Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been making predictions about the automaker solving unsupervised self-driving by the end of every year for the last 6 years, and it never happened.
He and Tesla badly needed a win to save face, as Waymo is now rapidly expanding its own autonomous ride-hailing service across half a dozen US cities.
To give the impression that it was also ready to deploy such a system, Tesla took a similar approach to selling self-driving technology in consumer vehicles – namely, doing it before it is ready.
Tesla began offering a ride-hailing service in Austin, utilizing vehicles equipped with an updated version of its consumer Supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology. Instead of Tesla owners being supervisors and responsible for the cars like in the consumer version, Tesla installed employees in the front passenger seats with their fingers on a kill switch, ready to stop the car at any moment.
To give the impression that it is scaling faster than Waymo, Tesla quickly expanded its Austin service area to become bigger than Waymo’s.
However, it didn’t expand its fleet of Robotaxis, often resulting in wait times of more than 20 minutes to get into a vehicle.
This week, Tesla expanded its service area again to include its local factory and finally announced an increase in the number of cars in the fleet:
The problem is that Tesla never confirmed the initial size of the fleet in Austin. The automaker is purposely keeping this vague by mentioning a percentage increase rather than a new total number of vehicles in the fleet.
The best-supported baseline is 15 to 20 vehicles, based on initial images from the Robotaxi control room and sightings of cars, which would result in a maximum of approximately 30 vehicles in the fleet now.
In comparison, Waymo is already operating more than 100 vehicles in Austin.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla shareholders are celebrating this as a victory: ‘Tesla is scaling faster than Waymo in Austin’, they claim.
This is a fallacy. There’s a big difference between the two here.
Tesla can expand the service area rapidly, as it doesn’t operate a fully autonomous driving system in the Robotaxi fleet. It’s still very much a supervised system, and the bottleneck is the supervisors; hence, why Tesla operates only a small fleet, about one-third the size of Waymo’s.
Waymo ensures that its system operates autonomously without requiring supervisors in the vehicle before welcoming paying customers and expanding in a specific market, such as Austin.
In short, Tesla is doing this to give the impression that it is competing with Waymo, but the truth is that they haven’t even started competing. Once they can drive autonomously without supervision, that’s when the race begins, and Tesla is already about 5 years behind on that.
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Starting with the 2026 Cadillac Optiq, all future GM EVs will have a built-in NACS port, including the new Chevy Bolt. In the meantime, GM introduced several new charging adapters for current Chevy, Cadillac, and GMC EV owners.
GM launches new NACS adapters for EVs
You know how the iPhone seems to get a new plug every year? GM compared the transition to NACS to the evolution of USB-C in smartphones and laptops and the HDMI standard for TVs.
With a similar movement with EV charging transitioning to the NACS standard, GM aims to make the transition as seamless as possible.
Starting with the 2026 Optiq, Cadillac’s new entry-level electric SUV, all future GM EVs will be equipped with an NACS charge point as standard. And yes, that does include the upcoming 2027 Chevy Bolt EV, which is expected to make its official debut by the end of the year.
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The company introduced four new chargers this week to “help ensure that every customer can navigate this transition,” including NACS-to-CSS, CSS-to-NACS, and several others.
2026 Cadillac Optiq EV (Source: Cadillac)
GM’s new adapters are mainly designed to help drivers access Tesla’s Supercharger Network. However, the company is also offering an adapter for NACS-equipped EVs to connect to its Level 2 PowerShift home charger. Another adapter for NACS-equipped models enables vehicle-to-home (V2H) capabilities.
The new adapters are in addition to the NACS DC Adapter that GM began selling last year, so drivers could use Tesla Superchargers.
To help you understand which adapter you need, GM has created a helpful graphic. Although it may seem like a lot, the new adapters are really just designed to help current owners get the best charging experience while GM works to add native NACS ports to all its upcoming EVs.
GM electric vehicle adapters (Source: GM)
With over 46,000 electric vehicles sold in the second quarter, GM is starting to chip away at Tesla’s dominant lead in the US. Thanks to the new Equinox EV, or “America’s most affordable 315+ range EV,” Chevy became the fastest-growing electric vehicle brand in the US earlier this year.
With leases starting at just $279 a month, the Chevy Equinox EV is hard to pass up right now. If you want to test out one of GM’s electric vehicles for yourself, you can use our links below to find Chevy, Cadillac, and GMC EVs near you.
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ChargePoint (NYSE: CHPT) and Eaton just unveiled ChargePoint Express Grid, powered by Eaton, a V2X‑ready ultrafast EV charging platform with full‑site power gear that pushes passenger EV charging up to 600 kW and brings megawatt‑level power for heavy‑duty fleets.
It’s designed to overcome grid constraints and make it easier and cheaper to roll out high‑power charging as more EVs hit the road.
The system is V2G‑enabled and can sync onsite renewables, energy storage, and EV batteries with local energy markets to help fleets cut fueling costs. With participating utilities and at scale, it can also help balance the grid.
How it works
Eaton custom engineers each Express configuration and ships the site‑ready power package, with an optional skid‑mounted setup to speed installation, trim equipment needs, and simplify connections to the grid and distributed energy resources (DERs).
Eaton plans to commercialize solid‑state transformer technology in the next year through its acquisition of Resilient Power Systems to support DC applications for the EV market and beyond.
ChargePoint CEO Rick Wilmer said the new ChargePoint Express architecture, particularly the Express Grid variant, will “take DC fast charging to levels of performance and cost not previously imagined.” He added, “Combined with Eaton’s end-to-end grid capabilities, ChargePoint is delivering solutions to help EVs win on pure economics, regardless of tax incentives or government support.”
Eaton’s Paul Ryan, vice president and general manager of energy transition, called it “industry‑changing technology” that can be deployed faster while achieving new levels of reliability and efficiency “at a significantly lower cost.”
Express solutions are available to order for select customers in North America and Europe, with deliveries beginning in the second half of 2026.
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Quick specs
Platform: ChargePoint Express Grid, powered by Eaton
Capability: V2X (with integrated V2G)
Power: Up to 600 kW for passenger EVs; megawatt‑level for heavy‑duty
Deployment: Site‑ready power package; optional skid‑mounted configuration
Grid/DER: Built to sync renewables, storage, and vehicle batteries with local energy markets
Timeline: Orders open (select customers, North America & Europe); deliveries start H2 2026
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Only in China can a company specializing in robot vacuums be bold enough to design, manufacture, and sell EVs. Additionally, China is the only place where such a business could actually work. A company named Dreame Technology is transcending smart appliances and wants to deliver ultra-luxury BEVs. Better still, it’s already targeting Bugatti as its main competitor. Dreame big!
Dreame Technology was founded in 2017 with the goal to, per its website, “revolutionize daily life for our global consumers.” Dreame currently offers a number of electronics that do just that, including robot vacuums, robotic pool cleaners, and hair dryers.
Over the last eight years, Dreame has accumulated manufacturing know-how and its team understands much of the technology behind electric mobility, but does that mean it’s capable of transitioning into a bona fide BEV automaker?
We saw Chinese smartphone behemoth Xiaomi, announce a similar strategy back in 2021. Now, a mere four years later, Xiaomi Automobile’s two flagship BEVs are among China’s most sought-after, and the company is setting world speed records with its technology.
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Dreame Technology has likely drawn some inspiration from Xiaomi, but its automotive development plans actually predate the company’s existence. Today, the robot vacuum maker has already assembled a massive team to “Dreame up” its first all-electric model—one it says will compete against the Bugatti Veyron.
Dreame’s current product offering / Source: Dreametech.com
From robot vacuums to luxury EVs? Meet Dreame
As reported by CnEVPost, Dreame Technology officially announced its entry into the ultra-competitive BEV industry in China, beginning with an ultra-luxe model planned for a 2027 debut that will compete against the Bugatti Veyron.
The flagship EV from the robot vacuum developer will be powered by Dreame super motors as well as an intelligent ecosystem that differs from traditional luxury vehicles, enabling “seamless integration” with user smart homes and smartphones. Per Dreame Technology:
Today, Dreame officially announces its entry into automotive manufacturing to build the world’s fastest car.
While Dreame’s decision to evolve beyond robot vacuums and pool cleaners into BEVs may seem hasty, the company explained that its plans for vehicle development actually date back to 2013, four years before the current iteration of the company was established.
Per the company, it has already assembled an automotive team of nearly 1,000 people, which it will continue to expand as development of its flagship BEV model continues. The company added:
We may not be the earliest to embark on this journey, but we will be the most determined.
What do you guys think? Can a robot vacuum company deliver the world’s fastest BEV? Can it even deliver an all-electric model that can compete in China’s saturated market? Xiaomi did it, so there’s hope. This will be a developing story to keep an eye on.
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