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US interest in electric vehicles surges as gas prices jump amid Iran war

Online searches for electric and hybrid cars increase as war-linked fuel prices hit highest levels in nearly three years Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox US car buyers are showing a surge in interest in electric vehicles after Donald Trump ’s decision to attack Iran helped cause a major jump in gasoline prices. The cost to refuel a vehicle in the US is at its highest level in nearly three years, with the average national price of gas standing at $3.90 a gallon on Friday. Continue reading...

‘We don’t tell the car what it should do’: my ride in a self-driving taxi

Driverless ‘robotaxis’ will be accepting fares in Britain’s biggest city by the end of next year. Can they deal with London’s medieval roads, hordes of pedestrians and errant ebikers? I got in the passenger seat to find out ‘I’m really excited to show you this,” says Alex Kendall, the CEO of Wayve, as he gets behind the wheel of one of the company’s electric Ford Mustangs. Then he does … nothing. The car pulls up to a junction at a busy road in King’s Cross, London, all by itself. “You can see that it’s going to control the speed, steering, brake, indicators,” he says to me – I’m in the passenger seat. “It’s making decisions as it goes. Here we’ve got an unprotected turn, where we’ve got to wait for a gap in traffic …” The steering wheel spins by itself and the car pulls out smoothly. Riding in a self-driving car for the first time is a little like your first flight in an aeroplane: borderline terrifying for a few seconds, then reassuringly unremarkable. At least, that is my experien...

Rolls-Royce scraps goal to go all-electric by 2030

Company says it will continue to sell cars with V12 internal combustion engines as there is demand from clients Rolls-Royce has abandoned its goal to sell only electric cars by the end of the decade. The luxury car company launched its all-electric Spectre model in 2022 , saying at the time that it would end production of its vehicles with V12 internal combustion engines by the end of 2030. Continue reading...

Inside the fiery, deadly crashes involving the Tesla Cybertruck

Cybertrucks have locked passengers inside and burned so hot they’ve disintegrated drivers’ bones. Victims’ families blame what they say is the faulty design of a truck Elon Musk calls ‘apocalypse-proof’ When sheriff deputies arrived at the scene of a late-night crash off a desolate Texas road in August 2024, they could see a giant pyre through heavy smoke. According to police reports detailing the events of that night, the officers tried to approach the vehicle, but the fire burned too intensely. They saw it was a Tesla Cybertruck and couldn’t see anyone inside. So they combed the surrounding area for the driver. Continue reading...

Bentley to cut hundreds of UK jobs amid ‘challenging global market environment’

Carmaker reduces office-based roles and will not fill vacancies ‘to ensure long-term competitiveness of business’ Bentley is to cut 275 jobs in the UK as the carmaker faces a “challenging global market environment”. The luxury brand, owned by Germany’s Volkswagen, is preparing to launch its first all-electric model but acknowledged it had some work to do to convince consumers to switch away from internal combustion engine vehicles. Continue reading...

The Guardian view on SUVs: London’s mayor is right to push back on supersize cars | Editorial

Huge vehicles are popular with drivers, but their wider impacts on road safety and the environment must be tackled No one who walks, cycles or drives around London, or many of the world’s big cities, could fail to notice the vastly increased size of the typical car. A type of vehicle once associated with rural settings and outdoor lifestyles is now ubiquitous. Heavily marketed as sports utility vehicles (SUVs), supersize cars are among the key consumer trends of recent decades. In 2022, they accounted for 46% of global new car sales . For manufacturers, these vehicles are big earners due to higher profit margins . For those inside them, they offer more space and a higher vantage point. But for those on the outside, SUVs have obvious downsides. The threat that they pose to pedestrians is one. Research shows that children are 77% more likely to die if struck by an SUV compared with other cars, due to their size and structure – particularly their raised bonnets. This ...