Andrew J. Hawkins | The Verge

Spotify is busting free of CarPlay with the launch of its first native car app

2026-10-20T17:22:36-04:00

Spotify announced Wednesday the launch of its next-generation, fully native in-car app, built directly on Google’s Android Automotive operating system. The standalone app, which is launching today in select Audi models, runs directly on the vehicle’s infotainment hardware — eliminating the need for phone tethering, Bluetooth connections, or aux cables.

It’s the clearest sign yet that Spotify is ready to move beyond Apple CarPlay and Android, popular phone projection systems that currently dominate the way most people consume media in their cars. And with 34 percent of Spotify’s monthly active users and 77 percent of Premium subscribers streaming music in their cars, the platform they use to listen has never been more important.

Spotify’s new native app will launch with several Audi models, including the electric A6 e-tron and Q6 e-tron, as well as the gas-powered A5, Q5, and A6. Jonathan Tarlton, Spotify’s automotive business development lead, said the app, which has been in development for a little more than a year, is about delivering a more inviting experience to users — and specifically one that’s completely controlled by Spotify.

Spotify’s standard Android Automotive app operated as a “headless” integration, meaning that Spotify supplied the underlying backend data, playlists, and music catalog, but Google’s templates dictated how the interface was drawn and structured onscreen. The new Audi application is “headful,” allowing Spotify to draw and render its own native UI directly on the vehicle’s screens from scratch.

“We’re drawing all the pixels,” Tarlton said in an interview. “We own the user experience. So we’re not in a template or a framework. It’s 100 percent Spotify.”

To be sure, Spotify isn’t turning its back on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; the company is still “heavily invested” in phone projection, Tarlton assured us. That said, the native Spotify app is being set up to compete directly with phone mirroring. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto remain the default way many people listen to music or podcasts in their vehicles: Drivers get in, connect their phones automatically, and tap into their familiar mobile interface. A native Spotify app could encourage people to listen through the car’s own operating system instead of projecting their phones — a scenario that Tarlton says he welcomes.

“We’re drawing all the pixels. We own the user experience. So we’re not in a template or a framework. It’s 100 percent Spotify.”
Jonathan Tarlton, head of automotive business development at Spotify

“We want to give users choice,” he said. “We want to be wherever they are and we want to make sure that they’re accessing Spotify in the way they want to access it, whether they’re locked into the iOS ecosystem … or Android on the phone as well.”

People may love their CarPlay, but the experience is not without its tradeoffs. Wireless connection, in particular, can be spotty depending on your vehicle. Tarlton said the new app is aimed at reducing some of those headaches, like “a cold start in the morning,” he said. “You’re not having to wait to boot. You’re not having to wait for a screen to load. You’re not having to plug your phone in.”

There are other benefits to using the native Spotify app over a projected one from your phone. Passengers can scan a QR code displayed on the screen to join a wireless “Spotify Jam” session and add songs directly to the queue from their smartphones. On vehicles with a dedicated secondary passenger display, front passengers can browse, view lyrics, and watch video content without disturbing the driver. And while the vehicle is parked or charging, those motion graphics, like video podcasts and lyrics, move to the central display so everyone can enjoy.

With these features in particular, Spotify feels like it’s doing its part in helping to bring car passengers together again, Tarlton said. Often today you’ll find parents rocking out to their favorite hits in the front while kids are wearing their headphones in the back. The new app aims to correct that dynamic. “I’m excited that we can bring joy to the cabin again,” he said. “It’s not just technology.”

The rollout of the new Spotify app will focus in particular on cars with Android-based operating systems, he said. In that way, Spotifty can avoid having to build separate, bespoke applications for every individual automaker. Rather, the company can use a standard Android Automotive APK that it can then distribute through multiple app stores, whether it’s the Google Play Store or proprietary automaker stores like the Audi Application Store.

“Our number one goal was to prevent fragmentation, not just for our sake, but for the sake of the whole industry,” Tarlton said, “because we believe in having an open and fair place for apps to play — and the car is such a great place for that.”

Tesla and SpaceX are discussing a possible merger, Musk says

2026-10-20T18:01:50-04:00

Tesla and SpaceX have formed special committees to discuss a possible merger, Elon Musk said during the latter’s third quarter earnings call Tuesday.

Musk, who serves as CEO of both companies, said the special committees were formed at the request of shareholders and consist of independent directors (though he did not name them). He also noted that he is not a member of either committee, nor involved in any of the discussions.

“Because I’m a conflicted party, I can’t actually be in the discussions of the special committees,” Musk said. “So it’s an odd kabuki dance where two groups of people are talking and I can’t be in the conversation.”

The groups have not reached agreement on the terms of any transaction — and there’s no guarantee that they will. “At the end of the day, the shareholders have to be supportive of this,” he continued. “And particularly on the Tesla side, we will need a 50 percent vote of all shares, not just those who vote, but of all shareholders. And that’s quite a high hurdle to try to achieve.”

That said, Musk called the possibility of a Tesla-SpaceX merger a “good idea.” He continued:

I do think there’s a lot of merit to combining companies as we are pretty much in the superintelligence singularity. And there’s a lot to be gained from cooperating on developing superintelligence software, chip design, the TeraFab, obviously robotics, mass to orbit with the Starmind constellation, connectivity. So I think it would be a good idea, but it’s really up to the special committees of both companies. They’ve got to come up with something and then that’s going to be put to the shareholders as a vote.

A Tesla-SpaceX merger would be a blockbuster corporate deal creating a mega-entity valued upwards of $3.6 trillion. But combining Musk’s car and energy company with his AI and rocket company would not be without its tradeoffs. A lot depends on which company absorbs the other. To buy SpaceX, Tesla would have to create millions of new stock shares, which for current Tesla owners would mean owning a smaller slice of a much larger pie. SpaceX’s launch goals require tens of billions of dollars every year — extra spending that could drain Tesla’s ability to build new car factories and battery plants.

That said, most Wall Street analysts and legal experts believe SpaceX would acquire Tesla (or absorb it through a stock swap) rather than vice versa. Since its IPO, SpaceX has maintained a higher valuation than Tesla. A merger in that direction would allow SpaceX shareholders to hold the majority control of the combined mega-entity. Some Tesla shareholders may balk at this deal.

But it would also create one company for those who believe in Musk’s vision of the future — robot cars, humanoid robots, AI super-intelligence, and human habitats on Mars — in which to place their investments. And Tesla shareholder approved Musk’s enormous pay package last year — even after a Delaware judge tossed it over lack of independence.

Earlier this month, Barclays published a client note suggesting a potential Tesla-SpaceX combination could be announced ahead of Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting scheduled for December 3, 2026.

SpaceX will try catching Starship and its booster for first time, Musk says

2026-10-20T17:29:05-04:00

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the company would attempt to catch Starship and its booster next month, with the goal of recovering the entire orbital launch system for the first time. If successful, Musk said, the attempt would mark the first time in history an orbital launch vehicle has been fully recovered.

“This is a profound technology milestone in the history of civilization consciousness,” he said during the company’s third quarter earnings report Tuesday.

But he also allowed for the possibility of a failure. “Success is not guaranteed on these first flights, but I’d say it’s more likely than not that this succeeds next flight,” Musk said. “And if not, we have a steady stream of Starship flight attempts through the end of this year and then accelerating next year.”

“Success is not guaranteed on these first flights, but I’d say it’s more likely than not that this succeeds next flight.”
Elon Musk

Starship is a two-stage system, composed of the Super Heavy booster (first stage) and the Starship spacecraft (second stage). It stands approximately 120 meters (around 400 feet) tall with a 9-meter diameter, and is powered by SpaceX’s Raptor engines burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen. Starship, which was first introduced in 2018, was designed to return to the launch site, where launch towers with mechanical “chopstick” arms catch the vehicle mid-air.

Last month’s Starship launch represented two firsts for its next gen rocket: send the spacecraft into Earth orbit, and insert a few dozen of SpaceX’s larger and more capable V3 satellites into the Starlink constellation for the first time. Still, the launch wasn’t without its snafus: one Raptor engine shut down prematurely during ascent, prompting mission control to adapt and complete the climb on remaining. Because of the issue, SpaceX cut the planned 10-hour, 6-orbit mission short after about 3 hours and 2 Earth orbits.

The Super Heavy booster splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, while the Starship upper stage executed a de-orbit burn and ended with a fiery vertical splashdown in the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii. Neither piece was recovered.

Developing…

Mercedes-AMG’s first ground-up SUV is a 1,150hp electric beast

2026-10-16T15:20:13-04:00

Earlier this year, Mercedes’ AMG performance brand grabbed our attention with the GT four-door coupe, a souped-up sports sedan with three axial flux motors delivering over 1,150 horsepower. Well, now meet its beefier cousin, the 2028 Mercedes-AMG GT SUV, an equally powerful, ultra-fast-charging electric people-hauler.

The AMG GT SUV (say that five times fast) marks the first time in the performance brand’s 59-year history that it has developed a full-size SUV entirely in-house from the ground up. Scheduled to hit the US next summer, the new EV is built on Merc’s high-performance AMG.EA architecture to combine sports-car handling with full-size SUV suburban practicality.

It will be available in three trims — GT 53, GT 55, and the flagship GT 63 — with the top model delivering 1,153hp via the same three axial flux motors powering the four-door coupe. That beats the Porsche Cayenne Turbo Electric with Launch Control, which is sure to make for some awkward run-ins around Stuttgart.

Thanks to an 800-volt architecture, the SUV supports blistering-fast charging speeds up to 710kW on the 128kWh battery (GT 63 / GT 55) and 600kW on the 106kWh battery (GT 53). Drivers can charge 10–80 percent in 12 minutes or gain up to 450km (around 280 miles) of WLTP range in just 10 minutes. The 128kWh battery trims will have an estimated max range of 435 miles.

That battery, by the way? It utilizes F1-inspired technology with specialized NCMA cathodes, silicon-containing anodes, and cylindrical cells. An electrically nonconductive oil flows directly around each individual cell for uniform thermal management, enabling continuous high-power delivery and long battery life. Mercedes has quietly been on the vanguard of battery technology for a while now, with the AMG GT SUV just the latest example. The 710kW charging speed, in particular, could give Mercedes another edge over Porsche’s 320kW speeds.

For a full-size SUV, the AMG GT sounds like it could handle like a vehicle half its size. Mercedes-AMG replaced the traditional mechanical roll bars with a newly developed suspension that uses active hydraulic elements to eliminate pitch and roll during acceleration, heavy braking, and cornering. Combined with three-stage air springs and standard six-degree active rear-axle steering, it purports to balance track precision with long-distance comfort.

But just because it’s a beefy lad doesn’t mean it’ll tip the scales. The AMG GT 63 SUV weighs in at 5,941lbs, making it slightly lighter than the Lotus Eletre R (6,007lbs) and Lucid Gravity (6,100lbs), and nearly identical to the Porsche Cayenne Turbo Electric (5,960lbs).

Silence is golden — except to a performance brand’s EV engineering team. That means piping in recorded sounds of real AMGs — in this case, the legendary AMG V8 and six-cylinder engines — to preserve the “emotional” AMG identity. Mercedes is proud that it’s using real engine sounds over synthetic EV tones, though some may disagree. The system even simulates mechanical gear shifts with paddle controls, offers adjustable sound profiles, and integrates physical seat vibrations — so you can still feel like there’s a real engine under that hood instead of a 78-liter frunk. The so-called AMGFORCE Sport+ drive program is offered as standard across all three trims of the Mercedes-AMG GT SUV.

Inside, you’ll find the MB.OS platform on your 14-inch display, with an army of AI agents from ChatGPT, Microsoft, and Google at your disposal to boss around. Use them to set navigation, discover random locations, do web searches, tell bad jokes, or whatever else people use AI for in their cars. Merc’s own onboard AI system can handle the physical stuff, like adjusting HVAC, changing drive modes, or fiddling with the lighting — all through voice commands.

Beyond voice and navigation, the AMG GT SUV applies AI to high-performance track driving through something called the Predictive Performance Manager. Mercedes says the PPM uses track-mapping data to dynamically throttle or boost electric motor output depending on topography, conserving battery energy on downhill or technical winding sections so full power is available on steep inclines and long straights. That could also mean faster, more consistent overall lap times by eliminating battery overheating and power throttling during track driving — something an AMG lover would likely appreciate.

Mercedes didn’t release the official pricing yet, though we can expect something closer to its official launch.

The incredible flying Tesla Roadster is just for show

2026-10-16T15:31:44-04:00

Last night, Elon Musk gave the people what they want: a car driving vertically up a multistory ramp, launching off the edge, executing a midair “kickflip” over a lineup of Teslas, and landing via cold-gas thrusters.

That’s what the people want, right? “We were promised flying cars,” sure, but isn’t the operative word in that statement “we”? Because as far as I can tell, everything we saw last night — while extremely cool and incredibly impressive — won’t result in a real, production-ready car you can park, or, I guess, land in your driveway.

Tesla’s late-night demonstration in Waco, Texas, certainly gave some corners of the internet what it wants. And the gushing praise and wide-eyed reactions on X, a platform already predisposed to absolving Musk of all his sins, were hard to avoid.

Taken purely as a stunt, the demo was jaw-dropping. Equipping an electric supercar with 600 liters of compressed air, 10 directional cold-gas thruster nozzles, and a 2G suction-fan system directly inspired by SpaceX is undeniably rad. Seeing a 0-to-60mph launch in under a second pushes the absolute outer limits of physics — even if it could lead to a detached retina or two.

Yet, calling this a “car reveal” or even viewing the flying Roadster as a real product, in the sense that it can be purchased by an unaffiliated third party for private ownership, stretches the definition beyond recognition. Tesla says the “Rocket” configuration of the Roadster, the one we saw doing all the cool shit, will be “invite only.” But even that strains credulity. That version of the Roadster removes the passenger seat to make room for the ultra-high-pressure gas tanks, and trades road practicality for short bursts of thruster-powered levitation. But where you can take your flying Tesla remains a mystery, because the company admits it won’t be approved for “public road use.”

Taken purely as a stunt, the demo was jaw-dropping

Even for the wealthy supercar shoppers, the event offered almost nothing of substance. Tesla skipped basic commercial details like pricing or battery range specs. The Roadster’s range estimate was downgraded from 600 miles to 300 miles. And Musk casually pushed the production window out to 2028 — more than a decade after early adopters handed over $50,000 deposits.

Musk himself has acknowledged the Roadster is a “small potato” project that won’t move the needle financially compared to mass-market models like the Model Y. He also called it “the last best driver’s car,” in a nod to his belief that autonomous driving will define Tesla’s future.

Some analysts are already theorizing that the Roadster’s rerelease is an attempt to set the stage for a rumored Tesla-SpaceX merger. Musk’s fans on X are practically begging for it — even though it would likely result in the dilution of their own equity. But that’s just table stakes in Musk’s quest to consolidate control of his companies.

In some sense, the car had to fly in order to make the preceding decade of missed deadlines feel worth it. Tesla has already been lapped several times in the electric hypercar market. Even some of the Roadster’s most impressive tricks have already been done. There are cars that can drive upside down, cars that can jump in the air, and cars that can accelerate very, very fast.

BYD’s Yangwang U9 Xtreme uses four electric motors (one more than the Roadster) to produce an insane 3,000 horsepower for a top speed of 308mph in testing — beating the Rimac Nevera’s 268mph record. And the McMurtry Spéirling single-seater holds the record for quickest acceleration from 0 to 60mph in 1.35 seconds. The Roadster could best it, but we’ll need to wait for independent testing to confirm.

But no one puts on a show quite like Elon Musk. So if the goal is to score a PR victory, dominate social media feeds, and cement Tesla’s brand as a frontier tech pioneer, then I would say the Roadster demo was a success. Competitors like Rimac, Porsche, and BYD will continue shipping real, track-ready hypercars while Tesla spends another few years refining its rocket-boosted prototype.

It’s completely useless as a viable product. But as a 30-minute flex of engineering muscle, it was truly a sight to behold.

The Tesla Roadster flew, drove upside down, and hit 60mph in under a second

2026-10-15T23:39:57-04:00

Elon Musk promised a flying car. And the Tesla Roadster did exactly that.

Tesla demonstrated its next-generation Roadster at an event in Waco, Texas, where the electric supercar drove upside down, briefly flew, and accelerated to 60mph in under a second. It was an impressive demonstration of a car that likely will come with some heavy caveats and restrictions if it ever goes into production.

The event was less than 30 minutes and felt more like a stunt show than a product reveal. Indeed, there was no mention of price, release date, or other such mundane details. Musk promised the hypercar would go into production in 2028, but after nearly nine years who’s counting. The people were here to see a car fly, and that’s what Tesla gave them.

First, the Roadster drove up a very tall, multi-story ramp, using its incredible downforce to cling to the vertical roadway. When it reached the top of the ramp, it flipped around using its cold-gas thrusters to bring it gently back down to earth. The car uses a fan-based suction system, supplied by SpaceX and mounted underneath the vehicle, which is capable of generating up to two Gs of suction force.

Next, the Roadster flew over the rest of Tesla’s lineup, including the Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, Semi, and Cybercab — doing what Tesla VP for Engineering Lars Moravy called “a kick flip” in the process. Musk explained that it features attitude-control thrusters as well as main thrusters at the rear, giving the Roadster rocket-like capabilities.

“So it can basically fly like a rocket,” Musk said. “And it could do rolls. It could do, like, crazy gymnastics. Whatever you want, really. Now, I should say that this is not necessarily a safety-optimized car. But it takes the fun meter to 11 out of 10.”

The Roadster two ultra-high pressure air tanks with a combined volume of 600 liters, containing approximately 250 kilograms of air, and uses 10 nozzles to execute its maneuvers. The Roadster can even recharge its own tank, without requiring a specialized chemical propellant. The stored compressed air supplies the thrust needed to lift the car and perform the demonstrated maneuvers.

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Musk claimed “This will be an actual car that’s on the roads” — though later the company admitted it would not be road legal. This seems obvious, of course. Imagine having to satisfy strict regulatory requirements from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Roadster could go into production in 2028, as Musk promised — or it could be another decade of missed deadlines and broken promises. Again, who cares? Car flew.

As for the Roadster itself, Musk called it “the last best driver’s car.” Moravy said that Tesla drew inspiration from aerospace designs such as the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft. It’s a two-seater, with seats molded directly into the chassis. Its steering and driving controls use steer-by-wire technology, including a steer-by-wire yoke, brakes, and throttle. The rear of the car features the thrusters and fans housed around the diffuser area. And it has a retractable rear wing for added downforce.

Tesla has also said that the Roadster can accelerate from 0-60mph in less than a second. And during the event, the company claimed it did so in 0.81 seconds. Musk explained that increasing the applied force while reducing the vehicle’s mass help boost acceleration. In fact, Musk says the production Roadster should improve on the demonstrated result, although he acknowledged the extreme forces involved and the need to avoid subjecting occupants to extreme acceleration.

“You’ve got to crack halfway to the speed of sound, I think,” Musk teased. “Mach 0.5. Maybe a little higher.”

After the event, Tesla updated its website with details about the three distinct performance tiers for the next-generation Roadster, outlining how its controversial cold-gas thruster systems scale across the lineup:

Performance (Road Ready): The entry-level variant seats two passengers and relies on an active aerodynamics package paired with a multi-mode suction system to maximize downforce on and off the track. It claims a 0–60 mph time under 1.6 seconds and a target range exceeding 300 miles.
Thrust (Race Ready): Also a two-seater, this mid-tier version pairs the multi-mode suction system with rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters. The additional propulsion cuts the vehicle’s 0–60 mph acceleration to under 0.9 seconds. Tesla says this configuration will be in “limited release.”
Rocket (Air Ready): The single-seat flagship model expands the hardware to a full perimeter-mounted array of cold-gas thrusters. In addition to driving forward and upward acceleration, the thrusters enable lateral and rotational movement in midair — enabling the short, low-altitude stunts showcased at the event. This top-spec version reaches a top speed over 230 mph and pushes 0–60 mph acceleration to under 0.59 seconds. Tesla says this version will be “invite only,” but also “not approved for public road use.”

The next-gen Roadster certainly took the scenic route in getting here. A prototype version was announced as a “one more thing” style surprise during the 2017 Tesla Semi event. The specs sounded ludicrous even back then: 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds, a top speed over 250 mph, a 200 kWh battery delivering up to 620 miles of range, and a $200,000 starting price tag. Musk said deliveries would start in 2020, which sounded perfectly doable at the time.

Early adopters quickly threw down $50,000 deposits (or $250,000 for the limited Founders Series), effectively interest-free loans to help fund Tesla’s scaling ambitions. But then Tesla seemed to forget about the Roadster, as cementing its status as the ultimate vaporware. Production deadlines slipped as Tesla prioritized mass-market vehicles like the Model Y, while also wrestling with the overly complicated Cybertruck. Occasionally, when Musk would remember that the Roadster existed, he would up the ante about its capabilities. This culminated in the “SpaceX package” that would equip the supercar with cold-gas thrusters, bestowing hover powers and a 0-60 time under one second.

Musk has also sought to downplay the Roadster’s significance, calling it a “small potato situation” that will not “move the needle in a major way financially.” He’s framed the supercar more as a joint engineering collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX, even questioning whether it’s “even a car anymore” given its experimental nature. Some analysts theorize that the decision to re-release the Roadster is an attempt to set the stage for a rumored Tesla-SpaceX merger.

Tesla’s failure to bring the Roadster to market allowed other automakers to slip past the company with their own hyper-powered EVs. Rimac has smashed performance records with the Nevera, Porsche has refined electric performance with the Taycan, and Chinese giants like BYD are producing track-ready supercars at a fraction of the cost. The Roadster is no longer shocking the world as an impossible prototype; it’s playing catch-up to an industry that spent nine years building what Tesla merely rendered.

But then again, none of those cars flew.

Volvo will use Nvidia’s tech for hands-free, point-to-point driving

2026-10-15T12:39:04-04:00

Volvo plans to launch hands-free, point-to-point driving by 2030, powered by Nvidia’s latest AI technology. The Chinese-owned, Swedish-designed automaker said Thursday it would use Nvidia’s autonomous driving stack to power a new partially automated driving system similar to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised).

Volvo says the new point-to-point system will be Level 2++, meaning it can handle complex urban environments, including traffic lights, stop signs, and unprotected left turns without explicit driver control. In addition to Tesla’s FSD, it will also resemble the Nvidia-powered system that Mercedes-Benz recently rolled out for the all-new CLA sedan, said Ali Kani, VP and general manager of the automotive team at Nvidia, in an interview with The Verge.

Volvo will use Nvidia’s Hyperion platform, which includes the chipmaker’s high-powered silicon, as well as additional sensors mounted around the vehicle so the car can see and perceive its surroundings. The automaker will also utilize Nvidia’s Alpamayo software, which uses “reasoning” models to make sense of complex road conditions and plan where to steer, brake, or accelerate. The setup will not include lidar, though it could include the laser sensor if Volvo decides to add it in the future.

By expanding its preexisting partnership with Volvo, the automaker is trying to correct some of its failed automated driving projects of the past. The automaker had to effectively sideline its Ride Pilot Level 3 unsupervised autonomous driving system in the US after failing to obtain regulatory approval. Volvo also planned to add lidar sensors to some of its models, but that plan fell away after its supplier Luminar went bankrupt.

Volvo is also bringing its own reputation for safety to the table. The automaker wants to combine its safety expertise with Nvidia’s technology to improve the overall system, including contributing its proprietary driver-understanding systems, which analyze driver behavior in considerably greater detail than a basic driver monitoring system, said Alwin Bakkenes, head of global software engineering at Volvo Cars.

“Our brand Volvo is synonymous with safety, and safety is synonymous with trust,” Bakkenes said in an interview. “People get into our cars not expecting anything bad to happen, but they feel intrinsically that if they’re ever in a situation … we will do our utmost to keep people safe, to protect them from harm.”

Another important component is Volvo’s connected safety technology that allows its vehicles to exchange information about hazards and conditions ahead, including roadworks. Sharing this information can effectively extend the system’s awareness beyond what an individual vehicle’s sensors can detect, potentially improving the operating capabilities of the self-driving functionality.

Volvo plans to make the new point-to-point driving system available across its vehicle lineup, from entry-level to high-end versions — though the company didn’t reveal which models will come first. The timeline was also a little vague, with Bakkenes only confirming that it will launch “before the end of the decade.”

Kani also pointed to the commercial implications, noting that point-to-point driving may prove to be more valuable than a system limited to highway assistance. Nvidia sees the partnership as an opportunity not only to advance the technology but also to help Volvo develop its business model around ongoing software-based offerings, he said.

The Tesla Roadster could have stayed vaporware

2026-10-14T09:08:17-04:00

Imagine a light bar on this 2017 Roadster concept image, and you’ll start to see it. | Image: Tesla

For a car that’s supposed to be one of the fastest ever made, the new Tesla Roadster certainly took its sweet-ass time getting here.

It’s been nearly a decade since Elon Musk made the surprise announcement about plans to build a next-gen Roadster. Now, the Tesla Roadster is finally making its production-ready debut at an event in Waco, Texas, Thursday — and the timing couldn’t be worse.

The new Roadster is set to arrive in an EV market beset by high energy prices, political turmoil, and consumer uncertainty. The tax-credit-fueled exuberance of the post-covid years has since given way to slower sales and fewer options. Automakers are scaling back their EV plans as sales stall in the US. Even Tesla, the market leader that has weathered its own share of chaos, is still struggling with shrinking demand and lowered expectations.

But the Roadster isn’t your average EV. It’s the ultimate status symbol, defined by its outrageous promises and elusiveness. Musk has said the Roadster can accelerate from 0–60mph in less than two seconds, will have a top speed over 250mph, and will come with an optional “SpaceX package” that adds cold-gas thrusters, enabling it to “fly a little.”

See you next week pic.twitter.com/BT52bGVxFu
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 25, 2026

The Roadster isn’t a compelling product because it might be able to briefly hover (although that would be pretty impressive). In the years since it was first announced, it’s become defined by its unattainability. It’s vaporware in the extreme. After years of missed deadlines, it seemed likely that the Roadster would go the way of the solar roof tiles, battery swapping, robot charging, and other Tesla projects that were once promised but never delivered. Several reservation holders, like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and YouTuber Marques Brownlee, canceled their orders under the assumption that the Roadster would fail to launch. For the average buyer, it was double-locked behind broken promises and an astronomical price tag.

Like a broken clock, Musk occasionally delivers on his outrageous promises — or at least a scaled-down version of the original promise. Tesla’s robotaxi service may not cover 50 percent of the US population, but dozens of its steering-wheel-less Cybercabs currently roam the streets of Austin, Texas. The Cybertruck may not be able to float in water, but it definitely exists. I’m told you can even buy one, though weak demand suggests few people want to.

It’s the ultimate status symbol, defined by its outrageous promises and elusiveness

Now that we know that some version of the next-generation Roadster is going into production, the question shifts to why it even exists. Musk, who has been pushing for Tesla to become less of a company that makes cars and more of a company that makes robots, has said that the Roadster will be the last Tesla vehicle built for human driving. Everything else will be autonomous. The company recently ended production of its original flagship models, the Model S and X, to make room for production of its humanoid Optimus robots. Musk is openly mulling the idea of merging Tesla with his other company, SpaceX, as a way to accelerate in the race for AI. The Roadster has been relegated to relic status before it even reaches a single customer.

The Roadster loses even more of its luster once you realize Tesla has already achieved some of its claimed performance goals. Tesla’s Model S Plaid was released in 2021 with a claimed 0–60mph time of 1.99 seconds (minus a 1-foot rollout), which was later confirmed by independent tests. When Tesla demonstrates its likely very quick Roadster on Thursday, some observers would be forgiven for feeling as if they’ve seen this movie before.

But Tesla watchers have been suffering from déjà vu all year. The company that used to reveal new products every year has since taken to rereleasing products it’s already shown off. This year saw the rereveal of the Cybercab (first announced in 2024), the Semi (2017), and now the Roadster (also 2017). In fact, the Cybertruck is the only new consumer vehicle Tesla has delivered in the last five years — and it’s been a noticeable flop.

Once it enters production, the Roadster will face fresh challenges. When the vehicle was first revealed, Tesla didn’t know that the electric hypercar market would be so chilly. Since then, there have been several automakers that have attempted to make two-door EVs at that price point and performance level, without any success. While hyper-EVs like the Rimac Nevera, Pininfarina Battista, and Lotus Evija achieved impressive engineering feats, they faced low sales volumes, severe production delays, and weak demand.

The Roadster has been relegated to relic status before it even reaches a single customer.

It turns out the super rich that can afford exotic cars that cost upwards of $1 million overwhelmingly prefer internal combustion engines. The appeal is rarely rooted in utility or straight-line 0–60mph numbers. Instead, it relies on brand loyalty, mechanical characteristics, engine noise, and manual or dual-clutch gear shifting. Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac has noted that despite setting dozens of world records with the 1,900-plus-hp Rimac Nevera, the company struggled to sell its planned run of 150 units. He compared high-end electric hypercars to high-tech smartwatches — capable of incredible feats, but lacking the emotional prestige of a handcrafted timepiece.

Ferrari opted for four doors when it designed its first EV and still faced near universal ridicule when the Luce was finally revealed. Porsche delayed pure-EV replacements for the 718 Cayman and Boxster multiple times. Even Lamborghini abandoned its planned pure EV in favor of an all-hybrid lineup.

It’s not even clear that the Roadster’s performance capabilities — 0–60 under two seconds, or even less than one second in certain configurations, if Musk is to be believed — will help bring in customers. When the original Tesla Roadster arrived in 2008, sub-four-second 0–60 times were reserved for high-end exotics. Today, the physics of electric motors make extreme straight-line acceleration relatively easy to achieve across different form factors. There are other limiting factors, like weight and thermal mechanics, that could blunt the Roadster’s ambitions. Two-door sports cars are built to be light, agile, and engaging around corners. But battery packs are heavy and can weigh down a sports car on twisty roads or racetracks.

The Roadster doesn’t need to be a huge success in order to be a win for Tesla. The company has had two generationally successful products — the Model 3 and Model Y — that will define its legacy going forward. The Roadster is likely to be a limited-run, ultra-high-end supercar where success is measured not by sales volume, but by scarcity. It may be the case that selling only a handful of Roadsters plays directly into to Tesla’s strategy.

While Tesla builds human-driven sports cars as a legacy afterthought, Musk’s eyes are fixed on low Earth orbit, where SpaceX plans to launch solar-powered orbital data centers to fuel his AI ambitions. Tesla has already moved on to AI and autonomous tech, rendering its own human-driven halo car obsolete before it launched. The last time a Tesla Roadster captured the world’s collective imagination was when Musk launched one into space in 2018. That car is still drifting millions of miles away with a dummy “Starman” astronaut in the driver’s seat.

Eight years later, the next-gen Roadster likely arrives as a grounded, earthbound artifact of a future Tesla has already left behind.

Rivian partner Mind Robotics hires Doug Field as president

2026-10-13T16:49:48-04:00

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe’s startup Mind Robotics announced the appointment of Doug Field as president in a major coup for the CEO’s secretive robotics project.

Field was a VP of special projects at Apple, where he was the de facto head of the company’s ultimately unsuccessful Project Titan effort to make an autonomous electric car. He had a previous stint at Apple as VP of Mac hardware engineering, but he left the company in 2013 to become Tesla’s chief vehicle engineer, where he helped oversee the Model 3 sedan. He left Tesla in 2018 and rejoined Apple. In 2021, Field was hired by Ford to run the automaker’s electric vehicle and software division, a position he held until earlier this year.

Mind Robotics said Field will oversee its effort to build “universally capable robots” for the purpose of working in Rivian’s factories, as well as other applications. The startup was founded by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe in 2025, and has since raised over $1 billion in financing. While the company has yet to show off any of its robots in public, the startup says its robots are being designed with “dexterity and physical reasoning” that’s required for industrial work.

“Doug is a remarkable leader with a track record of delivering new technologies in successful products, and I couldn’t be more excited to be building Mind with him,” Scaringe said in a statement. “He has an incredible ability to foster great teams that take on big, complex ideas and deliver products that reset expectations. That’s exactly what Mind needs as we deploy robots into real factories and beyond.”

Field joins Mind Robotics at a major turning point for the field of robotics, with rapid advances in physical AI colliding with major hurdles in hardware and software development. Several companies, like Tesla and Hyundai, are pursuing humanoid robots for factory and warehouse work — even as experts note that making a robot act like a human is easier than scaling the technology for practical work. Mind Robotics hasn’t confirmed whether it’s working on a humanoid design or something else entirely. The company has been on a hiring spree and currently has 32 open positions.

Scaringe, who serves as acting CEO and chair of Mind Robotics, has said he wants to keep the companies separate, rather than try to combine the work like Tesla. That said, the companies are certainly linked in several ways. Mind Robotics is using AI training data from Rivian, and the robots will be initially tested in Rivian’s factories. Rivian also owns equity in Mind Robotics and will be the first customer for its robots.

Field said he is excited for the challenge in running the new startup.

“Integrating AI and robotics is one of the most important—and difficult—engineering challenges of our time,” he said in a statement. “Mind has assembled an exceptional team and has a unique advantage: the ability to deploy and learn inside a real, high-volume factory from day one. I’m thrilled to join RJ in building a team, culture, and technology that will redefine what we can make in America.”

Correction October 13th: Mind Robotics is a partner of Rivian, but not a spinoff. A previous version of this story misstated the relationship between the companies.

BMW’s iX4 SUV is a 428-mile defensive weapon against China’s EV takeover

2026-10-20T14:14:19-04:00

While much of the automotive world sits dumbfounded as China gobbles up all its customers, BMW continues to roll out extremely well-crafted, technologically advanced electric vehicles that impress in both drive quality and price. The latest is the BMW iX4, a coupe-shaped SUV that puts a sportier spin on the automaker’s iX3.

The iX4 is the third vehicle to be released on BMW’s next-generation Neue Klasse platform, following the iX3 and i3 models. The iX4 50 xDrive will come first in March 2027, followed by an even more high-performance M60 xDrive version later in the year. The automaker is positioning this new lineup as its bulwark against the flood of Chinese imports that is currently decimating other European brands. But while the iX4 can certainly compete on range and tech, it’s unclear whether BMW can rival China in terms of sheer affordability.

In that respect, the BMW iX4 50 xDrive starts at $66,300 (excluding fees for destination and handling). And it bears all the hallmarks of BMW’s other Neue Klasse models, such as the “Gen6” high-voltage battery with 112.2kWh of usable energy, an 800-volt architecture for lightning-quick charging top-ups, and up to 428 miles of range based on EPA estimates.

That’s more range than the Tesla Model Y, the best-selling electric vehicle in the world. BMW has been blowing away expectations on range to such a degree that even the experts at InsideEVs are left wondering whether it’s overkill. After all, Tesla and others have done plenty well with EVs in the mid-300s, while Lucid continues to struggle despite exceeding 500 miles in range.

The BMW iX4 50 xDrive (left) and M60 xDrive (right). " data-portal-copyright="" />

But BMW wants to go the distance, believing that range and efficiency are two of its biggest selling points. The third would be performance, and thanks to a dual-motor setup in both the 50 xDrive and M60 xDrive, the iX4 is sure to delivery plenty of giddy up. The 50 xDrive’s motors put out 463 horsepower and 475lb-ft of torque, for a 0–60mph acceleration of 4.7 seconds. Meanwhile, the M60 xDrive’s motors produce 603hp and 645lb-ft of torque, for a 0–60 time a whole second less than the 50 xDrive.

Like other Neue Klasse vehicles, the electrically excited synchronous motor (EESM) in the rear axle serves as the primary drive axle, using electricity instead of permanent magnets to power both its stator outer frame and interior spinning rotor. An inverter acts as the brain of the system, converting direct current from the battery into alternating current for the motor, regulating the electromagnets, and monitoring performance to keep the motor running as efficiently as possible. BMW says this combination helps slash drive-system energy losses by 40 percent and weight by 10 percent.

The Gen6 batteries are built with cylindrical lithium-ion cells measuring 46mm in diameter and 95mm in height that provide a 20 percent increase in energy density compared to the prismatic cells used in BMW’s Gen5 batteries. BMW has eliminated the traditional modules in favor of a “pack-to-open-body” construction where the battery housing serves as the vehicle’s underbody, lowering weight and increasing torsional rigidity.

Like Hyundai and Kia, BMW is building its Neue Klasse EVs to take fast charging to the next level. With its 800V architecture, the iX4 can accept up to 400kWs of DC fast charging, replenishing up to 184 miles of range in 10 minutes, and 10–80 percent charge in just 21 minutes. With a NACS charging port, the iX4 will be compatible with over 80,000 Tesla Supercharger connectors around the world.

The Panoramic iDrive infotainment system is BMW’s redesigned digital dashboard that replaces traditional gauge clusters with a heads-up-style projection along the full width of the lower windshield. The 17.9-inch central touchscreen presents as a free-cut display where you can drag and drop up to six widgets like media, weather, or navigation from the screen directly onto the windshield display.

And like the i3 and iX3, the iX4 can do all sorts of extra stuff, including bidirectional charging with vehicle-to-load and vehicle-to-home capabilities, an intelligent charging flap that opens when a driver approaches a known charging point, and Plug & Charge for automatic charging at 10 different charging providers.

If you look at the whole package, there’s a lot to like. Sure, the Model Y beats the iX4 in a few categories, most importantly price. It’s a bit quicker off the line, and of course, the Model Y comes with the option for Full Self-Driving (Supervised). BMW has something it calls “Symbiotic Drive,” which it describes as a Level 2 system designed for “fluid, intuitive interaction.” In other words, drivers can adjust the steering or even brake without canceling the automated functions. The iX4 also allows for hands-free driving on the highway — but no point-to-point assisted driving. Not until 2027 at the earliest.

Where BMW still bests Tesla is variety. You can get the iX4 50 xDrive, or if you want something sportier, try the M60 xDrive. If you’re rather have a sedan, there’s the i3. Or if you want something a bit more affordable, there’s the iX3. And don’t forget the flagship 7 series. Yep, those are getting Neue Klasse makeovers as well.

Tesla has the Model 3 and Model Y — and that’s about it. (Yes, there’s the Cybertruck, but clearly most people aren’t interested in that. And there’s the Cybercab, but it won’t be on sale anytime soon.) BMW knows its customers want options. And it’s doing it’s best to deliver.

Correction October 20th: BMW incorrectly communicated that the 2027 iX4 50 xDrive starts at $66,200. The correct MSRP is $66,300.