Weekend News Roundup February 01, 2025

Ever since it finally went on sale in 2023, the Tesla Cybertruck has been on the receiving end of some pretty bad press. The car has been hit with recall after recall, failed at some pretty basic truck tasks and hasn’t sold in the huge numbers Tesla projected. Now, the ridiculous truck’s owners report that they are on the receiving end of negativity of their own. - Owen Bellwood Read More

President Trump has threatened import tariffs on automobiles seemingly forever, ranging from 25 percent to 300 percent depending on how he’s feeling that day, but the administration seems poised to launch a new raft of import tariffs on February 1. The incoming punitive tariffs are aimed at vehicles built in Canada, Mexico and the EU, which leaves Audi and Porsche particularly exposed, as neither automaker has ever built a car inside the United States. In order to avoid being hit with these difficult tariffs, parent company Volkswagen Auto Group is considering expanding its Chattanooga, Tenn. facility to produce some American Made Porsches and Audis as well, according to reports from Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper. - Bradley Brownell Read More

Basically every single automaker is switching to the Tesla-style NACS port for upcoming electric vehicles, including many facelifted or new EVs hitting the market in 2025. The first non-Tesla car to actually go on sale in the U.S. with the NACS port is the Lucid Gravity SUV, which reached customer hands at the end of 2024, and now Lucid has divulged details about the Gravity’s charging performance and its access to the Tesla Supercharger network. Building on the success of the Air, not only does the Gravity have the most powerful fast-charging capability of any EV in the U.S., it can charge at speeds you can’t even get from any current Tesla chargers. - Daniel Golson Read More

Infiniti’s already small lineup is about to get a little smaller. Following the discontinuation of the old-ass Q50 sedan, the brand is killing off its QX50 and QX55 crossovers at the end of 2025, but it’s building enough of them to keep dealers stocked for at least six months after that. That’ll give the brand enough wiggle room until a new crossover arrives next year. - Lawrence Hodge Read More

Self-driving taxi companies are slowly taking over the streets of cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix where they can often be found driving in circles, blocking first responders and, occasionally, giving people lifts around town. The presence of these cars on the streets has irked some residents, and now a group in LA has attacked an empty Waymo self-driving taxi, ripping off its door and smashing windows. - Owen Bellwood Read More

In the days since Donald Trump’s second inauguration, the President has issued 68 executive orders. He’s covered everything from banal cabinet appointments to just who’s allowed to have healthcare, but he’s found a special enemy in EVs and their charging infrastructure — most recently issuing an executive order halting payouts from the Inflation Reduction Act that would have gone to building more EV charging stations. - Amber DaSilva Read More

It’s been four years since Ford started selling the Mustang Mach-E. In an owners’ forum anniversary message, the Blue Oval offered a small peek into the data gathered from the electric crossovers on the road. The manufacturer stated that the average Mach-E owner drives 66 miles on a typical weekday. Shockingly, that figure is far beyond the average American’s daily mileage, which per FHWA data is 37 miles per day regardless of powertrain, but it still comes nowhere near the Mach-E’s total range. - Ryan Erik King Read More

Los Angeles has been beset by fires this year, and it seems like every fire department around has done everything it can to help. One department, though, simply doesn’t have enough trucks that are in good enough shape to use: The Los Angeles Fire Department. Why are its trucks so broken? Well, as with most evils in this world, it’s private equity’s fault. - Amber DaSilva Read More

Teen automotive enthusiasts report feeling “dejected” and “just real depressed” about their prospects of being allowed to buy their dream cars after their parents saw the news that a Nebraska teen was just arrested after running from the cops in his Corvette and hitting 168 mph in the process. The chase took place Monday night and went on for about 20 miles before the 16-year-old finally gave up, Nebraska’s ABC 8 News reports. - Collin Woodard Read More

An American Airlines regional jet carrying 60 passengers crashed with a military helicopter near Washington D.C. Wednesday evening. The two aircraft collided mid-air and crashed down into the Potomac River at 9 p.m. on Wednesday. - Owen Bellwood Read More