Kia’s electric SUV and van are getting a new job as police cars

Joel was previously an editor at Autoblog for nearly a decade, covering cars from humble economy hatchbacks to high-end sports cars. He has extensive driving experience with plenty of track time, and even dabbles in motorcycling. Joel has shared his experiences in the car world not just in text, but also on podcasts and web videos.

Artificial intelligence is much more than a buzzword in the automotive industry and is fundamentally changing how companies design, develop, and build cars. General Motors is the latest to dive headfirst into the AI future, promising to speed up new model launches because of it. AI will also make interacting with a GM product very different. In a bid to ensure they can keep up with new players from China, legacy manufacturers understand the importance of bringing new products to production quickly. It's typically taken GM products of the past four to five years to move from concept to production. By leaning on AI, virtualization, and combining its design, engineering, and manufacturing into a single "unified digital thread," the carmaker wants to slash that to about two years.

If you thought a car like the ND-generation Mazda MX-5 was old, currently in its 11th year of production, you may be surprised to learn about the Hyundai Porter. This small truck has been around since 1977 and has been sold in its current fourth-generation guise since 2004, with few updates. The South Korean brand is finally preparing an all-new version and has been nabbed testing a heavily disguised prototype in Europe. It's immediately apparent that the new Porter will look very different than the outgoing model, but the design isn't the most important development. More pivotal is that this fifth-generation model will be the first available as an EV, truly bringing the plucky truck into the modern age. It may also be sold in Europe for the first time.

Chris joined CarBuzz in June 2025. He's held positions at Ford and Motor1, and contributed to Autoblog, Car Throttle, Auto Trader, and many other motoring outlets during his 28-year career. Chris holds a BA in English from Western Michigan University and an AA in Journalism. Growing up in the 1980s in the shadow of Detroit, Chris didn't realize he was witnessing a turning point in automotive history. He just thought digital dashes and pop-up headlights were cool, and no car could ever be as awesome as KITT from Knight Rider. He also came from a car-crazy family, so when he graduated from college with English and Journalism degrees, he applied his communication talents to the wild world of cars.

Kyle has written professionally across the motorsport and motoring world since graduating from Plymouth University in 2018, and has acted as the MotoGP editor for Motorsport Week and as a Features Writer for HotCars early in his career. He joined CarBuzz as a Features Correspondent in 2023. His future in the automotive world has been guaranteed since he was a kid, as he remembers rattling off the names of car brands as one of his earliest memories.

Tom started his career as a daily newspaper reporter in metro Detroit and after a decade changed course to cover cars, spending the next 25 years at Wards Automotive doing test drives, technology and supplier coverage, editing WardsAuto World magazine and managing the Wards 10 Best competitions for powertrains, then interiors, then the user experience. He became executive editor at Autoweek in 2022 and joined Valnet in 2025. At CarBuzz, he's returned to his roots: a reporter seeking out news and trends and telling stories, but with more experience. Tom's wife has been putting up with him since 1990, and they have two adult children. He runs half-marathons and plays guitar in a rock band with other Detroit auto writers, called the Exhaust Tones. You may have seen our reviews in recent weeks about the refreshed 2027 Mercedes-Benz GLE and GLS SUVs, as well as the 2027 Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 hybrid. But there's one more step up the ladder, one that takes you well beyond the 530 horsepower offered in the non-AMG GLS 580 and GLE 580, each powered by the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. For many shoppers, that V8 (or the gutsy 3.0-liter straight-six) is all they need.