Polestar Banned, Volvo Saved, Autonomous Driving is Hard: TWC Podcast 277
By Phil Royle – July 2, 2026
Turns out, a vehicle needn’t be made in China for the U.S. to chuck it from these shores for being a Chinese car, but was Polestar simply a sacrificial lamb for Geely, since Volvo’s presence has been spared? That’s just the first topic on this week’s podcast. The conversation then wanders somewhat autonomously to Tesla, VW, and Bosch and the future of self-driving cars, plus dielectric battery EVs, and more.
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SHOW NOTES
Polestar exits US market: https://www.thedrive.com/news/polestar-is-done-selling-new-cars-in-the-us
Tesla rolls out FSD v14 “lite” to HW3: https://electrek.co/2026/06/29/tesla-fsd-v14-lite-hw3-rollout/
VW reportedly cutting losses with Bosch over autonomous driving software not achieving goals: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volkswagen-plans-end-automated-driving-tie-up-with-bosch-bild-reports-2026-06-28/
DOT proposes elimination of the brake pedal for fully autonomous vehicles: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/25/trump-admin-proposes-axing-brake-pedal-requirement-for-avs-in-a-boost-for-tesla/
Shell shows prototype with dielectric fluid battery: https://www.autoblog.com/news/shell-built-an-ev-that-uses-half-the-carbon-of-todays-electric-cars
Ferrari marketing chief “leaves” company following Luce launch: https://electrek.co/2026/06/23/ferrari-replaces-marketing-chief-luce-ev-backlash/
Ferrari Luce sells out in China: https://www.autoblog.com/news/ferraris-first-ev-got-roasted-online-then-sold-out-in-china
This week’s hosts: Phil Royle and Edward A. Sanchez
Episode art courtesy Polestar
Music courtesy Twisterium at Pixabay
Website: https://www.thewattcar.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thewattcar
