Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
The Downshift is The Drive‘s weekday early-morning quick-hit news roundup. It gathers all the latest automotive news from around the globe that’s bubbling and puts it in one place. Grab a Pop-Tart and coffee.
TDS is not a full-featured story or in-depth reporting. It’s tight, light, and right. Each story is summarized in a single sentence with a link to go deeper into the topic for those seeking more information.
Already halfway through the second cup of coffee here, so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: Still spending time with the 2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS and used Super Cruise to drive up north to the lake last night mostly hands free.
🔋 Tesla’s party is over after banking $11 billion by selling regulatory credits, which are set to dry up in the coming years thanks to Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill enabling automakers to sell all the Hellcats and Hemis they want without penalty.
🌲 The Lucid Gravity X concept debuted in Monterey ahead of Pebble Beach as a display of what an off-road focused version of the electric three-row SUV could look like.
🚙 Some specs for the upcoming 2026 Jeep Cherokee leaked by the automaker itself, including the fact it will have a 1.6-liter turbo-four hybrid powertrain with up to 38 mpg combined and ability to tow up to 3,500 pounds.
🛻 The Ram Dakota returned, though the truck debuted in South America and is not intended, at least in this form, for America.
🇯🇵 Nissan said the 2026 Armada Nismo will cost $81,720 including a $2,190 destination charge.
✨ Rivian’s first one-off, the R1S Quad Pebble Beach Edition, sold at auction for $175,000 with proceeds being donated to WaterAid and #TeamWater charities.
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