Transportation | The Verge

Car owners want tech they can ignore

2026-08-31T13:11:17-04:00

Automakers keep shoving more tech into their cars, despite evidence that consumers are increasingly fed up with huge screens and glitchy software. In fact, the features that car owners appreciate the most happen to be the ones they barely notice, according to the latest tech survey from JD Power.

The consumer research firm surveyed 68,084 owners of new 2026 model-year vehicles after 90 days of ownership. The survey touched on 40 automotive technologies covering comfort and convenience; connected vehicles; driver assist; electric vehicles; and smart vehicles.

The features that scored the highest were the ones that were the most inconspicuo …

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In a swipe at Tesla, Waymo says ‘cameras… aren’t enough’

2026-08-28T06:02:18-04:00

As Tesla gears up for the official launch of its steering wheel and pedal-less Cybercabs, Waymo is issuing a stark warning about Elon Musk's approach to autonomous driving.

Srikanth Thirumalai, Waymo's VP of Onboard Software, doesn't specifically call out Musk or Tesla in a blog post, published Wednesday, entitled "10 AI Lessons from Driving 200+ Million Fully Autonomous Miles." But his intention is clear: Tesla's system is insufficient for the task of fully autonomous driving.

"Cameras are incredible, but they aren't enough," Thirumalai writes. "For years, there's been a debate over whether cameras alone could solve full autonomy. Now, af …

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Volvo’s cars will warn one another about hazards in the road

2026-08-26T11:28:14-04:00

Volvo is updating three of its electric vehicles with new hazard alerts to warn drivers when there are animals or vulnerable road users ahead. The new connected safety features are based on Volvo's cars talking to one another, as opposed to crowdsourced alert systems used by popular navigation tools like Google Maps and Waze.

The alerts work by using connected vehicle data from Volvo's fleet of passenger vehicles in Europe, the US, and Canada. The car's sensors and cameras are tuned to identify certain risks on the road. When one Volvo spots a hazard, it automatically logs the location and sends it to Volvo's servers. Alerts are then sent …

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Dreame’s dream of a rocket-powered car is dead

2026-08-25T14:52:53-04:00

The Dreame NEXT event during the Silicon Valley Summit at the Palace of Fine Arts on April 29, 2026 in San Francisco, CA. | Photo by Kelsey McClellan / The Verge

Dreame, the Chinese vacuum company that aspires to be a global technology giant, is reportedly shutting down its automotive project after funding from the government dried up.

According to CarNewsChina, the company's automotive division called "Project Starry Sky" once employed over 1,000 people, but now only a handful legal and HR staffers remain, charged with winding down the operation. In a statement, Dreame said it "recently adjusted certain operations that were in the exploratory phase," and that going forward, it would focus on four key business areas: "smart home, outdoor/garden, smart mobility, and embodied AI." (A spokesperson for …

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Polestar claims it was blindsided by sales ban

2026-08-25T12:14:45-04:00

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 26: Polestar cars are displayed in the showroom at a Polestar dealership on June 26, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California. Electric car maker Polestar will be barred from selling new vehicles in the United States starting with the 2027 model year after the Commerce Department cited national security concerns under new connected-vehicle regulations. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Polestar said the Trump administration strung it along for months before finally rejecting its request to continue selling its electric vehicles in the US under a rule outlawing vehicles with connected software from China.

In an August 18th letter sent to dealers and obtained by The Verge, Polestar said it doesn't have a clear answer as to why its application to continue selling its EVs in the US was denied, considering its sister company Volvo was authorized to sell its vehicles despite similar corporate ownership. (The letter was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.)

The US Department of Commerce approved Volvo in May 2026 to con …

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Uber is letting parents check in on their teens through drivers’ selfie cameras

2026-08-24T15:55:25-04:00

Uber is updating its teen account feature to allow parents to use the selfie cameras on Uber drivers' phones to check in on their teenage children during ridehail trips.

Since first launching teen accounts in 2023, Uber has touted the myriad ways parents can keep tabs on their children, from PIN verification to live GPS tracking. Now, parents can also view live video of the ride while it's in progress by viewing the feed from the driver's selfie camera. Uber said that after testing the new feature in several markets, it's ready to roll out nationwide over the next few weeks.

Drivers who have opted in to accept underage passengers will now …

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Greenworks’ MaximusZ electric riding mower has five motors and a few compromises

2026-08-24T16:54:30-04:00

The current EV market is flush with variety. I've driven single-motor economy-minded machines, dual-motor EVs with all-wheel drive, tri-motor vehicles that dial up the performance stakes, and even wild quad-motor performance cars, like the Rimac Nevera.

But this is the first time I've ever driven a five-motor EV, one with the agility and speed to turn a 360 even more smoothly than an electric G-Wagon. It also makes quick work of terrible turf.

This is, of course, a lawn mower, and it only uses two of those motors to drive the wheels. The other three turn a trio of blades that cut a 54-inch-wide swath in a single pass. It also promises four …

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Robotaxis are real now — so is the pushback

2026-08-24T14:29:44-04:00

Robotaxis are expanding. So is the fight over the rules governing them.

In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul withdrew a proposal earlier this year that would have opened the door to driverless robotaxis outside New York City after taxi drivers, unions, and state lawmakers opposed it. Six months later, commercial driverless service remains illegal in the state, and legalization efforts are stalled.

In DC, labor unions are fighting legislation that would legalize commercial robotaxis, while lawmakers are weighing a 200-vehicle cap and a 15-cent-per-mile fee that would fund Metro upgrades and aid workers displaced by autonomous vehicles. A July Cit …

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Tesla sunsets its Solar Roof tiles

2026-08-21T09:13:24-04:00

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Here’s Elon Musk showing off the Solar Roof plans back in 2016. | Image: Dieter Bohn / The Verge

Tesla has discontinued Solar Roof, its solar panels designed to look like regular roofing tiles, Electrek reports. Sources "close to the program" told the publication that Tesla has informed its third-party installer network that Solar Roof is no longer available to order, and that only conventional solar panels will be supplied going forward.

While Tesla hasn't officially announced that it's sunsetting the product, it's made several website changes that corroborate the reported discontinuation. The dedicated Solar Roof page (tesla.com/solarroof) that launched almost a decade ago now automatically redirects to Tesla's solar panel page inste …

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The Genesis GV90 blows the bloody doors off what’s possible in EV design

2026-08-20T15:52:57-04:00

Genesis, Hyundai's luxury brand, just revealed its first full-size, three-row electric SUV for the US market, the GV90. And arguably it has some of the wildest designs and features in the auto market today.

Right off the bat, the coach-style doors signal that things aren't what they seem with the GV90. When the front and rear doors open outward, the B-pillar disappears, creating an extra-large opening into the vehicle - because you're the kind of person who can afford it.

Genesis is calling it the Neolun Arch Gate, "the world's first independently opening and closing hidden B-pillar coach door." But it's more than just that.

To be sur …

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