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Cars are the technology of the future. The Verge brings you new car reviews, auto show insights, deeply reported investigations, and news from the frontlines of autonomous and electric vehicle development. We bring you updates from major companies like Ford, GM, Mercedes, and VW as well as digital upstarts like Uber, Google, and Tesla. Cars are among the biggest computers that we’ll ever own, and we know computers. We also bring you news and analyses from the growing effort to reduce the number of cars crowding our cities and the fight to reduce oil consumption, cut CO2 emissions, and shift to more sustainable sources of energy.

Stellantis still believes in flying cars.

The automaker (parent company to Jeep and Dodge) announced a purchase of 8.3 million shares in eVTOL company Archer, in a deal roughly worth over $39 million. Stellantis already has a deal to manufacture Archer’s electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, which are set to launch in 2025. Today’s open market stock purchase is meant to signal “Stellantis’ continued confidence in Archer’s plans” to bring its aircraft to market. Despite numerous layoffs, trade secret disputes, and company shutdowns, the eVTOL true believers are still racing to get something in the air to prove all this cash burn has been worth it.


Archer’s eVTOL aircraft is meant for short distance trips of 20-50 miles.
Archer’s eVTOL aircraft is meant for short distance trips of 20-50 miles.
Image: Stellantis
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Is Rivian working on a high-performance R1X?

After the bombshell reveal of the R3 and R3X earlier this month, it probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that the EV company also has high-performance versions of the R1T and R1S vehicles in the works. A member of the Rivian owners forum (flagged by Breaking News) noticed a trademark filing with the USTPO for “R1X,” which suggests there could be a Tesla Plaid-rivaling Rivian on deck.


Rivian ‘R1X’ Trademark Reveals New Flagship Performance...

[Rivian Forum – Rivian R1T & R1S News, Pricing & Order...]

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Hertz CEO out after Tesla flub.

Stephen Scherr, the man who bet heavily on EVs to transform the future of the company, is stepping down after just two years in the role. He’s being replaced by Gil West, the former COO of Cruise robotaxis. West was one of several execs dismissed by GM after that body-dragging incident.


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Tesla reached a settlement with a Black employee who won two trials over racial abuse.

The terms of the settlement are confidential, reports CNBC. Owen Diaz had previously told the court that supervisors failed to intervene when his coworkers used “daily racist epithets” against him and other Black employees at the Fremont, California plant where he worked.

He was awarded $137 million in 2021 but asked for a retrial after a judge reduced the amount to $15 million in 2022.


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Watch these Toyota engineers build Pokémon’s Miraidon from soup to nuts.

While everyone was getting worked up about the announcement of the next Pokémon game, the Toyota Engineering Society was busy working on a special project to create a life-sized Miraidon, the motorcycle-like legendary dragon mascot from Pokémon Violet.

Even though we’ll probably never get a chance to see the thing actually zooming around, it’s still cool as hell seeing it come together in this video about the collaboration.


Microlino electric bubble car review: urban delight

Fun, fun, fun till a trailer towed my baby away.

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Rivian’s smaller R3 and R3X electric SUVs look great, but they’re not ready to ship.

Automotive journalist Jason Cammisa got inside Rivian’s “one more thing” surprise vehicles, posting some short clips to show off the hot hatch styling and massive wheels of the R3X, as well as the dual-opening rear setup.

A lack of backseat legroom isn’t that surprising. But the potential bad news is that Cammisa says, “I wouldn’t expect to see the first ones until 2027.”


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Tesla’s litigiousness is why Doug DeMuro hasn’t reviewed the Cybertruck yet.

Tesla’s threat to sue anyone who tries to resell their Cybertruck within the first year has owners “spooked,” which is why the polarizing electric truck hasn’t shown up on his auction site Cars and Bids. He also hinted at some sort of retaliation from Tesla when he reviewed one of the first Model 3s back in 2017. “It wasn’t pretty,” the popular YouTuber chuckled. Say more!

Eventually he’ll review the Cybertruck, he says. His neighbor even has one! DeMuro was just hoping to promote his auction site as part of the review. That’s capitalism, baby!


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BYD’s electric vehicles are moldier than usual.

The Chinese company, which overtook Tesla last year as the top global seller of EVs, is running into challenges as it seeks to cement its dominance in other markets like Europe. Challenges such as too many cars, not enough customers. Oh, and mold.

The issue wasn’t so much the existence of mold, which is known to grow in cars shipped over long distances, but concern that the vehicles didn’t receive professional treatment with an ionization process to remove spores fully.


Is your car snitching on your driving habits?

A driver’s insurance rate went up based on a 130-page report detailing his Chevy Bolt’s drives over six months, shared by GM with data broker LexisNexis through the OnStar Smart Driver program, reports The New York Times.

According to the Times, Kia, Subaru, and Mitsubishi also contribute to the LexisNexis data portal, while another company, Verisk partners with Ford, Honda, and Hyundai. Subaru says it only shares odometer data when authorized, while Ford says it will share data for usage-based programs based on a customer’s in-car menu confirmation.

Update March 12th, 2024, 2:42PM ET: Added details on the partnerships and what data is shared.


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A Cybertruck owner shopped around and found out.

Tesla’s owner agreement expressly forbids owners to “sell or otherwise attempt to sell” the truck within a year of buying it, or the company would take action, including refusing future sales.

Well, someone in the Cybertruck Owners Club forum says they tried listing theirs “on multiple sites to feel it out” anyway, and the company canceled their two (2!) other reservations.


Be careful selling your Cybertruck! Tesla found sale listings...

[Tesla Cybertruck Forum - News, Discussions, Community - Cybertruckownersclub.com]

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Was the Apple Car always going to be a van?

Mark Gurman collected many of the concepts the company considered for its recently shuttered Project Titan in his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg today.

It’s a concise summary of Apple’s design thoughts over the ten years it devoted to trying to enter the automotive industry. Gurman writes of one idea:

The Apple car’s circa-2020 design resembled the Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle — a futuristic van with rounded edges — but it had dark black windows with an adjustable tint. There was all-glass sunroof, a pure white exterior and whitewall tires with a black center.


Watch Rivian’s R3X and R2 roll around in real life.

It’s unclear where this video (and a couple of others posted to a Rivian forum) originally came from, but we won’t have to wait until 2025 (or beyond) to see either of Rivian’s upcoming electric SUVs on the streets.


The Microlino electric bubble car.

While cars in general are embiggening, in some cities a new breed of electric microcars is trending. They’re cheaper to own, easier to park, consume less public space and energy, and maneuver around obstacles that would otherwise block big SUVs and snarl traffic.

Here’s a preview ahead of our full review of the Microlino Dolce, coming soon.

(Update, 3/11 1:30PM ET — And now in widescreen.)


Rivian’s CEO has ‘complete certainty’ EVs will win

The company’s future is cloudy, as EV sales growth stagnates. But RJ Scaringe says the more affordable EVs will help win over new converts.

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More about that base model Rivian R2.

After today’s R2 event, MKBHD took a closer look at the new SUV and its sibling R3 / R3X with Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe for his Auto Focus channel.

In this section of the video, Scaringe notes that while the R2 can have an estimated range that stretches beyond 300 miles, the base RWD version for $45,000 will have a smaller battery with an estimated 270-mile range. We’ll have even more on these new EVs tomorrow.


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Rivian puts its Georgia factory plans on pause.

In the fog of the release of its new R2 (and R3! and R3X!) vehicles, the news just dropped that the company’s massive $5 billion facility east of Atlanta is now officially on pause. That means Rivian will need to find room at its existing factory in Normal, Illinois, for this new EV trio if it hopes to stick to its early 2026 production plans.


Watch Rivian’s R2 reveal event in 5 minutes.

All the highlights from Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe’s presentation of the smaller, cheaper R2 SUV are right here, as well as the surprise debut of an even smaller electric crossover, with the R3 and sport-trim R3X taking the stage.


And that’s a wrap!

There’s a lot more to say about the R2, and of course the R3 and R3X. So be sure to keep an eye out for our impressions of Rivian’s first big reveal since the launch of the R1 platform. And thanks for following along! What did you think of the R2 and R3? Leave us a comment and let us know.


At the same time there’s a little bit of Kia to it, at least in the teal color.

It reminds me a little of a Kia Steltos. People were ready for R2, but R3 was a real surprise. The audience loved it. 


The R3X looks familiar.

It has very Mercedes Maybach dog-dish wheels. Also reminds me a bit of Rolls wheels. 

Interestingly I think the charging ports on R2 and R3 are in the rear rather than the front like the R1.


The R3 even has a performance trim.

The R3X is “just so cool,” RJ says. Wider stance, tri-motor setup, smaller crossover shape.


Rivian R3 is about ‘making a small car feel really big.’

The rear window pops open making it easier to carry longer items. 


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There’s an R3?

R2 has a “sibling,” according to RJ.


‘We overdelivered and put in two gloveboxes.’

Many people have complained about the R1T and R1S’ lack of glove compartments. So the R2 will have two??


How roomy is it?

The flat fold seats are huge. I’ve slept in an R1 and at 5’7” I was a little cramped. I bet this will be much more roomy.


A presentation stage as people surround Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe who is gesturing toward the R2 electric SUV while a camera on a boom arm swivels overhead.
It looks very Land Rover Defender to me in person.

At 6’1, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe towers over the R2.


Rivian R2