In today's issue:

Lucid's $950 buys the hardware its new software needs, and Lexus Japan's $1,400 buys power and simulated gears for a car the owner already has. In the U.S., Lexus will sell the TZ's missing power through dealers.

Red Bull's Ford-Backed Engine Wins Its First Race: Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, the first win for Red Bull's in-house power unit, built in collaboration with Ford, per Road & Track and Motorsport Week. A day earlier it took Red Bull's first pole as a power unit manufacturer, per Motorsport Week. The FIA called the formation-lap stoppages an "unprecedented combination" of factors, and its single-seater director, Nikolas Tombazis, said "We are sorry about that," per Motorsport Week. #enthusiast

BMW's Gas 3 Series Starts $11,600 Under the i3 and Tops €100,000 in Germany: Following up on BMW's gas 3 Series reveal: MotorTrend lists the 2027 3 Series at $51,250 to start, which is the 330's $49,900 plus the $1,350 destination charge BMW lists for the i3. That sits $11,600 under the $61,500 i3, and the gap holds with destination on both ($51,250 against $62,850). In Germany a fully optioned car costs €101,655, with the €4,300 M Technology Package II the priciest option, per BMWBLOG. #market

Musk Blames Grey Kittens for Robotaxi's Night Curfew: Elon Musk said pets that are hard to see in the dark are the main thing holding back later hours, with "grey kittens on grey tarmac" his example, per Electrek. Electrek calls that a textbook camera weakness. Austin service now runs to 11 PM, up from 10, per TeslaNorth. #analyst

FedEx Orders 2,000 Electric Box Trucks From Harbinger: The deal is reportedly worth more than $300 million, per Electrek. Harbinger estimates each truck cuts fuel costs by about $20,000 a year against the diesel truck it replaces, and Electrek's math over a 20-year service life puts the total at $800 million. #analyst

Hybrid Corolla Cross Costs Nearly $6,000 More: Autoblog says the cheapest 2027 hybrid, the SE at $31,415, costs $5,880 more than the base gas L at $25,535, before dealer fees. The gap was $4,460 for 2026 because Toyota dropped the $29,795 Hybrid S, a hybrid under $30,000. #market

The World's Lowest Land Rover Sits on a VW Beetle: A custom build mates a Land Rover body to air-cooled VW underpinnings, with a shortened chassis, four-way air ride and Porsche wheels. It is listed on eBay at £15,000 (about $20,000), per Carscoops.

Genesis G90 Facelift Loses Some Camouflage: The illuminated crest grille is visible ahead of a December debut, per The Korean Car Blog.

Toyota Opens a Michigan Battery Center: It is built to fix battery problems faster, separate from the North Carolina plant that mass-produces cells, per Autoblog.

This Week in Car Podcasts: A Rally Full of Dead Fuel Pumps and GM's 8.3-Liter Duramax: Car Curious, our sister car-podcast platform, recaps 310 episodes across 196 shows, including two podcasts reporting from the same motel on the Outrun the Sun rally, where cars were losing fuel pumps by day three, and The Truck Show crediting TFL Truck's Andre Smirnov with breaking GM's move to an 8.3-liter Duramax.

Rivian's R2 Is on Its Second Recall: Autoblog reports NHTSA campaign 26V625 covers 14 model year 2027 R2s built May 18 to Aug. 27, with an under-torqued fastener on the high-voltage battery connection that can cause a loss of motive power without warning. Rivian says it reprogrammed the assembly station to reject improperly torqued fasteners.

Jaguar Land Rover Recalls 23,677 Vehicles for Loss of Drive Power: A DC-DC converter failure can cut drive power in certain 2019-2024 Land Rover and Jaguar models, per Pickup Truck Talk.

Yesterday's picks

Volvo Cars Scraps Its 2026 Outlook and Warns of a 'Significant' Q3 Hit: Volvo said Oct. 2 it will not meet its previous full-year volume and cash flow outlook, citing worse conditions in China and a slower-than-expected U.S. recovery, per Automotive News.

The U.S. Sales Pace Hit a 19-Month Low in September: Following up on Edmunds' forecast of a 16M September pace: the September seasonally adjusted rate fell to 16 million, its lowest since February 2025, from 16.8 million in August, per Auto Finance News. Year-to-date sales are down 1.2%, per Automotive News, citing GlobalData.

Stellantis Idles Windsor for Three Weeks as Unifor Talks Stall: Following up on Stellantis lining up a Charger plant buyer while Unifor walked out: Windsor Assembly goes dark for three consecutive weeks from Oct. 19, per Automotive News. Unifor Local 444 President James Stewart announced it Oct. 2, with contract talks deadlocked.

Worth a listen

One episode from Car Curious, our sister car-podcast platform, picked out of everything the shows published in the last day.

Mark Porsche: The 911, Zell am See & True Porsche Legacy (9WERKS Radio : The Porsche and Car Podcast, also at 9werks.co.uk): Mark Porsche walks through the family's Zell am See estate in Austria, where he was raised, and talks about the 911's place in the Porsche legacy.

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