Welcome back to Critical Materials, your daily source for the biggest stories at the intersection of mobility and tech. On today’s docket: Europeans are still sour on Tesla, there’s a new best-selling non-Tesla EV in the U.S., and Nvidia is going harder than ever into autonomous driving technology.
Let’s dig in.
25%: Europeans Continue To Say ‘No Thanks’ To Teslas
2025 Tesla Model 3 Performance
Photo by: Andrei Nedelea
Early last year, Tesla sales started tanking in Europe. And as the latest numbers compiled by Reuters show, Europeans are still not so hot on the Elon Musk-run car brand. It signals a tough 2026 for the company, which has thrown in the towel on making new mainstream cars that aren’t robotaxis.
In December in the U.K., new Tesla registrations fell 29% to 6,323 units, according to data cited by the outlet. For the full year, Tesla’s U.K. sales fell 8.9%. The situation was positively dismal in Germany, where the number of Teslas registered in 2025 plummeted by 48.4% year-over-year to 19,930 units.
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Registrations in France, another big European market for the brand, dropped by 37% in 2025. In Spain, they sank 4%. One bright spot was Norway, Europe’s EV capital. A landmark 96% of vehicles registered in the country were electric last year, and Tesla hit a new sales record.
The trouble largely started when Musk waded into far-right politics in Europe. Add into the mix hot new Chinese competitors and a stale product lineup from Tesla, and you’ve got a recipe for a deep, stubborn sales rut. Despite Tesla rolling out cheaper Model Y and Model 3 variants this year, it doesn’t seem like the situation is improving.
50%: Nvidia Does What Tesla FSD Couldn’t
Mercedes MB.Drive Assist Pro
Photo by: Mercedes-Benz
This Nvidia news out of CES is technically a couple of days old, but I wanted to highlight it here because it says a lot about where the driver-assistance technology space may be headed.
In the past, Nvidia has sold chips that car companies can use to train their self-driving models in data centers, as well as computers designed to handle the actual task of automated driving in vehicles. This week it announced Alpamayo, a family of open-source “teacher” AI models, simulation tools and datasets that other companies can build upon to develop their own self-driving systems.
I think the bigger news—or at least, the more tangible development here—is that Nvidia’s in-house competitor to Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) that’s based on these models is almost ready. The company is launching its full-stack Drive AV system in the new Mercedes-Benz CLA this year, giving the car Level 2 point-to-point driving capability. Under driver supervision, it promises to navigate all the complexities of urban driving—traffic lights, bicyclists, unprotected lefts—all the way to a programmed destination, just like FSD.
Journalists who tried this out during media previews were impressed. Our very own Patrick George said it looked promising after a ride-along in San Francisco. “Tesla should be worried,” The Verge’s Andy Hawkins wrote. I’ve watched videos of it in action; it looked smooth and handled chaotic traffic situations well.
For years, Musk has touted serious demand from other automakers looking to license FSD. But Nvidia beat it to the punch. Lucid Motors also plans to use Nvidia’s tech in its upcoming $50,000 crossover.
And if the system proves itself in the real world, I wouldn’t be surprised if other automakers sign up too, putting Nvidia at the center of the race to personal self-driving cars.
75%: There’s A New Best-Selling Non-Tesla In America
2024 Chevy Equinox EV FWD
Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs
It could be years before anybody unseats the king of EVs in America: the Tesla Model Y. But the battle for best of the rest is very much up for grabs.
In 2025, the most popular not-a-Tesla was the Chevrolet Equinox EV. General Motors announced on Monday that it sold 57,945 of them last year. It just goes to show what happens when you show Americans an EV with over 300 miles of range and a reasonable price tag. In total, GM moved nearly 170,000 EVs in the U.S. last year, 48% growth over 2024.
Chevy’s compact crossover shot past the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which ended the year with a solid 51,620 units shipped. In 2023, before it was canceled, the Chevy Bolt EV/EUV took the crown with over 60,000 total sales.
100%: What Will Be The Hottest Non-Tesla In 2026?
The Bolt EV is coming back with a sub-$30,000 price. The Nissan Leaf is better than ever. There are wild cards like the Rivian R2 as well. Which EV will slide in behind the Model 3 and Model Y this year?
Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com
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