Jennifer Mossalgue

The European Commission is throwing a lifeline to its emerging EV battery sector with a hefty boost of €1 billion ($1,05b). But companies relying on Chinese materials are likely to be cut out. Question is, is it too late to save Northvolt?

French luxury brand DS is slowly releasing details on its sleek new all-electric model, the brand’s flagship EV, all bottled up in a name reminiscent of French perfume, the DS N°8. Even better, it offers a stellar range of up to 466 miles.

More good news from EV mecca Norway, with November numbers showing more than 10,000 EVs were newly registered, bringing its tally to a truly impressive 93.6% of all new car registrations, showing that its EV transition is almost complete.

Carlos Tavares abruptly stepped down from his position as CEO of Stellantis on Sunday after facing scathing criticism of how he handled the company. Meanwhile, Stellantis shares go southward.

Thousands of workers at nine Volkswagen factories across Germany, including its EV-only factory, are going on strike this morning, bringing assembly lines to a grinding halt in the battle over the slashed pay, lost jobs, and the automaker’s future.

Volkswagen Group is radically overhauling its business strategy to save money and stay afloat, and it may axe its Tesla-inspired direct-to-consumer retail model for EVs in major European markets.

According to a leaked letter circulating on social media yesterday, BYD has asked its suppliers to accept price cuts in the coming year – a major signal that the Chinese EV maker is gearing up to intensify the price war in China even further, all while pushing harder into Europe and other markets.

Extended-range EVs are having their moment. And now Lotus is abandoning its strategy to become an all-electric brand by 2028 and shifting over to extended-range plug-in hybrid models starting in 2026. Here’s why.

California EV maker Rivian has said it has secured conditional approval of a loan of up to $6.6 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a production facility in Georgia. Among those conditions is a big one, that the company won’t actively oppose union organizing efforts.

We now have more details on the massive recall, which just keeps growing. Hyundai and now Kia are recalling more than 208,000 electric vehicles in Canada and the US to fix a problem with the loss of driving power, which can increase the risk of a crash.

Volvo has been steadily applying its Scandinavian minimalist ethos to its EV lineup, as the all-new EX90 SUV is set to launch in the US. But the brand also wanted to significantly spruce up the EX90’s older sibling, the PHEV XC90 – the brand’s most popular vehicle since its debut and the de facto family car for hordes of Americans and Europeans. This month, Volvo invited Electrek to test-drive the revised XC90 on its home turf and experience its new and improved “electrified” functionality. Here’s how it went.

For the second time this year, Hyundai Motors is recalling 145,235 EVs and other “electrified” vehicles in the US, citing concerns about a loss of driving power, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday.

Europe’s “green dream” Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US after a rescue package failed to go through, leaving the battery maker with just one week’s worth of cash in the account. Cofounder and CEO Peter Carlsson, who spearheaded a costly expansion, has also quit.

China’s Xiaomi has reported a 30.5% growth in third-quarter revenue for its EV business, with the company also bumping up its yearly delivery target for the SU7 series EVs to 130,000 units.

China’s powerhouse BYD looks to soon outperform Ford in terms of annual shipments this year, which would be a major milestone for the company, placing it firmly in the ranks as a top 10 automaker globally, Bloomberg reports.

Following the news of sweeping cuts at Volkswagen, Nissan, and Stellantis, now VW-owned Audi announced plans to slash its workforce by 15%, with thousands of jobs on the chopping block.

Canada has secured more than $50 billion in EV-related investment over the past three years, all gearing up for US demand, with Canada’s economy “deeply intertwined” with the US – but Trump may throw a major wrench into the plan.

Finally, Bentley says it has found the winning formula to giving an all-electric vehicle the Bentley stamp of approval. It’ll scream luxury and likely cost a bloody fortune.

Nissan is in full-scale emergency mode to save itself: the automaker is cutting 9,000 jobs, slashing production capacity, and selling off its stake in Mitsubishi Motors. The CEO is also reducing his own salary by half.

BYD has decided to stall its plans to enter Canada, deterred by the country’s 100% federal tariffs on EVs imported from China. But here’s how BYD will likely make the move to enter the US or Canada anyway.

What’s the Trump effect on the EV market? Depends: Smaller players like Rivian and Lucid are potentially at risk, while Tesla has the scale, profitability, and Trump connection to make it work, despite major shifts that are sure to come. Here’s the scoop on how a second Trump term may play out among automakers:

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.

Donald Trump wins a second presidential term, and BMW’s CEO Oliver Zipse came out with some quick remarks – amid what is likely panic among European automakers – that BMW will be fine because of its “very, very large footprint in the US.” Meanwhile, BMW’s profit margins hit a four-year low.  

The next European commissioner for sustainable transport drew a hard line in a hearing this week: Apostolos Tzitzikostas backs e-mobility and has no intention of watering down the EU’s plan to ban new registrations for ICE cars in 2035. Problem is, it’s not clear how he aims to make this happen.