A Dirty Dealership, A Nice Van And A Dead Mitsubishi In This Week's News Roundup

A Honda dealership in Bowie, Maryland is facing civil charges after it allegedly engaged in “unfair or deceptive trade practices at nearly every stage” of new vehicle sales, according to Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown. - Andy Kalmowitz Read More

The #VanLife craze may be well and truly dead, but it seems the gentrification of vehicle-as-dwelling has fundamentally changed our relationship with vans. Now, we’re seeing models like this Nissan Caravan MyRoom, which position the humble van as a mobile home room. - Amber DaSilva Read More

Tesla is a car company, no matter what Elon and his army of Long $TSLA hodlers will tell you. Artificial intelligence, or the fancy machine learning models and response generators often referred to as AI, is proving (at least in the short term) to be an expensive boondoggle aimed at replacing workers with computers. If Tesla CEO Elon Musk has his way, the car company would hinge its future, and its billions in value, on so-called artificial intelligence. - Bradley Brownell Read More

Dodge officially announced pricing for the all new Charger Daytona Wednesday, just one day after a report leaked pricing of the new muscle car.

Including a $1,995 destination charge, the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona will start at $61,590 when it goes on sale later this year. That price will get you into the electric Charger Daytona R/T, which comes standard with Dodge’s Direct Connection Stage 1 powertrain upgrade for 496 horsepower and 404 pounds-feet of torque. It also comes with a sport-oriented suspension and 18-inch wheels wrapped with 245/55R18 all-season tires. - Lawrence Hodge Read More

The Harris-Walz campaign rolled into Michigan Wednesday for yet another rally, with a who’s who of local Democratic politicians lined up to speak. The list included Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Lieutenant Governor Charlie Gilchrist, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Senator Debbie Stabenow and Representative Elissa Slotkin. United Auto Workers’ President Shawn Fain also spoke, and if he held back, it didn’t show, as he called Donald Trump “a scab” who “doesn’t know shit about the auto industry.” - Collin Woodard Read More

A Tesla Cybertruck driver is dead after their truck left the road, hit a concrete culvert at considerable speed and burst into flames near the Grand Parkway in the greater Houston area. Texas State troopers are now investigating what happened during the crash that took place in the early morning hours of August 5. - Andy Kalmowitz Read More

Features that you pay for and download to your vehicle are slowly becoming a thing with EVs. Both Cadillac and Ford have done it with the Lyriq and Mustang Mach-E. And now Kia is doing it with its EV9 SUV. MotorTrend is currently long-term testing an EV9. As part of the test, they decided to try out every OTA feature the EV comes with by purchasing every single one in a rather pricey endeavor to see whether or not any of these features were worth the cost. - Lawrence Hodge Read More

The presidential primaries bring chaos to the most peaceful of times in the U.S., but given the volatility of, well, everything over the past few election cycles, it feels like a wilder time than ever before. The all-but-officially official Democratic presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris announced her VP pick running mate today as current Minnesota governor Tim Walz. In contrast to the republican rhetoric about how Democrats want to outlaw gas cars and force everyone to drive an EV, you’ll be happy to know that Walz is a certified car guy who reportedly daily drives his 1979 International Harvester Scout, and who shows appreciation for classic cars at local car shows. - Logan Carter Read More

More than 20 people are in hospital after a Mercedes-Benz electric car burst into flames in a South Korean car park. The car exploded and damaged more than 100 cars parked nearby. The fire released a cloud of toxic smoke into the building above, which left 23 people in need of medical attention. - Owen Bellwood Read More

The small, cheap new car market has just been dealt a massive blow. The Mitsubishi Mirage, one of the cheapest new cars on the market, will be discontinued. - Lawrence Hodge Read More