With the rollout of the production 2025 Cybertruck on Thursday, Tesla included a couple of battery-related surprises—including a long-awaited turnaround on the ability to use its EVs for home-energy backup in power outages. While one of those battery surprises involved a separate range-extender, mounting inside the pickup’s bed and… Read more…

In an event Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk presented a production version of the Tesla Cybertruck. It looks much like the stainless-steel genre-bender Tesla premiered in 2021, but the electric truck doesn’t come any where close to the $39,900 starting price or range of up to 500 miles that had been suggested at that time. Musk said very… Read more…

Volvo has announced pricing and opened pre-orders for the 2025 EX90 electric SUV. U.S. versions of the EX90 will start at $77,990 in its seven-passenger layout, while the six-passenger layout with captain’s chairs will start at $78,490 (all prices include the $1,295 destination fee). That means at least some of the lineup is likely to be EV… Read more…

Hyundai and Kia on Wednesday unveiled a new EV motor design that splits the difference between conventional motors and in-wheel motors. Dubbed the Universal Wheel Drive System—or Uni Wheel for short—this design moves motors closer to the wheels but not into them. That’s made possible by a planetary gear set with a central sun gear… Read more…

The reliability of electric cars and plug-in hybrids is improving, but they still remain more trouble-prone than cars without plugs, according to a new Consumer Reports survey. On average, EVs had 70% more problems than internal-combustion vehicles, the survey found. Electric cars, electric SUVs, and electric pickups are all among the… Read more…

After years of anticipation, 2024 is shaping up to be the year that automakers will start to deliver electric pickups—even the Tesla Cybertruck, perhaps—in greater volume. But even as overheated EV transaction prices calm and inventories offer the possibility of more test drives, Americans are looking less optimistic about putting an… Read more…

Following substantial increases in 2022, EV battery prices are falling again, according to new analysis from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Lithium-ion battery pack prices have fallen 14% this year to a record low of $139 per kwh, BNEF reported this week. This was driven by decreases in raw-material and component prices, as well as… Read more…

Lotus has long produced fast cars. Now it’s also producing fast chargers. The automaker on Tuesday unveiled fast-charging hardware it claims to have developed in-house, including a liquid-cooled DC charger capable of up to 450 kw. It’s designed to be used with a Lotus-developed power cabinet and 600-amp charging unit in a setup Lotus claims can… Read more…

Even if all goes well, Toyota’s solid-state battery tech isn’t going to be making up any significant portion of the EV market—or Toyota’s own output—by the end of the decade. That’s a reality check contained in a recent document that perhaps serves to temper some of the recent hype over solid-state battery tech… Read more…

Nissan will build a Leaf replacement, as well as electric versions of two popular crossovers, in the U.K. for European sales. The Leaf replacement, along with electric Juke and Qashqai crossovers, will be built at Nissan’s Sunderland factory—long the automaker’s hub for European production—and will be inspired by three recent concept… Read more…

The Volkswagen Group’s Scout EV brand may outsource development of its upcoming electric pickup truck and SUV to Magna, according to a new report. VW has given Magna Steyr, the division of the automotive supplier that builds the rugged G-Class for Mercedes-Benz in Graz, Austria, an order worth $492 million to develop the models, Automotive News… Read more…

SAE International finalized methodology this past week for an important hardware component of EV wireless charging systems. The organization announced a single wireless charging standard—officially J2954—in 2020. As part of the finalization process of that standard, the organization has settled on a methodology for hardware that aligns… Read more…

Big, powerful electric luxury SUVs with sub-5-second acceleration times and ranges of 300 miles or more are now ubiquitous. That certainly wasn’t the case in 2019 when Audi E-Tron deliveries started, or in 2017, when Audi powertrain and chassis development chief Siegfried Pint promised me that the E-Tron’s tri-motor system would make… Read more…

Tesla has updated its billing policy with a “congestion fee” aimed at increasing throughput at its Supercharger DC fast-charging stations. According to the Supercharger fees page on Tesla’s website, updated earlier this week, users will now be charged $1 per minute to charge above 90% capacity. Tesla notes that this applies to “busy” stations… Read more…

The U.S. EV market grew significantly in the first half of 2023, but the average EV buyer still has very strong credit, a new study found. The study, conducted by credit giant TransUnion with S&P Global Mobility, found that high average credit scores for EV buyers remained the norm between the second quarter of 2022 and the same period in… Read more…

Stellantis and battery supplier CATL on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding that could pave the way for more affordable EVs in Europe. The non-binding memorandum outlines the supply of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells and modules by CATL to Stellantis for European production within an unspecific timeframe. The two companies are… Read more…

Redwood Materials, the battery recycling effort started by Tesla alum JB Straubel, sees its mission as critical for ramping up domestic content in American EVs—as well as for helping automakers meet sustainability targets. Last month, Redwood detailed one way it’s actually making that process happen on the ground: It’s started an… Read more…

A recently-surfaced Ferrari patent application hints at in-wheel motors for future performance road cars. In a filing published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Nov. 2, 2023, filed the previous April, the Italian performance automaker appears to be working to integrate motors together with friction brakes, as part of a… Read more…

Cadillac’s EV lineup will further expand with a compact SUV called the Optiq. In a brief announcement Friday, the General Motors luxury brand confirmed the Optiq as the “entry point for Cadillac’s EV lineup in North America,” sitting below the Lyriq. Further details will come next year, meaning the Optiq is likely to launch as a 2025 model… Read more…

Aerodynamics are an important consideration in modern EVs. Lowering aerodynamic drag improves efficiency, allowing for more range from a given battery-pack size. But it bears emphasis: This is far from a new obsession. A new exhibit curated by Audi in Germany highlights an earlier era of aerodynamic experimentation. In the 1930s, engineers at the… Read more…