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. Over the weekend, San Francisco was hit by a series of blackouts caused by a substation fire that left an estimated 130,000 homes and businesses without power. Nearly two days later, Pacific Gas and Electric reports that some are still without electricity. As a consequence of the event, the city discovered how Waymo self-driving taxis cope when every traffic signal goes down at once: In short, they don’t. It didn’t take long before individuals on social media…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. The VW ID Buzz has been on sale for precisely one model year in the United States, and VW is already pulling it from the lineup. Back in October, we reported that VW was pausing production of the electric van due to slowing demand. Now, as Carscoops first reported and The Drive confirmed soon after, demand has softened so much in the United States that VW is effectively dropping it after just one model year. The manufacturer…
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 an Apple fan and General Motors owner (or thinking about becoming one), the company’s recent product announcements have probably rubbed you the wrong way, but for once, we have a tiny nugget of good news. GM is rolling out a native Apple Music app for its models that don’t offer Apple CarPlay. This may not sound like much, but for owners who have been stuck poking at their phones to control their road trip playlists,…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Few things draw the ire of car people like piped-in exhaust sound. Maybe my perception is skewed since I spend so much time online, but I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone who liked engine noise blasted through their speakers. And on top of feeling phony or fake, the feature that car companies call Active Sound Design can make it a major pain to upgrade something as simple as a subwoofer. I didn’t know this until I…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Earlier this month, reports were swirling that Gerry McGovern, acclaimed Jaguar Land Rover design boss and a driving force behind Jaguar’s controversial rebrand, was dismissed from the company. We (and every other outlet) asked our JLR contacts if this was true; the official reply was “no comment,” naturally leading us to figure something was up. Some two weeks later, Jaguar has reportedly stated it’s “untrue” that McGovern was “terminated.” The timeline and terminology still seem suspect to…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Startup automaker Rivian is fully committed that Apple CarPlay is not the future. The executive team is so resolute on this matter that a native home-brewed solution has been developed to give consumers capabilities they’ve been requesting. At the automaker’s Autonomy and AI day in Palo Alto, California on Thursday, Rivian unveiled Rivian Assistant, which is the automaker’s solution to bringing text messaging capabilities, and so much more, to its vehicles natively. The feature is set to…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. That headline is not a typo. During Rivian’s Autonomy and AI Day in Palo Alto, California on Thursday, the automaker announced its new Universal Hands-Free (UHF) hands-free driver-assist system, and it’s going to be available on over 3.5 million miles of roads in the USA and Canada. Set to launch later this month on second-generation R1 vehicles, the UHF system will be part of a free software update, which a Rivian spokesperson told The Drive will be…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Rivian just threw down the hammer and implied Tesla is dead wrong about making self-driving cars with just the use of cameras. During the automaker’s AI and Autonomy Day in Palo Alto California on Thursday, Rivian unveiled its in-house developed proprietary silicon, a roadmap for its next-generation hands-free driver-assist system, an AI-driven assistant for text messaging capabilities, and the adoption of LiDAR hardware. The core of the announcement is Rivian’s new in-house designed silicon chip dubbed Rivian…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Baja Designs, a high-end off-road lighting brand, just released a neat new accessory called the Reflex Actuator that lets you aim off-road lights from a switch in your cab. Aptly named, it’s literally just a little 12-volt actuator you install on a single pod or light bar, then run a wiring harness to a switch, and suddenly you can move lights up or down in a 20-degree range on the fly. Many modern trucks have active headlight…
The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday. Toyota surprised us big time last month by reviving the Scion name as a turbo hybrid UTV concept with over 300 horsepower. This week, my colleague Caleb Jacobs is on the ground with Toyota people in Arizona, and he’s learned that the company really is serious about entering the powersports market. We’ve been hearing that non-cars (things like trikes, UTVs, and other toy vehicles that can side-step automotive regulations) may be the future of lower-priced enthusiast vehicles.…