EDITOR'S CHOICE

China Auto Market Price War Stokes Fears Of Industry Shake-Out

30 May 2025 | Synopsis

"BYD price cuts, along with other developments, signal a potential tipping point, where weaker players can no longer sustain deepening losses from the downward spiral on prices...

"China's auto sector [is] in an unhealthy state, with pricing pressure hammering the bottom lines of car companies and suppliers. [Great Wall Motors chairman Wei Jianjun]... drew a parallel to Evergrande, the Chinese property developer that was liquidated last year"

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$7,000 Single-Seat Electric Car Revolutionizes Japan's EV Market

30 May 2025 | Synopsis

"KG Motors, a Japanese startup, has developed a small, affordable, one-seater electric car called the mibot. The vehicle aims to tackle Japan's narrow streets and aging population issues. With a range of 100 kilometers, a charging time of five hours, and a top speed of 60 kilometers per hour, the mibot is priced at $7,000.

"...mibot could kickstart Japan's electric vehicle market, which has lagged behind other countries in terms of EV adoption."

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I Drive a Lucid Air GT and Rivian R1S.. But Only One of Them Makes Sense for My 780-Mile Phoenix-to-Sausalito Trips

30 May 2025 | Synopsis

" I loosely follow the speed limit, between 70-80mph on I-10 and I-5...The Lucid can make it with 2 charging stops. But you need to plan carefully. I arrived in Sausalito (from Phoenix) with 2 charging stops..

"Phoenix to Sausalito trip in the R1S requires 3 (or even 4) charging stops...the Lucid is faster, saves a charge stop, and eats highway miles with grace..

"And Tesla? It's still the standard, mostly because everything around it, charging, software, the overall experience, just works."

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DeLorean Wants You To Reserve Its Totally Real New Car With The Most Realest Form Of Currency: Tradable Crypto NFTs

28 May 2025 | Synopsis

"Texas-based DeLorean has opened reservations for 4,000 Alpha5s...pricing them at $2,500 apiece - and requiring that prospective customers obtain a digital reservation token. The "Build Slot" NFTs are random, so buying one doesn't get you a priority...when DeLorean finally starts to sell the Alpha5, reportedly for around $125,000...DeLorean could, in an ideal world, sell 4,000 reservations and take in $10 million..."

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CATL's First 100-Second Swappable EV Batteries Debut, Proving How Far Ahead China Is

28 May 2025 | Synopsis

"CATL's new 'Choco-SEB' battery pack can be swapped in 100 seconds, making it just as quick as filling up at a gas station. The new EV features ultra-fast charging and starts at under $24,000 as China widens its lead on the global auto industry.

"Changan Automobile announced that it had delivered 1,000 Oshan 520 models, the first electric vehicle (EV) based on CATL's Choco-SEB swappable batteries...aims to have 1,000 battery swap stations in 31 cities across China by the end of 2025."

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Another Way Electric Cars Air Keep the Air Clean: Study Finds Harmful Brake Dust Reduced by 83%

28 May 2025 | Synopsis

EIT Urban Mobility study looked primarily at London, Milan and Barcelona...The primary reason for this is the use of regenerative braking, meaning that electric vehicles can slow down without rubbing friction brakes.

"...side-by-side at the best purpose-built EVs and their gas-powered counterparts, such as the Tesla Model 3 and the BMW 3 series, there is little difference in weight... across the model line...a difference of about 5%, not 20%."

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Stellantis Launches The FIAT TRIS Electric 3-Wheeler In Global Micromobility Push

28 May 2025 | Synopsis

"...the TRIS has been designed to meet the needs of micro transportation, merging iconic Italian design, affordability, and versatility into an easy-to-use, zero-emissions business solution...play a pivotal role in its global expansion, particularly in the Africa & Middle East region.

"...(GVW) of 1,025 kg and an RCE-homologated payload capacity maximum of 540 kg. TRIS's lithium battery pack has a capacity of 6.9 kWh, which provides a homologated range of 90 km..."

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Letters To The Editor: Why Is It Suddenly OK To Stomp On The Authority Of States?

27 May 2025 | Synopsis

"Protecting the rights of states to make their own laws and set their own regulatory standards has been a primarily Republican tenant for the past decades... The U.S. Senate votes to nullify California's planned transition to electric and hybrid cars

"This is a further step in the Republicans' aggressive war on efforts to improve the environment and address the worsening climate change situation...The fundamental problems with their approach to the environment and climate change: dishonesty and mean-spiritednes."

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Some Impressive News From Kenya's Growing Electric Motorcycle Sector

27 May 2025 | Synopsis

"Kenya's electric motorcycle sales seem to be taking off. In 2023, there were 70,691 motorcycles sold in Kenya. 2,557 of these were electric. That means 3.6% of motorcycles sold in 2023 in Kenya were electric..

"ARC Ride, an e-mobility battery-as-a-service (BaaS) provider, recently announced $5 million of financing from British International Investment (BII)...The company has already installed 170 charging stations in Nairobi...enables quicker battery swaps."

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California's eVTOL Air Taxi Startups Face Daunting Hurdles Ahead of LA28 Olympics Launch

27 May 2025 | Synopsis

eVTOL developer and operator is hoping to provide air taxi service for the Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles, transporting passengers above the city's congestion. However, among the obstacles they need to surmount is, first of all FAA certification of the aircraft themselves, establishing pilot training and licensing standards, and defining operational guidelines.

Additionally, vertiports need to be located and built and air traffic control procedures established.

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Researchers Take A Step Toward Carbon-Capturing Lithium Batteries

26 May 2025 | Synopsis

Li-CO₂ batteries could be a two-in-one solution to the current problems of storing renewable energy and taking carbon emissions out of the air. They absorb carbon dioxide and convert it into a white powder called lithium carbonate while discharging energy.

"...scientists noticed something interesting about this CO₂ contamination: It improved the battery's amount of charge...the technology has a few issues. The batteries don''t last very long."

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India's Car Economy Leaves the Middle Class Fuming

23 May 2025 | Synopsis

To ease an unfair tax burden, policymakers should look to 21st-century China, not 20th-century America.

"At 6 million-plus kilometers (4 million miles), India's road network is now the second largest in the world after the US..For intercity travel, India's template ought to have been 21st-century China, not 20th-century America...A still-small, car-owning middle class (fewer than one in 10 households) is feeling squeezed by the $7 billion it pays in tolls every year."

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