EV drivers love skipping the traditional gas station, but those who charge at home still have to manually plug in their vehicles almost every night. It’s not a dealbreaker really, but consumer technology giant Xiaomi wants to eliminate that last bit of physical effort. The company demonstrated a new home charging robotic arm that automates the entire process. This device takes care of both plugging in and unplugging EVs without any human intervention. Xiaomi says it is ready to launch this automated accessory on the retail market in the fourth quarter of 2026, targeting the residential garages where most EV owners recharge.

Xiaomi fulfills an old promise that the wider automotive industry failed to deliver. More than ten years ago, Tesla chief Elon Musk promised a similar solution for electric cars, describing a metal snake charger that would automatically extend from a wall. Tesla even revealed a working prototype in 2015, but the project quietly disappeared into the corporate graveyard. Instead, Tesla shifted its focus toward wireless inductive charging for models like the Cybercab robotaxi. Xiaomi decided to stick to the physical plug concept and make it production-ready.

The physical design of the Xiaomi robotic arm is perfect for tight residential spaces. The housing measures exactly 6 inches wide, allowing it to fit easily next to vehicles in small home garages. The system uses advanced artificial intelligence vision recognition to guide the charging gun with sub-millimeter precision into the vehicle’s port. It also communicates directly with the car to trigger motorized charge port covers to open and close automatically. Owners can monitor and manage the system remotely through their smartphones, as the arm completely integrates into the brand’s existing smart home and vehicle ecosystem.

Automated mechanical arms solve a major technical issue that currently plagues wireless charging alternatives. Wireless pads remove the need for a physical cord, but they suffer from lower energy efficiency. Standard wireless inductive systems operate at an efficiency rate between 88 percent and 93 percent under perfect alignment. Direct physical plug-in systems operate at roughly 95 percent efficiency because they eliminate the air gap between the pad and the vehicle. On top of that, wireless charging under the common SAE J2954 standard generally tops out at 11 kW of power, whereas physical plugs can handle much higher rates.

Tesla prototype from 2015

For owners of modern EVs, these small percentages make a financial difference over time. Wasted energy transforms into heat and increases electricity bills over the years of daily use. A mechanical system preserves the full efficiency of a direct connection while offering the exact same convenience as a wireless system. Additionally, owners do not need to install heavy or expensive hardware inside their electric cars to make it work. The robotic arm functions perfectly with any standard charging port already built into the vehicle.

Xiaomi has not confirmed a final price for the new accessory, which will join its current lineup of 7 kW and 11 kW wallbox chargers. Price will decide whether home consumers adopt the technology. The company faces rising competition in the automated charging sector, particularly within the Chinese market. Other automakers are rushing to develop similar hands-free systems for their own premium electric cars – Li Auto announced ongoing tests for its own automatic charging robot during the launch of the Li Auto i8 electric SUV.

Similarly, the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA from Huawei) revealed an automated charging system for the Aito M8. That setup allows drivers to use an off-vehicle parking feature to send the car into a bay, where a robotic arm opens the port and inserts the plug automatically. Beyond automotive brands, independent infrastructure companies are entering the race. Star Charge introduced its own fully automatic robotic system called Armstrong – it achieves millimeter-level accuracy, connects in under 40 seconds, supports liquid-cooled ultra-fast charging, and uses a patented adapter ring to fit various global plug standards.

Chinese manufacturers focus heavily on residential solutions, and global automakers are exploring public applications for this technology. Hyundai has been testing its own automatic charging robots at Incheon International Airport to assist travelers. Other companies are testing ceiling-rail-mounted robots that slide across commercial parking garages to service multiple vehicles. Because roughly 80 percent of EV charging takes place at home, Xiaomi’s compact garage-ready arm could give the company a meaningful advantage if the retail price is reasonable.

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The timeline for the next-generation Tesla Roadster keeps stretching further and further into the future. A fresh report indicates that the American electric vehicle manufacturer shifted its planned public demonstration from the spring to August or even later. The decision is yet another adjustment to a schedule that has repeatedly changed since the company first displayed the vehicle concept nearly a decade ago.

According to individuals familiar with the situation, the upcoming exhibition will eventually take place in Texas. The main objective of this event is to highlight the specialized technology that Tesla is developing alongside SpaceX. The company claims this system will use cold gas thrusters to give the high-performance car unprecedented acceleration and the unique ability to briefly leave the ground… That’s apparently not a joke.

Skepticism surrounding these production timelines is not new for the brand. CEO Elon Musk introduced the prototype back in November 2017 and promised that manufacturing would officially begin in 2020. Since that announcement, the executive adjusted the official launch window at least eight separate times. The planned event in Texas is the first major presentation focused on this specific product since the manufacturer revealed its Cybercab concept back in October 2024.

The delays piled up quickly over the past few months. During a shareholder presentation in late 2025, the company promised April 1, 2026, as the reveal date, but pushed volume production out to 2027 or 2028. When April passed without an event, statements on social media suggested late May or early June. Eventually, during the first-quarter earnings call for 2026, the guidance changed once again to a vague estimate of “a month or so.”

Internal data reveals that engineering teams completed a private demonstration of the rocket-derived hardware for management in late April. The internal trial helps clarify why the company felt compelled to postpone the public showcase, as the complex systems needed more testing. The project has an internal designation “A71” and is a collaborative effort between engineers from both the automotive firm and the aerospace company.

The plans apparently involve two distinct variants of the sports car. The premium version will sport the SpaceX package, which replaces the rear passenger seats with approximately 10 cold-air rocket thrusters. This is supposed to improve cornering agility, braking efficiency, and acceleration. Company documentation asserts the setup will achieve a 0 to 60 mph sprint time of just 1.1 seconds. A standard, scaled-down version without the rocket components will be the entry-level model.

The ongoing development brought serious financial tension for early buyers who funded the project years ago. Customers paid big deposits to secure their positions in line, with standard reservations costing $50,000 and exclusive Founders Series slots requiring an upfront payment of $250,000. The reservation holders have yet to see a finalized production vehicle despite committing serious capital to the manufacturer nearly nine years ago.

The prolonged waiting shows how much the competitive landscape for electric cars has transformed. Tesla Roadster might be stuck in the prototype phase, but global competitors successfully launched and delivered high-performance EVs to customers worldwide. Brands like Rimac, Lotus, Yangwang, and Xiaomi ship advanced electric cars that compete in the high-end performance sector, reducing the technical uniqueness that the American automaker originally promised.

Industry analysts suggest that the heavy push for experimental aerospace features reveals an important strategic shift. Integrating rocket thrusters into Tesla Roadster creates a lot of media attention, but it does very little to solve the practical manufacturing or battery engineering challenges facing modern EVs. Some market observers view the reliance on these complex mechanical additions as an admission that Tesla’s battery-electric powertrains alone no longer guarantee a distinct performance advantage over rapidly advancing international competitors.

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Tesla has officially altered how European buyers can access its highest tier of driver assistance systems. The American electric vehicle manufacturer stopped offering Full Self-Driving, often called FSD, as a permanent, one-time purchase across Europe. Moving forward, anyone who wants to use these software features on new electric cars will have to pay a monthly fee.

Previously, Tesla allowed buyers in Europe to pay an upfront cost of €7,500 or £6,800 in the United Kingdom to secure lifetime access to what the company marketed as Full Self-Driving Capability. That permanent buying option is gone. In its place, the automaker now requires a recurring monthly subscription fee of €99 or £99 to turn on the software.

Tesla Germany

Along with this shift, Tesla also eliminated the mid-tier Enhanced Autopilot package. This older option used to cost €3,800 or £3,400 as a one-time purchase. For that price, it gave drivers lifetime access to automatic lane changes, automated overtaking, highway navigation, and a smartphone-controlled summoning tool. Now, buyers can no longer purchase this specific mid-tier bundle at all.

Despite the updates to the paid packages, the most basic driver-assist features remain unchanged. Tesla includes its standard Autopilot system for free on all vehicles. This complimentary package keeps the car centered within its lane, manages steering, and controls acceleration and braking.

The €99 monthly payment is meant to unlock the more advanced FSD system, which allows the vehicle to travel from one point to another under human supervision. However, the regulatory environment in Europe creates a unique challenge for local buyers. Right now, government authorities have approved the actual use of this complete software suite in only two European nations: the Netherlands and Lithuania.

TESLA UK

Because the continent lacks uniform approval for this technology, Tesla owners in different countries face very different realities. On its website for the Netherlands, where the system is legally live, Tesla states that its electric cars can drive almost anywhere with minimal intervention. In sharp contrast, the company website for the United Kingdom has a clear warning that the system is not yet available and depends entirely on future development and government regulatory clearance.

This leaves many European buyers in a position where they must pay a monthly subscription for software that cannot legally perform its main tasks in their home countries. Tesla implemented an identical strategy in the United States, where it removed the $8,000 upfront FSD purchase option in favor of a $99 monthly fee.

From a purely financial perspective, the monthly payment system has both benefits and drawbacks for the average consumer. If a driver pays €99 every month, it takes slightly more than six years of continuous payments to reach the €7,500 that the software used to cost upfront. For owners who trade in their electric cars every few years, the subscription model could actually save them money.

TESLA Netherlands

A monthly plan adds some much-needed flexibility – owners can choose to activate the service for a single month during a long road trip and then cancel it when they return to daily city commuting. This avoids the risk of paying a massive lump sum for software that stays tied to a single vehicle chassis.

Many long-term Tesla owners paid thousands of euros years ago based on promises that their vehicles would eventually achieve full autonomy. However, company Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk confirmed during a recent financial call that older vehicles using previous-generation Hardware 3 technology will not be capable of true, unmonitored self-driving. To solve this problem, the carmaker will have to build specialized micro-factories to upgrade these older electric cars with newer hardware components.

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The Tesla Model Y may well be facing a major challenge from the BYD Sealion 7 when it comes to its ranking of best-selling EVs in Australia, but it remains the dominant choice when it comes to fleet owners.

A new report from Origin Energy, the country’s biggest electricity retailer, notes that 27 per cent of the EVs in its leasing and subscription program are Tesla Model Y electric SUVs, more than double the next most popular electric cars, the Kia EV5 and the VW ID.4.

The data is included in a “lessons learned” report delivered as part of the obligations of Origin’s Fleet Electrification program that has been partly funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

The program aims to deliver 1,000 EVs to the fleet program, but Origin says the transition has been hindered by the lack of good electric ute options.

“Passenger vehicle choice is no longer a barrier for most take-home fleets,” Origin writes.”

“Utes are a different story. Despite making up around 22% of new vehicle sales, there’s limited EV ute options, and those that are available cost more than the ICE equivalent and have limited range.”

And it notes that only two new electric utes have entered the Australian market over the past year. (And one electric ute, the Ford F150 Lightning, is no longer available).

As a result, just 5.2 per cent of Origin’s lease and subscription sales over the reporting period were utes – and all of these were the BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrids.

Origin says that for most fleet managers, the decision to go electric comes down to cost, and if the total cost of ownership (TCO) isn’t lower than an equivalent ICE vehicle, “it halts most decisions – any emissions benefit is a bonus, not a driver.”

Still, Origin says it is starting to see a shift. “A small but growing number of customers, particularly in carbon-intensive industries like construction, are now treating emissions reduction as equally important as cost when making fleet decisions.”

That it says is being driven by a couple of factors, including Australia’s own efforts to reduce emissions and by pressure from overseas, particularly on the Australian divisions of companies that operate internationally.

The other major observation from Origin was on the clear preference on “take-home” vehicles, given that these qualify for the federal government’s FBT exemptions, while pool cars do not.

“The sales Origin is making are almost entirely concentrated where customers can access the FBT exemption,” it says, adding that charger funding by ARENA has not been sufficient to close the TCO (total cost of ownership) gap on pool vehicles.

That said, the issues around home charging also needed to be resolved, including developing systems that allowed employees to have their home charging costs covered by their employer, in much the same way as occurs with fuel cards.

“Managing public charging remains an admin burden for fleet managers and drivers – multiple apps, cards and expense claims across different networks,” it notes.

“Origin’s had strong uptake on it’s OneCharge solution that helps solve this, by centralising charger activation and billing across six of the major public charging networks, and aggregating costs onto the fleet bill.”

It concludes: “Driver and fleet manager hesitation is real, but manageable – flexible trials, data-driven suitability tools, and hands-on experience all play a role in converting interest into commitment.

“Vehicle availability is improving for passenger fleets, but the ute segment remains a significant gap that limits electrification for a large portion of the Australian fleet market.”

Sign up for The Driven’s free daily newsletter and get the latest EV news and analysis delivered straight to your inbox. 

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.

• Tesla patented a new way of cooling down your EV’s cabin in the summer heat.
• Its new method involves using vacuums to suck up hot air and put it directly into the car’s HVAC system.
• This would make cooling hot spots inside of cars much easier, potentially unlocking more range.

Car interiors get hot, and conditioning them (whether it be preconditioning before you get in, or just keeping it at the right temperature while scooting down the road) saps up a significant amount of juice that could have been translated into mileage instead.

That’s what makes one of Tesla’s latest patents so interesting. Its invention proposes a new way of cooling down a car’s interior by targeting “hot air pockets” in the cabin. Here’s how it’s done.

Photo by: Tesla

According to the patent, Tesla’s method involves installing a suction unit into the car’s HVAC system. This creates negative pressure (aka: vacuum) that can be applied to specific vents in the car near these pockets of hot air. The hot air is then sucked into the car’s HVAC system and conditioned with the rest of the cabin air before being recirculated back into the car.

A good example of this would be solar radiation. The sun beating down on the car’s glass roof is an easy way to heat up the cabin—I’m sure you’ve felt this before when getting into a car on a hot day, or even when feeling the sun hitting your arm or leg for an extended time while driving down the road. The larger the vehicle and its interior space (Think Model X compared to a Model 3), the more surface area and ambient cabin space that requires conditioning.

But Tesla’s idea is that this thermal conditioning can be a done a bit more efficiently. The goal, according to the patent, is to “maximize thermal comfort and minimize energy consumption”—basically, pull air from spaces that need to be cooled and more evenly distribute the temperature in the cabin.

Based on the data in the patent, Tesla shows that the tech could lower the power draw by as much as 7.4%. That might not seem like a lot, however, that’s a savings of around 127 watts when it’s 104 degrees outside. That cuts the peak power consumed by the HVAC down from 1,720 watts to just 1,593.

Tesla’s patent goes further by noting that the suction can be conditionally activated by sensing the temperature in the cabin and activating the suction only in areas that need to be conditioned.

The idea is admittedly pretty innovative. Of course, this is just a patent, so it may never actually make it into an actual production car. But this is a clever way of improving range without boosting battery capacity, playing with aerodynamics, or doing anything special to the powertrain. 

On a 100-degree day, for example, air conditioner use contributes to a range loss of up to 18%, a study from Recurrent found. If Tesla’s method is able to squeeze a bit more range out of its cars while also improving passenger comfort, that’s a win-win.

Tesla has opened two new Suerpcharger stations in Australia, just weeks after hitting the milestone of opening its 150th Supercharger site in the country, and is also offering some staggering low charging prices.

The two new sites are at Braybrook in Victoria and Osborne Park in Western Australia, and include off-peak pricing pitched at record lows, just as drivers of petrol and diesel cars continue to deal with a surge in bowser prices as a result of the war in the Gulf.

The Driven last week reported on the cost advantages of driving an EV over an ICE (internal combustion engine) car, which are being highlighted in a new website with updates on a daily basis.

See our story: How far will $1 get you in a diesel car and an EV, and which cars are cheapest to drive?

The new Tesla Supercharger site at Osborne Park features 8-stalls and is open to both Tesla and non-Tesla vehicles, and includes – for the first time in W.A. – the company’s V4 superchargers with speeds of up to 322 kW.

Pricing for Tesla vehicles is as low as $0.32 per kWh, while non-Tesla vehicles can pay as little as $0.45 at times if charging without a Tesla Supercharger membership.

The other site is located in Melbourne’s inner western suburb of Braybrook with 4 stalls. Each of these is rated at 250 kW.

Incredibly, the pricing before 8am is just $0.27 per kWh for Tesla EVs, while non-Tesla vehicles pay $0.37. That’s cheaper than many AC chargers, let alone high speed reliable DC fast charging.

It’s also certainly cheaper than fuel for ICE vehicles in the current price cycle.

These two sites bring the total Tesla sites to 152 and comes in under two years after the 100th site opened in South Australia in September 2024.

Latest data compiled by carloop also shows the growth in our local Supercharger network, which now stands at 1,001 Supercharger bays.

Over the last 16 months, the number of Tesla Superchargers has grown by over 40%, making more reliable charging available across many parts of the country.

The most recent surge in sites have been focused in NSW, partially driven by co-funding of EV charging by the state government, so it’s good to see Tesla opening sites in other parts of the country too.

The latest sites are part of the significant global growth and also come just weeks after the company announced that it had hit its 80,000th supercharger, in France.

The recent surge in adoption and EV interest will also provide extra confidence to charge point operators to continue to grow infrastructure, which some saw being tested during parts of the Easter break.

With prices of Tesla’s DC chargers being as low as they are at times of the day, it’ll surely drive utilisation across its network in months to come.

Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.

Electric vehicle sales in March reached an all-time high in Australia, reaching a record number of 15,839 and a record share of 14.5 per cent – nearly double the share in the same month last year – as consumers searched out EVs amid the global fuel crisis.

The EV sales were led by China’s BYD, which once again overtook Tesla in total brand sales, but could have been higher were it not for many companies running out of stock. Tesla last week promised more ships, and more deliveries, after the wait time for its Model Y electric SUV blew out to several months.

BYD, which has a number of different models, sold a total of 4,206 EVs in March, beating Tesla with 3,485, although the Model Y regained its position as the top selling EV with 2,818 – which would put it at number 3 in the overall list behind the popular Ford and Toyota diesel utes.

Other EV makers also boosted sales, helped by multiple incentives that were already in place in March before Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, soaring prices and concerns about fuel supply as many servos ran out of fuel.

In March last year, EVs accounted for only 7.5% of total new car sales.

EV Sales Breakdown – March 2026

For the first three months of the year, EV sales have doubled in Australia. Last year they totalled 17,901, and 2026 already shows 34,382 new electric cars made it onto the road.

In March, PHEV sales increased from the previous month, with 8,215 PHEVs sold, up from over 5,000 in February.

Looking into the EV models that made up the top 5 Tesla sales, the Tesla Model Y stayed at the top spot with 2,818 sales. The Sealion 7 SUV came in the second spot with 1,970 sales. 

The third spot went to Zeekr’s 7X, raking in 679 sales during the month. Tesla Model 3 and Geely EX5 made up the rest of the top 5.

Other notable mentions include the BYD Atto 1, Australia’s cheapest EV, which saw 488 sales in its best month to date. Omoda Jaecoo J5 EV also showed solid growth in the SUV segment, surpassing 500 sales in the month.

The best-selling EVs in March 2026 were:

• Tesla Model Y – 2,818 sales
• BYD Sealion 7 – 1,970 sales
• Zeekr 7X – 679 sales
• Tesla Model 3 – 667 sales
• Geely EX5 – 606 sales
• Kia EV5 – 587 sales
• BYD Atto 2 – 572 sales
• Omoda Jaecoo J5 – 569 sales
• BYD Atto 1 – 488 sales
• MG S5 – 475 sales
• BYD Atto 3 – 466 sales
• Kia EV3 – 461 sales

The Driven is waiting to hear back from various manufacturers regarding sales of some EV models, and this will be updated once they are received.  You can see our detailed data here: Australian electric vehicle sales by month in 2026 – by model and by brand

FCAI CEO Tony Weber said it is too early to determine whether this represents a structural shift in the market. “More consumers are considering EVs due to the disruption to fuel supply caused by conflict in the Middle East, along with the review into the fringe benefits tax concession for EVs,” he said in a statement.

“The automotive industry would welcome a sustained shift to EVs, given its substantial investment in bringing more than 100 EV models to the Australian market and the industry’s efforts to meet ambitious NVES targets.

 “A long-term shift to EVs will require Australian governments to sharpen their focus on public charging infrastructure, particularly in regional areas and locations where home charging is not practical.”

Will the recent growth in interest and EV lead times being pushed out for brands like Tesla and others impact upcoming monthly sales? Time will tell.  

See full details of EV sales for each month of the year in our database here.

Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.

According to a report by Wired, a letter sent to Senator Ed Markey by Tesla reveals that the company sometimes relies on actual human operators, driving the company’s robotaxis that are currently being tested around the US.

Some Tesla vehicles are already deployed in Austin, Texas, without a human present in the car. Instead, Tesla relies on remote operators to get the car unstuck from hairy situations. Tesla’s spokesperson clarifies that overriding Tesla’s FSD is a rare measure.

It may come as a surprise, but this is actually standard practice. Other self-driving taxi services like Waymo also have a team of remote operators that helps cars get out of complicated situations. However, Waymo and other services use operators to give the car general guidance, but never take full control of the vehicle.

The main reason not to adopt Tesla’s approach is safety. There is latency and a limited perception of the surroundings from the vehicle’s camera live feed. Not to mention, Tesla doesn’t use LiDAR and relies only on regular cameras for its FSD. This makes things a tad more difficult.

Tesla assures that there are some guardrails in place. For instance, the operator can drive the car at 2 mph and can go up to 10 mph if the system allows.

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