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.
How Far Can a Rivian R1T Electric Pickup Go Off-Road on a Charge?
How Far Can a Rivian R1T Electric Pickup Go Off-Road on a Charge?

31 May 2022, 10:44 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / We’ve seen several range tests with the wonder kid Rivian R1T, but none of them was taken off-road. Since the electric truck is advertised as an adventure vehicle able to conquer the harshest trails, it was natural that people wanted to see h...

 
Goldman Sachs Predicts the Price of Key Battery Materials Will Fall in the Next Two Years
Goldman Sachs Predicts the Price of Key Battery Materials Will Fall in the Next Two Years

31 May 2022, 09:52 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / With the price of raw materials at sky-high levels in the past two years, the dream of truly affordable Li-Ion batteries has waned. According to Goldman Sachs analysts, the situation is terrible, but it will improve. Goldman Sachs analysts Nicho...

 
Lucid Air Quality: Is It That Good to Deserve Your Hard-Earned $139,000?
Lucid Air Quality: Is It That Good to Deserve Your Hard-Earned $139,000?

31 May 2022, 09:07 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Lucid Air retails for a price that puts it firmly in the Porsche Taycan territory. Considering Lucid only started manufacturing cars, many wonders if the build quality is so high to justify the steep price it asks for the Air. The retailers at Chic...

 
Battery Pack Fire Reported at Rivian Plant, It's the Third in Recent Months
Battery Pack Fire Reported at Rivian Plant, It's the Third in Recent Months

31 May 2022, 08:01 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / A battery pack burst into flames at Rivian factory in Normal, Illinois, prompting the local fire department to intervene. The battery pack had been in a repair area and was being tested when the fire erupted. Li-Ion batteries pack a considerable...

 
Lexus Electrified Sport Concept Will Make Its Debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
Lexus Electrified Sport Concept Will Make Its Debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

30 May 2022, 15:34 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / The promise of an electric LFA was enough to spark enthusiasm among Lexus’ fans, but the “Lexus Electrified Sport” concept is still far from production. The concept will debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next month, and we&r...

 
Volkswagen Dealers Buy Used Teslas, Sell Them With Sizeable Markups
Volkswagen Dealers Buy Used Teslas, Sell Them With Sizeable Markups

30 May 2022, 14:30 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Despite having the products, the factories, and the money, Volkswagen barely manages to produce enough electric vehicles. This has led to disappointing U.S. sales in the year’s first quarter. The German carmaker ranks only sixth, with less th...

 
Nissan Dealers in the U.S. Stopped Taking Orders for the Ariya EV
Nissan Dealers in the U.S. Stopped Taking Orders for the Ariya EV

30 May 2022, 11:14 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / As the traditional carmakers enter the EV market, they have to fight for resources with other EV makers. This is true even for EV pioneers like Nissan, which had to stop taking orders on their newest model, the Ariya EV. The decision was taken to a...

 
Watch a Florida Cop Brake Check a Motorcycle Rider in Road Rage, Who's To Blame?
Watch a Florida Cop Brake Check a Motorcycle Rider in Road Rage, Who's To Blame?

30 May 2022, 09:06 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / You wouldn’t expect police officers to be involved in a road rage accident, let alone be the cause of one. But cops are also humans, and sometimes they get carried away, as this accident on a highway in Florida shows. Upset by a motorcycle ri...

 
The Microchip Shortage Finally Started to Affect Tesla Deliveries, What's Next?
The Microchip Shortage Finally Started to Affect Tesla Deliveries, What's Next?

29 May 2022, 09:58 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / No carmakers have been safe from the microchip shortage, with the notable exception of Tesla, which consistently increased production while others got used to cuts. Recent reports show that the situation has worsened enough that even Tesla started ...

 
The Economics of Owning an Electric Car: Is It Really Cheaper To Own an EV?
The Economics of Owning an Electric Car: Is It Really Cheaper To Own an EV?

28 May 2022, 13:18 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Electric vehicles do hold some advantages against their ICE equivalents regarding operating costs. They need less maintenance as they have fewer moving parts, and a full charge costs less than a full tank of gas. But this does not necessarily mean ...

 
1978 Volkswagen Type 2 Westfalia Camper Is Perfect as a Project, Hides Some Surprises
1978 Volkswagen Type 2 Westfalia Camper Is Perfect as a Project, Hides Some Surprises

27 May 2022, 16:11 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / The seller purchased this Volkswagen Type 2 Westfalia two years ago to make it a usable camper for him and his family. In the meantime, his life has changed and, although he spent a lot of money improving it, he has to sell it. Buying a classic ...

 
Tesla Might've Lost an Important Market Segment, New J.D. Power Study Shows
Tesla Might've Lost an Important Market Segment, New J.D. Power Study Shows

27 May 2022, 15:09 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / J.D. Power has released its annual U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration (EVC) Study, showing that Americans changed their attitude toward electric vehicles. Compared to last year’s study, more Americans said they are “very likely” ...

 
Scout Will Have Its Own Factory in the U.S., Volkswagen Soon to Decide on a Site
Scout Will Have Its Own Factory in the U.S., Volkswagen Soon to Decide on a Site

27 May 2022, 13:57 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Volkswagen took everyone by surprise when it announced the intention to revive the Scout brand as a maker of electric trucks and SUVs. Once the cat was out of the bag, Volkswagen moved quickly with the plans, and CEO Herbert Diess says they are now...

 
Consumer Reports Impressed by the Rivian R1T, Compares It to a Honda Ridgeline
Consumer Reports Impressed by the Rivian R1T, Compares It to a Honda Ridgeline

27 May 2022, 11:19 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Rivian R1T is the first electric pickup truck to hit the market, and it has made a good impression both with reviewers and customers. The team at Consumer Reports is the latest in line to come up impressed after spending one day at the track with R...

 
The First Ford F-150 Lightning Was Officially Delivered, Guess Who Bought It?
The First Ford F-150 Lightning Was Officially Delivered, Guess Who Bought It?

27 May 2022, 09:44 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Ford has delivered the all-electric F-150 Lightning to the first retail customer and has made it a headline-grabbing PR event. According to Bloomberg, Nicholas Schmidt is the owner of a Tesla Model 3 and has also ordered the Cybertruck. Coincidence...

 
General Motors Hit by Cyberattack, User Data Including Home Addresses Exposed
General Motors Hit by Cyberattack, User Data Including Home Addresses Exposed

27 May 2022, 08:10 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / General Motors is the latest car company to have suffered a cyberattack exposing customers’ data. Incidents have been detected throughout April, involving suspicious logins to certain GM online accounts and unauthorized redemptions of custome...

 
Tired of Westfalia Builds? Check This Volkswagen EuroVan Winnebago Camper Instead
Tired of Westfalia Builds? Check This Volkswagen EuroVan Winnebago Camper Instead

26 May 2022, 17:29 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / The fourth-generation Volkswagen Transporter was sold in the U.S. as the EuroVan. It has made a name for itself within the camper community. This 1999 Volkswagen EuroVan Winnebago Camper is a classic in this regard. Although you can see many Wes...

 
Tesla Has Officially Applied To Expand its Berlin Gigafactory
Tesla Has Officially Applied To Expand its Berlin Gigafactory

26 May 2022, 16:24 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Tesla is planning a significant expansion of its German gigafactory near Berlin. Part of this plan is to buy more land to the factory’s east, and Tesla has already moved to get the necessary approvals. We already know that Tesla intends to...

 
Drivers Are Less Likely to Crash When Driving a Tesla Than When Driving Other Cars: Study
Drivers Are Less Likely to Crash When Driving a Tesla Than When Driving Other Cars: Study

26 May 2022, 14:57 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / A lot has been said about the safety of Tesla cars, especially when they are driving on Autopilot or with Tesla Full Self-Driving activated. A recent study by Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) gives a rare insight into EV risks. One interesting fin...

 
New Airbag Inflator Class-Action Lawsuit Could Trigger a Recall Bigger Than Takata's
New Airbag Inflator Class-Action Lawsuit Could Trigger a Recall Bigger Than Takata's

26 May 2022, 13:16 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / When the Takata scandal exploded in 2013, few predicted it would become the biggest safety recall in automotive history. More than 67 million vehicles were recalled in the U.S. alone. But Takata is not the only parts manufacturer to make faulty air...

 

Stories by Cristian Agatie