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The Donald Doesn't Drive
Is that why he doesn't care how fucking expensive he makes it to own a vehicle?
Mathew Growden
February 16, 2025
Hey Friends,
I had a wonderful time at the Canadian International Auto Show gala. It was great to catch up with old friends and make some new ones.
-Growdy
The Donald Doesn’t Drive (Anymore)
The Donald behind the wheel of an Indy pace car
The Donald owns a lot of expensive cars. qz.com
Occasionally, he likes to pretend to be a truck driver. abcnews.go.com
The orange man in the white house hasn’t driven since he first became president.
US presidents don’t drive. The Secret Service hasn’t let POTUS drive on open roads since Kennedy. cnbc.com
Which might explain why he doesn’t give a fuck about the cost of buying or owning a vehicle.
Consumers were already struggling to keep up with high vehicle costs, buying vehicles they can’t afford. autoblog.com
As a result, car ownership is preventing many Americans (and Canadians) from obtaining any level of financial stability. streetsblog.org
Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum will increase the price of beer, the fridge you use to keep that beer cold, and the truck you drove to the liquor store to buy that beer in the first place. abcnews.go.com, apnews.com
His new “reciprocal” tariffs will drive up the prices of nearly everything. Not to mention that they likely violate established World Trade Organization rules. reuters.com, ft.com, autonews.com
He’s planning to implement automotive-specific tariffs on April 2nd, which could be disastrous for consumers, OEMs, and dealers. reuters.com, autonews.com
Ford CEO Jim Farley said the Donald’s tariffs create “cost and chaos” for the auto industry. theglobeandmail.com
Increasing the cost of vehicles is expected to trigger explosive insurance rates. globalnews.ca
Add to that the combination of moves to terminate electric vehicle rebates, add new fees to the purchase of electric vehicles, reduce the availability of renewable energy to fuel those more expensive EVs, and the cost implications of potential tariffs on Canadian oil — the Donald’s administration has basically mounted a war on cars. theverge.com, nytimes.com, nytimes.com, cnbc.com
The Donald believes that his tariff plan will flood America with jobs. foxnews.com
However, his flawed plan to bring manufacturing back to the US doesn’t account for the fact that most of those workers won’t be able to afford to drive to work.
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China’s Automotive Expansion
Chery Fulwin T8 PHEV
Chery’s new Fulwin T8 PHEV has a 2078 km range. carnewschina.com
BYD plans to mine for lithium in Brazil. They acquired the mining rights in 2023. reuters.com
BYD now makes a sexy new camper van. motor1.com
BYD shares hit a record high after announcing they plan to integrate DeepSeek’s AI into their driver assistance tech. cnbc.com
Leapmotor launched a new $20K EV with updated smart driving tech to compete with BYD. reuters.com
GM plans to close one of its Chinese plants that currently makes the Buick GL8 minivan and the Chevrolet Tracker. reuters.com
Nio's swap stations in Shanghai are inching their way to profitability. cnevpost.com
Great Wall Motor partners with Nio to use its charging network. cnevpost.com
Zeekr expands into Egypt. cnevpost.com
CATL files for listing on Hong Kong’s stock exchange. cnbc.com
BMW’s X3 is priced $14,250 cheaper in China than in Germany. carnewschina.com
Must Know Musk News
Optimistically, DOGE has a chance to make America great (or at least better). But they might have already fucked that up. wired.com
People are protesting Elon’s efforts to “find efficiencies” in the US government at their local Tesla dealership. theverge.com
The US State Department plans to spend $400 million on armoured Tesla vehicles (there are no armoured Tesla vehicles). It is unclear whether this might also include armoured vehicles from other brands. nytimes.com
Now that they are all friends and shit, Elon’s social network, Twitter (X), agrees to pay $10 million to settle Trump lawsuit. reuters.com
Rise Of The Machines
Pipistrel Nuuva 3000 Cargo Drone
Pipistrel’s large Nuuva 3000 cargo drone can actually fly. newatlas.com
Meta moves beyond research and considers building robots. techcrunch.com
Apple might also be getting into the humanoid robot game. techcrunch.com
Avride’s autonomous sidewalk delivery robots are on the streets of Jersey City. techcrunch.com
Google DeepMind is teaching robots to play soccer. techcrunch.com, youtube.com
Boston Dynamic’s Spot helped BMW with its data blindspots. therobotreport.com
More ground drones are coming to the Ukranian battlefield. cbc.ca
Energy
Ionna Charging Station Mock-up
Ionna, the joint venture backed by GM, Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota, is ready to get their charging network off the ground. autoblog.com
Fuck fentanyl; the world is addicted to coal. cnbc.com
Saskatchewan plans to refurbish coal-fired power stations. theglobeandmail.com
The Scotiabank Global Equity Research team says, “Pursuing a Trans Mountain expansion should be a no-brainer.” financialpost.com
But Wait, There’s More
Stellantis plans to launch the Jeep Recon EV this year (Harrison Ford says, “Pride is a terrible driver.”). theverge.com
Hyundai wins two Canadian Vehicle of the Year awards. autonews.com
Honda issues a press release terminating its memorandum of understanding to explore the “consideration of a business integration” with Nissan. global.honda
GM lays off 79 unionized workers at CAMI Assembly plant that makes Brightdrop electric vans. autonews.com
VW says its sub-$20K EV will be announced on March 5th. theverge.com
BMW aspires to make more efficient EVs that don’t rely on larger batteries. insideevs.com
Honda Ridgelines have a rear-view camera problem. reuters.com
Toyota Tacomas have a break fluid leak problem. autonews.com
If you want one, you can have one of Rivian’s vans for $82,900 USD. caranddriver.com
Uber sues Doordash. techcrunch.com
Lyft plans to launch a robotaxi fleet by 2026 using Mobileye tech and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni systems to manage vehicles. theverge.com
May Mobility launches its first fully driverless commercial service in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. techcrunch.com
CDK sues Tekion, accusing its rival of “unlawful practices that damage competition and harm customers.” reuters.com
You read to the bottom. Amazing! Have a fantastic day.