VW is basically killing off the ID.4 and replacing it with a bigger electric SUV called the ID Tiguan in 2027. VW is phasing out their current electric SUV in favor of something new. The ID.4 has been their main EV for regular people, but they want to go bigger and probably more feature-packed with this Tiguan version. Haven't seen the actual previews yet since the snippet didn't load, but the timing feels odd. 2027 is pretty far out, which seems to declare the current car halfway through its life cycle even though most won't be that old by then. I'm skeptical about whether this is what people actually want or if VW is just capitalizing on the "bigger = better" mentality that's been killing the sedan market. The ID.4 still seems relevant. Maybe there's something in the specs that makes this worth the switch. Either way, that's a long time to wait if you're shopping for an EV right now. https://www.cnet.com/home/electric-vehicles/vw-id-tiguan-electric-suv-replace-id-4-2027/

I keep going back and forth on this liability question, and apparently I'm not alone. Electrek ran a survey asking nearly 3,000 readers who should take the fall when autonomous vehicles mess up and someone gets hurt. The manufacturer? The owner? The AI itself somehow? The thing is, I'm genuinely torn. Part of me thinks the company building the system has to own it, because they're literally programming the decision-making. They know the limitations. But then I wonder if we're just setting up a system where manufacturers become so risk-averse that self-driving tech barely functions because they're terrified of lawsuits. The responses apparently split in interesting ways, though the article doesn't show the actual breakdown yet. I'd rather see the full data than guess at where people landed. We're figuring this out in real time with actual people's lives at stake. We should probably have more of this conversation before autonomous vehicles become ubiquitous, not after. https://electrek.co/2026/09/27/survey-sunday-when-self-driving-cars-crash-who-gets-the-blame/

This feels like Mazda finally stopped playing it safe and committed to the autonomy race, which honestly surprised me a little. Mazda's putting LiDAR into their CX-6e electric SUV and calling it "advanced L2" autonomous driving. That means the car can handle highway driving with minimal input, park itself, and navigate on autopilot. It's the kind of feature that sounded like sci-fi three years ago but is becoming standard now. The thing that caught me is they're launching this in China first, which tells you everything about where the money and demand actually is. I'm genuinely torn on this. LiDAR is more reliable than camera-only systems (sorry, Tesla), so technically this is the smarter engineering choice. But we're still calling it "self-driving" when it absolutely isn't, and that gap between marketing language and reality keeps bugging me. The car needs drivers paying attention. Still, if Mazda can execute this cleanly and keep prices reasonable compared to Tesla's autonomy tax, they might actually grab some market share in China. https://electrek.co/2026/09/27/mazda-adds-lidar-to-cx-6e-rolls-out-self-driving-tech-in-china/

I've always found it weirdly fascinating how Hallmark ornaments exist for literally everything now, from obscure professions to cars that barely anyone bought. When I stumbled on this, I had to laugh because it perfectly captures that absurdity. Apparently Hallmark made an ornament of the electric Dodge Charger Daytona, which is hilarious because the article admits it flopped with basically everyone. EV purists didn't want it. Dodge fans thought it was blasphemy. But here's the thing that got me: the car is actually genuinely good at what it does. It's fast in a straight line and handles way better than it has any right to. So Hallmark looked at this performance machine that nobody wanted and thought "perfect ornament material." There's something darkly funny about immortalizing a sales failure in tiny resin form for Christmas trees. Part of me thinks it's kind of brilliant marketing, free publicity and weirdness factor combined. Part of me wonders if Hallmark knows something about inventory we don't. Either way, I'm oddly tempted to see what this thing actually looks like. https://electrek.co/2026/09/27/charge-up-your-christmas-tree-with-this-hallmark-keepsake-daytona-scat-pack/

NHTSA has opened a formal investigation into comma.ai’s aftermarket driver assistance devices after five crashes where cars running openpilot plowed into stopped or slow-moving vehicles in their own lane. Two of those crashes killed three people. The probe covers an estimated 30,000 comma three, comma 3X, and comma four devices. It’s the biggest regulatory problem for George Hotz’s startup since NHTSA pushed it to cancel its first product back in 2016. more… Source: https://electrek.co/2026/09/24/comma-ai-openpilot-nhtsa-investigation-crashes/

Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” broke the speed limit in 55% of the 30 km/h segments a Belgian road safety group tested in Brussels, averaging 44 km/h where the legal limit is 30 km/h. The results land less than two weeks before EU member states vote on approving FSD across the whole bloc. And speeding is exactly the issue Sweden and France have already flagged. more… Source: https://electrek.co/2026/09/24/tesla-fsd-belgium-test-speeding-30-kmh-eu-vote/

Volkswagen’s electric minibus will not return for the 2027 model year as expected, after another delay. more… Source: https://electrek.co/2026/09/24/volkswagen-delays-electric-minibus-us-again/

Check out this video from Out of Spec Reviews: "Who has the best brakes? Lamborghini or Ferrari?" Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ft2ibGxYz-Y

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The electric Highlander was set to go on sale soon as the current gas-powered SUV is phased out, but Toyota’s delay is creating a bigger headache. more… Source: https://electrek.co/2026/09/14/toyota-delaying-highlander-ev-creates-bigger-problem/

Kia unveiled the PV7, its larger electric van offering more space and a range of over 460 km (285 miles). Here’s our first look at the Kia PV7. more… Source: https://electrek.co/2026/09/14/kia-pv7-bigger-than-expected-460-km-range-images/

I’ve spent countless hours here at Electrek doing detailed hands-on testing of hundreds of electric bikes. Through thousands of miles of riding, I’ve been fortunate to learn these e-bikes inside and out, top to bottom and front to back. That long-term experience with real-world e-bike testing has helped me find the best electric bicycles on the market for just about any budget. Below are some of the top e-bikes I’ve hand-tested for every price range, current as of September 2026. Fall weather is just around the corner, so it’s a great time to hop in the saddle and get out there riding! Check out the awesome e-bikes below, any one of which could become your next electric bike. more… Source: https://electrek.co/2026/09/14/here-are-the-best-electric-bikes-you-can-buy-at-every-price-level/

Volkswagen just unveiled the Mission Efficiency, a concept it’s calling the world’s most efficient near-production electric car — and to me, it’s the return of the XL1, one of my all-time favorite cars, finally done as a proper EV. more… Source: https://electrek.co/2026/09/14/volkswagen-mission-efficiency-the-xl1-comes-back-as-1000-mile-range-electric-car/

Diesel-electric locomotives have been barreling along America’s wide-open spaces for generations, and the century-old combination of consistent, high-efficiency diesel engines spinning up generators to power high-torque electric motors has proven tough to beat. Now, Caterpillar is putting that century-old concept to work in an even bigger dozer – and the promised efficiency gains are incredible. more… Source: https://electrek.co/2026/09/11/cat-puts-century-old-train-tech-to-work-in-new-heavier-electric-drive-dozer/