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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.
Tesla Model 3 'Project Highland' Production Line Upgrades Are Almost Complete
Tesla Model 3 'Project Highland' Production Line Upgrades Are Almost Complete

7 Jul 2023, 16:20 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Chinese media insists that Elon Musk saw the revamped Model 3 during his visit to Giga Shanghai at the end of May. A new report claims that production line upgrades are almost complete, and Tesla is already testing the refreshed Model 3 prototypes ...

 
Activists in San Francisco Start Disabling Waymo and Cruise Robotaxis With Traffic Cones
Activists in San Francisco Start Disabling Waymo and Cruise Robotaxis With Traffic Cones

7 Jul 2023, 14:49 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / There's a new TikTok challenge that makes waves in San Francisco, but its promoters think it's for a good cause. A viral video encourages citizens of San Francisco to place traffic cones on the hood of autonomous vehicles operated by Crui...

 
Tesla Changes Battery Production Strategy at Giga Shanghai for the Refreshed Model 3
Tesla Changes Battery Production Strategy at Giga Shanghai for the Refreshed Model 3

7 Jul 2023, 11:11 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Reports from China show that Tesla is laying off half of the workers on the battery pack assembly line at Giga Shanghai. The move may have been triggered by a change in production strategy, as Tesla will rely more on suppliers to provide complete b...

 
Rivian R1T Owner Shares His Experience Towing a 20-ft Travel Trailer Over 2,500 Miles
Rivian R1T Owner Shares His Experience Towing a 20-ft Travel Trailer Over 2,500 Miles

7 Jul 2023, 09:40 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Electric pickup truck owners discovered that towing affects range significantly. Still, this doesn't mean that towing a trailer during vacation is impossible. One Rivian R1T owner shared his experience after going on a 2,500-mile road trip wit...

 
Elon Musk Again Promises Unsupervised Full Self-Driving for "Later This Year"
Elon Musk Again Promises Unsupervised Full Self-Driving for "Later This Year"

6 Jul 2023, 19:15 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Elon Musk is again confident that Tesla will have fully-autonomous vehicles "later this year." This is not the first time Tesla's CEO has made similar predictions. Musk admitted that he was wrong in the past, but he feels this time, ...

 
Tesla Hacker Questions NHTSA Petition Claiming SUA Is Caused by a Faulty Inverter Design
Tesla Hacker Questions NHTSA Petition Claiming SUA Is Caused by a Faulty Inverter Design

6 Jul 2023, 16:43 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / In a petition sent to the NHTSA, Ronald Belt claimed that the sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) cases reported by many owners were caused by a faulty inverter design. Since autoevolution broke the story, Tesla hackers have offered their own side...

 
Volkswagen Starts Autonomous Driving Tests in the US on Tesla's Turf
Volkswagen Starts Autonomous Driving Tests in the US on Tesla's Turf

6 Jul 2023, 14:59 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Volkswagen will start testing its autonomous-driving technology developed in partnership with Mobileye in the US. The 10 Volkswagen ID. Buzz minivans assigned to the test fleet will start operations in Tesla's yard in Austin, Texas. The riv...

 
Rivian Is Finally Flooding the Market With R1S SUVs As Supply Chain Issues Subside
Rivian Is Finally Flooding the Market With R1S SUVs As Supply Chain Issues Subside

6 Jul 2023, 11:47 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Rivian accumulated a significant R1S backlog, considering that the majority of electric vehicles it produced were the R1T trucks. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe says the supply chain is healthy, allowing the company to fulfill all those R1S orders. His wor...

 
GM Falls Short of EV Sales Target After Disappointing Ultium Sales in Q2 2023
GM Falls Short of EV Sales Target After Disappointing Ultium Sales in Q2 2023

6 Jul 2023, 09:48 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Despite bullish statements, GM is running out of steam with electric vehicle production. The carmaker fell short of its objective to sell 50,000 EVs in the first half of 2023, with only 36,000 units delivered. The Ultium production ramps too slowly...

 
Tesla Owners Question the Decision To Open Up Supercharger Network, but It's a Good Thing
Tesla Owners Question the Decision To Open Up Supercharger Network, but It's a Good Thing

5 Jul 2023, 16:55 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / As part of the agreement to implement the NACS connector, carmakers were given unfettered access to Tesla’s Supercharger network. Many Tesla owners fear this will cause waiting lines at Supercharger, as more EVs will use them. Still, Tesla ow...

 
San Francisco Will Soon Be Invaded by Driverless Cars, and Local Authorities Are Horrified
San Francisco Will Soon Be Invaded by Driverless Cars, and Local Authorities Are Horrified

5 Jul 2023, 15:14 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Waymo and Cruise are two startups that have been allowed to offer commercial robotaxi services in San Francisco, although in limited areas and time intervals. California regulators are weighing whether to allow those companies to expand their opera...

 
GM Delays Chevrolet Blazer EV SS Launch for Unknown Reasons
GM Delays Chevrolet Blazer EV SS Launch for Unknown Reasons

5 Jul 2023, 13:12 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Chevrolet Blazer EV was announced last year as GM's mainstream electric model and arguably the best response to the Tesla Model Y's success. The electric crossover was expected to start sales this summer, with the hottest version SS plann...

 
Rivian Owner Talks About the Ups and Downs of Living With the R1S SUV
Rivian Owner Talks About the Ups and Downs of Living With the R1S SUV

5 Jul 2023, 11:40 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Rivian R1S has been praised for getting a lot of things right to become one of the best three-row electric SUVs on the market. As more R1S SUVs have been delivered, owners were keen on sharing their experience, even when it wasn't always the b...

 
Tesla Model 3 RWD With LFP Battery Takes the 70-Mph Range Test, Runs Completely Dead
Tesla Model 3 RWD With LFP Battery Takes the 70-Mph Range Test, Runs Completely Dead

5 Jul 2023, 09:37 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / LFP batteries have lower energy density but are also cheaper to produce. This makes them suitable for entry-level EVs like the Tesla Model 3 RWD. If you wondered how far you can drive on a highway in the base-model Tesla, Ryan from the Out of Spec ...

 
Rivian Launches a Narrower, Shorter Version of Its Electric Delivery Van in Europe
Rivian Launches a Narrower, Shorter Version of Its Electric Delivery Van in Europe

4 Jul 2023, 18:45 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Rivian announced that Amazon would deploy the EDV-500, a smaller version of its Electric Delivery Van, in Europe. More than 300 vans will start delivering packages for Amazon in Germany over the coming weeks, with more countries planned in the futu...

 
Breaking: NHTSA Petition Claims Tesla Sudden Unintended Acceleration Is Real (but Fixable)
Breaking: NHTSA Petition Claims Tesla Sudden Unintended Acceleration Is Real (but Fixable)

4 Jul 2023, 14:25 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / New information received by the NHTSA shows that sudden unintended acceleration events with Tesla EVs were real and not driver errors. The report explains in detail what caused the cars to accelerate even when the accelerator pedal was not pressed....

 
Lucid Plans Tesla Model 3 and Model Y Competitors, but Won't Compete on Range
Lucid Plans Tesla Model 3 and Model Y Competitors, but Won't Compete on Range

4 Jul 2023, 11:07 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Lucid Motors is now busy ramping up Air production and jump-starting the Gravity SUV production next year, but it's already working on its next vehicle models. CEO Peter Rawlinson confirmed these would be direct competitors with Tesla Model 3 ...

 
Volkswagen Blames 'Reluctant' Customers for Slashing EV Production at Its German Plant
Volkswagen Blames 'Reluctant' Customers for Slashing EV Production at Its German Plant

4 Jul 2023, 09:05 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / For the past 10 years, Tesla skeptics have been waiting for traditional carmakers to catch up with electric vehicle production. That moment may never come, as Volkswagen appears to have hit a wall and is now forced to cut production at its main EV ...

 
Tesla Testing 'Project Highland' Model 3 in New Zealand Alongside Cybertruck
Tesla Testing 'Project Highland' Model 3 in New Zealand Alongside Cybertruck

3 Jul 2023, 18:21 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / We've recently learned that Tesla has sent the Cybertruck to New Zealand for the winter testing season. It appears it will not be alone, as the entire Tesla lineup, including the refreshed Model 3, is testing in the snow. Tesla is working ...

 
Early Rivian R1T Reservation Holder Left High and Dry After Delivery Goes Haywire
Early Rivian R1T Reservation Holder Left High and Dry After Delivery Goes Haywire

3 Jul 2023, 16:46 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / An early Rivian R1T reservation holder who recently took delivery of his truck discovered many quality problems after delivery. He was told that he could either wait for a repair or have his vehicle replaced. The only problem is that this means pay...

 

Stories by Cristian Agatie