Electric Cars Aren't Greener Until 25,000 Miles, A Brave Soul Uses A Fisker Ocean As A NY Taxi And Honda And Nissan Won't Go Steady After All In This Week's Car Culture Roundup

Not long ago, virtually every single new car was sold with a spare tire, a jack and a small tool kit to allow owners to swap out a flat tire for the spare on the side of the road. That has changed over recent years, with many carmakers dropping the standard spare tire to cut costs and reduce vehicle weight to aid fuel economy. Often, cars that are sold without spare tires will instead come fitted with run-flat tires that can still be driven on for short distances when the tire is completely flat, or they’re offered with a can of tire sealant and an air compressor that plugs into the 12V socket that you plug your phone charger into. This also applies for electric vehicles and internal combustion vehicles, naturally. - Logan Carter Read More

One of the biggest arguments against electric vehicle adoption is that they couldn’t possible be much cleaner than gas-powered cars thanks to the increased energy demands of their production. Processes like mining to extract the rare earth metals essential for EV batteries are pretty bad for the planet, and the extra transportation emissions associated with EV construction all add up. This doesn’t mean gas-powered cars are cleaner, however, and there’s actually a distinct point in a car’s lifecycle when electric power becomes cleaner than gas. - Owen Bellwood Read More

With wealth disparity reaching new heights and presidential promises of decreased prices looking like another lie to add to the list, many Americans are looking for ways to save money. Average people listen up: Advertising companies make billions of dollars convincing you that your life will suddenly be better if you own the newest, shiniest, and fanciest cars, phones, or clothes. Don’t be fooled by these coercive tactics. Exceeding your budget or accepting astronomical finance terms just so you can own a new car isn’t smart, especially now that cars haven’t really evolved much over the past few years. If you buy a lightly used car, it likely has similar features, styling, technology, performance, and efficiency to the brand-new models, and you can save a lot of money. It’s like trickle-down economics, but it actually works. - Logan Carter Read More

Driving a Fisker Ocean in 2025 is a risky proposition. When the cars were new, they were hideously unreliable from the factory. Now, Fisker has gone away and, for the most part, owners are on their own when it comes to repairs and maintenance. Because of that, you’d think they’d try to really take care of their new-ish Oceans. Well, not this guy. - Andy Kalmowitz Read More

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, February 4, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know. - Andy Kalmowitz Read More

Good morning! It’s Monday, February 3, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know. - Owen Bellwood Read More

Good morning! It’s Wednesday, February 5, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know. - Owen Bellwood Read More

The term advanced driver-assistance systems, or ADAS, is used to categorize features like adaptive cruise control, lane departure prevention and automatic emergency braking to name a few, but to the average consumer most of those words are just gibberish. What many consumers have latched onto are Tesla’s dangerous and misleading naming strategies of these driver assistance features. Names like “Autopilot” and “Full Self Driving” are troubling because the driver is still responsible for everything their car does with either of those systems active, whether they know it or not. Consumer Reports studies are about as objective as it gets, and a new video goes into detail about how the outlet tests ADAS technologies and how they all stack up against each other. - Logan Carter Read More

If you’re looking to make a quick getaway from a crime, you should probably opt for something fast and nimble as your escape vehicle - like a slick hot hatch. You probably shouldn’t go for a cumbersome piece of heavy machinery that tops out at 12 mph as your escape vehicle, as a man in Alabama did last week. - Owen Bellwood Read More

We’ve all encountered troublesome highway exits where drivers are expected to swerve across multiple lanes to make the off-ramp. In some cities, those exits have become local villains. One hobbyist game developer’s current project is transforming Exit 3A on Interstate 277 in Charlotte, North Carolina into an enjoyable romp of vehicular mayhem. - Ryan Erik King Read More