Author: News Room
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Remember BMW’s subscription seat heater scandal? You’d be forgiven for letting it slip your mind; after all, there’s been more than enough rage bait (automotive and otherwise) to go around in recent years. The short version is this: Both manufacturers and dealers are all about making money on their cars long after the initial sale. Traditionally, that revenue has largely come from maintenance, but since EVs don’t require as much upkeep as internal-combustion cars, the future of…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. If you’re buying an EV in North America, these days you’d be hard-pressed to find something better equipped for the money than Hyundai and Kia’s latest products. Not only are they just plain good, but they’re also not overly complicated to use, thanks to fairly conventional interiors that retain some physical buttons at a time when those have been vanishing from cars. Even the EV9, for example, uses hard switches for climate and volume, as well as…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Ice racing is fun, but sometimes you just want to get to work without a heightened risk of crashing. To give drivers more of a warning of freezing conditions, University of Michigan (U-M) researchers developed a pair of new sensors, taking inspiration from a place that can get much colder than Earth. As explained in a press release, Nilton Renno, a U-M professor of climate and space sciences and engineering who led the project, was looking at…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. New cars are studded with sensors for safety and driver-assist systems. Honda is using these sensors to make roads not only safer, but better to drive on. The automaker just completed a two-year pilot of its Proactive Roadway Maintenance System, which uses cameras and lidar to flag potholes, worn signs, damaged guardrails, and other potential problems for highway departments to deal with (whether they actually do is another matter). Conducted in partnership with DriveOhio, a unit of…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Neck strains and sprains are the most frequently reported injuries in United States auto insurance claims, so the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)—the nonprofit safety organization funded by the insurance industry—is introducing a more thorough test that addresses the most likely causes of these injuries. In addition to crash tests, the IIHS began testing seats and head restraints for whiplash prevention about 20 years ago. In fact, it discontinued the original version of the test in…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Our concepts of luxury change over time, and automotive history offers a convenient way to survey that shift. Ornate instrumentation gave way to natural materials, the onset of technology in the cabin, and, today, minimalism and screens. It’s up to tastemakers like Volvo to decide what the next generation of automotive luxury looks like, and the Swedish automaker is putting its money on wool. The Drive had an opportunity to chat with Sara Erichsen Susnjar, Volvo’s Senior Design…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Would-be Cadillac buyers that are turned off at the idea that General Motors will not offer Apple CarPlay in its EVs can add Volvo to their consideration list. On Wednesday in Stockholm, Sweden, hours before the 2027 EX60 debuted Volvo’s Chief Engineering and Technology Officer Anders Bell confirmed to The Drive during a media round table the automaker will continue to offer Apple CarPlay in its vehicles including EVs. “Yes, Yes absolutely we will,” Bell said. “It’s…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Is this the Toyota Highlander EV? Toyota took to social media this morning to share a teaser pic of something with some clear SUV/truck proportions and a full-width rear lighting signature. With little more to go on besides unofficial reports and some (admittedly high-quality) rumors, we’re inclined to say this is probably an all-electric variant of Toyota’s big family crossover. I know what you’re probably thinking: “A Toyota EV? In this economy political climate?” But despite its…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. We found a few new patents from Rivian this week, including one particularly interesting new one, showcasing neat-looking functions that the brand is considering for the R1S SUV and possibly R1T truck. In a conceptual illustration of the dashboard, there’s a row of knobs or big buttons(!) below the main screen. Looks like Rivian might finally be feeding some car functionality away from the wide central screen and into physical controls. Now, patent imagery doesn’t necessarily dictate…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Elon Musk took to X earlier this week to announce that Tesla is now operating robotaxis in Austin, Texas, without safety monitors in the car. While we’re happy to call Musk out on a fib, it appears he was being quite literal about the whole situation. Tesla is indeed operating robotaxis in Austin without safety monitors inside those taxis, but that doesn’t mean they’re absent. Instead, they’re accompanying them from the confines of a separate chase car—or…