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Tesla endured tough year in part thanks to some consumers’ distaste for Elon Musk’s embrace of rightwing politics Tesla has taken the unusual step of publishing sales forecasts that suggest 2025 deliveries will be lower than expected and future years’ sales will be well below targets set by its chief executive, Elon Musk. The US electric vehicle maker published figures from analysts suggesting it will announce 423,000 deliveries during the fourth quarter of 2025, in a new “consensus” section on its investor website. That would represent a 16% decline from the final quarter of 2024. Continue reading...

Carmakers such as MG, BYD and Chery are set to pass 200,000 mark in sales, analysis suggests, double 2024’s total Chinese brands are on course to account for one in every 10 new cars sold in Britain during 2025, a marked increase on last year as sales increase across Europe. Manufacturers led by MG, BYD, and Chery are on track to break the 200,000 mark in UK new car sales in 2025, meaning they are very likely to account for 10% of the market, according to Matthias Schmidt, an analyst tracking electric cars across Europe. Continue reading...

From datacenters to AI, we’ll be keeping our eye on the technology that will be shaping your life in the coming year Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, wishing you a happy New Year’s Eve filled with cheer, champagne and Mariah Carey’s comically awful rendition of Auld Lang Syne . Today, we’re looking forward to the next year in technology news. I am watching five trends I think will define the year: datacenters will see rapid proliferation beyond the US and China; billionaires will reap billions more; self-driving cars will park themselves in a slew of brand-new locales; AI will find its niche at work; and consumer tech will take strange new shapes. Continue reading...

Smallest number of new chargers since 2022 as carmakers persuade government to weaken EV sales targets The UK’s rollout of electric car chargers slackened markedly in 2025 amid investor concerns over a slower-than-expected switch to cleaner battery vehicles. There were 87,200 chargers installed in the UK at the end of November, an increase of 13,500 compared with the end of 2024, according to data from Zapmap, which tracks charger installations. Continue reading...

Elon Musk’s brand sold 12,130 new cars across the EU last month, down from 18,430 in November 2024 Business live – latest updates Tesla continued a run of weak sales in the EU in November, with new car registrations of Elon Musk’s brand down a third, while Chinese carmakers’ sales soared. Tesla sold 12,130 new cars across the EU last month, down from 18,430 in November 2024, shrinking its market share from 2.1% to 1.4%, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (Acea), a lobby group. Continue reading...

Firms agree deals with Beijing-based Baidu to take self-driving cabs to UK capital Chinese robotaxis are due to be on the streets of London next year after the US ride-hailing companies Lyft and Uber announced tie-ups with Beijing-based Baidu to deploy its self-driving technology. Lyft is the third firm to announce plans to introduce self-driving taxis to the UK capital next year, after Uber and Waymo, the main operator of robotaxis in the US. Continue reading...

State indifference | Mistletoe warning | Life after a Honda Jazz | Happy medium | Age-old question At last, an article that has broken the silence on the inhumane treatment of the Palestine Action hunger strikers on remand, held in our free, democratic and fair country ( Editorial, 19 December ). To risk dying for your principles is admirable, but to do so in a media blackout alongside political indifference is abhorrent and scary. I cannot help but be ashamed of my country’s response to the horrendous situation in Gaza and the West Bank, and I applaud the Filton 24 activists for raising awareness of Britain’s role in arms trading. Jane Kremer Lisburn, County Antrim • I read your Country Diary on mistletoe ( 20 December ) with interest and learned some things I did not know. However, nowhere does it mention that mistletoe is poisonous to humans, even though the article mentions squashing the berries and spreading them around to propagate them. Cornelia Allan Hatfield, Hertfo...

A staff exodus and a broken booking system are helping to cause huge jams in Britain’s driving test system It has long been a stressful rite of passage for many young people but, in recent years, passing the actual driving test is the easy part. Now, many people seeking a test need to wake up early to snag a date before the bots do and, even then, they are looking at a long and arduous wait. Despite moves from the government to address the issue , an audit report released this week found plans to cut the wait for a driving test to seven weeks by the end of the year would not be achieved until November 2027. Continue reading...

From retailers to banks, carmakers to councils, the bold pledges for carbon-neutral economies are being watered down or scrapped Almost a year since Donald Trump returned to the White House with a rallying cry to the fossil fuel industry to “drill baby, drill”, a backlash against net zero appears to be gathering momentum. More companies have retreated from, or watered down, their pledges to cut carbon emissions, instead prioritising shareholder returns over climate action. Continue reading...

Games such as Dragon Quest used to mobilize workers to back corporate goals including relaxing environmental rules Toyota , the world’s biggest carmaker, is using retro-style video games to rally its US workforce behind its corporate goals, including lobbying to relax environmental rules, the Guardian can reveal. Through an internal platform called Toyota Policy Drivers, employees can play games with names such as Star Quest, Adventure Quest, and Dragon Quest, earning prizes by engaging with company messaging about policy and by contacting federal lawmakers using company-provided talking points. Continue reading...

Nissan builds in capability to go fully electric at Sunderland plant amid scaling back of transition targets across Europe Car bodies suspended from overhead rails move through Nissan’s factory in Sunderland, with workers stepping in to fit parts at different stations. At the newly installed battery “marriage station”, lifting machines push the most crucial component up into the body. Robots fit and tighten 16 bolts in under a minute – quick enough to ensure the constant flow of vehicles around Britain’s biggest car factory. The electric cars in question are the third generation of Nissan’s Leaf , after the Japanese carmaker this week launched production following £450m of upgrades. Continue reading...

Ministers hint at further relaxation of zero emission mandate but say will not follow EU over 2035 petrol cars ban The UK is to bring forward its review of electric vehicle sales targets from 2027 to next year, as the government said it would listen to the concerns of the car industry. The news came as ministers said they would not weaken plans to ban the sale of new petrol or diesel cars from 2035, after the EU announced plans to water down the timing of the phaseout of new combustion engine vehicles. Continue reading...

Development is latest in case in which carmaker accused of falsely marketing and overstating self-driving capabilities A California regulator has put on hold an order to suspend Tesla sales in the state, the latest development in a case in which it accused the electric vehicle maker of falsely marketing and overstating self-driving capabilities. The decision grants a reprieve to Tesla in a case that could force it to halt sales in its biggest US market. Continue reading...

Launch of third generation of Leaf follows investment of more than £450m into model, including £300m direct to UK Nissan has started the production of its latest electric car in Sunderland, a crucial step in the UK automotive industry’s transition away from petrol and diesel. The Japanese manufacturer will launch the third generation of the Leaf on Tuesday, which was the first mass-market battery electric car to be built in the UK. Nissan has made 282,704 Leaf models at the north-east England plant so far. Continue reading...

Only 10,000 out of economic bloc’s 6m trucks are electric and are more likely to be operating on short routes Business live – latest updates The chances of the European trucking industry hitting zero emissions targets are “dire”, an industry body has warned, as it emerged that only a tiny amount of lorries delivering goods in the EU are electric. Speaking as the European Commission prepares to water down electric car targets, the boss of the association for commercial vehicles called on the commission to commit to an urgent review of the sector, tackling problems including a lack of public charging points, a lack of tax breaks for trucks and high energy costs. Continue reading...

Party would also abolish zero-emission vehicle mandate, cutting legal requirement on carmakers to sell EVs The Conservatives have announced proposals to end the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars and cut the legal requirement on car manufacturers to sell electric vehicles. A Conservative government would abolish the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, ending the legal requirement for manufacturers to sell a fixed rising percentage of zero-emission vehicles each year – 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans by 2030, increasing to 100% by 2035. It would also completely end the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars . Continue reading...

Jessica O’Bryan puts the $60,000 Musso EV through its paces in suburban Sydney and finds some pluses, some minuses – but no charging points Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast When I am handed the keys to Australia’s first affordable fully electric ute, to say I feel nervous is an understatement. I’ve been driving a 2014 Volkswagen Polo for the last four years, and before that, a Holden Astra that was older than me. Continue reading...

Jim Farley’s comments come as US manufacturer and Renault announce deal to make two smaller electric cars Business live – latest updates The boss of Ford has said western carmakers are “in a fight for our lives” against Chinese competition as the US manufacturer agreed a new partnership with France’s Renault. The two companies said on Tuesday that they would work together on two smaller electric cars, with the first to go on sale as soon as early 2028. They will also look at producing vans together. Continue reading...

The impending collapse of UK carsharing is an embarrassment for a government attempting to curb the dominance of cars Zipcar, the world’s largest carsharing club, is leaving the UK. The company, which operates about 3,000 shared vehicles in Britain, has announced plans to shutter its UK operations at the end of the month. The news comes as a bitter blow to the hundreds of thousands of Britons who regularly rely on carsharing, and is a major setback in efforts to reduce emissions and traffic congestion. I’m particularly gutted. This year I finally learned to drive, specifically in order to become a Zipcar member for the rare occasions when I need a vehicle. As newly qualified drivers aren’t allowed to hire Zipcars until they’ve held a licence for a year, I bought a secondhand VW Beetle to tide me over, counting the days until I could flog it and sign up for Zipcar instead. Now, with the service shutting up shop, I fear I will be stuck maintaining a costly lump of steel that I need f...

CEO Elon Musk says lower-cost electric car will reignite demand by appealing to broader range of buyers Tesla has launched the lower-priced version of its Model 3 car in Europe in a push to revive sales after a backlash against Elon Musk’s work with Donald Trump and weakening demand for electric vehicles. Musk, the electric car maker’s chief executive, has argued that the cheaper option, launched in the US in October, will reinvigorate demand by appealing to a wider range of buyers. Continue reading...

Move marks president’s latest effort to dismantle pollution regulations and support for cleaner-running vehicles Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he is repealing the Biden-era federal fuel economy standards, significantly weakening fuel efficiency requirements for tens of millions of new gasoline-powered cars and light trucks. It marks the US president’s latest effort to dismantle pollution regulations and federal support for cleaner-running vehicles and renewable energy. Burning gasoline is a significant contributor to global heating and transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Continue reading...

Elon Musk-owned electric carmaker also called for support for the secondhand market, documents reveal Business live – latest updates Tesla privately warned the UK government that weakening electric vehicle rules would hit battery car sales and risk the country missing its carbon dioxide targets, according to newly revealed documents. The US electric carmaker, run by Elon Musk, also called for “support for the used-car market”, according to submissions to a government consultation earlier this year obtained by the Fast Charge, a newsletter covering electric cars. Continue reading...

Cristina Dorador is on an urgent mission in the world’s highest desert, the Atacama in Chile. As the rise of drug-resistant superbugs kills millions per year, Cristina has made it her mission to uncover new, life-saving antibiotics in the stunning salt flats she has studied since she was 14. Against the magnificent backdrop of endless plains, microscopic discoveries lead her team of scientists to question how critically lithium mining is damaging the delicate ecosystem and impacting Indigenous communities Continue reading...

Exclusive: Swedish carmakers push to retain target as Germany lobbies to help its own industry by softening cutoff date As the battle lines harden amid Germany’s intensifying pressure on the European Commission to scrap the 2035 ban on production of new petrol and diesel cars, two Swedish car companies, Volvo and Polestar, are leading the campaign to persuade Brussels to stick to the date. They argue such a move is a desperate attempt to paper over the cracks in the German car industry, adding that it will not just prolong take up of electric vehicles but inadvertently hand the advantage to China. Continue reading...