Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
Short, snappy, and succinct, TDS gathers the latest automotive news from around the world and places it in one spot. Stories are summarized with a single sentence accompanied by a link for those seeking more information.
The first cup of coffee is gone and I’m onto the second so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: Spent a frigid, sub-zero weekend with the 2026 Lucid Air without issue and took great delight in opening the app, turning on the car while it was plugged in, warming the cabin, turning on my butt heater and heated steering wheel all while the garage was closed and then eventually sliding into a warm car to pull outside in the crisp Minnesota winter air. The future is going to be lovely.
🚕 Someone spotted a Tesla Robotaxi in Austin, Texas driving down the road without a human inside; Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X.com that “testing is underway with no occupants in the car,” though this is despite the fact that multiple crashes have taken place with Tesla Robotaxis since launching in July with human safety monitors onboard with an emergency kill switch.
✍️ Over a week after the fact Jaguar Land Rover has said it did in fact not fire Gerry McGovern, who serves as the automaker’s head of design and is in charge of the controversial Jaguar EV concept’s design.
🔌 The eight automakers backing the Ionna high-speed EV charging network said that despite slowing consumer interest in EVs the need for high-quality reliable chargers remains and the company’s efforts to buildout a nationwide network will continue.
❄️ Jeep celebrated 85 years of continuous production of the Wrangler with the Whitecap special edition with snowy details added to bright body colors on Rubicon X, Rubicon, and Sahara models.
⛽️ Porsche is reportedly reverse engineering the electric 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman EVs to fit gas engines in a complete reversal from the automaker’s original product plans for the next-gen sports cars.
🚖 Volkswagen is now testing its Tesla Robotaxi rival on the streets of Wolfsburg.
🔋 The electric Volkswagen ID. Polo debuted as a 260-mile sub-$30,000 EV for the masses, though it’s unlikely to arrive in the U.S. market.
📱 Volvo’s software update for older 2020 and newer models that was to bring the automaker’s latest Google-based infotainment system interface to previous models this year has been delayed to early next year.
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