Wednesday briefing: What Jaguar’s radical rebrand reveals about the shift to electric cars

In today’s newsletter: The iconic British carmaker has been accused of going ‘woke’ after releasing an electric model in pink, upsetting petrol heads and traditionalists everywhere

Good morning. Over the past few days, you may have been wondering why a neon pink tank has been following you round the internet. Relax: this isn’t an algorithm judging your taste and predicting your next purchase. It isn’t a tank, either. It is a Jaguar Type 00, it is the subject of an unholy quantity of media coverage, and it may be a vision of the electric future.

Or: it may be a sharp bit of marketing whose weirdest features will never make it to the cars Jaguar actually sells. Either way, it’s a story with a lot to tell us about how the rush for electric is changing the car industry. For today’s newsletter, Jasper Jolly, who covers the automotive industry for the Guardian, explains why. Here are the headlines.

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The car made pedestrians second-class citizens. Don’t let driverless vehicles push us off the road altogether | Adam Tranter

If we want autonomous tech to succeed it must be designed to share space with us, rather than forcing us to adapt to it Adam Tranter is the co-host of the Streets Ahead podcast. He was formerly West Midlands cycling and walking commissioner under mayor Andy Street This week, the UK government announced its plans to fast-track driverless vehicle trials in the UK. One of the key companies involved noted that London presents a significant challenge: “It has seven times more jaywalkers than San Francisco.” There’s more than one problem with that statement – and it encapsulates so much of what’s already going wrong in the adoption of driverless cars. For a start, “jaywalking” isn’t even a thing in the UK. We thankfully have no such concept or offence. Unlike in many US cities, pedestrians here are free to cross the road wherever they see fit. And thank goodness for that. Adam Tranter is the co-host of the Streets Ahead podcast. He was formerly West Midlands cycling and walking co...

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