This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for April 13, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.  Ever since I first drove a Cadillac CT6 with GM's hands-free Super Cruise driver assist back in 2017, I've had a skeptical view of the concept. While hands-free, eyes-on systems from many manufacturers do reduce some traditional driver workloads, they have always introduced new cognitive workloads due to the need to supervise the technology.

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for April 10, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.  Everyone who drives, especially in regions that are subject to winter weather, is familiar with the horror of potholes. Besides sending shockwaves through a vehicle, potholes can cause expensive damage to tires, wheels, and suspension components if drivers are unable to avoid them. If drivers do see the potholes and attempt evasive maneuvers

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for April 9, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   As the market for electric vehicles in North America continues to face struggles, two automakers are moving in opposite directions. Kia held its 2026 investor day in Seoul, where CEO Ho Sung Song laid out the brand's product plans for the next five years. Among those plans is the expansion of its lineup of EVs from 11 to 14 models by 2030. T

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for March 25, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Nearly two weeks after Honda announced that it was cancelling its entire lineup of Honda and Acura electric vehicles, Sony Honda Mobility has officially announced that it is cancelling development and production of its planned Afeela 1 sedan and a follow-up crossover that was first shown as a concept at CES earlier this year.  The official

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for March 24, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   In October 2025, General Motors announced that it would be launching a next-generation automated driving system on the Cadillac Escalade IQ beginning in 2028. This Level 3 system will allow drivers to go hands-free and eyes-free starting on highway driving situations as a follow-on to today's Super Cruise system that requires the driver to

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for March 16, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   At Nvidia's GTC conference in San Jose this week, the world's leading developer of graphics processing chips announced several new partnerships with automakers to use some or all of its Hyperion Drive automated driving system. First up is Hyundai Motor Group, which has already been utilizing Nvidia GPUs as part of the compute stack for its

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for March 13, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Yesterday, Lucid Motors held its first-ever investor day in New York and began to reveal key technical details of its business and product plan for the next several years. Like most automakers, Lucid is targeting increasing levels of driving automation for its new products and hopes that consumers will be willing to pay a subscription for t

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for March 12, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Honda has become the latest automaker to unplug its plans to launch new electric vehicles in the North American market. Honda had been planning to launch three new electric vehicles to be built in Ohio starting this year on a new dedicated electric vehicle chassis. The first of those was a new midsize crossover coupe for Acura called the RS

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for March 11, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   The Middle East war that was sparked by American and Israeli attacks on Iran less than two weeks ago could spark a revival in interest for electric vehicles if it continues for any length of time. While oil prices have settled back a bit since last week, when Brent crude briefly hit $120/barrel, we almost certainly have not seen the end of

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for March 10, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   It's not often that a cheap vehicle gets a lot of attention from enthusiasts. But in spring 2025, that's exactly what happened when a startup called Slate Auto came out of stealth mode and revealed its first product. With significant backing from Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos, Slate aimed to introduce a highly customizable, compact electric

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for March 9, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   With strong government support for transitioning its vehicle fleet to electrification, Chinese automakers, battery vendors, and other suppliers have managed to race ahead of the rest of the world on moving away from burning fossil fuels for transportation. Chinese consumers have far more options for electric vehicles at every price point and

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for March 4, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   During an Automotive Press Association event at Scout Motors' Novi, Michigan tech center this morning, CEO Scott Keogh provided some updates on the status of the new startup automaker launched within the Volkswagen Group. The Scout brand was inherited by VW when its Traton Truck group acquired International several years ago, and in 2022, VW

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for February 24, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 led to substantial changes for federal tax incentives toward electric vehicle purchases in the U.S. The previous system that allowed every automaker to be eligible for tax credits of up to $7,500 on the first 200,000 EVs sold was scrapped. The program allowed the same credits, with no sa

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for February 23, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Late last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Trump did not have the authority to impose import tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Trump had used this law as justification to declare wide-ranging tariffs on almost all imported products and materials coming into the U.S. over the past year. W

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for February 12, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Following last week's announcement that Chief Financial Officer Kenta Kon would be replacing Koji Sato as CEO of Toyota Motor Company, American Honda has made a similar announcement. Current CEO Kazuhiro Takizawa would be handing over the reins to CFO Eiji Fujimura on April 1.  These moves come at a time when the industry is grappling wi

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for February 11, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Despite being famously skeptical about battery electric vehicles, Toyota is continuing to press ahead with adding new models to its lineup. Last year, Toyota launched a major upgrade of its first EV for the North American market, the bZ, which increased range, improved charging, and redesigned the interior. This week in California, Toyot

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for February 10, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   In 2006, director Chris Paine gained some notoriety for his documentary film: Who Killed the Electric Car? It chronicled the aftermath of General Motors's decision to take back all of its EV1 cars from the customers that had been leasing them since they debuted in 1997 and then crush most of them. Paine followed that with a sequel, The R

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for January 22, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   The growth rate of electric vehicle adoption may have plateaued in the U.S. in 2025, but public charging infrastructure is still expanding at a prodigious rate even into 2026. The Alternative Fuels Data Center from the U.S. Department of Energy provides a rich source of information on all forms of transportation energy providers beyond tr

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for January 20, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Tariffs are a tax on the consumers who buy products, no matter how much some politicians try to deny it. Tariffs aren't paid by the country exporting a product; they are paid by whoever imports the product and are generally passed along to those who ultimately buy the product. We've seen this over the past year as new vehicle affordabilit

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for January 16, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   As expected, the Trump administration's policies of the past year, including applying massive tariffs on almost all of the U.S. major trading partners and rolling back any and all environmental policies, are starting to have an impact. Ultimately, these policies are going to isolate the U.S. economy from the rest of the world, and if Amer