E-Mobility

The Shadow Mode feature of the upcoming Ram 1500 Revolution electric pickup truck will allow its driver to walk slowly around a job site and have the truck follow it on its own. The 1500 Revolution concept shown at CES also has a retracting steering wheel and console to increase interior space.

Citing increased manufacturing efficiencies and decreased component costs, Tesla made another round of drastic Model Y and Model 3 price 'adjustments'. The Model Y, in particular, now starts from just US$37,875 in China, a price that is 43% lower than the SUV's tag in the US.

The futuristic electric motorcycle made by the relatively young company from Finland comes with a striking in-wheel motor and a sleek overall design, but the exciting two-wheeler also packs a punch in terms of performance and price.

The first two vehicles with BYD's new e⁴ platform that offers independent AWD motion that can stop a vehicle without brakes or steering wheel, are a big SUV as well as a fast hypercar. The U8 offroader will cost US$145,000, while the Yangwang U9 will accelerate in under 3 seconds.

Equipped with 45 cameras and sensors, as well as with 800 TOPS Qualcomm Snapdragon computing power, the first EV of the Sony Honda Mobility joint venture will launch under the brand name Afeela. While the prototype shown at CES 2023 has gaming ecosystem based on Epic's Unreal Engine, infotainment may be tasked to the PS5 platform in the future.

Qualcomm has arrived at the Las Vegas Convention Center to highlight the current and ongoing role of its Snapdragon Ride Platforms as prominent automotive processing solutions. This involves a debut for the inaugural Ride Flex SoC, a new way to put automated driving (AD) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) on the same chip. It is also to come pre-integrated with Snapdragon Ride Vision for potentially unified hardware- and software-based vehicular development.

Tesla shipped fewer electric cars than its own forecasts last year, but is still the king on the EV block. The Warren Buffett-backed BYD delivered 1.86 million 'new energy vehicles' in 2022, of which more than 911,000 EVs, riding on the wings of customers looking for cheaper electric vehicles that are nevertheless direct Tesla model competitors when it comes to specs or craftsmanship.

A consumer watchdog has imposed a fine on Tesla for grossly exaggerated driving range estimates marketed on its website, as well as misleading Supercharger performance advertising. The fine has been levied for false fuel cost efficiency claims in comparison with ICE vehicles as well.

The e-vehicle start-up Davinci Motor has announced that it is coming to CES 2023 with its upcoming motorcycle. The DC100 is touted to rival traditional 1,000cc machines with its specs, not to mention its "futuristic" design. Davinci also backs it to achieve an appreciable range, replenished with fast DC charging.

In addition to a significantly shorter range per charge, the Supercharger experiment with the Tesla Model 3 Performance illustrates another weakness that EV drivers may have to deal with in super cold winter temperatures, although this particular scenario is quite unlikely to happen during regular usage.

The IRS has published the full list of electric vehicles that will qualify for the US$7,500 federal tax credit starting January 1, 2023. Eight of them are Tesla Model Y and Model 3 versions, but not all Model Ys are considered SUVs by the IRS with the respective higher US$80,000 purchase limit.

It's the end of the road for flipping used Tesla cars at a profit, it seems, as they now stay much longer on dealer lots than other used vehicles, and command much lower price than they used to just a few months ago. Meanwhile, Tesla's production output slowdown in the Shanghai Gigafactory will be extended into January as well.

Besides the long-teased 500 kW charging station that can top up electric vehicles in 12 minutes, NIO used its annual event to unveil an ES8 SUV refresh and an EC7 electric coupe with just 0.23 drag coefficient. In addition, NIO showed automatic battery swaps on the highway that its EVs do on their own.

Yet another source is suggesting that LG may become a major Apple Car components supplier, but this time it might be Apple that has approached it. LG has reportedly crafted a working group to entertain Apple's supply request for everything from batteries to the cameras needed for an eventual Apple Car autonomous driving kit.

Porsche has revealed a new 19.2 kW onboard charger for the Taycan, which nearly halves the time to reach full charge. For example, the standard battery will now fully charge in 4.8 rather than 9.5 hours. The part will be an option for new EVs and can also be retrofitted to older models.

BMW's long-term commitment to the solid-state battery technology research of the US company Solid Power seems to finally be bearing fruit. The two companies will establish a partnership over a pilot solid-state battery cell production in Germany.

Tesla apparently expects its cars to qualify for the whole of the new EV federal subsidy on January 1, so it is now doubling the credit it was giving to customers who buy its EVs for December delivery. The Treasury postponed its subsidy requirement guidelines for March, and now all made-in-US EVs will reportedly get the full subsidy amount in Q1.

It will cost US$300,000-US$400,000 per dealership to retrofit the lots for electric vehicle sales from their current state, reports Buick. Those dealers who don't accept the GM buyout and prefer to remain independent will have to prepare for the EV era of cars like the Electra E5 that Buick will be bringing to the US in 2024.

Bose has revealed that it is now an audio partner for Volvo in-car systems, starting with the new EX90. The new all-electric vehicle thus comes with a branded multi-speaker array optimized for its sports utility vehicle (SUV) design. It is rated to create a surround-sound effect that serves each seat with "accurate" bass and noise-dampening technology.

The US$3,750 EV credit that Tesla started giving to December buyers to make them pull the trigger instead of wait for the federal subsidy may have been too little. The Treasury Department delayed the issuing of its subsidy requirement guidelines until March, so Teslas may now qualify for the full US$7,500 tax credit amount.

The pricing for the 2023 Kia EV6 GT for the Australian market may have been leaked after a third-party price guide listed the model as costing AU$99,590 (~US$66,825). The EV is due to launch officially at the Australian Open when pricing is expected to be confirmed by the company.

The Mercedes-Benz AMG EQE 43 4MATIC electric SUV is now available to order from the company’s German website. The EV has a 350 kW 858 Nm motor and up to 476 km (~296 miles) WLTP range. Other models, such as the EQE 350+, EQE 350 4MATIC and EQE 500 4MATIC, are expected to be available to order from spring 2023.

The initial US$1 billion Tesla investment in its newest Gigafactory in Santa Catarina may be expanded to US$10 billion when the plant starts assembling a new, cheaper to produce model there in a few years. Elon Musk already met twice with local officials there and Tesla has reportedly acquired the Giga Mexico plots, too.

Tesla cars consume the least fuel when converted to the miles per gallon metric, followed by Japanese or Korean brands like Subaru, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, and Mazda. Then come the German automakers, while the gas-guzzling trend puts GM, Ford, or Stellantis, at a disadvantage.

One of the considered proposals might be a US battery plant ownership where CATL isn't an investor but just managing production and providing the LFP cell technology. The world's largest battery maker may have been exploring a battery plant in Mexico before the subsidy act passed.

Instead of an outright price cut, Tesla keeps piling incentives for American and European customers if they take buy a car for a December delivery from the EV maker. After the generous credit towards the purchase of a car in stock both in the US and Europe, Tesla now adds free Supercharger miles.

By the time Tesla's Cybertruck launches, it may have a veritable onslaught of competition in the electric pickup category and not only by Ford or Rivian. Toyota just teased its first fully electric pickup truck, too, the Hilux Revo BEV.

Vehicles equipped with the affordable LFP batteries of the type Tesla uses in its standard range Model Y and Model 3 will be able to cover 500 miles on a charge with Svolt's new Dragon Armor battery packs. Employing cell-to-chassis technology, the packs are also much safer than traditional EV batteries.

The base Ford F-150 Lightning model now starts from US$56,000, in a second round of price increases for the last three months or so. Meanwhile, Tesla is offering a Model Y and Model 3 price discounts for cars in existing inventory sitting in its European warehouses.

Tesla's new 'automotive grade' in-car SSD does what other durable 1TB solid-state drives can do, but for the whopping price of US$350 when it launches in February. On the other hand, Tesla cut its home charging station prices both in its online store and over at Best Buy where the home charger recently went on sale, too.

The Tesla Model Y and Model X seem to be the best bet for the least amount of electric vehicle range drop in cold weather, study finds. The Model 3 is not too shabby, either, why for some like the Ford Mustang Mach-E the winter weather battery range drop could reach double what Tesla's electric SUVs manage.

Tesla's long-awaited 1MW+ Semi long-haul truck Megacharger stations are starting to pop up at more locations where Semis are being delivered to commercial customers. Those factory-installed Megachargers are seemingly drawing grid electricity still, though, a long way from the solar charging independence vision of Tesla.

Just when Sony and Honda announced they are partnering to bring the PlayStation 5 gaming and entertainment experience to their future electric cars, Tesla now made good on the promise to launch Steam in its vehicles. Well, in recent Model S and Model X units, at least.

STMicroelectronics has announced that the Hyundai Motor Group will use its silicon-carbide power module in various EVs. The Kia EV6 has been officially named as a model set to receive the new part, which could increase the range by up to 5%. The Hyundai Ioniq 5, Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Genesis GV60 might also get the new module.

Stellantis may be going big on microtransactions to unlock various features that come standard on its future electric cars, as it tries to recoup some of the increased costs of EV making. Illinois State Senators are scrambling to save the Belvidere plant that Stellantis said will close due to the expenses involved in EV production.

"Plaintiff purchased a second Tesla Model 3, relying on advertisement from the company that all Tesla 3 models come with all the necessary hardware for self-driving," argued the judge, and awarded him a free FSD computer upgrade. Tesla also has to compensate the plaintiff for unwarranted upgrade that lost AM radio functionality.

Cowboy has announced the relaunch of its Circular bike refurbishment scheme. The company sells reconditioned models that have been returned or used for testing. Circular offers up to €500 (~US$527) off models like the Cowboy C4, which has a top assistance speed of 25 kph (~16 mph) and up to 70 km (~43 miles) of range.

Toyota is looking for ways to cut EV production costs and increase their performance in order to catch up with Tesla's profit-per-vehicle that outnumbers it eightfold. Honda, on the other hand, another latecomer to the electric car era, is now becoming CATL's second largest battery customer after Tesla.

MATE Bike has unveiled a new model, the SUV. The electric bicycle has three wheels to help it support larger loads with up to 210 L capacity. The 90 Nm motor can assist you at speeds up to 25 kph (~16 mph), and the battery allows up to 100 km (~62 miles) of assistance range. Plus, you can control the e-bike and view journey information in an accompanying app.

The relatively young American automaker, which made headlines with the good-looking and incredibly efficient Lucid Air, may not come out on top of the EV market according to Elon Musk, who once again reiterated that he does not think the company will stay afloat for much longer.

Rad Power Bikes has revealed the RadTrike 1, the company’s first electric tricycle. The e-trike can handle loads up to 415 lbs (~188 kg) and travel at speeds up to 14 mph (~22.5 kph). The US model will launch early next year with a half-twist throttle; a less powerful pedelec version could launch in Europe in 2024.

Tom Zhu is coming with a group of Chinese production engineers to advise Tesla's newest Giga Texas factory on its capacity expansion quest. The Tesla China CEO who practically lived in the Shanghai Gigafactory for two months during the worst of China's COVID lockdowns there and during the factory capacity retooling, may be anointed by Elon Musk as his successor at Tesla's helm.

Apple Car could have limited Full Self-Driving if the latest report from Bloomberg is accurate. Cupertino’s first EV, which was previously expected to debut in 2025, was thought of as being a completely autonomous vehicle. Moreover, Apple could also delay the car to 2026.

Tesla is looking to introduce radar back to its vehicles at some form, starting this coming January, according to its own filing with the Federal Communications Commission. It's not clear if it will be a LiDAR for the self-driving suite, or one for the cabin, but the filing says it will be a high definition one.

Tesla car buyers are often getting surprised to discover that the EV maker has removed the parking sensors in its new vehicle batches without providing an alternative first. Tesla does warn that its transition to camera-only autonomous driving and parking assist will take time, but there's yet to be a fix.

Volkswagen has announced a new ID.3 EV concept will be officially unveiled early next year, with the first vehicles scheduled for release in Q4. The electric car will have a larger 12-in (~30.5 cm) infotainment display and more boot space. Software improvements will boost performance, and OTA updates for the ID.3 will be available.

The Toyota bZ Compact SUV Concept has been revealed at an event in Europe. The BEV is smaller than the bZ4X, the first model released from the Beyond Zero series. The C-SUV features a large infotainment system and an octagonal steering wheel. Toyota confirmed that the concept would be one of six cars in the bZ lineup by 2026.

Tesla’s redesigned Model 3, scheduled to appear in the summer of 2023, could be hiding in plain sight, as a previously unseen version was spotted in a Californian parking lot. The car was heavily camouflaged, as can be expected from an engineering prototype.

With a lower suspension setting and other more or less discreet visual changes, AC Schnitzer has transformed the BMW i4 into an attractive patrol car for the German police. However, the customized concept car will not be able to outperform the production model of the sporty electric sedan from Bavaria.

Scott has launched the new Lumen eRide Bike series. The bicycles have a 50 Nm motor and come as standard with a 360 Wh battery stored in the downtube. The range-topping model, the Scott Lumen eRide 900 SL bike, has an SRAM derailleur with a wireless electronic shift system and weighs just 15.5 kg (~34.2 lbs).