Scooter Doll

As we bid adieu to 2024, XPeng founder and CEO He Xiaopeng is setting the stage for a big 2025. The EV executive posted an internal letter to XPeng staff outlining the company’s key goals for the upcoming year, imploring all to prepare for fiercer competition in the EV segment and even predicted a price war on the immediate horizon.

Vietnamese automaker VinFast is pulling a late demand lever in 2024 to entice US customers to get behind the wheel of its VF 8 SUV. Designed for SUV-loving families in the US, the VinFast VF 8 is now available to lease for well under $300 a month with $0 down.

It’s only been five days since NIO officially launched its top-tier luxury sedan, the ET9, but the early buzz in China has been encouraging. The BEV will launch in 2025, beginning with a Limited Edition trim that sold out in the first 12 hours, so NIO has introduced another limited production run called the ET9 Signature Edition.

As promised, we are back with a full recap of the debuts during NIO Day 2024, which took place over the weekend. As anticipated, NIO officially launched its new Firefly sub-brand, unveiling its flagship BEV model that looks to take on super compacts like MINI and Smart. Additionally, NIO launched its ultra-luxe ET9 sedan, whose initial trim has already sold out in China.

Single-seat eVTOL developer Jetson has once again become the first in its segment to do something. Well, sort of. The company recently shared footage of its founder and CTO piloting its flagship Jetson ONE eVTOL around 26-foot tall pylons to demonstrate the agility the aircraft can perform to enable full-fledged eVTOL races. Could we be seeing the early days of a new venture in motorsports?

There are still many questions surrounding the plausibility of full-fledged autonomous robotaxi operations around the world, but Waymo, one of the current leaders in the segment, is putting at least one stigma to rest. A new study conducted with the help of reinsurance provider Swiss Re used hundreds of thousands of liability claims to demonstrate that robotaxi vehicles using the Waymo Driver platform deliver significantly higher safety performance than vehicles operated by a human driver.

Chinese auto conglomerate GAC Group is delving further into sustainable air transportation with a new eVTOL-centric business venture called Govy. The company unveiled its flagship aircraft, the AirJet, during the announcement of the new brand. AirJet is GAC’s second “flying car” design in two years, but this iteration is more of a traditional eVTOL.

Archer Aviation announced it has completed construction of a new 400,000 square-foot eVTOL manufacturing facility in Georgia and is already implementing tooling to begin building its proprietary Midnight aircraft in early 2025. Longtime partner Stellantis assisted in the development of the new facility, and Archer will look to the global OEM to help it scale eVTOL production in the US through the end of the decade.

Honda announced it will be back at CES this year, unveiling the next phase of its new 0 Series line of EVs. At this year’s event in Las Vegas, Honda intends to unveil two prototype EVs based on the concepts that debuted a year prior. This will be our next look at Honda’s 0 Series progress as it looks to bring these two initial models to market in 2026.

We are just days away from Chinese EV automaker NIO’s annual NIO Day event, which has already promised some big reveals, including the long-teased ET9 and the first model under its new FireFly sub-brand. As an appetizer, NIO has shared the first un-camouflaged images of the ET9 and its official FireFly logo.

Commercial freight EV and autonomous driving developer Einride continues to expand its operations globally. Today, the company announced the launch of the first daily commercial operations of its proprietary autonomous trucks in Europe, delivering goods for a pharmacy e-retailer.

General Motors (GM) and EV charging network ChargePoint announced they are joining efforts to install hundreds of ultra-fast EV charging ports across the US. Additionally, those new chargers will include ChargePoint’s recently released Omni Port technology, enabling both NACS- and CCS-equipped EVs to charge seamlessly.

Young electric water taxi service E-lixr is pivoting its previous business strategy to become the US’s first operator of all-electric vessels. It now seeks to support new and existing marine fleet operators with a unified platform.

Young mobile home solutions developer AC Future has shared the final design of its flagship product – a solar-electric RV called the AI-Transformable Home or “Ai-TH” for short. Designed through a partnership with Hydra Design Labs, the Ai-TH has transcended beyond the concept phase and will be showcased as a physical demonstration unit at CES 2025 in Las Vegas next month.

Chinese EV automaker ZEEKR is returning to Las Vegas this January to showcase its EV technology in the US during the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). ZEEKR intends to showcase three of its most popular all-electric models before unveiling some new core technologies and discussing its plans for the global EV market.

Chinese EV automaker Build Your Dreams (BYD) continues demonstrating why it should be a name on your radar. The veteran company announced a significant milestone this month, sharing that its largest EV production facility in China has produced one million BYD vehicles this year for the first time ever. This stat is from one plant, not BYD’s global annual production tally. BYD is coming.

Three months after ZEEKR launched its new 7X SUX in China, the EV automaker has opened up sales in select markets in Europe, its third model in the region. The ZEEKR 7X will start below 53,000 Euros, and early European customers can take advantage of free upgrade packages.

Silicon Valley startup RollAway is offering a novel idea that rethinks the traditional lodging experience. RollAway has unveiled its first generation “Suite on Wheels” – a boutique sleeper rental built from a BrightDrop electric van. The Suites on Wheels are available to reserve and test out now, giving customers the freedom to explore sustainably, park, and lodge in whatever location they’d like.

Electric RV specialist Lightship is officially entering the recreation vehicle segment with a renamed version of its all-electric travel trailer, formerly known as the L1. Today, the company unveiled the Lightship AE.1—the production-ready version of its predecessor. It is now on sale as a limited “Cosmos Edition,” of which only a limited supply will be built and sold.

Costco Wholesale has collaborated with North American EV charging network Electrify America and rolled out a series of DC fast chargers available to all EV drivers at select store locations. The EV chargers are operational at those Costco stores now, beginning in three states.

According to regulatory filings in China, EV automaker XPeng Motors is planning upgrades to at least two current models. The filings detail facelifts to the XPeng G6 and G9 SUVs and hint at the automaker’s strategy of moving on from LiDAR sensors in favor of pure vision cameras, similar to Tesla.

Zero-emissions freight mobility solutions specialist Intramotev continues to expand the use of its technology to new customers in the US. Today, the company shared video footage of its TugVolt battery electric railcar retrofit deployed at a calcium mine in Michigan.

It’s been a four-plus-year journey for Gravity – Lucid Motors’ second flagship SUV. Since it was first unveiled, I’ve followed Gravity’s development closely, itching to get behind the wheel of a full-fledged production version to test drive – and that day has finally come, my friends. Last week, I took a trip to Lucid’s design studio, where I had my most intimate encounter with the Gravity SUV to date, including a brief but informative test drive around the Bay Area. There, I also learned that the official range of the Lucid Gravity is an impressive 450 miles. Check out images and a video of my experience below.

European OEM Stellantis has announced a new joint venture with the world’s largest battery manufacturer CATL, to build a large-scale lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant at one of the former’s existing production sites.