Weekend News Roundup July 27, 2024

The Tesla Cybertruck sucks. It’s been a reliability disaster, can’t even survive a simple car wash, is incredibly difficult to repair, has edges that are so sharp owners have ended up in the hospital from their injuries, and it looks like it was designed in a lab to crush pedestrians. It also hasn’t been crash-tested and likely never will be. The thing is, though, the Cybertruck isn’t the only car on the road that’s never been crash-tested. As Consumer Reports recently explained, that’s the case for a lot more cars than you might expect. - Collin Woodard Read More

Tesla held its Q2 earnings call last night, and, well, it certainly was something. My brain matter may currently be leaking out of my ears after listening to Elon Musk talk for so long, but I did it for all of you, our valued readers. Was it worth it? Of course not. And yet, I did it anyway. You’ve got to tune in when the New York Times reports Tesla’s profits dropped by 45 percent year-over-year. - Collin Woodard Read More

Trump supporters learned the hard way that the manager isn’t always right after their cars were towed from a Dunkin’ Donut’s parking lot during this week’s Trump rally in Charlotte, North Carolina. - Erin Marquis Read More

Automotive testing website Edmunds took ownership of its long-term Tesla Cybertruck a little over a month ago and it’s already had a major fault. More specifically, the nearly brand new truck has suffered a “critical steering issue,” which doesn’t sound ideal. - Andy Kalmowitz Read More

Arizona State Senator Justine Wadsack was caught driving 71 mph in a 35-mph zone, and now she’s claiming “political persecution” over the citation. In Arizona, if you’re caught driving 20 mph or more over the posted speed limit, it’s considered a Class 3 misdemeanor, punishable with up to 30 days in jail and up to a year of probation, a $500 fine, and three points on your license. Now she’s refusing to sign the citation, the Tucson Sentinel reports. - Collin Woodard Read More

In what is believed to be the first prosecution of its kind in New York, Sean Smith (40) and Deo Ramnarine (43) were sentenced this week for providing the car that their at-the-time-16-year-old son crashed in Queens last May. The driver, who had only a “junior driver’s license,” had not earned the privilege of driving without supervision, or within the boundaries of New York City. The boy was gifted a bright red 2005 BMW E46, which he slammed headlong into a UPS truck while allegedly doing 101 miles per hour in a 35 zone. The boy’s passenger, 14-year-old Fortune Williams, was pronounced dead at the scene. - Bradley Brownell Read More

I don’t know what I was expecting to hear — I was pretty bleary from a monster EV road trip. But when the Chevrolet engineer said “1,064 horsepower,” the words “holy shit” escaped my mouth. I really try not to give that kind of feedback. - Rory Carroll Read More

Despite being a requirement for many car buyers, Rivian is one of the few automakers that doesn’t use Apple CarPlay. Rivian’s founder and CEO confirmed Monday the automaker won’t be using CarPlay in any of its vehicles any time in the future either. - Lawrence Hodge Read More

Embattled former president, convicted felon, and 2024 Republican party nominee, Donald Trump, said during a Wednesday evening rally in Charlotte, North Carolina that he would be in favor of replacing military generals with NASCAR team owners and drivers. Trump was introduced on stage by team owner Richard Childress (shown above), and spent a section of his 93-minute screed positing this idea, speaking directly to Mr. Childress as he said it: - Bradley Brownell Read More

President Biden announced Sunday that he’s withdrawing from the race, endorsing Vice President Harris to be his replacement. Biden is also a huge Corvette guy. So him dropping out of the race means that come January, he’ll be free to don those signature aviators, hop into his Corvette and speed off into the sunset licking an ice cream cone, right? Sadly, that’s not actually the case, although the Secret Service does occasionally make exceptions. - Collin Woodard Read More