Cars

In a post on X, the CEO said the event to reveal the company’s long-promised fully autonomous robotaxi was delayed to make time for more design changes, include an ‘important’ change to the front of the vehicle. Musk also teased “a few other things” that will shown at the October event. The event was supposed to take place on August 8th, but now has been delayed until sometime in October. Tesla still hasn’t confirmed an exact date.

Ford is taking the opportunity to advertise its Pro Power Onboard generators available in some F-150 models, including gas and Lightning EV versions, after Hurricane Beryl caused major outages in the Houston area. Communications director Mark Levine posted a map showing where F-150 trucks generated at least one kilowatt of electricity.

The Lotus Evija X, a prototype version of Lotus’ $2.3 million electric hypercar, almost immediately slammed into the haybales on the side of the track during its first official public appearance at Goodwood Festival of Speed on Thursday, Autoblog reports.

The crash owed to “asymmetric grip caused by overcorrection during the rapid acceleration at the start line,” Lotus told Road & Track, adding damage was “minimal.” Here’s a clip from Sky Sports.

Chinese automaker XPeng is revealing the first images of its P7 Plus electric car with camera-based self-driving technology that operates similarly to Tesla’s Full-Self Driving (FSD) tech. As reported by Electrek, XPeng previously used Lidar in its cars, an approach that some automakers and robotaxi ventures count on in the pursuit of achieving autonomous driving.

The world’s biggest car company is joining seven other automakers, including BMW, Honda, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis. Ionna plans to install a few chargers by the end of this year, and more than 30,000 across North America by 2030. By that time, Toyota and Lexus together plan to offer 30 EV models globally, the company says.

That’s the maximum EV charge allowed under Electrify America’s new pilot aimed at reducing long wait times at some charging stations. Once an EV reaches 85 percent, the charging session will automatically end and the EV owner will have to unplug. The pilot will kick off at 10 Electrify America stations in California where congestion — defined as the number of EVs waiting to charge — has been the most pronounced.

Current and former Tesla employees told Business Insider that the images and videos from Musk’s Teslas have “received meticulous scrutiny,” allowing the automaker to tweak its software to address hiccups on certain routes. The company similarly prioritizes driving data from Tesla influencers, Business Insider reports:

The result is that Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD software may better navigate routes taken by Musk and other high-profile drivers, making their rides smoother and more straightforward.

Misleading claims about Tesla’s alleged autonomous vehicle development are a dime-a-dozen, but this quote in the Wall Street Journal about China’s AV program was enough to exasperate ex-Waymo CEO John Krafcik.

Just to be clear: Waymo operates fully driverless vehicles, while Tesla’s Full Self-Driving requires a human driver behind the wheel.

The US Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (AVTM) program, which famously helped put Tesla on the map and also is funding Ford’s massive EV investment, will hand out $1.2 billion for a new factory in Terre Haute, Indiana to manufacture lithium-ion battery separators to be used in EVs. Its another sign that the Biden administration is racing to strengthen the domestic EV supply chain before the November election.

The automaker clearly has no qualms about slapping beloved nameplates on new vehicles (see: Mach-E, Mustang), so it shouldn’t come as a complete shock that it would bring the Capri name out of retirement for its second EU-only EV. (The first was the electric Explorer.) Also, what is this guerrilla campaign? Clearly Ford’s European marketing team has a longer leash to experiment than their stateside brethren.

By all reports, Apple and Warner Bros.’ F1 wasn’t cheap to produce, but you can definitely see director Joseph Kosinski putting that budget to work in the film’s new teaser trailer. The movie’s out internationally on June 25th, 2025, June 27th in the US, and will hit Apple TV Plus some time afterwards.

I’ve never been to a stock car race, but I have seen my share of monster trucks, dirt track races, and sprint cars.

Maybe that’s why my brain won’t accept how quiet NASCAR’s new EV prototype is in this video from the Chicago Street Course. Imagine going to a race and not feeling totally rattled and overwhelmed by the noise!

According to Not a Tesla App, the 2024.26 update in testing has features like parental controls that limit speed and acceleration or notify about late-night drives, an AQI symbol for poor local air quality, and scheduled charging.

It also adds built-in apps for Amazon Music and YouTube Music streaming in the US if you have Premium Connectivity or an active Wi-Fi connection.

The announcement, made in a social media post by Nick Twork, Lucid Motors’ new head of communications, comes over a year after the company added CarPlay support to its vehicles.

The Japanese automaker’s joint venture in China is aiming to launch an EV with a driver assist that’s equivalent to Tesla’s controversial FSD, according to Reuters. That’s especially interesting considering Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus was the only company to pass the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety’s rigorous ADAS test. Not saying there’s a direct connection, but Toyota certainly has the chops.

This report from Reuters looks at how executives from Volkswagen and Rivian courted each other in the run-up to the surprise announcement of the $5 billion joint venture this week. One of things they did to determine whether it would be a good fit was to strip the electronics out of two Audis and replace them with modules and harnesses supplied by Rivian. Later, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe teases the possibility of a Rivian-powered Porsche — which I think I speak for many when I say, sick.

Much like MTV News and its archives, Pimp My Ride is no longer with us, but Netflix’s new car restoration show Resurrection Rides looks like it’ll be the next best thing when it premieres on July 24th.

The compact EV was supposed to go on sale in North America this year, but thanks to the Biden administration’s tariffs on vehicles from China, that won’t be happening. Volvo tells InsideEVs that the EX30’s debut is being pushed to 2025 while it moves production to Ghent, Belgium. The EV is currently being assembled in China, where Volvo’s parent company Geely is based.

2019: Rivian raises $700 million in a round led by Amazon.

2019: GM in talks with Rivian, but Ford muscles it out, invests $500 million. Rivian will make an electric truck with Ford.

2020: Ford-Rivian truck canceled because of the pandemic.

2021: Rivian raises $2.5 billion from Ford and Amazon.

2022-23: Ford sells majority stake in Rivian in $7.3 billion write-down.

2024: Rumors circulate that Rivian is in talks with Apple.

“CDK GLOBAL CYBERATTACK” blares the headline on Automotive News’ landing page for all the site’s reporting on the ransomware attack, which is now in its seventh day. The cyberattack against the software provider to nearly 15,000 dealerships across North America has caused a massive outage that could ultimately affect vehicle sales. Naturally, AutoNews has been following the story closely — including this editorial calling for “creative defense strategies” against cyber criminals.