EV highway range, GM charging, Toyota electric sports car, Cybertruck cost: The Week in Reverse

Which mass-produced, U.S.-available EV is getting put to the check in Europe with battery swapping?

Why is Rivian reportedly reengineering its battery packs?

That is our look again on the Week In Reverse—proper right here at Inexperienced Automobile Experiences—for the week ending December 9, 2023.

Inexperienced Automobile Experiences named its four finalists for Best Car To Buy 2024. What are these 4 plug-in fashions new for this 12 months, and that are the cleanest, greenest, and greatest for treading calmly?

Fiat revealed 500e pricing, range, and feature details for the long-awaited U.S.-bound model of this second-generation electrical minicar. The 2024 Fiat 500e begins at $34,095 and is rated at 149 EPA miles of vary. Simply don’t count on the $49-a-month leases of the previous-generation automotive. 

Fiat’s father or mother Stellantis introduced it’s testing EV battery swapping from Ample on 100 Fiat 500e electrical automobiles which might be a part of the corporate’s Free2Move car-sharing service—and which means a fully charged battery in five minutes. With this trial, it’s seeing if battery swapping can scale up, or prolong out to different upcoming EVs from Stellantis’ many manufacturers, together with Jeep and Dodge. 

The 2024 Lucid Air lineup begins at $78,900, in its Pure kind, and restructured function availability permits some objects just like the steel or glass roof, to develop into impartial of the model. Additional, Lucid says a revamped Grand Touring—the mannequin that makes the many of the bigger battery pack within the Air lineup—may have an up to date powertrain with higher thermal efficiency for longer intervals of “spirited driving.”

The British specialty sports activities automotive maker Morgan on Wednesday revealed the XP-1 electric three-wheeler, that includes a powertrain developed in-house and a weight of solely round 1,500 kilos for this two-seater. Though nonetheless a prototype, this mannequin may form as much as be a extra vintage-styled various to the long-awaited Aptera. 

Toyota has revealed a compact EV, referred to as the Urban SUV Concept, for the European market. Might or not it’s an additional improvement of the bZ Compact SUV Idea that Toyota confirmed final 12 months and urged may additionally be U.S.-bound?

Toyota additionally launched extra details about the FT-Se electric sports car concept proven final month on the Tokyo auto present. About the identical dimension because the Supra, however slightly decrease and wider, it showcases the potential of extra energy-dense next-generation battery tech, Toyota says. 

When GM is able to ramp up its EVs, it has slightly extra help. The EV fast-charging network from GM and Pilot Journey Facilities has introduced the opening of its first 17 places. It goals to deploy a number of 350-kw connectors at every website, with as much as 2,000 stalls and 500 places on the best way—together with 25 places by the tip of 2023 and 200 places by the tip of 2024.

Rivian creating a simplified battery pack for its R1S and R1T electrical vans that may take 1000’s of {dollars} of price out? Though these vans’ packs get extra vitality into much less quantity, simpler manufacturability and decrease price may present that there’s nonetheless loads of room for enchancment.

Ford, however, has taken the bidirectional charging functionality constructed into the F-150 Lightning a step additional with a brand new partnership that explores integrating its vehicle-to-home (V2H) tech with good thermostats. That would end in cleaner vitality, much less pressure on the grid, and lower energy bills for F-150 Lightning owners.

Up to date outcomes on the vary of the newest EVs from Client Experiences highlighted what must be emphasised for anybody contemplating an EV: EPA range for EVs isn’t a highway number. That stated, CR discovered that some fashions from Mercedes-Benz and BMW really exceeded the EPA vary at 70 mpg—a fantastic factor—whereas others together with Lucid and Tesla fell brief. 

Jeep and Dodge father or mother firm Stellantis is the newest automaker to fight California emissions rules, claiming that they’re giving a number of different automakers that opted to chop an early take care of the state’s Air Sources Board a aggressive benefit. To assist meet the stricter California guidelines, Stellantis has already introduced plans to lower non-hybrid gross sales in California emissions states. 

In keeping with a latest Bloomberg report, EV-critical lithium prices are falling—as are these for different key battery supplies. It’s a refreshing turnaround after a raw-material worth surge in 2022 that finally performed a job in EV affordability and profitability. Now, extra manufacturing capability because the market grows could also be affording automakers some added flexibility and, maybe, that can result in extra reasonably priced EVs.

The U.S. Division of Vitality and Treasury Division launched proposed rulemaking concerning the “international entity of concern” necessities inside the Inflation Discount Act of 2022—and it’ll play an enormous position in how the electrical automobile market continues to take kind. Whether or not wanting on the origin of vital supplies or the company possession behind manufacturers, many more EVs won’t be tax-credit-eligible in 2025.

Preliminary deliveries of the Tesla Cybertruck are reportedly at a value of $121,985 with vacation spot. In the meantime, the EPA confirmed that the Tesla Cybertruck qualifies for a $7,500 EV tax credit—nonetheless the EPA’s inclusion of the Cybertruck for 2023 left numerous questions on Tesla’s supposed Cybertruck pricing and arrival dates. 

And as meals for thought on the weekend, electrical autos at present make up a 3rd of the luxurious automobile market, in keeping with a latest abstract by the U.S. Vitality Data Administration (EIA). But EVs make up lower than 2% of the non-luxury automobile market. It’s considered one of many indicators of a lopsided U.S. EV market with respect to pricing and affordability. Whereas EV curiosity is powerful, the survey large J.D. Energy lately argued that there’s a “missing mass market” for EVs. On this advanced state of affairs, with some suggesting EV demand is slowing, it’s merely an absence of choices priced and positioned for the mass market that might be the dealbreaker.

_______________________________________

Observe Inexperienced Automobile Experiences on Facebook and Twitter