Author: kirklandc008@gmail.com

Xiaomi Auto’s Sky Nomad N90, YU7, SU7 Ultra and SU7. Credit: Xiaomi Auto. Sky Nomad helped lift Xiaomi Auto’s monthly deliveries to their highest level so far in 2026 in its first month on sale. The company still needs to accelerate sharply in the fourth quarter to approach its annual target of 550,000 vehicles. Xiaomi Auto, the automotive unit of Xiaomi (HKEX: 1810), delivered more than 40,000 vehicles in September, its highest monthly total this year, as deliveries of the newly launched Sky Nomad series began. The company announced the figure on Weibo on Thursday, without disclosing an exact total…

The Drive 🤝 your inbox. Every weekday The Daily Brief wraps up the biggest stories and our exclusive reporting on the auto industry and car culture. Ford discontinued the Escape and its more-expensive Lincoln sibling, the Corsair, last year to free up space at its Louisville plant. This was done to make room for the new $30,000 Fathom electric pickup truck. We’re still months away from seeing the fruits of Ford’s new electric platform, though in the meantime, Ford dealers are seeing fewer customers walk through the doors—a lot of whom would have driven away in one of the company’s…

Photo: Roncelli Detroit-based energy company DTE Energy has completed construction of a 100-megawatt (MW) solar farm near Coldwater, Michigan, that will help Ford power its home-state factories with cleaner electricity. Ford is funding the $194 million Cold Creek Solar Park through its enrollment in DTE’s voluntary renewable energy program, CleanVision MIGreenPower. Cold Creek generates enough power for the equivalent of roughly 23,000–25,000 households in Michigan. Construction began in April 2025. Cold Creek is the first of several DTE projects being built to support Ford’s renewable electricity commitment in Michigan. Ford agreed in 2022 to purchase up to 650 MW of…

Even amid cratering demand for the Daytona electric version, the Dodge Charger is still enjoying a massive increase in popularity, thanks to the powerful Hurricane twin-turbocharged inline-six now offered in the muscle car. Third-quarter ales for the so-called Sixpack powertrain were up by a massive amount, contributing to total Charger sales that were up 22 percent over last year. What’s driving the coupe and sedan family’s newfound appeal? Well, the lower base price certainly can’t hurt. CloseWide shot showing the 2027 Dodge Charger Super Bee Launch Edition four-door and two-doorDodge2026 Dodge Charger Six-PackDodgeA blue 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona.Dodge The Turbo…

Meta now lets you make your own Muse gadgets that feature the company’s new AI agent with code that the company open sourced. The company suggests projects like loading Muse on a color E Ink display to show reminders, adding it to an HDMI stick so you can display Muse on a big screen, or putting Muse on a small touchscreen device to make what looks kind of like a DIY Muse Charm.“Muse gadgets are open source devices you build yourself,” Meta says. “Program an off-the-shelf ESP32 board or set up a Raspberry Pi with our SDKs, then connect Muse…

The entry point to Toyota’s enormous line of SUVs is the Corolla Cross, and it’s an important one. It’s the only Toyota SUV with a base MSRP of less than $30,000. In fact, last year, even the hybrid had an MSRP of barely less than $30,000. That hybrid was also one of very few on the market. That makes it quite appealing to people on a budget looking for the dependability and potential efficiency available from a Toyota SUV. While it’s still possible to make a case for the Corolla Cross with the 2027 model year, Toyota’s making that harder…

A Zeekr 001 shooting brake. Zeekr plans to launch an updated version in the first quarter of 2027. Credit: Zeekr October incentives for the current 001 include a 10,000 yuan insurance subsidy. The model’s deliveries fell 21.50% in the first 8 months of the year. The 2027 Zeekr 001 will retain its shooting brake styling and 900-volt architecture. The announcement did not disclose detailed specifications or pricing. Zeekr, the premium brand of Geely Auto (HKEX: 0175), plans to launch an updated version of its 001 shooting brake in the first quarter of 2027, while offering limited-time purchase incentives for the…

The company created its own smart home device, the Muse Home Link Meta We still don’t know too much about Meta’s tamagotchi-like AI device, but the Muse Charm won’t be the only dedicated hardware for the AI agent. The company is now encouraging developers to come up with their own Muse-powered devices with a new open source project called Muse Gadgets. It’s setting an example as well, kicking things off with a smart home gadget of its own called the Muse Home Link. According to the head of product for Meta’s superintelligence labs Nat Friedman, Meta is providing…

The Drive 🤝 your inbox. Every weekday The Daily Brief wraps up the biggest stories and our exclusive reporting on the auto industry and car culture. The 2026 Jeep Wrangler got one small change that yields a big fun-factor upgrade—you don’t need tools to remove its doors anymore. We’ve known that for a while. But this week, I finally got to try Jeep’s new quick-release door removal system myself and can report back on exactly how it changes the user experience (it’s great). Removable doors, roof, and a retractable windshield have been Jeep hallmarks that date back to the brand’s…

Automotive At first glance, Tesla’s new Emergency Drive Away feature looks almost like a joke or some kind of staged demonstration acting as click bait. A Tesla is sitting at a Supercharger, still plugged in, the driver shifts into Drive, and the car simply pulls away while the charging cable tears free. Then liquid starts pouring out of the severed cable. It looks ridiculous until you realize Tesla is completely serious. The new emergency-only feature is designed to let a driver escape a dangerous situation without first having to get out of the vehicle and disconnect the charger.…