Cybertrucks in Boston (Lindsey Nicholson/Getty Images)

Crossed Wires

Tesla is and isn’t America’s top choice for electric vehicles

It’s got the biggest EV market share in the US but few EV buyers say it’s their top choice.

1/17/25 9:46AM

In January, less than 4% of would-be EV buyers said Tesla was their top choice when it comes to automakers — the lowest share on record — according recent survey data provided to Sherwood News from polling firm YouGov. Meanwhile, 21% of EV buyers, and Americans in general, say Toyota is their preferred car brand.

That sentiment puts EV buyers at odds with their recent behavior. Last quarter, 44% of the electric-vehicle sales in the US were Teslas, according to data from Cox Automotive. Tesla, which was the first to market with electric vehicles, has been steadily giving up market share to competitors, but still dominates.

Perhaps the YouGov survey suggests some wishful thinking on behalf of electric-vehicle buyers, whose ideal car differs from what’s available in reality.

Tesla, which suffered its first annual sales decline as a public company last year, has lately been criticized for its aging lineup of vehicles and its decision to postpone offering an affordable EV. Even as electric-vehicle ownership in the US surged more than 7% last year, Tesla sold nearly 40,000 fewer EVs in the US last year than it did in 2023. Meanwhile, companies like Honda Group, GM, Hyundai, Ford, and Toyota, which itself has few pure electric offerings, saw their sales grow.

Perhaps also dragging down Tesla’s sales is its CEO Elon Musk’s behavior. Aligning himself with incoming President Donald Trump, while potentially giving Tesla a leg up in the new administration’s policies (and helping to ramp the company’s stock as well as further enrich Musk personally), has potentially alienated some of the people who would buy Teslas in the first place.

Liberals’ lowest view of Tesla came after Musk purchased Twitter.

US Powerball jackpot climbs to $1.7 Billion

Your upcoming Powerball loss is DraftKings’ gain

As the Powerball jackpot has stretched to $1.8 billion, users are flooding into DraftKing’s Jackpocket lottery app.

Americans that live in colder states are more likely to sleep longer

But most US adults still aren’t getting enough shut-eye.

American flag design pillow. USA Flag Throw Pillow. Patriotic concept

Max Knoblauch

9/2/25

Paramount and Microsoft’s Activision agree to partner on a “Call of Duty” movie

Less than a month after forming, Paramount Skydance has landed another major piece of intellectual property. The studio said it’s signed a deal with Microsoft’s Activision to create a live-action “Call of Duty” film.

The competitive shooter is one of the most popular gaming franchises in the world and has been the US’s bestselling series for the past 16 years. The next title in the 22-year-old franchise, “Black Ops 7,” will debut in November.

Paramount, which closed its merger with Skydance in August, has had a summer of big deals. It acquired UFC broadcast rights in a $7.7 billion deal with TKO last month, following a $1.5 billion deal for “South Park” rights in July. The company also lured “Stranger Things” creators away from Netflix last month for a four-year film and TV development deal.

Paramount & Activision Team For ‘Call Of Duty’ Movie

Tom Jones

9/1/25

“Blinding Lights” just officially hit 5 billion streams on Spotify

Over the weekend, The Weeknd’s biggest hit crossed over the impressive threshold, with Spotify marking the feat with an Instagram post that the artist shared to his story.

According to Spotify data collated by Kworb, the song now has a staggering 5,000,010,581 streams on the platform, and is racking up nearly 1.5 million streams each day at the time of writing.

Blinding Lights crosses 5 billion chart — Sherwood News

While Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” released about two years before “Blinding Lights,” looks like it’ll be the next song to hit the 5 billion boundary, “Starboy,” another song from The Weeknd, might not be too far behind.

Besides those two megahits, The Weeknd has 26 other songs that have been streamed more than 1 billion times on Spotify — more than any other artist on the platform.

The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is about to hit 5 billion streams on Spotify

Besides those two megahits, The Weeknd has 26 other songs that have been streamed more than 1 billion times on Spotify — more than any other artist on the platform.

$30B

Nia Warfield

8/29/25

Americans are set to gamble a record $30 billion on the NFL this season, according to estimates from the American Gaming Association.

For context, that’s the same price tag as all US sports broadcasting rights combined. Leading sportsbooks like DraftKings, Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel, Caesars Entertainment, and MGM’s BetMGM are positioned to cash in, with each battling for market share through promos, partnerships, and increasingly sticky mobile apps.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are ramping up efforts to crack down on illegal sportsbooks: this month, 50 attorneys general urged the Justice Department to take action against unlicensed gambling, warning that states are losing roughly $4 billion in tax revenue.