Enjoy CarPlay While You Still Can

Is the car industry about to be at war with Apple? Among all of Apple’s achievements, one of the most underrated has been making driving less miserable. Before Apple CarPlay debuted, about a decade ago, drivers were stuck with whatever clunky tech features were preloaded into their car. By

The Worst Thing That Ever Happened to Tesla

No modern car company is better-known for advancing technology than Tesla. Inside one of Elon Musk’s vehicles, you can stream Netflix on a massive touchscreen while you wait for the car to recharge, then switch to Autopilot on the highway for a hands-free ride home. For a company like

Tesla Wants Out of the Car Business

Elon Musk still makes some of America’s best electric cars. Earlier this summer, I rented a brand-new, updated Tesla Model Y, the first refresh to the electric SUV since it debuted, in 2020. Compared with even just two years ago, when the Model Y became the world’s best-selling

The American Car Industry Can’t Go On Like This

Last year, Ford CEO Jim Farley commuted in a car that wasn’t made by his own company. In an effort to scope out the competition, Farley spent six months driving around in a Xiaomi SU7. The Chinese-made electric sedan is one of the world’s most impressive cars: It

Ford's Affordable EV Comeback Starts Here. But Not Without Controversy

Ford's BlueOval Battery Park represents a comeback, both for Ford and for lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery technology in America. If you ask Lisa Drake, the $3 billion construction project about 90 minutes from Detroit doesn't just represent what's next for the Ford Motor Company.

The Tesla Brain Drain

The future of the struggling car company rests on Elon Musk more than ever before. Before DOGE, there was Twitter. In 2023, Elon Musk seemed too distracted by his latest venture to run the world’s most valuable car company. Tesla was faltering as he focused on remaking (and renaming)

Why Western Automakers Desperately Need Help From China

This is not your father's Audi. You won't find a four-ring badge on the grille. There's barely a grille at all, just thin LED lighting and a familiar name with an unfamiliar logo. It's long, sleek and purple. It's a

BYD's 5-Minute EV Fast Charging: We Tried It. It's A Game-Changer

Ask someone who drives a gasoline-powered car why they wouldn't want to get an electric one, and you're almost certain to hear this answer: they take way too long to charge. They're not even entirely wrong. Even though DC fast charging times are getting

Tesla’s Remarkably Bad Quarter Is Even Worse Than It Looks

Reality is catching up with Elon Musk. It’s a rare thing to shoot yourself in the foot and win a marathon. For years, Elon Musk has managed to do something like that with Tesla, achieving monumental success in spite of a series of self-inflicted disasters. There was the time

Toyota Just Proved That Electric Vehicles Aren't Going Anywhere

"So this whole electric car thing, that's all going away now, huh?"  When I struck up a conversation with a stranger at a bar recently, that's where our friendly chat went when he asked what I did for a living. I was taken aback

The Tesla Revolt

Donald Trump may be pleased enough with Elon Musk, but even as the Tesla CEO is exercising his newfound power to essentially undo whole functions of the federal government, he still has to reassure his investors. Lately, Musk has delivered for them in one way: The value of the company’

China's EVs Drew Big Crowds At CES. They Should Make Everyone Else Nervous

Zeekr, Great Wall Motors and others have cars on sale right now that the rest of the industry is trying to "catch up" to. And CES 2025 is proof. "Man, Zeekr isn't messing around."  That's what I heard from outside the cockpit

Elon Musk Rises, Tesla Slips, China Looms: 2024's Biggest EV Stories

From the rise of Elon Musk and China to Japan Inc.'s blunders, 2024 has been a wild year for the auto industry's ongoing transformation. For much of 2024, you probably couldn't go a single week without reading a headline or seeing some TV news

Hyundai Is Becoming the New Tesla

Even in a Trump presidency, America’s EV future may not run through Elon Musk. Hyundai has a lot riding on a patch of rural Georgia. In October, the South Korean auto giant opened a new electric-vehicle factory west of Savannah at the eye-watering cost of $7.6 billion. It’

Democrats Are Treating a Big Win as a Liability

They don’t want to talk about how President Biden’s policies have created an EV-manufacturing boom. Representative Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat in a tight race for a Senate seat, has been on the defensive about a manufacturing renaissance happening in her own backyard. Thanks to incentives that President

Tesla's Robotaxi Event Promised Utopia. It Was Still A Letdown

The "We, Robot" event was peak 2020s Tesla: A long wait, few specifics, tons of promises for a bright future. But for whom? The designs look great. I'll give them that. Franz von Holzhausen hasn't lost his touch. But for anyone who was expecting

I’ve Been Running An EV Publication For A Year. Here’s What I’ve Learned

Transforming a society centered around gas-powered cars is proving harder than expected. And it requires thinking differently. The concept of entrenchment has been on my mind a lot lately.  I have covered the auto industry as a journalist for more than a dozen years and have been a car enthusiast

How The Kia EV3 Reimagines One-Pedal Driving

When General Motors' hands-free Super Cruise came out, it debuted on the $70,000 Cadillac CT6 sedan. When Ford released its future software interface that will live in a new generation of gasoline and electric vehicles, it did so on the Lincoln Nautilus. And Tesla chose the $90,000

The Hardest Sell In American Car Culture

Ford didn’t invent the car, but it might as well have. The Model T—cheap, simple, and small—brought the automobile to the masses. By the early 1920s, about half of the world’s cars were made by Ford. But these days, Ford is only nominally in the car

GM Thinks It Can Make 'Big Battery' EVs Work. Ford Isn't So Sure

There's no question that the GMC Sierra EV can do a lot. With an estimated 440 miles of range, more power than any Sierra has ever had and towing and hauling specs effectively on par with gas trucks, it makes one of the most convincing cases for truck

Rivian's CEO Is Right. Apple CarPlay Is Overrated

Rivian's RJ Scaringe isn't the first automotive executive to foresee a future without Apple CarPlay. But he is the latest one to infuriate fans of the ubiquitous smartphone projection system by offering up reasons why Rivian doesn't intend to use it on its EVs.

Are Half Of EV Owners Really 'Switching Back' To Gas? It's Complicated.

A new McKinsey study is being used as ammo against EVs. In reality, the next wave of EV buyers need more help than they're getting. You probably saw the headlines. According to a new survey, 46% of electric vehicle owners in America now say they intend to "

Florida Has A Huge EV Market. It's Paying For Other States' Chargers Instead

Gov. Ron DeSantis once aimed to “strengthen” Florida’s EV infrastructure. Now it's denying federal charging funds, and the money is going elsewhere. By the end of 2023, Florida’s roads were home to about 232,000 electric vehicles, making the Sunshine State the second-biggest EV market in

Volvo EX30 Faces Delay, Unclear Future Over China Tariffs

When the Volvo EX30 was revealed last summer, it was obvious that the compact EV was destined to be a very big deal for such a small car. At a time when the U.S. electric market is craving more affordable options, the EX30's $34,950 starting price

'Quality Is Going To Deteriorate': Laid-Off Tesla Employees On Superchargers' Future

Now-former Tesla employees tell us about the chaos at the company, and why they worry about Supercharger quality and uptime. Because he worked as a technician servicing Tesla's Superchargers, John thought he had job security, especially as that network started opening up to other automakers. "We were