18 October 2026

Tesla's flying Roadster: what the cold-gas thruster stunts proved, and what is still only a promise

On 15 October Tesla showed an uncrewed Roadster jumping, rolling and landing on SpaceX-style cold-gas thrusters. The stunts happened on camera. The price, delivery date, road approval and most of the performance figures are still claims.

Did Tesla's new Roadster really fly with cold-gas thrusters? Yes, briefly and with nobody on board. At a livestreamed event near Waco, Texas, on 15 October 2026, a Roadster used suction fans and cold-gas thrusters to leap off a ramp, roll and land over a row of Teslas. It is not on sale yet. Tesla took reservations, gave no price, says production starts in 2028, and says the flying version is not approved for public roads.

Analysis Cars 11 sources

Battery packs reached a record low price. What LFP, NMC and sodium-ion mean for EV prices in 2026

The latest full-year survey put the average lithium-ion pack at $108/kWh, with LFP packs far cheaper than NMC. Metal prices pushed cell quotes up in the first half of 2026, and sodium-ion is still a small business with more announcements than deliveries.

Are EV batteries still getting cheaper, and will that make electric cars cheaper? On the latest full-year data, yes: BloombergNEF put the 2025 average pack at $108/kWh and battery-electric car packs at $99/kWh, with LFP packs averaging $81/kWh against $128/kWh for NMC. Lithium and cobalt rose into 2026 and cell quotes climbed in the first half, so how much of the saving reaches buyers depends on chemistry, region and carmaker pricing rather than the survey headline.

Analysis Batteries 11 sources

BYD Seal U DM-i: what independent tests measured on electric range and fuel use

ADAC's test of the all-wheel-drive Seal U DM-i found 65 km of electric range and 7.7 l/100 km once the battery was empty, both worse than the official figures. The plug-in hybrid only pays off if it is charged often, and its five-star safety rating was carried over from the electric Seal U.

How economical is the BYD Seal U DM-i in independent testing? ADAC measured 65 km of electric range at 27.3 kWh/100 km for the AWD Design, against 70 km and 20.0 kWh/100 km on WLTP. With the battery empty it used 7.7 l/100 km, rising to 10.2 l/100 km on the motorway. Charged daily, it can cover typical commutes on electricity; driven uncharged, it is a thirsty petrol SUV.

Analysis Hybrids 7 sources

China's 67% plug-in share is cutting oil use faster than it is straining the grid

Two-thirds of new cars sold to Chinese households in September 2026 plugged in. The oil effect is already visible in national fuel demand, while charging is still a small, fast-growing slice of electricity use.

What does China's record plug-in share mean for oil and the grid? Plug-in cars took 67.0% of China's passenger-car retail market in September 2026, a record, mainly because petrol-car sales collapsed under high fuel prices. That is already pulling down Chinese road-fuel demand, while charging used about 1.7% of national electricity in August: growing quickly, but not yet a grid-scale strain.

Analysis Energy 10 sources

Choosing an e-bike or e-scooter in 2026: start with the legal limits where you live

The same e-bike can be a bicycle in California, a moped in Britain and an insured vehicle in the EU. Before comparing range or price, check the power, speed, insurance and riding rules that apply to you.

What should I check first when choosing an e-bike or e-scooter in 2026? Check whether the product fits your market's legal class: in the UK and EU that means a 250 W motor that stops assisting at 25 km/h for an e-bike, while US states commonly allow up to 750 W and 20 or 28 mph. Anything above those limits is usually a moped, which brings licensing, insurance and road-only riding.

Analysis E-bikes 11 sources

The US e-bike battery rule reaches its last public hearing: what buyers should check now

The Consumer Product Safety Commission hears oral comments on 21 October 2026 on a proposal to make UL battery standards mandatory for e-bikes and e-scooters. Until a final rule lands, certification is still a voluntary label buyers must look for themselves.

Does the US now require certified e-bike batteries? Not yet nationally. The CPSC has proposed making UL 2849, UL 2272 and UL 2271 mandatory, with extra tests, and products made 180 days after a final rule would have to comply. Until then, buyers should insist on a named certification from a recognised test lab, which New York City already requires for sale.

Report E-bikes 7 sources

EcoFlow's Titan home battery starts at 5 kWh. A worked example shows when storage saves money and when it is insurance

EcoFlow's new US Titan series pairs a 5 kWh LFP battery with up to 7.2 kW of output for about $3,000, or about $7,000 installed with its transfer panel. On a California time-of-use tariff, moving 5 kWh a day from off-peak to peak saves about $110 a year at best, so the case rests on backup and solar.

Does a home battery like EcoFlow's Titan pay for itself? Not from tariff arbitrage alone on a typical time-of-use plan: on PG&E's E-TOU-C rates, cycling 5 kWh a day saves about $111 a year before losses, against about $7,000 for an installed Titan 5000 with its panel. It makes more sense if you need backup power for outages, already have solar, or face a much wider peak to off-peak price gap.

Analysis Batteries 8 sources

Winter range: what independent tests measured against WLTP, and what to expect in cold and heat

In Norway's two most recent winter tests, electric cars fell 19% short of their WLTP range on average in a mild January and 38% short in a severe one. Plan around the weather where you live, not the brochure figure.

How much range does an electric car lose in winter compared with its official figure? In NAF's January 2025 test, at −6°C to +8°C, cars fell an average of 19.4% short of WLTP. In January 2026, at −7°C to −32°C, the average loss was 38%. In mild summer conditions several cars matched or beat WLTP, while laboratory tests at 35°C with air conditioning found a loss of about 17%.

Analysis Cars 10 sources

Florida wants its federal EV-charger money for air-taxi pads

Florida's transport department plans to spend its remaining NEVI charging funds on 32 charging sites for electric air taxis, arguing that private firms have already covered its highways. For drivers, the plan means no new state-funded road chargers, and public rapid charging there costs about three times as much per kilometre as charging at home.

Does Florida's plan change anything for people driving electric cars there? It means the state's NEVI money would not pay for new public car chargers; it would pay for charging at air-taxi vertiports instead, if federal officials approve. Drivers will keep relying on privately built networks, where rapid charging costs about three times as much per kilometre as home charging at Florida's average household rate.

Report Charging 10 sources

France and Germany want to pause the plug-in hybrid CO2 correction until 2030

A Franco-German deal struck on 16 October would keep today's rules for calculating plug-in hybrid emissions in place until the end of the decade, six weeks before a tougher step was due. It is a negotiating position, not law, but it matters for official CO2 figures and the company car tax that follows them.

What would the Franco-German plan change for plug-in hybrids? It would stop the next tightening of the utility factor, the assumed share of electric driving behind a plug-in hybrid's official CO2 figure, until 2030. Official figures for many models would then stay lower than the EU's current timetable intends, which keeps them inside tax thresholds set at 50 gCO2/km, but it would not change how much fuel the cars use.

Report Hybrids 10 sources

GAC-backed Greater Bay Technology starts a 1 GWh solid-state cell line: what is built and what is still promised

On 13 October Greater Bay Technology began producing all-solid-state cells on a converted lithium-ion line near Guangzhou, and says third-party tests show they meet China's new definition. No car using them has been named, and the headline energy-density range covers future generations.

Are solid-state batteries now in mass production? One company, Greater Bay Technology, says it began series production of all-solid-state cells on 13 October on a line with 1 GWh of capacity. That is real manufacturing, but it is small, no vehicle has been named, and the larger players CATL and BYD are still talking about 2027 for small batches or demonstration cars.

Report Batteries 10 sources

Hyundai Ioniq 5: what independent tests say about range, charging, safety and recalls

Independent tests broadly back up Hyundai's charging claims for the Ioniq 5 and put real-world efficiency about 16–17% above the official WLTP figure. Safety is five stars, but the rating dates from 2021, and the US recall list now includes three high-voltage battery campaigns.

Does the Hyundai Ioniq 5 live up to its official figures in independent tests? On charging, yes. Two independent tests measured peaks within about 2% of the 260 kW claim and a 10–80% time within two minutes of the 18-minute claim. On range, plan on roughly 490–500 km for the 84 kWh rear-wheel-drive car in mild weather rather than the 570 km WLTP figure, and check the recall status of any car you are offered.

Analysis Cars 11 sources

Charging at home without a driveway: what England's new pavement-channel rules change

From 21 October 2026, households in England that park on the street will no longer need planning permission for an approved cable channel across the pavement and a charger on the front wall. The council still has to say yes, and the reward is large: off-peak home charging can cost a tenth of public rapid charging.

I park on the street outside my house. Can I now charge at home? Possibly. From 21 October 2026 the planning step disappears in England for a council-authorised pavement channel and a wall charger, outside conservation areas and listed properties. You still need your highway authority's consent, a space near your door, and an installer, and a grant of up to £500 can help with the charger.

Analysis Charging 14 sources

Mercedes-AMG's electric GT SUV claims 710 kW charging. Here is what that means at a real charger

The new AMG GT SUV, revealed on 17 October, promises 10 to 80 per cent in about 12 minutes. Charjin's arithmetic shows the average rate is well below the headline peak, and few public chargers can deliver either.

Will the AMG GT SUV really charge in 12 minutes? Only on a charger that can supply far more than 400 kW, and only in good conditions. Mercedes' 10 to 80 per cent claim works out at an average of about 450 kW, well below the 710 kW peak. At a more common 400 kW unit the same charge cannot take less than about 13.5 minutes, and a 16-minute figure has been reported.

Report Cars 7 sources

PG&E's October shutoff shows what an electric pickup can and cannot do as home backup

About 86,000 PG&E customers lost power for safety between 14 and 17 October 2026. A bidirectional electric truck could have covered an average Californian home for that long, but PG&E's own programme for using EVs this way remains small.

Could an electric truck have kept a home running through PG&E's October shutoff? On paper, yes. Ford's backup claim for the extended-range F-150 Lightning implies about 90 kWh of usable home supply, roughly five days of average Californian household use. In practice it needs specific hardware, a 9.6 kW output limit applies, and PG&E's vehicle-to-home pilot had only three residential customers in mid-2025.

Report Energy 9 sources

Plug-in hybrids that are rarely charged: why T&E wants a 15-litre fuel tank cap

A new Transport & Environment report finds that plug-in hybrids registered in 2024 emitted close to six times their official CO2 figures on the road. Its answer is to steer incentives towards models built to be charged, including a fuel tank of no more than 15 litres.

Does a plug-in hybrid really cut fuel use if you rarely charge it? Not by much. EU fuel-meter data for cars registered in 2024 show plug-in hybrids covering only 27% of their distance on electricity alone and emitting just 14% less CO2 than petrol, diesel and conventional hybrid cars, against an 83% reduction on paper. T&E's proposed 15-litre tank cap is a policy idea for incentives, not a rule, so buyers who will not charge daily should treat the official figure as a best case.

Analysis Hybrids 11 sources

Plug-in hybrids took a record 17% of UK new car sales in September

Official SMMT figures show plug-in hybrid registrations up 55.5% in the September plate-change month, while conventional hybrids slipped. Buyers joining the trend should factor in the pay-per-mile charge that reaches plug-in hybrids from April 2028.

What changed in the UK hybrid market in September 2026? Plug-in hybrids reached a record 59,571 registrations and a 17.0% share of the UK market, up from 12.2% a year earlier, while conventional hybrids fell 4.3% to a 13.1% share. For buyers, a plug-in hybrid still pays off mainly when it is charged often, and from April 2028 it will also carry a mileage charge of 1.5p a mile.

Report Hybrids 9 sources

Volkswagen caps some ID.4 batteries at 80% while it hunts for a fire-risk fix

A new US and Canadian recall tells owners of about 28,000 ID.4s to stop charging above 80% because the battery may overheat. Volkswagen does not yet know the root cause, and the cap costs a typical car roughly 40 to 60 miles of rated range.

My ID.4 is in the recall. What do I actually have to do? Set the maximum charge to 80% and leave it there until Volkswagen has a repair, which it says is still being developed. Check your VIN on the NHTSA or Transport Canada recall lookup, and expect a letter from Volkswagen; in the US the first letters are due to be mailed on 27 November 2026.

Report Charging 8 sources