, Bentley. That puts Jaguar in a corner of the market that has proved tough for EVs, at a time when US demand is still recovering from the end of the federal tax credit.

If the Type 01 works, Jaguar plans to follow it with a large limousine and an SUV on the same JEA platform. If it doesn't, there is no petrol model left to fall back on.

From groundbreaking to series production in about two and a half years

The official opening on 1 October 2026 came roughly two and a half years after work started. Planning permission was granted in April 2024, after a local referendum in Straßkirchen approved the project, and pre-series battery production began in March 2026. BMW says demand for the new i3 is strong enough that the plant is already running two shifts.

Around 1,000 people work at the site today, a figure expected to grow to about 1,600. Output will ramp up gradually to several hundred battery packs per day.

An assembly plant, not a cell factory

Irlbach-Straßkirchen does not make battery cells. BMW buys cylindrical 46 mm round cells from CATL and EVE and assembles them into complete high-voltage packs, which then pass an end-of-line inspection before shipping. The switch from prismatic to round cells is a key part of the Gen6 package: BMW quotes about 20% higher volumetric energy density, up to 30% more WLTP range and shorter charging times than the previous generation.

In the new i3, that translates into a WLTP range of more than 900 km and charging at up to 400 kW.

Part of a global "local for local" network

The plant initially supplies BMW's Munich factory and will later serve Dingolfing, Regensburg and Leipzig as more Neue Klasse models enter production. It is one of five battery assembly sites BMW has built close to its vehicle plants, alongside Debrecen (Hungary), Shenyang (China), Woodruff (USA) and San Luis Potosí (Mexico), so that heavy battery packs travel only short distances to the assembly line.

With Irlbach-Straßkirchen online, BMW now has the battery capacity at home to back the Neue Klasse rollout, starting with the i3 and expanding to its other German plants over the coming years.

Lexus's First Three-Row EV

The TZ was first previewed as a concept in late 2021 and officially unveiled on May 7, 2026, under Lexus's "Driving Lounge" concept — an attempt, the company says, to balance a quiet, lounge-like three-row cabin with the responsive handling Lexus buyers expect. It shares its underlying e-TNGA platform with the upcoming Toyota Highlander BEV and Subaru's electric three-row (recently renamed Getaway), but Lexus is positioning the TZ as the more refined sibling, with retuned suspension, dynamic rear-wheel steering, and a reinforced body structure.

Despite launching after its Toyota and Subaru siblings were first shown, the TZ is arriving to US showrooms first, with initial deliveries beginning in late 2026.

Specifications and Pricing

Horsepower figures have varied across Lexus's own announcements as the TZ moved from reveal to production — early communications cited up to 402-420 hp combined, while some outlets now report a finalized 308 hp for the dual-motor TZ450e. Treat power output as provisional until Lexus publishes a final production spec sheet.

Design and Cabin

Lexus describes the TZ's exterior as "conveying strength" through an elongated silhouette, built around the brand's current design language — double L-shaped headlights, a spindle-style front, and an L-shaped rear lightbar. Aerodynamic details include flush door handles, aero mirrors, underbody fins, and air dams, all aimed at cutting wind noise and extending range.

Inside, the "Driving Lounge" concept centers on an open, quiet cabin: a panoramic glass roof with a wire-driven power sunshade designed to preserve headroom for third-row passengers, an adhesive-free seat assembly structure as part of Lexus's push toward more circular manufacturing, and the latest generation of Lexus Interface infotainment paired with Lexus Safety System+ 4.0 as standard equipment.

Where It Lands in the Market

At just over $64,000 to start, the TZ undercuts rivals like the Volvo EX90 ($78,090) while costing more than the Hyundai IONIQ 9 ($60,555) — positioning it as a mid-tier premium option among three-row electric SUVs rather than the cheapest or most expensive choice. Given its shared platform with the Toyota Highlander BEV, expected to start in the mid-$50,000 range, the roughly $10,000 premium buys the Lexus badge, the retuned chassis, and the extra cabin refinement Lexus is emphasizing.

With pricing now locked in and deliveries beginning before the end of 2026, the TZ becomes Lexus's clearest answer yet to the three-row luxury EV segment — leaning on shared Toyota Group bones but wrapping them in enough brand-specific engineering and cabin theater, down to a fake V10 soundtrack, to make the case for paying extra over its mechanical siblings.

Four years in the making

Ceer was set up in 2022 as a joint venture between Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Foxconn, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer best known for assembling iPhones. The name means roughly "drive forward" in Arabic, and the brand sits at the centre of Vision 2030's push to build a domestic automotive industry rather than simply import one.

The EXOBOT pair are Ceer's first production vehicles and will be built at the Ceer Manufacturing Complex in King Abdullah Economic City, which the company describes as the Middle East's largest car plant. They are the first two of seven models planned by 2030, with the later cars expected to move down into compact and midsize segments with a wider mix of powertrains.

Design: a wedge with a message

Nobody will mistake the EXOBOT for anything else on the road. Both body styles share a razor-sharp wedge profile, a thin horizontal light signature and a 2.4-metre windscreen raked at just 15 degrees. Ceer says the shapes draw on desert landscapes and the Nabataean rock architecture of Hegra.

The party piece is the Shahin Wing Doors, named after the falcon. Each door is almost three metres long, swings upward through a compact 60 cm arc and opens both rows at once. The lighting uses 32 elements — a nod to 1932, the year the Kingdom was unified.

These are big cars. Both ride on a 3,200 mm wheelbase and are about 2.1 metres wide, with the sedan stretching to 5.26 metres and the SUV to 5.02 metres.

Powertrain, range and charging

Launch versions — badged First Edition and Plus — use a tri-motor all-wheel-drive setup rated at 850 hp and 1,000 Nm, fed by a 112 kWh NCM battery on an 800V electrical architecture. DC fast charging peaks at 250 kW, good for 10–80% in under 30 minutes, while AC charging runs at 11 kW.

Ceer has also announced a higher-output configuration with 1,111 hp and 1,500 Nm, though it has not yet said which trim will carry it.

EXOBOT sedan vs SUV: key figures

Built for Gulf roads — and Gulf summers

Both models get dual-chamber air suspension, rear-wheel steering and steer-by-wire operated through a yoke. Ceer says the system cuts lock-to-lock steering input from around 400 degrees to 160.

Heat management gets unusual attention. A Halo Cooling system is claimed to bring a 65 °C cabin down to 32 °C in ten minutes, helped by triple silver-coated glass and cooled storage in the console and boot. The lower door glass can switch between clear and opaque at the press of a button. 

Cabin tech highlights

• Main display: 48-inch 8K pillar-to-pillar "Digital Horizon" screen
• Controls: 10.4-inch central touchscreen, 8-inch rear display, physical keys for gear, climate and volume
• Assistant: Arabic and English voice control, 3D navigation with EV route planning
• Comfort: four-zone climate, ventilated front and rear seats, fragrance system
• Safety: seven airbags, AEB, adaptive cruise with lane centring, surround-view cameras, remote parking
• Coming via OTA by 2028: automatic lane changes, Highway and Traffic Jam Pilot, Navigate on Pilot

First Edition, warranty and timing

The range opens with the EXOBOT First Edition, finished in Harrat Grey or White Musk with black detailing, red calipers and a black-and-red Nappa cabin. Each car carries a numbered plaque tied to its VIN. The more configurable EXOBOT Plus follows.

Ownership terms are generous: a six-year/200,000 km vehicle warranty, eight-year/200,000 km battery cover, six years of servicing and roadside assistance, plus up to SAR 2,000 towards a home charger. Pricing has not been announced. Saudi deliveries are expected from early 2027, with neighbouring markets following from 2028. There is no word on Europe or the US.

Why it matters

For the Gulf, the EXOBOT is as much an industrial statement as a car. Ceer is targeting 45% locally sourced materials by 2034, and its success will be a test of whether sovereign money and Foxconn's manufacturing know-how can create a credible new automaker from scratch — something Western startups have found brutally hard.

Ceer has opened with a halo car rather than a volume seller. The EXOBOT proves Saudi Arabia can design something bold; the harder test comes when the compact models arrive and have to compete on price with BYD, Geely and the rest of a crowded Gulf EV market.

1. Tesla Optimus (Gen 3)

Still the most-watched name in humanoid robotics, even without a commercial product to point to. Tesla has converted former Model S/X production lines at Fremont toward Optimus and broken ground on a dedicated Giga Texas facility, with Elon Musk targeting eventual production in the millions of units per year. Reality has lagged the ambition badly — 2025's plan called for 5,000 units and delivered only hundreds — but Optimus remains the industry's bellwether simply because of Tesla's manufacturing scale and vertical integration.

Status: Pre-production, internal factory use only  |  Est. price: $20,000-$30,000 target, not yet public

2. Figure 03 (Figure AI)

The first general-purpose humanoid on a genuine paid commercial contract: an initial fleet of around 40 units works BMW's Spartanburg plant, billed at roughly $25 per robot-operating-hour. Figure's predecessor, the 02, helped build over 30,000 BMW X3s before being retired in favor of the 03. Figure's Helix vision-language-action model is widely seen as one of the strongest AI stacks in the field, and the company recently signed a partnership with Nscale for access to up to 100,000 Nvidia GPUs to keep training it.

Status: Commercial fleet deployment  |  Price: ~$25/robot-hour, enterprise only

3. Atlas (Boston Dynamics)

The fully electric Atlas remains the industry's technical benchmark for dynamic mobility, and it now has the deployment scale to match: Hyundai, which owns Boston Dynamics, announced plans in May 2026 to put more than 25,000 Atlas units across Hyundai and Kia plants by 2028. That's the single largest committed humanoid rollout in the industry.

Status: In production, booked out through 2026  |  Price: $140,000+ during the pilot phase

4. Digit (Agility Robotics)

Digit holds one of the field's longest continuous deployment records, working real shifts in Amazon warehouses rather than staged demonstrations. Agility's RoboFab production facility is reportedly running at capacity, and the company is expanding to multiple customers beyond Amazon. For anyone wanting proven logistics-floor performance over flashy specs, Digit remains the safe, evidence-backed choice.

Status: Commercial deployment  |  Price: Robots-as-a-service, no public list price

5. Apollo (Apptronik)

Backed by Google and Mercedes-Benz at a valuation near $5.5 billion, Apptronik's Apollo is deployed in pilots at Mercedes-Benz, GXO Logistics, and Jabil facilities. It runs on Nvidia's GR00T AI foundation, lifts around 25 kg, and uses hot-swappable four-hour battery packs to keep shifts running without long downtime.

Status: Commercial pilots  |  Price: ~$80,000/year targeted by 2027

6. Unitree G1

The best-selling humanoid on the planet, and the clearest evidence that China has won the volume race. At 127 cm tall and priced from roughly $16,000, the G1 sold around 5,500 units last year with Unitree expecting 10,000-20,000 in 2026. It's not built for heavy industrial work, but as an open, orderable developer and research platform, nothing else comes close on price.

Status: Shipping, currently backordered  |  Price: From ~$13,500-$16,000

7. Unitree H2

The full-size sibling to the G1, built for commercial and education use at roughly a third the price of Western industrial humanoids. The H2 holds records for humanoid sprint speed and dynamic balance, and ships today rather than sitting in a pilot program.

Status: Shipping  |  Price: $29,900

8. Walker S2 (UBTECH)

UBTECH's Walker S2 has moved into genuine mass production for industrial customers, targeting round-the-clock shift work rather than single-task demos. It's one of the clearest signs that China's humanoid ecosystem extends well beyond Unitree into dedicated industrial-grade hardware.

Status: Mass production  |  Price: Enterprise, not publicly listed

9. NEO (1X Technologies)

Still the only credible option built specifically for the home rather than the factory floor. At around 30 kg and roughly 165-168 cm tall, NEO is available to preorder for $20,000 outright or $499 a month, with US deliveries promised through 2026 — though none had been confirmed as of this writing. 1X says basic tasks can run autonomously while unfamiliar ones fall back to remote human supervision.

Status: Preorder, field testing  |  Price: $20,000 or $499/month

10. AgiBot A2

AgiBot rounds out the list as one of China's fastest-moving multi-vertical players, with the A2 already in mass production for service and reception roles. Alongside Unitree, AgiBot is frequently cited as furthest along among Chinese humanoid makers on both hardware maturity and commercial rollout.

Status: Mass production  |  Price: Contact sales

Quick Comparison

Honorable mentions

• Fourier GR-3 — healthcare and care-focused humanoid shipping to B2B customers from roughly $27,500.
• Kepler K2 Bumblebee — Chinese industrial humanoid in mass production at around $34,000.
• MagicLab MagicBot D1 / Gen1 — wheeled industrial and bilingual service humanoids recently showcased at IFA 2026.

The field has clearly split into archetypes rather than a single leaderboard: Atlas wins on raw mobility and deployment scale, Figure on AI sophistication, Unitree on price-to-capability, and 1X on being the only real home option. Which one is "best" now depends entirely on what job you're hiring a robot to do.