E-Mobility

The handsome Fisker Ocean crossover SUV has finally begun landing in the hands of owners and media outlets, giving us our first real independent look at this EV newcomer. While no EV is perfect, there are a number of unique features that make this US$37,499-US$68,999 electric crossover special.

The NHTSA is investigating 280,000 new Tesla Model Y and Model 3 electric vehicles in the US. While it's still in the preliminary stages of the investigation, the NHTSA suspects that a defect in steering hardware is causing the steering wheel to lock up unexpectedly. For obvious reasons, this has prompted a formal investigation that may result in a recall if enough units are found to be problematic.

The immensely successful electric SUV falls short of its EPA range of 326 miles in all tested scenarios according to Consumer Reports, which also couldn't confirm the official range of the Hyundai Ioniq 5. On the other hand, two notable Tesla Model Y competitors, the Ford Mustang Mach-E and VW ID.4, manage to surpass their advertised range in the summer.

Yadea claims to have put safety first by combining three types of brake in the new KS6 Pro. The scooter is also equipped with 10-inch self-healing, tubeless tires for resistance to punctures and shocks on the road. Then again, it is also rated for a top speed of 18.6 miles per hour (mph) thanks to an up-to-800W motor and a battery rated for an "impressive" range.

After starting production of the Dual-Motor R1T using the efficient Enduro drive units, Rivian has apparently made some tweaks to the platform to trade more torque for a small dip in power figures. Along with more torque, which should improve off-road prowess, the company has also trimmed its warranty period on Dual-Motor R1T units.

While BYD is suing bloggers for defamation, a teardown of its innovative blade battery pack has compared it with the non-structural 2170 battery of the Model 3. The teardown expert claims that Tesla's battery is built with better cooling and is more repairable.

Exxon Mobil is in talks with Tesla and other EV industry pioneers over environmentally friendly lithium extraction and supply to the tune of 100,000 tons annually. The move comes as Tesla is building its own EV battery-grade lithium refinery at the Gulf Coast.

Starting near its new Gigafactories in Mexico and Texas, the proposed Tesla Megacharger corridor will be stretching all the way up to California. Tesla is asking for US$100 million in state and federal funding to roll out Semi chargers there that could benefit the Cybertruck as well.

The Porsche eBike Cross Performance EXC 2023 is now available to pre-order in various countries worldwide. The model has an 85 Nm Shimano motor and battery, alongside an integrated bike computer from the brand. The e-bike also has a carbon frame, FOX suspension system and MAGURA brakes.

Reports suggest that the production version of the Kia EV5 will be unveiled in August at the Chengdu Motor Show. The concept of the SUV was unveiled in March and it is expected to go on sale in the country later this year. The predicted price of the EV5 could make it a strong competitor for the Tesla Model Y.

Recent teasers posted by Fisker and its CEO indicate that the company will soon unveil its electric four-door GT sports car. The Fisker Ronin claims an impressive 966 km (600 miles), which puts it almost 200 miles (322 km) ahead of the Dual Motor Tesla Model S and nearly 85 miles (136 km) ahead of the Lucid Air.

A closer look at the Tesla Model 3 Highland front bumper reveals where its Hardware 4.0 front camera will go. The front bumper placement seems to be similar to that of the Cybertruck's HW4 camera configuration and will aid in curb parking, aside from the FSD tasks.

The folks at Munro Live, who have a long history of disassembling and inspecting Tesla vehicles, think the Cybertruck will be much lighter than the 8,500 to 10,000 lbs (3,855 - 4,536 kg) that Tesla's earlier regulatory filing suggested. The pair also dove into the safety and rigidity of the unique chassis construction.

Tesla has opened what seems to be the first combined Cybertruck/Semi high-output charging station with the so-called Megacharger plug and smaller pull-up space. Tesla's rival charging network, on the other hand, may support up to 400kW charging output.

Even though the eccentric CEO was the most frequently cited reason for former Model 3 owners who have since switched to other brands, the vast majority of customers appears to be quite satisfied with their Tesla EV as indicated by a recently conducted Bloomberg study.

Audi has introduced the e-tron GT as its latest super-premium electric vehicle (EV) for the Chinese market. The luxury sedan has a dual-motor system rated to propel it from 0 to ~62 miles per hour (or 0 to 100 kilometers per hour (km/h)) in well under 5 seconds. It also has ultra-fast charging touted to be able to fill its battery by 75% in under 30 minutes.

The new US fuel economy rules proposed by the Biden administration would likely see EVs occupy 66% market share — an almost tenfold increase — by 2032, if passed. What's more, the new rules impose stricter regulations on pickup truck fuel economy, which have thus far been given more lenient rules under CAFE requirements thanks to “light truck” classifications.

Just as storied EV tester Bjorn Nyland demonstrated, a Tesla EV can travel further even after the battery charge readout shows zero. What he didn't know at the time, however, was that Teslas may have been designed like that in an elaborate range estimate scheme.

Stellantis CEO, Carlos Tavares, has made some interesting comments about the future of Tesla in its recent semi-annual results presentation. The CEO specifically made reference to Tesla's recent dip in profitability as it starts to contend with legacy carmakers in a highly competitive market with aggressive pricing and tight manufacturing requirements.

A special report claims that Tesla knowingly programmed its electric vehicles to reflect woefully optimistic range figures while the battery was above 50%. The company also allegedly established a special team to shut down customers who complained about inaccurate range estimates, closing service tickets in an effort to save the company time and money.

After catching the Cybertruck in preparation to be wrapped as a regular Ford F-150 truck, the final ICE pickup camouflage effort has appeared outside on the streets. The Cybertruck here is dressed as a blue F-150 in what seems to be a marketing masterstroke.

Local automakers like XPeng sold more vehicles than foreign brands for the first time last quarter and, faced with flagging EV sales, VW is now buying a stake in XPeng to build EVs together. The first will be for the midsize market and based on the G9 SUV platform.

Tesla listed 1MW theoretical charging speed peak in its North American Charging Standard white paper when it open-sourced it. Its current V3 Superchargers, however, max out at 250kW, while the new V4 Supercharger system now officially goes up to 350kW output.

Hyundai recently balked at joining Tesla's NACS charging network as its Superchargers are just not powerful enough for its 800V drivetrain EVs. Instead, it now joins a conglomerate of 7 major automakers to build an alternative EV charging network in US cities and along major highways.

General Motors will resurrect the deprecated Chevy Bolt model but it looks like they will build it on a new, more cost-efficient production platform. GM's CEO Mary Barra said that the new Chevy Bolt will 'have much higher levels of customer-facing content.'

Mihogo has revealed the Mini, a compact folding e-bike, which will feature in an upcoming Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. The model has a 350W motor, up to 100 km (~62 miles) of range between charges and can fold in three steps. Plus, an integrated display shows information about your journey and can be linked to your smartphone.

The Decathlon Stilus E-Touring e-bike has arrived in EU countries, including the Netherlands, France and Germany. The model has an 85Nm motor with a torque sensor and up to 130 km (~81 miles) range from a Bosch PowerTube battery. Plus, the bike has a Bosch Kiox display and is compatible with the eBike Flow app.

The Xiaomi Electric Scooter 4 Go has been officially revealed via a product page on the brand’s website. The new model has a 450W motor for a top speed of 20 kph (~12 mph) and up to 18 km (~11 miles) range. Features include a dual-braking system, intelligent BMS and a built-in display.

Xiaomi is now selling the Electric Scooter 4 Lite in France and Spain, with the Electric Scooter 4 also offered in France. The Lite model has a 20 km (~12.4 miles) range, while the standard model allows you to travel up to 30 km (~18.6 miles) on a single charge. Other features include an integrated dashboard and a dual-braking system.

A misaligned front camera recall on the Tesla Model Y/S/X will take about 20 minutes to fix at a Tesla service center. The wrong camera pitch angle can turn off the Automatic Emergency Braking and Collision Warning features of affected Teslas without any warning.

WAU CYBER is being touted as "the world's most powerful" e-bike in advance of its launch, which will be done via crowdfunding. Its makers assert that it will also look more electric than every other vehicle on its market thus far. It is also backed to have "more features" than its competition and, furthermore, to have its own Founder's Edition.

The Fiido X is an "eye-catcher" of an e-bike with unique security features and a torque sensor. Now, its maker has announced an upcoming "meaningful" initiative that might help its fans get their friends or partners out onto an identical electric two-wheeler with them. It offers extra free accessories with the purchase of two or more new X units.

Tesla's Cybertruck electric pickups have been caught with the hood open, baring the front trunk's innards for what seems to be the first time. The curious part is that the Cybertrucks in question have been camouflaged to look like an ICE Ford F-150.

Mere days after CEO Elon Musk announced that more Tesla price cuts were expected, the prediction has come true, with the Model 3's price now discounted to a whopping US$37,940. These prices can be slashed even further to just over US$30,000 when US tax incentives are applied.

As Tesla finalises the Cybertruck's testing and validation stages, footage has emerged of the electric pickup with an all-new digital camo wrap. It's unclear whether these wild colour schemes we've seen the Cybertruck wearing in recent sightings will be available for purchase, but they've certainly generated quite a din among fans of the vehicle.

Some interesting early Tesla Cybertruck designs have been shared in a photo by author Walter Isaacson. The writer had been spending time with Elon Musk while researching the billionaire’s extraordinary life and was treated to a brain-storming session with Musk and designer Franz von Holzhausen as they searched for inspiration for the Cybertruck.

Ford's inventory of electric vehicles has consistently grown over the last few months, with some calling it a sign of the US carmaker's failure to sell its EVs. Ford, on the other hand, sees growing inventory in dealer lots as a return to normal thanks to an increase in production capacity. This response comes after Ford outpaced Tesla's Q2 2023 EV sales growth and drastically cut prices on its F-150 Lightning electric pickup.

Tesla has announced that it is recalling upwards of 15,000 of its Model S and Model X EVs after the company found that the front-row seat belt fasteners could have been improperly tightened after repairs. So far, neither Tesla nor the NHTSA have connected any deaths or injuries to the potentially loose hardware.

Toyota has announced that it will be recalling over 12,000 of its bZ3 sedans in China that it built in cooperation with BYD. The reason for the recall comes down to faulty rear door handles that occasionally stop working or, even worse, randomly open while driving. The issue is so severe that Toyota has asked owners to immediately stop driving the vehicles, citing safety concerns.

Toyota has applied for new trademarks in the European Union Intellectual Property Office, and the naming scheme indicates that the trademarks may be related to at least one upcoming electric Lexus three-row SUV. If the new electric three-row SUV follows in its ICE and PHEV counterparts' footsteps, we should be seeing a pretty boxy design with pseudo-station-wagon looks.

After shelving Bitcoin as a payment method due to criticism over environmental concerns, it appears that Tesla may start accepting the cryptocurrency as payment for its electric vehicles in the near future. The site's code also makes mention of Dogecoin, which is Elon Musk's favourite crypto flavour. The company has not announced any intentions to resume Bitcoin payments just yet.

Tesla could earn up to US$1 billion just from the federal battery tax credits alone this year, and will add another billion or so in cost savings from the drastic reduction in the price of lithium and other metals. Thus, Elon Musk is now on record saying that Tesla will cut prices again, if needed.

Tesla revealed that with the Cybertruck's 4680 battery it has already reached the potential targeted during its 2020 Battery Day presentation in terms of the '4680 production system and the improvements we strove to achieve on equipment, factory density, capital cost and utility cost reduction.' For the Cybertruck, in particular, Tesla will use a new, better 'Cyber cell.'

Nissan is the latest electric vehicle manufacturer to adopt Tesla's North American Charging Standard hardware. Just like other manufacturers that have made the switch, Nissan will ship NACS-to-CCS adaptors in 2024, and all electric vehicles from 2025 onwards will have NACS ports built in. Nissan has big plans for its electric future, with 19 new electric models planned between now and 2030.

In a surprising move, Tesla has announced that it plans to license its Full Self-Driving hardware and software to other electric vehicle manufacturers, adding that the company is already in talks with one other OEM to include FSD technology. Tesla will also allow existing FSD subscriptions to be transferred to new registrations through the end of September 2023.

Tesla has given us a sneak peek at the dimensions of the Cybertruck during the company's latest investor update, confirming a six-foot bed and a more compact body than any other full-sized double-cab pickup truck on the market. The company also confirmed that deliveries for the electric pickup will start later in 2023.

A Tesla Model 3 Highland has been caught on camera changing lanes on a freeway in California and revealing more details about its design changes. It looks like the Model 3 Highland turn indicators will be separate from the actual brake light and will flash in different color.

BMW has ordered its EV battery supplier Samsung SDI mass production of cylindrical 4680-style batteries like the ones Tesla is ramping up for the Cybertruck, but longer and with higher energy capacity. The 46120 batteries will be produced together with 4695 and 4680 ones.

The NHTSA casts an eye towards Tesla's Model 3 electric sedan after a fatal crash in California on July 5. The accident resulted in the death of the other driver and a three-month-old involved in the impact, and it is suspected that Tesla's Autopilot or other driver assistance technology was enabled at the time of the incident.

There is speculation that the Tesla Cybertruck could end up being sold cheaper than what is expected due to a recent tweet made by Elon Musk. Price tags for the Cybertruck variants have been announced in the past but competitive price-cutting by rivals may shake things up before the angular truck finally becomes widely available.