This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for November 25, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   When BMW launched the i3 Rex back in 2013, it was just the second extended range electric vehicle or EREV produced following the Fisker Karma. EREVs differ from plug-in hybrids in that the torque output of the engine only drives a generator to charge the battery and has no direct path to drive the wheels. The vehicle is exclusively drive

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for  November 24, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Anyone who has paid any attention to the history of the automotive industry is well aware of the fact that the vast majority of the automakers that have ever existed have gone out of business. This was especially true in the early decades of the industry in the late 19th and early 20th century when there were thousands of startup automa

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for  November 19, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show, Jeep has finally launched its first fully electric off-road SUV, the 2026 Recon. The Recon, along with the Wagoneer S, was actually first shown in images back in 2022, and it got quite a bit of interest. Since then, the media have seen it in physical form at private events, and prototypes have been sp

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for  November 18, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Nissan was the pioneer in bringing a relatively affordable electric vehicle to market when it launched the Leaf back in 2010. However, since then, its electrification efforts have remained relatively modest, especially in North America. Prior to the 2023 debut of the Ariya, the only electrified models sold besides the Leaf were an Altim

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for  November 17, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Back in 2006, when Tesla emerged from stealth mode to reveal the original Roadster, there was a key differentiator that helped establish the brand and start to convince people that electric vehicles could be appealing on their own merits. It was fast, in fact, it was very fast for the time, with a 0-60 time of just 4 seconds while also

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for  November 13, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   This week, Toyota officially inaugurated its first North American lithium battery production facility. Toyota initially announced a $1.29 billion investment in the North Carolina facility in 2021, but that eventually grew to $13.9 billion as the scope and the capacity increased. Most of the battery production facilities announced by aut

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for  November 12, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   We've now had six battery electric pickup trucks offered for sale in the North American market: the Ford F-150 Lighting, GMC Hummer, Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Rivian R1T, and Tesla Cybertruck. However, despite some early excitement for several of them, sales have not lived up to expectations, and Stellantis cancelled plans for it

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for  November 11, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Earlier this year, Hyundai launched the second generation of its large three-row SUV, the Palisade. At launch, it was available only with a new 3.5-liter V6 engine. While the vehicle was very impressive overall, at 287 horsepower, the powertrain was a bit underwhelming, most likely due to the modest 260 lb-ft of torque. Hyundai has now

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for  November 10, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   As the Hyundai brand approaches its 40th anniversary in the U.S. market in 2026, CEO Jose Muñoz presented the company's strategic vision for the rest of the decade last week. As of 2025, the larger Hyundai Motor Group, which also includes the Genesis and Kia brands, has grown to become the third largest automotive group globally, hittin

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for  November 6, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Three and a half years ago, Ford became the first automaker to launch production and sales of a battery electric full-size pickup truck when it debuted the F-150 Lightning. Now the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Ford may be the first to discontinue an electric truck as it considers ending production of the Lightning. When I got a

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for  November 4, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   It's no secret that Toyota remains one of the biggest proponents of hydrogen fuel cell technology for transportation. The automaker has sold more than 27,000 of its fuel cell-powered Mirai sedans since 2014 and has been running a test fleet of fuel cell-powered tractor-trailers at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles for several years

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for  November 3, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Waymo is, without question, the current global leader in deploying automated robotaxi services. The subsidiary of Alphabet, parent company of Google, is now operating in five U.S. cities, with more coming in 2026, as well as expansions to the UK and Japan, is now heading to Detroit. Waymo is already providing several hundred thousand dri

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for October 31, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   At the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo this week, Mazda unveiled two new concept cars with some interesting technology, including an AI chat-based interface, rotary engines, plug-in hybrids, algae-derived fuel, and carbon capture.  The more interesting of the two is the Vision X-Coupe. This 5-meter-long four-door coupe looks much like what w

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for October 30, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   This week at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo, Honda unveiled its latest electric vehicle, the 0 Alpha. At first glance, this electric crossover looks nearly identical to the Honda 0 SUV that was first shown at the 2025 CES, but it turns out to be a very different vehicle. Toshikazu Hirose, Honda's large project leader for the 0 Alpha, pr

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for October 29, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   In 2018, Uber learned the hard way just how difficult it is to develop safe and reliable automated driving systems. The company tried to buy many of the leading researchers and developers in the field and rush the technology to market, but ended up being the first company to kill someone with an AV. After then-CEO Travis Kalanick was repl

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for October 28, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   The Jeep Grand Cherokee has consistently been the brand's top-selling model through most of the last three decades. The most recent fifth generation debuted in 2021 and, for the first time, added a longer three-row variant. Since its debut, the current generation has offered two powertrain options: the 3.6-liter naturally aspirated Pentas

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for October 27, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   The trade war started by the Trump administration earlier this year is already having a significant impact on its largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico.  Various Chinese-made vehicles have been on sale in Mexico for several years, and Chinese brands already hold 20% of the new vehicle market there. However, in Canada, it's a differe

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for October 22, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Today in New York, General Motors held an event where it made another major technology announcement with CEO Mary Barra, SVP of Software Dave Richardson, and Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson.  In recent years, all but a few of GM's entry-level models have adopted an infotainment system based on Google's Android Automotive with Goog

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for October 21, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry. Back in 2021, when the newly formed Stellantis held an EV day to promote its plans for broad electrification across its lineup, one of the brands that was highlighted was Alfa Romeo. Prior to the merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA, FCA had been trying for nearly a decade to revitalize the Alfa Romeo brand and grow it beyond its core audience i

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for October 16, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.   Despite the efforts of the current administration in Washington to kill off efforts like the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, the landscape for American EV drivers is continuing to improve. During the 2024 election campaign, then-candidate Trump frequently highlighted how few DC charging stations had actually been