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.
Volkswagen Deep in Hot Water Over Software Woes, Key Flagship Models Delayed for Years
Volkswagen Deep in Hot Water Over Software Woes, Key Flagship Models Delayed for Years

16 Jul 2022, 00:32 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Everyone boasts of surpassing Tesla these days, but a story that went under the radar shows that big car companies face insurmountable problems catching up. Volkswagen Group had to delay the launch of crucial electric models at Audi, Porsche, and B...

 
2003 Volkswagen EuroVan Westfalia MV Weekender Shows That Sometimes Less Is More
2003 Volkswagen EuroVan Westfalia MV Weekender Shows That Sometimes Less Is More

15 Jul 2022, 18:42 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / When shopping for a camper van, most people want the most packed rig they can buy, even though they will never use all the features. And yet, some people know their business and are content with a lot less. For them, Volkswagen built the Weekender ...

 
Guy Waits Two Years for His Ford Bronco Just To Find Out It Was Damaged by Omaha Hailstorm
Guy Waits Two Years for His Ford Bronco Just To Find Out It Was Damaged by Omaha Hailstorm

15 Jul 2022, 16:43 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / We’ve all heard stories about shady dealers trying to make a quick buck on account of unsuspecting customers. With the Ford Bronco, most of them involve paying markups, but Manuel Flores’ story is way more bizarre. Like most car mode...

 
People Love Off-Roaders So Much That Ford Bronco Made No Dent in Jeep Wrangler's Sales
People Love Off-Roaders So Much That Ford Bronco Made No Dent in Jeep Wrangler's Sales

15 Jul 2022, 14:59 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / There was so much hype surrounding the Ford Bronco that many people believed its arch-rival Jeep Wrangler would stand no chance to compete. And yet, the Wrangler seems unaffected by the Bronco’s arrival, consistently outselling it in the past...

 
Forget Cobalt and Nickel, Copper Is the New Gold That Will Start the Next War
Forget Cobalt and Nickel, Copper Is the New Gold That Will Start the Next War

15 Jul 2022, 12:25 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Raw materials shortages are the most important barrier to accelerating the electrification trend. The price of lithium, nickel, and cobalt has skyrocketed in the past years due to increased demand. But there’s another material crucial for an ...

 
Robotaxi Operator Cruise Accused of Chaotic Safety Culture in a Letter to Regulators
Robotaxi Operator Cruise Accused of Chaotic Safety Culture in a Letter to Regulators

15 Jul 2022, 10:17 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Cruise robotaxis were involved in several incidents and accidents in the past months, both before and after it got permission to operate commercial service in San Francisco. An alleged whistleblower apparently warned California regulators about Cru...

 
Volkswagen Transporter Syncro Camper Is a Poor Man's Vanagon Westfalia, Great for Off-Road
Volkswagen Transporter Syncro Camper Is a Poor Man's Vanagon Westfalia, Great for Off-Road

14 Jul 2022, 17:37 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Most Vanagon Campers on the market are factory fitted with the standard Westfalia camping equipment, which makes them fantastic campers. This example we’ve found on Bring a Trailer is the European version imported from Germany and was convert...

 
ZeroAvia Plane Crashing Points to Completely New Dangers for Electric-Powered Planes
ZeroAvia Plane Crashing Points to Completely New Dangers for Electric-Powered Planes

14 Jul 2022, 16:25 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Air crash investigations are a valuable tool for the aeronautics industry to improve aviation safety so that the same type of accidents never happen again. But the new electric-powered airplanes introduce unknown risks and problems, and the whole c...

 
Too Good to Be True? Chinese Team Develops Pure Solar-Powered Electric Car
Too Good to Be True? Chinese Team Develops Pure Solar-Powered Electric Car

14 Jul 2022, 15:02 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Solar panels are everywhere these days, except for electric vehicles. It seems like a no-brainer to charge EV batteries using solar panels, yet no one does it. A Chinese team doesn’t seem to care about that and developed an electric vehicle t...

 
Full Immersion Battery Cooling Is the Key to Long Battery Longevity and Fast Charging
Full Immersion Battery Cooling Is the Key to Long Battery Longevity and Fast Charging

14 Jul 2022, 13:22 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Xing Mobility thinks the best solution to keep EV batteries, especially high-performance packs, at optimum temperatures is flooding them with cooling liquid. Immersion cooling technology is not new, but Xing Mobility thinks it is now ready for prim...

 
First Details Emerge About the Future Tesla Supercharger V4
First Details Emerge About the Future Tesla Supercharger V4

14 Jul 2022, 10:35 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / One of the strong sides of Tesla’s business is its extensive network of charging stations, dubbed the Supercharger Network. Now in its third generation, the Supercharger networks allow fast-charging Tesla and other cars at up to 250 kW. Tesla...

 
AI Genius Andrej Karpathy Leaves Tesla for Good, It's a Big Loss for the Autopilot Team
AI Genius Andrej Karpathy Leaves Tesla for Good, It's a Big Loss for the Autopilot Team

14 Jul 2022, 08:45 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Andrej Karpathy, the chief of AI and computer vision at Tesla, confirmed what everyone suspected at the beginning of his sabbatical four months ago. Karpathy announced on Twitter that he is leaving Tesla for good, although he claims he has no concr...

 
This Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia Is Almost 40, Still Going Strong
This Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia Is Almost 40, Still Going Strong

13 Jul 2022, 17:08 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / People’s interest in camper vans is at an all-time high. Few attract as much attention as a Volkswagen Vanagon with Westfalia signature equipment. Pack your bags and grab supplies because this is all you need for camping in this 1985 example ...

 
New Li-Ion Chemistry Promises To Be the Holy Grail of EV Batteries
New Li-Ion Chemistry Promises To Be the Holy Grail of EV Batteries

13 Jul 2022, 16:13 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Lithium Ferro-phosphate (or lithium-iron-phosphate) batteries are the new darling of the auto industry, thanks to some qualities like affordability and increased stability. CATL found that adding manganese to the formula increases the energy densit...

 
Hackers Can Unlock Honda Cars Remotely, See if Your Vehicle Is in Danger
Hackers Can Unlock Honda Cars Remotely, See if Your Vehicle Is in Danger

13 Jul 2022, 14:45 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Modern vehicles are a lot like computers on wheels, including software vulnerabilities that could allow attackers access to the car. The frightening possibility is not unheard of, and car thieves use software vulnerabilities and hacks to steal cars...

 
Bosch Plans to Spend $3B to Flood the Market With Microchips, but It Will Take Time
Bosch Plans to Spend $3B to Flood the Market With Microchips, but It Will Take Time

13 Jul 2022, 11:21 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / The auto industry grapples with a severe microchip shortage that forced multiple assembly plants to stop operations. This has led to a long waiting time for customers buying a new vehicle. Bosch vowed to end this situation with a $3 billion investm...

 
Watch Skateboarders Vandalize Waymo Self-Driving Car in San Francisco
Watch Skateboarders Vandalize Waymo Self-Driving Car in San Francisco

13 Jul 2022, 10:04 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / A group of skateboarders vandalized a Waymo vehicle on Saturday night in San Francisco in what appears to be already a tradition at the annual Hill Bomb event. The car was not operating autonomously at the time of the incident, and a human driver w...

 
Munro & Associates: Tesla's 4680 Structural Battery Pack Has "Zero Repairability"
Munro & Associates: Tesla's 4680 Structural Battery Pack Has "Zero Repairability"

13 Jul 2022, 08:28 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Munro & Associates continued with the teardown of the Tesla Model Y with a 4680 structural battery pack. The process proved more difficult than expected, as the battery pack was sealed and glued. This prompts Cory Steuben to declare “zero...

 
Guy Posts Picture Showing Lucid Air With Apple CarPlay Running, Internet Goes Crazy
Guy Posts Picture Showing Lucid Air With Apple CarPlay Running, Internet Goes Crazy

12 Jul 2022, 17:01 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Lucid is apparently testing Apple CarPlay integration for the Air. According to rumors, the feature is expected to roll out in the next major OTA update. However, someone jumped the gun and shared on Reddit a picture of the Air’s screen runni...

 
Amazing 1952 Willys M38A1 Comes With Matching Dunbar M-100 Trailer, It's Great for Camping
Amazing 1952 Willys M38A1 Comes With Matching Dunbar M-100 Trailer, It's Great for Camping

12 Jul 2022, 15:45 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / The Willys M38A1 was the first jeep with the new restyled body, instantly recognizable by its rounded hood and fenders. This example we found on Bring a Trailer was restored to near-new condition and upgraded with some killer off-road parts. It com...

 

Stories by Cristian Agatie