VW Exec Has Great Vacation, Dealership Owner Carjacks Customer And Tesla's Illegal Light Bar In This Week's News Roundup

Despite recent push here in the U.S. to legalize it, using the marijuana plant as a recreational or even medicinal substance is still very much illegal around the world. One Volkswagen exec recently found that out the hard way when he was detained and later deported from China for failing a drug test, Reuters reports. - Collin Woodard Read More

If there’s one thing Florida loves more than getting its ass kicked by the University of Georgia, it’s letting people do pretty much whatever they want with their guns. So imagine our surprise when a Florida jury decided it actually wasn’t cool for a dealer to carjack a customer who had an issue setting up autopay and happened to be an immigrant. - Collin Woodard Read More

Tesla Cybertruck fans are raving about the truck’s latest OEM accessory: A light bar that sits atop the windshield and blinds all oncoming traffic with its copious lumens. The light bar only has one real problem — it’s illegal for street use, and it’s illegal for Tesla to even install it on your shiny new truck. - Amber DaSilva Read More

During Fisker’s short time as a functional car company, it really couldn’t help but do weird shit. Now, as it turns out, the dead automaker accidentally employed a North Korean spy on its technology team. No, I’m not joking. - Andy Kalmowitz Read More

The Volkswagen Group made waves back in 2022 when it announced it would be reviving the Scout nameplate for a new brand of American-built fully electric trucks and SUVs, but we hadn’t gotten much concrete info about the upcoming Scouts beyond some teasers and learnings gleaned from talking with the CEO. Until now, that is. Enter the new Scout Terra pickup and Traveler SUV — both names taken from original International Harvester models — which were just revealed at a sprawling estate outside Nashville. Technically these are just concept vehicles, but Scout representatives promise they’re quite close to the production models that will launch in 2027. - Daniel Golson Read More

Jaguar is currently only producing one model, the F-Pace SUV, after killing off the rest of its lineup in anticipation of upcoming electric cars that are still over a year away. Turns out that’s not exactly true, though — Jag just announced that it built two new E-Types for a customer in Southeast Asia. That’s right, I said new E-Types. - Daniel Golson Read More

Congrats, Amazon Prime members. You just got a new perk that could end up saving you dozens of dollars a year at the gas pump. Amazon linked up with BP, Amoco and AMPM/Arco, creating a program that’ll save drivers 10 cents per gallon whenever they fuel up at about 7,000 participating stations. - Andy Kalmowitz Read More

With a price north of $3 million, even a repair bill for a minor fender-bender in Bugatti Chiron could cause financial anxiety for an average person. During the ongoing Bugatti Grand Tour in Morocco, one of the scenic group drives ended with one Chiron crashing into another Chiron. Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac is attending the tour with a Chiron of his own, but he wasn’t involved in the crash. - Ryan Erik King Read More

Elon Musk might find out in an expensive way that a company can’t just use an AI-generated copy of someone’s work when denied the right to use the original. Alcon Entertainment filed a lawsuit on Monday against Elon Musk, Tesla and Warner Bros. Discovery for allegedly using AI-produced imagery to represent scenes ripped directly from “Blade Runner 2049” during its “We, Robot” event two weeks ago. The lawsuit directly alleges copyright infringement and false endorsement. - Ryan Erik King Read More

If I’m being completely honest, 2024 has not been great for me considering the whole “almost died” thing*. And yet, I’d rather relive this year ten times over than trade places with disgraced and disbarred former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. A judge has now ordered him to turn over essentially all of his valuables to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the Georgia election workers he defamed following Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. That means giving up his penthouse apartment, several watches, and even a 1980 Mercedes-Benz 500SL previously owned by Lauren Bacall. - Collin Woodard Read More