/daily ·03 OCT 2026 ·SATURDAY ·2 MIN READ ·7 STORIES

Q3 on the scoreboard

Tesla barely slipped and beat estimates; Ford fell off a cliff; Europe hit a new high. The quarterly scorecard is in.

01 / The Day

SATURDAY 03 OCT 2026, ranked

Tesla Q3 2026: 486,532 deliveries, down 2%, beat analyst estimates

Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in Q3 2026 — a 2% year-on-year decline but above consensus estimates — maintaining its quarterly delivery lead while vehicle margins continued their eight-quarter compression trend.

486,532 represents Tesla's lowest Q3 total since 2024 against eight consecutive quarters of vehicle margin compression
The beat against estimates prevented a larger stock selloff despite the year-on-year decline
Tesla continues to frame AI and energy as its primary growth vectors as vehicle revenue growth flattens

Why it mattersTesla's quarterly delivery numbers are the EV market's most-watched datapoint — even a small miss shapes pricing strategy across every competing platform for the following quarter.

01 electrek.co↗

Ford EV sales collapse 80% in Q3; the Fathom needs to land perfectly

Ford's electric vehicle sales fell approximately 80% year-on-year in Q3 2026, pushing the company's entire near-term EV recovery onto the Fathom compact pickup targeted at $28,350 and Q1 2027 production.

Ford CEO Farley acknowledged this week the company has not solved mass manufacturing of the UEV platform
The 80% decline outpaces even the most pessimistic analyst forecasts for Ford's EV business
Fathom production targets Q1 2027 from a $5 billion Louisville plant investment

Why it mattersThe severity of the collapse creates existential urgency around Fathom's success — no prior Ford vehicle has carried so much recovery weight since the original Mustang Mach-E.

02 electrek.co↗

UK EV sales jump 36% to an all-time record 99,199 in September

British new car registrations included 99,199 battery electric vehicles in September 2026 — a 36% year-on-year gain, the highest monthly total on record, representing 28.3% of the UK new car market.

EVs hit 28.3% of UK new car registrations, near the ZEV mandate trajectory
Tesla Model 3 led all registrations, following its September refresh with the 16-inch screen
September is the UK's highest-volume registration month due to the biannual number plate change

Why it mattersA record UK September amid global EV headwinds confirms that mandate-driven markets insulate buyers from the demand softness affecting markets without firm regulatory targets.

03 electrek.co↗

Rivian R2 ramp holds strong through Q3 as broader EV market slows

Rivian reported strong Q3 production and delivery figures anchored by the R2 platform, maintaining trajectory toward annual targets even as EV growth rates decelerate across most OEM segments.

R2 production has scaled faster in its launch year than the original R1 did
Rivian is executing without the supply chain disruptions that slowed early R1 volumes
LiDAR-equipped R2 enters employee test fleets in late 2026; retail availability follows in 2027

Why it mattersRivian holding its ramp while Ford, GM, and Stellantis EV divisions decline is the clearest evidence that a focused EV-only product strategy outperforms a diversified ICE-plus-EV portfolio during the transition.

04 electrek.co↗

Kia is Europe's fastest-growing top-10 automaker as EV sales surge 58%

Kia emerged as the fastest-growing brand among Europe's top-10 automakers through Q3 2026, with electric vehicle sales up 58% year-on-year, driven by the EV3, EV6, and EV9 across multiple price segments.

58% EV growth contrasts sharply with Volvo abandoning full-year guidance and Mercedes cutting EV models
Kia is simultaneously offering up to $10,000 in US discounts to accelerate volume in a softer market
Results validate the Hyundai Motor Group platform strategy that lets Kia deploy Ioniq-derived tech at speed

Why it mattersKia outperforming in Europe while discounting in the US shows the EV margin problem facing legacy OEMs is not universal — a focused portfolio is a different business.

05 electrek.co↗

Mercedes-Benz kills the EQE Sedan for the US market in 2027

Mercedes-Benz confirmed it will discontinue the EQE Sedan in the US from the 2027 model year, collapsing its midrange EV ladder as the company pivots to the new electric CLA and GLB platforms.

The EQE occupied the midrange slot between the entry EQB and flagship EQS; its exit leaves a gap
Electric CLA and GLB replace the slot as part of a consolidation prioritising entry-luxury volume
European EQE continues; the US discontinuation reflects structurally lower US EV sales versus Germany

Why it mattersMercedes pruning its existing EV lineup while launching new platforms signals the first generation of premium EV architecture is being written off faster than most expected.

06 electrek.co↗

Germany proposes paying EV owners for selling grid power — a first in Europe

German energy regulators are advancing a proposal to compensate EV owners for vehicle-to-grid services, marking the first formal payment framework for V2G in a major European economy.

Eligible EVs would export power during peak demand and receive payment at a regulated grid-support tariff
Germany has around 2.4 million EVs on its roads; even 5% V2G participation adds meaningful distributed storage
No major German OEM currently sells a V2G-capable vehicle domestically; the proposal creates OEM hardware incentive

Why it mattersPricing grid services from parked EVs turns every driveway into a grid asset — Germany formalising it will accelerate V2G hardware investment across European OEMs.

07 insideevs.com↗

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The Daily Archive

/SAT 03 OCTQ3 on the scoreboard /FRI 02 OCTFriday EV: US Model 3 upgraded, Equinox craters /THU 01 OCTEV Daily — Thursday, 1 October 2026 /WED 30 SEPTTesla bets $30B on AI; EVgo scales to 750 kW /TUE 29 SEPTStandards finalised, bestseller electrified, count incoming /MON 28 SEPTBattery Swap Goes Mainstream and FSD Speeds in Brussels /SUN 27 SEPTCAFE rollback, 5-minute charging, and a rare-earth supply break /SAT 26 SEPTSemis move, Waymo proves itself, Europe breaks 29%/THU 24 SEPTThe Corolla goes electric, Bentley enters, VW cuts ICE /WED 23 SEPTTesla Semi's Record Order, 4-Minute Charges, and the Robotaxi Pivot /TUE 22 SEPTThe Four-Minute Car /MON 21 SEPTTesla's Roadster gets a date, diesel hits $10, and flash charging arrives /SAT 19 SEPTWireless in Zuffenhausen, Worried in Seoul /FRI 18 SEPTFrom Singapore to open-source semis /THU 17 SEPTThe Price Floor Drops Again /WED 16 SEPTTesla's Regulatory Reckoning, CATL's Megawatt Truck, and the $20K BYD /TUE 15 SEPTIAA and the Cybercab detour /MON 14 SEPTThe Drag Coefficient Race /SUN 13 SEPTWeekend Shift /FRI 11 SEPTDiverging Markets /THU 10 SEPTTrump's China EV Gambit