Electric Cars

At Wired, Zoë Schiffer (a Verge alum) talked to Cybertruck owners about life with Elon Musk’s controversial car. Somehow, the quotes in this story are even more ridiculous than the photos.

That’s been China’s strategy to achieve “total domination of the global auto industry,” which Michael Dunne argues in his latest newsletter it is on the cusp of doing. The Chinese auto expert and former GM executive said the country “has enough annual capacity - 50 million – to supply 55 percent of global demand for vehicles.” This overcapacity is forcing Chinese automakers to face an ultimatum: export or die. It’s doing it now in Europe. Can the US be that far behind?

In a filing with the SEC, the automaker says it needs to take the writedown in order to “reassess our EV capacity and manufacturing footprint” after President Trump and Congressional Republicans voted to eliminate the $7,500 consumer tax credit. And there may be future costs — “it is reasonably possible that we will recognize additional future material cash and non-cash charges” — after it finishes reassessing, GM says.

Apparently the lower-cost Standard trim still has the same glass roof as the Premium models, but Tesla installed a fabric headliner so you can’t see through it. Motor Trend and Car and Driver both clocked this in their hands-on with the new Model Y. It’s a strange move — Wouldn’t this end up costing more than just replacing the glass with metal or fiberglass? — but this is Tesla after all.

The new Tron movie isn’t getting the greatest reviews, but that hasn’t stopped Tesla from pushing a software update that enables customers to turn their vehicles into light cycles on their infotainment screens. Some Tesla owners are complaining that this basically amounts to free advertising for Disney. Maybe Tesla should have stopped after sending one of its Optimus robots to try to “fight” Jared Leto at the film’s premiere.

Last week, Ford CEO Jim Farley stepped up to the Decoder mic to explain why Ford isn’t offering CarPlay Ultra. Then this week, our friend Joanna Stern followed up with RJ Scaringe to discuss (again) why his company’s cars don’t have CarPlay support at all.

Is that a plastic hubcap, perhaps on a more affordable Model Y? A fan for the revamped Tesla Roadster? A new HVAC system? Or is it a Tesla frisbee, as some commenters have guessed? I guess we’ll have to tune in tomorrow (October 7th) to find out.

The Financial Times has a good rundown of the extensive executive churn across Elon Musk’s companies in recent months, from Tesla’s robotics team to xAI’s CFO. Musk’s “24/7 campaign-style work ethos” is apparently a little difficult to keep up with.

The next-gen charging station, which is located in Redwood, Calif., is capable of putting out 500kW of peak power. Currently, the only Tesla vehicle that can accept that rate is the Cybertruck. The station also is only available to Tesla vehicles for now.

He put down $5,000, and then another $45,000, to reserve a revamped Tesla Roadster when it was first unveiled in 2017. But Tesla never got around to making one, so he decided to cancel it. The cancellation process involved multiple emails and phone calls, but eventually he got a check from Tesla... for $45,000. That’s right, they kept the $5,000 initial deposit.

Automotive News reports that Jeep is telling its suppliers to no longer expect a plug-in hybrid Gladiator pickup truck. It’s a curious move, considering the mid-sized truck is one of Jeep’s best-selling vehicles in the US, and its 4xe (pronounced “four-by-e”) hybrid lineup also remains quite popular. This comes after Jeep parent company Stellantis cancelled the battery-electric Ram 1500 REV.

Legislation that would require all vehicles, including EVs, to have AM radio was approved today by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, teeing it up for a full House vote. This is the second time the committee advanced the bill, after the chamber failed to take it up before the expiration of the legislative year. Some models, including Tesla, don’t include AM radio, arguing it could interfere with its powertrain.

NBC News founded dozens of incidents in which Tesla owners using Full Self-Driving report near-misses with oncoming trains. The vehicles weren’t braking in time, forcing the drivers to intervene. Some cars stopped on the tracks, while others tried to actually turn onto the tracks. If I were trying to convince people my car company was actually on the cusp of solving real-world autonomy, I’d be very concerned by this!

IIHS moderate overlap crash test results for seven EVs show good ratings for the i4, Blazer EV, post-April 2025 Cybertruck, and ID.Buzz, and acceptable for Tesla’s Model 3. (No word on the door handles.)