Tesla

The EQXX, presented at the CES show in Las Vegas, can drive more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) with a battery half the size of Mercedes-Benz’s EQS, its current flagship electric vehicle, the manufacturer said Monday. The sedan’s battery technology is set to be deployed in the company’s compact cars from 2024.

The automaker got the green light to sell its Drive Pilot package for use on stretches of the country’s Autobahn network at a speed of up to 60 kilometers (37 miles) per hour, Mercedes said Thursday.

Electric vehicles fare poorly in the latest reliability study from Consumer Reports, with Tesla Inc. and its battery-powered lineup finishing second to last for the second-straight year. Only Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln division was worse, the organization said Thursday at the Automotive Press Association in Detroit.

Apple Inc. venturing into cars might shake up the electric vehicles market in the same way the iPhone revolutionized the mobile communications industry in 2007. So says Morgan Stanley.

Before the year is over, Elon Musk wants to start production at Tesla’s new electric-vehicle factory outside Berlin. While he’s cautioned that ramping up Model Y output at the facility in the small town of Gruenheide will be challenging, the development is the talk of the German auto industry nonetheless.

The move suggests Apple is plowing ahead with attempts to develop self-driving technology, a high-stakes race with automakers such as Tesla. Moore is joining a division known for its secrecy -- Apple has never publicly laid out its car plans -- and frequent turnover. The head of Apple’s car project, codenamed Titan, departed the company earlier this year to lead technology efforts at Ford Motor Co.

Taken together, the deals represent a trifecta of aggressive and innovative initiatives with the potential to upend the car-rental business and hasten the transition to greener transportation. The car order on Monday, the largest-ever for EVs at $4.2 billion, was such as watershed moment that it propelled Tesla Inc.’s valuation past $1 trillion.

Tesla jumped as much as 6.7% to a record high of $970.84 in New York, before paring gains to 4.4%, with the company’s market valuation around $955 billion.

The agency launched a probe of Tesla’s Autopilot program in August after almost a dozen collisions at crash scenes involving first-responder vehicles.

Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has said that on Friday, the electric-car maker will roll out an updated version of its Full Self-Driving beta software, which until now has only been available to roughly 2,000 people.