Jameson Dow

Tesla has revamped its referral program in North America, shifting to a system allowing current Tesla owners to use their Tesla referral code to earn “loyalty points” that can be spent on various Tesla products.

Tesla will assist Chinese authorities in investigating a dramatic Tesla Model Y crash in Guangdong, China, which killed two and injured three. But rumors have been flying on social media about potential causes of the crash, most of which are untrue or impossible.

Kia is dropping the base “Light” trim level of its popular EV6 for 2023, resulting in a new base model price of $48,500 for its “Wind” trim level (plus a $1,295 destination charge). This is a $1,000 increase for the Wind trim level, but with the new absence of the “Light” trim, this means the cheapest EV6 is now $7,100 more than 2022’s cheapest EV6.

EVgo has added Autocharge+ capability to Teslas using the Tesla CCS Adapter in its latest app update. This allows CCS-enabled Teslas to charge at EVgo stations without having to swipe a card. Strangely, it only works when using the Tesla CCS adapter and not when using a normal Tesla connector available at some EVgo stations. We’ll explain below.

Kia has announced US pricing for the refreshed 2023 Kia Niro EV, which starts at $39,450, about $500 less than the outgoing model. The car will arrive at US dealers this month and will be available in all 50 states.

Tesla has added two new paint colors, Quicksilver and Midnight Cherry Red, to their Giga Berlin paint lines. The new colors are available now – but only for European and Middle Eastern customers.

Tesla has opened their planned Supercharger voting site, allowing the public to cast votes for upcoming Supercharger locations.

Google’s Waymo driverless ride-hailing service is expanding operations to Los Angeles, California.

In the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, “pop-up” bike lanes in Berlin contributed to an increase in bike traffic and a reduction in exposure to pollutants for cyclists, according to a new study.

GM Super Cruise drivers are the most likely to engage in distracted driving behaviors while using partial-automated driving software when compared to Tesla Autopilot and Nissan ProPILOT drivers, according to a new study by IIHS.

Kia invited us to San Diego to drive the refreshed all-electric 2023 Kia Niro EV, a significant update from the original e-Niro.

Amazon announced that it will spend €1 billion to electrify its delivery fleet in Europe over the next five years, according to Reuters.

Recently I drove a Tesla Model 3 on an electric roadtrip from Southern California to Portland and back. The total distance was around 2,200 miles, with the bulk of the driving happening over the course of five days (three up, two down), and I only “spent” about 25 minutes waiting for the car to charge, total, over the whole trip.

There are many travelogues and YouTube channels that go into deep analyses of efficiency and charging speed, with lots of detail on how exactly to plan an electric roadtrip. Though I typically do enjoy those sorts of details, I didn’t actually think to keep track of any of them during this trip, since they’re all sort of unnecessary at this point, because electric roadtrips are easy.

Drive Electric Week kicks off today with nearly 300 online and in-person events celebrating electric vehicles. Events will be held for the next two weekends, from September 23 through October 2, in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Kia will start producing electric vehicles in the United States starting in 2024 in order to qualify for new EV tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, according to Korean news outlets Maeli Business News and SBS.

Audi is working an all-electric successor to its R8 supercar to be released around “mid-decade,” according to a new report from Autocar. While the new EV won’t carry the R8 name, it will hold the spot at the top of the Audi lineup with higher performance than the e-tron GT.

California has passed a series of climate bills setting a 2045 net-zero carbon goal, establishing carbon capture guidelines, banning new oil wells from residential areas, extending the timeline to keep Diablo Canyon Nuclear plant open for another five years, and more.

The Rivian R1T has been out to the public for months now, and the R1S has seen several employee deliveries. But this week we saw the first non-employee customer deliveries of the new R1S SUV.

The California Air Resources Board voted unanimously today to implement perhaps its most significant regulation ever – the Advanced Clean Cars II regulation, which officially implements a planned ban on new gas car sales beginning in 2035 and could shake up the entire US auto market.

Toyota is at it again, claiming that there’s not enough demand in the United States for electric vehicles – most of which are currently suffering from months of backlog in the United States due to high demand. Even their own bZ4X has a waiting list because, well, the wheels keep falling off.

After selling only 8 units last month and 505 in total, the 2022 Mazda MX-30 is now officially sold out in the US. But will it even come back next year, or is that the last we’ll see of this EV? And if it is the end of the BEV model – will an upcoming PHEV model fare better?

Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” software, which currently costs $12k, will get a $3k price hike to $15k on September 5 in North America, coinciding with the wide release of the 10.69.2 Beta update. The early release version has just started rolling out to beta testers, and results are coming in to give us a sense of whether this update is worth the price increase.

Meyers has started taking deposits for its upcoming electric dune buggy, the Meyers Manx 2.0, which is slated to ship in 2024. The company is also taking interest in a 2023 “beta program” for 50 early buyers who will help provide feedback before full production.

Tesla has stopped taking reservations for the upcoming Tesla Semi, which is slated to release later this year. In addition, it has updated its site with new specs, pictures, and video of the electric semi truck.