When tech collides with the real world, the consequences are rarely theoretical. In late 2023, a tragic accident happened in Arizona. Of 40,901 traffic fatalities that year, it was unique. It was the only one that involved a pedestrian and a Tesla reportedly running on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) mode. Now, as Tesla begins its Robotaxi launch in Austin, it’s raising questions about safety now and in the future.

The accident happened in November of that year when Johna Story, a 71-year-old grandmother, was pulled over on the interstate. She was stopped in an effort to help others who had already been in an earlier accident. Video from the Tesla shows that the roadway leading up to the crash was obscured by direct sunlight on the horizon.

More: Dodge Says Charger Daytona’s Unintended Acceleration Is A Feature Not A Bug

That said, the video obtained by Bloomberg of the crash does show warning signs that something was wrong. While the roadway is impossible to see, the car in the right lane slows down. Other vehicles are parked on the right shoulder. A bystander was waving their hands for traffic to slow down.

Before he knew it, Tesla driver Karl Stock was veering left, then back toward the road before hitting a parked Toyota 4Runner and Story head-on. She passed away at the scene. “Sorry everything happened so fast,” Stock wrote in a witness statement for police. “There were cars stopped in front of me and by the time I saw them, I had no place to go to avoid them.”

Notably, Bloomberg claims that FSD was engaged at the time of the accident. “He [Stock] had engaged what the carmaker calls Full Self-Driving, or FSD,” the report claims. This isn’t substantiated by the police report. Neither the reporting officers nor Stock mentions FSD, Autopilot, or any sort of cruise control or autonomous system. That said, it’s possible that the publication gained access to the non-public NHTSA crash report and that more data is available there.

Vision Vs. Lidar & Radar

Ultimately, crashes like this highlight what seems like the most obvious concern for Tesla’s FSD. Vision-based systems aren’t wildly dissimilar from the way that humans perceive the road. That means that when humans struggle to see the roadway ahead, as is the case with bright sunlight on the horizon, or in smoke-filled or foggy conditions, vision-based systems can struggle too.

As mentioned, it seems unclear when exactly FSD was engaged and when it wasn’t. That said, even if the system disengaged in time for Stock to avoid the crash, it’s unclear how he would’ve seen what was coming to do so. In fact, this crash and others like it, albeit without additional fatalities, led the NHTSA to kick off an investigation into FSD that is still ongoing.

“A Tesla vehicle experienced a crash after entering an area of reduced roadway visibility conditions with FSD -Beta or FSD -Supervised (collectively, FSD) engaged. In these crashes, the reduced roadway visibility arose from conditions such as sun glare, fog, or airborne dust,” the investigation called out.

On the flip side, systems that rely on radar or lidar can ‘see’ beyond fog, light glare, and smoke. They can pick up on obstacles that vision-based systems sometimes have real trouble with. In this case, a lidar-equipped system could’ve potentially alerted Stock to the stopped obstacles. That doesn’t make them perfect.

Cruise famously shut down after billions worth of investment because of crashes. Those cars all used radar and lidar and still failed. All of that said, it’s still a bit of a wonder as to why Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, are so staunch in their use of vision-only systems. Only time will tell if that changes.

The Robot Elephant In The Room

We might learn sooner rather than later whether or not Tesla sticks with its vision-only system. The automaker is already testing robotaxis and driverless cars and is set to expand that this month in Austin, Texas. Musk has promised that the program will expand throughout the year and that Level 5 autonomous driving is coming soon.

Of course, Tesla has continually improved FSD over the years. It’s a dramatically more capable system than it was in 2023 but it still has some major issues. Just a few weeks ago, a Tesla, reportedly with FSD engaged, crashed on an open road with no obstacles, no visual queues, or any other explicable reasoning. We’ve yet to confirm the details, but in the video, the car literally drove off of the road and into a tree at around 55 mph. These two crashes are things that Tesla’s Robotaxis cannot do if the automaker ever wants them to be mainstream. For now, there’s little more to do than to wait and see what happens.

Tesla’s Take

Here is the full, 36-page crash report of that Arizona incident, with both police and eye-witness reports and everything: https://t.co/wvfvgl8ET3 pic.twitter.com/3y5DSgDzpU

— Jaan of the EVwire.com ⚡ (@TheEVuniverse) June 4, 2025

The automaker is famous for its lack of a PR department [until it really wants to get a message out]. That said, it does sometimes speak about why it continues to push for Autopilot and FSD usage among its customers.

Two years ago, when it recalled over a million cars, it said, “We at Tesla believe that we have a moral obligation to continue improving our already best-in-class safety systems. At the same time, we also believe it is morally indefensible not to make these systems available to a wider set of consumers, given the incontrovertible data that shows it is saving lives and preventing injury.”

While Tesla is notoriously opaque about the safety data it gathers, it does claim that its cars are safer on average than human drivers. Since third parties don’t have full access to that data to validate it, it’s hard to simply accept those claims. Nevertheless, if they’re accurate, Tesla has a point. At the end of the day, nobody in this equation wants to risk lives. The question is, which route is the safest, not just in the future, but right now?

Lead image Bloomberg/YouTube

For most folks, a car that accelerates on its own is a dangerous proposition. Just ask Toyota — those unintended acceleration headlines weren’t exactly a PR dream. According to Stellantis, though, that’s a meticulously engineered safety feature. It just happens to be one that we haven’t really heard about before today.

In fact, it only entered the spotlight after Edmunds experienced the issue firsthand with its Dodge Charger Daytona long-term tester, which began picking up speed without the driver’s input.

More: Watch This Tesla’s FSD Do What It Definitely Wasn’t Supposed To Do Without Crashing

To put things lightly, the launch of the Charger Daytona hasn’t gone as well as Stellantis might have hoped. That said, it’s still a vehicle worthy of testing and reviewing, and that’s why Edmunds has one. What they likely never expected was that it would speed up on its own one day.

An Unexpected Moment

According to the tester who was behind the wheel at the time, things went sideways almost immediately:

“I was pulling out onto a thoroughfare street from a strip mall parking lot when warning lights appeared on the Charger’s instrument panel for the stability control, frontal collision warning system, regenerative braking, and more. There was also a short-lived message — it might have been something about the forward collision warning system — and that the car would be in low power mode. This wasn’t good. I could tell something was wrong because the car accelerated sluggishly.

Once up to speed, the Charger did the thing we’re all here to talk about. It kept accelerating even after the driver lifted their foot off of the pedal. That’s weird in any car, but even stranger in an EV, where regenerative braking usually slows the car down faster than in a combustion car.

According to the driver, this wasn’t rapid acceleration, but more akin to the speed one typically gains in an automatic car when letting off of the brakes from a dead stop. Except, rather than only being capable of picking up a little speed, it managed to add around one mile per hour each second that the brakes weren’t applied. That said, the brakes did work, albeit with more force necessary (according to the driver) than normal.

“I let the car accelerate by itself as a test. It reached about 45 mph before I had to apply the brakes again for another stop sign. That was enough. Using the time-tested fix for all things tech. I pulled off onto a side street from the stop sign and parked. Fortunately, the acceleration stopped when I put the transmission in Park.”

For its part, Stellantis says that this is the way it’s designed, but we’ll circle back to that. First, it’s important to point out that Edmunds isn’t alone. Thomas Hundal over at The Autopian compiled a list of similar instances documented online.

That included one complaint directly to the NHTSA, where a driver claimed that the car sped up even after they were off the accelerator. They finished their complaint with an important detail. “I regained control using the brake alone.” When confronted with this evidence, Stellantis responded, and the statement it gave was a whopper.

All Of This Is Intentional, Says Stellantis

Here’s the statement in full before we break it down a little.

“In the rare event of an accelerator pedal fault, Stellantis has implemented a ‘drive-by-brake’ safety feature, which allows the driver to control speed through the brake pedal. In this instance, the feature worked as intended, and the driver was able to safely maneuver the vehicle off the road. This feature has been in Stellaris internal combustion engine vehicles for many years and has been carried over to battery electric vehicles.”

That’s right, folks, nothing to see here. “The feature worked as intended.” This is especially gobsmacking because the car doesn’t tell the driver what is happening. It doesn’t alert drivers to, you know, drive via the brake pedal. Of course, many electric cars now feature one pedal driving, but those ones use active regenerative braking to slow down when no input is provided.

It seems that the Charger Daytona is fitted with technology that does the exact opposite. It’s worth noting that while Stellantis says this is a feature carried over from combustion cars, we can’t find any examples of it. There’s no mention of it in past press releases, owner’s manuals, or any other documentation we’ve checked up until now, though we’re still digging, and if anything turns up, we’ll update the story.

For now, at least, several outlets are trying to get the word out to Charger Daytona owners that if their cars accelerate when they don’t expect it, it’s totally normal. Honestly, this doesn’t sound like a totally terrible feature so long as owners know what to expect and when to expect it. We’ve reached out to Stellantis in hopes of learning more about the situation. If we hear back, we’ll update you here. 

Not every sales jump in the auto industry follows a straightforward narrative, and Kia’s latest numbers are a good example of that. The company had a solid May, moving 5 percent more vehicles than it did in the same month last year. But that top-line figure doesn’t tell the whole story.

While its flagship electric models took a hit, one unassuming sedan, the K5, surged with a 256 percent increase in monthly sales. Kia’s not alone in this EV slowdown, either.

More: Mercedes’ Electric G Flops So Hard It Could Change What Comes Next

It’s worth noting that the K5 has been out for several years. Its huge jump in sales during May doesn’t seem to be an outlier either. For the year, it’s up 220 percent. Put into raw sales figures, the company had sold just 9,036 through May last year. This year, it’s shifted 28,951 of them. Combined with the K4, Kia has already made over 90,000 sales this year.

Electric Models Lose Steam

No doubt, the brand wishes its flagship electric vehicles were seeing even a modicum of that success. The recently refreshed EV6 is great to drive, but buyers aren’t snatching it up with the same vigor they did last year. Through the first five months of the year, it’s down 40.8 percent. The EV9, Kia’s flagship electric SUV is having an even tougher time as it’s down 48.2 percent in that same period.

That trend doesn’t appear ready to change either. In May alone, the EV6 was down 69.8 percent. The EV9 sold just 37 units across the country and, as such, was down a whopping 98.3 percent during the month. It’ll be interesting to see what Kia does to incentivize buyers to return as the new model year version rolls in to dealerships. These are both impressive cars, but consumers seem apt to favor hybrids now more than ever.

To Kia’s credit, this trend away from EVs and toward combustion cars isn’t one isolated to the brand. Ford announced its May sales figures recently and saw a similar trend. While the Mustang Mach-E continues to do well, the F-150 Lightning and E-Transit are dozens of basis points off where they were last year.

KIA USA SALES

We’re approaching the halfway point of the year, and things have already been wild. Tariffs, both the ones in effect and those merely looming, have changed the automotive industry, regulations are changing, and automakers are trying to keep up.

For its part, Ford has managed to have a positive year so far. Sales across the Ford and Lincoln brands are up 6.1 percent in the USA. At the same time, its EV business just took a huge hit during the month of May.

Also: Volvo’s EV Crash Hits Harder Than Expected As Buyers Walk Away From Batteries

It was only a couple of months ago that Ford’s EV sales looked like they were sliding, but not by too much. After April, they were down 2.9 percent year over year. That, though, seemed like it could be an aberration since sales in April alone were down 39.4 percent. With this new sales data in hand, it seems clear that buyers are flocking away from EVs and toward hybrids and gas-powered cars.

Ford doesn’t break up sales figures for its hybrid Lincoln products, but as a group, hybrids were up 28.9 percent in May. They outperformed every other propulsion type by at least ten basis points or more. Internal combustion cars came in second with a 17.2 percent bump over last year’s sales. Electric vehicles were down a whopping 25 percent. Due to the heavy volume of hybrid and internal combustion sales, the group was ultimately up 16.3 percent in May.

FORD AND LINCOLN SALES

Digging a little deeper into the data provides further insights. For example, the Mustang Mach-E continues to be a hit among consumers despite the EV downturn for Ford. It was up 11 percent in May and is still up 2.8 percent year over year. That’s a big rebound after it was down 40.2 percent in April. The big issues for Ford’s EV business seem to be the work vehicles.

More: This Raptor Was Flipped For $24K Over Sticker And It’s Not Even New

The F-150 Lightning was down 41.7 percent in May and is down 17.3 percent year over year. The E-Transit saw a sales drop in May of 93.3 percent and is down 24.8 percent for the year. It appears that buyers are leaning into the middle ground more than ever at Ford. The automaker’s hybrid business is up 31.2 percent this year. 

The Bigger Picture

Incentives likely helped boost May’s overall results, with employee pricing offers and consumer concerns about incoming tariffs giving shoppers extra motivation. Several models posted standout gains. The Bronco surged 51.1 percent year over year in May and is now up 46.5 percent for 2025. The Ranger also turned in a strong performance, rising 34.4 percent for the month and jumping 157.9 percent for the year.

On the flip side, the Mustang, despite having the ICE muscle car segment to itself, continues its downward trend, slipping 3.2% in May and falling 18% since the start of the year.

Lincoln had a solid month as well, climbing 39 percent in May and 13 percent for the year so far. The Navigator was a key driver of that growth, rocketing 133 percent in May and up 75.5 percent year to date.

FORD US SALES

LINCOLN US SALES

Electric vehicle drivers in New Jersey may want to rethink their charging routines. A major shakeup is underway on the New Jersey Turnpike, and it involves the one company that’s basically synonymous with EV charging.

The state’s Turnpike authority isn’t renewing a contract with Tesla but is instead going to employ chargers from Applegreen. The move could prove more costly and trialsome for New Jersey residents, but Tesla appears ready for anything.

More: Tesla Dumping Unsold Cybertrucks At Mall Parking Lot And The City’s Fed Up

The automaker, rather than the state, actually announced the change on Friday. “The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (“NJTA”) has chosen a sole third-party charging provider to serve the New Jersey Turnpike and is not allowing us to co-locate. As a result, NJTA requested 64 existing Supercharger stalls on the New Jersey Turnpike to not be renewed and be decommissioned,” it said in a statement on X.

A Smaller Network With Higher Prices

It went on to claim that it offered the state “above-market commercial terms” and access for all EVs to keep the contract going. It would’ve built more stations and upgraded existing ones with screens and CCS1 ‘magic docks’ as well. For whatever reason, the state said no and instead went with Applegreen for the foreseeable future. That’s a fascinating decision since Applegreen’s network is almost comically smaller than Tesla’s.

At present, in the USA, it only serves a few states like New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. In New Jersey, it has only a few stations installed. Elon Musk went as far as to posit that “corruption” played a part in the decision. Even after it finishes installing the chargers it plans to put in place, things might be worse off for most drivers.

Sounds like corruption

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 30, 2025

Notably, a little number crunching from InsideEVs suggests that this won’t help consumers. “Superchargers along the NJ Turnpike range from $0.20 to $0.45 per kWh, depending on the time of day. Applegreen, on the other hand, varies from $0.35 to $0.59,” it found.

If those figures hold, drivers could end up paying more to power their cars than they did before. It’s possible the state stands to gain more financially under the new arrangement, though no public statements have been made by the NJTA to confirm or clarify that.

Tesla Already Moving On

All of that said, Tesla says it knew this was a potential outcome and has already supplemented the decommissioning of 64 charging bays with the creation of 116 stalls off of the turnpike. Interestingly, this might not be how the story ends. Tesla says it’s willing to return to the negotiating table should NJ authorities change their tune.

“We are still willing to invest in New Jersey Turnpike sites if the NJTA or Governor Murphy decide to reverse this decision. Otherwise, we will continue expanding the best charging infrastructure off the Turnpike to serve EV drivers in New Jersey,” the automaker said. In a part of the world where charging infrastructure isn’t exactly super-reliable, this could be a step in the wrong direction. Only time will tell. 

For most people, a small parking mishap is more of a nuisance than a real problem. But when your vehicle is packed with sensors, custom parts, and carries a price tag north of $65,000, a light tap can spiral into something much more stressful. That’s exactly what happened to one Rivian R1S owner, whose seemingly minor accident now has him worried the SUV could be totaled.

The incident happened when the driver accidentally backed into a parked UPS truck. “I thought I was looking at its shadow in the camera,” the driver wrote on Reddit. To their credit, it appears as though they stopped quickly after making contact.

Small Damage, Big Anxiety

The rear light bar is cracked and the tailgate has a golf ball-sized dent as well. How on earth could someone worry that this is enough damage to total an SUV worth north of $65,000? Well, it’s a common concern for EV owners in this particular community. Almost exactly a year ago, we told you about a Rivian R1T with damage to the rear corner of its truck bed.

More: Rivian Owner’s DIY Repair Saves Thousands After Mishap And Teaches Us A Lesson

The repair bill ended up being $21,149.16. An R1S owner in the comment section showed off their own repair bill of $10,803.65 for an upper C-pillar accident that narrowly avoided cracking the glass. Despite what looks like less than a square foot of damage, the labor alone was $2,322.

Things might be improving for Rivian owners, though. In another incident from February, we see damage that appears almost identical to that of this new case. That accident earlier this year cost $7,490.34. On top of that, another owner showed us in March how they saved thousands by using pointless dent repair (PDR) and their own skills.

Also: Can You Believe This Rivian R1T Damage Repair Cost $21,000?

Others suggested in the comments that this owner go the same route. Light bars like the one he damaged are available on the second-hand market and PDR can cost as little as a few hundred bucks. One guessed that the repair costs through a certified shop would be around $15,000 which, while a considerable amount, wouldn’t be totally shocking for a Rivian.

Of course, it’s always possible the original poster is being a bit tongue-in-cheek. Still, it’s a reminder that even a light bump in a high-tech EV can turn into a surprisingly complicated and expensive process.

Photo Reddit/u auptown

Electric vehicles are, nowadays, neither a niche or a novelty. As more automakers flood the market with new models, competition is heating up – and Cadillac wants in. GM’s luxury brand is making a serious push to grow its EV presence, and a part of its strategy includes luring customers away from other automakers.

According to one General Motors executive speaking to CNBC, around 80 percent of new Cadillac EV buyers are coming from outside the brand. A closer look at the data shows that roughly one in 10 of those newcomers is switching over from Tesla.

Review: Is Cadillac’s New Vistiq The Baby Escalade You’ve Been Waiting For?

Cadillac’s weapon in this EV conquest? The Lyriq. As the brand’s central electric offering, the Lyriq has become a significant driver of customer conversion. It boasts a starting price of under $60,000 and is eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit, at least for now. It features a huge 33-inch curved OLED display, lots of luxury, and decent range too. Unsurprisingly, about 25 percent of Tesla owners trading in for a Cadillac are choosing the Lyriq.

“We see the opportunity to increase the conquest rate for Tesla, absolutely,” Brad Franz, Cadillac director of global marketing, told CNBC. The portfolio is the key,” he continued. “We’ve always had good interaction with Tesla customers, but in the past, that’s been in that 10% to 15% range [for Lyriq]. So, certainly, we’re seeing a good jump in conquest rate.”

Are Some Tesla Owners Just Done With Tesla?

Interestingly, at least one analyst believes that this is less about how perfect the Lyriq is for Tesla owners and more about getting out of the Tesla ecosystem altogether. “People leaving Tesla cars now, they’re, in my opinion, making a very deliberate choice to get out of that car. If your priority is to get out of the Tesla ASAP, then they’re not, technically, cross-shopping Tesla for their next car,” said Joseph Yoon, Edmunds’ consumer insights analyst.

That trend might not slow down anytime soon either. Tesla is facing a myriad of concerns at a brand level. At the same time, Cadillac is offering a stronger EV portfolio than ever before. “Cadillac is leading the way with our EV lineup,” Franz said. “We’re really poised for success. We’re going to take this portfolio, now that Vistiq is rounding out the SUV portfolio, and become the No. 1, tier-one EV luxury brand.”

What Buyers Are Actually Comparing

Data from Edmunds shows that Lyriq shoppers are also eyeing models like Cadillac’s own Optiq, the Acura ZDX, Ford Mustang Mach-E, and BMW iX. Just behind those are the Kia EV9 and GM’s own Chevy Blazer and Equinox EVs. Tesla buyers, on the other hand, tend to stay loyal, often looking at other Teslas when they’re ready for something new. Depending on the model, they may also consider options from Honda, Hyundai, Kia, or occasionally, the Equinox EV or Hummer EV.

It’s still too early to say if Cadillac can claim a top spot in the EV luxury space, but the landscape is shifting. Buyers in the EV market have more choices than ever before. The real question is whether that momentum can continue or if new regulations, tariff concerns, and stifled EV infrastructure will change that.

After a marathon session in the House, lawmakers passed Donald Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’. While it still has to go through the Senate before becoming a law, the implications are indeed big. Under the proposal, hybrid owners could pay $100 more every year to register their car, while EV drivers would face a steeper fee of $250.

Those new taxes are meant to combat the debt that the government incurs as a result of crumbling infrastructure. Right now, that work is mostly funded by gas taxes which are currently set at $0.18 per gallon. With more people driving EVs and hybrids, people are buying gas less and so the funds are dwindling.

More: California’s EV Future Just Got Canceled By Washington

“The bill includes provisions from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to provide historic investments in the United States Coast Guard to strengthen our national and border security, as well as … ensuring that electric vehicles begin contributing to the Highway Trust Fund,” said Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), chairman of the influential Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

According to TTNews, the last time the Highway Trust Fund received any sort of assistance was back in 2021. Despite that, it goes into tens of billions of dollars of debt every year. Since EVs buy very little fuel, they’ve often been seen as freeloaders on American roads. Hybrids fall into the murky middle. Both tend to weigh more on average than a gas-powered car in the same segment so it’s worth considering that they have the potential to do more damage.

A Broken System Gets a Shakeup

The reality here is that with or without EVs and hybrids, the government’s plan for funding highway infrastructure was a failure. It’s never been tied to inflation, so it’s continually lagging behind, and now we’re here, 20 billion dollars in debt annually.

That said, it seems that the pendulum of failure might be swinging just as strongly but in the other direction now. As we pointed out in our earlier coverage of this topic, now, EV and hybrid drivers will end up paying far more than gas-car drivers. Ultimately, this could still end up getting axed before it becomes law. GOP leaders in the Senate could make several changes before trying to pass it there.

California is going to war, legally speaking, against the Federal government. On Thursday, the GOP-led Senate voted to strip the state of its longstanding ability to set its own vehicle emissions rules. California’s response? A firm promise to sue the federal government if and when US President Donald Trump signs the measure into law.

More: GM’s Urgent Warning, California’s EV Rules Could Harm You

When the news broke, California Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t wait long to respond. He immediately called the move illegal and said it was harmful to health and the environment. “The party of MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) is making our world smoggier,” he said. To revoke the waiver from California, the Senate did go against counsel from two nonpartisan government entities that both said it would be illegal to do so.

States’ Rights or Regulatory Overreach?

That said, the GOP felt that California had too much power and was leveraging that power to set rules on a pseudo-federal level. Several states had joined California in imposing the same rules, including one that banned new gas-car sales after 2035.

Based on data, those goals were far too lofty considering the current state of EV adoption in the U.S. The GOP decision takes the stress off of automakers, oil companies, and dealers who felt they were going to be stuck with products that wouldn’t sell well.

Health First, Says California

For many in California, the state’s regulations are prioritizing health and wellness above all else. “We have real-world evidence that these rules are improving public health,” said Dr. John Balmes, of UC Berkeley. A recent study from the University of Southern California showed a significant reduction in asthma-related emergency room visits for children and adults associated with the number of electric vehicles in a zip code.”

Others in the state see the revocation of the waiver as a positive move. “I think this was a good middle ground that we can still talk about EVs,” said John Pitre, CEO of Motor City Auto Club in Bakersfield, to BakersfieldNow. “We can still develop them. We can still have future opportunities to explore different types of EVs. But it’s not at the detriment of people having a selection of gas or diesel-powered vehicles that they may really want.”

Ultimately, only time will tell whether or not California’s lawsuit will claw back its freedom to set its own standards. This will be the 21st lawsuit filed by the state attorney general against the Trump administration. “The federal government’s overreach is illogical,” Bonta said in a press conference in Sacramento. “It’s politically motivated, and it comes at the expense of Californians’ lives and livelihoods.”

Credit: Governor Gavin Newsom

Tesla is pushing hard on its updated Model Y lineup, trimming lease costs and setting an end date for a low-interest financing offer that’s been floating around for a while.

Let’s focus on the lease deal first because it’s the best we’ve seen so far. Earlier this month, Tesla tried to sweeten the deal on the Model Y by releasing the new and more afforable Long Range RWD version.

More: Tesla On FSD Suddenly Swerves And Crashes Into A Tree, Claims Driver

Tesla has reworked the lease terms (likely by reducing the Money Factor / interest rate) so the Long Range RWD can be had for $491 a month on a 36-month, 10,000-mile-per-year lease with zero down, before taxes and fees. That figure drops even more if your state throws in EV incentives. In Massachusetts, for example, a $3,500 state rebate brings the payment down to just $380 a month. Prefer a shorter lease? A 24-month term with the same mileage costs $525 per month before taxes and fees.

Step up to the dual-motor Long Range AWD version and the numbers have been lowered too. Tesla has knocked around $75 off the previous monthly lease rate, bringing it down to $530 per month for 36 months and 10,000 miles. Apply that same Massachusetts incentive and you’re looking at $421 a month. The 24-month lease for this trim is $560.

In terms of financing deals, the Model Y Long Range All-Wheel Drive is still available with an APR of just 1.99 percent. Notably, that deal is available for a minimum down payment of 15% plus applicable taxes and fees for up to 72 months. Those who do need to use the 84-month term are subject to a much less appealing 6.44 percent APR. That has been the case for a little while now, but Tesla is putting a deadline on it. It’ll end after June 16.

Finally, the Long Range RWD version isn’t available with 1.99 percent financing. The best rate available on it right now is 5.49 percent. Granted, the total price difference between the two versions is just $4,000 total so moving up to the AWD variant is probably what Tesla wants customers to do. 

Tesla being Tesla, just because those better APRs expire on June 16 doesn’t mean they’re gone for good. All it takes is a little patience. If inventory doesn’t move fast enough, there’s a decent chance Tesla brings them back, or maybe even throws out a zero percent deal before the year’s over.

In a move that could reshape the future of clean transportation policy in the U.S., Senate Republicans just voted to strip California of its long-standing authority to set its own vehicle emissions rules, including blocking its plan to stop sales of gas-powered vehicles.

The decision targets California’s ambitious clean-air mandates, which critics say are too aggressive for the current market to handle. Supporters of the state’s standards, however, argue that this vote undermines state rights and sets a troubling precedent for federal overreach.

More: Major US Dealers Launch War On New EV Sales Model

California has long set its own rules regarding air pollution standards. These included regulations on heavy-duty trucks, trains, and cars. It had even declared that it wouldn’t allow the sale of gas-powered new cars and trucks after 2035. But that authority was just revoked using the Congressional Review Act, or CRA.

This happened despite warnings from two nonpartisan agencies, the Senate parliamentarian and the Government Accountability Office, both of which warned the Senate that this move was likely illegal. Nevertheless, the Senate voted 51 to 44 to overturn the waiver that grants California the power it had to set its own rules.

A Shift With National Consequences

This is a huge move because California, by itself, equates to the fourth-largest economy on the globe. Automakers have largely followed California’s guidance on emissions to keep selling cars there. Several states have also taken up the same standards. Now, all of that is in question as Donald Trump’s signature will axe the waiver for good.

Reacting to the news, California Governor Gavin Newsom said, “The United States Senate has a choice: cede American car-industry dominance to China and clog the lungs of our children, or follow decades of precedent and uphold the clean air policies that Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon fought so hard for. Will you side with China or America?”

The Conservative Pushback

Those on the other side of the political aisle obviously have a different view. “California has imposed the most ridiculous car regulations anywhere in the world, with mandates to move to all electric cars,” Trump said during his campaign, reports The Guardian. “I will terminate that.”

“The fact is, these EV sales mandates were never achievable,” John Bozzella, president and chief executive of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said in a statement. “There’s a significant gap between the marketplace and these EV sales requirements.”

How did the party of small government justify stepping in and imposing its will on a state this way? It says that since California has such a large sway on the auto industry that it was effectively setting Federal policy all along. This move stops that ability and returns that power to the Federal level alone.

“Over the past two decades, California has used its waiver authority to push its extreme climate policies on the rest of the country, which was never the intent of the Clean Air Act,” Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Republican of West Virginia, said to the New York Times.

The Hard Numbers

As we recently pointed out, data does seem to indicate that California’s goals surrounding the end of gas-powered new car sales are too ambitious. While EVs are gaining traction around the world, the U.S. is one of the slowest markets concerning adoption.

No doubt, that’s the result of several factors like distance between destinations, charging infrastructure, and pricing. Regardless of why the uptake is slower, it still makes California’s goals tough to imagine coming true. This new move from the Senate makes it appear altogether impossible now. 

Autonomous driving may be the future, but the present still has a lot of explaining to do. Especially when cars with so-called “Full Self-Driving” capabilities start careening off the road for no obvious reason.

That said, it’s rare to see what we just have in a newly released set of videos involving a Tesla. According to the title, it shows a crash while running what Tesla calls its autonomous system, Full Self-Driving (Supervised). What’s worse, though, is that it seems to do so without rhyme or reason in broad daylight with no traffic on a straight road.

More: Tesla Stiffs Cybertruck Owners On Another Promised Feature

Tesla famously uses vision-based software and hardware to run its semi-autonomous Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software. In theory, it makes complete sense since we humans also drive almost entirely via vision-based mechanics. In practice, though, there are some major concerns, and this video highlights them. We’ll circle back to that.

The Incident: Straight Road, Sharp Left Turn

A YouTube channel recently uploaded four videos showing each side of a car during a crash. They say this is a Model 3 and that it’s running FSD 13.2.8, which is almost the latest available version. On May 11, Tesla released 13.2.8, but this crash happened on February 26 so indeed, it was up to date given that information.

That said, what the video shows is the most shocking part of this entire situation. Across three of the four clips, we see the car moving for 45 seconds. In all of them, everything appears totally normal for the first 31 seconds as the car trundles down a two-lane road. Then, just as a car passes going the opposite way, all hell seems to break loose.

The car turns hard to the left, goes across the opposing traffic lane, goes off the road, and hits a tree before rolling over. From the moment it begins to turn to the moment it impacts the tree is less than three seconds. While that’s tough to swallow, it’s the conditions that really make this a bad deal for Tesla.

The road was perfectly straight. This appears to be at some time in the relatively early or later part of the day as the shadows cast on the ground are long. Despite that, the sun is bright and seemingly unobstructed by clouds, so there’s no lack of lighting in the scene. Finally, there’s no complex traffic situation here with markings, other cars, or road signs.

Still, for whatever reason, it appears as though this car allegedly on FSD just decided that it needed to leave the roadway and did exactly that. Adding even more confusion to this crash are videos of YouTubers testing FSD against inanimate objects on the road. In almost every case, the technology focuses on slowing itself down, stopping even, to avoid an obstacle. Very rarely does it try this sort of hard steering input at speed.

The Lidar Elephant in the Room

And this brings us back to vision-based autonomous driving systems. Again, we humans use vision to determine how to control our cars. Tesla is trying to do that too, but it’s caught flack, and I suspect is about to catch far more, over its choice to skip using lidar and radar tech.

While vision can work, and obviously does for most people on most days, Lidar and radar offer the ability to easily see through bad weather conditions like fog or haze. They could simply be used as a redundancy to confirm what a vision-based system thinks it sees too. Nevertheless, Tesla ditched it years ago and its CEO Elon Musk appears committed to never bringing it back.

Reports From The Driver

According to the person who posted the videos on Reddit, he was going around 55 mph when the crash happened. He says of the experience, “I loved the FSD until this happened. I was a full believer in autonomous vehicles until this happened to me. Lesson learned.” Thankfully, the only injuries he suffered included a cut on his chin, some lower-back discomfort, and “emotional damage,” as he calls it.

It’s worth pointing out that there are many unknowns here. While there appears to be no reason to suspect these videos and their description are inaccurate, there could be more to the story that we’re not being told. If that doesn’t end up being the case, though, Tesla is likely in a lot of hot water over this. The owner has submitted requests for all of the data relating to the crash so hopefully more of that sees the light of day.

Previous crashes involving the software typically offered some sort of purchase for Tesla defenders to cling to. Based on everything available in the four videos here, it appears as though FSD just made its most blatant mistake in the public sphere.

If this is possible with the hardware and software running Tesla’s planned Robotaxi service, it might have to be even more careful than it’s already planning on being. When asked if he’d ever buy another Tesla, the owner of this car’s words were damning. “I want another but would NEVER use FSD again.” Yeah, I think we can all understand why.

The path to mainstream electrification is all but inevitable. Despite that, many lawmakers are trying to slow it down. Add to that one of the automakers building thousands of EVs every year, General Motors. A newly uncovered email exposes the company as it urges employees to get political. It hopes that with enough support, the government will stop California from setting its own emission standards.

More: New Bill To Kill EV Tax Credits Will Only Benefit One Brand

The Golden State has long done exactly that. In 2022, it went as far as to tell automakers that they had a little over a decade. By 2035, it won’t allow the sale of new gas-powered cars and trucks. While that would seemingly be good for EV sales, the plan has several critics aside from General Motors.

The Golden State vs. Detroit

“We need your help!” GM said in an email to white-collar employees obtained by The Wall Street Journal. “Emissions standards that are not aligned with market realities pose a serious threat to our business by undermining consumer choice and vehicle affordability.” It’s worth noting that California isn’t alone in its thinking. 11 other states have signed up to follow the same plan. Now, GM and several lawmakers want to remove California’s ability to set its own standards and thus, cancel the ability for the other states involved.

In a statement, GM’s spokeswoman made the company’s stance clear: “GM believes in customer choice, and we continue to focus on offering the best and broadest portfolio of vehicles on the market”. That’s consistent with the automaker’s view, even when it supported California’s proposal in the past. Clearly, a national standard is in the best interest of automakers since they wouldn’t have to manage different regulations in different states.

Government officials say the standards set in California are simply out of touch with reality. Data seems to back that up, too. It set a target to have 35 percent of all vehicle sales be electric in 2026. Right now, EVs only make up 20 percent of new car sales, and that’s in a place where EVs are wildly popular when compared to other states.

EV sales in North America are slower than in most places across the globe. The transition to electrification appears like a sure thing, but probably further down the road than initially expected. 

It’s that time of year again when model changes are rolling in, and the 2026 Silverado EV is adding a new off-road-focused trim called Trail Boss. As the name implies, it’s built to handle trails like a boss. To accomplish that, it leverages a lift kit, an updated hydraulic rebound control system, and a new Terrain mode. Interested parties will need to be ready to part with over $72,000 to put one in their garage.

Read: Chevy’s New Electric SUV Could Be Coming to Your Country, But Not America

“Trail Boss has been one of the highest turning trims in our portfolio since we first launched it on the 2019 Silverado,” said Scott Bell, vice president, Chevrolet. “Adding Trail Boss to Silverado EV gives customers an option that builds on our strong truck pedigree, high electric range, and off-road capability.” We’re happy to report that this isn’t just an appearance package.

Enhanced Off-Road Performance

Every Trail Boss comes standard with a two-inch lift kit, which Chevy boasts is a 24 percent increase in ground clearance over the standard Silverado EV. On top of that, the automaker re-tuned the coil suspension and rebound control system. A new trim-exclusive Terrain mode acts almost like a low-speed off-road-focused cruise control for navigating uneven surfaces. It also gets sharper 4-Wheel Steering for better response off-road.

Chevrolet leverages a “high-angle approach” front fascia on the Trail Boss along with 35-inch all-terrain tires, unique 18-inch wheels, red tow hooks, and exterior badging to make the trim stand out. The cabin also gets its own unique touches. Perhaps most impressive is that this new version of the Silverado EV doesn’t sacrifice much in the way of range.

“The Silverado EV Trail Boss delivers similar capability expected with other Chevy Trail Bosses,” said Joe Roy, chief engineer for Silverado EV. “It’s an impressive truck that will meet the needs of our customers looking to get off trail and still have all the features customers have come to love about Silverado EV, including range and off-road power.”

Pricing

Available with Chevy’s Extended or Max battery pack, buyers will get 410 or 478 miles of EPA-estimated range. Pricing starts at $72,095, but those who want the Max pack will pay $88,695. That’s right beneath the RST trim that starts at $89,395. Those prices include destination and delivery. There are benefits to each pack worthy of mention.

Those who select the Extended pack get up to 12,500 lb-ft of towing capacity and 2,100 pounds worth of payload capacity. On the flip side, those with the Max pack can enjoy up to 725 horsepower (540 kW) and 775 lb-ft (1,049 Nm) of torque. Expect it to go on sale later this summer, with additional details about options and pricing coming then too.

Other Updates for 2026

In other news related to the 2026 Silverado EV, Chevy is sunsetting the RST trim, leaving only the Work Truck, LT, and Trail Boss in the lineup. In addition, the Silverado EV is getting a more advanced version of Super Cruise, now integrated with Google Maps. The updated system includes hands-on functionality that helps keep the vehicle centered in its lane and adjusts to the car ahead. Also, when you engage Super Cruise on compatible roads, a green light on the steering wheel indicates hands-free driving is activated.

2026 CHEVY SILVERADO US PRICES

Elon Musk might plan on being with Tesla for the foreseeable future, but the board could have a different opinion if sales keep sinking like they have been. The CEO admitted recently that sales in Europe were problematic, and now we have more evidence of that. Tesla’s sales are down across the continent, and the issue appears to be getting worse.

More: The Tesla Model Y Has A New Rival From Toyota That’s Half The Price

It’s no secret that Musk’s divisive actions have led to boycotts and protests. What’s perhaps more surprising, though, is just how dramatically European buyers seem willing to stay away from Tesla. According to preliminary data from market research firm Dataforce, shared with Autonews Europe, the brand’s sales have dropped by over 38% through April, going from 101,677 units last year to just 62,313 this year.

The sales slump looks even worse when you break down the numbers for April alone. Sales year over year for the month fell from 14,696 to just 7,908. That’s a drop off of 46.2 percent. Low-volume cars like the Model S and Model X saw a combined decrease in sales of 69.1 percent, falling from 224 sales in April last year to just 69 this year. It’s not as if the high-volume cars are faring much better either.

Even the Model Y Isn’t Safe

Despite just launching a new and improved Model Y, the brand’s most popular car globally, it’s struggling too. Sales plummeted from 9,704 units in April last year to just 4,743 this April, a staggering 51.1% drop.That’s a devastating number. Tesla mentioned earlier in the year that a sales slowdown would happen for Model Y as production changed from the previous generation to this one. It also confirmed that it’s since finished that switch so this drop isn’t a result of that. Since the beginning of the year, Model Y sales across the EU, U.K., and EFTA countries have dropped by 48.4%. Ouch.

Tesla’s other key player, the Model 3, also saw a huge decline. Sales dropped from 4,768 units in April 2024 to 3,094 last month, a 35.1% decrease.

This would all be a lot easier to swallow for Tesla if sales were down for everyone, but that’s not the case. As Auto News points out, overall sales for all brands were essentially flat in April, with a minor dip of just 0.3% in the EU, U.K., and EFTA countries, down to 1,085,092, or about 4,000 fewer units than in April 2024.

In fact, the European market is actually embracing electrification more than ever this year. Battery-electric vehicle (EV) sales are up 28%, full-hybrid sales are up 16%, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) deliveries have risen by 12%. Meanwhile, sales of non-hybrid gasoline cars fell by 7.2%, and diesel vehicles saw a 19% decline.

It’ll be interesting to see what moves Tesla makes next. As of now, it seems like the company is sticking with its “keep calm and carry on” strategy. But given these numbers, it’s safe to say that strategy might need some serious rethinking.

Tesla has been promising fully autonomous robotaxis for what feels like a lifetime, and now they’re telling us we can finally expect them next month. At least, that’s the plan, according to Tesla itself, with a “bullish” analyst now offering up some fresh details.

More: Tesla’s Robotaxi And Cybercab Might Need New Names

However, it’s not going to be the massive fleet of robo-cabs that everyone was hoping for. Instead, we’re looking at fewer than two dozen vehicles, and they’ll only be available to a select group of people. So, get in line (if you’re invited).

That news comes from Morgan Stanley Analyst Adam Jonas. According to a report from Investors, he recently met with Tesla to review how things are going. After all, Tesla has said repeatedly that it’ll launch its Robotaxi service in June of this year.

The Fleet’s Not So Grand After All

Jonas writes that “Austin’s a ‘go’ but fleet size will be low. Think 10 to 20 cars. Public roads. Invite only. Plenty of tele-ops to ensure safety levels (‘we can’t screw up’). Still waiting for a date.” That’s certainly not the huge splash many might have expected from Tesla. At the same time, some of that confirms what we already knew. Let’s break it down a little.

First, the fact that everything is still a ‘go’ sounds like Tesla is still on schedule. That’s encouraging. The small fleet size is a bit surprising, though. Even at the top end of 20 cars, one would imagine it’ll take a while to gather the data necessary to expand the program quickly. Tesla has long hinted that the service would include public roads, so that’s not shocking, but limiting it to invite-only status is interesting.

Perhaps that’s just a preliminary stage of the project, but it could help the brand avoid bad press should something go wrong. Of course, Jonas also confirms once again that Tesla will have teleoperators in place to monitor cars and take over if need be. How that’ll work in practice is up for debate, though.

A Reality Check

If we’re being serious here, this doesn’t sound all that different from what Tesla is already doing in Austin and San Francisco. Both cities offer a ridesharing app for some employees. In each city, users can hail a Tesla that will show up and take them to their destination with one big safety net: a human in the driver’s seat in case something goes wrong.

The new Robotaxi service in Austin sounds like it’s the same idea, but with a human driver dialed in remotely. The real standout here is Tesla’s Ground Truth Machine technology, which is busy mapping Austin using lidar and radar sensors.

Optimus News

Jonas says that we can expect additional news on Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, later this year as well. If all goes according to plan, investors will have the opportunity to tour the robot manufacturing site during the final quarter of 2025. The automaker/tech company is evidently targeting a $20,000 price tag for Optimus. That’s a lot of cash, but no doubt some one-percenters won’t think twice about it. 

Tesla has just opened the door to a new level of trade-ins: the Cybertruck can now be traded in for other vehicles. Surprising? Maybe, but for anyone who’s been paying attention to Tesla, it’s a move that’s been long overdue. While the Cybertruck was originally priced at $99,990, the trade-in values today are sitting around $63,000, which is a steep drop in just under two years.

Naturally, this hasn’t gone over well with some Tesla owners, who seem to have forgotten the brand’s history. “There’s no point in trading in/upgrading with that low of an offer,” said one person on Cybertruckownersclub. “That’s about $25k depreciation – assuming $10k for FSD,” said another. One more person calculated a 17.2 percent hit in value over what has essentially been barely more than a year.

Read: This Used Cybertruck Just Sold For $6K More Than A New One

Of course, they jumped through a lot of hoops, counting all sorts of things to add value. A more straightforward comparison, from the original price to the trade-in value, suggests depreciation of over 30 percent in that same time period. Taking that kind of hit on a ‘Foundation Series’ is pretty wild. Yet, some owners don’t seem bothered at all.

Several expressed the desire to keep their truck for good and at least one even mentioned willing it to their kids. Clearly, this situation is going to affect different buyers in vastly different ways. For Tesla though, this might be just a bit more gaming of the system.

Now let’s layer on a little extra context. Just last week, it came to light that Tesla had been up to its usual tricks with trade-ins. When it took back cars from customers on lease deals, it promised to turn them into robotaxis. Instead, it just installed some new software features and resold them at a tidy profit. This is the kind of behavior Tesla could repeat with the Cybertruck. After all, if a car didn’t come with all the software options, Tesla could easily push an update, send it back to market, and charge a premium.

There’s really no good reason to believe that Tesla won’t try to do something similar here with the Cybertruck. Owners who didn’t get every available software option could see their trade-in back on the market with a serious markup in price. After all, Tesla only needs to send a software update to enable some features.

All of that said, it’s an interesting situation that Tesla is now in. It’s fighting battles on just about every front while still offering what is objectively a compelling set of products. Will that alone be enough to stem the tide? Only time will tell. At least until then, the chance of getting a Cybertruck for $39,990, albeit on the second-hand market, is getting better.

Credit: Carsly / Rinoa0 / Outdoors / Cybertruckownersclub.com

The Standard of the World. That’s what Cadillac wants to be, and it’s not just us saying it. The automaker declared it, and it’s dead set on achieving that goal with the new Celestiq. Forget forging ahead with a big V8 or a super-luxe version of the long-loved Escalade. It went with an all-electric super sedan, priced like a Rolls-Royce. A new photo of one in the wild has us wondering if it’s going to miss its target.

A Suburban Reality Check

The car in question was spotted by an eagle-eyed Redditor just ten miles from GM’s Milford Proving Grounds. It wasn’t parked outside a multi-million-dollar mansion either. This appears to be an everyday home in the suburbs. In this setting, one we rarely see surrounding cars of this caliber, the Celestiq almost seems pedestrian. It’s worth noting that it had manufacturer plates, so it’s highly likely driven by either a GM employee or a journalist, as Cadillac has been providing testers to the press recently.

More: Cadillac’s $340K Celestiq Doesn’t Force You To Crawl Through The Trunk To Fix A Dead Battery After All

Sure, the Celestiq’s styling is no doubt more aggressive and out there than common cars. Still, it looks quite at home. The average passerby probably wouldn’t recognize that the car they’re looking at might cost more than the house it’s parked at. Nevertheless, everything we’re hearing about the Celestiq indicates that it’s a real moonshot worthy of praise.

After testing one, Jethro Bovington of Road and Track said that “Cadillac has been brave here, and I commend the sheer madness of it all.” What madness is he speaking of? Cadillac went all-out when it came to engineering here.

The Celestiq is packed with tech that’s as over-the-top as its price tag. It comes equipped with Magneride 4.0 shocks to smooth out the bumps and reduce chatter from the road. Under the hood, the electric motors deliver a respectable 655 horsepower and 646 lb-ft of torque. The dashboard? A 55-inch screen stretches across it like a sci-fi movie set. Passengers aren’t left out either, with two 12.6-inch screens in the back row.

Oh, and did we mention there are 38 speakers in the car? That’s almost certainly more than is in the entire house this one is parked at. Cadillac didn’t stop at just the opulent materials and high-end engineering side of things.

Customization Like You’ve Never Seen Before

The customization process is just as wild. According to Motor Trend, potential buyers get to be a part of the design process, and that includes rocking up to Cadillac House, the site, in Michigan. Once there, customers who have a connection to a previous Cadillac will likely find that model along with the Celestiq sitting on the floor of the venue.

From there, they can pick different fabrics, carpets, leathers, specific bits of interior trim, and yes, wheels too. Cadillac is only hand-building around 25 of these a year, and it says that there are some 350,000 combinations available with the options buyers have. Essentially, you’ll never see two of these that are identical.

Will Cadillac’s Celestiq Succeed?

At the same time, none of this means that the Celestiq will be a success. Cadillac has been slower to start production than it had hoped. Bovington rightly points out that Rolls-Royce is struggling to sell its all-electric Spectre. That could indicate that the Celestiq will be an even harder sale.

AutoNews points to a connection to the Lincoln Continental Mark II. “Launched by Ford’s separate Continental division for the 1956 model year, it was a masterpiece of mid-century design and exclusivity. It was also, at around $9,966 (about $117,000 in today’s money), the most expensive American-made car of its time. The result? It was a commercial flop.”

So, Will It Be a Success or a Footnote?

Looking at the Celestiq sitting in a suburban driveway, you might wonder if this is a preview of its future – a short-lived experiment destined to be a trivia answer. Will Cadillac’s electric dream get lost in the shuffle, or will it become the thing that pushes the brand into a whole new era?

Only time will tell, but at least we know one thing for sure already. Cadillac went all-in on this project, and whether it’s a massive hit or not, you can bet that history won’t forget it anytime soon.

Credit: Daily-Delay193

The FD-generation of the Mazda RX-7 is often hailed as one of the most stunning Japanese sports cars of the 1990s, and even today, it still turns heads. Decades after its release, it still looks the part, and well-loved examples can fetch more than MSRP at auction. But this one, listed over on Cars & Bids, offers something a little different.

Also: This Is One Twisted Creation You Have To See To Believe

Under its fetching curves and Montego Blue paint lies a Tesla drivetrain. It makes 362 horsepower (269 kW) and 325 lb-ft (440 Nm) of torque. That’s good enough to keep up with or even beat its original form. The best part though is that it weighs less than it did when it had a rotary engine.

That last point might sound strange. Most EVs are very heavy, and even electromods can end up with weighty battery packs and questionable balance. Not this one, though. It’s been carefully built around a 42 kWh water-cooled lithium-ion pack. Upgraded Ground Control coilovers and Eibach springs help the Mazda handle as it should, too.

Finally, No More Pretending to Love Oil Changes

Of course, with a project of this sort, range is the big tradeoff. This RX-7 features just 120 miles (just shy of 200 km) of range, if you’re careful, so don’t expect to take it on a grand tour. That said, it’ll go long enough to enjoy some serious canyon carving, a cars and coffee meetup, or an everyday work commute in silence. It’s hard to argue with the convenience factor, too. Forget oil changes. No need to worry about Apex seals either. No compression tests are in its future. Unplug and go. That’s this car’s motto.

Even the details appear dialed in. The builder kept the pop-up headlights, added in a rotary-style shifter, and Speedhut gauges. That includes a fuel-level gauge repurposed to show battery charge. A Tesla accelerator pedal sits on a custom-printed bracket. The car even features an updated sound system from Alpine. That all said, it’s not perfect.

It needs work to get the air conditioning running, some of the seats need work, and the body and cabin sport the kind of wear you’d expect in a car from 1993. In the end, though, it’s possible that this is a faster, more reliable RX-7 than it was originally. For many gearheads, that’s a trade-off worth making. It might not drink fuel anymore, but it’ll still burn rubber.

If you’re intrigued by the idea of an electric RX-7 and think you’re up for owning something that blends ’90s nostalgia with a modern twist, check out the listing here and place your bid.

Credit: Cars&Bids

Service experiences: like most things in life, they are not always the same. Some are exemplary, most range from quite good to satisfactory, others are bad – and then there are these ones. Imagine dropping your prized six-figure possession off at a service center for a few minor fixes, only to get it back with more issues than you started with, including, bizarrely, a completely wiped odometer. That’s what one unlucky Tesla Cybertruck owner had to endure, as detailed in a head-scratching thread.

More: Tesla’s Recall Service Left This Cybertruck With A Burn Mark And Panel Gap

In the words of the owner, “My CyberBeast went in for a spa day and came back a newborn, with a lazy eye and a missing limb.” That’s the almost unbelievable title to a new thread over at CybertruckOwners. In it, one member describes one of the strangest service experiences we’ve heard about in a while. Not only did Tesla’s service not address all of the issues this Cybertruck had, they gave it back to the customer after wiping the odometer. This wasn’t a rollback. This was more of a ‘never was.’

Notably, this is a Cyberbeast we’re talking about. The most expensive version at over $100,000, and one would like to hope, most carefully crafted cars Tesla makes. The owner dropped it off for a handful of minor things. He wanted a new light bar installed, he asked Tesla to nudge a few panel gaps so that they’d line up better, and the service team needed to address an on-again-off-again ABS alert.

Service Day Turns Into a Nightmare

According to his post, Tesla promised to have it all done by Thursday of that week. When that fell through, the service team moved his pickup day to Friday, and sure enough, by 5:30 p.m., it was ready… or so he thought. When he arrived, a few things weren’t quite right. The truck didn’t remember his phone, trim was hanging down under the glove box, and the odometer read zero.

As he puts it, “My 26 k-mile CyberBeast is now a CyberBaby. Shot a video while the “count” rolled from 0 → 1 as I left the lot. App and service menu agree — factory-fresh, just ignore the 5 months of road-trip Dorito dust.” To make this even clearer, it wasn’t a glitch. Based on whatever happened while the truck was in service, every source of information about his mileage agreed.

Video Cybertruckownersclub

Just to hammer the point home, the owner even included a video showing the odometer moving from 0 to 1 mile as he drove away. However, that wasn’t even the worst of it. The light bar installation? Well, let’s just say it looked like it had been done by someone who didn’t quite understand what the word symmetry means. There was a half-inch gap on one side and none on the other. And (because, why not?) there was a loose bolt in the tailgate and a trim panel that wasn’t even properly attached.

Also: Some Cybertrucks Getting Bricked After Tesla’s Latest Software Updates

At this point, he’s still trying to figure out what the proper solution is. Many on the forum believe Tesla missed a step, or several, near the end of service. Regardless, it’s not a good look for a company already working hard to improve its public image. 

Credit: CheddaTruck