Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
Tight, focused, and dense, TDS gathers the latest automotive headlines from around the globe and places them in one spot. Stories are summarized in a single sentence accompanied by a link for those seeking more information.
🚨 Episode 4 of The Drivecast, The Drive‘s new podcast, will arrive later today.
The first cup of coffee is gone, it’s February in Minnesota and it’s currently raining (what is happening), so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: Spending the week with the 2026 Mazda CX-90 Plug-In Hybrid and am finding it has plenty of power, though it’s not quick in electric-only mode. It’s just on the right side of being quick enough without the gas engine turned on.
🆕 Polestar announced a product offensive that will see four new EVs launch in the next three years including the Polestar 5 (which is a Porsche Taycan rival), a more practical wagon-SUV-like version of the Polestar 4 (presumably with a rear window), new Polestar 2 (which was never supposed to get a second generation), and a Polestar 7; the Polestar 5, which is to be built in China, will not arrive in the U.S. at launch and it’s TBD when, or even if, it will launch here.
🚕 Tesla said the first Cybercab rolled off the production line in Texas.
🔋 Audi confirmed a production version of the Concept C electric sports car will arrive next year regardless of whether the electric Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman, upon which the Audi was supposed to be based on, is killed.
🤖 Tesla’s Robotaxis have now reportedly crashed 14 times in eight months.
🚕 Uber plans to invest over $100 million into charging hubs for self-driving electric taxis.
🐷 The outgoing head of design at Mercedes-Benz secretly reimagined the iconic “Red Pig” and images of the concept were shared on Instagram.
🔱 The 2026 Goodwood Revival will celebrate and honor 100 years of Maserati motor racing in September.
🏎️ The Lexus LC replacement will reportedly share the next-generation Toyota Supra’s platform and arrive with a 2+2 form factor merging the LC and RC models into one GT.
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