We weren’t that impressed with the Hummer EV when it first came out — too big, too expensive, and crazy inefficient — but we did appreciate the novelty of the Crab Walk feature that let the massive truck rotate all four wheels to drive diagonally at low speeds. Our reviewer, Emme Hall, called it “the weirdest sensation” and “a good party trick.”

Now, for the updated 2026 model year, the Hummer EV is getting even more crablike. The feature is now called “King Crab,” and it allows for even more maneuverability than before. At low speeds, King Crab turns the rear wheels slightly faster than the front wheels, enabling the hulking Hummer to dart in between boulders or through a narrow copse of trees.

GMC says it will ship the 2026 Hummer, both pickup and SUV, with the new feature. Existing owners will get it through an over-the-air software update later this year. The feature is the result of GMC’s putting the call out to Hummer EV owners for “epic” software update ideas.

The automaker is also releasing a new limited carbon fiber edition of the truck and SUV with improved performance. With a new 24-module battery, the carbon fiber edition will accelerate from 0-60 mph in just 2.8 seconds. (The original model was able to sprint to that speed in three seconds.)

The 2026 Hummer is now getting bidirectional charging capabilities, meaning it can send power out from its battery to another EV or even a home. And it comes with enhanced Super Cruise, allowing drivers to automatically change lanes when the vehicle’s built-in map is being used.

The future of everything from smartphones, to military equipment, to electric vehicles hangs on 17 rare earth minerals and the magnets that they're made into. And China, the world's largest refiner and producer, is tightening its grip and threatening the US' largest automakers.

Over the last 30 years, China has methodically cornered the market on mining and refining rare earth minerals, which are used to produce a variety of common items like passenger vehicles and everyday electronics. In the wake of US President Donald Trump's increasingly aggressive trade war, China is leveraging its position as the world's largest producer, at the expense of the American auto industry.

"We're within 90 days of this becoming a critical problem for everybody," say Ambrose Conroy, founder of Seraph Consulting and a major investor in Democratic Republic of Congo mining operations.

According to analysts, more than 90 percent of the world's supply of those 17 elements at the bottom of the periodic table are mined, refined, and turned into rare earth magnets in China. After Trump announced tariffs of up to 145 percent on …

Read the full story at The Verge.

General Motors is teaming up with LG to develop lithium manganese-rich (LMR) batteries for its electric trucks and SUVs. The automaker says that the new chemistry is safer, more energy dense, and less costly than the current technology. 

GM aims to become the first automaker to deploy LMR batteries in EVs, with plans to start commercial production in the US by 2028. Last month, Ford announced that it would start adopting LMR batteries for its EVs, but not until 2030. 

In EV batteries, the cathode, or negative electrode, are typically made with NCM — nickel, cobalt, and magnesium. Cobalt is a key component in this mix, but it’s also the most expensive material in the battery and mined under conditions that often violate human rights, leading it to be called the “blood diamond of batteries.” As a result, GM and other companies like Tesla are rushing to create a cobalt-free battery. As an alternative, LMR battery cells use a higher proportion of more affordable and plentiful manganese, while also delivering greater capacity and energy density.

GM has prototyped approximately 300 full-size LMR cells as it worked with LG Energy Solution to crack the code on the chemistry.

“We like to joke that it’s as cheap as dirt,” says Andrew Oury, a battery engineer at GM, referring to manganese. 

GM’s current crop of electric Chevys and Cadillacs use high-nickel batteries, which supply enough energy for around 300–320 miles of range. The new LMR batteries are denser, with greater space efficiency due to their prismatic shape, enabling up to 400 miles of range, GM says. Prismatic cells are packed flat in rigid cases and are generally thought to be less complex to manufacture than cylindrical cells. 

Less complexity and cheaper materials will hopefully lead to lower-cost EVs, which has been a significant challenge for the auto industry’s shift to electric vehicles. 

“The EV growth rate is really dependent on how quickly we can bring the costs down over time,” says GM’s VP for batteries Kurt Kelty. “And this is the biggest lever we have. Batteries make up roughly 30 to 40 percent of the cost of vehicles. And if you can drop that down significantly like we’re doing here, then it ends up being a lower cost to the consumer.”

The cells will be produced by Ultium Cells, GM and LG’s joint venture, with preproduction expected to begin in late 2027. The final design will be validated at GM’s Battery Cell Development Center in Warren, Michigan, which opens earlier that year, as well as LG Energy Solution’s facility. Last year, GM sold its stake in the Lansing-based EV battery factory to LG. 

GM says the LMR batteries are the result of “decades-long research and investment in technology” that will give it the leg up over its competitors. GM began researching manganese-rich lithium-ion battery cells in 2015, including prototyping LMR cells at its Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center.

There could be some challenges to mass producing LMR batteries. LMR materials have been known to experience significant capacity loss, which could lead to lower driving ranges and thermal stability degradation. 

GM says it is aware of these challenges and confident that it could innovate the production process in a way to minimize those risks. The automaker’s engineers say the LMR batteries were expected to perform similarly to GM’s first-generation high-nickel batteries, even in extreme temperatures. 

Automakers are racing to slash EV costs before President Donald Trump’s trade war raises the prices for key materials imported from China, which is the world’s leading producer of EV batteries, with over 70 percent of global lithium-ion battery production taking place there. 

“We expect our localization of materials for the battery supply chain to increase between now and 2028,” Kelty says. “And LMR is part of that story, because we get more of the materials locally.”

The first hands-on experience I had with the $360,000, ultraluxury Cadillac Celestiq was as a backseat passenger. It was mid-April, and I was on the way to a dinner in West Hollywood. While GM insists most Celestiq buyers are drivers, the company wanted to create a vehicle that could be especially compelling for those who prefer to be chauffeured.

Once known for its behemoth, bespoke luxury vehicles, Cadillac is working to get its mojo back with the all-electric Celestiq. A 655-horsepower fastback that seats four, the Celestiq is perhaps the most extravagant vehicle Cadillac has ever released - and certainly its most customizable.

Cadillac is returning to its 1960s land yacht era with the Celestiq, which it thinks can rival offerings from Bentley and Rolls-Royce. The automaker is also hoping that the Celestiq can help the brand return to its 40-plus-year moniker as the "Standard of the World," and offer high-end, American-made, luxury vehicles in a new era of electrification.

"The idea was to make the best looking car in the world, but just happen to make it an EV," says Tony Roma, executive chief engineer for Celestiq.

A long time coming

The luxury is striking, even fro …

Read the full story at The Verge.

• Stephen Miller said that Americans won't pay more to buy a car as a result of tariffs.
• Miller said that Trump's trade policies have incentivized automakers to boost domestic manufacturing.
• Ford's top executive recently said he could not promise consumers wouldn't pay more.

Americans won't pay more to buy a car as a result of President Donald Trump's tariffs, the White House said on Thursday.

"No, not on cars they won't," White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said in response to a question of whether consumers might have to pay more to buy a vehicle as automakers adjust their production to account for Trump's tariffs.

"Because again, there is now a massive economic incentive for automobile producers to expand production in the United States, and whatever they make here, there will be no tariff," he added.

Consumers appear skeptical. Dealers are reporting a surge in demand as customers try to lock in a deal before potential changes.

Economists aren't as convinced either.

Anderson Economic Group, a Michigan-based consultant firm, estimates that even the least impacted vehicles could still see a tariff burden above $2,000. Some vehicles, according to their estimates, could have a tariff burden of up to $12,000. The exact estimate varies on whether the vehicle is assembled in the US and the percentage of American-made parts that go into it.

"If you are in the market for a new car and you find one you like, my advice is to buy it right away. If you have a used car you rely upon, my advice is to make sure it is well maintained as you are likely to use it for a while longer than you had earlier planned," said Patrick L. Anderson, the group's principle and CEO, said in a news release.

Here's what the nation's largest automakers have said about tariffs and whether they'll raise prices.

GM

CEO Mary Bara said that tariffs could cost General Motors up to $5 billion. As for consumers, she said that the leader in U.S. auto sales will "stay competitive."

"We have been able to maintain strong pricing and low incentives because customers want our vehicles," Bara told CNN. "What we've said and what we have provided in our guidance is that pricing is going to stay about at the same levels of what it is."

Bara also did not outline any plans for GM to offer incentives along the lines of Ford's employee pricing promotion. She said that pricing in the auto industry changes "at least monthly and sometimes more frequently" and that GM would "respond to the market" to remain competitive.

As for tariffs overall, Bara said one of the best ways GM can respond is to continue to boost the portion of each vehicle that is made in the US.

Toyota

Toyota, the US's second-best-selling automaker, is significantly exposed to tariffs.

A UBS Securities report published at the outset of Trump's trade war said that tariffs could cost Japan's five biggest automakers $25 billion a year, mostly borne by Toyota, the world's largest automaker.

Toyota is expected to benefit from Trump's decision on April 29 to rein in some of his auto tariffs. One of those orders allows automakers to claim an offset on auto parts tariffs if they produce and sell completed vehicles in the US. Toyota, like many of its competitors, imports parts that are then assembled into completed vehicles at its US-based plants.

In late March, Reuters cited Japanese domestic media reports that Toyota did not plan on raising prices in response to tariffs.

A Toyota spokesperson declined further comment to Business Insider.

Ford

On Wednesday, Ford CEO Jim Farley said he couldn't promise that US consumers wouldn't pay more to buy his company's vehicles.

"No, I'm not saying that," Farley told CNN's Erin Burnett when she asked if he would commit to saying there would be no price increases from Ford this summer.

Instead, Farley announced that Ford, the nation's third-best-selling automaker, will extend its current sale, which offers employee pricing to consumers through July 4.

Hyundai

Hyundai CEO Jose Muñoz recently said that he expected prices to remain steady.

"I don't expect to see a huge increase overnight," Muñoz told Bloomberg News on April 15. "The market will decide."

Muñoz said that if price increases were to occur, they would likely not be imposed on lower-cost entry-model vehicles.

"Those customers are very sensitive to price," he said. "If you do that then maybe they won't buy the cars."

Hyundai and its sibling Kia were the fourth best-selling automaker in the US in 2024.

Honda

Honda said early on that Trump's tariffs could have a significant effect on its bottom line.

Global executive vice president Shinji Aoyama told analysts in February that a 25% tariff could cost the company $132.7 billion.

The fifth-best-selling automaker in the US has since shifted production of its Civic Hybrid from Japan to the US.

Stellantis

A historic member of Detroit's Big 3, Stellantis, formerly known as Chrysler, has also not said much about its tariff response.

At a high level, Jeep and Dodge's parent company withdrew its 2025 financial guidance due to uncertainty around tariff policy.

Like Ford, Stellantis has extended its employee pricing offering. According to The Detroit News, the program will now run through early June.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra kicked off her Q1 letter to shareholders by thanking “President Trump for his support of the U.S. automotive industry.” Several paragraphs later, things take a turn, with Barra projecting an impact of $4 billion to $5 billion as a result of Trump’s ever-changing tariffs.

Barra’s letter was evidence of the delicate line the automaker needs to tread in order to placate the president while also assuring investors that it can weather the financial storm ahead. And in that respect, GM says it has a lot of evidence in its favor.

It’s revenue is up 2 percent year over year, and its making more progress in improving the profitability of its electric vehicle lineup. In that respect, Barra declared that GM had “solidified” its position as the number two seller of EVs in the US, behind Tesla. (With Tesla’s sales and revenue cratering, its not outside the realm of possibility that GM continues to make progress in this department.) Chevy, with its popular Equinox and Blazer EVs, is now the “fastest growing EV brand,” she said. And GM is the largest producer of lithium-ion batteries in the US.

But the effect of Trump’s tariffs loom like a noxious cloud over all that good news.

The nation’s largest automaker was expecting a pretty robust year of profits until Trump blew everything up with his tariffs. Earlier this week, GM pulled its guidance, explaining that any prediction of profits at this point would be “a guess,” according to The New York Times. The company also postponed its conference call with financial analysts to discuss its first-quarter results by a couple days, while it assessed the impact of the latest curveball from the White House.

On Tuesday, Trump signed a new executive order walking back some of the auto tariffs he claimed just weeks before would lead to a manufacturing renaissance in the US. Now car companies that pay a 25 percent tariff on auto imports won’t have to pay other levies, like on steel and aluminum, or on certain imports from Canada and Mexico. But as its written, the rules don’t appear to protect automakers from tariffs on steel and aluminum that their suppliers pay and then pass on to them.

Analysts have predicted that the tariffs will be armageddon for the auto industry, with sticker prices expected to increase by as much as $10,000. In response, many panicked shoppers have rushed to their local dealership to get while the getting is good. According to J.D. Power, new vehicle sales in April are forecasted to rise 10.5 percent year over year, driven by 139,000 accelerated purchases from buyers trying to lock in pricing. But that’s already starting to cool off, as automakers promised more price stability throughout the summer, according to a survey from Car Dealership Guy.

But Barra’s letter makes no mention of price hikes, panic shopping, or cratering demand. She projects optimism about Trump’s willingness to bend on tariffs, which he has demonstrated repeatedly over the past few weeks. And that’s all she can really do right now.

“We look forward to maintaining our strong dialogue with the Administration on trade and other policies as they continue to evolve,” she wrote. “As you know, there are ongoing discussions with key trade partners that may also have an impact. We will continue to be nimble and disciplined and update you as we know more.”

Cadillac’s all-electric Optiq SUV will receive the coveted V badge later this year, the automaker confirmed today. It will be the second EV in Cadillac’s lineup to join the performance-attuned V-series, after the reveal of the Lyriq-V earlier this year.

The 2026 Optiq-V will be part of the fifth generation Cadillac’s V-series portfolio, the company announced. The company also emphasized agility, suspension, steering, and “an exhilarating driving experience.” More details, including specs, range, and performance capabilities, will be released later this year.

The standard Optiq was first revealed last year as a compact electric SUV starting at $54,000. The 2025 Optiq sports an 85kWh battery pack that can add about 79 miles of range in 10 minutes when plugged in to a DC fast charger, for a total range estimate of 300 miles. It’s a two-row, five-seat crossover that shares a platform with the Chevrolet Equinox EV. 

The Optiq is likely a good fit for the V-series because it was designed to be a sportier drive than most compact SUVs, with low-rolling tires, diffusers, and a rear spoiler. The dual-motor setup puts out 300 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque — two performance specs likely to get a big upgrade in the V-badged version. (By comparison, the Lyriq-V can put out 615 hp, 650 lb-ft of torque, and accelerate from zero to 60mph in just 3.3 seconds — besting the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing’s acceleration by a tenth of a second.)

The Optiq-V will probably get all the goodies packed into the Lyriq-V, such as traction management features and a “unique sound experience” that simulates an engine growl. Thanks to their quick, seamless acceleration and aerodynamic shapes, EVs are a great fit in the performance segment. Indeed, BMW, Mercedes, and Audi all have performance-geared EVs for sale. Cadillac would be the latest to add its own spin on plug-in power.

• Tesla sales continue to decline in the US and around the world as the overall EV market grows.
• GM and other major carmakers launched an electric offensive in the US, cutting Tesla's market share.
• In Europe, Tesla is dealing with increased competition from BMW and VW as well as Chinese EVs.

Tesla is losing ground at home and globally as its sales continue a downward slide, ceding market share to other automakers that have flooded the zone with new models in recent years.

General Motors, Ford, and VW were some of the biggest winners in the US during the first quarter of 2025, during which time the EV market grew by 11% to nearly 300,000 cars sold, according to data from Cox Automotive.

In Europe, homegrown automakers like BMW and VW have seen their EV business skyrocket, while Chinese brands like BYD and Geely have also made a major push into the continent.

General Motors and other big automakers pushback in the US

Tesla sold 128,100 vehicles during the first quarter of the year, down 8.6% from the same time last year and a whopping 21% decline compared to 2023.

Despite seeing its share of the US EV market fall from 51% to 44% over the past year, Tesla remains the biggest player by a wide margin.

However, a group of traditional automakers, led by Ford and GM, has been staging an offensive against Tesla for years.

GM has launched roughly a dozen new Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC-branded EVs over the past year, ranging from the $34,000 compact Chevy Equinox EV SUV to the $300,000+ ultra-luxurious Cadillac Celestiq sedan. They've helped it gain an 11% market share after sales grew 94% year-over-year in the first quarter.

When you include Honda and Acura, which entered the EV market last spring with a pair of GM-made SUVs, General Motors and its partners now hold 16% of the market.

Other big winners include VW, up 55%; BMW, up 26%; Nissan, up 23%; and Ford, which owns about 8% of the segment and saw a 12% sales increase.

Lower-volume players in the EV space also saw explosive growth. Porsche, Toyota, Subaru, and Volvo sales up 250%, 196%, 173%, and 173%, respectively.

German and Chinese EVs are on the rise in Europe

In Europe, Tesla's decline has been even more dramatic.

The automaker saw its sales in the first two months of 2025 collapse nearly 43% from the same period last year, according to industry data, amid growing backlash against CEO Musk's and his endorsement of German far-right party AfD.

Tesla's fall comes despite overall European electric car sales growing by nearly 30% over the same period — and some of the company's German rivals appear to have benefited from Tesla's brand implosion.

Volkswagen said last week it had more than doubled its EV sales in Europe in the first quarter, while luxury brand BMW saw a 64% rise in sales of fully electric vehicles.

That poses a big problem for Tesla in the company's third-biggest market, where it sold around 327,000 electric cars last year — and it could be about to get a lot worse.

Chinese automakers like BYD, Xpeng, and Geely are expanding aggressively in Europe. Although their market share is still tiny, early data suggests that BYD is beginning to eat into Tesla's sales.

BYD outsold Tesla in Italy and Spain in the first quarter of 2025 and closed the gap on its rival in the UK and Germany, according to data compiled by market research firm Argus Media, recording huge surges in sales even as Tesla's market share plunged.

The Warren Buffett-backed EV giant exported a record number of cars in the first quarter as it took its fight against Tesla global.

Polestar, Geely's Swedish-based EV brand, reported a 76% increase in global sales during the first quarter of this year.

• Trump may have calmed his global trade war, but his tariff offensive is still hitting Canada hard.
• Canadian autoworkers told BI they are grappling with layoff fears and cutting back on spending.
• An industry representative said the tariffs were "severely disrupting" Canada's auto business.

Donald Trump may have pulled back from his sweeping tariff assault — but for Canada's autoworkers, their problems feel far from over.

On Wednesday, he announced a 90-day pause for the wave of "reciprocal" tariffs but kept in place the 25% levy on imported vehicles that analysts have warned will devastate the North American auto industry.

Canada, which exports the vast majority of its cars to the US, has already seen factory pauses and temporary layoffs because of the tariffs, and workers told Business Insider they are bracing for further chaos and disruption.

Jeff Gray, a longtime autoworker and the president of the local Unifor union in Oshawa, Ontario, described the atmosphere at the city's General Motors plant as anxious, with workers "bracing for impact."

"It affects morale. Our members come to work every day and work hard to take home a paycheck to their family. They need to pay their mortgages, they need to pay their rent, their car payments, and everything that comes along," he told BI.

"Having that anxiousness that all that could be taken away from us at any moment, it does have an impact," said Gray.

GM did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

One worker at an Ontario plant run by F&P Mfg, a Japanese auto parts supplier, told BI that the tariff uncertainty was already being felt at her factory, which supplies car parts to Honda, Stellantis, GM, and Tesla.

She said that production for US-based companies like GM and Stellantis had decreased since Trump won the election and that the factory had cut weekend shifts due to US production drops.

"We are absolutely concerned. It's similar to COVID. We know the reality is any day we go into work, we could be laid off," said the worker, whose partner also works in the auto industry.

"We have a little savings we were going to use for our honeymoon, but now we're saving that as backup money," she added.

F&P Mfg did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

End of the 'invisible border'

The tariffs have already shaken Ontario's auto industry. Jeep and RAM owner Stellantis said last week it would idle production at its Windsor, Ontario factory and temporarily lay off 4,500 hourly workers.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, meanwhile, warned last month that the tariffs could lead to factory shutdowns on both sides of the border.

Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, told BI the tariffs were "severely disrupting" Canadian supply chains that have been closely integrated with their southern neighbor for the past 60 years.

"Auto companies don't have any certainty around what the trade rules are and what they may be," said Kingston.

He added that the "completely inconsistent" trade barriers will have an "extremely devastating" impact on the Canadian economy and, if they remain in place long-term, may lead to production and job losses in the US and Canada.

"People are scared and confused. There's fear of job losses, hour reductions, and layoffs," said the F&P Mfg worker, who asked to be kept anonymous because she was not authorized to speak to the press. BI has verified her identity.

"Since COVID, many jobs haven't returned to the way they were; soaring prices and inflation have just made it hard to live," she added.

Gray said Oshawa's autoworkers were surprised by the sudden imposition of tariffs by a country that has long been a close partner.

"I was just taken aback. Here in Canada, we're so used to having almost an invisible border between us and the United States," he said.

"Honestly, I thought we had this friendship and relationship with our American friends that this would never happen," Gray added.

Canada has already signaled it is prepared to fight back against the tariffs, and Trump's broader suggestion he could attempt to turn Canada into a 51st state. On Wednesday, the Canadian government imposed its own 25% tariff on certain vehicle exports from the US.

Gray said the initial shock and uncertainty had given way to a sense of solidarity among the union's members.

"There's a level of defiance. Our membership is sick of being antagonized by Donald Trump," he said.

"Everybody knows we've earned these jobs over 90 years. We are going to fight and do whatever we have to do to make sure these auto jobs remain in Ontario," Gray added.

General Motors is revealing a futuristic new electric-powered Corvette concept imagined by a new UK-based design team in Birmingham, England. The team developed a hypercar design inspired by the aviation industry, with a highly sculptured, aerodynamic design; powered gullwing doors; and an augmented windshield display for the driver.

This Corvette concept comes from a “creative study” that had participation from multiple GM studios, GM’s VP of global design Michael Simcoe said in a press release. The vehicle’s upper half takes inspiration from previous designs, including the split window windshield that Simcoe says comes from the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray. “This feature emphasizes a singular vertical central spine that is also a structural element, also providing a panoramic view of the road and surroundings,” said Simcoe. GM calls this structure “Apex Vision.”

GM says that the lower half is more about function. The concept Corvette has EV battery technology embedded in the structure, and air channels incorporated into the sides that make airflow efficient, which, according to GM, would make wings and spoilers not necessary. However, on a track, the Corvette can deploy dorsal fins, and there’s spoiler venting to create aero vectoring for better cornering performance.

The UK team is also helping designers in Detroit with a new concept GMC vehicle that, from the looks of some teaser images, seems like a spacious, futuristic van that could be used for camping. The new GMC concept will be revealed later this year.

President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on all auto-related imports have been called “a debacle of epic proportions” and a sure-fire way to tank the auto market by crushing demand. Analysts have been predicting everything from $12,000 per vehicle price hikes to the possible “Cubanization” of the US car fleet.

Now that they’ve had a few days to process the news, the automakers are starting to get their ducks in a row and make some moves.

Here’s how each company is responding:

Audi

Now that the tariffs are in effect, the German automaker is holding all vehicles assembled in Mexico and overseas at US ports until further notice, according to Automotive News. Audi currently has 37,000 units in dealer stock and at port — which remain unaffected by the new import fees and are ready to sell. Audi reportedly said it would be marking unaffected units with a $0 “No Added Import Fee” option code for easy tracking.

“We are evaluating how to best proceed for our customers and our dealers,” Audi spokesperson Mark Dahncke said.

BMW

BMW hasn’t announced any specific response yet, but the company said last month that it expected a €1 billion hit to its 2025 …

Read the full story at The Verge.

GMC’s flagship electric truck is starting to fill out its lineup. The GM-owned brand announced new AT4 and Elevation trims for the Sierra EV, which will sit below the Denali trim that’s currently the only version available to customers.

The Elevation trim will lack some of the premium features that the Denali has, and it won’t have as many off-roading features as the AT4. It will also feature less off-board power, with just 7.2 kW compared to the AT4’s 10.2 kW. But the Elevation will also start at a lower price point, which could make it the most accessible of all the versions of the electric truck.

GMC is also offering a wider selection of battery options, including Standard, Extended, and Max Range packs. The Sierra Elevation will be available with a Standard or Extended Range battery, while AT4 will be available with an Extended or Max Range battery. The Denali trim will offer all three battery options. GMC said range estimates will be announced closer to launch. That said, GMC has previously said that Max Range batteries would get up to 460 miles of range.

The base model Elevation with Standard battery is now the most affordable Sierra EV, starting at $64,495. Above that is the Elevation with Extended Range at $72,695 and the premium Extended Range for $78,940. AT4 models start at $81,395 and go all the way up to $91,695, depending on the battery pack. And the new base Denali will sell for $71,795, while the reserve Denali with Max Range battery will go for $100,695. (All prices include a $2,095 destination charge.)

The AT4 will be the highest-riding Sierra, with 2 inches of additional lift thanks to lifted coil suspension and new 35-inch tires. AT4 models will also share a number of features with GMC’s Hummer EV, such as four-wheel steer, CrabWalk, and Terrain Mode. But the automaker stressed that the two EVs don’t actually share any physical components.

• Trump's auto tariffs have landed — and they may have a major impact on car prices.
• Wedbush says 25% tariffs on cars from Mexico and Canada could push up prices by $5,000 to $10,000.
• Auto stocks fell on fears the tariffs will hurt the global automotive industry.

After several false starts, Trump's auto tariffs are finally here — and they could make buying a new car a lot more expensive.

The announcement of the 25% tariffs on all imported passenger vehicles and key car parts, which take effect on April 2, sent foreign and domestic auto stocks tumbling.

Analysts have long warned that the levies are likely to push up car prices as the US automotive industry scrambles to respond.

Wedbush analysts said in a Wednesday note that the tariffs "would be a hurricane-like headwind to foreign (and many US) automakers and ultimately push the average price of cars up $5k to $10k depending on the make/ model/price point."

Analysis from Anderson Economic Group puts the potential price hike from Trump's levies between $4,000 and $12,000 depending on the vehicle. EVs are likely to be hit hard because they use imported batteries and electronics.

Cox Automotive, meanwhile, estimated that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which go into effect on April 2, would raise the price of US-made vehicles by more than $3,000. That's on top of an estimated $300 to $500 price increase because of previously announced tariffs on steel and aluminum and a 20% levy on all Chinese imports.

Automakers are also sounding the alarm. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents major US automakers, including GM and Ford, warned earlier this month that proposed import taxes could raise car prices by as much as 25%.

GM and Ford, as well as foreign rivals such as Toyota, Nissan, and BMW, all have major production facilities in Mexico, meaning they're also likely to be negatively affected by the tariffs.

Barclays analysts warned earlier this month that 25% levies on auto imports from Mexico and Canada could effectively wipe out profits for Ford, GM, and Stellantis.

Automakers such as Tesla, which build most of their cars in the US, will feel the pain, too, with the tariffs extending to automobile parts, including engines, powertrain parts, and "electrical components."

Despite building their cars in the US, Tesla and others still source many of their components abroad. Between 20% and 25% of the components from Tesla's 2025 vehicles come from Mexico, according to regulatory filings.

Global pain

Shares in foreign automakers fell following the announcement of the tariffs, with Nissan, Toyota, and Honda down between 1.5% to 3.5%.

In Europe, BMW and Volkswagen fell slightly in morning trading, while Mercedes stock dipped 2%.

Economists have warned that increasing the tariff of cars imported from Europe to the US to 25% from the current 2.5% would lead to a sharp drop in the number of cars shipped across the Atlantic.

A January report from Oxford Economics estimated that automotive exports from Germany and Italy would decline by 7.1% and 6.6%, respectively, because of the tariffs. The US is the main non-EU export market for both countries.

Germany's struggling auto industry would be hit particularly hard, with Oxford Economics estimating that total automotive production would decline by about 5.3%.

That's not a scenario manufacturers including VW — already grappling with excess capacity and mulling factory closures to cut costs — want to see.

In the past, US tariffs on vehicles built in China have led to European automakers delaying the launch of new models in the US — and in the case of Chinese automakers like BYD, avoiding America entirely.

The Trump administration's latest trade war escalation also raises the prospect that Europe, Japan, and South Korea may retaliate with their own tariffs on US car exports.

After Trump revealed the 25% auto tariffs, Japan's prime minister vowed that "every option" was on the table as the country considered its response.

Germany's economy minister, meanwhile, called on the EU to deliver a "decisive response" to the tariffs, while South Korea said it would announce emergency measures next month.

In their quest to build a coast-to-coast EV charging network, GM, EVgo, and Pilot announce they have installed electric vehicle chargers at 130 locations across 25 states. The partnership, which launched in 2022, aimed to install 2,000 DC fast chargers at 500 Pilot and Flying J truck stop locations nationwide. In a press release, the companies say the expanded charging network will make road trip plans easier as EV adoption grows and drivers prepare for spring and summer travel.

Pilot says its charging infrastructure now stretches along I-75 between Michigan and Georgia, as well as highway routes between Minneapolis and Milwaukee, Detroit and Cleveland, San Antonio and Houston, and Dallas and Nashville. Locationally, the GM-backed charging network project is a little over a quarter of the way towards its goal. At the end of 2023, the companies had 25 EV station locations with around 100 charging stalls.

Each station is set up with gas station-style canopies, with some that have space to drive electric trucks with trailers through the station for easy charging. Pilot has a site that shows which locations have EV charging stations and statuses on whether they’re in use. Most locations seem to only have the capacity for four vehicles to charge at any given time, such as at this two-stall Pilot Travel Center station in Good Hope, Alabama.

Each stall has two CCS1 plugs and up to 350kW speed when a single compatible EV is connected. GM says some EVs can charge up in “as little as 15 minutes,” but only few EVs can achieve the max charge speed, but only in small bursts and probably not up to 100 percent. For most EV models, you can expect a 20 to 80 percent charge in around 30 minutes. Comparatively, a Level 2 AC home charger could take 3-6 hours to fill up. 

Since Pilot and Flying J locations are usually hours away from travelers’ destinations, GM and EVgo have another deal together to build EV charging stalls at urban locations, too. In December, the two companies said they had installed 2000 of the 2,850 planned fast-charging stalls.

GM is shutting down a dealership service that offered the installation of a third-party Apple CarPlay upgrade kit for its EVs, citing concerns that the product “could affect critical safety features” in its vehicles, The Drive reports.

A spokesperson from GM told The Drive that “Aftermarket services that introduce features not originally designed, thoroughly tested, and approved by GM may cause unintended issues for customers. These issues could affect critical safety features and may also void portions of the vehicle’s warranty.”

Back in 2023, people were not happy with the decision by GM to remove smartphone mirroring features, including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, from its EVs. (It has kept the mirroring functions in its gas-powered vehicles.) At the time, GM’s VP of software, Scott Miller, said it allowed EV-centric features to work better, such as battery preconditioning when navigating to a destination. 

After GM’s decision, an enterprising company called White Automotive and Media Services (WAMS) developed and offered a kit in late 2024. The kit restored phone mirroring features back into Chevy and GMC EVs with “OEM like integration.” However, due to the complexity of the kit, WAMS only offered it for professional installation at just one dealership: LaFontaine Chevrolet in Plymouth, Michigan.

Now, speaking to The Drive, the dealership says GM has instructed them to stop offering the WAMS kit. WAMS seems to be in limbo: the product is listed as “discontinued” on its website, as spotted by GM Authority earlier this week. The website offers an explanation:

To Our Valued Customers:

We have made the difficult decision to discontinue this product. Rather than removing it from our website entirely, we wanted to leave this notice so customers are aware of its discontinuation.

This was not a decision we made lightly, but due to a variety of factors, continuing to offer this product is no longer viable in the long term.

We sincerely appreciate your interest, enthusiasm, and support, and we hope you understand our position. Thank you for being a part of our community.

GM hasn’t said whether it will somehow disable the already installed kits.

At Nvidia’s annual GTC conference in San Jose, Calif. today, the chipmaker announced it was teaming up with General Motors to develop next-generation cars, robots, and factories. 

GM says it will apply several of Nvidia’s products to its business, such as the Omniverse 3D graphics platform which will run simulations on virtual assembly lines with an eye on reducing downtime and improving efficiency. The automaker also plans to equip its next-generation vehicles with Nvidia’s “AI brain” for advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving. And it will employ the chipmaker’s AI training software to make its vehicle assembly line robots better at certain tasks, like precision welding and material handling. 

GM already uses Nvidia’s GPUs to train its AI software for simulation and validation. Today’s announcement was about expanding those use cases into improving its manufacturing operations and autonomous vehicles, GM CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. (Dave Richardson, GM’s senior VP of Software and Services Engineering will be joining NVIDIA’s Norm Marks for a fireside chat at the conference.) 

“AI not only optimizes manufacturing processes and accelerates virtual testing but also helps us build smarter vehicles while empowering our workforce to focus on craftsmanship,” Barra said. “By merging technology with human ingenuity, we unlock new levels of innovation in vehicle manufacturing and beyond.” 

GM will adopt Nvidia’s in-car software products to build next-gen vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities. That includes the company’s Drive AGX system-on-a-chip (SoC), similar to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving chip or Intel’s Mobileye EyeQ. The SoC runs the “safety-certified” DriveOS operating system, built on the Blackwell GPU architecture, which is capable of delivering 1,000 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of high-performance compute, the company says. 

Like most automakers, GM has sunk billions of dollars in the development of fully autonomous vehicles — with mixed results. The company’s advanced driver assist feature, Super Cruise, is considered one of the safest and most capable on the market today. But its work to deploy fully autonomous vehicles has been less successful. Last year, GM pulled funding for its Cruise robotaxi company after a number of safety lapses cast doubt on the operation’s future. 

Before it was shuttered, Cruise was exploring developing its own chips to reduce costs for its parent company. The robotaxi startup had been using Nvidia’s in-car computers to power its autonomous vehicles, which executives complained were too expensive. 

GM hopes to improve its self-driving fortunes by selling passenger vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities — though it hasn’t said when or using what technology. 

In a briefing with reporters, Ali Kani, Nvidia’s vice president and general manager of automotive, described the chipmaking company’s automotive business as still in its “infancy,” with the expectation that it will only bring in $5 billion this year. (Nvidia reported over $130 billion in revenue in 2024 for all its divisions.)

Nvidia’s chips are in less than 1 percent of the billions of cars on the road today, he added. But the future looks promising. The company is also announcing deals with Tier 1 auto supplier Magna, which helped build Sony’s Afeela concept, to use Drive AGX in the company’s next-generation advanced driver assist software. 

“We believe automotive is a trillion dollar opportunity for Nvidia,” Kani said. 

GM is the latest car company to strike a deal with Nvidia. The San Jose-based chipmaker has made serious in-roads in the auto industry in recent years, including partnerships with Jaguar-Land Rover, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Lucid, Toyota, Hyundai, Zoox, and a host of Chinese EV startups.

Something special went down in the desert outside of Las Vegas this weekend: two EVs took on the Mint 400 for the first time. Since the Mint 400 launched back in 1969, vehicles in this iconic desert endurance race have been powered by dead dinosaurs. Spectators and race participants alike are used to the smell […]

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Last October, the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 set a top speed of 233 mph on consecutive runs around a closed track. That’s not the fastest street-legal production car in the world: the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ will, as the name implies, top 300 mph. What’s special about the ZR1, then? Its $174,995 starting price may sound expensive, but it’s a steal compared to the Bugatti, which costs somewhere north of $4 million. The ZR1 is officially the world’s fastest production car available for less than $1 million. 

The ZR1 achieved that speed on a massive test track in Papenburg, Germany, a place where the banking is so steep that the drivers suffered through 1.7 vertical Gs on the turns. That’s just one number out of an endless series of figures that the team behind that record-setting run calculated well in advance, tapping into simulations usually reserved for more utilitarian jobs, like figuring out how steep a grade a Silverado can tow up before blowing a gasket.

Here, the only number that really mattered was top speed — a figure that, in simulation, differed from reality by less than half of one percent. This is how they did it.

Everyday Hero

The Corvette has always been a …

Read the full story at The Verge.