“We encourage members of both parties to support policies that provide business and trade certainty so that EV manufacturers up and down the supply chain can unleash the next chapter of American automotive dominance. The United States’ global competitiveness depends on it,” ZETA said to Ars in a statement.

Tesla off the hook?

Tesla, however, should be placed to do better under the next Trump administration. Its CEO Elon Musk has taken a hard right turn politically over the past couple of years, funding republican political causes to the tune of tens of millions of dollars before contributing more than $150 million to Trump’s reelection—a far cry from the Musk of the early 2010s who claimed that climate change was the most pressing issue facing humanity.

As it stands, the future looks very bright for Musk and Tesla. In recent years, the Texas-based automaker has been the subject of at least 14 safety defect investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and many Tesla watchers believed that NHTSA has been getting ready to order a costly hardware recall due to the dangerous nature of Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” and “Autopilot” driver assistance systems.

But a position for Musk in Trump’s cabinet is well within the bounds of possibility—as a candidate, Trump more than once has suggested making Musk a key advisor or giving him control of one or more government departments. With the keys to the Department of Transportation (and thereby NHTSA) in his pocket, any meaningful regulation of Tesla would be very unlikely.

Perhaps a Musk cabinet position would safeguard the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, however. This $7.5 billion program is building out fast chargers along highway corridors and in underserved communities, and the disbursement of funds by the state DOTs (which administer it) has been glacial, making it a potentially ripe target for cancellation. But Tesla has been a recipient of NEVI funding and stands to benefit further in the future if the program survives.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/11/ev-subsidies-out-new-import-tariffs-in-how-trumps-win-affects-autos/

As I followed a friend down a flow-y, undulating single-track trail, I started laughing. Unlike my mountain bike-riding companion, I was on a gravel bike, the new Trek Checkpoint SL 7 AXS Gen 3. You might be wondering why a review of a gravel bike is starting with such a ride. The answer is simple—the Checkpoint had excelled everywhere else I rode it, so I was curious to see how it would fare on a non-technical MTB track. Amazingly well, as it turns out.

Unlike every other bike Ars has reviewed to this point, the Checkpoint SL 7 Gen 3 has no motor—there’s no e- in this bike, as the only batteries are for shifting.. As is the case with our other bike reviews, sometimes we ask for a specific model, but manufacturers tend to contact us when we’ve already got a garage full of bikes we’ve not finished the reviews for (there are currently 12 bikes in my garage, some of which belong to other family members).

Launched in 2018, the Checkpoint is Trek’s gravel-centric bike. For 2025, Trek has split its gravel lineup into the third-generation Checkpoint Trek and the Checkmate SLR 9 AXS. The latter features a lighter-weight frame, a power meter, and SRAM’s new Red XPLR groupset. Selling for $11,999, the Checkmate is a gravel racer. Priced several thousand less at $5,699, the Checkpoint SL 7 AXS is now Trek’s top gravel bike for those looking for a fun day out on the trails.

With the Gen 3 Checkpoint, Trek has added mounts all over the frame, tweaked the geometry to make it more comfortable for long rides, improved ride comfort by reworking the rear IsoSpeed decoupler (which softens the bumpiness from rough trails and pavement), and increased the tire clearance to 50 mm (42 mm with fenders). Trek uses three different types of carbon on its drop handlebar bikes. The top-of-the-line OCLV 900 shows up on the racing-focused Madone road bike, while the OCLV 800 is used in the Domane endurance bike lineup as well as the Checkmate. The SL 7 uses Trek’s 500 Series OCLV carbon, and the bike weighs in at 19.85 lb (9.0 kg)—about 100 g heavier than the Gen 2. The drivetrain comes from SRAM, with a SRAM Force XPLR AXS D2 groupset.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/11/the-trek-checkpoint-sl-7-axs-gen-3-may-be-the-perfect-gravel-bike/

If conventional wisdom were to be believed, the car we’re reviewing today should not exist. Automakers are only interested in making very big, very expensive electric vehicles, leaving nothing for people with normal-sized budgets and normal-sized needs. While it’s true that those oversized EVs are overrepresented among new car launches, they aren’t the only game in town. As an alternative, consider the Hyundai Kona Electric, which we last sampled in pre-pandemic times.

In fact, Kona Electric has changed quite a bit since we last drove one. Last year, an all-new model went on sale in North America, and it has carried over unchanged to its model year 2025 version. The range starts at $32,875 for the Kona Electric SE, which makes do with a 133 hp (99 kW) motor driving the front wheels, but the other trims offered—the $36,875 SEL, the $38,275 N Line (tested here), and the $41,050 Limited use a more powerful 201 hp (150 kW) motor. (All four have an identical 188 lb-ft (255 Nm) torque output.)

In terms of size and weight, the Kona Electric really is a refreshing change from EVs that are often approaching three tons. With its rear wing and slightly tweaked front, the N Line is 1.1 inches longer than the other Kona Electrics at 172.6 inches (4,384 mm) long. All Kona Electrics are 71.9 inches (1,826 mm) wide and 62 inches (1,575 mm) tall, with a 104.7-inch (2,659 mm) wheelbase. Curb weight is what counts as featherweight for an EV—3,880 lbs (1,760 kg).

At the front, the N Line treatment brings a unique nose that has some similarities to the Ioniq 5 N.

Jonathan Gitlin

At the front, the N Line treatment brings a unique nose that has some similarities to the Ioniq 5 N. Jonathan Gitlin

That large rear wing cuts the N Line’s range compared to the SEL or Limited.

That large rear wing cuts the N Line’s range compared to the SEL or Limited.

At the front, the N Line treatment brings a unique nose that has some similarities to the Ioniq 5 N. Jonathan Gitlin

That large rear wing cuts the N Line’s range compared to the SEL or Limited.

The SE is a few hundred pounds lighter, but it makes do with a much smaller 48.6 kWh battery and just 200 miles (321 km) of range. The more powerful Kona Electrics use a much larger 64.8 kWh (useable) pack, which gives the SEL and Limited a range of 261 miles (420 km), but the butch-looking body kit on the N Line negatively affects its drag coefficient, so this version falls in the middle, with a range of 230 miles (370 km).

Hyundai quotes 43 minutes to DC fast charge the battery from 10 to 80 percent. I wasn’t able to drop the state of charge quite that low before it was time to feed it some more electrons, but a 30–80 percent fast charge took just 36 minutes. A 10–100 percent AC charge, via the car’s 11 kW onboard charger, takes just over six hours.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/11/sick-of-supersized-evs-the-2025-hyundai-kona-electric-hits-the-spot/

The texting example is particularly good at getting the point across, at least to me—my times averaged about 14 seconds to complete the task. Had I been behind the wheel of an actual car at that speed, I would have traveled more than 1,400 feet (426 m) with my eyes on the phone during that period. Not good!

Of course, the people behind the distracted driving simulator recognize that this is mostly an awareness-raising tool—for academics studying the topic, we have things like the $80 million National Advanced Driving Simulator, which can pitch, yaw, roll, tilt, and move about inside a large hangar-like room in Coralsville, Iowa.

“While this simulator can’t provide a complete picture of the dangers of distracted driving, our hope is to help illustrate how dangerous it is to glance down at your phone—and remind everyone how that time can add up when you’re behind the wheel,” Ryan said.

Thankfully, the solution to distracted driving is rather simple—at least conceptually. Just keep your eyes on the road, and save the phone use for when you’re parked.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/11/distracted-driving-simulator-shows-why-you-shouldnt-text-on-the-highway/

Google revealed today how it plans to use generative AI to enhance its mapping activities. It’s the latest application of Gemini, the company’s in-house rival to GPT-4, which the company wants to use to improve the experience when searching for something. Google Maps, Google Earth, and Waze will all get feature upgrades thanks to Gemini, although in some cases only with Google’s “trusted testers” at first.

Google Maps

More than 2 billion people use Google Maps every month, according to the company, and in fact, AI is nothing new to Google Maps. “A lot of those features that we’ve introduced over the years have been thanks to AI,” said Chris Phillips,VP and general manager of Geo at Google. “Think of features like Lens and maps. When you’re on a street corner, you can lift up your phone and look, and through your camera view, you can actually see we laid places on top of your view. So you can see a business. Is it open? What are the ratings for it? Is it busy? You can even see businesses that are out of your line of sight,” he explained.

At some point this week, if you use the Android or iOS Google Maps app here in the US, you should start seeing more detailed and contextual search results. Maps will now respond to conversational requests—during a demo, Google asked it what to do on a night out with friends in Boston, with the app returning a set of results curated by Gemini. These included categories of places—speakeasies, for example—with review summaries and answers from users.

As for trusting the accuracy of those results, “we use the Gemini model to actually look at the facts and the data that we have in the maps database, which include our places data and reviews to then pull back and answer, curate it, and it does the grounding fact check,” Phillips said. Phillips said that the system will link and attribute information from third parties like blogs, but that “when we’re answering the question about the place details and the facts of the place and the reviews on the place, the Gemini model is specifically looking at the data sets that we manage and operate and fact checking it there.”

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/10/generative-ai-is-coming-to-google-maps-google-earth-waze/

Polestar has more than a few issues with the proposed rule, according to its public comment. For one, the definition is too broad and “creates crippling uncertainty for businesses.” A better-defined list would be helpful here, it says.

Polestar also says that “if a large portion of manufacturing or software development is occurring outside of the country of a foreign adversary, mere ownership should not be the determinative factor for applying the various prohibitions within the Proposed Rule.” Polestar is a US-organized company and a subsidiary of a UK publicly limited company that is listed on the NASDAQ exchange in New York. Its HQ is in Sweden, and seven out of 10 board members are from Europe or the USA. It builds Polestar 3 SUVs in South Carolina and will build the Polestar 4 in South Korea from next year. In fact, out of 2,800 employees, only 280 are based in China, Polestar says.

With the company’s “key decision-makers” being in Sweden, there is little reason to believe the national security concerns apply here, the company says, saying that the US Commerce Department should consider whether it has gone too far.

Polestar may be the most affected automaker by the new rule, but it is not the only one. Last month, the Commerce Department told Ford and General Motors that imports of the Lincoln Nautilus and Buick Envision—both of which are made in China—would also have to cease under the new rule.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/10/ban-on-chinese-tech-so-broad-us-made-cars-would-be-blocked-polestar-says/

Owners of Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning electric vehicles are getting an over-the-air software update that will finally give Android Auto users a bit of an upgrade. Once the update is installed, Ford’s EVs will report their battery state of charge to Google Maps when the app is running on an Android phone and being cast to the Ford’s infotainment system via Android Auto.

That means Google Maps can calculate an estimated state of charge upon arrival at the route’s end and will suggest charging stops along the way, including estimated charge times.

A similar feature has been available to iOS users casting Apple Maps to Ford EVs via CarPlay since late last year, and it worked quite well when we tried it out with the F-150 Lightning back in January.

Google has not quite kept pace with Apple in terms of adding new features or improvements to its system for casting the phone to a car’s infotainment, perhaps preferring to concentrate on the underlying operating system for that infotainment system. Many OEMs have moved to using Android Automotive (which is confusingly named but different from Android Auto) instead of Linux, with a subset of those also using Google Automotive Services, which includes a voice assistant.

Now, Android Auto users will get some features yet to appear in Apple Maps. If you set a fast charger as a destination using Google Maps on an Android phone using Android Auto, it will tell the Ford EV to begin preconditioning the battery for a more efficient charge. And Google Maps will also show users any compatible Tesla Supercharger locations and availability along the route. Take that, iPhone users.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/10/ford-evs-can-now-see-tesla-superchargers-in-android-autos-google-maps/

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Today, the reborn Scout Motors showed off a pair of new electric vehicles that revives the long-dormant maker of trucks and SUVs. Originally owned by International Harvester, Scout now belongs to Volkswagen Group, which decided to use it to create a new American-made brand for off-road-capable vehicles.

The first of these will be the Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck, due to go into production in 2027. Despite VW’s recent investment in Rivian, these are all-new, clean-sheet designs with a platform unique to Scout designed in Michigan, a platform that uses a body-on-frame construction with either purely electric or range-extended powertrains.

Scout says that pricing for the Terra and Traveler should start at “under $60,000,” or “as low as $50,000 with available incentives” for the entry-level models, which are due to go into production at a new factory north of Columbia, South Carolina, in 2027.

The horizontal daylight running lights call back to the Scout II SUV.

Scout Motors

The horizontal daylight running lights call back to the Scout II SUV. Scout Motors

Scout says that 80 percent of repairs can be made in the field.

Scout Motors

Scout says that 80 percent of repairs can be made in the field. Scout Motors

The horizontal daylight running lights call back to the Scout II SUV. Scout Motors

Scout says that 80 percent of repairs can be made in the field. Scout Motors

“The original core idea—rugged, versatile vehicles capable of off-road adventure and family duty—is more relevant than ever,” said Scott Keogh, president and CEO of Scout Motors. “We couldn’t be prouder to revitalize this iconic American brand, create thousands of American jobs, and put American ingenuity back to work.”

The tech specs—at least those Scout has shared with Ars—are encouraging. The electric powertrain operates at 800 V and can fast charge at rates up to 350 kW, using the NACS plug. The Terra and Traveler will be capable of bidirectional charging, and the Terra pickup offers two 120 V and one 240 V AC outlets in its 5.5-foot truck bed.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/10/scout-motors-new-pickup-and-suv-evs-will-start-at-under-60000/

All of that helped total revenue rise by 8 percent year over year to $25.2 billion. Gross profit jumped by 20 percent to $5 billion, and once generally accepted accounting principles are applied, its net profit grew 17 percent compared to Q3 2023, at $2.2 billion. What’s more, the company is sitting on a healthy treasure chest. Free cash flow increased 223 percent compared to Q3 2023 to reach $2.7 billion, and cash, cash equivalents, and investments grew 29 percent to $33.6 billion over the same time period.

What comes next?

The days of Tesla promising exponential growth in its car sales appear to be at an end, or at least on hiatus until it can deliver a new vehicle platform. The company says that it believes that advances in autonomy will contribute to renewed growth in the future, but these dreams may come crashing down if federal regulators order a costly hardware recall for Tesla’s vision-only system.

An increasingly stale product lineup is slated to grow in the first half of next year, it says. These vehicles will be based on modified versions of Tesla’s existing vehicles built on existing assembly lines, albeit with some features from its “next-generation platform.” Tesla says it has plenty of spare capacity at its factories in California, Texas, Germany, and China, with room to grow “before investing in new production lines.” Meanwhile, the two-seat CyberCab—which Tesla CEO Elon Musk says is due “before 2027“—will use what Tesla calls a “revolutionary “unboxed” manufacturing strategy.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/10/teslas-q3-buoyed-by-credits-cost-cutting-as-auto-revenue-stays-flat/

Perched in the driver’s seat, I’m not sure why you would need to be, anyway. Nothing about the Buzz’s driving style demands you rag it through the corners, although the car coped very well on the very twisty sections of our route up the shore of the Tomales Bay.

Like last week’s Porsche Macan, the single-motor model is the one I’d pick—again, it’s the version that’s cheaper, lighter, and has a longer range, albeit only just. And this might be the biggest stumbling block for some Buzz fans who were waiting to push the button. With 86 kWh useable (91 kWh gross), the RWD Buzz has an EPA range estimate of 234 miles (377 km). Blame the frontal area, which remains barn door-sized, even if the drag coefficient is a much more svelte 0.29.

The Buzz is 195.4 inches (4,962 mm) long, 78.1 inches (1,985 mm) wide, and 76.2 inches (1,935 mm) tall.

Jonathan Gitlin

The Buzz is 195.4 inches (4,962 mm) long, 78.1 inches (1,985 mm) wide, and 76.2 inches (1,935 mm) tall. Jonathan Gitlin

If you have the charge port open, the sliding door will detect it and stop before it hits the charge port door.

Jonathan Gitlin

If you have the charge port open, the sliding door will detect it and stop before it hits the charge port door. Jonathan Gitlin

The Buzz is 195.4 inches (4,962 mm) long, 78.1 inches (1,985 mm) wide, and 76.2 inches (1,935 mm) tall. Jonathan Gitlin

If you have the charge port open, the sliding door will detect it and stop before it hits the charge port door. Jonathan Gitlin

Fast-charging should be relatively fast, though, peaking at up to 200 kW and with a 26-minute charge time to go from 10 to 80 percent state of charge. And while VW EVs will gain access to the Tesla supercharger network with an adapter, expect 2025 Buzzes to come with CCS1 ports, not native NACS for now.

I expect most customers to opt for all-wheel drive, but again, American car buyer tastes are what they are. This adds an asynchronous motor to the front axle and boosts combined power to 335 hp (250 kW). VW hasn’t given a combined torque figure, but the front motor can generate up to 99 lb-ft (134 Nm) together with the 413 lb-ft from the rear. The curb weight for this version is 6,197 lbs (2,811 kg), and its EPA range is 231 miles (376 km).

It’s a bit of a step up in price, however, as you need to move up to the Pro S Plus trim if you want power for both axles. This adds more standard equipment to what is already a well-specced base model, but it starts at $67,995 (or $63,495 for the RWD Pro S Plus).

While I found the single-motor Buzz to be a more supple car to drive down a curvy road, both powertrain variants have an agility that belies their bulk, particularly at low speed. To begin our day, VW had all the assembled journalists re-create a photo of the vans driving down Lombard St. Despite a very slippery and wet surface that day, the Buzz was a cinch to place on the road and drive slowly.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/10/driving-the-2025-vw-id-buzz-was-worth-the-seven-year-wait/