Kia unveiled its full electric vehicle lineup, aiming to lead the EV market with new models like the affordable EV2 and the midsize EV5 SUV. The EV5 launches in Europe soon, while the EV4 hatchback will follow next year. Kia also showcased sporty models and introduced its first electric van. Visitors at the IAA Mobility Show can test drive several models, as Kia intends to popularize EVs further. The EV3 was the top-selling retail EV in the UK this year.

Can You Buy An EV From China As An American? (Nina Hernandez, 09-09-2025)

A woman showcased her new Chinese electric vehicle, the IM Motors L7, in a TikTok video. The vehicle features advanced displays and AI-controlled functions. Viewers expressed concerns about distractions while driving. In the U. S., importing such vehicles is complicated due to safety regulations, but Chinese brands may enter the market in the next five years.

Tesla gives up on Cybertruck wireless charging (Fred Lambert 09-09-2025)

Tesla has official scrapped plans to equip the Cybertruck with wireless charging, citing design challenges related to the truck’s high ground clearance. The gap between the vehicle and a wireless charging pad would significantly reduce charging efficiency, making the feature impractical.

This marks a shift from earlier signals, including owner’s manual references and 2023 prototypes that hinted at future wireless capabilities. While Tesla steps back from the idea, competitors like Porsche are moving forward with plans to offer optional wireless charging systems for upcoming EVs like the electric Cayenne.

NHTSA Rule Changes Favor Autonomous Cars (Steve Hanley 09-06-2025)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced a major regulatory overhaul aimed at enabling the next generation of autonomous vehicles. Revealed on September 4, the proposed reforms would modernize outdated federal safety standards, many of which still assume a human driver is behind the wheel, requiring elements like steering wheels, pedals, and windshield defrosters.

The changes specifically target Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards related to gear shifts, windshield systems, lighting, and reflective devices, systems historically designed with human operation in mind. NHTSA officials emphasized the importance of establishing a cohesive national framework to avoid a patchwork of conflicting state laws. The goal is to streamline innovation while maintaining critical safety benchmarks, clearing a regulatory path for autonomous technology to advance responsibly and at scale.

Tesla’s U.S. EV market share falls to eight-year low amid rising competition (Ashby Lincoln 09-09-2025)

Tesla’s once-dominant hold on the U.S. electric vehicle market hit a new low in August, with market share dropping to just 38%, the lowest since 2017. While Tesla’s sales grew modestly (7% in July, 3.1% in August), the broader EV market exploded by 14% in August, outpacing any of Tesla’s gains with competitors like Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Toyota, and Volkswagen gaining ground with aggressive incentives and new models that offer consumer compelling alternatives.

Industry insiders blame Tesla’s slide on an aging vehicle lineup, repeated delays in launching affordable cars, and Musk’s strategic pivot toward AI, robotaxis, and humanoid robots. Tesla built its empire by being first to market, but “first” doesn’t guarantee “forever,” and with rivals gaining momentum while Tesla’s refresh cycle lags, the EV landscape could look dramatically different in just a few years.

Qualcomm inks connected car deals with Google, BMW, and others (Ryan Daws 09-08-2025)

Qualcomm is enhancing connected cars through partnerships with companies like Google, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. With Google Cloud, they are integrating advanced AI to improve in-car voice commands and user experiences. Their collaboration with BMW has introduced the Snapdragon Ride Pilot for automated driving, while the Snapdragon Digital Chassis powers the digital cockpits in new Mercedes-Benz models. Qualcomm is also partnering with Valeo to create integrated solutions for a wider range of vehicles, streamlining the development of advanced driving features.

• Godfather of Self-Driving Cars Says the Tech Is Going Nowhere (Futurism, October 9, 2022)

  While industry proponents continue to project unbridled optimism for AV technology, Anthony Levandowski, widely considered to be the “OG” of commercial autonomous vehicles, recently pumped the metaphorical brakes on the future of self-driving vehicles. According to Levandowski, who co-founded Google’s self-driving division now known as Waymo, “[y]ou’d be hard-pressed to find another industry that’s invested so many dollars in R&D and that has delivered so little.” Levandowski insists that, despite investments of over $100 billion, the self-driving commercial industry “still amounts to little more than a bunch of glorified tech demos.” 

  Levandowski joins a growing faction of industry insiders who question the future of self-driving technology, which they believe may be decades or longer away from sufficiently safe commercial deployment despite staggering sums of capital investment. In an interview with Bloomberg, Levandowski asked, “why are we driving around, testing technology and creating additional risks, without actually delivering anything of value?” Similarly, George Hotz, founder of the open source assisted driving company Comma.ai, told Bloomberg, “[i]t’s a scam. . . . These companies have squandered billions of dollars.”

• Lyft exec was wrong about driverless vehicles – but he still believes in their potential (CNBC, October 11, 2022)

  Lyft co-founder John Zimmer recently acknowledged that his prediction that self-driving vehicles would largely supplant traditional driver operated vehicles by 2021 was overly optimistic and missed the mark. But contrary to naysayers like Levandowski and Hotz (see article above), Zimmer still believes his company can help bring about revolutionary change to transportation—just on a different timeline than he first envisioned. “Creating a car that sees better than humans and reacts better than humans is very difficult. And so it’s just taking more time, but I don’t have doubts that it will happen,” Zimmer said.

  Lyft will continue to use AVs in tandem with traditional drivers for the foreseeable future, which is why Zimmer is convinced the company is poised to grow in both areas. “I’m extremely confident that autonomous vehicles will roll out on existing ride-share or transportation networks,” he said. “I think we will be quite important to the AV transition.”

  The article also highlights Lyft’s strategic use of partnerships to deploy more self-driving vehicles, which can help offset the growing cost of vehicle ownership as well as shifting or spreading liability risks in the event of an accident. With nearly 20 million active users and billions of dollars invested in fleet management, pricing algorithms, and other back-end services, Lyft appears well-positioned to leverage its expertise in these areas. 

• Consumer comfort with automated vehicles may be overstated – J.D. Power (CBT News, October 5, 2022)

  Just as industry experts question the future of autonomy, the J.D. Power 2022 US Mobility Confidence Index (MCI) study found that consumer readiness for automated vehicles remains low, continuing a downward trend since 2021. “I am not ready to trust my life to a fully automated vehicle. I need time to trust the system’s capabilities,” said one respondent.

  The study also found that 56% of respondents confused FSD capabilities with the driver-assist technologies available today, lending support to the notion that autonowashing continues to be a major impediment to the reliable and safe implementation of autonomous technology. “These results provide further evidence that many consumers lack a clear understanding of the current status of automated and assisted driving technologies,” said Bryan Reimer, Ph.D., a research scientist in the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics AgeLab and a founder of MIT’s AVT consortium.

• Despite warnings, many people treat partially automated vehicles as self-driving (IIHS-HLDI, October 11, 2022)

  A new IIHS-HLDI study provides more evidence of driver confusion with its findings that “drivers who use partial automation on a regular basis often treat their vehicles as fully self-driving despite widespread warnings and numerous high-profile crash reports.” The study examined the incidence of behaviors such as eating or texting while driving among Cadillac (Super Cruise), Nissan (ProPILOT), and Tesla users, along with driver perceptions of the technology. As summarized by IIHS researcher Alexandra Mueller, “[t]hese results from frequent users of three different partial automation systems once again drive home the need for robust, multifaceted safeguards.”