Patrick George

Xpeng Is Running Tesla’s Playbook For World Domination. It May Just Work Robots. Self-made chips. Self-driving cars. Xpeng’s plan sounds familiar, with just as much to prove. But it may beat Tesla at its own game.

Learned a lot about theoretical AI from this @gaytonausa.bsky.social story. Now, as ever, we see if the Chinese automaker running the Tesla playbook can actually pull it off:

insideevs.com/news/779701/...

I'd love to hear more!

The Quiet 'Convergence' That's Transforming the Auto Industry How EVs, autonomous cars, AI and robotics are forming the next phase of the car industry. But is this what drivers really want?

New from me on Route Zero: if you're only following EVs, or AVs, or charging, or batteries, you're missing the bigger picture about what's coming next in automotive. I call it The Convergence—but is it what drivers want?

Subscribe for free to read more!

www.routezeromedia.com/p/the-quiet-...

The Facts Are In: You Shouldn't Worry About EV Battery Replacements New research shows that it's extremely uncommon to have to replace a modern electric car's battery.

New research shows that it's extremely uncommon to have to replace a modern electric car's battery.

insideevs.com/news/779210/...

Where did all those kilowatt-hours go

"The Recon will come with a 100-kilowatt-hour battery pack delivering up to 250 miles of Jeep-estimated range" bwuhhhh???

Wrote a thing about why the car industry is crazy about robots, all of a sudden! And not just Tesla, either.

Tesla Is Working to Add Apple CarPlay in Bid to Boost Vehicle Sales Tesla Inc. is developing support for Apple Inc.’s CarPlay system in its vehicles, according to people with knowledge of the matter, working to add one of the most highly requested features by customer...

How long before GM caves, too www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Quentin Willson, Top Gear Presenter And Electric-Vehicle Advocate, Dies At 68 Willson was a co-host on the famed BBC motoring program between 1991 and 2001, and a big believer in the potential of EVs.

Willson was a co-host on the famed BBC motoring program between 1991 and 2001, and a big believer in the potential of EVs.

insideevs.com/news/778429/...

The Robotaxi Revolution Is Here—So What About The Humans? Harry Campbell, aka The Rideshare Guy, weighs in on what the autonomous vehicle revolution means for Uber, Lyft and other for-hire drivers.

AI and increased automation have been displacing jobs all year. But rideshare drivers are on the front lines as Waymo and other AV taxi companies keep growing. Fascinating chat with a guy who knows this topic well on this week's Route Zero! Subscribe for free:

www.routezeromedia.com/p/the-robota...

Western Journalists Still Don’t Understand BYD There's a reason people all across Western Europe are buying cars like the BYD Seal. They're really good, and in certain ways better than local cars.

"If you think Chinese cars still can’t match what Europe is making, driving something like a BYD Seal is going to rock your world."

insideevs.com/features/778...

This is just a passing fad. What auto consumers around the world really want are 10 ft tall pickup trucks that get 15 mpg and cost $50,000.

Here's Why The Cadillac Optiq Switched To Rear-Wheel-Drive—And Did It Faster With AI GM’s engineers only needed one model year to transform the Cadillac Optiq into a better car dynamically. Here's their secret.

Super interesting @gaytonausa.bsky.social story about why you see big changes very quickly in the world of EVs, and how AI testing means skipping entire prototype stages now

insideevs.com/news/777935/...

How Electric Vehicles Powered Houston Homes During Hurricane Beryl As Hurricane Beryl took power out in parts of Texas, some EV owners relied on bidirectional charging to power their homes and appliances.

This stuff is catching on more and more at times like that, too! insideevs.com/news/726819/...

Ford’s Next Big Innovation Isn’t a Truck—It’s Your Power Bill The Ford Home Power Management feature shows where EV charging needs to go. Literally.

Want some optimism in the EV space? There's plenty out there! My favorite recent example: Ford's breakthroughs in home charging, like storing up cheaper electricity to power your home during peak demand hours.

More on this week's Route Zero! Are you in?

www.routezeromedia.com/p/ford-s-nex...

Enjoy CarPlay While You Still Can The auto industry is at war with Apple.

Back in @theatlantic.com to explain the most pressing issue of our time: why everyone's mad about Apple CarPlay

www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Enough, Already. It's Time To Give Up On The '2020' Tesla Roadster Sam Altman doesn't want his Tesla Roadster anymore. Elon Musk should probably forget about the electric supercar too.

"A flashy, $200,000 supercar is just about the last thing Tesla's struggling car business needs right now," writes @tlevin.bsky.social, accurately

insideevs.com/features/777...

Ford’s Next Big Innovation Isn’t a Truck—It’s Your Power Bill The Ford Home Power Management feature shows where EV charging needs to go. Literally.

Today on Route Zero: Electric bills got you down? Ford just showed off one solution that could help with America's soaring power demands—but a lot has to happen for it to scale.

Subscribe for free to read more! Hundreds of mobility pros get it every week:

www.routezeromedia.com/p/ford-s-nex...

Here’s How the AI Crash Happens The U.S. is becoming an Nvidia-state.

“When all the data centers in New Carlisle (Indiana) are built, they will demand more power than two Atlantas,” @cwarzel.bsky.social reports in the best AI-crash story I've read yet. And that's before you get to how this is all just a shell game of capital:

www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Ugh dammit

The Toyota Corolla Goes Electric—And Then Some The Corolla Concept debuting at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show is a futuristic remake for the world's best-selling car with electric, hybrid or gasoline power.

HOT TAKE, DEEP ANALYSIS:

This looks dope and I'm excited about it

insideevs.com/news/777252/...

It's going to take a considerable amount of doing, but this should be the paradigm for the home + EV charging combo for better power use and backing up the electric grid

Yeah, @gaytonausa.bsky.social has some horror stories about old EV battery replacement too. That stuff is designed not to happen anymore, from batteries to the car itself. It's untenable.

Basically, yeah. They're retiring that "branding" entirely and these batteries are LFP. But I meant that they're modern cells, and not a cost-pit like the old Bolt batteries apparently were.

Replacing an EV battery may cost less than fixing a gas engine by 2030 A new report indicates that as battery costs continue to drop replacements will be cheaper than repairing a gas-powered car in the years to come.

Don't believe everything AI spits out. Old Bolt batteries were cheaper than that to replace, and the new one uses the Ultium cells they're building at scale. We don't hear of many outright battery replacements in this world but it'll surely be cheaper: www.greencarreports.com/news/1145123...

Ex–Stellantis CEO says Tesla may exit the car industry and may not exist in 10 years: ‘Tesla’s stock market value loss will be colossal’ | Fortune “We can’t rule out that at some point, he’ll decide to leave the automotive industry to refocus on humanoid robots, SpaceX, or artificial intelligence.”

“You know, I’m something of a ‘run the car company into the ground’ guy myself” fortune.com/2025/10/24/e...

Lots to cover from a busy week! But the highlight for me is an interview with Matias Giannini. He heads up Horse Powertrain, a Renault/Geely JV that says if gas engines are sticking around, they need to be a lot cleaner. Super interesting company.

This stuff IS getting better from the OEMs, but they have a long road to convince people of that. Having said that! The "no BS" part is admittedly a great part of CarPlay—a lot of people just want some shit that's gonna get the kids to school on time, not be a mobile AI assistant or whatever

Why GM will give you Gemini — but not CarPlay GM CEO Mary Barra and new product chief Sterling Anderson on the company’s Gemini-powered AI assistant and self-driving EVs.

Excellent pod-scoop by @reckless.bsky.social and co. here, worth a listen www.theverge.com/podcast/8033...

GM Will Remove Apple CarPlay And Android Auto From All Its Cars, Not Just EVs General Motors CEO Mary Barra said switching from the car’s native interface to CarPlay and back can be “clunky”.

I stand by my most hated, yet most correct, opinion: Apple CarPlay is now comically outdated, and is only really effective if the car you're in is ancient too. Like a Subaru or something insideevs.com/news/776704/...