A 2021 Tesla Model Y left an Alabama highway, hit two trees, and caught fire, killing its driver, 29-year-old Kayleigh Page. Her 7-month-old daughter was pulled from the burning car by a stranger who saw it happen.
Troopers reported it as a single-vehicle wreck. What they didn’t say, and likely didn’t know, is that Tesla’s own data shows the car’s driver-assist system was engaged. This is part of an ongoing Electrek investigation matching reported crashes to Tesla’s redacted NHTSA data.
A Tesla Cybercab rider found something in the robotaxi: a manual driving mode. When he got in, the touchscreen was showing a virtual joystick to drive the car by hand.
Tesla built the Cybercab with no steering wheel and no pedals. But it apparently still has a way to drive it manually, and you do it by dragging a finger across a screen.
A Tesla Model 3 ran a stop sign in Buena Vista Township, New Jersey, and hit a Honda Civic turning left through the intersection. The Civic’s driver, 82-year-old Stephen Field, was killed.
Police reported it as a car that failed to stop. What no one reported is that Tesla’s own data says the car’s driver-assist system was engaged. This is part of an ongoing Electrek investigation matching reported crashes to Tesla’s redacted NHTSA data.
Tesla is now asking businesses whether they’d like to buy and operate their own fleets of Cybercab robotaxis on its network. It’s the same pitch Elon Musk has been making since 2019: buy the cars, put them to work, and earn money while you sleep.
There’s one problem with it. And it never happened, and you shouldn’t fall for it now. If running a fleet of Cybercabs were actually profitable, Tesla wouldn’t sell you a single one.
Tesla is rolling out a new version of its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software that can take control of your car to avoid a crash, even when you’re driving manually.
The automaker announced the feature, part of FSD Supervised v14.3.9, in a post from its AI team early Friday.
Tesla’s Cybercab is already under federal investigation. NHTSA opened an audit into how Tesla certified the vehicle the same day the company started putting passengers in it in Austin.
The probe targets the exact thing that makes the Cybercab unusual: it has no steering wheel, no pedals, and no mirrors, and Tesla certified it as road-legal anyway.
A Tesla Model X struck and killed a motorcyclist at an intersection in Moraine last year and the crash went mostly unnoticed.
But Tesla’s own report to federal regulators says the vehicle was a Model X with its driver-assist system, Autopilot or Full Self-Driving (Tesla hides which one) engaged. This is part of an ongoing Electrek investigation matching reported crashes to Tesla’s redacted NHTSA data — and it’s the clearest example yet of how completely these crashes can vanish from the public record.
Tesla has settled a wrongful death lawsuit over a 2023 crash in which a Model S on Autopilot slammed into a parked fire truck, killing the driver and seriously injuring his brother.
The confidential settlement, filed in California federal court, lets Tesla avoid a jury trial that would have put Elon Musk’s own Autopilot claims in front of jurors.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan crashed his Tesla Model S on July 14 while the car was running on Autopilot. He was reaching for a phone that had dropped out of reach, and he took his eyes off the road.
The crash left him with a concussion, a broken nose, three broken ribs, a broken left hand, and 40 stitches over his right eye. And to his credit, he isn’t blaming the car.
Sometime next week, NASA's newest rover on Mars, Perseverance, will set a record for the most distance driven by any vehicle on another world.
The automobile-sized rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021, will traverse beyond 45.16 km (28.06 miles) across the Martian surface. In doing so it will break the previous distance record held by the long-lived Opportunity rover, which ceased communications with NASA in 2018.
So how did Perseverance reach this record-setting distance in just a third of the time?
Sometime next week, NASA's newest rover on Mars, Perseverance, will set a record for the most distance driven by any vehicle on another world.
The automobile-sized rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021, will traverse beyond 45.16 km (28.06 miles) across the Martian surface. In doing so it will break the previous distance record held by the long-lived Opportunity rover, which ceased communications with NASA in 2018.
So how did Perseverance reach this record-setting distance in just a third of the time?
A police department in Parker, Colorado, pulled over a Tesla going 64 mph in a 45 mph zone whose driver insisted they weren’t responsible, because the car was running “Full Self-Driving.”
Of course, Tesla will never take responsibility for that incident, but the frustrating part is that Tesla already has the solution and yet it refuses to implement it.
Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov laid out the clearest technical case yet for why cameras alone can’t take a self-driving system to full autonomy, arguing that “weak sensing” hits a safety ceiling long before it reaches superhuman performance.
He never said the word Tesla. But camera-only is Tesla’s entire bet, and this was a direct shot at it.
A growing number of Tesla owners running the new Full Self-Driving v14 “Lite” build on Hardware 3 (HW3) vehicles are reporting Autopilot computer overheating alerts — and, in some cases, outright computer failures.
The reports have stacked up in the two weeks since Tesla pushed v14 Lite to wide release, and four owners have contacted Electrek directly about the same problem.
Waymo is putting Google’s Gemini AI assistant inside its robotaxis for the first time, alongside the first major redesign of its rider interface in years.
Both features are launching in the Ojai, Waymo’s purpose-built vehicle, as the company gets ready to open the car up to more public riders.
A former Tesla manager who ran the company’s “Full Self-Driving” test fleet in Houston says the operation was so understaffed that its cars became “rolling hazards on public streets,” according to a lawsuit.
The manager, Javier Medrano, filed the wrongful-termination complaint in Houston federal court, and its contents were reported this week. He oversaw the fleet before Tesla launched its driverless “Robotaxi” in the city.
Ford Apple Maps integration will place the navigation service directly inside a new family of affordable electric vehicles, beginning with a midsize pickup expected to start at approximately $30,000 in 2027.
The truck will not depend on CarPlay or a connected iPhone to access Apple Maps. Ford plans to embed the service through MapKit for Automotive, allowing the automaker to incorporate Apple navigation into its own displays, controls and software environment.
CarPlay will remain available for drivers who want to use iPhone apps, messages, calls and media. The native integration, however, means Apple Maps can continue providing directions when no phone is connected or when the driver uses a device from another manufacturer.
The partnership extends beyond dashboard navigation. Ford also intends to use road-level information from Apple Maps while developing future versions of BlueCruise, connecting Apple mapping data with the driver-assistance technology planned for its Universal Electric Vehicle Platform.
Ford Apple Maps Moves Beyond CarPlay
Ford Apple Maps represents a different approach from the familiar relationship between an iPhone and a vehicle.
CarPlay runs from the phone and presents selected apps through the dashboard. The embedded version of Apple Maps will operate as part of the truck software, giving Ford greater control over how directions, charging information and vehicle data appear across its displays.
Drivers can expect turn-by-turn guidance, live traffic conditions, incident reports and detailed destination information. Ford will be able to adapt the visual experience to match the interface created for its new electric platform rather than reproducing the standard CarPlay layout.
EV routing may become the most practical benefit. The system can consider available range, charging locations and route conditions before recommending where a driver should stop.
When supported by the vehicle, navigation can also trigger battery preconditioning before arriving at a fast charger. Bringing the battery toward an appropriate temperature can reduce charging time, particularly during cold or extremely hot conditions.
Integrating those functions removes part of the planning burden from longer electric trips. Drivers will not need to move constantly between a navigation app, charging network software and separate vehicle menus to understand whether a station is suitable.
The native experience also gives Ford an alternative to building a complete mapping platform internally. Apple already maintains search, traffic, routing and place information across a large geographic network, while Ford can concentrate on vehicle-specific functions.
Apple, meanwhile, gains a route into factory-installed automotive software without needing to produce its own car.
A Different Strategy From CarPlay Ultra
The Ford arrangement should not be confused with CarPlay Ultra.
CarPlay Ultra expands the iPhone experience across multiple vehicle screens and can combine phone content with information supplied by the car, including speed, fuel or battery levels and climate controls.
Ford is taking a more selective path. Apple Maps becomes a native service, but the broader dashboard remains a Ford environment.
That distinction may appeal to automakers reluctant to hand control of the cabin interface to another company. Ford can use Apple technology for navigation while preserving its own identity, subscription services and software architecture.
Drivers still receive a recognizable Apple product, but the vehicle manufacturer determines where it appears and how it interacts with charging, driver assistance and other functions.
The arrangement could provide a model for other automakers that want access to individual Apple services without adopting the complete CarPlay Ultra experience.
Image Credit: Ford
A $30,000 Electric Truck Needs More Than a Low Price
The targeted price of approximately $30,000 would place it below many electric pickups currently available in the United States. Ford is aiming at drivers interested in an EV but unwilling or unable to spend the amounts associated with large premium trucks.
The company says the vehicle will provide more passenger space than a recent Toyota RAV4 while including a front storage compartment and a conventional truck bed. Performance is expected to compare with a Mustang EcoBoost, giving the pickup a stronger argument than affordability alone.
Reaching the price target requires changes throughout the vehicle rather than a smaller battery placed inside an existing truck design.
Ford has reduced the number of components, fasteners and assembly operations involved in the new platform. Its zonal electrical architecture is intended to shorten wiring and simplify how software-controlled systems connect across the vehicle.
Lithium iron phosphate batteries will form part of the structural floor. The chemistry avoids nickel and cobalt, generally costs less than alternatives focused on maximum energy density and can offer strong durability for repeated charging.
Production is planned for the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky, where Ford is introducing a manufacturing process that separates major vehicle sections before bringing them together later in assembly.
Apple Maps supports the same cost-conscious strategy. Ford can offer a mature navigation experience without financing the creation of every mapping layer from the beginning.
Apple Maps Will Support BlueCruise Development
The partnership becomes more significant when mapping information begins supporting driver assistance.
Ford Latitude AI plans to use road-level Apple Maps data while developing future BlueCruise capabilities. The objective is to create smoother hands-free travel from a highway entrance ramp through the eventual exit.
Apple Maps can provide advance knowledge of road layouts, interchanges, curves and exits. Ford sensors and onboard systems must still identify vehicles, pedestrians, construction and unexpected changes in real time.
Apple is not developing or controlling BlueCruise. Ford remains responsible for the cameras, sensors, processors and driving decisions used by the system.
The maps provide another layer of context. A vehicle that understands the route in advance can prepare for lane changes, merges and exits before its sensors reach them.
Ford is also developing a large driving model through Latitude AI using extensive road data. Combining that work with detailed maps could allow the company to improve assistance without depending entirely on moment-to-moment visual detection.
The Universal Electric Vehicle Platform is expected to support more capable automated driving in later models. Ford has discussed eyes-off operation from 2028, although final hardware, pricing and regulatory approval remain unresolved.
Introducing that technology through an affordable platform would represent a departure from the usual industry pattern. Advanced driver assistance often begins in expensive vehicles where premium pricing absorbs the cost of sensors and computing.
Ford wants to distribute the development expense across a larger family of electric products.
Image Credit: Ford
Apple Maps Gives the Truck a Familiar Entry Point
The Apple Maps name may make the new truck feel less unfamiliar to customers buying an electric vehicle for the first time.
Charging behavior, range estimation and route planning can create hesitation among drivers accustomed to gasoline vehicles. Presenting those functions through a navigation service already used on millions of iPhones reduces the number of unfamiliar interfaces introduced at once.
Existing Apple Maps users may also recognize saved locations, search behavior and visual guidance, although Ford has not explained which personal features will require an Apple Account or connected iPhone.
The embedded service will still need reliable integration with vehicle range, charger availability and battery temperature. A familiar logo alone cannot compensate for inaccurate charging information or route estimates.
Ford has not yet announced the truck name, final driving range, battery capacity, production specifications or confirmed base price. Those details will determine whether the pickup can combine its promised affordability with enough capability for everyday work and travel.
The first production model is scheduled for 2027, leaving Ford time to refine the software and reveal how Apple Maps will appear across the dashboard before the Louisville assembly line begins building customer vehicles.
Elon Musk was asked directly on Tesla’s Q2 2026 earnings call whether the company still plans to upgrade Hardware 3 (HW3) cars so they can run its latest “Full Self-Driving” software. His answer made one thing clear: Tesla still has no concrete plan.
Instead of committing to a fix, Musk floated a grab-bag of options and timelines — none of them firm — for the millions of vehicles Tesla sold with the promise that they had “all the hardware necessary” for self-driving.
Tesla told shareholders this week that its Robotaxi service is expanding. The company’s own chart proves it isn’t.
In its Q2 2026 update, Tesla leaned on a cumulative “paid Robotaxi miles” chart climbing past 2.4 million miles as its headline proof of momentum. But break that curve into quarters and the growth flatlines: Robotaxi added roughly 900,000 paid miles in Q2 2026, the same as it did in Q1.
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