Electrek

The CEO of Toyota isn’t mincing words, saying that he believes EVs will only make up 30% of the US new-vehicle market in 2030, half of the target the EPA sought last year. As the car industry’s largest hybrid pusher, Toyota says it is better positioned to just buy credits to close the EPA gap rather than “waste” money on BEVs, its CEO said.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

While I believe Tesla’s move to open its Supercharger network to other automakers is ultimately going to have a great impact on EV adoption, it is also a smart business move from Tesla.

Here’s the business behind Tesla opening its Supercharger network.

Hawaii’s first National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program EV charging station just came online on Maui.

Solar EV startup Aptera Motors continued its welcomed level of public transparency today, posting another progress update video for February, offering some juicy details. Aptera co-founder Steve Fambro walks you through the first glimpse at the upcoming Aptera app, which promises several cool features; plus, we get a look at some Solar EV battery packs and some hints at how safe the production vehicle will be. You can learn more in the full video below.

EV startup Canoo (GOEV) is making progress. Most recently, Canoo’s rugged American Bulldog electric pickup was spotted testing near its OKC manufacturing facility.

Induction stoves are a great, safe way to save on electricity costs and can heat much quicker, safer, and more accurately than natural gas or propane stoves. But a new breed of these stoves includes huge batteries, which opens up new opportunities by only requiring a 120V outlet, offering 40-sec water boiling, backup power to other appliances like the refrigerator, and even IRA tax rebates. Let’s take a look at two of these new models and try to understand if it makes sense for an oven to have a huge battery over a more centralized Powerwall type of home backup battery.

This is part of a continuing series at Electrek that focuses on home energy usage, see our coverage of heat pump washer/dryers

Rivian confirmed that its EV owners are going to start having access to Tesla’s Supercharger network in March.

Nissan is ending production of the iconic all-electric LEAF at its Sunderland factory in the UK this week. The move comes as Nissan prepares to launch its next-gen EVs, including an electric LEAF replacement.

Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 and Eversource and Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind previously canceled their offshore wind contracts with New York, but now they’re back.

Tesla is now having to deal with literal tree-hugging activists camping in the forest to prevent the Gigafactory Berlin expansion.

Renewable energy costs in Asia last year were 13% cheaper than coal and are expected to be 32% cheaper by 2030, according to a new study.

Rivian’s R1S electric SUV was the fifth best-selling EV in the US in the fourth quarter. Last year saw a surge in EV leasing, and Rivian just introduced the option on the R1S earlier this year. Can leasing bump Rivian up even further?

Headlining today’s green deals is Juiced Bikes’ RipRacer Fun-Sized Fat-Tire e-bike for $949. It is joined by Husqvarna’s Automower 115H Robotic Lawn Mower at $562, as well as a bunch of EGO Power+ tools seeing discounts, led by the 14-inch 56V Cordless Electric Chainsaw at $200. Plus, all of the other best new Green Deals landing this week.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Mullen Automotive announced it has begun road testing Class 1 electric vans equipped with solid-state polymer batteries alongside footage of the initial run. The energy-dense cells fit in the same pack design but offer a significantly higher range – even higher than Mullen anticipated.

Honda’s popular CR-V compact crossover is now getting a hydrogen-powered plug-in hybrid version that will begin deliveries this year in California – the car allows you to recharge via Level 2 charging for quick trips, or rely on hydrogen power for long hauls.

Audi’s sporty design icon is going electric. The electric Audi TT replacement will be completely unique from the current gas-powered model.

Tesla announces four new automakers getting access to Superchargers in “Spring 2024” following the onboarding of Ford EV drivers.

Commuter electric bikes are a key segment helping reduce America’s dependence on cars for navigating cities. The Propella 9S Pro V2 is designed squarely to get people to work, school, the coffee shop, or just navigating town on their own schedule. But compared to many other electric commuter bikes on the market, Propella does it with some outstanding value and several features we rarely see at this price level.

Is Hyundai developing a luxury electric sedan? Possibly under the Genesis brand. Hyundai was recently spotted testing a Lucid Air electric sedan in South Korea, suggesting a high-end Hyundai EV could be in the works.

XPeng Motors announced a massive milestone for its XPeng navigation guided pilot (XNGP) ADAS feature that enables self-driving in several scenarios. XNGP is now available unlimitedly on all roads, everywhere in China. That’s only part of it; XPeng also shared plans to expand the self-driving tech to other markets.

Renault confirmed today that it is in talks with Volkswagen to build a BEV minicar for the European market.

Last May, Ford was the first automaker to announce its plans to adopt Tesla’s charge connector, now known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS). In addition to adding Tesla’s connector to its own EVs in 2025, Ford also said it would make a free adapter available to existing Ford EV owners.

Starting today, Ford says that eligible Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning owners can request their free CCS to NACS adapter. The first deliveries are slated to begin shipping in March. Ford is also starting to roll out a software update that unlocks Tesla Supercharger support for Mach-E and Lightning vehicles.

“Today, Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E retail customers are the first of any non-Tesla automaker to gain access to Tesla Superchargers across the U.S. and Canada,” Ford says.

Volkswagen and Chinese EV maker Xpeng say they are jointly developing two mid-sized BEVs for 2026 for mainland China, with the first model being an SUV.