The Cybertruck seems on its way out

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Clearly this week’s big event was the new Tesla Roadster and we have two different takes on that demo from Sergiu Tudose (editor-in-chief) and Cristian Agatie (EV/tech editor).

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Now let’s get into this issue of the newsletter!

By: Cristian Agatie

Tesla is cutting the losses of its failed Cybertruck program by scrapping plans to offer a right-hand-drive variant of the electric pickup. Reservation holders in Australia and New Zealand, some of them with seven-year-old deposits, have been notified of the cancellation and will receive their money back. This is a step that Tesla also took in 2023 for the refreshed Model S and Model X, which were canceled three years later.

The Cybertruck was probably Elon Musk's most beloved car project, until the Roadster, that is. Tesla's CEO spent countless sleepless nights imagining impossible features for the electric pickup truck. Not only did the Cybertruck have to be the toughest EV on earth, but Musk wanted it to be bulletproof and at the same time float like a boat. A real apocalypse vehicle, as he and, by extension, his fans, proclaimed.

Musk was so excited about the Cybertruck that he genuinely thought a 250,000 annual production would still not be enough. After the 2019 unveiling, reservations piled up and quickly surpassed the one-million mark. Everyone thought that the Cybertruck would replace the Ford F-150 as the best-selling truck in America.

And yet, when it started shipping at the end of 2023, it disappointed almost everyone. Reservation holders canceled their orders, and actual deliveries dried up in less than a year after the start of production. Since 2024, Tesla could barely sell 30,000 Cybertrucks in a year, and that's counting the trucks that Musk bought for his companies, including SpaceX.

The first move Tesla tried to improve Cybertrucks' lackluster sales was to expand the Cybertruck addressable market. It did so by starting sales in Mexico, followed by the Middle East and Asia. Tesla currently sells the Cybertruck in South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and Israel, in addition to the US, Canada, and Mexico.

As this didn't meaningfully revive Cybertruck sales, Tesla tried removing some features to lower the price. The Cybertruck RWD proved an utter failure, as Tesla offered a modest discount while removing Cybertruck's most appealing features. After this strategy failed, Tesla went in the opposite direction with the Cybertruck AWD Standard. Sold at $59,990 while retaining most beloved features, the Cybertruck AWD looked like a winner.

However, it didn't take long before Tesla raised the price to $69,990, just 10 days later. In August, it hiked the price again to $74,990. Many Tesla fans were convinced that the demand was off the charts, hence the price increase. Sadly, it was just a move to cut losses, as Cybertruck sales numbers would soon prove. Indeed, with so many new cutting-edge technologies under the hood and low sales numbers, the Cybertruck program was bleeding money.

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

By: Sergiu Tudose

I should start this off by making one thing crystal clear. Spending $9,000 on a wristwatch isn’t exactly what most people would call shopping on a budget. You can buy a reasonably priced used car for that money, or take two or three nice vacations with the family. It could even represent a down payment on a new car.

But luxury is relative. And if you’re a car enthusiast, there’s a good chance you might be into wristwatches, too. Look at it this way – you don’t need to be a millionaire to appreciate a good sports car, just as you don’t need to own a Ferrari to call yourself a gearhead.

Plenty of car enthusiasts are perfectly happy driving a used M340i or something. But again, it depends on your financial situation. I’m addressing this op-ed to those of you who can afford a nice, sub $100k premium car, but anything more would be a substantial effort you’re not willing to make.

By sub-$100k I don’t mean $99,990. I’m thinking more like $70,000. It’s a perfectly reasonable sweet spot that can land you anything from a decent, used 911 to a Cayman or Boxster, definitely an M340i or an F90 M5.

Wonderful purchases. So then why am I focusing primarily on the Lexus LC500 in this piece? When it comes to luxury watches, they can be just as intimidating and/or expensive as the exotic cars we covet. You’ve got your “run-of-the-mill” six-figure Richard Mille, pretty much any Patek Philippe, and of course all those precious-metal Rolex Daytonas. Plus a whole bunch more from the likes of Audemars Piguet, Hublot, and so on.

Fortunately, you don’t need to go big in order to get started on your first proper luxury watch. And by proper I mean it’s got to be worth more than an entry-level Breitling or Tudor. It’s got to be a Rolex as far as I’m concerned. And one of the most sensible luxury watches a car enthusiast can buy also happens to be one of the most recognizable watches ever made. The Rolex Submariner.

There’s a reason why the Porsche 911 has stayed relevant for more than six decades. It’s got an instantly recognizable silhouette, distinctive German engineering, and a carefully preserved identity. The Rolex Submariner follows the exact same philosophy.

It was introduced back in 1953 and has since evolved into one of the world’s most recognizable luxury watches. And much like the 911 Carrera, the Sub doesn’t need to be the most expensive or sophisticated product in its class in order to be desirable. That’s exactly why I love it. Because as a Porsche enthusiast, you don’t need a GT3 RS in order to appreciate what makes the 911 range special.

Similarly, a wristwatch enthusiast won’t need a platinum Daytona to enjoy what Rolex does best. Am I getting my point across?

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

By: Cristian Agatie

Many EV startups have tried to follow in Tesla's footsteps, some of them by literally copying the EV market leader's strategy. However, none of them have managed to get quite close, and many have disappeared trying to establish themselves as carmakers. There's a long list of failed companies that tried to replicate Tesla's success, including Lordstown Motors, Caboo, and Fisker.

Two EV startups are still hanging, although they're not equals. Lucid Motors has an incredible technology advantage over its rivals, but poor execution and a model portfolio that isn't fit for current market conditions have put it in a precarious position. The Air sedan will not gain any favor in a market that only wants SUVs, while the Gravity SUV is still too expensive for most EV buyers.

Rivian is further up the ladder, having recently launched its first mass-production EV that props up its hopes of becoming profitable. The Rivian R2 has shown a better-than-expected production ramp-up, with a second shift added recently at its Normal, IL, factory. The carmaker is still losing money on every vehicle it makes, but it hopes the R2 will change that prospect by the end of the year.

In the third quarter of 2026, Rivian beat Wall Street expectations on almost every metric. The EV startup reported revenue of $2.16 billion vs. $1.99 billion expected, which also happens to be a 38% improvement over Q3 2025. The better-than-expected results encouraged Rivian to revise its 2026 guidance upwards, both financially and in terms of vehicle deliveries.

The shining star is the R2 compact crossover, whose production has ramped up faster than anticipated. Although Rivian does not disclose deliveries by vehicle model, CEO RJ Scaringe told investors during the earnings call that the R2 was the company's best-selling vehicle in the quarter. Estimates indicate Rivian sold about 7,300 R2 vehicles in the third quarter, making it one of the best-selling EVs in the US.

Although the R2 remains a crucial topic, one of the less talked-about surprises was the software revenue. The Software and Services part of the financial results has become difficult to ignore, with $605 million in revenue. Roughly $354 million came from the Volkswagen partnership, making the German carmaker Rivian's most important customer.

Volkswagen is paying handsome money to get access to Rivian's zonal architecture and software. Much has been said about this partnership, including doomsday scenarios. The latest bad news showed that Volkswagen is already hedging its software away from the Rivian partnership by planning to use Xpeng's software developed in China. This might well be true, but not to the detriment of Rivian, as Rivian's software guru Wassym Bensaid was quick to point out in a social media reply.

On the contrary, Rivian is expanding its partnership with Volkswagen, despite doomsayers. The latest change adds Rivian's AI Assistant to the deal, or parts of it, at least, according to the third-quarter shareholder deck. There aren't more details about this expanded partnership, but it sure looks like the Rivian and Volkswagen cooperation is growing, not shrinking.

This marks an important moment for Rivian, being the first part of its software stack shared with Volkswagen. The original partnership terms only included the zonal architecture and core vehicle OS. I can certainly see how Rivian's Autonomy efforts will next be on Volkswagen's radar, especially if Rivian demonstrates decent competence in this area.

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

By: Aurel Niculescu

Mitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA) revealed ahead of the 2026 edition of the SEMA Show (November 3 to 6) its triumphant return to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the first time since 2012. The Japanese company’s subsidiary also has a headline – the 2028 Outlander Diamond Trail Edition.

We’ve said it on numerous occasions: quite sadly, right now the Japanese automaker’s US subsidiary is a pale shadow of a shadow of its former self. If you need an eloquent example, earlier this month they reported a total of just 18,543 sales during the third quarter of 2026, and after that the only novelty has been the reveal of the pricing details for the Nissan Leaf-based 2027 Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback. The new fastback EV starts at an MSRP of almost $38k, which is considerably higher than its corporate sibling, which kicks off at less than $30k for the 2026 model year.

Most likely they won’t improve their sales too much with this new model, but at least we have higher hopes for the new 2028 Outlander Diamond Trail Edition, which is an adventure version of their best-selling nameplate. The trail-focused version of its three-row crossover is coming as a triple example at the SEMA Show, one stock with Mitsubishi Genuine Accessories and a color-matched Thule roof box, one packing more goodies, and the third one as extreme as possible.

Back to the regular version, the new trim levels come with a new Rock off-road mode for the Super-All Wheel Control System, modified bumpers which enable improved approach and departure angles from 18.3 to 20.5 degrees and from 22.2 to 23.1 degrees, all-terrain tires, and new wheels: 18-inch black alloy wheels with dedicated Nexen Roadian ATXs.

Inside, there’s off-road feedback through the dedicated instrument-cluster display screen in Rock mode, showing things like the steering angle, individual wheel slip, and traction-control intervention in real time, while the Multi-View Camera System also acts differently and stays active up to 18.6 mph or 30 kph instead of the standard 6.2mph/10kph threshold.

There is also a unique water-repelling dark grey material with khaki stitching for the upholstery, as well as textured matte black, dark chrome, and dark satin trim elements. The new Diamond Trail Edition logo is also present, on the seat backs, floor mats, and the door card. Last but not least, Mitsubishi introduces a new color, Trail Green Metallic, highlighting the Diamond Trail Edition.

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

By: Alex Oagana

Now that the Internet frenzy surrounding the incredible launch event of the second (third?) Tesla Roadster generation has died down a little, I think it’s a good time to take a closer look at whatever it is that happened and what Elon Musk has achieved at SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas, facility on October 15. 2026.

If there is one thing that Elon Musk has become famous for, apart from amassing a huge amount of wealth, is the downright supernatural talent he has for convincing people he is a genius and a messiah of technology.

A big hint for the first part can be found by trying to count to one trillion, while the second part becomes evident by asking almost every Tesla fan out there, of which there are many. Further clues for how so many people see him as a visionary became apparent after the global coverage of Tesla’s October 15, 2026 reveal of the new Roadster. Apparently, from over a thousand people present at the event, only 20 of them were members of the press, with the rest being Tesla fans and shareholders.

Apart from breaking the Internet and gluing the entire planet with the footage of it barreling over other Teslas like in a monster truck showdown and downright flying, the new Tesla Roadster also managed to break a couple of other records.

First of all, it became the world’s first concept car with a 9-year gestation run, at least to my knowledge. Normally, every other concept car is being developed for a few months or a year, at most, before its official reveal, but the latest Roadster has been worked on since 2017. And yes, despite what Elon Musk and his acolytes may have been leading you to believe during the October 15 reveal, the car is still a concept, and will continue to be one until it “actually,” as Tesla kept repeating, goes into production in 2028. I wouldn’t hold my breath about the exact same car that was presented to really go on sale, but time is a more efficient truth-teller than me, or Elon, for that matter.

Second of all, the new Tesla Roadster probably broke another record by being part of arguably the biggest smoke and mirrors show in automotive launches history. Even before the final and heavily delayed launch, there were rumors about the airspace around the SpaceX’s Texas facility having a flight restriction, or that Tesla had paved a huge part of the area specifically for the event. Corroborating those rumors with all kinds of hints given by Musk himself over the last year or so, pretty much everyone was expecting a flying car of some sort.

Is the new latest iteration of the Tesla Roadster a flying car? Well, some, spearheaded by Musk and his acolytes, would say yes. Common sense and the actual legislation in most countries will probably say no. This is probably why the fully loaded Tesla Roadster with the “Rocket” trim level, the only one equipped with the “flight system” is invite only. All these things matter a lot in the context of painting Elon Musk as the savior of mankind and “messiah of technology.” 

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

By: Bogdan Popa

If you’re still in the market for a Google Maps alternative, Magic Earth is trying to win your heart with a new major update. You’ll get tons of new features, including more traffic data and support for new road signs, including crosswalks. This means you’ll get more time to slow down, so if navigation apps are supposed to make the road safer, this is a very efficient way to do it.

Google isn’t just sitting there, enjoying Halloween and looking at rivals having fun. It just rolled out a limited-time update that enables the fall colors in Google Maps on Android Auto for people who are really, really lucky. In plain English, there’s a good chance you won’t get it.

Google says that YouTube for Android Auto is still coming, but the company is also busy dealing with the regular stuff in this space. Regular stuff typically means bugs in the Android Auto world, and that’s exactly what some people are struggling with after a recent update. Notifications are gone, and a downgrade is the only way to fix them.

Meanwhile, iFi has launched a new (and very expensive) adapter to enable lossless audio in old cars, while the release of iOS 17.2 blocked APTV, the super-popular app that enabled YouTube on CarPlay.

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