Author: Andy Williams

Continuing the upward trend in electric vehicle prices due to rising raw material prices, Tesla raised the price of the base Model 3 in Germany from just under €42,990 to €49,990. This means an increase of up to €7,000. The price increase followed several other price hikes in March. Tesla has also previously raised the price of their electric vehicles in the United States and China. After that, Tesla also increased the price of the Long Range and Performance Model 3 and Model Y in Germany. The increase in the price of the base Model 3 in Germany puts it…

GM restarted production on the  Bolt EV and EUV on April 4 after a year out of production due to problems with LG-made battery cells. GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said “production of the Bolt EV/EUV resumed today, as planned… we are delighted that The Bolt EV/EUV is back on the market,” as reported by the Detroit News. In August, GM recalled all Bolt EVs and EUVs due to a defect in the battery that caused the fire. LG had to pay $2 billion for defects in the Bolt EV and EUV batteries. As a result, GM had to stop production…

In March, there were 13,983 new electric passenger cars registered in Norway. That number represented 86.1 percent of all new passenger car registrations for the month. In March 2021, there were 8,624 new electric cars registered. This means that when compared from year to year there is an increase of up to 62.1 percent. When compared to 6,160 new registrations from February 2022, March saw an increase of 127 percent. If we add the 947 plug-in hybrids (5.8 percent market share), 91.9 percent of all new registrations in Norway in March were plug-ins. Overall in March 2022, hybrid vehicles represented…

Cupra has just launched two hatchback variants Born to the public. Both variants offered promise increased performance and additional range. The cheaper Born e-Boost uses a 58 kWh battery that allows for a range of 264 miles. This variant can accelerate from 0-62 mph in 6.6 seconds. The more expensive version uses a 77 kWh battery pack and offers a range of 340 miles and acceleration from 0-62 mph in 7 seconds. Prices with the 58 kWh battery start at £37,445 in the UK, while the variant with the 77 kWh battery starts at £41,975. Several trim levels are available,…

Hertz announced it will buy up to 65,000 electric vehicles from Polestar over the next five years. Hertz’s massive purchase is billed as a move by car rental companies to add zero-emission vehicles to their fleet. Hertz said the Polestar electric vehicle would be available starting this spring in Europe and in North America and Australia in 2022. Hertz said it would order the Polestar 2 sedan to complement its existing fleet of electric vehicles. Hertz in October announced its order to buy 100,000 electric vehicles from Tesla, mainly for the Model 3 In March, Hertz added the Tesla Model…

The Rivian R1T is finally out on the road after a long wait for fans. One of the owners of the R1T Launch Edition shared his experience on the Out Of Spec Review channel finding vehicles that have had years of hype and anticipation. The first thing to discuss is the buying process, which is described as running smoothly. Very good customer service and very practical. Trade-in is done online, at a reasonable price. The second thing is very solid product quality. He then mentions the excellent build material and calls it super solid all round. The R1T Launch Edition…

Lotus has revealed Lotus Eletre SUV electric which comes with the latest features for electric vehicles. The Lotus Eletre is Lotus’ second electric car after the Evija as well as the first SUV released by the Hethel, England-based manufacturer. For brief information, Lotus Eletre was developed from the Electric Premium Architecture platform which has a charging capability of 800 volts. Its performance is supported by two four-wheel drive electric motors that are targeted to have a power starting from 600 hp. Not only a powerful electric motor, the Lotus Eletre also gets a Lithium-ion battery with a capacity of more…

Kia Motors has confirmed plans to launch a production version of the electric SUV concept EV9 starting in 2023. The fully electric EV9 will be the first large-sized SUV in the Kia lineup that claims to be superior in terms of footprint, design and hi-tech features. The production version of the electric SUV is expected to retain the proportions of the concept version shown in 2021, with a slimmer design. The Kia EV9 will measure 4,930 mm (194 inches), 2,055 mm (81 inches) wide and 1,790 mm (70 inches) high, with a wheelbase of 3,100 mm (122 inches). With these…

American carmaker Ford will launch the electric Ford Puma SUV in 2024. This is part of Ford’s ‘Model e’ electrification plan which includes two larger EV SUV models and four new electric vans. Quoted from autoexpress.co.uk, the electric variant of the Ford Puma by design will not be drastically overhauled. Ford retains the curved crossover body shape like the standard car, high-set headlights and sloping rear. A possible adjustment for the electric version of the Ford Puma is a closed front grille to improve aerodynamic efficiency. In addition, the design of the running lights uses LEDs and a slightly cleaner…

LG Energy Solution (LGES), a supplier to electric car makers Tesla and Lucid, said it plans to invest 1.3 billion euros to build a battery plant in Arizona by 2024. This was done in order to meet the demands of “leading startups” and other North American customers. It will be the first US factory to make cylindrical cells, the type of battery already used in Tesla and Lucid vehicles, LGES said. Construction will begin in the second quarter of 2022, with mass production set to begin in 2024 with a production capacity of 11 gigawatt hours, LGES said in a…

Tesla wants to do a stock split so that it can pay stock dividends to shareholders. This is based on a submission submitted on Monday, March 28, 2022. The Securities and Exchange Commission said the electric car maker would seek shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) for an increase in the number of authorized shares of common stock, to allow a stock split of the Company’s common shares in the form of stock dividends. Stock dividends are dividends paid to shareholders in the form of additional company shares, not cash. Then, this dividend has no effect…

Chief Executive Officer of Ford Motor Co. Jim Farley has formed a new unit to accelerate development of autonomous vehicles and drive new technology businesses. Farley formed the Ford Next late last year with Franck Louis-Victor, a hard-charging specialist as manager from Renault SA, and now the Ford Next unit is structurally reinforced. Farley announced that he has divided the company’s car manufacturing into two, namely the e model for electric models and the Ford Blue for conventional combustion engine vehicles. See also: Ford files patent for Drifting Mode in electric vehicles and conventional cars Ford’s autonomous vehicle unit Autonomous…