Happy Wednesday! It's August 14, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.
In this morning's edition, we're looking at the state of EV charging in the United States, as well as Tesla's plans to bring rideshares to New York City. We'll also look at how gas prices may or may not be affecting inflation, and Geely's battle with BYD in China.
Read more: These Are What You Wanted As First Cars (And What You Got Instead)
1st Gear: The U.S.'s Charging Network Is Finally Looking Reasonable
For years, the worst thing about owning an EV in the United States has been charging. The whole range issue would be almost moot if our charging infrastructure were better, but that hasn't yet happened — though new data says we're getting closer, according to Automotive News.
U.S. fast-charging networks are surging ahead to power electric vehicles, fueled by private money and growing competition, according to charger operators and a new report.
The long-term expansion plans come even as the auto industry braces for an EV sales downturn as the $7,500 tax credit on EV purchases is set to expire Sept. 30.
While automakers have leaned on the credits to move metal, charging companies depend less on what have become uncertain government subsidies. Fast-charger operators with deep pockets can cover gaps left by delays in the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, analysts say.
Tesla still leads for overall charging stations, by a massive margin, but other companies are working their way up the market share chart. Hopefully we can more options out there.
2nd Gear: Tesla Wants To Bring Autonomous Rideshares To New York City
Waymo is looking to bring autonomy to the roads of New York City, and it seems the company has inspired a competitor to do the same: Tesla. The EV maker is now hiring for someone to drive a data-gathering vehicle around Queens, seemingly in preparation for rideshares in the big apple. From Bloomberg:
Tesla Inc. is looking to hire someone to test its driver-assistance technology on the streets of New York City, suggesting the carmaker could be looking to expand its ride-hailing services to the largest US metropolis.
A new job listing in Tesla's Autopilot operations seeks a driver for a prototype vehicle that would gather data for as much as eight hours a day. The full-time gig, based in the Queens borough of the city, calls for someone familiar with autonomous driving systems and could pay more than $30 an hour.
Tesla doing this exclusively in Queens is very funny for a number of reasons. Much of the borough lacks the traffic density that tourists know and love from Manhattan, making the job of an autonomous vehicle easier. Queens also has the most linguistic diversity in the world, the most first languages packed into such a small area, which truly embodies the melting pot aspect of the United States that CEO Elon Musk so seems to loathe.
3rd Gear: Cheap Gas Is Keeping Inflation Down, Unless The Numbers Are All Made Up
Gas is cheap, and inflation is low! Sounds great, right? There's just one problem: We can no longer trust any data on the latter topic. From Reuters:
U.S. consumer prices increased marginally in July, though rising costs for services such as airline fares and some tariff-sensitive goods like household furniture caused a measure of underlying inflation to post its largest gain in six months.
The mixed report from the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday also suggested the disinflationary trend in services was stalling, with a record surge in the cost of dental services and strong increase in healthcare prices. While the pass-through from President Donald Trump's sweeping import duties to goods prices has so far been limited, economists continued to believe higher inflation was around the corner.
...
While financial markets breathed a sigh of relief on the data, concerns are mounting over the quality of the government's inflation and employment reports following budget and staffing cuts that have resulted in the suspension of data collection for portions of the CPI basket in some areas across the country.
Those worries were amplified by the firing of Erika McEntarfer, the head of the BLS, early this month after data showed stall-speed job growth in July.
Trump on Monday nominated Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni, a critic of the BLS, to head the statistics agency, causing apprehension among some economists. Antoni was a contributor to "Project 2025," the controversial conservative plan to overhaul the federal government.
Everything is great, according to the data. Has the data been intentionally manipulated by the Trump administration to ensure everything looks great? It's not yet been definitively proven, but the people who rely on reliable numbers are concerned.
4th Gear: Geely Had A Very Good First Half, And It's Catching Up To BYD
Geely, owners of everything from Lotus to Zeekr, is doing well. The company is now the second-best-selling automaker in its home market of China, and it's closing the gap to frontrunner BYS. From Bloomberg:
Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. is closing the gap with rival BYD Co. after its first-half sales surged, as billionaire owner Li Shufu pushes to streamline his sprawling auto empire.Revenue rose 27% to 150.3 billion yuan ($21 billion) in the six months through June, driven by a 47% jump in vehicle deliveries, the Hong Kong-listed arm of Li's conglomerate said Thursday. That put Geely ahead of Germany's VW brand as the second-best selling carmaker in China, behind only BYD.
BYD still maintains a healthy lead over Geely, but not an insurmountable one. If the latter company pulls ahead, can it please bring back the Elise as a celebration? I need one to show up in the New York press fleet.
Reverse: Black Out Days
You ever think about how it took hours to evacuate people from stopped subways, but the New York Stock Exchange kept even its air conditioning? Sort of a metaphor.
On The Radio: Lambrini Girls - 'Company Culture
No one is selling me on short-scale basses more than Lambrini Girls. Really, I'm not sure anyone's done short-scale Fenders like them since maybe Kurt Cobain.
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