1. Tesla beats the street with 486,532 deliveries in Q3
Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter of 2026, comfortably beating the company-compiled analyst consensus of 461,974 — a beat of nearly 25,000 cars. The catch: it's still down 2.1% on last year's record 497,099, when US buyers rushed in before the $7,500 federal EV tax credit expired at the end of September 2025. Model 3 and Model Y did the heavy lifting with 478,237 deliveries, and Tesla built fewer cars than it sold (464,391 produced) — that's the second straight quarter of shrinking inventory. Year-to-date deliveries sit at 1,324,681 — up 8.8% on the same point last year.
Source: Electrek
2. GM's new Tennessee battery packs 33% more punch than LFP
Ultium Cells — the joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution — will produce lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic battery cells at its plant near Nashville, Tennessee — the world's first plant to build this chemistry at commercial scale. The headline number: 33% greater energy density than standard LFP cells, at roughly the same production cost. That's the sweet spot everyone's been chasing. High-nickel packs give you the range but cost a fortune; LFP keeps prices down but gives up range. LMR sits in the middle — entry-level and mid-tier cars go further without a dearer sticker. Upgrades start later this year, with the line ready by 2028.
Source: Interesting Engineering
3. California says robotaxis can be fined for blocking first responders
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill 1246 into law, and it's bad news for driverless cars that get in the way of a fire truck. Under the new rules, companies like Tesla, Waymo and Zoox have to provide local, on-the-ground support when their robotaxis cause problems — and they cop a fine if a vehicle blocks police or firefighters for more than 30 minutes. Remote drivers — the humans who take over from afar — must be based in the US with a US driver's licence. All this after a run of incidents, mostly Waymo's fleet of about 4,000 cars, from dead cars blocking intersections to one stalling in front of an ambulance. Rules kick in July 2028; the state DMV works out the fine print.
Source: TechCrunch
4. Mitsubishi ASX VR-e: Australian specs locked in for the MG 4 rival
Mitsubishi has confirmed local specs for the 2027 ASX VR-e, its first electric car in Australia in well over a decade — the last was the pint-sized i-MiEV back in 2010–12, Australia's first mass-produced EV. The VR-e lands in showrooms before the end of the year in four grades — LS, Aspire, Exceed and GSR — developed by Foxtron, the car-making arm of contract manufacturer Foxconn. The main variants run a 171kW/350Nm single-motor rear-drive setup with a 57.7kWh LFP battery and a 6.8-second 0–100km/h claim, pitched squarely at the MG 4 crowd. Pricing and official range aren't confirmed yet. But New Zealand's NZ$57,990 starting price points to roughly A$55,000 here — a fair whack dearer than the $39,990 MG 4 Essence 64.
Source: Drive.com.au
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