Electric Vehicles News & Discussions

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Subaru unveils new Solterra and Trailseeker electrics at New York Auto Show
By Aaron Turpen
April 16, 2025

Subaru has taken the wraps off a new and improved Solterra for the 2026 model year. The EV has more range, an NACS plug, and more power output with faster charging times. Also unveiled is a new off-road version of the Solterra, the Trailseeker.
2026 Solterra

The Solterra was first unveiled in 2021, and entered the North American market in 2022. Designed in collaboration with Toyota, which calls it the bZ4X, the Solterra EV sees several changes for 2026. Most of those are evolutionary improvements over the original. Changes that I think are much-needed for the car. The biggest improvements are in range and power output.

The battery in the Solterra sees a small gain in storage to 74.7 kWh, a boost of about 2 kWh. This and some reprogramming for reconditioning up the range for the EV to 285 miles (458.7 km), a 25% improvement over the outgoing version. That’s not insignificant, and fixes one of my biggest complaints about the bZ4X/Solterra. This upgrade will hopefully also improve cold weather performance, which was previously pretty dismal.

https://newatlas.com/automotive/subaru- ... ailseeker/

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Eaton EV Truetrac differential introduces the electric to the mechanical
By Aaron Turpen
April 21, 2025

https://newatlas.com/automotive/eaton-e ... ferential/

With electric vehicles, batteries and electronic technologies tend to get most of the attention. But it’s where the electric becomes mechanical that small incremental changes have the biggest impact.

Eaton has introduced a new version of its Truetrac differential design, made specifically for electric vehicles. It's aimed towards trucks and sport utilities, whose designs usually include all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive, and whose chassis are more vulnerable to wheel chatter and heavier loads.

Truetrac is also designed to operate with the lighter, less viscous lubricants used in most electric powertrains. Eaton says that the EV Truetrac was designed to operate with less noise and with the immediate torque input from an electric motor.

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Tesla's 71% Drop in Profit May Pressure Elon Musk to Return to Day Job

Source: nytimes.com



The carmaker reported the sharp decline in quarterly earnings after Tesla’s brand suffered because of its chief executive’s role in the Trump administration.


By Jack Ewing April 22, 2025Updated 5:35 p.m. ET

Tesla said Tuesday that its profit fell 71 percent in the first three months of the year, which could increase the pressure on Elon Musk, the automaker’s chief executive, to curtail his work for President Trump and spend more time managing the company.

The company said it had earned $409 million, down from $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024. The company previously reported net profit of $1.1 billion last year, but revised the figure to reflect changes in the way cryptocurrency assets are valued.

Tesla sales have been slumping because of intense competition from Chinese carmakers like BYD, a lack of new models and Mr. Musk’s support of far-right causes, which has turned off some liberals and centrists from buying Tesla vehicles.

Tesla remains the most valuable automaker in the world as measured by its stock price, and it sells far more electric vehicles in the United States than any other company. But its shares have lost about half their value since mid-December as investors have grown more pessimistic about the company’s prospects and concerned about Mr. Musk’s role in the Trump administration........................

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/busi ... ticleShare

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Dark Matter: An 86-lb, 800-hp EV motor by Koenigsegg
By Joe Salas
April 26, 2025

There's no replacement for displacement. An adage that's been around as long as the combustion engine, really. But these age-old sayings don't really apply anymore when it comes to electric motors.

Earlier this year, we talked about Koenigsegg's Light Speed Tourbillon Transmission (LSTT). We explored how it couples the 5-liter, 1,500 horsepower (1,119 kW), 1,106 lb-ft (1,500 Nm) of torque, "Hot V8" engine shoed into the rear of the Gemera hypercar and the 850-volt Dark Matter electric motor mounted in the front – but we never got into the specifics of this insane electric powerplant and what makes it so remarkable.

Unveiled in 2023 and stuffed into the Koenigsegg Gemera, the Dark Matter motor created an entirely new league of high-performance electric motor that didn't quite exist before. Most of its details are still hidden away in a secret Koenigsegg vault while awaiting patent protection.

https://newatlas.com/automotive/dark-ma ... -ev-motor/

[Yuli Ban]

Global EV sales jump 40% in March despite tariff turmoil

Global EV sales surged to 1.7 million units in March, hitting 4.1 million for Q1 2025 as the EV market continues its robust growth, according to new data from EV research house Rho Motion. Year-over-year sales jumped 29% and marked an impressive 40% month-over-month leap from February.

Europe saw a solid 22% growth in EV sales year-to-date, driven primarily by battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), which climbed 27%. Germany’s BEV market rose 37%, Italy surged by 64%, and the UK hit a milestone with over 100,000 EVs sold in March alone, a first-time record boosted by new vehicle registrations. France’s EV sales dropped 18%, severely impacted by reduced government subsidies, with BEVs down 5% and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) falling sharply by 47%.

Similarly to the China post...
Ten years ago, in 2015, global EV sales were about 550,000 units.
(This includes both battery-electric vehicles [BEVs] and plug-in hybrids [PHEVs].)
So again to put it brutally:
2025 Q1 alone (January to March): 4.1 million EVs sold.
All of 2015 (January to December): ~550,000 EVs sold.

Meaning the world now sells more EVs in about 5 weeks of 2025 than it did over the entire year of 2015.
Holy Dooley!!

[wjfox]

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250-tonne battery bank set to power world's largest electric ship
By Paul Ridden
May 02, 2025

Tasmania's Incat has delivered on its promise to build the world's largest battery electric passenger ferry, officially launching the China Zorrilla from its shipyard in Hobart today. The vessel measures 425 ft in length and will be home to a whopping 40-MWh battery.

"At 130 meters in length, Hull 096 is not only the largest electric ship in the world, but also the largest electric vehicle of its kind ever built – and one of the most significant single export items in Australia’s manufacturing history," boasts the press release on the launch.

The Hull 096's spec sheet reveals an overall length of 129.68 m (425.46 ft), a waterline length of 121.51 m (398.65 ft), and a beam of 32.36 m (106.17 ft). The original plan for the ninth vessel built for ferry operator Buquebus was for it to run on LNG, but Incat's chairman had other ideas.

https://newatlas.com/marine/incat-hull- ... ry-launch/

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

Tesla’s European Death Spiral Has No End In Sight

May 5, at 8:33am ET

After a disastrous first quarter, Tesla’s sales figures in Europe tanked even further in April.

https://insideevs.com/news/758570/tesla ... pril-2025/

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Isuzu D-Max pickup gets electrified, and it makes perfect sense
By Utkarsh Sood
May 09, 2025

It was only a matter of time before an EV Isuzu pickup came along. The likes of the Ford F150 Lightning, GMC Hummer EV, Chevy Silverado EV and Tesla Cybertruck all forced the Japanese carmaker’s hand … and lo and behold, we have the Isuzu D-Max EV.

It was first put on show as a prototype, called the D-Max BEV Concept, at the Bangkok Motor Show last year. Now, it has been freshly unveiled at the 2025 Commercial Vehicle Show in the UK.

Set to be Isuzu’s first electric pickup, the D-Max EV will roll out in the next few months across the globe. Production is already underway in Thailand, and Isuzu says the new EV pickup will "match the performance of existing diesel models, with a high payload and towing capacity."

https://newatlas.com/automotive/isuzu-d-max-ev/

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$400K hydrofoil e-speedboat promises 80 miles of freedom out on the lake
By Abhimanyu Ghoshal
May 13, 2025
https://newatlas.com/marine/envgo-nv1-e ... hydrofoil/

If you're in the market for a distinctive new ride, maybe you'll want to hit the water instead of the highway. ENVGO's got you covered with its electric NV1 hydrofoiling boat, which is all beautiful curves, sleek lines, and high performance for when you want to tear up the lake near your family's vacation home.

Hydrofoil boats have a wing-like structure mounted beneath their hull that lifts the vessel above the water's surface as it gains speed. The wing generates lift, raising the hull completely out of the water while the foils remain submerged.

That results in dramatically reduced drag, and a smoother ride in choppy conditions. They're particularly well suited to being paired with electric powertrains, because the efficiency gains help overcome battery limitations. When an electric boat "foils," i.e. rises above the water, it requires substantially less energy to maintain speed.

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Toyota's 6th-gen RAV4 comes in a range of electrified flavors
By Abhimanyu Ghoshal
May 21, 2025

Following the fifth-gen RAV4 that first appeared in 2019, Toyota's updated its beloved compact SUV for 2026 with revised styling and electrified powertrains. And for the first time ever, the US is getting a GR Sport model.

Essentially, the lineup includes a standard RAV4, a more rugged Woodland trim, and a sporty variant tuned by Toyota's Gazoo Racing division. You can choose between hybrid electric (HEV) or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) engines, and opt for either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive on any of these variants, barring the Woodland which only comes in AWD.

The sixth-gen models get a power boost over the outgoing ones thanks to the overhauled hybrid systems. The HEV engine does 236 hp, while the 2.5 liter 4-cylinder PHEV tops out at a healthy 320 hp. The latter also promises 50 miles (80.5 km) of all-electric range – a small bump up from before – and DC fast charging to go from 10 to 80% in 30 minutes.
The Core RAV4 can be had with PHEV or HEV systems, up to 20-inch wheels, and additional electronic goodies in the cabin

https://newatlas.com/automotive/toyota- ... ectrified/

[wjfox]

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Hyundai's robo-charger tops up EVs at one of world's largest airports
By Paul Ridden
May 23, 2025

Plugging in a charging cable to top up your electric car's battery is not exactly rocket science, but we're finally approaching the robot age so why not let the bots do it? That's just what Hyundai is aiming to do at an airport in South Korea.

Though many drivers of electric vehicles won't find the process of plugging in problematic, others – such as those with personal mobility issues – may appreciate some help. And in the case of fully autonomous EVs, it might be considered rude to expect human passengers to get out and cable a robotaxi to a supercharger for a quick top up on the way to the airport.

We've seen a few auto makers (including Tesla, VW and Ford) explore the idea of robot assistance, but those have so far been concepts and prototypes. Hyundai is actually moving toward commercial deployment. That's following prototype testing in 2023, where we first got to see the robot helper in action.

https://newatlas.com/automotive/hyundai ... -airports/

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Europe's top-selling electric SUV poised for US launch
By Utkarsh Sood
May 24, 2025

Kia has been enjoying notable success in Europe of late. The highest-selling electric SUV in the region isn't from Audi or BMW, or even Dacia – it'd from Kia. And the winning model might soon be headed to the United States.

In the first quarter of this year, Kia sold a total of 27,761 electric vehicles in Europe. Of those, a remarkable 64%, or 17,878 units, were the EV3.

This compact electric crossover utility vehicle (CUV) draws inspiration from the EV9 and EV6, offering a smaller, family-friendly alternative. It’s an impressive all-rounder that checks most modern boxes, and that’s before factoring in its price. In the UK, it starts at £32,995 (approx. US$43,790), though rumors hint at an even lower MSRP when it arrives in the US.

https://newatlas.com/automotive/kia-ev3-testing/