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.
Lucid Reluctantly Joins Tesla's "Price War", Air Touring and Grand Touring Now Discounted
Lucid Reluctantly Joins Tesla's "Price War", Air Touring and Grand Touring Now Discounted

10 Feb 2023, 13:00 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Despite a difficult production ramp-up, Lucid sees no other way forward than try and match Tesla’s price war with discounts on some of its models. This time, the discounts apply to purchases, not leases, as was the case a month ago when Tesla...

 
Redwood Materials Secured a $2 Billion Loan for EV Battery Recycling Plant in Nevada
Redwood Materials Secured a $2 Billion Loan for EV Battery Recycling Plant in Nevada

10 Feb 2023, 11:03 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / EV battery recycling is one of the hottest topics these days, as the EV market begins to heat up. Redwood Materials, a company that wants to recycle hundreds of gigawatt-hour of Li-ion Batteries, is one step closer to completing its first recycling...

 
Best Sighting of the Production Beta Tesla Cybertruck Shows the Gigawiper Lives On
Best Sighting of the Production Beta Tesla Cybertruck Shows the Gigawiper Lives On

10 Feb 2023, 09:29 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / The Tesla Cybertruck and its imminent production start continue to ignite social media talks. A new picture of the production beta prototype showing its front left the internet in limbo. The strange appearance still features a humongous windshield ...

 
Rivian Pulls Software Update That Offered Improved Range and New Features
Rivian Pulls Software Update That Offered Improved Range and New Features

9 Feb 2023, 19:29 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Rivian is well known for its timely software updates, which usually bring new features and bug fixes to the R1S/R1T vehicles. Nevertheless, the latest 2023.02.03 update didn’t go as planned because Rivian called it off. The reason is unknown,...

 
Ford CEO Jim Farley Teases Performance F-150 Lightning Concept, Rumored With 1,000+ HP
Ford CEO Jim Farley Teases Performance F-150 Lightning Concept, Rumored With 1,000+ HP

9 Feb 2023, 17:31 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Ford CEO Jim Farley teased the souped-up F-150 Lightning concept prepared by Ford Performance. Last week, when it announced the return to Formula 1, Ford hinted at a new pickup truck in its EV performance demonstrator lineup. Ford F-150 Lightnin...

 
Tesla Agrees to Replace the Car Whose Steering Wheel Fell Off in January
Tesla Agrees to Replace the Car Whose Steering Wheel Fell Off in January

9 Feb 2023, 15:45 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / A Tesla Model Y owner who had just taken delivery of the car on January 24 was stupefied to see the steering wheel suddenly falling off while driving on the highway. Initially, the service center wanted the owner to pay for the repairs, but Tesla e...

 
SpaceX Moved To Block Ukraine's Military From Using Starlink Internet for Drones
SpaceX Moved To Block Ukraine's Military From Using Starlink Internet for Drones

9 Feb 2023, 13:34 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / SpaceX has announced steps to curb Ukraine’s use of Starlink internet service for controlling drones. The move comes after SpaceX limited Starlink service on the front lines in Ukraine last September, causing internet outages at a critical ti...

 
1961 Bentley S2 Continental Is the Rarest Classic Car Ever Converted to an Electric Drive
1961 Bentley S2 Continental Is the Rarest Classic Car Ever Converted to an Electric Drive

9 Feb 2023, 10:59 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / The British EV conversion startup Lunaz Design has completed its most challenging work so far on an extremely rare 1961 Bentley S2 Continental. One of four examples ever made, the British classic was originally powered by a 6.2-liter V8 but is now ...

 
NTSB Clears Tesla in 2021 Texas Fatal Crash, Concludes Autopilot Wasn't To Blame
NTSB Clears Tesla in 2021 Texas Fatal Crash, Concludes Autopilot Wasn't To Blame

9 Feb 2023, 09:30 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / On April 16, 2021, a Tesla Model S crashed and burned near Springs, Texas, killing two people. Police reports indicated that no one was in the driver’s seat at the time of the crash, which put Tesla’s automated driving systems in a bad ...

 
French Startup Gouach Offers Repairable Batteries for Popular Electric Bikes and Scooters
French Startup Gouach Offers Repairable Batteries for Popular Electric Bikes and Scooters

8 Feb 2023, 19:14 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / French battery startup Gouach discovered that 80 percent of Li-ion cells in a worn-out battery pack are still in perfect condition when thrown away. That’s why it developed the technology to salvage the good cells and used them to build repai...

 
Rivian Patents Low-Range Gearbox Attachment for Extreme Off-Roading
Rivian Patents Low-Range Gearbox Attachment for Extreme Off-Roading

8 Feb 2023, 17:46 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Rivian was busy filing patents for the past year, and the USPTO granted dozens in the past month alone. One of them is really interesting, as it depicts a modular low-range gearbox attachment that would vastly expand a truck’s off-road capabi...

 
2023 Tesla Model 3 Can Now Detect Distances Without Ultrasonic Sensors
2023 Tesla Model 3 Can Now Detect Distances Without Ultrasonic Sensors

8 Feb 2023, 15:46 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Tesla removed the ultrasonic sensors from the recently-built cars in a move many framed as a cost-cutting measure. Without them, some parking features and distance measurements to obstacles around the vehicle were disabled. Nevertheless, a prospect...

 
Indonesia Tries To Lure Tesla With a "Green" Industrial Park Running on Coal Power
Indonesia Tries To Lure Tesla With a "Green" Industrial Park Running on Coal Power

8 Feb 2023, 13:35 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Tesla is scouting for locations to build new gigafactories as it seeks to expand its manufacturing footprint. Several countries rushed to court Musk and offered incentives with the hope they would host Tesla’s next gigafactory. Indonesia is o...

 
Tesla Investor Day Invite Contains an Easter Egg Hinting at Extreme Production Scale
Tesla Investor Day Invite Contains an Easter Egg Hinting at Extreme Production Scale

8 Feb 2023, 11:26 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / We all know Elon Musk loves easter eggs, and the Investor Day invite that Tesla sent to investors is the latest to prove that. The background picture doesn’t seem much at first sight, but upon closer inspection, it reveals a wall of car body ...

 
Musk Promises Master Plan 3 for Tesla Investor Day, Invites Have Been Sent
Musk Promises Master Plan 3 for Tesla Investor Day, Invites Have Been Sent

8 Feb 2023, 09:30 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Elon Musk’s famous master plans started as the billionaire’s vision of Tesla’s future but expanded to include many other areas Musk considers of utmost importance. Musk has yet to accomplish all objectives outlined in the Master P...

 
Hertz Has a Much Smaller Tesla Fleet Than Previously Planned
Hertz Has a Much Smaller Tesla Fleet Than Previously Planned

7 Feb 2023, 18:44 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Hertz posted record earnings for 2022, citing electrification as one of the things that contributed to the result. Nevertheless, the company seems to be well behind with its electrification plans. Hertz revealed it has around 430,000 vehicles in it...

 
Tesla-Funded Research Reveals What's Causing Li-Ion Batteries to Self-Discharge
Tesla-Funded Research Reveals What's Causing Li-Ion Batteries to Self-Discharge

7 Feb 2023, 16:45 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Researchers at a Tesla-funded battery research facility in Halifax, Canada, have discovered by chance what’s causing Li-ion batteries to self-discharge. Thanks to their discovery, a very simple solution is now being worked out, improving Li-i...

 
Tesla Owner Explains Why They Turned FSD Beta Off After Waiting Years To Get It
Tesla Owner Explains Why They Turned FSD Beta Off After Waiting Years To Get It

7 Feb 2023, 14:28 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Many Tesla owners in North America have waited for years to get the FSD Beta. While Tesla opened the program to everyone who paid for the Full Self-Driving capability in November, not all who got the software were happy with it. One owner in Atlant...

 
The Tesla Model Y Is a Badass Police Cruiser, Will Save Somerset PD $84,000 Over 10 Years
The Tesla Model Y Is a Badass Police Cruiser, Will Save Somerset PD $84,000 Over 10 Years

7 Feb 2023, 11:40 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / As the benefits of electric vehicles are becoming more obvious, Police departments across the country have done their math and chosen to replace ICE vehicles in their fleets. The Somerset Police Department in Wisconsin bought a Tesla Model Y cruise...

 
Who Would've Thought Electric Vehicles Reduce Pollution and Improve Health?
Who Would've Thought Electric Vehicles Reduce Pollution and Improve Health?

7 Feb 2023, 09:45 UTC · By: Cristian Agatie / Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC have conducted one of the first studies linking electric vehicle adoption with a reduction in air pollution and respiratory problems. Until now, research on the benefits of adopting electric vehic...

 

Stories by Cristian Agatie