The State of Tesla

Welcome to the latest issue of autoevolution weekly!

Let’s start with a look at Tesla’s state of affairs and everything that came out of their earnings call earlier this week.

Next, our test drive and review of the Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance is complete, so it’s time to look at the conclusions.

In an earlier issue of “autoevolution weekly” we’ve discussed engine choices for prospective Ford F-150 buyers, now it’s time to take an in-depth look at the RAM 1500 and put the HEMI V8 option against the Hurricane I6.

The Ariel Atom has celebrated 25 years of existence, so we sat down for an interview with its founder Simon Saunders and his son and managing director Henry Siebert-Saunders to learn more about they did it all.

Moving on to this week’s spy photos, Porsche’s in the lead with a duo comprised of the 911 GT2 RS and the all-electric Cayenne Coupe.

Next we briefly discuss the “Google Maps effect” and how residents of otherwise quiet neighborhoods are starting to fight against it, before moving to a very detailed (100+ photos) unboxing of entry-level but very cool Hot Wheels cars.

PS: if this newsletter was forwarded to you, here’s a handy link if you’d like to subscribe yourself.

Table of Contents

• Editorial: The state of Tesla

• Driven: 2025 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E Performance

• Ram 1500 HEMI V8 vs. Ram 1500 Hurricane I6

• Interview: Cheers to 25 Years of the Ariel Atom

• Fast, road-legal, sometimes electric, Porsche hors …

• The Google Maps effect

• Unboxing: 10 Entry-Level Hot Wheels Diecast Cars

• The finish line

Editorial: The state of Tesla, between vehicle program failures and artificial intelligence promises

By: Cristian Agatie

Tesla's second-quarter earnings call has been a mixed bag, with key indicators in free fall and few bright spots. Tesla executives, especially Elon Musk, have all the reasons to be concerned, considering the carmaker lacks a clear vehicle strategy and its current vehicle lineup is struggling.

Musk appears to believe that his pipe dreams, like vehicle autonomy, robotaxis, and artificial intelligence, could miraculously put Tesla back on a growth path. The truth is that Tesla is still struggling to turn these projects into profit centers, while its bread-and-butter divisions, such as automotive and services, have lost steam in the past year.

Musk had to admit during the call that "a few rough quarters" are to be expected until FSD and its Robotaxi service start raking in. Meanwhile, even though the quarter has just begun, Tesla is forced to pull all the demand levers to move metal. With vehicle sales dwindling and no new model in the pipeline, Tesla is poised to turn to incentives to keep its factories alive, which has eaten into its bottom line.

Tesla still has enough cash in its coffers, but instead of investing it in new vehicle programs, it prefers to strip the Model Y of its most useful features and sell it at a discount. Even if this could make the Model Y attractive to a wider customer base, it's also the best method to shrink margins, making higher trims less attractive. Meanwhile, the Cybertruck is not even worth mentioning in an earnings call, despite all the efforts put into its cutting-edge technologies.

Given all these considerations, it's no wonder people are skeptical about Tesla's prospects. This remarkably contrasts with investor sentiment. Institutional investors appear to have given Musk a pass on his problems and share his optimism about autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots. This has propelled Tesla shares, despite a short dip in the aftermath of the earnings call. However, it's worth looking at the bigger picture to see where Tesla is heading.

Note: this is an abridged version, you can find the full article on our site.

Driven: 2025 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E Performance – a 671 HP Monster That Shocks and Awes

By: Sergiu Tudose

On paper, the 2025 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E Performance has everything it needs to be a massive success among performance sports sedan buyers. And yet, I’ve seen a lot of automotive journalists talk about how unhappy they are with the 2.0L turbocharged PHEV powertrain, the weight, and the overall driving experience. Which begs the question: how can so many people be so right but also so wrong at the same time?

There’s a lot to like about the W206 C-Class when it comes to styling. It’s elegant and sporty looking with the right trim. Personally, I kind of liked the W205 more from a design standpoint, but to each their own.

The C 63 S E Performance obviously looks more aggressive than a “normal” W206 C-Class. Having wider front and rear tracks also means wider wheel arches. It also has a slightly longer front end (to house additional cooling and performance hardware), AMG-specific intakes, quad exhausts, side skirts, and a lower stance.

This is a surprisingly subtle design for a genuine AMG car. The BMW M3 looks considerably more aggressive, whereas the new C 63 leans more toward having an elegant look.

Our test car came with a Graphite Gray metallic exterior, which is a good color for any AMG product. It also featured the AMG aero package (giving you that trunk lid spoiler), the AMG Night package, a panoramic roof (part of the Premium Plus package), the AMG Styling package, plus a set of 10-spoke 20” AMG wheels with black accents.

This is a handsome vehicle, with the potential to look even better with a more contrasting colorway – perhaps Cirrus Silver, Moonlight White, or even Graphite Gray Magno (matte).

I’ve developed somewhat of an eagle eye for spotting cost cutting measures inside new cars, and the cheaper plastics on the bottom half of the center console and dashboard were hard to miss. I drove a GLC around the same time as the C 63, and the former had a more expensive-feeling interior. I’m not sure if that should be the case.

I’d also venture as far as to say that interior quality in the W206 C-Class, in general, is below that of the current G20 BMW 3 Series, and perhaps slightly below that of the new Audi A5 – but the BMW definitely leads the segment here, albeit only because it was designed at time when carmakers had yet to go all-in on cost-cutting. I’m sure the next 3 Series will “rectify” that. Sadly.

In terms of seating comfort and driving position, both are perfect. The seats felt comfortable and supportive, and the driving position is excellent. You know how some cars will shrink around you? The C 63, perhaps because of its body mods, feels bigger than your run-of-the-mill sports sedan. This isn’t a negative, just an observation.

There is one more thing that’s... not so great about this car. Because it’s a plug-in hybrid, trunk volume is extremely limited. Instead of the 16 cu.ft (455 liters) you get with the regular C-Class sedan; the C 63 only offers 9.9 cu.ft (280 liters). That is a remarkably small trunk, especially depth-wise, so you’ll struggle fitting larger suitcases in there.

If you’d like to learn more about the Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E Performance, including my full impressions, make sure to read the full review on our website.

Ram 1500 HEMI V8 vs. Ram 1500 Hurricane I6: Which Engine Is Best for You?

By: Mircea Panait

Note: this is an abridged version of the full article that you can read on our site.

After a single model year without a V8 option, HEMI muscle has returned to the 2026 Ram 1500 line in the United States market. Although the 345-cube mill came out more than two decades ago, it is still relevant in the half-ton pickup truck segment, especially when compared to Ford's 5.0-liter Coyote and the 5.3-liter small block from GM.

The big question, however, is whether the 5.7-liter HEMI V8 with standard 48-volt electrical assistance is the right choice over Stellantis North America's inline-six turbo in this application. The answer depends on individual preferences and needs in a truck.

The 5.7-liter HEMI naturally aspirated V8 with eTorque

Standard for model year 2026, the 5.7-liter HEMI naturally aspirated V8 engine with 48-volt goodies debuted in the DT-generation Ram 1500 for model year 2019. Benefitting from a Magneti Marelli-supplied motor generator instead of a Continental unit for the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6, the eTorque system also includes a 430-Wh battery pack.

Mounted at the back of the cab's rear wall to maximize interior space for passengers and their stuff, the battery is joined by a DC-to-DC converter. eTorque has many functions, beginning with restarting the engine much smoother than a conventional start-stop system does. It also sweetens the deal with as much as 130 pound-feet (176 Newton-meters) of brief torque bursts at low engine and vehicle speeds.

As with the 2024 Ram 1500 HEMI V8 eTorque, the 2026 model needs unleaded mid-grade fuel (89 octane) rather than unleaded regular. Be that as it may, the pushrod V8 with a deep-skirt iron block will run perfectly fine on 87 octane. To achieve maximum output, namely 395 horses and 410 lb-ft (556 Nm), 89 or higher octane is necessary.

The 3.0-liter Hurricane twin-turbo I6

Premiered in March 2022, the Hurricane GME-T6 engine was designed for extensive electrification in future applications. For the time being, it's a combustion-only powertrain with S58-rivaling output numbers. The BMW M division's most potent iteration of the S58 develops 552 horsepower compared to 540 for the high-output Hurricane of the Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Wagoneer.

Assembled in Mexico, said 3.0-liter engine takes 7.5 quarts (7.1 liters) of engine oil. Ram fills the standard-output Hurricane up with Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 0W-20 versus 0W-40 grade for the high-output Hurricane. Not exactly a surprise, the coolant capacities for the low- and high-temperature circuits are different as well.

They have different redlines too, with Ram quoting 5,800 and 6,100 revolutions per minute, respectively. The most you can expect from the standard-output Hurricane is 420 horsepower at 5,200 revolutions per minute and 469 pound-feet (635 Newton-meters) at 3,500 revolutions per minute.

Which engine option is best for your Ram 1500 pickup truck?

Prospective customers who prioritize maximum towing capacity are better off with the 11,570 pounds (5,248 kilograms) of the standard-output Hurricane. This engine is also better at hauling stuff, with Ram advertising a maximum of 1,980 pounds (898 kilograms) when specified with the Quad Cab and 6'4" bed.

Those who intend to daily their next 1500 for dailying can pick either powerplant, although the Hurricane does have an edge in the urban jungle and on the highway due to its considerably broader torque band, more torque at lower engine speeds, and better gas mileage.

From the standpoint of aural pleasure, it goes without saying that a free-breathing V8 will always have that certain something over a sixer whose turbos muffle the engine and exhaust noise. Also remember that a small-displacement turbo engine works harder than a larger naturally aspirated powerplant when towing or hauling a load.

For a lot more insight into these engine options and how to decide what’s best for you, please continue reading on our site.

Interview: Cheers to 25 Years of the Ariel Atom

By: Benny Kirk

Many of the low-volume sports car manufacturers make one or two prototypes, maybe even a couple of production examples, and then go out of business. Others are even less lucky and might never make it off the drawing board. But not Ariel. Against all the odds, the remarkable Ariel Atom is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

To celebrate the occasion, we sat down for an interview with the father and son duo that keeps one of Britain's most celebrated performance cars perpetually in production, fresh from showcasing the brand’s celebrated Atom and Nomad models at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

To paint a picture, the year is 1999, and the modern-day Ariel Motor Company is about to launch its first car, the Ariel Atom. It was based on a prototype created by Saunders and a small team - a tiny, lightweight, super-sporty racing car for the road, dubbed the Lightweight Sports Car, or LSC for short.

"It was arduous and difficult, it's arduous for big OEMs as well. I think a car is probably the most difficult product to bring to market – maybe apart from an aeroplane,” Simon said of those primordial days at Ariel. What you might not know is that the company's history dates back to 1871 when Ariel began making bicycles near Birmingham. Of course, the new Ariel is a distinctly different beast.

"[Sports cars are] an incredibly difficult product from a design and legislative point of view, then you have to consider fashion, and the world economy. Particularly with sports cars, because they're not necessary," Simon went on to say. "One reason the Atom came about was that I'd always wanted to try to get [good] design into the low-volume market. Britain is fairly unique in having this sort of low-volume industry. We've got companies like Caterham and Morgan, but lots of niche brands have fallen by the wayside along the way."

But, of course, heavyweights like Caterham and Morgan tend to stick to a classic formula developed over the course of half a century or more. This isn't a condition that affects Ariel, who set out from the jump to build something more. "The Atom came from a long-standing desire to have a properly designed modern sports car. Several companies had simple, lightweight cars but no one had moved the game on," Simon remarked. "So, we took the basic spots car recipe and created something forward looking."

Wouldn't you know, Ariel managed to craft their own recipe for sports car stardom right at the start of the track day craze. With that in mind, Ariel was far from the only game in town besides Caterham and Morgan. "At the time, there were, there were things like the Gordon Murray Rocket and the Renault Sport Spider, which were interesting cars," Simon explained. "But the Rocket was very expensive in its day, and it wasn't really a two-seater. The Renault Spider was pretty heavy, and the handling was a bit suspect near the limit, so there was just an opportunity, and the timing was right."

In those days, small upstart manufacturers using advanced computer-aided design (CAD) software to design cars were practically unheard of. Back then, such software was monstrously expensive, so it largely stayed in the hands of companies capable of affording the licensing. As Simon elaborated, the burgeoning availability of CAD software in the 90s was pivotal in bringing about the first Atom.

For a load of plucky Brits whose ancestors built cars from sketch pads and an artist's eye, CAD must have looked like some kind of sorcery in the late 90s. "Well, it was a learning process. And to give you some idea, if we rendered an image, we put it on overnight, and you'd come back in the morning, and it would have finished rendering. That's how slow it was," Simon mentioned. "It would be really difficult not to do it in CAD because of the nature of the chassis tubes and the sort.”

Note: this is an abridged version of the interview, for many more details and tips see the full text on our site.

Fast, road-legal, sometimes electric, Porsche horses

By: Mircea Panait

Beginning with a test mule of the next 911 GT2 RS, the folks at Porsche have been rather busy this past week in the future vehicle testing space. While the ultimate iteration of the 992.2 currently looks eerily similar to the 911 GT3 RS, bear in mind that production-intent body panels are still under development.

Gifted with a motorsport-inspired rear wing that promises improved airflow separation due to swan-neck mounts, the black-painted mule further shows massive rear arches for slightly wider tires. Porsche further modified the rear valance panel and exhaust system to fit a twin-turbo boxer six with 911 Carrera GTS-inspired electrical assistance.

Beyond the most capable and powerful road-legal Neunelfer to date, the Zuffenhausen-based automaker was also spied testing a near-production Cayenne Coupe Electric with strange-looking rear vents. A lip under the diffuser-style valance also raises more questions than it answers. According to Richard Hammond of Top Gear fame, the all-electric Cayenne will exceed the 729-horsepower maximum output rating of the V8-engined Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid.

While on the subject of upcoming vehicles from the Volkswagen Group, the Brits at Bentley are back at the Nurburgring with a Cayenne Electric-bodied electric SUV. 'Luxury Urban SUV' is what Bentley calls the zero-emission luxobarge for the time being, a two-row model that should build on the styling cues of the hugely popular Bentayga.

Land Rover's Range Rover brand isn't sitting idly, though. In addition to electric versions of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, an electric successor of the Velar is on the horizon. Larger and more upright, the Velar Electric will debut a new architecture for Land Rover, namely an 800-volt platform dubbed Electrified Modular Architecture.

Our last entry for the past week's most interesting of spy photos is the next-generation X5, which drops the outgoing model's digital instrument cluster and iDrive controller for a pillar-to-pillar display and haptic buttons on the steering wheel. Similar to the Range Rover Electric and Range Rover Sport Electric, the redesigned X5 is underpinned by an ICE-centric platform instead of the Neue Klasse platform.

The Google Maps effect

By: Bogdan Popa

While everybody likes Google Maps, nobody likes the "Google Maps effect." Google's navigation app keeps sending hordes of cars on narrow residential streets, causing massive disruption in otherwise quiet neighborhoods. A group of locals who've had enough with Google Maps spammed the app with "closed road" warnings, eventually convincing it to direct drivers to nearby streets and avoid their neighborhoods. 

Others love Google Maps so much that they trust it blindly. A woman used the app to drive to a nearby Lidl store she found on the map, only to discover that the location was fake. Google Maps pointed her to a Lidl store constructed in a fictional city on a movie set, and Google eventually removed the location from the map. 

Google Maps dominates the navigation space, but the latest updates allowed the app to expand deeper into Waze's territory. As we explained in a detailed analysis of incident reporting, Google Maps is turning Waze into a redundant product. 

Waze is trying to counter Google Maps' invasion by adding new features, and three big additions have already been confirmed. The demise of Google Maps' social component could help, as users are slowly but surely getting tired of Google's hobby of killing products and features.

Unboxing: 10 Entry-Level Hot Wheels Diecast Cars

If I ever become a billionaire, I will build a racetrack and purchase many cars. That's my fantasy. I'd invite friends over for barbecues and racing in the real world. I'd sponsor young drivers and riders to help them on their journey. I'd run free defensive driving courses for everyone who wants to make the roads safer.

But I'm not a billionaire, and I'm not even a millionaire. So the only racetrack I can afford would be a 1/64th-scale one with hundreds of diecast models next to it. I haven't started on the construction site yet, but I'm progressing well with the cars.

Every time I drive to the city, I go into every toy store I know that carries Hot Wheels. I rarely open them up that same day. I'd rather save the joy for later, when I can do a big unboxing. What you'll see in the photo gallery is part of all the collectibles I've bought over the past month or so:

1. Dodge Ram Van

2. Town Hauler

3. Porsche 904 Carrera GTS

4. Formula 1 Williams Racing

5. '85 Honda City Turbo II

6. Renault Espace F1

7. Audi 90 Quattro

8. Ferrari 365 GTB4 Competizione

9. Volkswagen T3 Custom

10. 2013 SRT Viper

Note: for the full version of the text, including details about these cars AND the gallery of over 100 photos, see the full article on our site.

Congratulations for reaching the finish line!

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