Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
Light, tight, and right, TDS gathers all the latest automotive news from around the globe and places it in one spot. Stories are summarized in a single sentence accompanied by a link for those seeking more information.
One cup of coffee into the day and I’m ready for another, so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: The 2025 Mercedes-Benz E 450 4Matic All-Terrain has left and been replaced by the 2025 Infiniti QX60, but more on that tomorrow.
🕵️♀️ Two U.S. senators have urged federal automobile safety regulators to investigate the reported issues with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system citing the failures to respond to railroad crossings resulting in “catastrophic” collisions despite the automaker’s claims that the system can drive occupants “almost anywhere” even though it needs a human driver to supervise.
🪫 Both Ford and GM launched workaround programs to extend the use of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit that expires tomorrow on October 1 via a leasing loophole, which involves the automaker’s credit arms to get involved before the month ends.
✋ The Department of Energy added “climate change” and “emissions” to its list of banned words.
🚐 The Volvo EM90 plug-in hybrid minivan received an early debut via patent images.
🪦 The Mercedes-Benz EQB electric crossover SUV has been retired from the luxury automaker’s lineup.
🔌 Tesla claimed its first 500-kw Supercharging station has powered up.
🛟 The Polestar 2, which is the electric automaker’s most successful product to date, will get a second generation with the same model name despite the EV maker’s original plan of each model being a single-generation product.
🔜 The Genesis GV60 Magma’s debut is drawing near as the automaker wraps up final testing on the electric sports car.
⚙️ Automotive parts giant RockAuto will no longer ship products to Arizona residents due to the state’s convoluted sales tax scheme that left the company with an $11 million retroactive bill.
Have feedback on the formatting of TDS? Send us a note: tips@thedrive.com