Jonathan M. Gitlin
Jonathan M. Gitlin covers the modern car as a technology platform, bringing a technical, data-driven approach to automotive reporting at Ars Technica. He is the automotive editor at the masthead and leads its dedicated car vertical, which he launched to focus on how engineering, software, safety, and policy shape the vehicles people drive. His beat spans electric vehicles, vehicle safety and regulation, connected-car data, and motor racing, with stories that treat cars as networks of systems rather than lifestyle props.
Electric vehicles and new powertrains
Gitlin’s most consistent thread is close coverage of electric vehicles and high-tech powertrains, from individual model launches to broader questions of pricing and infrastructure.
He has detailed how BMW’s new 3 Series lineup splits between gasoline and electric variants and why the i3 50 xDrive carries a substantial price premium over the combustion models, grounding the story in specific US pricing and equipment differences. In a review of the 2026 Lucid Air Touring, he assesses the car as “a complete” product by working through range, efficiency, charging performance, and interior execution, treating the EV as both software platform and long-distance tool.
His coverage of Bentley’s first fully electric Torcal similarly walks through battery architecture, performance figures, and how the car fits into the brand’s transition strategy.
Across Audi’s Q6 e-tron SUV, Polestar’s latest models, and Tesla’s quarterly production and sales numbers, he consistently compares charging speeds, architectures, and market positioning, showing readers where each product sits in the evolving EV landscape. He also tracks infrastructure, highlighting how China’s sub–5 minute fast charging to 70 percent state-of-charge leaves US networks behind, framing charging speed as a competitive technology race rather than a niche spec.
Safety, regulation, and data in connected cars
Gitlin devotes significant reporting to how safety systems, regulations, and data practices are reshaping the car. He has covered studies finding that partial automated driving systems - lane keeping and similar driver assists - do not necessarily make driving safer, drawing out the gap between marketing claims and real-world evidence.
His reporting on massive airbag recalls at brands like Alfa Romeo, BMW, Fiat, and Jeep lays out the technical faults, the affected models, and the regulatory response, treating recalls as engineering and safety failures rather than corporate press events. In a piece on how connected cars and their companion apps share user data, he traces the flow of information through trackers and third parties, making clear how ownership now includes exposure to complex data ecosystems.
He follows legislative and regulatory moves as well, explaining how changes to fuel economy standards roll back targets to earlier levels and what that means for automaker fleets and emissions. His coverage of efforts to require AM radio in new vehicles and the opposition from tech and auto industries shows the intersection of emergency communications, in-car hardware decisions, and lobbying, framing the story as a safety question as much as a broadcasting one.
This strand of work positions him as an automotive writer who stays close to studies, standards, and statutes, not just spec sheets.
Motorsport and racing technology
Beyond road cars, Gitlin follows motorsport with an emphasis on engineering change and safety. He reports on Formula 1’s plans to move from 1.6 L V6 turbos to 3.0 L V8 turbo engines with revised hybrid systems for 2030, unpacking displacement, energy recovery, and the series’ broader decarbonization goals. Race reports - such as his coverage of a tense Formula 1 Grand Prix in Azerbaijan - combine strategic analysis with technical notes on cars, tires, and conditions, showing how engineering decisions play out over a race distance. He has dug into how Ferrari designed the 499P that won Le Mans on its first attempt, interviewing technical leadership and walking through chassis, aero, and hybrid systems in detail.
His feature on Romain Grosjean’s high-speed, fiery crash examines the safety cell, halo, and fire-resistant gear that allowed the driver to survive, treating the incident as a test case for modern safety engineering. Coverage of IMSA’s Petit Le Mans, Formula 1’s changing car regulations, the rise of F1 e-sports, and McLaren’s recruitment of a “World’s Fastest Gamer” as a simulator driver all show how he connects sporting narratives to the design and simulation tools behind them.
Motorsport for Gitlin is less spectacle than laboratory, and his stories use it to explain how rulebooks and technology co-evolve.
Road tests and consumer reviews
Gitlin’s road tests take the same technical rigor and apply it to mainstream and niche cars alike. In reviews of vehicles like the Toyota C-HR and Lincoln Nautilus, he moves beyond styling to focus on ride quality, chassis tuning, powertrain behavior, and in-car interfaces, explaining how each choice affects daily use.
His pieces on models such as the Polestar 4 and Audi Q6 e-tron evaluate steering feel, efficiency, and driver-assistance behavior alongside cargo space and ergonomics, balancing enthusiast concerns with practical metrics. When assessing a car like the Lucid Air Touring, he is explicit about what has changed over earlier iterations and whether software and hardware updates now make the car feel “complete,” reflecting a long-term, iterative view of products rather than one-off impressions.
Even when he steps away from cars to review a book on the downfall of Theranos, he treats the subject with the same methodical reading of evidence and systems, underlining the continuity between his science background and his current automotive work. Across these reviews, Gitlin distinguishes himself by treating car testing as applied technology journalism: he drives the vehicles, interrogates their systems, and then situates them within market, safety, and regulatory contexts.
4 more automobile journalists.
Aarian Marshall
Aarian Marshall is a staff writer at WIRED who stands out for covering how cars, software, and policy collide. She writes on transportation systems and cities, from the auto industry to broader mobility systems. Before WIRED, she reported on cities and urban policy for The Atlantic’s CityLab. Her beat runs from electric vehicles, fuel prices, tariffs, and car-buying decisions to autonomous vehicles, robotaxis, and software-defined cars. She reports with a systems view, linking policy shifts, technical failures, and urban life to what happens on streets, in repair shops, and at the pump.
Abby Smith
Abby Smith’s most distinctive work combines motorsports coverage with live digital and radio reporting. She is Digital Director at KRDO13 and covers the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, including race updates, weather shifts, breaking developments and ways to follow the action. Her beat also includes automotive news, crime, public safety, politics, city government and community life. Notable work includes coverage of homicide arrests, a major drug bust, a presidential address about the war with Iran, a family’s effort to bring Stephen Hubbard home, a state governor candidate and a city security ordinance. She also reports on fitness, school spirit and station staff. Smith writes in a concise, factual style shaped by investigative documentary experience. She turns live events, official announcements and daily developments into clear coverage across digital and radio platforms.
Adele Peters
Adele Peters covers climate solutions and other structural problems as design and policy questions, focusing on what can work in practice. She is a senior writer at Fast Company, where she reports on energy, transportation, housing, materials, agriculture, corporate sustainability, and social impact. Her stories examine climate technologies, grid resilience, electric vehicles, renewable energy, modular construction, homelessness, affordable housing, compostable materials, regenerative agriculture, and ecosystem restoration. She looks at whether projects can scale, their real-world constraints, and their measurable effects. She interviews political and philanthropic leaders, startup founders, and climate tech entrepreneurs, anchoring stories in what is being built and tested. She has written more than 3,000 stories and contributed to Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century and State of Housing Design 2023.
Adrian Leung
Adrian Leung writes engineering-led coverage of Chinese electric vehicles and performance cars for CarNewsChina. He focuses on new energy vehicles, battery systems, powertrains, electric platforms, high-end domestic brands, and track-ready models, and he explains technical details in plain language for non-specialist readers. His reporting treats new models as hardware and systems stories, with precise figures on range, battery capacity, chassis layout, motor outputs, weight, and acceleration. He also covers the Chinese auto industry’s finances and technology roadmap, including sector profits, vehicle volumes, and solid-state battery timelines. His background in Electrical and Computer Engineering shows in the way he writes about vehicle electronics and battery management.