Why Are Corporations So Keen on Solving Car Autonomy?

Welcome to the latest issue of autoevolution weekly!

We begin with a discussion about America’s pullback from EVs, what caused it and why it’s going to continue at least for the near future.

Exoskeletons are real and commercially-available, and we’ve just tested one from Hypershell. If you’ve ever wondered if this kind of product can help you with outdoor activities, don’t miss our review.

Despite losing some contenders along the way, the race to autonomous driving and robotaxis is heated, especially now that Tesla has entered the fray. But we can’t help wondering what exactly is in it for them. What’s the endgame?

Next, we take a look at spy photos of the upcoming, all-new, 2026 Mitsubishi Pajero and a couple of very sporty BMWs.

Lastly, Android Auto users find out they should get ready to welcome Gemini in their favorite infotainment platform, while Carplay users can look forward to being able to watch videos.

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

Table of Contents

• Editorial: America’s pullback from electrification …

• Tested: Hypershell X outdoor activity exoskeleton

• The reasons behind corporations’ drive to “solve” …

• 2026 Mazda CX-5: The good, the bad, and a comparis …

• The 2026 Mitsubishi Pajero is shaping up nicely (s …

• Android Auto: Assistant out, Gemini in

• The finish line

Editorial: America’s pullback from electrification is just getting started

By: Cristian Agatie

While the US public has never been very enthusiastic toward electric vehicles, it seems that it has become openly hostile in the past months. This might be puzzling to people who wonder why all the recent technical advances in EV and battery tech haven't made electric cars more popular. The answer? It's complicated.

Recent research reveals that more than 9 million plug-in vehicles (BEV+PHEV) were sold globally in the first half of 2025. This represents a 28% increase compared to the first half of 2024. China alone reported 5.5 million EV sales, a 32% increase, with Europe a distant second: 2 million EVs sold, 26% more than in 2024. Meanwhile, North America bought fewer than a million EVs, an increase of only 3%.

Few Americans consider electric vehicles a viable form of transportation. Many don't even consider them "real cars" but rather home appliances. They often cite inaccurate urban legends as drawbacks, including the danger of exploding batteries, the very short lifecycle of a battery pack, or the long time needed to charge it. A few years ago, the price was also a consideration, but EVs have become more affordable while combustion vehicles have increased their prices.

Tesla did a marvelous job in making EVs more popular among Americans, but it also did a hell of a job making people hate them. Add the reluctance to advertise and promote the advantages of electric cars, and you'll understand why large swathes of the population still believe anti-EV legends.

The volatile business environment was already putting car companies on the back foot. However, the loss of incentives courtesy of the Big Beautiful Bill might have nailed the coffin for many battery and EV projects. Add to this the reversal of tougher emissions regulations, which effectively kills the ZEV certificate market, and you'll understand why America is going backwards.

Any electric vehicle that cannot be sold outside the US will be in jeopardy, because the economics of building it don't add up. Most carmakers are already losing money on their EVs, and they have no reason to continue losing money when there's no pressure to meet emission targets anymore. Many legacy carmakers are turning again toward gas and hybrid vehicles that bring in the cash. Legacy carmakers can always do that, but EV startups don't have this luxury.

While Trump's Big Beautiful Bill dealt a severe blow to new EV models, there's an opposite consequence for battery projects. The new law doesn't outright eliminate the incentives but introduces stricter restrictions each year.

This might explain why many companies, including LG, Panasonic, Ford, and Tesla, recently announced their new battery factories almost at the same time. However, what these batteries will power if EV volumes shrink and new models are scrapped is unclear.

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

Tested: Hypershell X outdoor activity exoskeleton

By: Elena Gorgan

When e-bikes started going mainstream a few years ago, you couldn't possibly take one out for a spin and not get stares, questions, smiles, and the occasional whispered "cheater!" insult from a fellow cyclist. An exoskeleton is one way of reliving all that – but also of trying out new tech with similar advantages.

The Hypershell X is described as "the world's first outdoor exoskeleton," which was probably true when it debuted on crowdfunding in early 2023 under the Omega name. Today, it's not the only product of the kind, but it's probably the only one that delivers on every promise it makes.

The pitch? It puts electric motors on your hips to generate vertical force and make outdoor activities easier, more fun, and longer-lasting, with 30% less perceived effort and an offset of 30 kg (66 lbs) of your weight. Let’s see how well that translates to real life.

My review unit was a Hypershell Pro X model, which is the mid-entry option, with higher-end, lighter materials, more power, and more options than the standard Go X model. It ships with a super-lightweight case that keeps everything neatly organized and protected. Also included in the box is a charger, a backup battery, a warranty card, and the owner's manual with instructions.

Because the Hypershell folds to nearly half its size, it actually fits into a backpack, so you don't have to carry the case with you if you don't want to, though it's a much more elegant and safe solution.

The wear system of the Hypershell X is made of light diamond weave nylon with 4-mm of thickness, while the device itself is made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer, aluminum alloy, and stainless steel for the Pro X version. In total, it weighs just 1.8 kg (4 lbs), which I found light enough not to feel like a burden once strapped in. Speaking of straps, all of them are adjustable, as is the width of the arms holding the motors against your hips.

The Hypershell Pro X has three operating modes (Transparent, which means no assistance, Eco, and Hyper), each with a 0 to 100% degree of intensity, so you can choose exactly the kind of assistance you want. Hyper mode is… hyper, so suitable for very challenging activities where you need max assistance. A non-athlete can probably go through the entire lifecycle of the Hypershell Pro X in Eco mode only.

Control of the device is done through a single button with help from a combination of clicks and three LEDs that light up in different colors to tell you the mode and intensity you're at. As you would expect, there’s also an app that gives you a better look at stats & modes, and allows you to fine-tune your settings to an insane degree – down to choosing different levels of assistance for each leg.

When it comes to actually using the Hypershell, there's a learning curve to it, and the steepest was for me during cycling. In addition to getting used to the whirring of the motor, the feeling of being strapped in, and the click of the hip hinges, you have to get used to having your legs move without much input from you.

Thanks to the Adaptive Co-pilot, the Hypershell Pro X assists you differently when you walk and run, and brakes you as you're moving downhill to ensure "smooth descents." It does that without the need for you to intervene, unless you want to switch modes.

There are some downsides to the Hypershell Pro X, though many aren’t with the device itself but rather this specific type of product.

While the padded sections on the lower back and the legs are well designed and don't ride up or chaff, they do get hot underneath. If you're putting in the effort to cover more miles, even in balmy weather, you're going to sweat quite a lot. There's an IP54 waterproof rating on the Hypershell Pro X, so ingress wasn't an issue. (But comfort was!) On the bright side, the device itself doesn't overheat.

I personally found the absence of more control buttons on the Hypershell slightly annoying. It's not that I can't remember the colors for each mode or the number of clicks on that single button to move to the next mode, it's that I don't want to. At least there's always the option to control the device through the app.

Conclusion

The Hypershell Pro X is exactly what it says on the box. It's a lightweight, highly responsive, and powerful exoskeleton that delivers adaptive assistance, plenty of torque, and excellent range to get you out of the house, active, and having fun. It's super fun, it can be super useful, and it's very reliable.

If you’d like to learn more about the Hypershell X, including my full impressions and what it’s like to live with, make sure to read the full review on our website.

The reasons behind corporations’ drive to “solve” vehicle autonomy

By: Cristian Agatie

Humans have dreamed for decades of vehicles that drive themselves, but few have pondered what that really means, especially now that more companies are pursuing autonomous vehicles and robotaxis. Companies like Waymo and Tesla promise enhanced safety and better transportation options, but is that all there is to it?

As early as carmakers started fitting their vehicles with more advanced driver assistance systems, it occurred to some that building autonomous vehicles might actually be possible. Since keeping the vehicle aligned in the lane and safely away from other vehicles was already possible, why not combine all these systems and let the car drive itself?

Turns out, autonomous driving is more difficult than stapling a few driver assistance systems on top of each other and calling it a day. However, as carmakers abandoned the race due to the high costs involved, technology companies stepped in: Google (Waymo), Amazon (Zoox), and various startups like Cruise (acquired by GM), or Argo AI (split between Ford and Volkswagen).

Tesla is an outlier, as the only American company advancing autonomous driving that also has car manufacturing capabilities. Tesla is also the only company that thinks a vision-only approach is enough to achieve autonomous driving safer than humans. This brings cost advantages, considering that Lidar sensors are still very expensive.

Following turbulent periods and disappointing setbacks, which wiped out some AD companies off the market, the race is now fought by Tesla and Waymo, with Zoox as a distant third. As robotaxis become part of our lives, people are starting to wonder what these companies’ end game is and how they hope to make money out of it.

Autonomous driving is a zero-sum game

There are certain advantages that autonomous vehicles add to transportation, especially urban transportation. However, there's also a destructive potential that makes autonomous driving a zero-sum game. In other words, the market will not be enough to support more players, as it does with countless carmakers nowadays. In this case, the winner takes it all, and the company that gets there first will eliminate the others.

Autonomous driving companies love talking about the benefits of driverless cars and robotaxi services. Sure, they can reduce traffic congestion, because fewer cars are needed. Instead of spending most of their lives in a garage or parking space, autonomous vehicles are always on the move, hauling people. This can also reduce the need for parking spaces, freeing precious real estate inside city centers.

Because they are fewer and moved in an optimized way, they are also more environmentally friendly. This can be further improved by using electric vehicles, which can also optimize operating costs due to lower maintenance and fuel costs. It's an advantage for all involved, municipalities, customers, and operators.

Autonomous driving's big promises

However, the biggest promise robotaxi companies make is that autonomous driving will vastly improve traffic safety by eliminating human error from the equation. Driverless cars are never tired, never distracted, never angry. They don't look into their phones and don't make rushed, poorly judged decisions that generate countless fatal crashes day after day.

Another promise is that autonomous vehicles would allow people who are unable to drive, like the elderly and disabled, to be independent. However, this is a service that current taxi services that use human drivers could also provide. In this case, the only advantage of a driverless service is not having to interact with random human beings; I'm not sure the elderly really want that.

While these are important promises robotaxi companies make, they don't explain what's in it for them. This cut-throat game to get there first has to be fueled by something more than a pure desire to help cities alleviate congestion and reduce road fatalities. These are businesses, not charities, so what's in it for them?

For a lot more insight into the autonomous driving endgame, please continue reading on our site.

2026 Mazda CX-5: The good, the bad, and a comparison with its rivals

By: Aurel Niculescu

Slightly bigger, slightly bolder, and sadly quite button-less - these are the main directions for the all-new third-generation Mazda CX-5, which has been revealed in US, European, and Australian specification a few days ago.

Mazda Motor is enjoying ample success this first half of 2025, even after a record-breaking 2024 in North America. But don't let the recent success of the CX-90, CX-70 (8k units but with a 689% rise), CX-50, and CX-30 models fool you, because the classic CX-5 remains Mazda's bread and butter.

The updated Kodo design language has debuted on the latest iteration and will inspire most products from the brand in the future. The new Mazda CUV looks familiar, but it's entirely new from the ground up and comes with expanded dimensions: plus three inches for the wheelbase, plus 4.5 inches in terms of length, bringing it in line with rivals like the Nissan Rogue or Honda CR-V. The resulting new dimensions make way for larger rear doors for easier ingress and egress, which was something that current CX-5 customers complained about.

The new styling is dominated by the new front fascia with the winged radiator grille and the step-up LED daylight running lights, while around the back, there's 'MAZDA' script on the trunk lid and also on the steering wheel inside the cabin.

Inside, while the new Mazda CX-5 is easily and instantly recognizable from the outside, there are major changes. The most obvious is the addition of a 15.6-inch central touchscreen display – the biggest on any Mazda. The good thing is that now there's lots of screen real estate along with the digital instrument cluster and HUD, but the bad news is that physical controls have disappeared from the dashboard and around the gear lever.

The six-speed automatic transmission and AWD are standard in the US and Australia. The house-baked hybrid system is coming in 2027, which is no less than two years from now. Mazda is making a risky bet here, as rivals already have hybrid options. One of them, the most ardent competitor of them all, is also brand-new and ditches ICE-only powertrains in favor of going hybrid and plug-in hybrid.

That's the 2026 Toyota RAV4, which also has the advantage of a more evolved exterior design, a few buttons inside, plus the existence of no less than three lines: Core, Rugged, and Sport. Mazda can oppose the RAV4 Woodland with the CX-50, but it can't cope with the 321-hp RAV4 GR Sport PHEV, for example.

That's not the only rival: there are also the refreshed 2026 Honda CR-V Hybrid TrailSport or the 2025 Hyundai Tucson and 2026 Kia Sportage siblings, all treated to mid-cycle facelifts just recently. In the future, Ford has already teased the arrival of hybrids for the Bronco lineup, and it would be stupid not to give the Bronco Sport the powertrain from the Maverick Hybrid.

Nissan also has a truly worthy competitor - the Rogue compact crossover SUV, which comes with hybrid (next generation) and PHEV models. Last but not least, it's still possible for Jeep to bring the all-new, larger Jeep Compass to America - in Europe, it's already live and has rugged crossover SUV looks plus mild hybrid, PHEV, and even all-electric technology at its disposal.

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

The 2026 Mitsubishi Pajero is shaping up nicely (spy photos & videos of the week)

By: Mircea Panait

Mitsubishi may continue rebadging Renault models in Europe over tight R&D funds caused by poor management decisions and Nissan's financial woes, but on the upside, the ailing brand took a different approach with the next generation of the Pajero Sport. Recently spied with much boxier styling than the outgoing model, the newcomer is definitely following the same body-on-frame formula.

Expected to drop in 2026, the redesigned Pajero Sport could be renamed to Pajero. But take said rumor with a grain of salt, especially after previous hearsay suggested that Mitsubishi could use the Pajero name for a luxury crossover derived from the Outlander PHEV. More upright than before, the next iteration of the mid-size utility vehicle should get a gasoline I4 and a turbo diesel I4. Said turbo diesel can also be had with 201 twin-turbo'd horsepower to its name in the Triton / L200 pickup truck.

BMW has been a busy bee this past week as well, starting with the Life Cycle Impulse of the 7 Series. The flagship luxury sedan has been caught testing in Spain with a revised front end, complete with a bumper-top light strip and lower main lights. The in-your-face layout should not come as a surprise to enthusiasts and loyalists alike because this layout carries over to the second-gen X7 three-row luxury SUV.

Teased on social media by the Bavarian automaker, the forthcoming street-legal track package for the M2 Coupe is currently being tested on the world's most grueling racetrack. The Nurburgring prototype is the very same M2 Coupe from the social media teasers, complete with a humongous rear wing and Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS rubber.

The go-faster package further includes a prominent splitter, M2 CS-like red brake calipers, and wheels that look eerily similar to those of the M2 CS as well. Porsche did it better than BMW, though, as the Zuffenhausen-based automaker tasked Manthey Racing to improve on the already impressive Taycan Turbo GT with the Weissach Package.

Expected to materialize as the Taycan Turbo GT Manthey Kit, the high-performance makeover includes plenty of 911 GT3 RS Manthey Kit upgrades. Think fender inlets and side blades, louvered openings in the fenders, aerodisc rear wheels, and one seriously large aerodynamic diffuser. With a bit of luck, the first-ever Manthey Kit for an electric vehicle will help the Taycan Turbo GT beat the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra's Nurburgring lap record for series-production EVs.

Android Auto: Assistant out, Gemini in

By: Bogdan Popa

Android Auto made the headlines thanks to a new update that started rolling out this week. Version 14.8 brings several important changes, including evidence that Google Assistant is getting the boot. The launch of Gemini is around the corner, and Google has renamed all Google Assistant references in Android Auto 14.8.

Apple's long-term CarPlay strategy involves adding new capabilities, including support for watching videos in the car while stationary. This idea makes more sense after a major NFL app update that includes support for running these apps on CarPlay. Video support is still unconfirmed, but watching match highlights and other video content on CarPlay is a no-brainer.

A new study looked into a problem that's getting out of control. Drivers misuse navigation apps, taking everything they say for granted. Some users follow the recommendation of navigation apps without even looking ahead on the road, sometimes ending up in the middle of nowhere. The research highlighted the dangers of people giving up on common sense when running navigation apps, with one man driving 29 miles on the wrong side of the road because that's what his satnav told him to do.

Finally, two men learned the hard way that technology doesn't like thieves. They stole a Nissan Patrol, installed new license plates, and hoped to escape unnoticed. They had no idea an AirTag was inside, watching their every move. The owner called the cops, the cops checked the AirTag coordinates, and you can guess the rest.

Congratulations for reaching the finish line!

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