[Dormant] Electric Vehicles

!electricvehicles@slrpnk.net

The reason for this decision is to consolidate the comments under one community to prevent fragmentation under various banners and to reduce strain on the Lemmy.world server.

I as the lead moderator feel slrpnk is better suited for this purpose as environmentalism is its strong suit.

The possibility of reopening the community can be revisited at a future date.

Unfortunately, being stuck in the USA means I cannot access the interesting Chinese EV models coming out. If I have a great distaste for all things Elon, what is there left that is even worth considering? Kona?

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/47023122 >

The number of EVs on the road is growing. Recent figures show the EV market share closing in on ten percent nationally. EV infrastructure — with the help of substantial government investment — is improving to meet the demand. The number of EV charging points in America increased by 29 percent nationwide in 2023. But is that increase happening quickly enough?

The picture becomes a bit murkier, looking at individual states. Different states have different needs for EV charging. An interesting metric for how successful states have been at providing EV infrastructure is to look at their EVs per charging point ratio. The more registered EVs a state has, the more public charging points it needs. And many states — even avowedly EV-friendly ones — may be far from where they need to be with EV charging infrastructure.

The HERE-SBD EV Index for 2024 scores states out of 25 for their EVs per charging point ratio. And it tells a slightly different story than the raw numbers. California, for instance, has by far the most EV charging points of any state. However, California also has the second-worst EVs to charging point score of any state, suggesting far more needs to be done.

With the slick Kia EV6 and the family-loving EV9, one can be forgiven for forgetting that the Kia Niro EV is still around. While the Niro EV is from a different era, it’s still going strong, and a new 2025 version now has some details announced — most importantly, pricing.

The Niro EV had 2,349 sales in the US last quarter, a bit less than half of the EV6’s 5,044 sales, but perhaps it will get a boost from the 2025 model options. Pricing for the Kia Niro EV Wind starts at $39,600, while pricing for the Kia Niro EV Wave starts at $44,600 (MSRP).

The 2025 Kia Niro EV has a 64.8 kWh battery that provides 253 miles of range on a full charge (EPA estimate). “The 2025 Niro EV retains its extensive list of features while adding even more technology. Rear seatbelt pre-tensioners are now standard on both trims, with the Wave trim receiving Blind-Spot Collision Avoidance Assist – Rear with Parallel Exit as an additional Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS),” Kia writes. Rear seatbelt pre-tensioners? Well, it’s something…. That’s the baseline upgrade for the 2025 model.

The battery blitz in America continues and the newest beneficiary of that is the upcoming Rivian R2.

Rivian just inked a battery supply deal with Korean battery giant LG Energy Solution (LGES) for its next-generation R2 model that's set to launch in the second half of this decade. The Irvine, California-headquartered automaker showcased the R2 electric SUV—which looks like a baby R1S—in March and is now inching closer to bring that model to market.

LGES said on Thursday that it will provide Rivian with its advanced 4695 cylindrical cells for over five years, with a capacity totaling 67 gigawatt-hours. The new cell type has a diameter of 46 millimeters and is 95 mm tall, the battery maker said in a press release. It will feature six times the capacity of the existing 2170 cylindrical cells.

If you've been wanting an electric car but everything seems too expensive, there's some good news on the horizon. A whole lot of EV leases are due to expire in 2026, which should lead to something of a glut, according to data analyzed by JD Power.

We have the revised IRS clean vehicle tax credit to thank. This was revamped under the Inflation Reduction Act, and while tough new battery sourcing rules and a requirement for final assembly in North America have meant many fewer EVs are eligible for the tax credit when bought new, a loophole that considers a leased vehicle to be a commercial sale means any leased EV is eligible for the $7,500 incentive, which can now be subtracted from the price of the EV at the time of sale or leasing.

In 2023, 46 percent of all franchise (i.e. not Tesla, Rivian, Vinfast, or Lucid) EV sales were leases, a trend that JD Power says it has seen through the first three quarters of 2024 as well. Once Tesla is included, about 30 percent of new EV sales this year have been leases. By contrast, fewer gasoline-powered cars are being leased each year since the start of the pandemic.

That means there will probably be a shortage of used ICE vehicles in 2025 and 2026. Used EVs might also be a little scarcer next year, JD Power says. It expects a 2 percent drop in the number of used EVs next year, but a 230 percent increase in 2026 as 215,000 cars end their leases.

JD Power also has some good news about new EV prices—they're getting cheaper. The average price for a new electric compact SUV, once tax credits and manufacturer incentives are included, is $35,900, $12,700 less than the price in 2022 for the same class of vehicle.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/46799710

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/46798977

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/46758186 >

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/46746880

> > A Volvo spokesperson confirmed the EX30 is still being built at parent company Geely Group's factory in Zhangjiakou, China, so that price does include the new 100% tariffs on Chinese-built EVs

As Reuters reports, CEO Elon Musk was asked during an earnings call Q&A about when to expect a $25,000 "non-robotaxi regular car model." Musk responded that "the future is autonomous," pointing to the Cybercab that Tesla unveiled last month.

"It should be blindingly obvious" that that's the direction Tesla is taking, Musk added, arguing that "having a regular $25K model is pointless."

In December 2023, however, Musk said Tesla was "obviously...working on a low-cost electric vehicle that’ll be made at very high volume." And when Reuters reported in April that Tesla had canceled plans for a $25,000 EV to focus on its robotaxi, Musk said the article was incorrect.

According to Tesla, "what matters [now] is lowest cost per mile of efficiency." Musk said the Cybercab will be around $25,000 to produce and available to purchase in some capacity, but it won't have a steering wheel, so it wouldn't be like purchasing a Model 3 or Cybertruck today.

However, Tesla plans to start fully autonomous, unsupervised Full Self-Driving in Texas and California next year for its Model 3 and Model Y EVs.

Royal Enfield is a company that's been around for over a century. It started as a British company, and has a long and storied past, including a little lightweight machine designed to drop from the literal sky for RAF dispatch riders during WWII. After the war, the original Flying Flea found new life as a lightweight urban commuter as the country worked to get back on its feet.

The Flying Flea C6 is one of two new Flying Flea designs that Enfield first introduced to the world ahead of EICMA 2024. Technically, they're in Milan right now, but the event doesn't kick off in earnest (even for press) until November 5, and they've chosen to get out ahead of the scrum by launching it today.

Flying Flea isn't just a revived model badge for Royal Enfield in 2024. Instead, it's meant to be the company's new electric sub-brand, and to have an identity of its own. It even has its own social media channels, although the livestreamed press conference for the event was shown on the existing Royal Enfield YouTube channel.

What you're seeing here is the Flying Flea C6, which is the first production EV that Enfield will be releasing. It's meant to be a lightweight, nimble, urban-focused motorcycle; part of what Royal Enfield Managing Director Siddhartha Lal describes as "City Plus."

By that, he explained, he means a bike that shines in city riding, but that can also go beyond and offer a bit of fun on top of that. That's the intended ethos for all Flying Flea models, in fact.

Specs aren't available yet, so we can't offer opinions on them at this time; only the design. Given Enfield's track record of more than reasonable pricing for its gas models, though, it seems like a safe bet to think that Flying Flea will be priced much more in line with what riders want to pay than some other EV motorcycle brands.

A few years back, General Motors had to recall 142,000 Bolts in a major fiasco due to fire risk. This time around, however, just a small number of Bolts are being recalled, only 107. But the risk of fire is deemed high – according to the NHTSA – if these vehicles are charged to full or nearly full capacity.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) posted a recall of the Chevrolet Bolt EVs and its larger version, the EUV, covering model year 2020-22 that were recalled and repaired previously over the same risk. Apparently, the previously installed advanced diagnostic software, which is supposed to detect whether or not the battery is defective, is itself faulty, which could, in turn, lead to a fire risk.

“The installation of advanced diagnostic software may have failed,” the NHTSA stated. “As such, the high voltage battery could catch fire when charged to full or nearly full capacity.”

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/46702526 >