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Scooter Doll

scooterdoll

Scooter Doll is a writer, creator, and tech enthusiast born and raised in Chicago who splits time between The Windy City and western Michigan. When he’s not traveling the world offering the latest EVs reviews or insights, he’s probably rooting for his city’s beloved sports teams (just not the White Sox). Please send any tips, suggestions, or, most importantly, dog photos to him at scooter@electrek.co

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Einride secures half a billion in additional financing to support its autonomous freight EVs

Einride EVs

Autonomous and EV freight technology company Einride announced its future has been hardened by $500 million in financing. The mobility company intends to use the fresh funds that also includes a Series C equity raise to support all-electric truck production and expand the development of its autonomous and digital fleet management technology.

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Mercedes-Benz to double EV motor output at German plant to 1M units

Mercedes EV plant

German automaker Mercedes-Benz announced another big step in becoming an all-electric luxury brand by the end of the decade. The company recently shared that its Untertürkheim plant, where combustion engines have primarily been assembled, will be scaled up to deliver more EV motors for future Mercedes EQ vehicles. It is now targeting 1 million a year beginning in 2024.

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Ultra-exclusive yacht club invites commercial electric boats to compete in 2023 race

electric boat race

To celebrate its 10th race competition, the Yacht club de Monaco is inviting commercially available electric boats to compete in the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge (MEBC) for the first time. The new commercial electric boat rally will join the Solar, Energy, and Open Sea Classes already in place with hopes to host the world’s largest gathering of electric maritime vessels.

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Munro MK 1 4X4 EV to break Scotland’s 30 year production drought with its axial flux motors

Munro EV

Young Scottish EV startup Munro Vehicles has officially launched its flagship model today – a massive 4×4 off-road truck called the MK 1. Its hand-built process also marks the first vehicle to be built at scale in Scotland since 1981. There are lot of new specs shared about the MK 1 below. Check it out.

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Toyota to launch five new ‘Bz’ BEVs in Europe as it works toward 50% EV sales by 2030

Toyota europe

During Toyota’s annual Kenshiki Forum, the Japanese automaker outlined a hardened strategy for electrification in Europe, which will include five additional fully-electric models to join the bZ4X overseas by 2026. Toyota hopes these BEV options will accelerate its sales goal of being 50% electric by 2030 and carbon neutral by 2040.

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BrightDrop expansion to Canada kicks off Zevo 600 production as it reveals first customer

BrightDrop Canada

GM’s all-electric, last mile delivery division BrightDrop has officially entered the international market with its expansion to Canada, where it already has a major logistics customer lined up. DHL Express Canada joins BrightDrop’s rolodex as its first customer outside of the US and has signed on to electric vans and eCarts to its fleets up North. The company’s expansion is bolstered by its start of Zevo 600 van production at GM’s CAMI production facility in Ontario.

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Volkswagen plans North American battery plant, paving way for more EV tax credits

Volkswagen battery Canada

Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume recently shared that the company is actively searching for a home for its first battery cell factory in North America. Furthermore, Blume has named Canada specifically as “one logical option.” By joining Volkswagen’s current EV production footprint in Tennessee, the Group may soon meet the battery manufacturing requirements outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act for vehicles like the ID.4 to continue to qualify for US federal tax credits, while opening the door for more EVs under its umbrella to qualify.

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Ford invests another $180M in powertrain plant to supply 70% of European EVs

European Ford

Ford Motor Company announced plans to invest an additional $180 million in its Halewood EV powertrain facility in northern England. As the American automaker looks to go all-electric overseas by 2030, the fresh fund will help bolster the plants output by 70%, which should in turn supply powertrains to a large majority of European Ford models by 2026.

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Lightyear wins race to market with start of solar EV production in Finland

Just six years after what began as a solar vehicle competition among students, Lightyear has reached a watershed moment in clean mobility. Today, the company officially kicked off the start of production for the Lightyear 0 solar EV at Valmet Automotive in Uusikaupunki, Finland, and we were fortunate enough to be the only US media outlet in attendance. Today not only proves that solar EVs are possible, but also scalable, kicking off an even more sustainable echelon of zero-emission mobility.

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Stellantis relaunches Lancia as all-electric marque, teases radical EV design

Italian automotive brand Lancia is experiencing a new renaissance in its 116 year history, and it involves going all electric. During a “Design Day” event today, the Stellantis subsidiary kicked off a ten year strategy that will introduce three bespoke Lancia EVs between 2024-2028. While it didn’t share any glimpse of its future EVs, Lancia did share an interesting looking automotive sculpture that encompasses the radical design we will see in all three of the future models. See more below.

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Mercedes’ $1,200 EV update cuts 0-60 times by a second, but only in one market

Mercedes EV update

Mercedes-Benz has begun rolling out an EV update subscription to EQ owners that can boost 0-60 mph acceleration as much as an entire second. The $1,200 annual subscription, however, has not been homologated for sale in the EU just yet. As a result, EQS or EQE owners closest to Mercedes-Benz’s home country of Germany cannot yet take advantage of the update.

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Escend Blades Alpha review: Electric skates are here, and they’re pretty rad

The future has officially arrived, and its in the form of all-electric skates designed by Escend out of the UK. These aren’t roller skates with fireworks attached to them like the early pioneers of MTV’s Jackass, nor are they the regular old inlines we donned during our first couple’s skate in the 90s. Instead, the Escend Blades Alpha have successfully combined the joy of inline skating with the unmatched, effortless velocity that comes with electric motors. I kicked, pushed, and wobbled my way through two different variations of these electric skates for you, so be sure to check out my video below to get my thoughts.

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Silent Yachts launches all-electric, 6-passenger Tender 400 that can hit 20 knots

electric tender

Solar electric yacht builder Silent Yachts has announced an all-electric tender to support its growing lineup of zero-emissions ships. Despite being a tiny vessel, the SILENT Tender 400 was built with the same design standards as Silent Yachts’ larger boats. Built with carbon fiber and up to 30 kW of electric power, the Tender 400 is light and agile, whether it’s sitting on the stern, or transporting up to six people to and from shore. Have a look.

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Automobili Pininfarina’s Battista hyper GT races across these world speed records in Dubai

Battista world record

As part of its official debut in the Middle East, Automobili Pininfarina offered a demonstration of its all-electric Battista hyper GT and its 1,900 horsepower in action, celebrating a laundry list of new world records for a production vehicle. Learn more and see the Battista hyper GT’s insane acceleration from Dubai in the video below.

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U-Boat Worx’s all-electric Super Sub can now cruise faster than a dolphin

Watch out Flipper. U-Boat Worx has announced major performance improvements to its fully-electric, three-passenger Super Sub, donning it “the most flow-dynamic submersible the world has ever seen.” With these improvements to flow dynamics, U-Boat Worx states the electric sub is now 3-4 knots faster than the cruising speed of a bottlenose dolphin.

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An electric Volkswagen pickup? New global head says not this decade

Volkswagen electric pickup

As more and more all-electric pickup trucks make their way to the US market, those consumers holding out for a Volkswagen branded model may need to let go and look elsewhere. According to Volkswagen’s new global head of passenger cars, an electric pickup truck is not a priority at the moment, despite comments from the German automaker’s newly appointed head of North America validating such desires.

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Check out this up-close look at the new Hyundai IONIQ 6 (video)

Hyundai IONIQ 6

That’s right, we’re back. Back in the studio, back with Hyundai, and back in black transmission blue pearl, the exterior color showcased on the new Hyundai IONIQ 6 you’ll see in the video walkthrough below. While there’s plenty to share in the video itself, we still have additional specs to share while you’re not distracted by the beautiful looks of this all-electric streamliner… and the dork standing in front of it.

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Fisker Ocean SUV commences production in Austria on schedule

American EV automaker Fisker Inc. has just hit a major company milestone years in the making. Contract manufacturer Magna Steyr has officially begun production of the Fisker Ocean SUV at its carbon neutral facility in Graz, Austria. With Magna’s help, this second iteration of the Fisker brand continues to prove the naysayers wrong while moving to deliver a truly unique looking EV.

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