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(NEW YORK) — They’ve got sleek styling, impressive fuel economy and added power. Hybrids are the hottest vehicles right now and some Americans are struggling to find one.

Jeff Buchanan, vice president of vehicle marketing and communications at Toyota, said there’s still a wait list for the newest Prius model, which launched in November of 2022. He expects a similar situation with the upcoming Camry, which will be sold exclusively as a hybrid powertrain for model year 2025.

“Some people are not ready to switch to electric vehicles,” Buchanan told ABC News. “Hybrids offer flexibility — you don’t have to depend on charging infrastructure but you can still reduce emissions.”

The hybrids on sale today — from sport utility vehicles to six-figure sports cars — are faster, sexier and more efficient. They’ve also lost that nerdy, uncool image from the early 2000s.

“The Prius was always known for great fuel mileage. But the new one has changed everyone’s opinion,” Buchanan said. “The styling is unbelievable, the performance is unbelievable. People say to me, ‘Wow, that’s a really good looking car.'”

If styling won’t convince consumers to buy a hybrid, fuel economy will, he said. Toyota’s popular hybrids — the Prius, Corolla, Highlander, RAV4 and Camry — get anywhere from 40 to 57 combined mpg, according to EPA estimates.

Nearly 1.2 million Americans bought hybrids last year versus 763,000 in 2022, according to Robby Degraff, an analyst at AutoPacific. He said hybrid sales will continue to grow year-over-year as more automakers pull back on their electric vehicle rollouts and add hybrids to their lineups.

“Hybrids are offered in such a greater mix of body styles and segments,” he told ABC News. “Electric vehicles don’t work for a lot of people. Plus, EVs are more expensive than hybrids and gas-powered cars and trucks. Hybrids are the most equitable way to lower your carbon footprint.”

Sports car makers are also turning to hybrid technology to boost performance and acceleration. British marque McLaren currently offers two hybrids for enthusiasts: the Artura coupe and Artura Spider, a convertible that went on sale earlier this year. The Spider, which company execs call the “most fuel-efficient McLaren convertible ever,” produces a combined 691 horsepower from a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 and E-motor powertrain. The E-motor is powered by a battery pack made up of five lithium-ion modules, allowing drivers to get up to 21 miles of EV range.

The E-motor and twin-turbo V6 give the Artura Spider “razor-sharp throttle response,” according to the company, and ridiculously fast acceleration (0-60 mph in 3 seconds). Dani Marcos, a longtime test driver for McLaren, said owners still get that exhilarating rush from the hybrid powertrain.

“The goal was to make the Artura Spider more engaging and enjoyable for customers,” Marcos told ABC News. “It’s comfortable for every day driving but we also preserved McLaren’s [racing] DNA.”

McLaren is not the only automaker to make a hybrid convertible sports car. The Corvette E-Ray’s electric motor adds 60 hp and 125 lb-ft of torque through the front wheels via a 1.9 kWh battery pack, giving the car a combined 655 hp from the motor and naturally aspirated Small Block V8 engine. Moreover, E-Ray owners can start their drives in “Stealth Mode,” an electric drive mode that operates at speeds under 45 mph.

“The first time I floored the E-Ray, it was just so quick,” said Tony Quiroga, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver. “People want sports cars as light as possible and the E-Ray is heavy. But you can’t really notice the weight compared to the regular [Corvette] Stingray.”

He added, “It’s a performance hybrid and not tuned for efficiency. But it’s spectacular and the electric motor fills in the power before the gas engine does.”

Stephanie Valdez Streaty, industry insights director at Cox Automotive, said ongoing education about hybrids, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and pure battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) will ease Americans’ “journey toward electrification.”

“What’s a mild hybrid? Gas hybrid? PHEV? Consumers still ask that,” she told ABC News. “Some people think you have to charge a gas hybrid.”

According to Cox Automotive data, the U.S. auto market will soon “pass the milestone of 1-in-5 new vehicles sold including a sizable battery pack – adding millions of batteries to our roads each year.”

“I am not surprised at this trend,” Streaty said. “There really are no barriers to hybrids. They’re easier to sell to consumers: ‘This is how you save money on gas.’ And a lot of popular models are under $35,000.”

Honda Motor executive Jessika Laudermilk said the introduction of the 2025 Civic hybrid would likely appeal to a broad range of motorists and could even account for 40% of overall Civic sales.

The Japanese automaker’s hybrid sales have been growing since the second half of 2022, she said, and set an all-time sales record in 2023. The CR-V and Accord hybrids represented over one-quarter of total Honda brand sales last year.

“The CR-V hybrid and Accord hybrid have carried this strong momentum into the first six months of 2024,” Laudermilk told ABC News. “The market for EVs is going to fluctuate in the early stages of this transition and hybrid vehicles play an important role during this period.”

Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor America, said the company’s sales of hybrid rose 42% between April and June versus 15% for fully electric models.

The appeal of hybrids can help reassure “EV-curious and cautious customers” that electrification is the way to go, he noted.

“We have always understood the EV transformation to have near-term and long-term requirements,” he told ABC News. “That is why we developed a lineup with this diverse choice of drivetrains. We want to meet the customer where they are on their EV transformation journey, including the readiness of their local and regional charging infrastructure.”

He added, “More models are coming, and more buyers will continue to trade in their ICE [internal combustion engine] models for vehicles with appealing, efficient designs and advanced technology.”

For consumers still clinging to their big engines, Degraff said it’s time to give hybrids a serious look.

“Today’s hybrids are not the same hybrids from the early- to mid-2000s,” he said. “You can buy a Hyundai Elantra, for example, that gets almost 60 miles per gallon — that’s how far hybrid technology has come. Hybrids are pretty fantastic vehicles and are only going to get better.”

Buchanan of Toyota said the company “will build cars our customers want.” Right now, that’s gas hybrids.

“Demand used to be more specific to the East and West Coasts, but every dealer would take more hybrids right now,” he said. “It just underscores the overall acceptance of this technology.”

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(NEW YORK) — An outage caused by a software update distributed by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike triggered a wave of flight cancellations at several major U.S. airlines – but the disruption was most severe and prolonged at Delta Airlines.

In all, the carrier canceled more than 2,500 flights over a period that stretched from last Friday, when the outage began, into the middle of this week.

The U.S. Department of Transportation opened an investigation into Delta this week over its uniquely severe flight disruptions.

“All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Tuesday in a post on X.

In a statement on Tuesday, Delta said it is fully cooperating with the investigation. “Across our operation, Delta teams are working tirelessly to care for and make it right for customers impacted by delays and cancellations as we work to restore the reliable, on-time service they have come to expect from Delta,” the company said.

The company also issued an apology on Wednesday for the outage-related problems.

“Please accept our sincere apologies for the disruption to your recent travel plans caused by a vendor technology outage affecting airlines and companies worldwide,” the airline said in a statement.

“It’s a surprise that a multi-billion-dollar corporation like Delta would allow this to happen,” Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group, told ABC News.

“I’m hopeful that the worst is behind us now. While we can breathe a sigh of relief, I think a lot of people are understandably nervous about flying Delta,” Harteveldt added.

Delta did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment.

Airline and cybersecurity experts spoke to ABC News about what made the CrowdStrike outage so disruptive, and why it took days for Delta to resume normal service.

What made the CrowdStrike outage so disruptive for Delta?

The CrowdStrike outage was so impactful because of the severity of the IT failure and the scale of its reach within the internal operating systems at Delta, experts told ABC News.

“For a company such as Delta, they rely on countless partner services for everything from scheduling pilots and planes to providing meal service and snacks to allowing customers to select their seats,” David Bader, a professor of cybersecurity and the director of the Institute of Data Science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, told ABC News.

“The CrowdStrike bug disrupted many of those critical services that keep the airline running at full capacity,” Bader added.

Mark Lanterman, the chief technology officer at the cybersecurity firm Computer Forensic Services, said the outage resulted from a faulty software update initiated by CrowdStrike. The resulting computer bug interrupted core services because of the degree to which CrowdStrike pervades the Delta operating systems, he added.

“The CrowdStrike update is deep inside the operating system. When that was installed, there was bad code inside of this update. And when Windows came across the bad code, it panicked and it crashed,” Lanterman said.

The outage, which affected CrowdStrike clients that use Windows operating systems, disrupted a critical system that ensures each flight has a full crew, Delta said in a statement on Monday.

“Upward of half of Delta’s IT systems worldwide are Windows based,” Delta said.

Why did it take days for Delta to resume normal service?

The reason for the prolonged recovery from the outage was because the CrowdStrike update disruption required a manual fix at each individual computer system, experts told ABC News. While each fix can be completed in no more than 10 minutes, the vast number of Delta’s digital terminals required significant manpower to address, expert said.

“This isn’t a fix that could be done automatically; IT resources can’t just sit at a computer and push out an update and everything is fixed,” Lanterman said. “It took so long because Delta has a lot of computers and likely they have limited IT resources to go from computer to computer.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the airline acknowledged the challenge posed by the manual fix requirement.

“The CrowdStrike error required Delta’s IT teams to manually repair and reboot each of the affected systems, with additional time then needed for applications to synchronize and start communicating with each other,” Delta said.

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(NEW YORK) — The U.S. economy grew much faster than expected over three months ending in June, accelerating from the previous quarter and defying concerns about a possible slowdown.

U.S. GDP grew at a 2.8% annualized rate over three months ending in September. That figure doubled the annualized rate of growth undertaken over the previous quarter.

The fresh data could complicate the path toward a widely expect interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve in September. Until the most recent quarter, the economy had been cooling.

Price increases have slowed significantly from a peak of more than 9%, though inflation remains more than a percentage point higher than the Fed’s target rate of 2%. An outright drop in prices in June compared to the month prior marked a major sign of progress in slowing inflation.

If the Fed cuts interest rates as the economy is heating up, however, the central bank risks rekindling rapid price increases.

The chances of an interest rate cut at the Fed’s meeting in September stand at more than 80%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.

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(NEW YORK) — The Department of Justice and Boeing have finalized their plea agreement — the manufacturer will plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay a fine of $243.6 million, according to a court filing.

Boeing will also serve a three-year term of organizational probation; invest $455 million in compliance, quality and safety programs; and the board of directors will meet with the families of victims of the two MAX crashes. An independent compliance monitor will also be appointed.

This is not a done deal until it is approved by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas, who can either approve the deal or reject it.

According to court documents, “the plea agreement will not provide Boeing with immunity for any other conduct, including any conduct that may be the subject of any ongoing or future Government investigation of the Company.”

In a statement, Boeing said, “Boeing and the Justice Department have filed a detailed plea agreement in federal court, which is subject to court approval. We will continue to work transparently with our regulators as we take significant actions across Boeing to further strengthen our safety, quality and compliance programs.”

Lawyers representing the families of MAX crash victims have voiced their displeasure to ABC News.

Paul Cassell, who represents 15 MAX crash victim families, said: “The proposed plea has all the problems in it that the families feared it would have. We will file a strong objection to the preferential and “sweetheart” treatment Boeing is receiving within seven days with Judge O’Connor. We will strongly urge him to reject this proposed plea.”

Mark Lindquist, who also represents victim families, said: “Most importantly this plea agreement fails to acknowledge that the charged crime of Conspiracy to Defraud caused the death of 346 people. This is a sore spot for victim families who want accountability and acknowledgment.”

Boeing was accused of misleading the Federal Aviation Administration about aspects of the Max before the agency certified the plane for flight. Boeing did not tell airlines and pilots about the new software system, called MCAS, that could turn the plane’s nose down without input from pilots if a sensor detected that the plane might go into an aerodynamic stall.

Max planes crashed in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia after a faulty reading from the sensor pushed the nose down and pilots were unable to regain control. After the second crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned MCAS to make it less powerful and to use signals from two sensors, not just one.

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(NEW YORK) — Shares of Tesla fell 12% in early trading on Wednesday after an earnings release showed slumping profits in the face of strengthened competition and sluggish sales.

The earnings report fell short of Wall Street expectations for profit.

“There have been quite a few competing electric vehicles that have entered the market and mostly, they have not done well, but they have discounted their EVs quite substantially, which has made it more a bit difficult for Tesla,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk told analysts on Wednesday.

Tesla shares plummeted more than 25% at the outset of 2024 but the company had recovered all of those losses this month after it released a better-than-expected report on vehicle deliveries. The stock price decline on Wednesday puts shares at their lowest level in more than three weeks.

The earnings results released on Tuesday mark two consecutive quarters of declining profits. Revenue from government credits increased to $890 million in the most recent quarter, accounting for more than half of the company’s profits.

Gordon Johnson, CEO and founder of data firm GLJ Research, who is bearish on Tesla, said the boost in revenue from government credits afforded the company a financial lifeline even as it struggled in its main line of business: selling vehicles.

“What is the core business doing?” Johnson told ABC News, suggesting the decline in performance was even worse than the earnings indicate.

Critics say demand for the company’s vehicles has slowed as a result of its failure to release a new, affordable model, as well as a softening in the overall EV market. As competitors roll out alternatives, Tesla faces a difficult path to regain its previous breakneck growth, analysts previously told ABC News.

Proponents, however, point to the company’s record of industry-leading innovation, suggesting the breakthroughs that fueled its sprint ahead of the competition could reemerge as it readies for new EV models and perfects its autonomous driving software.

Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at the investment firm Wedbush, who is bullish on Tesla, downplayed the weaker-than-expected earnings report and highlighted potential gains from the company’s development of autonomous vehicles.

“We were not looking for major fireworks this quarter from Tesla,” Ives said on Wednesday in a note to investors. “The next phase of the Tesla growth story is around autonomous, Robotaxis, and AI playing out for Musk & Co. in our view and that vision is on the doorstep.”

Speaking to analysts on Tuesday, Musk said the company had made “a lot of progress” on its full self-driving software over the most recent quarter.

“We think customers will experience a step-change improvement in how well supervised full self-driving works,” Musk added.

That product has faced challenges, however. In December, Tesla recalled about 2 million cars over a safety issue tied to its autopilot system. Two months later, the company recalled about 360,000 more cars over crash risks tied to its self-driving system. Musk said on Tuesday that the company is delaying the launch of its Robotaxi service until October.

Johnson, of GLJ Research, voiced skepticism about the Robotaxi initiative.

“Tesla doesn’t have one Robotaxi on the road,” Johnson said.

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(NEW YORK) — Delta Air Lines passengers are voicing outrage over the growing chaos with the carrier that has yet to rebound its operations since the global tech outage.

The Atlanta-based airline is in its sixth day of flight disruptions leaving ticketed passengers stranded at airports, following the CrowdStrike outage on Friday that impacted industries from banks to hospitals.

“This is our fourth cancellation,” one frustrated traveler, Sarah Lassig, told ABC News Bay Area station KGO-TV. 

“I just wish we had given up and stayed home,” her husband, Nathan Lassig, added.

As of time of publication, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Delta has canceled more than 6,000 flights since Friday’s IT issues began. The airline is now the subject of a federal investigation.

“We estimate that more than half a million passengers have been impacted by this,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a press briefing. “There is something unique to Delta, that requires specific attention … we want to understand how this could have happened.”

In a company memo, Delta said they’re seeing day over day progress and that “teams are working around the clock to reposition planes and people to where they need to be so we can return to normal operations by the end of the week.”

Rachelle Akuffo told ABC News that Delta canceled her and her daughter’s flight to London and the airline rebooked them with a layover of more than 340 hours.

“The math is not mathing, like in what world would I have a two-week layover?” she questioned.

There have also been reports of unaccompanied minors who have been stranded as a result of the tech meltdown that forced Delta to suspend its program for unaccompanied minors, leaving parents frustrated and concerned.

JR Reed told ABC News Atlanta station WSB-TV that he was scrambling to get his three children home after visiting relatives across the country.

“They have kids on connecting flights every day all the time,” Reed said. “It appears that they don’t want to dedicate the agents to go handle it. And I don’t think they thought through. What about all the kids that were halfway through their trips?”

According to FlightAware, at least 10,672 flights have been canceled and 54,420 flights have been delayed since Friday, as of Wednesday morning.

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(NEW YORK) — Delta apologized for its widespread cancellations and delays over the last several days, issuing a new message Wednesday to customers affected by the fallout from the global IT outage last Friday.

The airline also says it plans to issue 10,000 bonus miles and offers to reimburse “reasonable expenses.”

“Please accept our sincere apologies for the disruption to your recent travel plans caused by a vendor technology outage affecting airlines and companies worldwide,” the airline said. “Delta teams have been working tirelessly to restore our operation to get our customers safely to their final destinations. We understand that unexpected disruptions like this are difficult for everyone and do not reflect the operational reliability and experience you have come to know and expect from us.”

Delta also said that if passengers incurred “any hotel, meal, or transportation expenses while in transit resulting from this flight disruption,” they may submit a claim to the airline for a reasonable expenses reimbursement.

“Please note that we do not reimburse prepaid expenses, including but not limited to hotel reservations at your destination, vacation experiences, lost wages, concerts, or other tickets,” Delta said.

The apology comes several days after a wave of IT outages swept across the globe on Friday morning, causing thousands of flight cancellations and stalling internal and external systems across a variety of industries including hospitals, banks, stock exchanges and other institutions, as some Microsoft-based computers ceased to work.

Thousands of flights were canceled in the U.S. after American Airlines, United and Delta asked the Federal Aviation Administration for a global ground stop on all flights.

At least 2,537 flights were canceled and 8,376 were delayed in the U.S., FlightAware data reported last Friday.

“Please know that we deeply value you and your experience as our customer. Despite this unexpected disruption to our operations, we are doing everything possible to ensure your future travel meets the high service and reliability standards that Delta is known for,” the airline said. “We appreciate your trust in us and look forward to providing an exceptional experience to you on your next Delta flight.”

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(NEW YORK) — McDonald’s is extending its popular $5 meal deal as the value meal battle between fast food chains wages on.

In a company memo obtained by ABC News, McDonald’s executives said most U.S. locations will extend the deal through August.

The deal that first launched on June 25 was only supposed to stay on menus for a month, but executives said the deal has resonated with millions of customers and has helped boost traffic at restaurants.

The meal combo includes a choice of a McDouble or McChicken sandwich, small french fries, four-piece chicken nuggets and a small soft drink.

Several other fast food chains including Burger King, Wendy’s, Starbucks and Taco Bell have rolled out comparable discounts this summer to entice customers voicing frustrations over fast food high prices.

Wendy’s upped the ante on Monday, announcing a new mobile app exclusive where customers can get the Honey Buddy — its Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit breakfast sandwich — for just $1 every Monday through the end of September with any purchase.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, the cost of going out to eat has outpaced the cost of groceries each month this year.

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Department of Transportation has opened an investigation into Delta Airlines over recent flight disruptions, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Tuesday in a post on X.

“All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld,” Buttigieg said.

Story developing…

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(WASHINGTON) — When Kamala Harris ran for president in 2020, she released 15 years of her personal tax returns, the most of any 2020 presidential candidate. The disclosure offers a glimpse into how Harris, who has emerged as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination after President Joe Biden’s sudden withdrawal from the race, became a millionaire as a public servant.

After Harris, in 2014, married Doug Emhoff, who was then an entertainment lawyer, her net worth increased significantly due to the couple’s combined assets, a review of her tax records and financial disclosures shows.

Before then, Harris’ income came mostly from her public salaries as district attorney of San Francisco and attorney general of California.

Before she was married, the highest annual income reported by Harris was in 2010, when she reported earning $263,000. The next year, when she became attorney general, her reported income dropped to less than $160,000 a year in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

After marrying Emhoff — whose clients have included retail giant Walmart and health care company Abbott Labs, as well as a Malibu real estate agent who found fame on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills — Harris’ income went up significantly.

As a high-profile attorney for one of the world’s largest companies, Emhoff earned more than $1 million per year and held dozens of investments and stocks, according to financial documents reviewed by ABC News.

In 2014, Emhoff owned shares of at least 30 stocks from companies including Home Depot, St. Jude Medical, Comcast, and American Express, according to his statement of economic interest, a form required for California employees.

After Harris announced she would run for U.S. Senate in 2015, Emhoff sold off many of his stocks, including CVS Health and Oracle. Harris won her Senate seat in 2016.

From 2015 until 2019, Emhoff reported dozens of publicly traded investments known as “excepted investment funds,” according to annual reports filed by Harris when she was a senator.

As Harris’ profile grew, so did her earnings. According to a 2018 annual report filed by Harris, she received an advance of more than $300,000 for her memoir, The Truths We Hold, and she and Emhoff reported a gross joint income of $1,889,156 that year, according to tax returns.

Before Harris assumed the vice presidency in 2021, Emhoff announced in December 2020 that he would leave his law firm. He joined Georgetown University’s law school as a member of faculty, where he has earned nearly $200,000 per year.

As a result of the move, the couple’s income dropped significantly, from more than $3 million in 2019 to about $450,000 in 2023.

Nevertheless, with their real estate assets and pension, Forbes estimates Harris and Emhoff’s net worth to be about $8 million, up from $7 million in 2021. Property records reviewed by ABC News show Harris sold her Washington, D.C., condo in 2021 for $1.85 million, and the couple currently owns a house in Brentwood, California, that Emhoff purchased in 2012 for $2.7 million.

If Harris becomes the Democratic presidential nominee, she will face former President Donald Trump, who has long fought to keep his tax records private.

Forbes, in its most recent accounting, estimates Trump’s net worth to be $5.9 billion, which an earlier breakdown said consists of $2.5 billion mainly from his real estate properties, clubs and resorts, plus the value of his share of Truth Social’s parent company, minus the $540 million in legal liabilities from his civil trials over the last year.

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