Scooter Doll

A recent report out of Tokyo says that Toyota is working on an SUV version of its Crown sedan, arriving in hybrid, PHEV, and fully-electric versions for its home country in addition to exports of some versions to China and North America. The Crown was the first Toyota vehicle to be exported to the United States in 1958, and it has remained a mainstay model in the Japanese market for 67 years.

Kenyan technology company Opibus announced it has officially changed its name to ROAM. According to Opibus, the rebrand to ROAM is a better fit for the EV manufacturer’s growth and strategic shift to electrify Africa’s transportation sector and beyond.

As Vietnamese EV automaker VinFast looks to open its order books for US customers, it has gotten more specific on the pricing consumers can expect stateside. During the New York International Auto Show, Vinfast broke down its US pricing for the VF 8 and VF 9, which will include a two-tiered battery subscription that will be mandatory through 2023.

After promising the journey earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz has successfully taken its VISION EQXX concept EV over 1,000 km (621 miles) in routine traffic on a single charge. The journey began in cold rainy conditions in Sindelfingen, Germany, and successfully crossed the finish line in the town of Cassis on the Côte d’Azur in the south of France with range to spare.

Infant EV automaker VinFast and US charging network Electrify America (EA) announced a new charging agreement during this year’s New York International Auto Show. As part of the collaboration, US Vinfast owners will have access to all of EA’s 3,500+ EV chargers through the VinFast mobile app. However, their complimentary charging sessions will be limited to two – a much smaller bonus compared to previous agreements with other automakers.

“New York. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do.” – Alicia Keyes. This song could have served as an anthem for DEUS Automobiles as it debuted its Vayanne electric hypercar concept at the New York International Auto Show today. Together with Italdesign and Williams Advanced Engineering, DEUS hopes to take the Vayanne from “just another concept” into limited run production and is promising some specs that are truly worthy of the “hypercar” moniker.

Electric boat manufacturer X Shore recently secured its latest round of investment funding, this time to the tune of $50 million (~€45.9M). The funds will be used to increase research and development of electrified maritime technologies, and help ramp up manufacturing of X Shore’s first production boat, the Eelex 8000, which began in March.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced it has chosen EV startup Canoo to provide zero-emission EVs to transport its crew to the launchpad for NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon. Canoo will soon join the likes of Tesla and Rivian as EV automakers integrated into the realm of space exploration.

During this week’s NY Auto Show, Kia America officially debuted its upcoming 2023 Niro EV alongside new design features and performance specs. Kia has previously shared the design overhaul coming to the second-generation Niro and its variants, but we now know much more about what consumers can expect when the EV goes on sale this fall.

Nissan Motor Corporation debuted the 2023 model year versions of the LEAF today for the US market, sharing updated exteriors to the LEAF S and LEAF SV Plus – the only EV trims of the long-tenured EV to be sold when they arrive this summer.

American automaker Fisker announced it is expanding to a second headquarters in Hyderabad, India. The Indian footprint joins Fisker’s current HQ, engineering, and product development facilities in Southern California and will soon provide software and virtual vehicle development.

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe has truly begun to wake up and smell the EV coffee lately, making several big announcements in 2022 that pertain to expanded electrification. In its latest news, Honda plans to invest about $40 billion over the next decade to deliver 30 BEVs around the globe. Despite this effort and additional funds allocated toward solid-state battery development, Honda is still very much in love with hybrid vehicles and plans to continue to promote them.

Following the start of deliveries of its Air Grand Touring trim, Lucid Motors announced a new Performance version that will arrive this summer. The Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance will deliver over 200 more horsepower than the standard Grand Touring and travel 0 to 60 mph 0.4 seconds faster, although it does come at the cost of some range – oh, and quite a bit more money.

According to recent comments from Toyota North America, the automaker expects to surpass the 200,000 vehicle threshold for EV sales sometime this summer, disqualifying itself from any additional tax credits in the United States under current legislation. Toyota’s federal tax credits will be phased out just as the automaker plans to begin sales of its lone BEV, the bZ4X, later this year.

Engineers have successfully begun water testing of the RaceBird – an all-electric, single pilot foiling boat that will soon be racing in the E1World Electric Powerboat Series. The RaceBird has been in development the past couple years as the official racing vessel for E1.

Electric hypercar manufacturer Rimac Automobili shared news of completing winter testing of its 1,914 horsepower Nevera EV. The two weeks of vigorous testing near the Arctic Circle in Sweden mark one of the last validation tests for the Rimac Nevera ahead of deliveries within “the next couple of months.”

American automaker Lincoln just blasted out a quick teaser video on its social channels offering a brief glimpse of an upcoming electric vehicle concept. The new concept will be the first BEV to debut for the brand, and it will represent the future of Lincoln EV offerings for consumers.

During a livestream out of Japan this morning, Nissan Motor Company unveiled plans to bring laminated solid-state batteries to market by 2028, beginning with a prototype production facility. The decision is part of Nissan’s “Ambition 2030” strategy, which will now include plans to launch an EV powered by solid-state batteries in 2028.

Porsche AG is testing the possibilities of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology in its EVs, but taking it a step further. Rather than just deliver EVs like the Taycan that can supply energy back to the grid rather than just pull from it, Porsche has run a V2G pilot program that utilizes “swarms” of EVs whose high-voltage batteries are pooled to help keep the local electrical grid stabilized.

Chase bank announced a new partnership with fast charging network EVgo to implement a pilot program of DC fast chargers for EVs at 50 of its branch locations. As part of an expanded focus on sustainability, the commercial banking business plans to grow its on-site solar power to 400 additional branches by year’s end.

Gas? Where we’re going, we don’t need gas. DeLorean Motor Company, the short-lived 1980s automaker behind the DMC DeLorean sports car turned pop culture staple thanks to the Back to the Future franchise, is returning with an EV model. The DeLorean EV concept has just recently been teased, but its official reveal has now been moved up three days alongside an enticing teaser image.

Battery manufacturing behemoth, CATL, shared news that its upcoming plant in Thuringia, Germany has received 2nd partial approval for cell production. This milestone brings the Chinese company one step closer to opening its first battery manufacturing facility outside of China later this year.

Another day and another solar electric yacht shared with the world, each seemingly going further and faster. The latest announcement comes from Soel Yachts out of the Netherlands, whose new Senses 62 solar electric catamaran boasts some large battery capacity for a yacht, providing what the company calls “trans-ocean range…” however far that means.

During the 37th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Teledyne Brown Engineering, along with partners Sierra Space and Nissan North America, announced it is designing a crewed Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) to support future NASA missions on the Moon. All three companies have varying levels of experience in space technology and hope to transport astronauts on future missions.