Kia remains committed to an ambitious EV sales goal, but plans to keep hybrids and plug-in hybrids as part of its product mix, the automaker announced Friday in a presentation to investors. Kia still targets 1.6 million global EV sales annually by 2030. That’s the same goal the automaker stepped up to in 2023, versus a previous target of 1.2… Read more…

New Jersey is introducing an additional registration fee for EVs. Starting July 1, drivers will pay an upfront fee of more than $1,000 on top of existing registration fees. Governor Phil Murphy signed a law last week renewing New Jersey’s transportation trust fund that adds an annual fee set at $250 this year, and rising $10 over the remaining… Read more…

Automakers must reduce EV battery weight by 50% in the next decade in order to make electrification truly green, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said Wednesday during the automaker’s Freedom of Mobility Forum. As Reuters reports, Tavares said that making a battery pack for an EV with a “decent range” of 250 miles currently takes, on average 1,000… Read more…

Tesla will unveil its Robotaxi August 8, CEO Elon Musk announced Friday. In his typical fashion, Musk made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter), the social media site he owns. The post included the date with no further details. According to a Reuters report earlier in the day, Tesla has reportedly dropped its $25,000 affordable EV project in… Read more…

The most affordable Tesla may have been canceled. Again. According to a report Friday morning from Reuters, citing three sources familiar with the matter, the company has ceased plans to build a $25,000 Tesla that would slot below the Model 3 and Model Y in the lineup. Self-driving robotaxis would continue to be developed on the new platform… Read more…

Audi E-Tron GT, RS E-Tron GT, and Porsche Taycan electric cars are being recalled for a battery issue that could lead to short circuits and fires. The recall population includes 606 Taycans from model years 2020 to 2023 and 1,042 E-Tron GT and RS E-Tron GT vehicles from model years 2022 to 2024. Audi is conducting two recalls for the same issue… Read more…

Not every automaker’s taking the same strategy when it comes to electrification. During an interview at the 2024 New York auto show Nissan North America’s Senior Vice President and Chief Planning Officer, Ponz Pandikuthira laid out for Green Car Reports the automaker’s viewpoint on where EVs, PHEVs, and series hybrids make the… Read more…

The electric future will take a bit longer than originally promised at Ford. On Thursday, Ford announced its next-gen electric truck, known as T3, will arrive a year later than planned while the unrelated three-row electric SUV will arrive two years later than planned. Subsequently, Ford said it plans to offer a hybrid powertrain in every… Read more…

Canada’s Quebec province—widely seen as the “California of Canada” with respect to EVs and EV policy—plans to end its EV purchase incentives. Quebec currently offers incentives of up to $7,000 for new EVs and $5,000 for new plug-in hybrids, as well as up to $3,500 for used EVs (all amounts are in Canadian dollars). But the amounts will… Read more…

In a recent Fox News interview, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said EV skeptics risk being left behind by technological progress. “I feel like it’s the early 2000s,” Buttigieg said in defense of the Biden administration’s EV policies which aim for 50% EV sales by 2030, “and I’m talking to some people who think we can just have landline… Read more…

Chevrolet is offering discounts to Bolt EV owners who buy a 2024 Equinox EV, CarsDirect reports. A dealer bulletin seen by CarsDirect includes a “24 Equinox Private Offer” available from now until April 30. It offers 2017-or-newer Bolt EV and Bolt EUV owners or lessees a $3,000 discount if they finance an Equinox EV purchase through GM Financial… Read more…

Chevrolet confirmed on Wednesday that the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado RST First Edition—that’s the first version of the electric Chevy pickup available to individual buyers—is still coming. And at least in its top-of-the-line version it will be a better deal than it was when originally announced. The Silverado RST First Edition will… Read more…

Numbers alone aren’t what make a car thrilling or great. But they’re often what gets the conversation started. When Porsche revealed its original Mission E concept, in 2015, it was in many respects a first-draft effort of what it needed to do to one-up Tesla, and it dropped some positively jaw-dropping numbers. Porsche focused on an… Read more…

Tesla on Tuesday revealed preliminary production and delivery numbers for the first quarter, and they’re down markedly—falling versus the same period the previous year for the first time since 2020 and the onslaught of the pandemic. In the first quarter of 2024, Tesla made 433,371 vehicles, while it delivered just 386,810 vehicles… Read more…

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) now has one and only one pickup truck model on its Top Safety Pick+ honor roll, and it’s fully electric. Fresh off a new round of testing, the Rivian R1T electric truck has been upgraded by the IIHS to Top Safety Pick+ status, from its previous Top Safety Pick. The elevating factor: Updated… Read more…

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s reputation has deteriorated significantly thanks to his online outbursts—and that may be negatively affecting Tesla sales, Reuters reports. In a new survey by marketing analysis firm Caliber provided exclusively to Reuters, a “consideration score” for Tesla fell to 31% in February, less than half its high of 70% in… Read more…

General Motors is negotiating a U.S. battery-supply deal with China’s CATL, Car News China reports. GM already works closely with CATL, but that relationship is limited to the China market. The deal reportedly being discussed would bring that partnership to North America in the form of a joint battery plant located in either the U.S. or Mexico… Read more…

The next-generation Nissan Frontier midsize pickup truck may get EV and plug-in hybrid variants, the latter using Mitsubishi tech, Automotive News reports. Nissan and Mitsubishi have been corporate allies since 2016, and the current-generation Nissan Rogue and Mitsubishi Outlander crossovers use a common platform. But the two brands are looking at… Read more…

Ahead of the release of preliminary Q1 2024 production and delivery figures, expected next week, it’s now official: Tesla has delivered more than 6 million vehicles since 2008, every one a battery-electric vehicle. Its 5 million total last September got a lot of attention. But 6 million is more important, because it cements Tesla as the… Read more…

Fisker has slashed prices on its Ocean electric SUV as it looks to relieve a glut of unsold vehicles. In a move that it calls “strategically positioning Ocean to be a more affordable and compelling EV choice,” the company on Wednesday announced significant price cuts on the 2023-model-year vehicles that represent the majority of the current Ocean… Read more…