Electric Cars

This one seems pretty minor, all things considered. It’s for a possible issue with the installation of an off-road light bar accessory that could detach while driving. But it’s notable given that the truck has already racked up a whopping 10 recalls in just two years on the road. Most have been related to poor build quality, which could also be a factor in the truck’s dismal sales record.

GM destroyed most of the original EV1s, as documented by the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? But a few remain, mostly in museum or university collections. The Autopian recently discovered one of the original OG electric vehicles in auction in Atlanta, and before you know, CarTube creators descended, bidding up the price to over $100,000. This for a non-running relic of an EV! We’ll keep our eye out for the inevitable YouTube video.

Elon Musk’s political activities — buying Twitter, renaming it X, and letting election deniers and white supremacists back on; donating nearly $300 million to elect Donald Trump; heading DOGE — have dramatically harmed Tesla’s financial fortunes, according to a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research by Yale University economists. Musk’s polarizing behavior likely cost the company up to 1.26 million vehicle sales in the US alone, the group estimates. Meanwhile, EV sales from other automakers popped 17-22 percent, as Musk-disgusted shoppers spent their cash elsewhere.

More than 600 people are scheduled to lose their jobs, the Wall Street Journal report. The move comes a few weeks after the expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, which is widely expected to lead to a slowdown in EV sales. And it comes a day after Rivian’s spinoff Also revealed its first slate of new micromobility products. Rivian is also bracing itself for the lose of revenue from the sale of regulatory credits to other automakers, which was eliminated by Trump’s budget bill.

This is the same robot that couldn’t handle popcorn distribution at Tesla’s diner, and was revealed to be remote controlled at the company’s Cybercab event. In a Q3 earnings call, Musk said he would “of course” ensure that “Optimus is safe” before allowing it to perform surgery on anyone. Volunteers?

A potential battery pack contactor defect could cause the EVs to suddenly lose power, as reported by Reuters. Tesla acknowledged in a NHTSA filing that the issue impacts 12,963 2025 Model 3 and 2026 Model Y vehicles manufactured between March 8th and August 15th, 2025.

At Wired, Zoë Schiffer (a Verge alum) talked to Cybertruck owners about life with Elon Musk’s controversial car. Somehow, the quotes in this story are even more ridiculous than the photos.

That’s been China’s strategy to achieve “total domination of the global auto industry,” which Michael Dunne argues in his latest newsletter it is on the cusp of doing. The Chinese auto expert and former GM executive said the country “has enough annual capacity - 50 million – to supply 55 percent of global demand for vehicles.” This overcapacity is forcing Chinese automakers to face an ultimatum: export or die. It’s doing it now in Europe. Can the US be that far behind?

In a filing with the SEC, the automaker says it needs to take the writedown in order to “reassess our EV capacity and manufacturing footprint” after President Trump and Congressional Republicans voted to eliminate the $7,500 consumer tax credit. And there may be future costs — “it is reasonably possible that we will recognize additional future material cash and non-cash charges” — after it finishes reassessing, GM says.

Apparently the lower-cost Standard trim still has the same glass roof as the Premium models, but Tesla installed a fabric headliner so you can’t see through it. Motor Trend and Car and Driver both clocked this in their hands-on with the new Model Y. It’s a strange move — Wouldn’t this end up costing more than just replacing the glass with metal or fiberglass? — but this is Tesla after all.

The new Tron movie isn’t getting the greatest reviews, but that hasn’t stopped Tesla from pushing a software update that enables customers to turn their vehicles into light cycles on their infotainment screens. Some Tesla owners are complaining that this basically amounts to free advertising for Disney. Maybe Tesla should have stopped after sending one of its Optimus robots to try to “fight” Jared Leto at the film’s premiere.

Last week, Ford CEO Jim Farley stepped up to the Decoder mic to explain why Ford isn’t offering CarPlay Ultra. Then this week, our friend Joanna Stern followed up with RJ Scaringe to discuss (again) why his company’s cars don’t have CarPlay support at all.

Is that a plastic hubcap, perhaps on a more affordable Model Y? A fan for the revamped Tesla Roadster? A new HVAC system? Or is it a Tesla frisbee, as some commenters have guessed? I guess we’ll have to tune in tomorrow (October 7th) to find out.