Electric Vehicles

It was a very good year in France for electric cars, for all kinds of reasons – among them, new cheaper cars entering the market supported by generous government subsidies. In 2023, 26% of new cars sold in France were battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, a huge 47% jump from 2022. 

It was a huge year for profits at Chinese auto behemoth BYD. In 2023, the company sold 1.6 million fully battery-electric vehicles, coming close to Tesla’s projected goal of 1.8 million vehicles. Adding up sales for all so-called new energy vehicles, including battery-only vehicles and plug-in hybrids, BYD sold a whooping 3 million vehicles in 2023.

China’s ever-growing electric vehicle industry is setting up shop in Hong Kong, but not to expand business in the minuscule Hong Kong market. Rather, they are looking to leverage the city’s financial system for global expansion, Bloomberg reports.

New year, new rules: As of January 1, things are about to get a little easier when it comes to getting your federal tax credit for buying an electric vehicle. Now the rebate – which is up to $7,500 for new EVs that qualify and up to $4,000 for used EVs that qualify – is available immediately when you purchase your car, rather than needing to wait potentially months to file a claim with your tax return. And auto dealers are signing up in droves with the IRS.

New data shows electric cars and plug-in hybrids made up more than 24% of all new passenger car registrations in the European Union this year, rising a bit from last year. While gas vehicles still hold nearly a third of the market, diesel rates took a dive.

Legacy automakers are still selling millions of gas guzzlers, but if we were to spin some good news out of that, the Environmental Protection Agency reports that emissions levels have now dropped to “record lows” and vehicle fuel economy is now at a “record high.” But what does it really mean?

France aims to democratize access to electric vehicles with a freshly launched “social leasing” program that allows low-income drivers to lease electric cars for as low as €40, about $43. That includes no down payment and free charging, in some cases, for six months.

The Biden administration has issued a new directive to all government employees to travel by train or electric car, or electric Uber or Lyft, when traveling on official business. As the country’s largest employer, with an annual business travel purchasing budget of $2.8 billion, that could have a serious impact on carbon emissions.

Warnings about another wave of massive job losses at Volkswagen have been circulating for a few weeks, but now a new report says the company will cut one-fifth of its administrative staff. But it is hoping to soften the blow by offering early retirements as opposed to all-out firings, for now at least.  

A new breed of electric vehicles is drawing inspiration from Japanese kei cars, tiny cubes-on-wheels that are highway-legal but not likely to pass muster with US or EU safety standards. But what if we loosened up those standards to help lower prices, enabling broader adoption of EVs to people who don’t have 30 grand or more to spend on a car? That is, at least, one of the ideas that French automaker Renault’s head Luca de Meo has put on the table. 

For years, Chinese EV maker Nio has essentially done it all, delving into high-end EV manufacturing, in-house batteries, autonomous driving, and chips, as well as innovative battery-swapping tech and even making smartphones, all while pulling in huge investments and talent to make that happen. Now, according to a new report, it’s looking to lighten the load.

Year-to-date US EV sales have surpassed 1 million – the first time EV sales exceeded that threshold in a single sales year.

The US government has released guidance that will make it harder for EVs to qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit if their batteries contain Chinese components or minerals.

Despite predictions of a major slump in automatic sales around the globe, the European auto industry predicts that this will spark a huge uptick in EV sales in the EU – and that’s thanks to a flood of new, cheap models hitting the market. 

Almost 4,000 car dealerships in the US banded together in a new lobbying effort to ask the government to slow down the adoption of electric vehicles.

They even falsely claim to be “the voice of customers” in this Luddite effort.

A new report gives us a glimpse of what our world could look like if there weren’t so many big, hulking SUVs cruising around. Because of the rise in electric vehicles, carbon emissions from automobiles could have dropped by more than 30% over the past 10 years, except they haven’t – and that’s because of our global appetite for jumbo cars, the report authors say.

McDonald’s, or “McDo” as the French say, is installing 2,000 new fast charging points across 700 car parks in France by 2025. Each McDonald’s charging station will offer 150-200 kilowatts of power, so you can recharge your car in about the time it takes to inhale a Big Mac and extra-large frites.

DC fast charging network EVgo has announced a new deal with rental car company Hertz that offers drivers renting an electric car from any Hertz location in the US with discounts on charging for a year, with no subscription or session fees. EVgo is also following in Tesla’s footsteps and building prefabricated models for its charging sites.

French automaker Renault is looking to investors, including China’s Geely, to funnel some cash into its Alpine racing and sports car brand. Alpine, best known for its A110 sports coupe, is looking to reinvent itself as an all-around player in the EV space with a line of all-electric hatchbacks, SUVs, and crossovers. The brand says it will launch in the US in 2027.

Fresh on the heels of its ban on shared rental e-scooters, Paris is now targeting “auto-besity” by enforcing substantially higher parking fees for SUVs, and that includes large electric and hybrid ones too.

After referring to its upcoming tiny city EV as the “Legend,” French automaker Renault has officially unveiled what is now the all-electric Twingo and released some photos. And from the looks of it, this sweet little teal number, set to be released in 2026, takes a heap of inspiration from its original ’90s hatchback.