Jennifer Mossalgue

Today more unions in Sweden are joining Tesla’s mechanics in the strike against the notoriously anti-union EV automaker. Dockworkers in Sweden won’t be unloading any Tesla vehicles, maintenance crews won’t be cleaning up Tesla stores, and broken Superchargers won’t get repaired. Next week, even Tesla mail won’t be delivered.

Today, Toyota and leading recycling specialist Redwood Materials announced a new expansion that brings the messy and complicated global supply chain of battery components one step closer to a circular battery ecosystem, all on American soil.

Fresh on the heels of its ban on shared rental e-scooters, Paris is now targeting “auto-besity” by enforcing substantially higher parking fees for SUVs, and that includes large electric and hybrid ones too.

After referring to its upcoming tiny city EV as the “Legend,” French automaker Renault has officially unveiled what is now the all-electric Twingo and released some photos. And from the looks of it, this sweet little teal number, set to be released in 2026, takes a heap of inspiration from its original ’90s hatchback.

Cheap, small, and made in Europe ­– Renault has hit the sweet spot with the latest announcement of its new electric city car, set to replace the popular yet quirky little Twingo e-Tech. Today the French automaker’s subsidiary Ampere released a few more details about its third upcoming affordable electric car, the Legend, which will be priced under €20,000, or less than $22,000. That is, if market realities don’t spoil all the fun.

German automaker BMW has finally called it a wrap on the production of internal combustion engines, in its own country at least. Now its main Bavarian plant will be converted for the production of EVs only, while the company relocates its ICE production to the UK and Austria. 

Renault is teasing an upcoming “affordable” city electric car to replace the Twingo as it gears up for its investor’s day tomorrow. But will it be as cheap as the Dacia Spring, Europe’s best-selling (and cheapest!) electric car?

The European Union is not fooling around, and European countries are under pressure to adhere to ambitious plans to get their roadways up and ready for the total phaseout of fossil fuels in the years ahead. To this end, both France and Denmark have just announced huge investments in building out their electric vehicle charging infrastructure to adhere to new EU regulations announced this summer. France will put €200 million into expanding fast charging stations within the country, and Denmark has earmarked €91.5 million to focus on charging for heavy-transport vehicles.

California-based electric automaker Fisker saw its shares plummet 14% yesterday after reporting big losses and lower sales than expected. Now, the American startup expects to slash its production forecast for this year by as much as 30% of initial expectations.

In a big hopeful move to catch up to Tesla and Chinese manufacturers, French automaker Renault has officially separated its newly formed EV unit Ampere from the rest of the business. The company has announced its executive team, launched a new logo, and set up some highly ambitious goals as it readies its IPO – although tough market conditions won’t make this an easy affair.

The news has been epically bad for Cruise robotaxis these past few weeks. GM’s driverless car subsidiary has announced a round of layoffs this week, with the CEO Kyle Vogt reportedly telling employees in an all-hands meeting. Plus, investigations have dredged up some incriminating news that the software’s algorithm had trouble detecting children.

In a disappointing move that could result in billions of euros in health and environmental costs, the European Union today caved to pressure from the automobile industry to rethink its landmark rules setting strict limits for toxic emissions from cars and trucks. As legacy automakers lose ground in the transition to EVs, automobile lobbies are urging governments to kill off clean air laws.

In a controversial move, Switzerland has decided to tax electric cars in the same way it does for gas guzzlers, saying that special tax exemptions are no longer necessary.  

Following in Telsa’s footsteps, Volvo has just signed a contract with Italian giga press maker IDRA to install two of its largest presses at a new site in Slovakia. The giga presses – what will likely be a reconfigured version of the same Giga Press 9000 that is making Telsa’s Cybertruck – are the world’s largest, the size of a small house and producing a clamping force of more than 9,000 tons.

After Barcelona already clamped down on e-scooters in public transport with a temporary ban after a fire on a train, Madrid and other Spanish cities are following suit with tighter restrictions.

It looks like Ram has taken a page from Toyota’s playbook on how to spin a hybrid into a “class-shattering battery electric vehicle” that gets “unlimited range”: just make stuff up. Ram, owned by Stellantis, insists that we not call its new Ramcharger 1500 pickup a hybrid when it in fact houses a 27-gallon gas tank between the battery and the rear axle. So yeah, it’s clearly a hybrid.

The US is seriously lagging behind China in battery manufacturing and research, which holds a tight grip on the global battery supply chain. But two US senators are raising a red flag, saying it’s time to turn the ship around and focus on next-generation battery tech. 

Chinese-owned automaker BYD has announced plans to build a factory in Europe in hopes of bringing its affordable EVs to the masses there. As the brand picks up steam in sales, it will break ground on its first European factory, with Hungary selected as the location. Still, it has some challenges to face: a new investigation from the European Union and a lack of solid brand recognition to compete with Tesla and European automakers.

Swedish automaker Volvo is considering an expansion of its EV production in the US, with a possibility of broadening its factory in Charleston, South Carolina, or breaking ground on a second site in the country, according to a new report. 

The medium-duty trucking industry – the workhorses of the American economy – is relatively primed to go electric, with the potential to clean up billions of tons of CO2 emissions a year. Mack Trucks is now making that transition a bit simpler with a monthly subscription program for its new electric truck, the MD Electric. 

In the wake of what feels like gloomy news for the EV economy, Volvo has pulled out yet another round of impressive EV sales numbers, especially coming from a legacy automaker. Volvo reports that its fully electric car sales jumped by 29% in October globally compared to last year, accounting for 18% of all of its cars sold in the month.

EVs are not only emission-free ways of getting around town but also potential energy reservoirs sitting right in your garage, capable of powering up homes and appliances or giving back to the energy grid – at least, that is the dream for the bidirectional charging dreamers among us. And Volvo is looking to tap into that potential in a bigger way.

Swedish EV maker Polestar just released its first Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for the brand’s SUV crossover Polestar 4, which the company says emits as little as 19.4 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Made in China, the model ranks as having the smallest carbon footprint in the company’s four-vehicle lineup.

Once a fierce critic of the European Union’s push to restrict ICE vehicles, Stellantis is now reaping rewards from its shift in focus to EVs, with France taking the lead thanks to revised “green bonus” incentives for Europe-made cars while freezing out Chinese brands. Yesterday the company announced a 7% year-on-year sales uptick yesterday, with a 37% boost in EV sales in Europe, beating out Tesla.