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October 2026

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Rivian’s sales pop as the company’s big R2 bet starts to pay off

Rivian had high hopes for its more affordable R2 vehicle - and so far, those hopes appear to be paying off. The company released its third-quarter production and delivery numbers today, reporting 19,751 vehicles produced and 19,248 delivered. That represents an 85 percent year-over-year increase in production and a 45 percent jump in deliveries. (For a direct-to-consumer automaker like Rivian, deliveries serve as a proxy for sales.) The company also reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance, expecting to deliver 65,000 to 70,000 vehicles. Rivian's sales surge is a rare bright spot in a struggling industry. A year after President Trump and Re … Read the full story at The Verge.

Transportation

Tesla will now let you drive off mid-charge if there’s an emergency

Tesla introduced a new feature to enable drivers to escape quickly while charging their vehicles in response to a mass shooting at a Supercharger location in Idaho in August that left seven people wounded and four dead. When a Tesla vehicle is charging, the plug is locked to the charging port and driving is disabled. To put the car in drive, a charging cable has to be manually released from the vehicle's charging port. Since the shooting in Twin Falls, Idaho, Tesla owners have been requesting a quick-release mechanism that would allow them to escape in the event of an emergency. This week, Tesla responded with a software update that respon … Read the full story at The Verge.

Transportation

Tesla’s recovery hits a speed bump

Tesla sold fewer vehicles in the third quarter than it did a year ago, when consumers rushed to cash in on expiring federal tax credits for electric vehicle purchases. But the company still beat estimates from Wall Street, suggesting that it's recovery was still on track. Tesla said that it produced a total of 464,391 vehicles between July and September of this year, including 457,387 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, as well as 7,004 "other vehicles" like the Cybertruck, Cybercab, and Tesla Semi. (The company discontinued the Model S and X earlier this year.) That represents about a 3.8 percent increase compared to the third quarter of 2025, … Read the full story at The Verge.

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Science

NASA’s Roman telescope just opened its planet-hunting eye

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope has demonstrated remarkable pointing stability and given its powerful planet-imaging coronagraph its first look at the cosmos. The telescope can already stay locked on a target with precision comparable to aiming a laser at a dime from about 150 miles away. Its coronagraph also captured stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, confirming that the instrument can produce focused images.

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