New Smart #5 EV is biggest model yet, BYD outsells Tesla in Europe

Smart #5
After producing the Fortwo and Forfour for years, it seems that Smart now has an issue with even numbers. First up for the all-electric rebirth was the #1 – not a teeny city car that can be parked nose on to a kerb, but a fairly generic small electric crossover. Then came the #3, which was essentially a slightly larger and coupe-ified version of the #1. And now, as you might have guessed, it’s the turn of the #5. Get those cutesy clever two-seaters out of your brain, because Smart is no-longer a maker of small cars. In fact, the #5 is the biggest car it has ever built at almost 4.7m long, 1.9m wide and 1.7m tall. To put that into context, it’s ever so slightly larger in every direction than the Skoda Enyaq. Top Gear

The mysterious device that OpenAI is cooking up with former Apple designer Jony Ive will be pocket-size, contextually aware, screen-free, and isn’t eyewear. Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed details about the project in an internal staff call reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, after announcing the $6.5 billion acquisition of Ive’s AI hardware startup, io. Altman suggested that the acquisition could increase OpenAI’s value by $1 trillion, and envisioned a “family of devices” being born from the partnership. The Verge

The UK government is considering raising the ‘luxury car tax‘ threshold for electric cars in a bid to drive uptake. Currently, the Expensive Car Supplement (ECS) applies to all cars – including EVs as of 1 April 2025 – priced above £40,000, adding £425 annually in additional vehicle excise duty (VED) from years two to six after purchase. In conjunction with the standard annual VED rate of £195 (applicable to EVs from year two), that means £40,000-plus cars attract a tax bill of £3100 in the first six years. Autocar

Chinese electric car maker BYD has outsold Tesla in Europe for the first time, in what experts described as a “watershed moment”. BYD sold 7,231 electric vehicles (EVs) across the EU and UK during April, slightly more than the 7,165 sold by Tesla, according to research by Jato Dynamics. It underscores the remarkable growth of the Chinese brand, which only began expanding across the Continent in 2022 and is now challenging more established Western carmakers. Telegraph

Garmin has quietly dropped a major new software update for a range of its latest smartwatches, and, surprisngly, it’s more than just bug fixes. Included in the rollout are the Fenix 8, Forerunner series, the new Instinct 3, Lily 2 Active and Venu 3. So, what’s new? For starters, there’s a Breathing Variations feature that uses Pulse Ox to give you deeper insights into your respiratory patterns while you sleep. Then there’s the new Rucking Activity mode, designed for weighted hiking with support for pack weight input. T3.com

The US Federal Trade Commission dropped a case that sought to block Microsoft’s $69bn purchase of the Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, saying on Thursday that pursuing the case against the long-closed deal was not in the public interest. Andrew Ferguson, the FTC chair, is seeking to use the agency’s resources for cases that fit with Donald Trump’s agenda, such as an investigation related to whether advertisers colluded to spend less on X. The Guardian