Scooter Doll

In a Tweet earlier this morning, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has confirmed that Volkswagen Group has chosen the Eastern state as home to its new production facility to build Scout brand EVs. The news comes after recent speculation about where Volkswagen would set up the new facility for Scout Motors after sharing intentions to implement its EV production to the US.

Germany has unexpectedly objected to the EU’s planned vote to officially ban combustion vehicles by 2035, questioning its support for the law and how it will affect the industry, particularly by not properly explaining how the use of e-fuels will be regulated.

Mere weeks after achieving experimental airworthiness certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Universal Hydrogen has successfully taken its 40-passenger regional hydrogen electric plane to the skies. The aircraft took off from Washington state this morning and ascended to an altitude of 3,500 mean sea level (MSL) before safely landing, as you can see in the video below.

Electric marine and off-road vehicle manufacturer Taiga Motors announced that owners of its electric snowmobiles will soon have access to a new over-the-air (OTA) update, enabling DC fast charging capabilities to existing battery hardware.

eVTOL developer AutoFlight has shared its latest milestone en route to seeking certification for its four passenger air taxi by 2025. Today, the company shared that the Gen4 design of its “Prosperity I” aircraft has successfully completed the world’s longest eVTOL flight.

As a little appetizer to its world premiere later this month, Kia has just posted two short teaser videos offering a brief but exciting glimpse at its upcoming EV9 – an all-electric SUV with a third row and the makings of an EV able to compete with the premium Rivian R1S, likely at a lower price too. You can check out both videos below.

Electric hydrofoil veteran Lift Foils has officially unveiled its latest product – the LIFT4 eFoil, equipped with the company’s fourth-generation battery technology. In addition to being marketed as the quietest eFoil ever created, Lift is hailing its fourth-generation model as the most customizable, powerful, and longest-lasting eFoil ever made. Bold statement – let’s check it out below.

Nascent solar electric catamaran manufacturer ZEN Yachts has announced the closing of a Series A funding round totaling 5.5 million euros ($5.86M), sponsored entirely by Ocean Zero, LLC. The zero emissions boatbuilder looks to use the fresh round of funding to continue construction of the first hulls of its ZEN50 solar electric catamaran, of which additional preorders have now been secured.

EV drivetrain and power systems specialist Equipmake has unveiled a new product that strays quite a bit from its electric double-decker buses we’ve covered in the past. Today, the company unveiled the HPM-400 – an advanced high power, short duration electric motor designed for applications in space and the marine segment. This thing is small, but mighty. Check it out.

As all-electric racing series Extreme E approaches the start of its third season this month, it has shared that second life battery storage specialist Zenobē is once again onboard as its official energy storage supplier. Onboard since the series’ inaugural season, Zenobē’s “powerskids” give EV batteries a second life by delivering clean power to the teams in remote race locations around the world.

American EV automaker Rivian has begun informing certain 2022 R1T and R1S customers of a recall filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) last week. The voluntary recall affects over 12,700 Rivian EVs and pertains to a sensor in passenger seatbelt system that may cause a reduced, or complete lack of deployment in the passenger airbag.

Robotaxi developer Waymo announced that this past January, it surpassed 1 million miles of autonomous driving with no human present in the vehicle. Waymo competitor Cruise also recently reached the autonomous milestone, but Waymo has also publicly shared the data to back up its progress. As previously teased last year, Waymo is also now officially testing driverless rides in Los Angeles.

Global automotive tech company and lidar specialist Luminar Technologies hosted its annual Luminar Day event at its headquarters in Orlando, Florida, today, offering a slew of updates on its progress. This includes new lidar like its Iris+ sensor, a more clear product roadmap bolstered by a new high-volume production facility in North America, and consolidated subsidiaries into a new semiconductor business. Lots to unfold here, so let’s get started.

Goodyear has introduced its latest energy efficient tire to its growing portfolio of EV-centric products. The new RangeMax RSD arrives as Goodyear’s most compatible EV tire to date, designed to support regional electric fleets that are prone to higher cargo capacities.

Consumer insights and analytics specialist J.D. Power has released its annual US Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Ownership Study that relays not only an increase in EV customer satisfaction but also a shift to more traditional factors, like vehicle quality and styling, rather than categories like range. In its first year of eligibility, the Rivian R1T garnered the top satisfaction rating amongst premium EVs, dethroning 2022’s leader, the Tesla Model 3.

Fennell Forestry has commissioned an all-electric logging truck conversion from Janus Electric to trial the technology through the Green Triangle region of South Australia. The 720 horsepower electric truck conversion kicks off a two year testing period to analyze performance and maintenance costs as the Australian government looks on before potentially investing in a future overhaul of the segment.

Fisker Inc. shared its Q4 and full 2022 results with investors this morning, detailing the progress of its flagship Ocean SUV; an update on its second EV model, the PEAR; and a report of operational results that were “better than expectations.” While the American automaker continues its work to deliver its first EV to customers, it is projecting positive growth numbers in 2023. More below.

Volvo Cars has shared plans to open an entirely new “Tech Hub” in Krakow, Poland, before year’s end. The new European footprint will serve as a key software development center for the EV automaker as it looks to go entirely electric by 2030.

German automaker and VW Group subsidiary Audi is flirting with the idea of implementing EV production on US soil, so its vehicles can once again qualify for federal tax credits under new terms outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act. Audi CEO Markus Duesmann recently shared a couple of possibilities Audi is considering in a potential move to the states.

German solar technology startup Sono Motors has officially thrown in the towel on its Sion solar passenger EV program following an inspiring but unsuccessful crowdfunding campaign called #SaveSion. The pivot puts the company’s entire focus on its Sono Solar tech business, which has previously found success with third party customers around the world. While Sono should be alright, its abandonment of solar EV development is yet another chapter in a sad tale about how hard it is to scale the technology without billions in funding.

Following a little teaser in early January, Lucid Motors has publicly shared its financial results for Q4 and the full fiscal year 2022 in an investor presentation you can view below. Air EV production was way up to cap off last quarter, leading to revenues over $257 million. As a result of the whole year, Lucid Motors believes it is liquid enough to safely navigate into 2024. Details below.

Fisker Inc. has announced Level 2 and DC Fast charging network ChargePoint as its North American partner to support its incoming EVs. The collaboration will provide future Fisker Ocean owners with access to over 400,000 roaming ports, including 16,700 fast chargers.

Nikola Corporation shared its Q4 and full year results for 2022 earlier this morning, and although some of its numbers saw significant drops compared to Q3, the American BEV and FCEV automaker has a lot of accolades on its report card and even bigger plans for this coming year. See the full results below.

European electric hypercar manufacturer Automobili Pininfarina continues to blaze through the world record books with its Battista Hyper GT. During its first trip to India, the all-electric handcrafted hypercar delivered some firsts for the country while nabbing two more world records for quarter- and half-mile sprints in a production vehicle.