Automotive News

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EV Ownership in 2026: Ranking All 50 States + DC

Updated May 2026. Refreshed with EIA February 2026 electricity rates, AFDC May 2026 charging infrastructure data, and Alliance for Automotive Innovation Q3-Q4 2025 EV registration data. Several state incentive programs have contracted since this article was first published in January 2026, including Washington (sales tax exemption expired July 2025), Vermont (Replace Your Ride defunded), Minnesota (rebate program closed), Oregon (rebates suspended), and Maryland (FY2026 funding exhausted). Per-state writeups reflect program status as of the refresh date. One in three new vehicles sold in Colorado last quarter was electric. In Wyoming, fewer than 800 EVs exist statewide. Same country, same year, radically different realities. The American EV market fractured in 2025. The federal tax credit died on September 30. Ford announced

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LG Reveals AI Windshield and Gaze-Tracking Tech at CES 2026

LG Electronics will showcase AI-powered in-vehicle technology at CES 2026 in January, featuring transparent OLED windshields displaying contextual information, cameras tracking eye movements and gestures, and systems designed to anticipate passenger needs before explicit requests. The suite won CES 2026’s Best of Innovation Award in In-Vehicle Entertainment, marking the first time LG Vehicle Solution Company has claimed the category’s top prize. The technology demonstrations deliver immediate impact: windshields displaying cherry blossoms floating past during autonomous driving, cameras detecting when passengers glance at building advertisements to instantly surface product information, AI systems retrieving old photos when the vehicle passes locations tied to stored memories. Here’s the part that matters: LG doesn’t build cars. They build components that automakers might integrate years

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Ford Discontinues the F-150 Lightning, 700-Mile EREV Replacement Coming

Ford built the F-150 Lightning for three years, delivering approximately 63,000 trucks across three model years despite planning production capacity for 150,000 units annually. Originally promised at $40,000, the vehicles ultimately sold for $70,000, creating a pricing gap that fundamentally undermined the business case. Production ended December 2025 after Ford‘s Model e division accumulated $3.6 billion in losses through September. CEO Jim Farley addressed the reality directly: “These really expensive $70,000 electric trucks, as much as I love the product, they didn’t make sense.” The replacement arrives as an EREV, Extended-Range Electric Vehicle, Ford‘s terminology for a plug-in hybrid combining larger battery capacity with a gas generator to extend total range beyond 700 miles. The all-electric F-150 experiment concludes. What

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Wisk Aero’s Autonomous Air Taxi Flew, But $2 Billion Question Remains

On December 16, 2025, a four-seat electric aircraft lifted off autonomously at Wisk Aero’s test facility in Hollister, California. The Generation 6 aircraft hovered, maneuvered through stabilized flight sequences, and returned to the ground. No pilot aboard. No remote control from the ground beyond supervisory monitoring. This marks Wisk’s first flight of the aircraft they plan to certify for commercial passenger service by 2030. The company, wholly owned by Boeing, positions the Generation 6 as the first-ever candidate for FAA-certified autonomous commercial passenger flight in the United States. First flights represent critical early milestones in aircraft development while simultaneously representing the easiest phase of a process stretching years and costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Wisk completed the straightforward portion. The challenging

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How to Set Up Your 2025 RAM ProMaster 2500 for Work: Shelving, Tie-Downs & Upfit Guide

A flooring contractor with 30 years in the trade calls the ProMaster “by far the best vehicle I’ve had for work.” A mobile mechanic who has run every type of van over four decades says nothing matches it for cargo access. A plumber at 6’3″ walks the center aisle without ducking. These aren’t marketing claims. They come from owners who load these vans heavy, six days a week. The ProMaster’s advantage is structural: front-wheel drive eliminates the driveshaft tunnel, so the cargo floor is flat from wall to wall. The 21-inch load floor sits seven inches lower than the Ford Transit’s. The 75-inch interior width fits standard pallet racking. These dimensions shape every upfit decision, from shelf depth to partition

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NVIDIA and Uber Partner with Stellantis, Lucid, and Mercedes-Benz to Deploy 100,000 Level 4 Autonomous Vehicles Starting 2027

The autonomous vehicle industry reached a major inflection point this week when NVIDIA and Uber announced an expansive partnership to deploy 100,000 SAE Level 4-capable robotaxis and delivery vehicles beginning in 2027. The collaboration, unveiled by NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang at the company’s 2025 Global Technology Conference in Washington, D.C., represents the most ambitious autonomous vehicle deployment plan announced to date and signals a fundamental shift in how the world will experience mobility. At the heart of this transformation lies NVIDIA’s new DRIVE AGX Hyperion 10 platform, a reference production architecture that the company claims can make any vehicle Level 4-ready. The system features two DRIVE AGX Thor system-on-chips built on NVIDIA’s Blackwell architecture, each delivering more than

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The 2025 Hemmings Motor Club Rally: Paso Robles Returns for an Encore Drive Through California’s Wine Country

E-Book PDF: Open in New Window | Download (804.3KB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreThe Hemmings Motor Club Rally: Paso Robles returns for its second edition October 24-26, 2025, bringing enthusiasts from both ends of California together for three days of back road driving, poolside gatherings, and the kind of automotive camaraderie that makes the hobby worthwhile. The car collector car community has a fresh opportunity to celebrate what these machines were built for: driving. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for The Weekly Driver to grab one of its own collector cars and join in on the rally to Paso. The timing of the rally coincides with Paso Robles’ most energetic season. Harvest typically runs from late September through

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Why Are My Tires Turning Brown?

If you’ve ever wondered what causes tires to turn brown – the science has a few nuances. Tires that gradually shift from deep black to dull chocolate-brown are not failing, they are “blooming.” Brown sidewalls are produced when protective antiozonant chemicals inside the rubber migrate to the surface and oxidize. Although visually unappealing, blooming shows the tire’s self-preservation system is working. Consistent cleaning, dedicated rubber cleaners, and modern water-based dressings keep sidewalls dark while avoiding sling or long-term damage. The Science of Tire “Bloom”: Antiozonants and 6PPD Manufacturers blend antiozonants, most commonly N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N’-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD), into sidewall compounds to fight ozone cracks and UV degradation. As a tire flexes, microscopic pores open, allowing 6PPD to migrate (“bloom”) to the surface where

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2027 Chevrolet Bolt Returns: America’s Most Affordable Electric Vehicle Gets Complete Overhaul

General Motors has announced the return of the Chevrolet Bolt for the 2027 model year, bringing significant improvements to what was already America’s most affordable long-range electric vehicle. The new Bolt combines updated Ultium technology with the proven formula that made its predecessor one of the industry’s most popular electric vehicles. The 2027 Bolt will begin production in late 2025 at GM’s Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, with customer deliveries starting in early 2026. GM describes this as a “limited run model,” though the company has not specified what this designation means in terms of production numbers or timeline. Specifications Powertrain and Performance The 2027 Bolt features GM’s in-house X76 electric drive unit, shared with the Chevrolet Equinox

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A Reality Check to EV Ownership: Ranking All 50 States + DC in 2025

This article has been updated for 2026 with new and updated date: EV Ownership in 2026: Ranking All 50 States + DC Vermont beats California. Wyoming outpaces New York. North Dakota ranks higher than Texas. In the geography of electric car ownership, nothing is quite as it seems. With 3.57 million electric vehicles now registered across America, choosing where to live has become one of the most important decisions for prospective EV owners. A state-by-state examination of charging infrastructure, electricity costs, government incentives, and market conditions reveals stark differences that can make or break the electric car experience. The Complete Rankings: Four Performance Tiers America’s EV landscape divides into four distinct performance categories, with 12 states achieving excellent conditions, 17

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Waymo Receives New York City’s First Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit

New York City has granted Waymo its inaugural autonomous vehicle testing permit, marking a significant milestone in the deployment of self-driving technology in one of America’s most challenging urban environments. The announcement, made by Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez on August 22, 2025, represents the first time the city has authorized autonomous vehicle testing within its boundaries. The permit allows Waymo to deploy up to eight Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in designated areas of Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn through late September 2025. Under New York State law, each vehicle must maintain a trained safety specialist in the driver’s seat at all times, prepared to assume control when necessary. After the initial pilot period concludes, Waymo may

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Tensor Robocar: The First Level 4 Self-Driving Vehicle Designed for Private Ownership

Tensor emerges as the world’s first company to design and market a Level 4 autonomous vehicle specifically for private ownership. Unlike the robotaxi-focused approach that has dominated the industry, Tensor’s philosophy centers on “Own Your Autonomy,” a vision where individuals possess their own Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) agents rather than relying on fleet-based services. The company’s core mission extends beyond traditional automotive boundaries, positioning the Tensor Robocar as an embodied personal AGI that empowers owners with time, freedom, and autonomy. This approach challenges the prevailing industry assumption that autonomous vehicles must operate as shared fleet assets to achieve economic viability. Tensor’s origins trace back to AutoX, founded in August 2016 by Jianxiong Xiao, a former MIT PhD and Princeton University

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Electrum and Nissan Launch NISSAN ENERGY Marketplace to Simplify EV and Solar Installations for Homeowners

Electrum, the home electrification marketplace behind platforms for major automakers, has partnered with Nissan to launch the NISSAN ENERGY Marketplace nationwide. The timing is critical: federal EV charger incentives expire September 30, 2025, and solar tax credits end December 31, 2025, a tightening deadline for homeowners nationwide. In an exclusive interview with Michael Kahn, publisher of The Weekly Driver, Electrum CEO Max Aram explained in-depth how the company’s new partnership with Nissan will help homeowners, and Nissan EV owners, simplify home electrification. “We are thrilled to bring our home electrification expertise to Nissan and support their EV owners on the path to a fully electrified lifestyle,” said Max Aram, CEO of Electrum. “Together, we are breaking down the barriers to

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Solid-State Batteries vs. Lithium-Ion in 2025: The Future of EV Sustainability

Solid-state batteries (SSBs) are at the center of the most significant technological leap in electric vehicle (EV) energy storage as of 2025, promising to overcome the limitations of today’s lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with breakthroughs in range, charging speed, and safety. As of 2025, this is the current state of SSB science, global supply chain dynamics, and the environmental implications of sourcing critical materials like lithium and sulfur-a pivotal shift as the industry prioritizes Scope 2 and 3 emission reductions. Unlike conventional LIBs, which use flammable liquid electrolytes, SSBs employ solid ceramic or polymer electrolytes, enabling much higher energy density, rapid charging, and greater thermal stability. This is the current state of SSB science and technology, with a focus on Toyota’s

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2026 Chevrolet Corvettes Redefine the Driver-Centric Cockpit Experience

The entire lineup of the 2026 Chevrolet Corvettes introduces a thoroughly reimagined interior that marries cutting-edge technology with elevated craftsmanship, effectively addressing one of the most controversial elements of the C8 generation while maintaining the vehicle’s driver-focused DNA. This significant refresh affects the entire Corvette family-Stingray, E-Ray, Z06, and ZR1-bringing larger displays, fresh colorways, and improved ergonomics that promise to cement the iconic American sports car’s leadership position for years to come. For the 2026 model year, Chevrolet has completely redesigned the Corvette’s cabin, addressing driver and passenger needs with an emphasis on both functionality and luxury. Most notably, designers have eliminated the controversial “button wall” that divided the driver and passenger compartments since the C8’s introduction in 2019. This

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What Happens to a Truck Driver After an Accident?

Truck accidents can have devastating consequences for accident victims and the truck drivers involved. The aftermath of an accident can lead to a number of legal, professional, and personal issues that can affect a truck driver in many areas of their business and life. Immediate Aftermath of a Truck Accident After an accident, truck drivers are usually subject to mandatory alcohol and drug testing, especially if the accident results in death, injury, or serious property damage. These tests monitor compliance with safety regulations and determine the driver’s condition during the accident.  Investigating the causes of an accident is a significant part of law enforcement agencies’ work to properly investigate an accident. This typically involves questioning the drivers and reviewing each

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