Jameson Dow

Tesla owners are starting to receive messages on their cars offering a free 30-day trial of Enhanced Autopilot, with the message “Happy Holidays!” from Tesla.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk joined a Twitter space today to speak about the recent moves in TSLA stock and defends his recent actions from Tesla investors who have called for him to stop wasting time on Twitter, the social media site that he recently purchased.

Plug-in hybrids use far more gasoline in the real world than regulatory agencies account for, according to a new analysis of data by the International Council on Clean Transportation, the research group that broke the Volkswagen dieselgate scandal.

GM’s Cruise autonomous taxi service has started taking driverless taxi rides in downtown Austin, Texas. It’s a shot across the bow of Tesla, now headquartered just outside of Austin, which has been promising self-driving robotaxis for years now, but keeps pushing them back.

Tesla is now offering a $5,000 CAD/$74,750 MXN credit on Model 3 and Model Y vehicles purchased in Canada and Mexico before the end of this year. It’s a rare instance of Tesla offering discounts, and could be a sign of softening demand in North America.

VW has sent out an email to ID.4 reservation holders detailing a series of changes that will be made for all ID.4s assembled after January 4, including a price hike, battery supplier changes, and an end to the reservation system as VW predicts ample availability at dealerships.

The EPA has finalized a long-awaited update to their truck emissions rules, the first update to US truck clean air standards since 2001, though environmental groups say the EPA could do better.

The Chevy Bolt is already a great enough deal to get our Electrek Vehicle of the Year award, but after the US Treasury delayed its guidance on battery sourcing requirements, that deal might be even better – but only for the next couple of months.

Update: Treasury finally released its battery guidance, but now that everything has shaken out, it looks like the Chevy Bolt still qualifies for the full $7,500 credit. So the Bolt is still a screaming deal, as long as you can find one.

The 2022-2023 Rivian R1T has earned the highest safety rating, Top Safety Pick+, from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Elon Musk has sold another tranche of Tesla shares, this time worth $3.6 billion, amid ongoing chaos related to his Twitter takeover. The sale was announced in a Form 4 filing with the SEC on Wednesday night.

London-based HSBC, the largest bank in Europe and the 8th largest bank in the world, has announced that it will stop funding any new oil and gas developments globally.

The fossil fuel industry is utilizing think tanks and lobbyists in a push to oppose wind power in the North Atlantic, claiming they want to save whales, even though the largest source of whale death and disruption is transatlantic shipping powered by their own product: oil.

GM’s first Ultium battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio has voted to join the United Auto Workers, with 98% of workers voting in favor of union representation.

The Los Angeles City Council has voted 12-0 to ban new oil wells within the city and to phase out all current oil wells within 20 years or less.

The Inflation Reduction Act, the major climate bill, was signed August 16, changing the availability of electric vehicle tax credits. The law is still in the process of being implemented, so tax credit qualifications continue to change as the IRS offers further guidance. This post intends to break down the current eligibility requirements for the EV tax credit as they continue to be updated.

The upcoming refresh of the Mercedes eSprinter electric van has been tested with impressive results on both range and efficiency. In fact, they’re almost too impressive to be believed.

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.