Police cars are a significant chunk of Ford’s fleet business, and now the company is taking steps to make them electric. Ford on Friday said it is “exploring all-electric, purpose-built law enforcement vehicles” as part of its overall $30 billion investment in electrification through 2025. For now, the Ford Mustang Mach-E will serve as a testbed… More…

The crowdfunded Eli Zero electric car has started shipping to European Union dealerships, and the company plans to follow that up with a United States launch in 2022. Unveiled at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the Zero is classified as a neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) in the U.S., and as a “light quadracycle” in the EU. The… More…

This week, Tesla lost its lead position in electric vehicle range, held since the 2012 arrival of the Model S. The Model S delivered 265 EPA miles back then, passed the 300-mile barrier in 2016, and now achieves 405 miles in Long Range form. But Silicon Valley rival Lucid Motors has rolled into the scene with its Air sedan, rated last week by the… More…

Testers at Consumer Reports recently got their hands on the Tesla Model S steering yoke, and first impressions aren’t good. The publication, which purchases all of its test vehicles, recently received a new Model S equipped with the yoke which, in addition to its unusual shape, replaces conventional controls for the turn signals, windshield… More…

As it works to replace battery modules in Chevrolet Bolt EV models to address battery-fire concerns, General Motors is asking owners not to park within 50 feet of other vehicles or on the open levels of parking garages, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. The automaker started a recall, which now encompasses all of the roughly 140,000 Bolt EV and Bolt… More…

The Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup isn’t due until spring 2022, but Ford on Thursday confirmed that the first pre-production examples of the Lightning are already being built at the factory that will make consumer-bound versions next year. The pre-production F-150 Lightning trucks will be used for real-world testing, Ford says… More…

Chinese automaker Xpeng has released pricing information for its third electric car, the P5 sedan. While the P5 is destined for Europe in addition to Xpeng’s home market, it’s unlikely to reach the United States. In China, the P5 is available in six trim levels ranging from 157,900 yuan to 223,900 yuan, Xpeng said in a press… More…

The U.S. EPA has posted official efficiency and range estimates for the 2022 Lucid Air electric luxury sedan. Its 520-mile range rating establishes a new record, surpassing that of the highest-range Tesla by more than 100 miles. It is the longest-range EV ever rated by the EPA, Lucid emphasizes. It’s not the most efficient, though, in terms of… More…

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe tweeted Tuesday that the company had built its first customer R1T electric pickup truck. However, while Rivian also confirmed that it has met regulatory requirements to begin deliveries, it hasn’t provided any detail on how that will play out. Regulatory approvals aren’t going to affect this process. Rivian confirmed to… More…

As United States battery manufacturing increases to support greater EV production, battery materials could become a potential choke point. It’s this “less sexy” element that Tesla co-founder J.B. Straubel aims to address with his new company, Redwood Materials. As detailed in a recent Bloomberg profile, Straubel aims to move more of the… More…

Volkswagen on Tuesday revealed EPA range and efficiency estimates for the all-wheel-drive versions of its ID.4 electric crossover, which it says are the market’s lowest-priced fully electric models with AWD. Adding dual-motor all-wheel drive to the EV, which adds a motor/inverter to the front wheels, drops the expected range by about 10… More…

Last week Elio Motors put a price on a 150-mile, fully electric version of its high-efficiency, three-wheeled car: $14,900. That’s a different format—and price—than the original Elio, which still hasn’t arrived 12 years after its original announcement and 9 years after its originally anticipated arrival date. Call the… More…

Recently-published EPA range and efficiency ratings for the 2022 Volvo XC40 Recharge electric crossover show increases over the 2021 model. Volvo hasn’t confirmed any changes to range or efficiency for the 2022 XC40 Recharge, which largely carries over from its 2021 debut. However, the EPA’s Fueleconomy.gov website shows 223 miles of range, with… More…

Falling battery costs will soon help make EVs cheaper than combustion models—not just in overall ownership costs, but in up-front sticker price. But if you’re looking only for the lowest-priced new EVs on the market, without driving range a top priority, the options are surprisingly limited. Most of the new EVs being introduced are… More…

To truly minimize a car’s environmental impact, automakers need to do more than eliminate tailpipes. Unveiled earlier this week at the Munich auto show, the BMW i Vision Circular concept feature not only an electric powertrain, but also sustainable construction. The compact EV is based on the idea of a “circular economy,” where materials are… More…

Hyundai earlier this week teased a large electric SUV for its Ioniq sub-brand. Slated to be the third Ioniq model, it’s likely to arrive in the United States as the Ioniq 7 around 2024. A teaser photo tweeted by the automaker showed the new model, identified only as the “Ioniq large SUV” alongside the two previously-confirmed Ioniq… More…

Shifting the federal fleet to electric vehicles could save United States taxpayers $4.6 billion by 2030, according to a report released last month by the Electrification Coalition and Atlas Public Policy (via InsideEVs). The report found that 97% of the light-duty vehicles and buses in the federal fleet could be replaced with EVs by 2030, and 40%… More…

Suddenly there’s an attractive, premium, reasonably priced, electric car that doesn’t have a Tesla badge. The question is whether that matters and what concessions—or advantages—that brings with it. Polestar flew me to Santa Fe, New Mexico and tossed me the keys to the 2022 Polestar 2 single-motor front-wheel-drive model. I… More…

A lot can change in a year. Suddenly the Polestar 2 is more than just one car in one build configuration. The 2022 Polestar 2 lineup has expanded to become more competitive, less expensive, and now has both a single-motor and dual-motor model with option packages. Priced right on top of the Tesla Model 3 the 2022 Polestar 2 dual-motor long-range… More…

Mercedes used this week’s Munich auto show to unveil a concept car previewing a super-sized EV for its ua-luxury Maybach sub-brand. The Concept Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV also hints at an upcoming SUV companion to the EQS sedan unveiled earlier this year. Maybach will then get its own ua-luxury version of that model, similar to how the current… More…