automotive
Spoot: Spotted Early keeps automotive in one place: 3 stories so far. The section currently leads with “Opel's low wagon dares the SUV to explain its own height”, “The electric Ferrari got booed, but Jony Ive's fingerprints explain the real story”, and “Bentley's first EV is its fastest ever, and it looks like nothing else”. Opel's low wagon doesn't just roll into the Paris Motor Show, it sidles up to the SUV, looks it in the grille, and asks, *why are you so tall?* For years, American roads have been a sea of high-riding crossovers and… Spoot: Spotted Early New things, caught while they're still new and a little weird. Spoot finds fresh gadgets, clever inventions, crowdfunding campaigns,… The list below is every automotive story on Spoot: Spotted Early, newest first.
Opel's low wagon dares the SUV to explain its own height
Opel's low wagon doesn't just roll into the Paris Motor Show, it sidles up to the SUV, looks it in the grille, and asks, *why are you so tall?* For years, American roads have been a sea of high-riding crossovers and three-row behemoths, the default family hauler that somehow needs a step ladder to load groceries. This concept car, making its debut at Paris 2026, is a quiet rebellion. It's a station wagon that remembers when cars were long, low, and aerodynamic instead of pretending to climb rocks on the way to school. The razor clam here is the height itself, or the lack of it. Opel is daring the SUV to justify its own elevation. It's the same restless energy that made Fiat's Multiplay concept swap a back seat for a flatbed.
The electric Ferrari got booed, but Jony Ive's fingerprints explain the real story
A crowd booed a Ferrari. That alone should tell you something strange is happening, because people do not usually boo Ferraris. They boo football referees and reality TV villains. But this was the unveiling of the marque's first all-electric car, designed by Jony Ive and Marc Newson, and the room in Rome let it have it. I love that. The launch video skipped the part where the faithful get restless. Ive's fingerprints explain the real story, and they are all over the reaction. This is a car that looks like a product, not a prancing horse. It is a fascinating collision of two design religions, and the worshippers are confused. If you want a palate cleanser, read our piece on six tiny EVs that dare to be small, sharp, and actually cool.
Bentley's first EV is its fastest ever, and it looks like nothing else
Bentley finally let the covers slip off its first electric car back in July, and now we can actually see the thing. It's the fastest Bentley ever, which is a wild flex for a brand known more for wood veneer and wafting than for scaring your fillings loose. And it looks like nothing else they've made, which is saying something for a company that's been polishing the same grand tourer silhouette for decades. I'm genuinely curious about the shape, because it's not a swoopy coupe or a boxy SUV, it's somewhere in between. The spec sheet is still thin, so I'm not going to invent range figures or a price tag. But the real question, the one that launch video probably skipped, is what it actually feels like to drive.