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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. If your No. 1 priority in a new three-row SUV is fuel efficiency, the 2026 Toyota Grand Highlander is your ride. This family hauler successfully fends off the competition without tricks or gimmicks, just great fuel economy, proven reliability, and a huge cabin. There’s a reason Toyota can’t build these things quickly enough, and it isn’t soft-touch materials or best-in-class technology (sarcasm) keeping them off dealer lots. Joel Feder The Basics Obviously, the 2026…

A Nio ES6 at a battery swap station in Shenzhen, China. Credit: Nio. Nio’s 4,168 battery swap stations completed 1,192,221 swaps from October 1 to 7, with the daily average rising 22% year-on-year. Daily battery swaps reached 183,664 during the return travel peak on October 5. Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) provided nearly 1.2 million battery swaps during the recent 7-day National Day holiday in China, setting daily records twice as peak travel demand put its energy replenishment network to the test. The Chinese EV maker’s 4,168 battery swap stations completed 1,192,221 swaps from October 1 to 7, with the daily…

Microsoft bundled its AI-powered Office features into Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions last year, but it only allowed the primary account holder to access the AI benefits. Now, Microsoft is about to let Microsoft 365 Family and Premium subscribers share Copilot and AI usage features, alongside access to Office apps and OneDrive storage, with up to five other people on a plan.In an email to Microsoft 365 Family and Premium subscribers seen by The Verge, Microsoft outlines the changes that are coming to subscription plans over the coming months:The storage changes seem like the major downside to Microsoft’s updates.…

Automakers usually give iconic nameplates a proper send-off with special editions and fanfare. Think of examples like the Toyota GR Supra Final Edition and the Jaguar F-Type 75 Final Edition. These sendoffs are partly for the nostalgia but mostly for the extra revenue. The Mercury Grand Marquis, a long-standing and celebrated full-size sedan built on Ford’s famous panther platform, received no such glory. When the long-running sedan finally reached the end of the line, its quiet death went virtually unnoticed, and the final car rolled off the assembly line straight into a fleet order. The Last Mercury Was A Grand…

Automotive The Toyota 4Runner has been an unmistakable staple in the automotive industry for many decades, thriving on a proven midsized body-on-frame SUV platform. After its aged fifth generation was finally succeeded by an all-new sixth generation platform, many remained skeptical, but after a couple of years of the new model winning many over, the 4Runner has once again found its assured footing. With the Toyota 4Runner not having much direct competition, it has its work cut out to run amongst the vast field of other crossovers. After a week with the new 4Runner Platinum hybrid, I can…

Volkswagen issued another recall affecting more than 22,500 ID.4 models. Until a fix is ready, it recommends owners charge the battery to no more than 80%. Volkswagen ID.4 hit with another battery recall After recalling nearly 100,000 electric vehicles globally earlier this year over potential battery issues, including nearly 44,000 ID.4s in the US, Volkswagen’s electric SUV has been hit with another recall. In a letter sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on October 6, VW said it planned to recall 22,524 ID.4 SUVs for model years 2023 to 2026. Although the root cause is still unknown,…

Amazon’s latest and greatest tablet shares some key similarities to Apple’s high-end iPads, but the devil is in the details. Amazon Amazon’s new Alexa Tablets, square-one reimaginings of the company’s affordable tablet lineup, owe a lot to the iPad. And how could they not? Apple’s family of tablets has become synonymous with the form factor globally, so why wouldn’t Amazon take inspiration from their slim, all-aluminum designs and high-quality screens? Nowhere is that inspiration more apparent, though, than in the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, the most premium of Amazon’s new options and a clear competitor to…

For the vast majority of drivers, your engine oil isn’t thought of until the little maintenance reminder light pops up on your dash. Once it does, you pull into some sort of quick-lube shop, get the job done, and move on with your life. Now, the previous “forget it until you can’t” mindset surrounding engine oil is no longer viable. That’s because a severe shortage of Group III base oils, heavily used in modern synthetic lubes, has pushed prices sky-high. Kirkland’s 10-quart synthetic two-pack now costs about $57.99. Originally, that price sat around $30. To boot, you can only buy…

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › Early bird gets the worm, but right now stragglers can score too. Amazon Prime Big Deal Days (aka the October Prime Day sales blitz) is over, but a few retailers are still desperately pushing big discounts on merchandise they want gone. Here are the best deals to swoop in on while Amazon finishes emptying its shelves. DeWalt 192-piece mechanics set: $180 (38% off)Everybody needs a suitcase-style mechy kit like this, and DeWalt for under $200 is solid. Marshall Middleton Portable Bluetooth…

Patent images show a bipedal humanoid robot designed for service, education and industrial applications. BYD previously confirmed plans to unveil a humanoid robot in August, but has yet to formally introduce the product. A design patent held by BYD (HKEX: 1211) has revealed the appearance of its humanoid robot, offering fresh clues to the Chinese automaker’s robotics ambitions. China’s National Intellectual Property Administration published the design patent for an embodied intelligent robot on Friday, naming BYD as the patent holder. The patent images show a robot with 2 arms, 2 legs and articulated fingers. It has an oval-shaped head with…