autoevolution
 

Cristian Agatie

Contributor
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As a child, he grew up among tractors and heavy machinery and was covered in grease from tip to toe most of the time. It was a tractor that he drove for the first time and when asked what he’d become, he candidly replied: “tractor operator”. Later on, he drove all kinds of vehicles, from heavy trucks to off-roaders, all outside of public roads until he got his driving license.

He did not become a tractor operator, as you can tell already. Instead, he got interested in journalism and pursued a career finding stories for local newspapers and radio stations. But the first love is never forgotten, so when presented with the chance, he seized it and became a motor journalist in 1995.

Having found the perfect job to mix his passion for cars and journalism, he couldn’t help exploring other areas, like science, computers, and mobile devices. He took stints working for a computer magazine for a couple of years, and it was then that he had his first contact with new media. But cars always remained his passion, so he returned to motor journalism when Auto Bild started its local branch. Later, he became an internet junkie, and moving online felt only natural.

In the meantime, he also became obsessed with technology, electric vehicles, batteries, and whatnot, so he writes a lot about those. He found autoevolution a fertile ground for exploration and so he discovered his passion for RVs and campers, but also solar panels and new energy solutions.
Shoddy Dealerships in New York Forced To Pay $800K in Settlements for Deceptive Practices
Shoddy Dealerships in New York Forced To Pay $800K in Settlements for Deceptive Practices

20 Jul 2022, 16:22 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Tight vehicle inventories have altered the market to the point that the MSRP does not mean anything. Used vehicles are also affected because production glitches have pushed customers to look for alternatives on the used-car market. In this environm...

 
General Motors Set to Fight Chip Shortage With Its Own Microchips by 2025
General Motors Set to Fight Chip Shortage With Its Own Microchips by 2025

20 Jul 2022, 14:47 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / The microchip shortage affects every carmaker, and General Motors brands have not been spared either. But the company steered by Mary Barra has generally done better than the rivals at Ford. Although the problems are not over yet, GM is on course t...

 
Tesla Fremont Builds Its 2-Millionth Car, Becomes the Largest Car Factory in North America
Tesla Fremont Builds Its 2-Millionth Car, Becomes the Largest Car Factory in North America

20 Jul 2022, 12:18 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Tesla Fremont, the first production facility and the only one that assembles all vehicles in Tesla’s lineup, has built its 2-millionth car. The milestone has been hailed by Elon Musk, who reminded everyone that Tesla Fremont is the biggest ca...

 
EVs Were the Fastest-Selling Used Cars on the Market in June, Tesla Model Y Took the Crown
EVs Were the Fastest-Selling Used Cars on the Market in June, Tesla Model Y Took the Crown

20 Jul 2022, 09:48 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Car inventories are at an all-time low, which makes people pay higher prices for vehicles new and used. It also makes the used-car market to become glowingly hot. A recent study by iSeeCars shows that Tesla Model Y and other EVs were the fastest-se...

 
Pranksters Troll the Heck Out of Tesla Owners by Abusing Charging Port Convenience Feature
Pranksters Troll the Heck Out of Tesla Owners by Abusing Charging Port Convenience Feature

20 Jul 2022, 08:23 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / A new prank is making rounds on social media, and Tesla owners are falling victim to it. Apparently, a small radio device can be used to open the charging port flap remotely, and trolls don’t seem to get enough of it. Social media channels...

 
Someone Invested $63K in This 1985 Westy With Subaru Transplant, Now It's Up for Grabs
Someone Invested $63K in This 1985 Westy With Subaru Transplant, Now It's Up for Grabs

19 Jul 2022, 17:52 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / You cannot measure passion in cash but seeing how someone would spend a ridiculous amount of money on his hobbies makes you wonder. This Vanagon Westfalia was rebuilt in 2011 for more than $63,000, which is insane for a Westy this old, no matter ho...

 
GM Recalls 680,000 Chevy and GMC SUVs, but It Lacks the Parts To Fix Them
GM Recalls 680,000 Chevy and GMC SUVs, but It Lacks the Parts To Fix Them

19 Jul 2022, 16:33 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / General Motors issued a voluntary recall for two popular SUVs in April. Still, the repairs cannot proceed because the parts needed to fix the problem don’t exist. More than 680,000 GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox built for the 2014-2015 mod...

 
Tesla Starts Rolling Out FSD Beta 10.13, Coming With a Long List of Updates
Tesla Starts Rolling Out FSD Beta 10.13, Coming With a Long List of Updates

19 Jul 2022, 15:36 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / As promised by Elon Musk a week ago, Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta 10.13 started to roll out to customer vehicles on Monday. However, a wider rollout is still pending. The release notes for the update have been shared online, and it contains a slew ...

 
Volkswagen Officially Confirms a More Affordable Version of the ID.4 Coming for 2023
Volkswagen Officially Confirms a More Affordable Version of the ID.4 Coming for 2023

19 Jul 2022, 13:57 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Volkswagen of America is gearing up for the model year 2023 with consistent updates across its lineup. The most important is the arrival of a more affordable version of the ID.4, built at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant in Tennessee. There ...

 
CEO Mary Barra Still Thinks GM Can Beat Tesla, Narrows Down Claim to the U.S. Only
CEO Mary Barra Still Thinks GM Can Beat Tesla, Narrows Down Claim to the U.S. Only

19 Jul 2022, 10:38 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / In an interview with Associated Press, GM CEO Mary Barra reiterated her pledge to surpass Tesla by mid-decade. The only difference now is that Barra narrows down her claim to the U.S. territory. GM CEO thinks her company will win customers with low...

 
$4K Visu Moie Conversion Kit Turns Any Van Into a Camper Powerhouse Within Minutes
$4K Visu Moie Conversion Kit Turns Any Van Into a Camper Powerhouse Within Minutes

19 Jul 2022, 09:05 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Although Volkswagen offered great Westfalia builds for every generation of the Transporter, the latest iteration (T7) doesn’t come with a camper option yet. You can always convert a van, but sometimes you only need the new setup for a couple ...

 
Tesla Model X Is Supercharger-Friendly, Here's How It's Holding Up After 200,000 Miles
Tesla Model X Is Supercharger-Friendly, Here's How It's Holding Up After 200,000 Miles

18 Jul 2022, 17:49 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Many people recount the early days of electrification when the Nissan Leaf’s battery degraded faster than its tires. Still, not every electric car is created equal, and modern EVs can go many years and thousands of miles without taking a toll...

 
Mint-Condition Chevrolet G20 Conversion Van Reminds Us of Vegas Adventures, Still Great
Mint-Condition Chevrolet G20 Conversion Van Reminds Us of Vegas Adventures, Still Great

18 Jul 2022, 16:45 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Chevrolet G-Series conversion vans were a hit with customers who were fond of plush interiors at the time. This particular trim and color might not be today’s best choice. However, this 1995 Chevrolet G20 conversion van is still a great optio...

 
Florida Family Discovers That Used Electric Vehicles Are a Risk Not Worth Assuming
Florida Family Discovers That Used Electric Vehicles Are a Risk Not Worth Assuming

18 Jul 2022, 14:37 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Early adopters of electric vehicles may have put the money on a dead horse, as a battery replacement costs more than the car itself. A family in Florida discovered this the hard way after buying a used Ford Focus EV. The story is one that we&rsq...

 
Xiaomi to Unveil Prototype of Its First Car in August, Might Have a Familiar Silhouette
Xiaomi to Unveil Prototype of Its First Car in August, Might Have a Familiar Silhouette

18 Jul 2022, 12:23 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Xiaomi has been working on its first electric vehicle for some time, and we expected it to be revealed by 2024. But the Chinese media has information that the company’s founder, Lei Jun, will present an engineering prototype at a public event...

 
The Reason Why Thousands of Tesla Cars Are Piling Up at Shanghai’s Luchao Port
The Reason Why Thousands of Tesla Cars Are Piling Up at Shanghai’s Luchao Port

18 Jul 2022, 10:00 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Tesla had a stellar production month in June at Giga Shanghai in a push to level out the lost production in April and May. As it turns out, Tesla filled the docks at the Luchao port, some four miles away from Giga Shanghai, before starting producti...

 
Guy Builds a See-Through Jet Engine Allowing Us to See How It Works
Guy Builds a See-Through Jet Engine Allowing Us to See How It Works

18 Jul 2022, 08:45 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Warped Perception is one of the more interesting Youtube channels that try to push the boundaries of internal combustion engines with amazing experiments. Matt Mikka, the guy behind the channel, has a history of building miniaturized piston engines...

 
Tesla China Shares Incredible Video of a Road Trip to Mount Everest in Two Teslas
Tesla China Shares Incredible Video of a Road Trip to Mount Everest in Two Teslas

17 Jul 2022, 08:55 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Electric vehicles have some unique characteristics that no ICE vehicle can ever match. Among them is the ability to operate in low or zero-oxygen environments. Tesla leveraged this to reach the Mount Everest Base Camp in a publicity stunt that is r...

 
Sprinter-Based Pleasure-Way Rekon Is an Affordable Overlander With Unique Characteristics
Sprinter-Based Pleasure-Way Rekon Is an Affordable Overlander With Unique Characteristics

16 Jul 2022, 21:09 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / The booming Class B motorhome segment is the battlefield where some highly innovative companies use every weapon in their arsenal to win the hearts and money of customers. Winnebago Revel is a top contender in the segment, but Pleasure-Way challeng...

 
Three-Story Parking Garage Partially Collapsed in Baltimore, Trapping 50 Cars Inside
Three-Story Parking Garage Partially Collapsed in Baltimore, Trapping 50 Cars Inside

16 Jul 2022, 13:27 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / A parking garage at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor partially collapsed Friday Morning, moments after a driver entered the garage. Fortunately, the Baltimore City Fire Department confirmed no one was injured. The cause of the collapse is not kno...

 

Stories by Cristian Agatie