It is also being clarified whether the Tesla driver was using the autonomous driving mode at the time of the accident
The obvious answer is no, its not enabled or available in Europe. And had he been using the (reduced) autopilot it would have detected the vehicle and swerved or braked hard since its nothing more than an adaptive cruise control.
There was an accident earlier.
It was in the middle of the night. The driver told Police he had fallen asleep at the wheel.
Later the Tesla driver came along, apparently ignored, or didnât see the accident warning signs and ploughed into the Police van.
Seems he wasnât paying enough attention. Distraction is the biggest cause of road accidents.
Tesla EU sales continue to slide. November 2025 down one third compared to 2024
Tesla is the only one of the top ten EV brands in Europe to have negative growth
VW sold more EVs in Novembe 2025 than Tesla
YTD VW ID4 + ID3 + ID7 has 210k sales vs 203K sales for Tesla Model 3 + Model Y but both brands have other EV models.
https://insideevs.com/news/782605/ev-phev-sales-europe-ytd-2025/
Say what you want but Musk killed the Tesla all on his onesies.
Thereâs definitely a stigma attached to them now.
Personally, Iâm not so concerned about the stigma with Tesla. Itâs short lived. People will forget, perhaps slower on the right side of the atlantic than the left. Value, price point and features will drive future sales.
I was not so surprised to see the uptake on the chinese brand.
Latest news says a chinese researcher in the US has produced lithium batteries that do not tend to burn up ⌠thank god for the portable power packs people carry in planes these days.
Despite all the Tesla gloom, they are the only car company - Chinese included making money manufacturing EVs. In fact probably the only car company making a profit ICE or EV..
Yeh! If EVs are always burning or becoming out dated upon leaving the dealerships, little wonder that more of them must be fabricated. Meanwhile, the average ICE will last a good 15 plus years.
Waymo released some safety figures this month showing that travelling in a Waymo is much safer than a normal human driver, and presumably, Tesla is similar.
This has stimulated a discussion about the fact that most auto accidents involve speeding or drunk driving, so is Waymo really safer?
This descends into various pseudo-statistical calculations
A strong criticism of Tesla this week
" Tesla Is Dying, Cannibalized by an egomaniac and his cult."
https://wlockett.medium.com/tesla-is-dying-c59052666595
He makes some interesting points but better to read the whole article;
" According to Cox Automotive and Reuters, fewer than 40,000 Teslas were sold in the US in November 2025, a massive 23% decline from November 2024."
The federal EV tax credits in the U.S. officially ended on September 30, 2025 so maybe people made their Tesla purchases earlier.
" For years, the Model Y was by far the best-selling EV in Europe and the UK. But in October, the Renault 5 was the best-selling EV in the UK and the second-best-selling EV in Europe, lagging just behind the Skoda Enyaq. "
I thought the most common reason for accidents was distraction - quite often with mobile phone use.
Some years ago, a tablet in the dashboard was the future. Salespeople yelled that everything could be done with the tablet and voice recognition software. The tide starts to change:
Rejoice! Carmakers Are Embracing Physical Buttons Again
(05.05.2025) Amazingly, reaction times using screens while driving are worse than being drunk or highâno wonder 90 percent of drivers hate using touchscreens in cars. Finally the auto industry is coming to its senses.
From January 2026, Europeâs crash-testing organization EuroNCAP, or New Car Assessment Program, will incentivize automakers to fit physical, easy-to-use, and tactile controls to achieve the highest safety ratings. âManufacturers are on notice,â EuroNCAPâs director of strategic development Matthew Avery tells WIRED, âtheyâve got to bring back buttons.â
Motorists, urges EuroNCAPâs new guidance, should not have to swipe, jab, or toggle while in motion. Instead, basic controlsâsuch as wipers, indicators, and hazard lightsâought to be activated through analog means rather than digital.
Of course, this will be interpreted as EU bureaucrats blocking innovation. It will lead to after midnight twitter rants that will alienate consumers even more. The irony is that we got here with the idea of âmove fast and break thingsâ. Only caveat is that moving fast happened only once. No more iterations, and for sure not coming back to simple buttons to heat the seat or steering wheel, or cabin temperature control.
Anyway, the future is unknown. Tesla admitted defeat and put the blinkers stalks back as option this year. The steering yoke was quietly discontinued. Whatâs the surprise for 2026? Buttons for cabin AC or a hatch to open the glove box? Are consumers really wanting buttons for simple car functions?
True
Another reason that self-driving autos should have very low accident statistics
I doubt the stigma surrounding Tesla will be short-lived while Elon continues to stir the pot.
Well, I certainly donât want to help contribute to his $1T compensation.
We have seen this before.
Queue digital watches, LEDâs and liquid crystal were all the rage, touted as the future they were hete to stay and now back to little pointers moving round a dial.
Actually, with what one can see from the ride alongs with sFSD, you donât really need the stalks much anymore.
Most people who buy Teslas are very happy with them. Or at least happy enough to not sell them at the first occasion.
That sales are declining is a byproduct of the fact that Tesla has almost no fleet sales. Fleets buy VAG or Hyundai or some other brand.
These cars are ok, but from the amount of cars from VW sitting at dealer lots for months over months it looks like not many want to buy these with their own money.
A lot of Cybertrucks were apparently bought by SpaceX - though the exact number is difficult to assess.
Not a surprise after what happened to Hertz. The only public number is that Hertz sold 30k EVs in 2024. How many of those 30k were Teslas was never disclosed. So, just another instance of what one day was the future, today is water under the bridge. After this example, whoâs the brave CEO to approve the budget for the next fleet that includes Tesla?
Does a Waymo ever go faster than the speed limit? Would hate to have to be stuck behind one.
