Electrek

The city of Lakeland, Florida, has approved 77 homes featuring solar and storage that will be linked together to form a community microgrid.

California-based EV maker Rivian (RIVN) announced Monday it’s bringing on Carlo Materazzo as vice president of logistics. Materazzo comes to Rivian with over 20 years of auto experience as the EV maker continues ramping production.

EV charger locator app PlugShare just got a new home screen, quick filters, and “enhanced location details,” so I set up a “road trip” in my VW ID.4 to test it out.

The evil empire of ExxonMobil is taking a slight reprieve from birthing oil barons to invest its time and money into a promising new venture – lithium. The carbon-clad gasoline company has begun drilling for a different earth material in the US, with an aim to become a leading supplier of lithium vital to current EV battery chemistry by the end of the decade. Do you think they’re using zero-emissions equipment yet?

Plans to build one of Europe’s largest electric vehicle battery cell plants have fallen through. Ford’s partnership with LG Energy Solutions (LGES) and Koç Holding is scrapping plans to produce EV battery cells in the region, citing the “current pace of EV adoption.”

A new all-time low on Aventon’s Abound cargo e-bike is headlining all of the early Black Friday deals this week, as it hits $1,524. If the $675 in savings wasn’t already good enough, you’re also getting an extra $634 in bundled accessories in the box. You can also save $250 on the Anker SOLIX C1000 battery today while locking in deals on a collection of other EVs.

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.

Up-and-coming EV maker Rivian closed on a monumental land agreement last week for 1,800 acres to host its new mega site in Georgia. Construction can now begin on Rivian’s $5 billion facility, where its next-gen R2 electric vehicles will be made.

Joby Aviation – one of the leading eVTOL developers right now, has taken to the skies of New York City for the first time ever, teasing a not-so-distant future in which it intends to begin commercial air taxi operations in the urban area and beyond. Getting to the airport may just get a lot easier… and quieter.

China’s leading EV maker, BYD, is teasing a new electric SUV as part of its Ocean series. The BYD Sea Lion 07’s design was led by ex-Audi and Lamborghini chief designer Wolfgang Egger.

KYMCO, one of the world’s leading motorcycle, scooter, and ATV manufacturers, has just announced a major new expansion to the brand’s Ionex platform for swappable battery electric vehicles.

Autonomous EV freight developer Einride announced another key milestone today, deploying full-time, commercial operations with longtime partner GE Appliances. The autonomous trucks are navigating between GE’s manufacturing facility and warehouse, demonstrating a case for scaled commercialization in the electric freight industry.

Tesla started listing new cars through a third-party platform, Cars.com, and CEO Elon Musk didn’t even know about it.

According to reporting from the Financial Times, Tesla and India’s long courtship ritual could finally be making real progress. Negotiations appear to be on a path that would make it possible for Tesla to sell its existing cars in the country while it works on plans for a local manufacturing facility.

Hyundai has broken ground on a massive new EV factory in its home market of South Korea today. Full-scale construction of the plant will begin in earnest before 2023 is over, so Hyundai’s not wasting any time here.

Tesla has signed a deal with the EG Group, a massive gas station and convenience store operator, to sell its Supercharger hardware to be deployed as an EG-branded product.

It’s the second of such deals that Tesla has made in just a few weeks.

Volvo officially released its first electric minivan this weekend, the EM90. Rather than just a means of getting from Point A to Point B, Volvo designed the EM90 to make you feel at home no matter where the road takes you.

There are hundreds of seated electric scooters out there these days, and many are hard to tell apart. But Barcelona-based Silence has made a name for itself with high-performance electric scooters that feature the company’s unique roll-along removable batteries. Now the company is teaming up with IRP Systems to upgrade the scooters for even better performance.

Giant Group, one of several leading bicycle manufacturers, has just revealed its first throttle-enabled electric bike. The new model is being released under the company’s Momentum sub-brand of more affordable bikes designed for street, utility, and commuter use. From the looks of things, the new Momentum Cito E+ seems like a great first shot at a throttle e-bike, and even comes with interesting options like a glovebox.

In the age of silky-smooth and quiet electrification, big screens, cameras, and power everything, what truly defines a luxury car? It’s a question I found myself asking after two days with the Volkswagen ID.7, the new mid-size EV sedan from Wolfsburg. It’s not a luxury car, per se, but so much about it does feel luxurious. Between the amazing seats, plush ride, and abundant tech, this is a car that doesn’t want for much.

Philosophical musing aside, VW has found the proverbial sweet spot in the ID.7 — a nice but not-too-nice family car I’d genuinely love to live with. While I’m still not sure I know what makes a luxury car a luxury car anymore, the ID.7 prompts what is perhaps a better question, “What else do you really need in a car?” And maybe true luxury is the absence of need.

Royal Enfield has just revealed its first-ever electric motorcycle, known as the Him-E. The bike was unveiled at the 2023 EICMA Milan Motorcycle Show, where Electrek got an up-close look at the new model ahead of its unclear production path.

Tesla is now selling a 1:18 diecast model of its most popular vehicle on its online shop.

Early Cybertruck owners will be prevented from reselling their vehicles until a year after they take delivery, according to an update to Tesla’s Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement.

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.