Autos

Electric vehicle sales dropped sharply in January, falling 41% according to a report by InsideEVs. Despite the overall market decline, a number of specific brands managed to grow their sales during the month. The contrast between the market-wide slump and individual brand gains is drawing attention as the industry assesses early-year demand for electric vehicles.

Rivian and Lucid, two leading American EV startups, have released their latest quarterly earnings, and the results are being read as a scoreboard for the broader race among electric vehicle newcomers. Coverage is focusing on how each company is managing cash burn, production targets and its path to profitability as competition with Tesla and legacy automakers intensifies.

Despite talk of an electric vehicle slowdown, plug-in cars accounted for roughly a quarter of all new car sales worldwide last year, according to InsideEVs. The figure suggests EV adoption continues to grow overall, even as some markets and automakers report softer demand, prompting debate over whether the slowdown narrative is overstated.

A newly published write-up claims that cars from one unnamed brand can be unlocked in most of the world, describing a method that appears to exploit a weakness in the vehicles' locking system. The finding is drawing attention from security researchers and car owners alike, who are debating the severity of the flaw, how widely it can actually be exploited, and what the manufacturer should do in response.

A large-scale analysis covering 500,000 electric vehicle battery health checks has compared 20 different EV models, with one car singled out for its battery performance. The findings offer one of the broadest pictures yet of how EV batteries degrade in real-world use, and drivers and industry watchers are weighing which models hold up best over time.

Hyundai's next-generation Santa Fe will reportedly be offered as an electric vehicle while retaining gasoline engine options, according to a report by InsideEVs. The move would place the popular midsize SUV in both the EV and combustion markets, letting buyers choose between an all-electric version and traditional powertrains in the same nameplate.

Police in South Korea are targeting Tesla owners who jailbreak the company's Full Self-Driving software to unlock features without paying. The crackdown highlights how modifying paid driver-assistance software is being treated as a legal offence, with owners facing investigation for unlocking capabilities Tesla normally sells as a paid upgrade.

Sales of hybrid vehicles are rising sharply, and that growth is coming at the expense of fully electric cars. Buyers increasingly see hybrids as a practical middle ground, offering fuel savings without range anxiety or reliance on charging infrastructure. Commentators in the auto industry are debating whether this shift slows the transition to all-electric vehicles or reflects a temporary consumer preference.