Brooke Crothers

Brooke Crothers covers and reviews electric vehicles and autonomy for Forbes, focusing on how new models, vehicle AI, and the rise of battery-powered cars are changing everyday driving and the broader car market. His work stands out for connecting technical advances and market data with what drivers see on the road and in their own neighborhoods. Across his coverage he treats electric vehicles as both products and social shifts, tracking how they affect consumer behavior, brand loyalties, and safety expectations.

Electric vehicles and autonomy

Crothers is a contributor at Forbes who focuses on electric vehicles, cars, trucks, and autonomy, making that intersection his core beat. His stories follow the rollout of new EV models and features with close attention to how vehicle software, driver-assistance systems, and AI shape the experience behind the wheel. In coverage of Tesla’s affordable “Model 2,” he examines how a lower-cost, highly automated vehicle could function as a cybercab, tying product design to the future of mobility and ride services. His reporting on vehicle AI and updates at companies like Rivian reflects an interest in the gap between technical capability and public perception, as automakers add increasingly sophisticated autonomy features to mainstream vehicles.

Design trade-offs in modern cars are another recurring theme. In a piece centered on Jay Leno’s question about why Teslas and many new cars ship without spare tires, Crothers digs into how manufacturers balance space, weight, cost, and emergency preparedness for drivers. By framing questions about autonomy and EV design around specific ownership details—such as backup options when something goes wrong—he turns abstract technology debates into practical consumer issues. Across this work he writes in clear, direct language that explains complex systems without jargon, while still addressing the technical underpinnings of electric drivetrains and driver-assistance tech.

Tesla in, Prius out

Crothers often uses his own surroundings as a lens on larger market shifts, most notably the replacement of hybrid stalwarts like the Prius by Teslas in his neighborhood. In that reporting he traces how the Model 3 and Model Y moved from niche early-adopter cars to everyday fixtures, displacing Japanese and German brands on local streets and driveways. He connects those observations to broader trends in California, where he shows Tesla doing what no other American carmaker has done in recent decades: topping sales charts and reshaping the regional car mix.

By grounding data about registrations and sales in what he sees parked nearby, Crothers gives readers a tangible way to understand the scale of Tesla’s rise. He notes how Tesla’s lineup—from the Model S and Model 3 to the Model Y and Cybertruck—has cut into segments long dominated by other manufacturers, and how that shift looks at the level of a single community. Instead of treating EV adoption as an abstract policy goal, he writes about the vehicles that now fill driveways and commute routes, showing how consumer choices translate into visible changes on the road.

Larger Tesla Model Y and new EV launches

New model launches are a central part of Crothers’ beat, and he covers them with an emphasis on size, practicality, and how they fit into the evolving EV landscape. In his piece on the larger Tesla Model Y L due for a U.S. debut, he looks at how an upsized crossover could appeal to buyers who want more space without leaving the electric segment, and what that means for Tesla’s position in family and utility vehicles. He has also written about early demand for the Model Y, including customers lining up ahead of pre-order launches despite protests, using those scenes to show how strong EV interest can be even in contested moments.

Earlier in the product cycle he reported on the Model 3, capturing the moment when scrutiny and criticism from various quarters intensified around Tesla’s push into a more affordable, high-volume car. He has traced Tesla’s stated focus on the Model 3 as a mass-market car rather than purely premium vehicles, including executive comments about the company not being founded to make only expensive models. Across these stories, Crothers distinguishes himself from a generic auto reporter by keeping the spotlight on how each launch shifts the balance between legacy combustion models and newer electric offerings, and how buyers react at showrooms, reservation pages, and delivery centers.

Big gap in media vs non-media reaction

Beyond product coverage, Crothers has written about the public conversation around EV safety, especially in the context of Tesla’s Autopilot system. In a piece titled “Big Gap In Media Vs. Non-Media Reaction To Tesla Model S Autopilot Fatality,” he explores differences between how news outlets and everyday drivers respond to a high-profile crash. That work bridges his automotive beat and his background in technology journalism, examining how narratives about autonomy and risk diverge between professional commentators and people who use the technology.

By emphasizing the divide between media coverage and non-media reaction, Crothers highlights the importance of understanding what drivers actually think of features like Autopilot and advanced driver assistance, not just what headlines say. This focus continues in his EV and autonomy reporting at Forbes, where he consistently weighs official claims, technical realities, and lived experience. His earlier coverage of consumer technology at events such as CES—writing about home robots, Super UHD TVs, PCs, and artificial intelligence—adds context to his current work, showing a long-standing interest in how cutting-edge tech becomes everyday hardware. The result is EV reporting that blends product analysis, safety and AI scrutiny, and attention to real-world adoption, giving a fuller picture of how autonomy and electrification play out on the road.