Cars are the technology of the future. The Verge brings you new car reviews, auto show insights, deeply reported investigations, and news from the frontlines of autonomous and electric vehicle development. We bring you updates from major companies like Ford, GM, Mercedes, and VW as well as digital upstarts like Uber, Google, and Tesla. Cars are among the biggest computers that we’ll ever own, and we know computers. We also bring you news and analyses from the growing effort to reduce the number of cars crowding our cities and the fight to reduce oil consumption, cut CO2 emissions, and shift to more sustainable sources of energy.
I tend to agree with Jalopnik’s Andy Kalmowitz’s take that people complain too much about being distracted by all the new tech in their cars. You can see it in the surveys of new vehicle owners, where infotainment ranks high among the many hassles. But automakers are getting better about consolidating information on the main screen, and the reduction of hard buttons is certainly cleaner to look at.
Maybe, just maybe, the real distraction isn’t the touchscreens or the ambient lightning. Could it be the pocket computers we take with us everywhere?
The family of a motorcyclist killed by a Tesla Model 3 driver using Autopilot is suing the company for knowingly releasing “defective and inadequate” software, Reuters says. Its the latest in a growing volume of wrongful death suits targeting Tesla’s driver assist features. The company has fought some, settled others, so how it responds to this one remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, another motorcyclist was killed last April by a Tesla driver using Full Self-Driving.
Ford CEO Jim Farley announced the European Commission’s approval of its hands-free BlueCruise driver-assist tech (despite an ongoing NHTSA investigation), which means Mustang Mach-E buyers in 15 EU countries can now get the feature (and some current owners can get it through a software update).
BlueCruise has been driven for more than 213 million miles globally, according to Ford — up from 200 million in June.
YouTuber Taki Udon got an early look at a Ryzen 8845HS-powered PC built into a detailed replica of Tesla’s electric truck. It’s got working doors, headlights, ports hidden beneath the rear bumper, and a power button integrated into the truck’s front shocks.
Pre-orders for the Xyber XPC will eventually happen through Indiegogo, but pricing and availability hasn’t been announced yet.
iPhone owners love the feature and get up in arms when automakers resist it. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said this week on Decoder that CarPlay can’t “leverage other parts of the vehicle experience” and takes control away from automakers.
Meanwhile, friend of The Verge, Patrick George, has the so-far unpopular opinion that while CarPlay is familiar, it’s rapidly becoming out of date.
The star takes the electric SUV through a cinematic montage of situations to the sounds of Training Season — while explaining how she’d direct a Porsche commercial in ways that “Porsche guys” wouldn’t.
A new approach to marketing the Macan makes sense, considering recent Taycan sales numbers ahead of that SUV’s impending refresh.
During an earnings call, the Tesla CEO said the company has “completed most of the engineering” on the next-gen Roadster with “upgrades” being made. The Roadster was announced way back in 2017 and opened to preorders that require potential buyers to put down a $50,000 deposit towards the expected price of $250,000.
The company will unveil its purpose-built autonomous vehicle October 10th, after previously delaying the event to allow more work on the prototype, Elon Musk said during an earnings call. The reveal was originally schedule to take place August 8th. “I wanted to make some important changes that I think would improve the vehicle,” Musk added.
On the Decoder podcast, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe points the finger at automakers for copying instead of seeking out customers who want a vehicle with a slightly different profile than Tesla’s alphabet series of Models.
Oh, and he had some news about the R3X and why you probably won’t see CarPlay in a Rivian anytime soon.
What he means by that exactly is anyone’s guess. Will they be helping to build vehicles? Is Optimus being ditched as it wasn’t name-dropped? We might find out next year, though Musk has previously admitted these timelines are mostly guesswork.
It's not like Tesla has stuck to its Robotaxi reveal dates yet.
I guess we’ll find out soon, as Tesla’s Cybertruck is being added to the battle royale game starting July 23rd. If nothing else, it’s nice to see Fortnite going old-school with low-poly graphics.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe: too many carmakers are copying Tesla
Rivian’s founder on the R2 / R3 roadmap and the company’s $5 billion VW deal.
By endorsing Trump, Elon Musk is gambling with Tesla’s future
The CEO of an EV company goes all in on the candidate who has made anti-EV sentiment a cornerstone of his campaign.
The company is opening a new kind of EV charging station in Groveland, CA, just outside of Yosemite National Park. In addition to five charging plugs, the site will also serve as place to get snacks, learn more about EV ownership, and even drop off recyclables in an effort to keep the park clean. The plugs are only available to Rivian owners for now, but the company plans on accommodating non-Rivian EVs eventually.
The Information reports that Elon Musk is giving the 4680 battery team until the end of the year to “cut its costs and scale up” or it could be curtains for the project. Apparently testing has revealed the specs to be pretty middling. Also the battery keeps collapsing in on itself? Sounds bad.
Two of those people said they weren’t told what the consequences would be if the team misses the end of year deadline. However, both believe Musk may throw in the towel on trying to scale up the 4680 battery in house and instead rely largely on outside suppliers for the technology.
[The Information]
The police department in Anaheim, California, apparently wants to “be the first” with a Cybertruck, according to an email sent to Tesla modification company Up.Fit and obtained by 404 Media.
Up.Fit has already shown what a Cybertruck for police use may look like. The Anaheim PD later confirmed to 404 Media that the email was “a joke” but that it would still like a Cybertruck for “community engagement.”
[404 Media]
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. Product communications director Mike Levine posted a map showing where F-150 trucks generated at least one kilowatt of electricity.
Correction: Corrected the spelling of Mike Levine’s name.