End of Week — February 21, 2026

Week ending: 2026-02-21

Electric Vehicles

Avis Budget Group reports near $1 billion loss tied to 2025 EV fleet write-down Auto Rental News
Tesla slashes Cybertruck prices, launches $60k AWD model while cutting Cyberbeast price by $15k Ars Technica - Musk later killed the $60k model after just 10 days Electrek
Chinese automaker Nio performs 165,898 battery swaps in a single day, setting new record Electrek
First country to ban gas car sales is doing just fine, study shows Electrek
Lucid cuts 12% of US workforce ahead of $50,000 midsize EV launch TechCrunch
Hyundai's three-row IONIQ 9 EV becomes hit in Korea Electrek
Study shows plug-in hybrids use over 300% more fuel than claimed Electrek
Study finds 96% of EV owners plan to stay electric Electrek
Most EV batteries outlast their cars, real-world data shows Electrek
Toyota reveals 2026 bZ Woodland and C-HR electric SUVs with AWD The Drive / Electrek
Ford's $30,000 EV pickup focuses on efficiency, may not be smaller The Drive / TechCrunch
BYD reveals new low-cost EV with 375 miles range and unveils Japan-exclusive kei car Electrek / Electrek
Polestar announces four new models in three years to shake off EV doldrums The Verge
World's largest lithium metal maker begins producing semi-solid-state EV batteries Electrek
Amazon grew Rivian electric delivery van fleet by 50% in 2025 Electrek

CES 2026 showcases robotaxi and autonomous vehicle innovations CBT News
Uber investing over $100 million into charging stations for self-driving cars in Bay Area, LA, and Dallas Gizmodo
Waymo's autonomous vehicles navigated over 7,000 dark traffic signals during major outage Self Driven News
New York drops plan to legalize robotaxis in setback for Waymo The Verge / TechCrunch
Tesla robotaxis involved in 19 crashes total since launching in Austin, including 5 more in past month - crash rate 4x worse than human drivers CBS News / Electrek
Tesla admits it still needs drivers and remote operators, argues that's better than Waymo Electrek
Waymo reveals about 35 Philippines operators assist its robotaxi fleet, denies using remote drivers EV Blog / The Verge
Waymo begins fully autonomous operations with 6th-generation Waymo Driver Waymo Blog
Hyundai joins physical AI race, promising humanoid robots and autonomous mobility MoveMnt
South Korea drops data privacy requirement for autonomous vehicle testing EV Blog
NVIDIA announces Alpamayo family of open-source AI models for autonomous vehicle development NVIDIA

Stellantis is in a crisis of its own making The Verge
America at risk of becoming automotive backwater amid EV transition struggles The Verge
Jeep teases V8 Grand Cherokee and SRT Trackhawk return The Drive / The Drive
BMW M launching 30 cars in 30 months, but manual transmission on life support The Drive
2027 Audi RS5 is 1,376 pounds heavier than previous model The Drive
Subaru aims to grow sales by almost a third in less than 10 years The Drive
Detroit automakers want to bring back sedans The Drive

Tesla loses bid to overturn $243 million fatal Autopilot crash verdict TechCrunch
Tesla forced to drop "Autopilot" branding in California after "misleading" marketing ruling, avoids 30-day sales ban The Verge / TechCrunch
Tesla Full Self-Driving tried to drive owner into a lake in viral video Electrek
Tesla's FSD software logs 1 billion miles in first 50 days of 2026 EV Blog
German union accuses Tesla of "toxic" environment, files defamation suit against plant manager Electrek
Chinese state media amplifies viral Tesla failure amid 45% sales crash Electrek
Tesla claimed first "autonomous car delivery" 8 months ago and never did it again Electrek
Tesla rolls first steering wheel-less Cybercab off production line before solving autonomy Electrek

Walmart sees speed and convenience boosting trust in its AI agent CX Dive
Klarna pursues "Uber" style customer service model CX Dive
Gartner survey finds 91% of customer service leaders under pressure to implement AI in 2026 Gartner
Talkdesk showcases AI-driven customer experience automation at CCW Berlin TipRanks
Nordstrom builds sourcing strategy and spend visibility with AI Retail Dive
Williams-Sonoma to test ads in ChatGPT Retail Dive
Hasbro CEO: "We're beyond experimentation" with AI Retail Dive
Lyft scales localization with AI Lyft Engineering

Air France-KLM hits EUR 2 billion profit milestone as premium anchors outlook Skift
United shakes up MileagePlus program Skift
Here's how U.S. airlines say they're using AI Skift
Sabre lays off staff amid C-suite reshuffle in bid to become "AI-native" Skift / Phocuswire