Latest from Tim Stevens
Thomas Ingenlath is having perhaps a little too much fun in his Polestar 3, silently rocketing away from stop signs and swinging through tightening bends, grinning like a man far…
Timo Resch is basking in the sun. That’s literally true, as we speak on a gloriously clear California day at the Quail, one of Monterey Car Week’s most prestigious events.…
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Helixx wants to bring fast-food economics and Netflix pricing to EVs
When Helixx co-founder and CEO Steve Pegg looks at Daisy — the startup’s 3D-printed prototype delivery van — he sees a second chance. And he’s pulling inspiration from McDonald’s to get there. The prototype, which made its global debut this week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, is an interesting proof…
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Inside the Autonomous Racing League event that pitted a self-driving car against a Formula 1 driver
Wander the pits at any professional motorsports event, especially something like Formula 1, and you’ll see endless computer displays full of telemetry. Modern teams are awash in real-time digital feedback from the cars. I’ve been in many of these pits over the years and marveled at the streams of data,…
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The all-electric Mercedes G-Class ratchets up the tech and off-road capability
The Mercedes-Benz G-Class — the rugged off-road powerhouse that launched in 1979 and has since become a brutalist status symbol — has gone electric. This is, in many ways, Mercedes’ most prestigious car, a model more prized for its presence and exclusivity than its power and capability. Going electric, then,…
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How Neural Concept’s aerodynamic AI is shaping Formula 1
It’s a long way from pedal bikes to Formula 1. But that’s precisely the quantum leap that AI-based startup Neural Concept and its co-founder and CEO, Pierre Baqué, made in just six years. In 2018, the company’s fledgling software helped develop the world’s most aerodynamic bicycle. Today, four out of…
You can spend all day long curating custom playlists for every mood, picking tracks based on tempo or intensity, but whether you’re corner-carving or just commuting, you’ll never perfectly match…
The automotive industry has entered into a new era of vehicular safety, where in-car systems initially designed to keep you alive are also being marketed as quality-of-life improvements. What once…
I don’t know what I expected the ASKA A5 to look like in person, but the machine lurking in a parking lot just outside of Monterey Regional Airport wasn’t it.…
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Speed and tech dominated the lawns at Monterey Car Week
The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is just the cherry on top of a week of events highlighting, celebrating and sometimes even worshiping the automobile. While the lawn on Sunday mostly focuses on the past, other events like The Quail and the numerous private debuts scattered around Monterey, California have their…
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Ford picks up the pace on hands-off driving with BlueCruise 1.3 release
Ford is on a quest to ensure that its drivers keep their hands off the wheel for as long as possible. Drivers who own BlueCruise-equipped cars, anyway. Today, the company is announcing BlueCruise 1.3, dropping just a few months after the 1.2 release, which added niceties like automatic lane changes.…
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How Porsche plans to grow margins with luxury and speed
Porsche — with CEO Oliver Blume behind the wheel — has zipped by a number of milestones over the past several years. Its share price has gained more than 36% since its IPO in September 2022 and profit margins are at an enviable 18%. And yet, Blume isn’t satisfied. “We…
Whither, Skully? The Indiegogo darling of a smart helmet company made all sorts of promises in 2014 and even shipped a few lids to early backers before getting lost on…
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The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV adds practicality to big-time electric luxury
When it comes to the calm, cosseting feeling of luxury, it’s hard to imagine any better powertrain than something electric. And, when it comes to electric luxury, Mercedes-Benz is on a roll. The EQE sedan is an excellent choice for those looking for a small, slightly anonymous, but undeniably posh…
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How Aurora is navigating the bumpy road to commercial self-driving trucks
Amid economic uncertainty, tight capital markets, wary investors and consolidation in the nascent autonomous vehicle industry, Aurora Innovation is still motoring on toward its target of commercializing self-driving trucks by 2024, ticking off waypoints and milestones along the way. It’s even managed to rack up a few wins in the…
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How Scout Motors plans to bring rugged, retro cred to the EV era
“We’re operating out of everywhere,” Scott Keogh said with a laugh in his first interview as CEO of Scout Motors, the American EV upstart spun out of VW Group. While most established automotive players call the shots from sprawling, corporate palaces, Scout bases much of its operations — at least…
Scout Motors, the VW Group spinoff taking aim at the U.S. market with rugged all-electric vehicles, is deepening its investment with plans to build a $2 billion factory capable of…
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The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE is EV perfection in a humdrum shell
The all-electric Mercedes-Benz EQS is among the most sublime cars on the road right now, an understated exterior wrapped around a sumptuous interior, featuring all the niceties you’d expect from an S-badged Merc with the effortless acceleration of an EV and stellar ride quality to boot. The flagship EV is,…
When your Rolex is due for servicing, you’ll probably take the time to take it to a specialty service center. Likewise, you’re not going to trust the repair of the…
Being driven around the gridlocked-streets of Las Vegas during CES can be nauseating — at the best of times. But doing so with a virtual reality headset blocking your view?…
After years of promises and millions in investments, Porsche today pumped the first gallons of its fully synthetic fuel into a car. That car? A 911, of course. Porsche has…
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Here’s how Audi Q4 50 E-Tron stacks up against the Tesla Model Y
After many delays, Audi has a new E-Tron on the market. It’s the Q4, a little SUV based on the same MEB platform that sits beneath the Volkswagen ID.4’s skin. That means a similar layout and, most significantly, the identical 82-kWh battery pack here wrapped with a much more premium…
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How Volvo is leaning on software to drive its next great safety revolution
Volvo is one of those brands with a core identity so firmly cemented that no amount of marketing can counter it. Volvo is safety first. Even if you don’t know the details of their involvement with the three-point seatbelt (they invented it) or the airbag (one of the first to…