
Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
Concise, information-rich, and brief, TDS compiles the latest automotive headlines from across the globe into one location. Each story is condensed into a single sentence with a link for further details.
🚨 A reminder that our daily email newsletter, which goes out every afternoon, was relaunched yesterday with a new design and new name—now called the Daily Brief. Not subscribed to the daily email newsletter? It’s free! Sign up above in the box just below the lead image of this story, and you’ll be all set starting today. Your feedback is encouraged and can be sent by simply replying to the daily email itself.
The first cup of coffee is finished, and it’s already time for another, so let’s dive in.
🚘 What I’m driving: Transporting the kids around town to school and activities in the 2026 Polestar 4 and I appreciate the straightforward digital interfaces, large volume knob, and the suspension feels well-tuned with the adaptive dampers despite the uneven midwest roads in winter, though I’m still not fully on board with not having a rear window and relying only on a digital rearview mirror with a video feed.
⚙️ Ford’s head of EVs claims the Blue Oval can outdo China on cost and produce the world’s most affordable EV motors for its upcoming $30,000 electric truck; apparently, this achievement revolves around employing expensive individuals from California who have no connection to and no experience in Detroit and yield 20 times the output of an average worker.
🚕 Waymo is renaming its Chinese-made Zeekr RT robotaxi as the Ojai.
🎽 The 2026 Rezvani Tank made its debut and somehow features an even more angular outer design; a supercharged V8 engine with 1,000 horsepower is priced at $85,000.
🤖 Ford announced its intention to offer an eyes-off, hands-free driver assistance system in its $30,000 electric truck platform by 2028.
🔋 Lucid’s interim CEO stated that the automaker’s midsize EV will be available in three distinct body styles, none of which will be a sedan as the automaker has moved on from that body type; the first of the three midsize EVs is set to launch later this year.
💥 The 2026 Subaru Forester received a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the IIHS.
‼️ Rivian recalled 19,641 previously serviced R1S and R1T EVs in the U.S. due to a misassembled rear toe link.
Have feedback on the formatting of TDS? Reach out to us at: [email protected]