POPULARITY
Categories
This Week In Startups is made possible by: Superhuman: http://superhuman.com/ Paypal: http://paypal.launch.co Odoo: http://Odoo.com/twist Plaud: http://Plaud.ai/twist Harmonic: http://harmonic.ai/ Today's show: Hugging Face built a $399 open-source robot duck as a side quest, and sold 16,000 units off a single tweet. Co-founder Thomas Wolf joins Jason and Lon to explain Microduck happened, why storage is the company's real business, and what it felt like to get hacked by OpenAI's agents. Jason takes apart Gavin Newsom's new AI "kill switch" executive order: if these models are so dangerous, why not start with the same KYC every bank already requires? PLUS, Snap's new AI-integrated glasses could be a game-changer. Guests: Thomas Wolf on X: https://x.com/Thom_Wolf Hugging Face: https://huggingface.co/ Relevant Links: Hugging Face — https://huggingface.co/ Microduck — https://pollen-robotics.com/microduck/ Pollen Robotics — https://pollen-robotics.com/ OpenAI: the Hugging Face incident and the road ahead — https://openai.com/index/hugging-face-incident-and-the-road-ahead/ Governor Newsom's executive order — https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/californias-newsom-issues-executive-order-to-weigh-ai-oversight-including-kill-switch-3a98040f Anthropic Wet Lab — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/18/anthropic-quietly-sets-up-biology-lab-as-it-ramps-ai-drug-program-report.html Lucid and Bolt to deploy 25,000 autonomous EVs across Europe — https://electrek.co/2026/09/17/lucid-bolt-25000-autonomous-evs-europe/ Snap opens pre-orders for Specs at $2,195 — https://www.specs.com/ Ray-Ban Meta Display — the $799 comparison https://www.meta.com/ai-glasses/ Clavicular at All-In Summit — https://x.com/clavicular/status/2099994778616348811?s=20 Physical: 100 (the Korean original) → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical:_100 Bad Therapy — https://www.abigailshrier.com/ Full Show Notes and Transcript from Pluad: https://web.plaud.ai/s/pub_194de893-8c55-4d77-81db-a6b278159a44::o9QfImqCq5VS0F_dqm4J93eTeyb-GsIeXCLwqASnvYAmt5f59OLQz5-VN1epnq6DBLoZWFales_7IbgC Timestamps: 0:00 Guest: Thomas Wolf, co-founder & chief science officer, Hugging Face 4:17 Two years to build Microduck 8:43 How Hugging Face actually makes money: storage, not tokens 10:16 Superhuman - Superhuman Go is an AI chat that's always there when you need it, already aware of what you're doing, and doesn't ask you to start from zero. Sign up to get the best in AI at https://superhuman.com 17:18 Vibe-coding robotics: "train this new behavior for me" 20:00 PayPal - Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at https://paypal.launch.co 23:20 Thomas Wolf's P-doom and the airplane-safety analogy 25:18 The Nvidia acquisition and what changes for open models 29:57 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://Odoo.com/twist 38:39 Inside the Hugging Face breach: stolen credentials and basic mistakes 43:33 News: Newsom's executive order and the frontier-model "kill switch" 45:04 Jason's counter-proposal: liability, insurance, and KYC for AI 1:00:08 News: Lucid and Bolt to put 25,000 robotaxis on European roads 1:10:01 News: Snap opens pre-orders for $2,195 Specs AR glasses 1:21:43 Off-Duty: Clavicular, the All-In Summit 1:31:01 Off-Duty: Physical 100 goes to Italy and Mexico Subscribe to TWiST on Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com/ Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/ Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week's episode, we discuss the Tesla Roadster getting a reveal date, VW XL1 coming back electric, BYD's new Tesla fighter, and more. The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek's YouTube channel. As a reminder, we'll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in. After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcasts Spotify Overcast Pocket Casts Castro RSS We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming. Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast: Tesla teases new Roadster reveal for October 1: ‘Go for launch' Tesla's record month: 4 fatal Autopilot and Full Self-Driving crashes Tesla's new ‘Accordion' Supercharger could speed up its slow buildout Volkswagen Mission Efficiency: the XL1 comes back as 1,000-mile range electric car BYD undercuts the Tesla Model 3 with its new Formula S EV, starting at under $29,000 Volkswagen's new electric hot hatch delivers more power than the Golf GTI [Images] Lucid and Bolt to deploy 25,000 autonomous EVs across Europe Hyundai opens orders for its new electric van, starting at about $66,500 Kia's new EV van is over 17.5 ft long and can haul 9 people or lots of cargo [Images] Hyundai warns the US may be next in line for a wave of cheaper Chinese EVs Here's the live stream for today's episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET): https://www.youtube.com/live/mtxhuW6pS_A
Featuring Ivy Singley, Director of Employment Services and Workforce Development, Infirmary HealthReplacing one bedside nurse ran just over $61,000 last year. Every single percentage point of RN turnover swings the average hospital's bottom line by roughly $290,000 a year. Treating that as a pipeline problem misses what happens inside the walls every day, and Ivy Singley has spent almost 30 years in those walls.
Meet Noah: The AI Robot Delivering Your Next Meal w/ Steve Burns of NoTip - AZ TRT S07 EP15 (297) 9-13-2026 What We Learned This Week Food delivery may be ready for a robotics makeover. NoTip is testing a model where an EV gets the food close to the customer's home and an autonomous robot completes the final delivery. The expensive part of a delivery isn't necessarily the food—it's the last mile. Restaurants and consumers can face significant costs from today's delivery model. NoTip is trying to use automation and EVs to change that equation. Physical AI is moving into the real world. LiDAR, cameras, GPS, sonar and RTK positioning allow robots to understand and navigate physical environments—not just digital ones. The EV revolution isn't just about cars. Purpose-built electric vehicles can be dramatically smaller and lighter than conventional cars, potentially changing the economics of businesses that operate fleets all day. The future of autonomous delivery may involve two vehicles—not one. The delivery vehicle gets the order to the neighborhood, while a smaller robot handles the final few yards to the front door. That combination could allow companies to rethink how the entire delivery process works. Guest: Steve Burns — Founder, NoTip Stephen S. Burns is a serial entrepreneur and technology executive with more than three decades of experience building disruptive companies across automotive, electric vehicles, telecommunications, and software. He is the founder of Lordstown Motors, where he served as Chairman and CEO, leading the acquisition and transformation of the former General Motors Lordstown Assembly Plant into an electric vehicle manufacturing facility. He also founded Workhorse Group (NASDAQ: WKHS), an early pioneer in commercial electric vehicles and last-mile delivery technology, helping lay the foundation for today's commercial EV market. Prior to his work in electric mobility, Burns founded Mobile Voice Control, a pioneering speech recognition software company for smartphones that was acquired by Nuance Communications. Throughout his career, he has successfully founded, scaled, and exited multiple technology ventures, commercializing innovative products that have advanced mobile communications, enterprise software, and transportation technologies. He is widely recognized for identifying emerging technologies and transforming them into industry-leading businesses. Company: NoTip Location: Mason, Ohio, outside Cincinnati Industry: Autonomous vehicles / Physical AI / Food delivery / EV technology https://notip.ai/index/home NoTip is transforming food delivery in Mason, Ohio NoTip is redefining food delivery in Mason Ohio. We operate as a 3rd party delivery platform. We feature local restaurants on our platform and then use electric vehicles driven by our uniformed team members combined with and our specially designed robots to pick up your food and deliver it to your doorstep. This approach enables dramatically lower costs, faster service, and greater reliability- while removing common pain points like tipping, hidden fees, food markups, and concerns around strangers on your doorstep. Simple, Sleek, Easy-To-Use App Order your favorite food in seconds with NoTip's powerful, east-to-use app. Order from your favorite local restaurants and track your delivery in real time as our uniformed team member and advanced robotic system brings your food directly to your doorstep. No tipping, no food mark-ups—just seamless, reliable delivery at the tap of a button. Download the NoTip app today and experience the future of food delivery. Segment 1 — Meet Noah: The Robot Changing Food Delivery Steve Burns introduces NoTip, a new autonomous food-delivery company operating out of Mason, Ohio. The company has spent approximately four years in stealth mode developing its technology. NoTip officially went live in the summer of 2026. The company's technology centers around Noah, an autonomous delivery robot built in-house. Noah is an example of what Steve describes as Physical AI—AI that doesn't just exist in software but interacts with the physical world. The company is essentially taking on the traditional food-delivery model represented by companies such as DoorDash and Uber Eats. Customers order through an app and pay before the delivery. Instead of a gig worker delivering the order, NoTip uses autonomous vehicles and robots. The initial focus is suburban food delivery. The basic proposition is simple: people are willing to pay for convenience. Steve uses Uber as an example of how consumers have demonstrated that they'll pay for convenience when the service solves a problem. NoTip's future delivery system combines: An autonomous EV Noah, the smaller autonomous robot The robot carrying the food from the vehicle to the customer's home The delivery vehicle can deploy the robot using a ramp. Noah uses a combination of: LiDAR Sonar GPS Cameras Mapping technology The robot has gone through thousands of modifications and improvements during development. Current testing includes a safety driver behind the wheel who can take over and make the delivery if the autonomous system encounters a problem. The Technology Business Steve points out the enormous valuations attached to technology-driven companies. DoorDash has reached a market capitalization far larger than many traditional vehicle manufacturers. His larger point: the software and technology layer can be more valuable than the physical vehicle itself. NoTip's concept is designed to be easy for consumers to understand: The delivery vehicle comes to your neighborhood. A small robot gets out. The robot takes your food to the door. Steve compares the concept to the familiar infrastructure of a UPS delivery fleet—but with autonomous technology replacing much of the human delivery process. Why Does Food Delivery Cost So Much? The NoTip Model NoTip plans to charge a flat $6 delivery fee. Traditional food-delivery services can charge restaurants significant fees, sometimes approaching 30%, depending on the arrangement. Those costs can ultimately be reflected in higher menu prices and delivery costs for consumers. Steve believes the current food-delivery model has become too expensive for restaurants, consumers and other participants in the food ecosystem. Automation could potentially change the economics of last-mile delivery. EV Economics Electric vehicles have substantially lower energy costs than gasoline-powered vehicles. Lower operating costs become particularly important in a delivery business where vehicles may operate for many hours every day. Amazon has already demonstrated the use of electric delivery vans through its Rivian fleet. NoTip is looking beyond conventional delivery vans toward smaller, purpose-built EVs. The Future NoTip Vehicle Steve envisions a future NoTip delivery vehicle that could be a three-wheel EV, more similar to a large motorcycle than a traditional automobile. The goal is to make the vehicle: Lightweight Efficient Less expensive to operate Purpose-built for delivery A lighter vehicle requires less energy to move, potentially helping reduce operating costs. Why Automation Could Matter Steve discusses some of the challenges and safety concerns associated with the current gig-worker delivery model. NoTip's objective is to create a delivery system that emphasizes consistency, safety and efficiency. The technology isn't simply about eliminating a driver—it is about redesigning the entire last-mile delivery process. Segment 2 — From EVs to Robots Steve Burns' EV Background Steve brings significant experience from the electric-vehicle industry. His background includes work with companies such as: Workhorse Lordstown Motors His experience gives him an understanding of: EV development Manufacturing Supply chains Automotive regulations Vehicle technology The challenges of bringing new transportation technology to market Lordstown Motors Steve discusses the bankruptcy of Lordstown Motors. He subsequently acquired intellectual property and physical assets from the company. That included EV-related assets and vehicles that could be useful in developing future technology. NoTip's Current Vehicles The company is experimenting with multiple prototype configurations. Some of the current vehicles are modified BMW i3s. These conventional vehicles weigh roughly 2,000 pounds. Steve discusses future vehicles that could be much lighter. One concept is approximately 1,500 pounds, including the battery. The battery system is designed to provide roughly 10 hours of operating time. Building the Robot Noah has gone through multiple prototype versions. The team has learned from putting the robots into real-world environments. One of the challenges is that a robot can't assume every customer's property looks the same. It needs to navigate things such as: Rakes Landscaping Driveways Sidewalks Other obstacles The robot can also be modified for different environments, including the use of snow tires for winter conditions. The Technology Behind Noah Noah combines several technologies to understand its environment. Sensors LiDAR Sonar Cameras GPS Optical sensors The vehicle and robot use these systems to understand and map their surroundings. RTK — Real-Time Kinematic Positioning Steve discusses RTK, or Real-Time Kinematic positioning. The technology can dramatically improve location accuracy and allow the system to map an area with extremely high precision—down to approximately the centimeter level under suitable conditions. That matters when a robot needs to know: "Exactly where am I on this property?" rather than simply: "I'm somewhere near this address." A Bigger Robotics Trend Steve points out that similar technology is being used in other industries. One example is autonomous robotic lawnmowers. As sensors, computing power and other components become less expensive, technologies that once required expensive R&D can become commercially practical. NoTip is essentially applying some of those technologies to food delivery. Segment 3 - How Does an Autonomous Delivery Actually Work? Getting to the House Google Maps can be used to determine the vehicle's driving route. The vehicle handles the trip from the restaurant to the customer's neighborhood. The robot then handles the final portion of the delivery on the customer's property. Current Regulatory Approach During the current testing phase, there is still a driver behind the wheel of the autonomous vehicle. This allows NoTip to operate within the existing regulatory framework while testing its autonomous technology. The robot itself operates on the customer's property after receiving permission. Customer Permission Customers agree to allow the robot onto their property through the NoTip app. The system can collect information such as: Email address Phone number Property permission This creates a defined interaction between the customer and the autonomous delivery system. What's Next for NoTip? NoTip is currently testing and refining its technology. The company expects to continue improving both the robot and the vehicle platform. Future plans include: Additional cities Purpose-built EVs More autonomous robots Expanded manufacturing capabilities Steve discusses eventually building a 22,000-square-foot facility for manufacturing and development. That facility could support production of the company's three-wheel EV and robotic delivery systems. Phoenix is one city Steve has identified as a potential future market. NoTip expects to announce its next city in fall 2026. The Bigger Idea The roads and delivery infrastructure already exist. Consumers already: Order food through apps Pay electronically Expect delivery Pay for convenience The question becomes: Can technology make the last mile faster, safer and less expensive? That's the problem NoTip is trying to solve. Tech Topic: https://brt-show.libsyn.com/category/Tech-Startup-VC-Cybersecurity-Energy-Science Best of Tech: https://brt-show.libsyn.com/size/5/?search=best+of+tech 'Best Of' Topic: https://brt-show.libsyn.com/category/Best+of+BRT Thanks for Listening. Please Subscribe to the AZ TRT Podcast. AZ Tech Roundtable 2.0 with Matt Battaglia The show where Entrepreneurs, Top Executives, Founders, and Investors come to share insights about the future of business. AZ TRT 2.0 looks at the new trends in business, & how classic industries are evolving. Common Topics Discussed: Startups, Founders, Funds & Venture Capital, Business, Entrepreneurship, Biotech, Blockchain / Crypto, Executive Comp, Investing, Stocks, Real Estate + Alternative Investments, and more… AZ TRT Podcast Home Page: http://aztrtshow.com/ 'Best Of' AZ TRT Podcast: Click Here Podcast on Google: Click Here Podcast on Spotify: Click Here More Info: https://www.economicknight.com/azpodcast/ KFNX Info: https://1100kfnx.com/weekend-featured-shows/
On this week's episode, we share our first impressions of the 2026 Toyota RAV4 PHEV and explore whether the plug-in hybrid is worth its sizable price premium. With up to 54 miles of electric range, 324 horsepower, impressive fuel economy, and no EV range anxiety, it may be the most versatile RAV4 yet—but it still has a few frustrating compromises. Plus, we answer an audience question about whether a reliable, high-mileage vehicle is a smart choice for a teen driver. Join CR at https://CR.org/joinviaYT to access our comprehensive ratings for items you use every day. CR is a mission-driven, independent, nonprofit organization. SHOW NOTES ----------------------------------- 0:00 - Intro 0:37 Overview: 2026 Toyota RAV4 Plug-In Hybrid 1:23 Is the PHEV Worth It? 6:14 Electric Range and Efficiency 9:31 Charging at Home 13:07 Ride and Handling 15:36 Acceleration and Power 19:15 Controls and Technology 27:02 Interior and Comfort 31:59 Reliability 35:45 Final Verdict 42:43 Viewer Question: Are High-Mileage Cars Safe for Teens? ---------------------------------- Test Results: 2026 Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/toyota/rav4-plug-in-hybrid/2026/overview/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT First Drive: 2026 Toyota RAV4 PHEV Is Quick, Efficient, and Packed with Useful Tech https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/2026-toyota-rav4-phev-review-a1016340226/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Most and Least Satisfying Hybrids, Plug-In Hybrids, and EVs https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/most-and-least-satisfying-electric-vehicles-and-hybrids-a2825600877/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Which Brands Make the Best Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/cars-driving/which-car-brands-make-the-best-vehicles-a6159221985/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Who Makes the Most Reliable New Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-a7824554938/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Find an Efficient Vehicle That's Right for You https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/buying-guide/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Safest Car Brands Ranked by CR's Safety Verdict https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/safest-car-brands-a1065426408/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT How Car Brands Stack Up on Repair Costs https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-maintenance/the-cost-of-car-ownership-a1854979198/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Best Used Cars and SUVs Under 10K https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/best-used-cars-suvs-under-10000-dollars-a8966344858/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT ----------------------------------- Consumer Reports experts: Jon Linkov, Jake Fisher, Alex George
On this week's episode, we share our first impressions of the 2026 Toyota RAV4 PHEV and explore whether the plug-in hybrid is worth its sizable price premium. With up to 54 miles of electric range, 324 horsepower, impressive fuel economy, and no EV range anxiety, it may be the most versatile RAV4 yet—but it still has a few frustrating compromises. Plus, we answer an audience question about whether a reliable, high-mileage vehicle is a smart choice for a teen driver. Join CR at https://CR.org/joinviaYT to access our comprehensive ratings for items you use every day. CR is a mission-driven, independent, nonprofit organization. SHOW NOTES ----------------------------------- 0:00 - Intro 0:37 Overview: 2026 Toyota RAV4 Plug-In Hybrid 1:23 Is the PHEV Worth It? 6:14 Electric Range and Efficiency 9:31 Charging at Home 13:07 Ride and Handling 15:36 Acceleration and Power 19:15 Controls and Technology 27:02 Interior and Comfort 31:59 Reliability 35:45 Final Verdict 42:43 Viewer Question: Are High-Mileage Cars Safe for Teens? ---------------------------------- Test Results: 2026 Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/toyota/rav4-plug-in-hybrid/2026/overview/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT First Drive: 2026 Toyota RAV4 PHEV Is Quick, Efficient, and Packed with Useful Tech https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/2026-toyota-rav4-phev-review-a1016340226/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Most and Least Satisfying Hybrids, Plug-In Hybrids, and EVs https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/most-and-least-satisfying-electric-vehicles-and-hybrids-a2825600877/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Which Brands Make the Best Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/cars-driving/which-car-brands-make-the-best-vehicles-a6159221985/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Who Makes the Most Reliable New Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-a7824554938/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Find an Efficient Vehicle That's Right for You https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/buying-guide/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Safest Car Brands Ranked by CR's Safety Verdict https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/safest-car-brands-a1065426408/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT How Car Brands Stack Up on Repair Costs https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-maintenance/the-cost-of-car-ownership-a1854979198/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Best Used Cars and SUVs Under 10K https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/best-used-cars-suvs-under-10000-dollars-a8966344858/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT ----------------------------------- Consumer Reports experts: Jon Linkov, Jake Fisher, Alex George
Jonathan Rowntree, Chief Executive Officer at Niron Magnetics, Inc., joins Double Take to explore how rare-earth-free iron nitride magnets could challenge China's supply-chain dominance, power EVs, data centers and robotics, and create a new advanced-manufacturing opportunity for investors.
Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:49:00 GMT http://relay.fm/tc/135 http://relay.fm/tc/135 Dan Provost, Tom Gerhardt, and Myke Hurley Myke, Tom, and Dan chat about the resurrection of Obi (in name, at least), the new iPhone Duo, and flush door handles on EVs. Myke, Tom, and Dan chat about the resurrection of Obi (in name, at least), the new iPhone Duo, and flush door handles on EVs. clean 2533 Myke, Tom, and Dan chat about the resurrection of Obi (in name, at least), the new iPhone Duo, and flush door handles on EVs. Links and Show Notes: Support Thoroughly Considered with a Relay Membership Upgrade #637: My Job Is to Eat the Marshmallow - Relay
Transportation is changing fast. From sustainability concerns to climate resiliency to EVs, the systems we use today will look very different very soon. That's what Christy Mihyeon Jeon joins us to talk about.
ChatGPT Is Inside Epic, 40 Mergers in Six Months, and 92% Bracing for StrainThree stories, one direction. Technology is accelerating, consolidation is accelerating, and the people running health systems have stopped waiting to see how it shakes out.
On this week's episode, we share our first impressions of the 2026 Toyota RAV4 PHEV and explore whether the plug-in hybrid is worth its sizable price premium. With up to 54 miles of electric range, 324 horsepower, impressive fuel economy, and no EV range anxiety, it may be the most versatile RAV4 yet—but it still has a few frustrating compromises. Plus, we answer an audience question about whether a reliable, high-mileage vehicle is a smart choice for a teen driver. Join CR at https://CR.org/joinviaYT to access our comprehensive ratings for items you use every day. CR is a mission-driven, independent, nonprofit organization. SHOW NOTES ----------------------------------- 0:00 - Intro 0:37 Overview: 2026 Toyota RAV4 Plug-In Hybrid 1:23 Is the PHEV Worth It? 6:14 Electric Range and Efficiency 9:31 Charging at Home 13:07 Ride and Handling 15:36 Acceleration and Power 19:15 Controls and Technology 27:02 Interior and Comfort 31:59 Reliability 35:45 Final Verdict 42:43 Viewer Question: Are High-Mileage Cars Safe for Teens? ---------------------------------- Test Results: 2026 Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/toyota/rav4-plug-in-hybrid/2026/overview/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT First Drive: 2026 Toyota RAV4 PHEV Is Quick, Efficient, and Packed with Useful Tech https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/2026-toyota-rav4-phev-review-a1016340226/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Most and Least Satisfying Hybrids, Plug-In Hybrids, and EVs https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/most-and-least-satisfying-electric-vehicles-and-hybrids-a2825600877/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Which Brands Make the Best Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/cars-driving/which-car-brands-make-the-best-vehicles-a6159221985/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Who Makes the Most Reliable New Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-a7824554938/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Find an Efficient Vehicle That's Right for You https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/buying-guide/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Safest Car Brands Ranked by CR's Safety Verdict https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/safest-car-brands-a1065426408/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT How Car Brands Stack Up on Repair Costs https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-maintenance/the-cost-of-car-ownership-a1854979198/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Best Used Cars and SUVs Under 10K https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/best-used-cars-suvs-under-10000-dollars-a8966344858/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT ----------------------------------- Consumer Reports experts: Jon Linkov, Jake Fisher, Alex George
AI industry engineers and leaders are warning their own tech could spell the end of humanity as we know it. WSJ Deputy Tech & Media Editor Sam Schechner dives into the AI doom debate and what steps companies could take to stop it. Plus, worried your EV might run out of juice before you find a plug? WSJ reporter Chistopher Otts tells us about a new solution automakers are betting on: extended range EVs. Julie Chang hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
It's ev.news Briefly for Saturday 12 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the ev.news Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/evnewsLEAPMOTOR OPENS EUROPEAN B03X ORDERS FROM €24,900Stellantis has opened European orders for the Leapmotor B03X, a compact electric crossover starting at €24,900 (about $28,900), sold through the Chinese brand's joint venture with Stellantis and undercutting most European-built compact EVs. Two variants are offered — the Pro with a 39.8 kWh battery and 292 km WLTP range, and the ProMax with 53.0 kWh and 382 km — both with a 14.6-inch touchscreen, 8.8-inch cluster, Leap OS 4.0 Plus, wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, and standard Level 2 driver assistance using 14 sensors and cameras across 21 functions.VOLVO FACELIFTS XC40, EX40 AND EC40Volvo has given the XC40, EX40 and EC40 their first major styling revision in nearly nine years, with all-new bodywork ahead of the A-pillars and revised 'Thor's Hammer' matrix LED headlights that Volvo says cut glare, debuting on the model year 2028 XC40 now that matrix LEDs are legal in the United States. Powertrains are unchanged, but the cars gain an 11.2-inch touchscreen with Google Gemini voice assistance, plus added cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors supporting a smoother Pilot Assist with lane-change assist, a 3-D 360-degree camera view and an occupant alert for approaching cyclists before doors open.VOLKSWAGEN PLANS IQ.DRIVE UPDATE TO ID. BUZZVolkswagen will upgrade IQ.DRIVE functions on 2027 MEB vehicles, with the ID. Buzz receiving the fullest package including Road Experience Management, and Enhanced Travel Assist that can execute a driver-requested lane change above 45 mph using rear radar, waiting up to 12 seconds if traffic blocks the move while the driver stays responsible. The 2027 Buzz also reacts faster to posted speed-limit changes, notifying the driver before adjusting speed, slows near ramps and exits using navigation or turn-signal input, and uses crowd-sourced map data to supplement cameras where road markings are faded or weather is poor, bundled into In-Vehicle Premium with a one-year trial.NISSAN LEAF S IS CANADA'S LOWEST-PRICED EVThe 2027 Nissan Leaf S is Canada's cheapest electric vehicle at CA$34,998 (about US$25,250), nearly CA$2,000 below the Kia EV3 Light FWD and under CA$30,000 once the Electric Vehicle Affordability Program is applied. It uses a 53 kWh battery, a single 174 hp motor and up to 341 km of range, trailing the EV3 Light's 58.3 kWh, 201 hp and 356 km, and charging 10-80% in about 35 minutes against the Kia's 29, though both use an NACS port.JLR INVESTS £356 MILLION IN WOLVERHAMPTON EV PRODUCTIONJLR has spent £356m converting its Wolverhampton propulsion plant, renamed the Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre in 2024, to build electric drive units and assemble battery packs while continuing six-cylinder Ingenium engine production, giving it flexibility to flex output as the EV transition moves. The hall now making drive units for the Range Rover Electric, Range Rover GT, Jaguar Type 01 and smaller Defender 'Sport' previously built four-cylinder diesels on repurposed CNC machines, working to 80-micron tolerances against roughly 120 for combustion engines, with cells currently sourced from AESC in China and due to switch next year to Tata's Agratas plant in Somerset.EVGO OPENS 20-PLUG LOS ANGELES FAST-CHARGING STATIONEVgo has opened what it calls the largest non-Tesla fast-charging station in the City of Los Angeles, a 10-stall, 20-plug site on S Robertson Blvd in Mid-City just off the Santa Monica Freeway. The site has two 100 kW stalls, three 200 kW and five 350 kW, with 18 CCS cables capable of up to 350 kW and two CHAdeMO ports at up to 100 kW that keep older EVs served, though there are no NACS cables and NACS vehicles must use adapters.SKODA APPROVES NEW KAROQ FOR 2027 OR 2028Skoda chief executive Klaus Zellmer has approved a second-generation Karoq for launch in 2027 or 2028 on the Volkswagen Group MQB platform, reversing a plan under which the electric Elroq — itself a late addition to the range and now Europe's second best-selling electric car — was to have taken the Karoq's place. Zellmer said powertrains will be very comparable to the Kodiaq's and pointed to strong plug-in hybrid demand and a 100 km-plus electric range as ideal for the model, though a PHEV remains possible rather than confirmed.PENNDOT OPENS $11 MILLION CHARGER FUNDING ROUNDPennDOT has opened an $11 million round for EV charging infrastructure across 26 central Pennsylvania counties, with publicly accessible sites able to apply until 12 March 2027 under the third phase of the state's federally backed Community Charging scheme, which allocated $100 million in NEVI money from February to extend charging beyond Alternative Fuel Corridors. Local transportation planning agencies, not PennDOT, will set location priorities; the state says 50 NEVI-funded hubs have opened with 41 more planned or under construction, delivering over 146,000 charging sessions since December 2023 and avoiding more than 3,700 tonnes of CO2.TESLA CEO PROMOTES VIDEO OF DRIVER SAYING FSD IS 'EYES OFF'Elon Musk endorsed, with a heart emoji, a clip of Larry, a 98-year-old Model Y owner in Farmington, New Mexico, who says of FSD (Supervised) that he did not have to look at an intersection and does not want to, directly contradicting Tesla's disclaimer that the feature requires active driver supervision and does not make the car autonomous. The framing matters because Tesla's defence in Autopilot and FSD crash litigation rests on driver responsibility — a Florida jury already returned a $243 million judgment against the company, with up to $14.5 billion at stake across roughly two dozen cases — even as its lawyers have separately argued, successfully, that Musk's public statements should not be taken at face value.
Ed's in Venice, so Alex and Kirsten discuss the FUKT.Purist Satirical Hypercar Reveal, fake engine sounds and smells, privacy, surveillance, Angeles Death Highway, Waymo in San Diego, Dumb Headlines, the Rivian R2, CyberCab challenges for 1st Responders, and Alex makes a prediction.EPISODE TIMESTAMPS00:00 — Welcome to The AutonocastAlex and Kirsten open an Ed-free episode and discuss Ed Niedermeyer's trip to Europe for the premiere of Alex Gibney's Elon Musk documentary.04:27 — FUKT Global and the Ultimate Car-Culture SatireAlex introduces FUKT Global and Angela's Death Highway, unpacking a viral AI-powered parody of modern enthusiast cars, EVs, synthetic driving experiences, and automotive marketing.08:39 — Fake Engine Sounds, Fake Manuals & Fake Gasoline SmellsWhy FUKT's fictional electric “Purist” brilliantly skewers synthetic transmissions, artificial engine sounds, simulated shifting, and the auto industry's attempts to recreate analog driving.12:02 — Surveillance, Flock Cameras & the Future of Driver PrivacyThe parody gets more serious: 14 interior cameras, connected vehicles, driver monitoring, and the provocative idea that “safety should follow the driver, not the car.”13:26 — Is This the Nightmare Future of Human Driving?Alex explains how mass-market vehicles could become increasingly automated, monitored, and restricted while true analog driving becomes a luxury available primarily to wealthy enthusiasts.15:00 — Can Technology Preserve Driving Freedom?A vision for future EVs that could reproduce the performance, sound, feel, and dynamics of classic Mustangs, Porsche 911s, and other enthusiast cars while balancing safety, privacy, freedom, and agency.17:03 — What Would an Autonomous-Vehicle Satire Look Like?The hosts imagine applying FUKT's approach to the AV industry: billion-dollar fundraising, robotaxi promises, surveillance, shifting timelines, and technology pivots.19:00 — Tesla Cybercab and the Power of “Narrative Command”Kirsten examines the optics surrounding Tesla's Cybercab event and how a relatively small deployment can appear enormous through social media, influencers, and Tesla's ability to control the autonomy narrative.21:01 — Tesla vs. Waymo: Perception vs. DeploymentAlex argues that Waymo may have thousands of vehicles operating while Tesla has far fewer Cybercabs, yet public perception increasingly treats the companies as peers in the robotaxi race.22:35 — Robotaxis Without Steering Wheels or PedalsZoox and Tesla Cybercab introduce a new safety challenge: what happens when a driverless vehicle without conventional controls becomes disabled or stuck?23:51 — First Responders and the Driverless-Car ProblemKirsten discusses emerging California rules addressing how autonomous vehicles interact with police, firefighters, emergency personnel, teleoperators, and roadside incidents.26:09 — Riding Waymo in San DiegoFresh from Waymo's newly launched San Diego service, Kirsten describes pricing, pickup locations, routing, passenger experience, and how the service compares with Uber.28:04 — Would You Put Your Child in a Waymo Alone?The discussion turns from abstract AV safety to a much more personal threshold: what would parents need to know before allowing a child to travel alone in an autonomous vehicle?29:06 — Robotaxis, Uber & Personal SafetyKirsten explores the tradeoff between a driverless vehicle that may require passengers to walk several blocks and a human-driven Uber offering true door-to-door service.32:42 — Why Autonomous Cars May Not Kill Car OwnershipAlex argues that parents and existing car owners may prefer personally owned autonomous vehicles that are always available rather than relying exclusively on shared robotaxi fleets.33:39 — The Cybercab First-Responder QuestionThe hosts return to Tesla Cybercab and debate how vehicles without manual controls can be moved when software, connectivity, or autonomy fails.35:23 — Tesla Cybercab, FMVSS & NHTSAKirsten explains the federal self-certification process, Tesla's Cybercab approach, vehicles without traditional controls, and NHTSA's inquiry into whether alternative systems satisfy federal safety requirements.37:47 — Is the NHTSA Inquiry a “Something Burger”?Alex and Kirsten debate how significant the federal scrutiny really is—and whether Tesla will simply continue deploying until regulators establish a boundary it must address.39:01 — Can You Drive a Cybercab With a Controller?A discussion of service modes, remote assistance, emergency controls, and reports and images suggesting unconventional ways Cybercabs might be maneuvered without a steering wheel.39:23 — The Waymo Headline Where Nothing HappenedThe hosts dissect a San Francisco Chronicle story about a toddler, a crosswalk, and an approaching Waymo—and debate clickbait versus meaningful AV safety journalism.42:26 — Why One AV Incident Can Affect the Entire IndustryAlex and Kirsten discuss how autonomous vehicles are often treated as a single technological category, meaning a serious incident involving one company could damage public confidence in every AV developer.44:28 — Has the Consumer AV Safety Debate Already Been Won?Alex clarifies his argument that, whatever unresolved regulatory and technical issues remain, autonomous vehicles are increasingly becoming normalized in the minds of ordinary consumers.45:14 — Kirsten's First Drive of the Rivian R2Kirsten previews her extended Rivian R2 test, discussing its driving experience, interior materials, ergonomics, improvements over the R1, and some surprisingly important design details.47:44 — Could the Rivian R2 Replace Alex's Tesla Model S?Alex explains why Tesla FSD—or an equivalent point-to-point driver-assistance system—has become a requirement for his next new vehicle, while Kirsten prepares to test Rivian's latest ADAS capabilities.48:15 — The Future of Driving & The Autonocast PartyThe episode closes with thoughts on how long human driving will remain practical and an early preview of the tenth annual Autonocast party.Topics: Tesla Cybercab, Waymo, autonomous vehicles, robotaxis, Tesla FSD, NHTSA, FMVSS, Zoox, Rivian R2, Uber, AV safety, autonomous vehicle regulation, first responders, driverless cars, automotive surveillance, Flock cameras, EVs, human driving, car culture, AI, ADAS, privacy, mobility, and the future of transportation.
Charlie Adam joins Natalie Pike and Kevin Nolan on the latest episode of No Tippy Tappy Football.The former Liverpool, Stoke City and Scotland midfielder gives his verdict on the controversial Manchester Derby, including the controversial red card decision which saw Phil Foden walk and City's controversial offside winner, before discussing Liverpool's faltering start and whether their midfield has enough quality to compete with the Premier League's best.Kevin Nolan also responds to Graeme Souness' criticism of Declan Rice, while the panel discuss Frank Lampard's position at Coventry City after their 5-0 hammering off Brighton, the role of half time interviews and the desperate need for more content, and contrasting management styles of modern football after Roberto De Zerbi was criticised for his theatrics at the weekend......Oh, and why Charlie Adam is better than Pele.Chapters:00:00 Intro to Charlie Adam01:30 Manchester Derby reaction: VAR and offside10:21 Boyle Sports Offer10:45 ProRef statement and Michael Carrick's disappointment21:50 Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson's impact at Manchester City27:45 Half time interviews: should they be removed?30:30 Are Liverpool struggling again?34:10 Are Liverpool's midfield three strong enough?37:08 Graeme Souness on Declan Rice42:00 Frank Lampard's Coventry City future: is he under pressure?47:40 Charlie Adam compared to Pele#NoTippyTappyFootball #LFC #StokeCity #Blackpool #Scotland_Make sure you Like, Comment & Subscribe & turn on notifications so you know when a new episode drops.
282 mph sounds like a headline until you hear what it feels like from inside the cockpit. We sit down with NHRA icon Angelle Sampey, a three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion, to trace the path from a six-year-old on a Suzuki dirt bike to a driver chasing the next mountain: Top Fuel. Along the way, she explains why one moment at an NHRA race can erase every other plan and how a racing dream can coexist with a serious career off the track as a registered nurse.Angelle breaks down what a Pro Stock Motorcycle really is (hint: “stock” is mostly a myth), why 400 horsepower on two wheels changes everything, and what you risk when there's no roll cage and nothing holding you on. Then we get into the big transition: moving into an A/Fuel dragster under a closed canopy, strapped down with restraints, relying on radio communication, and learning the difference between comfort and true safety at speed. Her explanation of tire shake versus tire spin is as vivid as it is useful, and it shows how drag racing is won or lost in fractions of a second.We also dig into the people who make the results possible: crew chiefs, crew members, and sponsors, plus what recognition like top-driver honors and a Motorsports Hall of Fame induction means when you've lived the team side of the sport. After that, we pivot to automotive news with real shopper impact: U.S. new vehicle inventory levels, why hybrids are moving faster than EVs, and how brands like Cadillac and Toyota are facing awkward timing gaps and delays as they balance gasoline, hybrid, and electric strategies.Subscribe for more automotive talk, share this with a racing fan, and leave us a review with your biggest takeaway from Angelle's story.Be sure to subscribe for more In Wheel Time Car Talk!---- ----- Want more In Wheel Time car talk any time? In Wheel Time is now available on Audacy! Just go to Audacy.com/InWheelTime where ever you are.----- -----Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast provider for the next episode of In Wheel Time Podcast and check out our live multiplatform broadcast every Saturday, 10a - 12nCT simulcasting on Audacy, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and InWheelTime.com.In Wheel Time Podcast can be heard on you mobile device from providers such as:Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music Podcast, Spotify, SiriusXM Podcast, iHeartRadio podcast, TuneIn + Alexa, Podcast Addict, Castro, Castbox, YouTube Podcast and more on your mobile device.Follow InWheelTime.com for the latest updates!Twitter: https://twitter.com/InWheelTimeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/inwheeltime/https://www.youtube.com/inwheeltimehttps://www.Facebook.com/InWheelTimeFor more information about In Wheel Time Podcast, email us at info@inwheeltime.com
Saturday Mornings Show host Glenn van Zutphen talks with Eric Olander, co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The China Global South Project... one of the world’s most respected independent platforms tracking China’s engagement across Africa, Asia and the developing world. We begin with the India–China reset ahead of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi. As the world grapples with the Ukraine and Iran wars, U.S.–China rivalry, and President Trump’s second administration, India’s long‑standing strategy of “strategic autonomy” looks like the model everyone else is trying to copy. But applying that philosophy to BRICS leadership is far more complicated. Then to Washington, where Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit, complete with a summit and state dinner with President Trump, may reshape conversations around trade, AI, EVs, aerospace, and regional security. Eric breaks down what both sides want, and what neither can afford to lose. Finally, Nepal’s extraordinary disaster diplomacy. Kathmandu carefully manages foreign rescue teams to avoid becoming a stage for India–China competition.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week's episode, we discuss the Tesla Semi launch in Europe, mixed bag of EV sales, Chinese EVs in the US, and more. The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek's YouTube channel. As a reminder, we'll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in. After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcasts Spotify Overcast Pocket Casts Castro RSS We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming. Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast: Tesla reveals European Semi specs: 550 km range, 800 kW charging EV sales are booming in Europe – and plunging in North America Volvo kills off another EV for the US, but it has a replacement coming in 2027 Senator claims Trump may open US market to Chinese EVs in Xi deal Xiaomi launches four SkyNomad SUVs in China from $31,275 BYD cuts Denza Z9 GT EV prices with the new e3 Premium trim, starting at about $50,000 Here's our first look at Nissan's new entry-level Pixo EV [Images] Here's the live stream for today's episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET): https://www.youtube.com/live/HvEVcWiLnSw
Story of the Week (DR):Tim Cook Could Still Out-Earn Apple's New CEO John Ternus Under a Special Pay ArrangementApple set John Ternus's fiscal 2027 salary at $3M and his annual equity award at $55M, giving him a calculated fiscal 2027 salary-and-equity package of $58M.Cook will receive a $2M salary and a $45M annual equity award as executive chair, giving him a calculated salary-and-equity package of $47M.Almost all of the value in both packages comes through Apple shares rather than salary. Ternus has 75% of his equity award tied to performance, while Cook has 50% tied to performance.That structure gives Ternus greater exposure to performance, for better or worse. If Apple performs strongly against other S&P 500 companies, Ternus could receive more from his equity award. If the performance-based awards pay little or nothing, Cook could receive more from salary and equity even though he is no longer CEO. Cook also has a retirement provision that Ternus does not have.Volkswagen Supervisory Board Approves Plan To Slash Models & Reduce Workforce By 100,000In June, Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume had a plan to close four factories in Germany and eliminate 100,000 workers, both in Germany and around the world, by 2030. It said the plan would be made public at a company board meeting on July 9. July 9 came and went, and the plan did not get the approval from the board of directors that Blume expected. The vote was 12 against and only 7 in favor of Blume's vision.Then, on September 3, 2026, Volkswagen Group announced that the plan submitted in June had been approved unanimously by the supervisory board.CEO Oliver Blume: “The Supervisory Board has unanimously approved the Executive Board's Future Plan presented today. This is a strong sign for the future of the Volkswagen Group. We are taking responsibility for our entire team, for our partners and for industrial jobs worldwide.”CEOs in pop cultureThe new trailer for the OpenAI movie imagines what Sam Altman's stash of guns and gold looks likeStarring Spiderman/Andrew GarfieldElizabeth Holmes' Secret Documentary Revealed After She Invited a Film Crew 34 Days Before PrisonTheranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is the subject of A24 documentary 'You Can See Everything' directed by satirist Nathan Fielder and Lance OppenheimElizabeth Holmes' greatest invention: 'Elizabeth Holmes'Elon Musk's Worst Nightmare Just Dropped: Explosive Teaser Takes Aim at the BillionaireAlex Gibney: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room The 48-second teaser for Musk begins by portraying the billionaire as a visionary, with voices describing him as 'possibly the greatest living inventor' and the 'real-life Iron Man'. Then the tone turns vicious. The praise gives way to descriptions including 'chaotic', 'cruel and selfish ', and 'fascist', before the teaser promises an 'unflinching look at Earth's most unchecked man'. It ends with a spacecraft crashing and exploding as a voice declares, 'Elon is a nuke'.Yet another week of AI warnings: MMThe AI warnings are coming from inside the labAnthropic Wants Governments to Stop 'Catastrophic' AI Models Before They Are DeployedOpenAI Chief Scientist Warns AI Is Beating Humans at Key Tasks: 'No One Is Prepared'OpenAI's chief scientist warned AI labs aren't ready to keep scaling safelyAI researcher claims he resigned from Anthropic over threat to the human race. His post is going viralAn Anthropic researcher just quit, saying OpenAI and Anthropic are 'gambling with our lives'Scoop: Anthropic whistleblower gave up his equity to leave the companyAnthropic researcher says AI has more than 10% chance of 'killing all humans' after colleague quitsOpenAI's rogue AI agents were secretly spreading across far more websites than disclosedOpenAI's new safety hire says losing control of AI would be 'catastrophic' and that 'most people could die'CrowdStrike's CEO says AI agents can hack like nation-states. Can his company stop them?OpenAI Researcher Claims Humanity Will Be Placed in 'Zoos' for 'Scientific Purposes' in Chilling WarningBillionaire hedge fund investor Paul Tudor Jones says AI is like a ‘Category 6 hurricane' heading for humanityAI May Become the Third SuperpowerAnthropic Warns AI Is Making State Surveillance Cheaper and Easier To ScaleAnthropic says it blocked possible efforts to use AI for biological weapons development, Iran-linked casesAnthropic Built a Security Operation To Monitor Protests and Threats Around Its ExecutivesAnthropic Is Building a Huge Surveillance System to Spy on Anti-AI Activists and Predict Their ActivitiesExtinction' warnings ramp up as more OpenAI, Anthropic researchers join calls for an AI slowdownSILVER LINING GAME? (YAY/NAY speedround)OpenAI adds a prominent AI doomer to its board of directors NAYPaul Christiano, an influential AI researcher focused on keeping AI systems aligned with human interests and under human control: “I now believe there is a meaningful risk that rapid acceleration in AI capabilities leads to catastrophic and irreversible loss of control in the very near term,” Christiano wrote in a social media post. “I do not think that the AI industry in general, including OpenAI, is currently on track to reduce this risk to an acceptable level. I'm joining because I believe that if OpenAI rises to the occasion we could significantly reduce risk.”AI workers who publicly quit ‘help to move the needle' with safety concerns, experts say‘People are beginning to actually listen' to the technology's dangers as more AI leaders and researchers openly sound alarms. YAYI coach executives. AI makes their emotional intelligence more valuable, not less NAYGoogle AI Helps Cut Contrail Climate Warming 40% in Latest Trial NAYMicrosoft and teachers unions forged a binding AI privacy standard for U.S. schools NAYThe agreement — reached between Microsoft, the American Federation of Teachers, and the United Federation of Teachers after months of negotiations — prevents student and educator data from being fed into AI training pipelines, forbids the monitoring of students, mandates that humans remain in the loop on AI-driven decisions, and commits Microsoft to offering intelligible explanations of its products to educators and parents, the company said. Microsoft would face breach of contract liability for violations.California enacted the first U.S. laws requiring independent audits of AI systems YAYSam Altman told OpenAI staff the company was open to slowing AI development NAYLovable CEO backs slowing AI development over safety concerns: 'Warnings like this deserve to be taken seriously' NAYAnton Osika is the co-founder and CEO of Lovable: Swedish, Master of Science in Engineering Physics and Applied Mathematics from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, worked as a particle physicist at CERN's ATLAS Supersymmetry GroupMeta introduces Muse, a personal AI agent that can send emails, book travel, and pay for things NAYGoodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: Mamdani Opens Office of Worker Power: the new city agency intends to connect workers who want to unionize with resources and organizing contactsDR: GM CEO Mary Barra is unfazed by the electric slowdown: ‘We still think EVs are the end game' MMMM: Coal-to-solar project lands a rare clean-energy win in OhioMM: Also, double down: GM CEO Mary Barra is unfazed by the electric slowdown: ‘We still think EVs are the end game'Assholiest of the Week (MM):I ignored the news, this is governance quirk assholiest of the week because I'm tired of being angry at preteen manbabies who fashion the world in their own middle school image. So prepare for wonkiest assholes of the week.Universal Safety Products (UUU)So I bought this stock a long while ago because I like simple things - they made electric sockets, wall plates, bathroom fans, light switches - stuff that is basic and I can take apart and understand and everyone needsThen crypto bro decided, “you know what? I can take a simple company that does shit that people need and is boring and make FULL CRYPTO DUDE!”His name is Milton Ault, and he buys nearly 230,000 shares on the market in late 2024 and cons JLA Realty - an actual real estate company who owned 8% of UUU in early 2025 - to give him the shares to vote in late 2024Milton Ault III, who sounds like he's struggled deeply in life, is the founder of “Hyperscale Data” and “BitNile” who loves to buy majority stakes in companies and then force them to do crypto and AI data centers - you know, all the stuff cool kids doHe gets an MOU and appointed to the boardBy mid 2025, he has the company start a new subsidiary called Universal DeFi that generates AULT coin - so now their annual report and proxy says “we make a bunch of outlets, oh and now we do AULT coin crypto defi whatever!”“we marketed a line of residential smoke and carbon monoxide alarms… We also market door chimes, ventilation products, ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI's), and other electrical devices… We also exhibit and sell our products at various trade shows, including the annual National Hardware Show.”... NEXT PARAGRAPH“In July 2025, we formed Universal DeFi LLC as a new venture to diversify the business and explore new paths for revenue and stockholder value. Universal DeFi is pursuing two lines of business. First, Universal DeFi is developing and intends to own and operate a tokenization platform, which has not yet commenced operations. Tokenization is the process of representing ownership of real-world or financial assets as a digital token recorded on a blockchain, which is a shared digital record-keeping system maintained across many computers simultaneously, with no single controlling authority. The platform will provide technology and infrastructure for issuers to tokenize their assets. Second, subsequent to the last fiscal year end, Universal DeFi has acquired and commenced limited operations running licensed nodes and a validator on the Ault Blockchain, as described under “Ault Node Operations” below.”In the 2026 proxy, Ault forces the company to issue Class B shares issued after special meeting The new class of common stock would consist of 25,000,000 shares of Class B Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share. Each share of our Class B Common Stock would generally have terms identical to a share of our Class A Common Stock, except with respect to voting power. Stockholders would be entitled to twenty-five votes for each share of Class B Common Stock held by them compared to one vote for each share of Class A Common Stock, when voting together on matters presented to our stockholders. - the 25 vote petty tyrant premium!Then, INVESTORS APPROVE ITI just wanted to buy the stock of a simple light socket company and I can't even fucking do that without a tech crypto bro with a goatee making it horrible - I sold my shares after a proxy solicitor called me to ask “how do you think you'll vote on this?”Enphase Energy DRDo your best to ignore Enphase Energy's absurd series of events:Longest tenured and Class II director Benjamin Kortlang, director since Obama was in his first term (16 years), along with three of his colleagues (Jamie Haenggi and Richard Mora) comes up for election in the May annual meeting.Said election is not without import – the classified board means a Kortlang election victory would take him to 2029 before he sees another vote, guaranteeing him a near 20 year tenure at a company where he's produced a pure mediocre 0.538 TSR (where 0.500 is median for all peer directors) and a not-so-great 0.348 CEO pay ratio (he likes approving pay that's higher than average relative to peer median).The vote happens on May 13, the results are released on May 15, and the 8K shows Kortlang got 43% approval – the rare non majority for the sleepy, passive American proxy voters – with only 36m shares in approval versus 48m shares withheld. Kortlang's fellow classmates got a more respectable 84% and 94% approval – maybe Kortlang being chair of the nominating committee with a 16 year tenure on a classified plurality board was just one straw too many.On June 11, Enphase increases the size of its board and adds a new Class I director, Shanker Trivedi, who is added less than a month after the AGM and won't see an election until 2028 for the first time. So even as investors want directors OUT, Enphase shrugs and gives another director immunity from a vote for 2 yearsIt takes Enphase until August 10 – THREE FULL MONTHS since the AGM – to respond to the investor vote against Kortlang, in which they say the board “unanimously voted to retain Mr. Kortlang as a member” based on the report of the nominating committee (Kortlang recused himself to avoid the appearance that he could influence the people on the committee he chairs who have less tenure and experience than he does). They reject the vote, but issue the following: ‘“The Board approached this review with great care and took the stockholder vote seriously," said Steve Gomo, chair of Enphase Energy's Board of Directors. "We concluded that Mr. Kortlang's experience, judgment, independence, and contributions remain valuable to the Board and the company. We also believe Mr. Malchow is well positioned to lead the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee as we continue to strengthen our governance practices.”'GASLIT: At this point it's worth asking whether this gaslight is necessary? Can we dispense with it? His “independence” after 16 years, and guaranteeing 19 years with the classified structure? “Strengthen our governance practices,” says the company that expanded the board LESS THAN A MONTH after shareholders reject their structure and director, only to add a new director who can avoid a vote for 2 years? A board where only TWO directors are tagged as having merit on paper? Where Kortlang is one of two directors who are considered entirely deferential to management? While this is another new excuse?SEC Chair Paul Atkins and the snowflake corporate nanny stateJust “clarified” 13G (passive investor) engagement rules, and had some riveting thoughts of what investors (THE OWNERS OF THE COMPANY) can do:Investors can generally participate in discussions initiated by an issuer about its views or voting decisions.Like the Bumble of corporate engagement, the company must swipe first and ask “why did you vote that way?”The SEC went on to say that “participation” in those discussions will not “by itself” disqualify you as passiveThen this: investors will be able to approach issuers to seek clarification about information in company filings, including proxy materials, without automatically losing their Schedule 13G statusHe just told investors what they can ask about - you can only ask about what got printed in our filing that says how great we are - no questions about the news, investigations, actual real world risks…OR, you could go with a normal asshole speed round:Anthropic Wants Governments to Stop 'Catastrophic' AI Models Before They Are DeployedDude who makes and sells models wants someone to stop him from making and selling modelsTrump dismisses warnings that AI could wipe out humanity, saying China is the real AI riskNot American Corporate China: Zuck, Altman, Musk, Sergey/LarryMajor Seattle CEOs demand 100-day action plan on public safety from socialist Mayor Katie WilsonSatya Nadella and Brian Niccol are demanding that the lady who's been in office for 8 months fix PUBLIC SAFETY in the next 100 days having nothing to do with the fact that she's a lady and a progressiveLetters were not penned to former mayors…Ed Murray, resigned due to multiple allegations of child abuse, rape, and sexual molestationBruce Harrell, who in 1996 pointed a gun at a man, his mother, and his pregnant wife, in a Council Bluffs casinoPeople are comparing the letter to OTHER lady mayor Jenny DurkanUber's CEO says you could see lower ride prices as a result of its layoffsRemember that every ride: you are taking someone's payHumans need to 'surf the wave' of AI rather than get swallowed by it, Chesky says at CommunacopiaAmazon is being sued for allegedly firing and denying breaks to pregnant warehouse workersIsn't peeing in a bottle enough of a break?Headliniest of the WeekDR: Ryanair CEO disputes report that injured passenger was partly sucked out window: “He wasn't partially out the window. We don't think any part of his body got out the window, but he was certainly sucked in very dramatic circumstances towards the window.”Calls for Ryanair's Michael O'Leary to apologise over 'rapist' comments: In remarks ahead of his airline's annual general meeting in Dublin, Mr O'Leary said it was "absolutely" appropriate to compare other airlines to "rapists".MM: OpenAI's new safety hire says losing control of AI would be 'catastrophic' and that 'most people could die'Who Won the Week?DR: Anybody who gives up equity because they believe in a thing: specifically, Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who quit his job due to concerns about the safety of AI two months before his equity would have vestedMM: Anyone not in “most”PredictionsDR: Corporate governance wonks rename the CEO/Chair combo and the CEO/former CEO as Chair combo as the as the CEO Duo MM: I am among the “most”
Inside Politics Live is coming to Cork on September 30th. Get your tickets here.Pat Leahy and Harry McGee join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:Green leader Roderic O'Gorman has proposed a one-off €2.5bn energy fund, split between targeted energy credits and investment in grants for solar panels and EVs. It is one of few genuinely good ideas that emerged from the political party think-in season. Following Wednesday's interview with Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers on the podcast, Pat assesses Chambers' political positioning in the run-up to Budget day. Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan's tightening of naturalisation rules imposes a range of new requirements on those seeking citizenship. Are they fair? The UK is now leading the way on sanctions against illegal West Bank settlements. The haste is in contrast with Ireland's slow progress since 2018. Plus, what we now know about the timing and choreography of Donald Trump's weekend visit. And finally the panel pick their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week. Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It's ev.news Briefly for Wednesday 09 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the ev.news Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/evnewsDACIA MOVES €17,900 SPRING PRODUCTION TO SLOVENIADacia's second-generation Spring shifts production from Wuhan to Renault's Novo Mesto plant in Slovenia, starting at €18,000 with the whole range under €20,000 before incentives, making it eligible for European-only subsidies and exempt from EU tariffs on Chinese-built EVs. Engineering stays Chinese via Renault's Shanghai centre, and the car uses 60 kW front motor and 27.5 kWh CATL LFP battery for up to 250 km WLTP.GERMAN BEV SALES RISE 75.1% IN AUGUSTGerman BEV registrations jumped 75.1% year-on-year in August, lifting share from 19% to 32.4% while the overall new-car market grew just 2.6%, and year-to-date BEV sales up 53.1%, for a 26.2% share. Volkswagen led, followed unchanged by Mercedes, BMW, Skoda and Audi, while Chinese challengers grew fastest.KIA PUTS EV3, EV4 AND EV5 GTS ON SALEKia has launched GT versions of the EV3, EV4 and EV5 in Europe, joining the EV6 GT and EV9 GT to cover hatchback and fastback, compact, midsize and three-row SUV formats, though the EV4 GT Fastback skips the UK and neither the EV4 GT nor EV5 GT is planned for the US. All three pair dual-motor all-wheel drive with an 81.4 kWh battery and electronically controlled suspension, plus Kia's Virtual Gear Shift and Active Sound Design simulating a gas guzzler.FORD CONSIDERS COMPACT VEHICLE FOR UEV PLATFORMFord is weighing a compact model on its Universal Electric Vehicle platform, which it says supports body styles from B-car size up to commercial vans. I'll whisper it quietly, but could the Fiesta make a comeback as an EV? Such a car would return Ford to a segment it abandoned long ago.DUFFY URGES FORD TO RECONSIDER OR END CHINESE DEALINGSUS Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote to Ford CEO Jim Farley on September 3, released to media yesterday, urging Ford to reconsider or end dealings with Chinese companies including its CATL licence, a Geely arrangement, reported BYD talks, Lincoln Nautilus production in China and a proposed Chinese-US joint venture framework. Ford dismissed it as a wrongheaded attempt to capture headlines, noting the White House praised the Michigan plant days before.ICAUR V25 TO MAKE AUSTRALIAN DEBUT IN SYDNEYThe iCaur V25, a boxy retro-styled electric SUV from Chery's youth-focused sub-brand, headlines what organisers call the largest new-model line-up in Everything Electric history at Sydney Showground from September 18-20. Also debuting are Hyundai's STARIA Electric van, GWM's Haval H7 and Cannon PHEV, Cadillac's LYRIQ-V —plus Lepas L6 and L4 previews.SEVERAL 2027 CADILLAC LYRIQ MODELS RETAIN CARPLAY, ANDROID AUTOCadillac's configurator lists Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard on several 2027 Lyriq models, an exception to GM's 2023 decision to strip phone mirroring from all future EVs.VOLKSWAGEN PLANS LONG-WHEELBASE ID. BUZZ CARGOVolkswagen is preparing a long-wheelbase ID. Buzz Cargo stretching about 5,000 mm — roughly 300 mm longer than the standard van — with cargo volume up from 3.9 to 4.4 cubic metres and load length from 2,208 to 2,405 mm, but maximum payload falling against the short-wheelbase van.83% OF SURVEYED DEALERS BACK UK EV SCRAPPAGE SCHEMESeptember's Startline Used Car Tracker found 83% of surveyed dealers backing a UK scrappage scheme to support EV sales, with only 6% opposing government intervention, 60% wanting the state to promote EV adoption, 61% citing affordability, 26% saying prices are out of reach for too many and 21% pointing to older polluting vehicles.HOYMILES RELEASES 22 KW BIDIRECTIONAL EV CHARGERChinese energy-storage firm Hoymiles released its V2X DC Charger on 8 September, delivering up to 22 kW of bidirectional DC power so an EV can act as a home energy resource, providing backup via V2H during outages and enabling peak shaving and virtual power plant dispatch via V2G. It can draw directly from solar and battery storage, includes an EU MID-certified meter for energy monitoring, and claims 97% peak efficiency in both directions, with charging input of 240–980 V DC and output of 200–1,000 V DC, reversed during discharge.
70% of Engagement Comes Down to One Thing. Your Boss.Featuring Burl Stamp, FACHE, President, Stamp and Chase | Author, Becoming a Better BossBefore we get started, sit with this number: 70%. That is how much of employee engagement is determined not by your comp structure, your benefits package, or your culture initiative. It comes down to one thing. The person they report to.Bo sits down with Burl Stamp, former hospital CEO, fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and author of the most timely leadership book in healthcare this year. Burl has spent more than two decades studying what separates the leaders people want to follow from the ones they simply tolerate.
If you're trying to decide which car to buy or want to learn more about the latest EVs on the market, Motortorque can help.
ev.news Briefly: Audi, Money Saving, Outdated Petrol & more | 08 Sep 2026 It's ev.news Briefly for Tuesday 08 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the ev.news Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/evnewsAUDI A2 E-TRON STARTS AT €38,200 IN GERMANYAudi's cheapest EV starts at €38,200 in Germany, above the €34,000 VW ID.3 Neo it shares MEB+ underpinnings with, and launches at the end of 2026 with orders opening in fall and deliveries in December. It claims up to 401 miles WLTP and a best-ever Audi efficiency of 4.85 miles/kWh on the 188-hp efficiency-package version, with rear-wheel drive only, 52/61 kWh LFP or 84 kWh NMC batteries charging at 183 kW (10–80% in about 29 minutes), a Q4 e-tron wheelbase for extra interior space, and standard bidirectional charging.ICCT SAYS ELECTRIC CARS COST ONE THIRD LESSAn ICCT report published on September 6 found electric cars cost a third less to run in Europe in 2025 than petrol or diesel equivalents, or 28% less for drivers relying on public charging, with combustion energy costs rising 12–36% at the start of 2026 during the US-Iran Hormuz oil crisis while BEV energy costs held steady. The ICCT also found price parity with petrol cars in Germany's three largest segments based on data covering 100,000 vehicles, and lead author Marie Rajon Bernard expects European BEV adoption to scale up provided current policies survive growing political pressure to reverse them.YOUNG DRIVERS SAY PETROL CARS ARE LIKE USING A LANDLINE TELEPHONEResearch commissioned by E.ON Next among 1,500 drivers found more than half of those aged 17 to 20 want their next car to be electric, against a UK BEV new-car share of 26% from January to August, with cost the main draw: 56% think EVs save money, 20% cite day-to-day affordability, 19% home charging and 18% avoiding forecourts. Petrol is increasingly seen as obsolete, with 23% calling petrol ownership as outdated as a landline telephone, 21% unable to imagine owning one, 63% expecting petrol and diesel cars to disappear in their lifetime and 53% believing they are the last generation to routinely drive them.EUROPE'S EV FLEET HOLDS 600 GWH OF BATTERIESBruegel estimates Europe's EV fleet holds around 600 GWh of battery capacity, ten times the continent's grid-connected storage and theoretically enough to power the European grid for almost two hours, though that depends on vehicle-to-grid technology and smart integration still under development. Stationary storage is growing separately, with SolarPower Europe reporting cumulative European capacity passing 100 GWh by the end of 2025 after 36 GWh was added during the year, 48% more than in 2024, and calling for a tenfold increase by 2030.LI AUTO PLANS EUROPEAN I6 DEBUTLi Auto will unveil its i6 electric SUV in Europe at the Paris motor show in October, with founder and CEO Xiang Li saying European sales begin in the fourth quarter and right-hand-drive sales start by year-end, making a UK launch likely though it has not been confirmed. Britain matters as an export market because it does not apply the EU's additional tariffs on Chinese cars, and the 4950mm i6 will compete with the BMW iX3, Mercedes GLC and Volvo EX60.AVILOO EXTENDS BATTERY WARRANTY TO 24 EUROPEAN COUNTRIESAVILOO added 14 markets to its Battery Warranty on September 7, 2026, including Spain, Italy, Poland and Greece, taking coverage to 24 countries in response to used-EV buyer confidence lagging market growth and to manufacturer battery-health figures being neither independently verified nor standardised. The one-year warranty, separate from AVILOO's battery certificate and managed by dealers, fleets and remarketing platforms through the AVILOO Connect dashboard, sets an individual State of Health threshold per vehicle from proprietary diagnostics data that the battery must still meet at 20,000 kilometres.OSPREY GO STARTS CHARGING ON CONNECTIONOsprey has launched Osprey Go, an Autocharge-based function that starts a charging session as soon as a driver plugs in, requiring no app or payment card at the charger after a one-time setup in the Osprey app, and automatically applying the best available price for that location and time. Users can view receipts, live prices, charger availability and offers, and Osprey says the Autocharge choice maximises vehicle and driver compatibility and makes it the country's largest network offering the technology.RUSSIA EV SALES MORE THAN DOUBLE IN SUMMERAutostat reports Russian sales of new electric and plug-in hybrid passenger cars reached 26,543 units from June to August 2026, more than double the 12,187 sold a year earlier, as Ukrainian strikes on major refineries forced some to suspend operations and cut gasoline production to about 70% of domestic consumption by the end of August. Drivers facing hours-long fuel searches turned to EVs or gas conversions, though Autostat said sales were capped by supply because manufacturers and importers were unprepared, and the vehicles sold were mainly Chinese-made.PORT AUTHORITY LAUNCHES $45M ELECTRIC TRUCK PROGRAMMEThe Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has launched a $45m programme for zero-emission drayage trucks and terminal tractors at the Port of New York and New Jersey, the busiest seaport on the US East Coast, combining vehicle purchase support with charging investment near its marine terminals. CALSTART will design and administer the Clean Truck Incentive Program and the Green Drayage Accelerator, with up to $39m in point-of-sale vouchers covering vehicles and charging infrastructure at hubs within a 10-mile radius of the Port Authority's marine terminals.TREK LAUNCHES ALLANT+ FS E-BIKE IN EUROPETrek has launched the 2027 Allant+ FS in Europe, a full-suspension SUV-style e-bike aimed at Specialized's Turbo Vado 3X, using the same Bosch Performance Line CX mid-drive with 250 W nominal and 750 W peak output, 120 Nm of torque and assistance cutting out at 25 km/h. A Bosch PowerTube 800 Wh battery gives a claimed 180 km (112 miles) per charge, with the R11 priced at €5,999 and the R10 at €4,999.
Joe's Premium Subscription: www.standardgrain.comGrain Markets and Other Stuff Links —Apple PodcastsSpotifyTikTokYouTubeFutures and options trading involves risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone.
(September 09, 2026) Steve Hilton has a novel idea… get rid of the DMV. Los Angeles freeways, roads to be closed for ‘general traffic’ for 2028 Olympics. President Trump is trying to terminate EVs in California. Thanks to dash cams, every time you drive your car is a chance to get famous these days.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this week's episode, we share our first impressions of the redesigned 2027 Kia Seltos, Kia's least expensive SUV. Its roomy interior, comfortable ride, bold styling, and user-friendly controls make it feel surprisingly mature—but the sluggish 147-hp base engine is a major disappointment. We discuss whether the pricey turbo is worth the upgrade or if buyers should wait for the upcoming hybrid. Plus, we answer an audience question about balancing the financial benefits of keeping an older car with the safety improvements found in newer models. Consumer Reports experts: Alex Knizek, Jeff Bartlett, John Williams Join CR at https://CR.org/joinviaYT to access our comprehensive ratings for items you use every day. CR is a mission-driven, independent, nonprofit organization. SHOW NOTES ----------------------------------- 0:00 - Intro 00:37 Overview: 2027 Kia Seltos 02:12 Mature Subcompact SUV 04:26 Ride Comfort and Handling 07:20 The Engine 08:43 Is the Turbo Worth it? 09:58 Upcoming Hybrid 12:39 Infotainment 14:23 Climate Controls and Interior Design Quirks 18:13 Door Handles 20:27 Interior Space, Cargo Room, and Rear Seats 22:12 Seat Comfort and Head Restraint Problems 25:29 Interior Quality 27:22 Audience Question: When Should You Replace an Older Car? ---------------------------------- Test Results: 2027 Kia Seltos https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/kia/seltos/2027/overview/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Most and Least Satisfying Hybrids, Plug-In Hybrids, and EVs https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/most-and-least-satisfying-electric-vehicles-and-hybrids-a2825600877/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Which Brands Make the Best Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/cars-driving/which-car-brands-make-the-best-vehicles-a6159221985/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Who Makes the Most Reliable New Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-a7824554938/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Popular Small SUVs to Avoid and What to Buy Instead https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/suvs/popular-small-suvs-to-avoid-and-what-to-buy-instead-a1273704153/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Find the Safest New Car Using CR's Safety Verdict https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/how-to-find-safest-new-car-using-crs-safety-verdict-a3169270635/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Safest Car Brands Ranked by CR's Safety Verdict https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/safest-car-brands-a1065426408/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
On this week's episode, we share our first impressions of the redesigned 2027 Kia Seltos, Kia's least expensive SUV. Its roomy interior, comfortable ride, bold styling, and user-friendly controls make it feel surprisingly mature—but the sluggish 147-hp base engine is a major disappointment. We discuss whether the pricey turbo is worth the upgrade or if buyers should wait for the upcoming hybrid. Plus, we answer an audience question about balancing the financial benefits of keeping an older car with the safety improvements found in newer models. Consumer Reports experts: Alex Knizek, Jeff Bartlett, John Williams Join CR at https://CR.org/joinviaYT to access our comprehensive ratings for items you use every day. CR is a mission-driven, independent, nonprofit organization. SHOW NOTES ----------------------------------- 0:00 - Intro 00:37 Overview: 2027 Kia Seltos 02:12 Mature Subcompact SUV 04:26 Ride Comfort and Handling 07:20 The Engine 08:43 Is the Turbo Worth it? 09:58 Upcoming Hybrid 12:39 Infotainment 14:23 Climate Controls and Interior Design Quirks 18:13 Door Handles 20:27 Interior Space, Cargo Room, and Rear Seats 22:12 Seat Comfort and Head Restraint Problems 25:29 Interior Quality 27:22 Audience Question: When Should You Replace an Older Car? ---------------------------------- Test Results: 2027 Kia Seltos https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/kia/seltos/2027/overview/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Most and Least Satisfying Hybrids, Plug-In Hybrids, and EVs https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/most-and-least-satisfying-electric-vehicles-and-hybrids-a2825600877/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Which Brands Make the Best Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/cars-driving/which-car-brands-make-the-best-vehicles-a6159221985/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Who Makes the Most Reliable New Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-a7824554938/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Popular Small SUVs to Avoid and What to Buy Instead https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/suvs/popular-small-suvs-to-avoid-and-what-to-buy-instead-a1273704153/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Find the Safest New Car Using CR's Safety Verdict https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/how-to-find-safest-new-car-using-crs-safety-verdict-a3169270635/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Safest Car Brands Ranked by CR's Safety Verdict https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/safest-car-brands-a1065426408/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
Can Mexico build an electric car for $8,000, and use it to create an entirely new domestic industry? This week on Cleaning Up, Bryony Worthington visits Mexico City to sit down with Roberto Capuano, director of the Olinia Project, and discuss the state-backed effort to develop a new generation of affordable electric mini-vehicles. Roberto explains why Olinia is designing small EVs specifically around the needs of Mexican cities, how partnerships with Chinese suppliers could accelerate technology transfer, and why price rather than subsidies could ultimately drive EV adoption. They also discuss Mexico's ambitions beyond its domestic market, with potential demand across Latin America and even East Africa.Topics discussed in this episode:Why Mexico wants its own carmakerElectrifying Mexico City's public transportThe rise of electric mini-carsBuilding an $8,000 Mexican EVWhy Olinia is partnering with ChinaThe state's role in carmakingBuilding a Latin American EV marketCan Olinia deliver by 2027? Leadership Circle:Cleaning Up is proud to be supported by its Leadership Circle. The members are Actis, Alcazar Energy, Arup, Climate Imperative Foundation, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Cygnum Capital, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, KKR, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit cleaningup.live.Links:Roberto Capuano's bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberto-capuano/ Olinia Project: https://www.olinia.auto/ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://cleaninguppod.substack.com/ OEM: Original Equipment ManufacturerBRT: Bus Rapid Transit R&D: Research & DevelopmentICE: Internal Combustion Engine Chapters:00:00 Intro 02:15 Electrifying Mexico City 10:33 Olinia's Origins 11:58 Mini Electric Cars 18:48 Made in Mexico 21:25 State-Led Industry 30:33 Chinese Supply Chains 36:31 The $8,000 EV 40:01 Charging Infrastructure 42:54 Global Ambitions 45:43 Scaling Olinia 48:40 Software and Autonomy 50:01 Political Longevity 55:31 Outro
Get in touch - leave me a messageSolar, batteries and EVs are moving fast enough to change the risk calculus for energy investment. The bigger mistake may now be assuming today's system, and its customers, will still be there tomorrow.I speak with Professor Ray Wills, Managing Director of Future Smart Strategies, who has been modelling technology adoption curves for years. We examine what accelerating clean-energy deployment means for capital allocation, electricity prices, new gas infrastructure and industrial competitiveness.We look at how batteries can reshape power-market economics before they dominate annual generation, why conventional forecasts may struggle with nonlinear adoption, and what China's scale in solar, batteries and EVs tells Western leaders about where competitive advantage is moving. The harder question is no longer simply how fast these technologies can grow, but how costly it becomes to plan as though they won't.Listen now to understand how rapidly changing energy economics could alter the investment decisions businesses and policymakers are making today. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day.Support the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.
A record quarter, then a fuel shock that changed the mood almost overnight. Turners CEO Todd Hunter explains how the US-Iran conflict and higher fuel prices have knocked consumer confidence—and what that sudden shift means for one of New Zealand’s biggest used-car businesses. Todd reveals why New Zealand’s former best-selling vehicle has become one of the hardest to sell, and how Turners is still growing group profit despite tighter margins in auto retail. Find out how Turners has evolved from its auction-house roots into a much broader used-car, finance and insurance business—and why Todd believes there’s still plenty of market share to take. We unpack the plan behind its latest public profit target, including 15 new branches, aggressive growth in the finance book, and what needs to go right to get there. Plus, Todd talks EVs, autonomous vehicles and the future of car ownership—and how Turners became an early backer of Kiwi Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson, long before he made it to the F1 grid. For more places to follow Shared Lunch—check out http://linktr.ee/sharedlunch Shared Lunch is brought to you by Sharesies Australia Limited (ABN 94 648 811 830; AFSL 529893) in Australia and Sharesies Limited (NZ) in New Zealand. It is not financial advice. Information provided is general only and current at the time it’s provided, and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. We do not provide recommendations and you should always read the disclosure documents available from the product issuer before making a financial decision. Our disclosure documents and terms and conditions—including a Target Market Determination and IDPS Guide for Sharesies Australian customers—can be found on our relevant Australian or NZ website. Investing involves risk. You might lose the money you start with. If you require financial advice, you should consider speaking with a qualified financial advisor. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Appearance on Shared Lunch is not an endorsement by Sharesies of the views of the presenters, guests, or the entities they represent. Their views are their own.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this week's episode, we share our first impressions of the redesigned 2027 Kia Seltos, Kia's least expensive SUV. Its roomy interior, comfortable ride, bold styling, and user-friendly controls make it feel surprisingly mature—but the sluggish 147-hp base engine is a major disappointment. We discuss whether the pricey turbo is worth the upgrade or if buyers should wait for the upcoming hybrid. Plus, we answer an audience question about balancing the financial benefits of keeping an older car with the safety improvements found in newer models. Consumer Reports experts: Alex Knizek, Jeff Bartlett, John Williams Join CR at https://CR.org/joinviaYT to access our comprehensive ratings for items you use every day. CR is a mission-driven, independent, nonprofit organization. SHOW NOTES ----------------------------------- 0:00 - Intro 00:37 Overview: 2027 Kia Seltos 02:12 Mature Subcompact SUV 04:26 Ride Comfort and Handling 07:20 The Engine 08:43 Is the Turbo Worth it? 09:58 Upcoming Hybrid 12:39 Infotainment 14:23 Climate Controls and Interior Design Quirks 18:13 Door Handles 20:27 Interior Space, Cargo Room, and Rear Seats 22:12 Seat Comfort and Head Restraint Problems 25:29 Interior Quality 27:22 Audience Question: When Should You Replace an Older Car? ---------------------------------- Test Results: 2027 Kia Seltos https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/kia/seltos/2027/overview/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Most and Least Satisfying Hybrids, Plug-In Hybrids, and EVs https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/most-and-least-satisfying-electric-vehicles-and-hybrids-a2825600877/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Which Brands Make the Best Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/cars-driving/which-car-brands-make-the-best-vehicles-a6159221985/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Who Makes the Most Reliable New Cars? https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-a7824554938/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Popular Small SUVs to Avoid and What to Buy Instead https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/suvs/popular-small-suvs-to-avoid-and-what-to-buy-instead-a1273704153/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Find the Safest New Car Using CR's Safety Verdict https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/how-to-find-safest-new-car-using-crs-safety-verdict-a3169270635/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT Safest Car Brands Ranked by CR's Safety Verdict https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/safest-car-brands-a1065426408/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
Electric cars finishing first and second in America's first auto race sounds like a headline from 2026, not 1896. We kick things off with a fast run through automotive history that's packed with proof points: Peugeot showing early gasoline reliability with a 1,271-mile endurance run, a Rhode Island horse track hosting the first US auto race in front of a huge crowd, and Volkswagen returning to German control after WWII. We even hit a sobering milestone from 1897: the first recorded DUI arrest after a cab crashed into a building. From there, we take a detour into real-world nostalgia with the Chevrolet Vega going on sale in 1970. We talk ownership memories, why some people still defend the Vega, and how rare trims like the Cosworth Vega look a lot different when you view them through today's collector lens. It's a reminder that “good” and “bad” cars are often more complicated than their reputations. Then we get hands-on with a full 2026 Toyota C-HR EV review. This all-electric compact SUV returns as a second-generation model with standard all-wheel drive, dual electric motors, 338 horsepower, and a 0 to 60 time of 4.9 seconds. We break down design, interior tech like dual phone charging pads, ride and handling, range expectations, pricing from about $39,000 to $43,429 as tested, and key competitors like the Subaru Uncharted, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Kia Niro Electric. If you're shopping for an affordable electric SUV or deciding between EVs and hybrids, this one gives you real numbers and honest impressions. Subscribe for more car reviews and automotive history, share this with a friend who loves EVs or vintage trivia, and leave us a review. What's the bigger surprise to you: EVs winning in 1896 or a Toyota compact EV doing 0 to 60 in 4.9?Be sure to subscribe for more In Wheel Time Car Talk!The Lupe' Tortilla RestaurantsLupe Tortilla in Katy, Texas Gulf Coast Auto ShieldPaint protection, tint, and more!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.---- ----- Want more In Wheel Time car talk any time? In Wheel Time is now available on Audacy! Just go to Audacy.com/InWheelTime where ever you are.----- -----Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast provider for the next episode of In Wheel Time Podcast and check out our live multiplatform broadcast every Saturday, 10a - 12nCT simulcasting on Audacy, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and InWheelTime.com.In Wheel Time Podcast can be heard on you mobile device from providers such as:Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music Podcast, Spotify, SiriusXM Podcast, iHeartRadio podcast, TuneIn + Alexa, Podcast Addict, Castro, Castbox, YouTube Podcast and more on your mobile device.Follow InWheelTime.com for the latest updates!Twitter: https://twitter.com/InWheelTimeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/inwheeltime/https://www.youtube.com/inwheeltimehttps://www.Facebook.com/InWheelTimeFor more information about In Wheel Time Podcast, email us at info@inwheeltime.com
Recorded for release W/C 7th Sept 2026 This week we talk food with Giovanna Fletcher, EVs with Robert Llewellyn, Irish Music with Raymond Walsh from The Shamrocks, Theatre with Helen and Alexander Millington and Veg with Kevin Fortley (and Emmanuel Asuquo)
It's ev.news Briefly for Monday 07 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the ev.news Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/evnewsRIVIAN OS 2 REACHES BOTH R1 GENERATIONSRivian began rolling out update 2026.31 on Friday, extending RivianOS 2 to R1T and R1S models from both R1 generations alongside R2, adding a vertical status bar, quick controls and media player placeable on either side of the centre display, a rebuilt Settings 2 app with universal search, Real-Time Route Alerts for speed cameras and police presence in Google Maps navigation, and Rivian Unified Intelligence behind a "Hey Rivian" assistant that can control vehicle functions. Hardware still divides the platform: R2 and second-generation R1 vehicles run Unreal Engine 5 for real-time 3D visualisations while first-generation R1s stay on Unreal Engine 4 to preserve screen responsiveness, reflecting the first-gen's 17 electronic control units against the 2024 second-gen's seven-unit zonal architecture, dual Nvidia Drive AGX Orin processors and roughly ten times the processing power.REPORTED ID. POLO ORDERS TOP 30,000 BEFORE LAUNCHMore than 30,000 orders for Volkswagen's ID. Polo, priced from €24,995 (about $29,000), have reportedly been placed across Europe before the hatchback's official sales launch, with pre-sales open since late April, demand strongest in Germany and most buyers ordering without having seen or driven the car. A major VW dealer group says the range is effectively sold out with waits of at least ten months, while Volkswagen attributes the delays to strong demand and capacity planned in advance at its Martorell plant in Spain, where it is progressively increasing production.HYUNDAI OPENS STARIA ELECTRIC ORDERS IN EUROPEHyundai has opened European orders for the Staria Electric from €57,450 (about $66,800) for the German Trend nine-seater, using an 84 kWh battery, a 160 kW (218 hp) front motor, up to 430 km (267 miles) WLTP range and an 800V architecture that charges 10-80% in about 20 minutes at 350 kW, plus internal and external 16-amp V2L. At 5,253 mm it is 200 mm longer than the IONIQ 9 and larger than the Kia PV5 and VW ID. Buzz, with up to 1,303 litres of luggage space in nine-seat form, a Prime version adding electric sliding doors, powered tailgate, Highway Assistant 1.5 and a 230V socket, and a Calligraphy seven-seater from €66,950 ($77,800) with Nappa leather, BOSE audio and reclining second-row seats.ELECTRIC VEHICLES OUTSELL PETROL CARS IN AUSTRALIAFully electric vehicles outsold petrol cars in Australia for the first time last month, with 27,078 EVs registered against 25,824 petrol and 23,608 diesel vehicles, taking one in four new-car sales. Including plug-in hybrids, battery-powered vehicles reached 36% of the market while petrol and diesel together fell below 50%, a shift BYD's Paul Ellis put down to falling reluctance and an influx of cheaper Chinese models, leaving public charging capacity as the open question.UK ELECTRIC VAN SHARE HITS RECORD 16.3%UK electric van registrations rose 25.9% to 2,395 units in August, a record 16.3% share of the light commercial vehicle market, with battery-electric vans at 11.0% of new LCV registrations in the year to August. August is traditionally a low-volume month ahead of September's numberplate change, so the share gain may overstate the trend and September will be the clearer test of sustained fleet demand.US DIESEL AVERAGE REACHES $5.85 A GALLONUS diesel hit a record national average of $5.85 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA data cited by the New York Times, 55% above the level at the start of the US war against Iran in late February and above the previous peak set in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. Diesel powers heavy-duty pickups, commercial fleets and farming, so the rise feeds through to supermarket prices, landing weeks before the midterms in a political climate hostile to EVs despite the household cost relief that switching away from the pumps could deliver.BYD OFFERS UK DISCOUNTS OF UP TO £2,500BYD will cut UK prices by up to £2,500 ($3,300) across its DM-i plug-in and electric range from 10 to 21 September in what it calls its biggest-ever sales event, covering the Dolphin Surf, Dolphin, Sealion 07, Seal U DM-i and Atto 2 DM-i, as the UK's record 25.6% BEV share for the first eight months of 2026 still sits below the 33% mandate. The brand has registered more than 110,000 UK vehicles since March 2023, with registrations up 98% to over 48,000 through August and market share rising to 3.48% from 1.92%, and the Europe-specific Dolphin G DM-i arrives this month from £250 ($330) a month.SPD BACKS EU TARIFFS ON CHINESE PLUG-IN HYBRIDSGermany's Social Democratic Party has backed extending EU tariffs to Chinese plug-in hybrids, closing a gap in measures that levy up to 45% on Chinese-built electric vehicles but leave hybrids untouched, setting out the position in an economic-policy paper calling for more resolute protection against "unfair practices". The stance is a notable shift for the CDU's junior coalition partner, given Germany opposed the 2024 EV tariffs and has long resisted tough measures on China for fear of retaliation against key industries.BC2BC LAUNCHES WEST COAST TRUCK CHARGING CORRIDORThe British Columbia to Baja California ZEV Corridor, or BC2BC, has launched along the I-5, linking California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Baja California with an initial deployment of 20 EV charging stations and three hydrogen fuelling stations for the estimated 10,000 trucks using the route daily. CalSTA, CALSTART/Drive to Zero and UC Davis's Institute of Transportation Studies are coordinating planning and investment, with Volvo Group North America, Southern California Edison, Tesla, EV Realty and King Fio Trucking represented at the Port of Long Beach launch.TESLA AND BYD DRIVE KOREAN IMPORT GROWTHImported vehicle sales in Korea rose 9.2% year on year to 29,817 units in August, driven largely by Tesla and BYD, while all five domestic carmakers recorded declines. Union walkouts from July into August lasted around 60 hours and were estimated to have cost about 55,000 vehicles of production, contributing alongside fewer summer holiday production days to a 7.6% fall at Kia, and growth in a market long led by BMW and Mercedes-Benz came mainly from lower-priced EVs.STELLANTIS OFFERS REFURBISHED BATTERIES FOR MOST EV MODELSStellantis is making refurbished high-voltage batteries available for most battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models across its brands, remanufactured to OEM specification with the same performance characteristics and warranty terms as MOPAR original parts. The company says the approach extends product life and prevents waste, saving up to 80% of raw materials and up to 40% of CO2 emissions against new parts, building on its earlier supply of refurbished EV batteries for stationary storage including at Rome Airport.
In this full-day broadcast breakdown, Lee and Tara tackle the major political, legal, and cultural stories shaping the nation!
Is the electric vehicle Revolution hitting a massive roadblock?!
The Automotive Troublemaker w/ Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier
Episode #1443: Stay tuned on 9/15 for our next big announcement! Today, Jimmy Douglas of Plug joins Kyle to unpack the growing wave of used EVs, why prices haven't cratered as lease returns arrive, and what separates dealers who dabble from those who w...
Manufacturing, black helicopters, cash for clunkers, and Cadillacs steer the conversation in this one. Also, though, make sure to hang around for Martinez's quest for a new mattress. Give it a listen, it's a good one. #gambler500 #cadillac #honda #hyundai #kia #china #EVs #blackhelicopter #mattresses
The Unnamed Automotive Podcast returns this week with a review of the 2026 Cadillac Lyriq-V, a higher performance version of the mid-size crossover. Packing more power but asking for more dollars is a tough thing when EVs are already plenty quick. Benjamin breaks it down and explains whether this version of the Caddy is the one you want, or if you should stick with the other models instead. He also tackles some listener feedback about the Lyriq, including some experiences that we just don't get a chance to encounter during our review timeframes. Then Sami jumps into the saddle of the 2026 Ford Bronco Heritage Edition, which is loud, inefficient and cumbersome, but finds it delightfully endearing for Ford buyers who want something off-road oriented. Our hosts struggle to find out what makes the Bronco gain an advantage over other off-roaders, but wonder if that's ok in the long run. Then we discuss some listener feedback about the Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf, before Sami goes on to discuss some more cars he's thinking of replacing his FRS with. Thanks for listening!
In the 2000s, a wave of cheap Chinese goods that flooded global markets and wiped out manufacturing jobs became known as the China Shock. Now it's sequel, China Shock 2.0 has arrived. But this time, China isn't just exporting cheap goods. It's taking on the world in cutting-edge technology, from AI to electric vehicles and robotics. Today, economist David Autor, who helped coin the phrase 'China Shock' and is one of Time magazine's most influential people of 2026 in AI, on whether the world is ready for it. Featured: David Autor, Professor in the MIT Department of Economics
It's ev.news Briefly for Friday 04 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the ev.news Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/evnewsBEVS BECOME UKS LEADING POWER SOURCE DESPITE INDUSTRY PUSHBACKBattery electric vehicles took 30% of the UK car market in August, up from 23% a year earlier, making BEVs the largest single powertrain category ahead of hybrids at 29%, petrol at 22% and PHEVs at 14%, with plug-ins combined reaching 44%. The performance is comfortably ahead of the effective 24.6% target New AutoMotive calculates for this year, yet the government has opened a consultation on relaxing its EV rules under carmaker pressure — a move that could backfire, given Chinese manufacturers now hold 28% of Europe's PHEV segment, up 60% year on year, with PHEVs making up 60% of BYD's European registrations.STELLANTIS SETS NOVEMBER JEEP, MID-APRIL RAM PRODUCTIONA supplier memo reviewed by Automotive News schedules electrified Jeep Grand Wagoneer production for November, six months later than the planned May start, and Ram 1500 REV production for mid-April, a nine-month slip from mid-2026 for a pickup originally due in 2025 as the Ramcharger. Stellantis maintains both extended-range models are on track — Jeep this year, Ram in 2027 — with the Grand Wagoneer built in Warren, Michigan alongside its petrol version and the Ram at Sterling Heights, delays that two supplier executives attribute to ensuring smooth launches.PHEVS EMIT 4.6 TIMES OFFICIAL CO₂ VALUESPlug-in hybrids registered in 2023 emitted 4.6 times their official CO₂ values in real-world driving, up from 3.5 times for 2021 registrations, according to an International Council on Clean Transportation study of nearly 920,000 vehicles that found longer electric range has coincided with less actual electric driving. The ICCT blames the EU utility factor formula, which assumes an 80% electric-driving share against a real-world figure of around 21% in 2022, with author Jan Dornoff arguing the rarely-achieved official values give PHEVs an unjustified advantage over combustion cars in manufacturers' CO₂ compliance.FORD AIMS FOR 100,000 FATHOM SALESFord has set an internal target of 100,000 first-year sales for its Fathom electric truck, according to WSJ sources, a figure no non-Tesla EV model has ever reached in the United States. Production is expected to begin in Q1 2027 with a starting price just under $30,000, which would place the Fathom third among US single models if rivals' volumes hold steady.BEVS OUTSELL PETROL AND DIESEL IN AUSTRALIABattery-electric vehicles outsold both petrol and diesel in Australia in August, hitting 27,078 units and 24.9% of a new-car market that grew 4.9% to 108,760 vehicles, against 25,824 petrol and 23,608 diesel cars, with BEV sales up 171% year on year. BEVs, hybrids and PHEVs together took 51.8% of sales, leaving combustion-only cars in the minority for the first time, and all eight best-selling EVs were China-built, including Tesla's Shanghai-produced Model Y and Model 3, the BYD Sealion 7 at 2,213 units and sixth overall, and the Geely EX5, up more than 385%.BATTERY TRUCKS PROJECTED TO BEAT DIESEL COSTSBattery-electric trucks are projected to undercut diesel on total cost of ownership across 70 to 90% of kilometres travelled in German heavy-duty freight by 2030, but that falls to a medium-scenario lower bound of 21 to 25% of economically feasible activities once daily range limits and charging availability are factored in. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research study in Nature, combining cost forecasts with real-world use profiles from four million European trucks, finds small-battery electric trucks competitive on 91% of freight activity by 2030 versus 69% for large-battery variants, with drivetrain efficiency, energy costs, battery size and usage intensity driving the outcome.MAN PARTNERS PLAN AROUND €400M FOR EUROPEAN SERVICE SITESMAN dealers, service partners and importers plan to invest around €400m (about $464m) in European service locations, on top of MAN's own €300m (about $348m) network investment by 2030, with board member Friedrich Baumann calling the combined scale unprecedented in company history despite ongoing cost cuts and job reductions. Roughly a third of the partners' spending goes to electromobility and digitalisation, including high-voltage staff training, battery repair centres and public charging at MAN branches, while a separate E.On partnership announced in 2024 targets up to 400 charging points at up to 170 European locations, up to 125 of them in Germany.WAYVE AND UBER OFFER LONDON AUTONOMOUS RIDESWayve and Uber have launched supervised autonomous rides through the Uber app across London's entire urban area excluding airports, using battery-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles running Wayve's AI Driver with cameras and environmental sensors, each carrying a TfL-licensed safety driver who can intervene. UberX, Uber Electric and Uber Comfort passengers may be offered a Wayve ride at no extra cost before their trip, with London the first of twelve planned markets and a Tokyo service using the Nissan Leaf and Nvidia Drive Hyperion due later this year, though no date has been given for removing the safety driver.BARCELONA OFFERS FOUR MILLION EUROS ELECTRIC BIKE SUBSIDIESBarcelona is launching four million euros of electric bike subsidies running from 2027 to 2030, with the first call scheduled for publication in 2027, offering up to 400 euros (about $465) for pedal-assisted city bikes and up to 800 euros (about $929) for freight bikes, capped at 40% of the pre-VAT cost. Registered city residents and companies with premises in Barcelona will be eligible, with the scheme intended to extend cycling distances and open up the city's sloped areas, though the subsidy rules still require approval.XIAOMI SIGNS EIGHT GERMAN DEALER ARRANGEMENTSXiaomi has signed agreements or letters of intent with eight German dealership groups, including Emil Frey, Penske Automotive and the Lueg Group, ahead of a planned 2027 European launch that will add another Chinese entrant to an already competitive German market. The company, which has sold roughly 700,000 SU7 sedans and YU7 SUVs in China since March 2024 according to President William Lu, is raising its profile at Berlin's IFA show from Sept. 4 to 8 with around 380 products, promoting a "Human x Car x Home" ecosystem linking more than 1,000 devices to the car, though it has not said which models Europe will get.
It's ev.news Briefly for Thursday 20 August 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the ev.news Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/evnewsGENESIS UNVEILS 648BHP GV90 ELECTRIC SUVGenesis has revealed the GV90, a production version of the Neolun concept and its largest, most luxurious model yet, measuring almost 5.3m long with a 123.5kWh battery, up to 311 miles of range, 800V charging at 350kW and a 648bhp dual-motor setup with limited-slip differentials on each axle. It goes on sale in South Korea next month and reaches Europe in the first half of 2027, with UK orders expected to open above £100,000.IMPORTER BRINGS CHINESE-MARKET AUDI EVS TO EUROPEAuto China is importing, homologating and registering Chinese-market AUDI E5 Sportback and E7X electric cars for European sale, undercutting Audi's own models — the 776hp E5 costs €28,000 less than the 543hp S6 Sportback e-tron — with a charging adapter and a two-year warranty through independent repairers. The risks include unclear parts supply, workshops unfamiliar with the cars, driver-assistance tuned for Chinese roads, and the precedent of Volkswagen suing over imported ID.6s in 2023, after which those cars were destroyed.68% OF AUSTRALIAN EV OWNERS FLAG CHARGING GAP IN NRMA SURVEYAn NRMA survey of 42,472 members, including 1,730 EV owners, found 68% of EV owners concerned about a lack of charging infrastructure, while purchase price and range anxiety are fading and EVs near cost parity with petrol cars over a vehicle's life. Fuel costs were the top worry for combustion drivers at 75%, and electrified vehicles took 49.16% of Australia's new-car market in Q2, including 69,414 battery electric vehicles.VOLVO'S EUROPEAN PLANTS TO BUILD GEELY BRANDS FROM 2028Geely Auto Group's new chief An Conghui says Volvo's European factories are expected to build luxury models for sibling brands such as Zeekr and Lynk & Co from 2028, with the 61-year-old Ghent plant in Belgium a likely candidate following an upgrade deal with the Belgian and Flemish governments. Building in Europe would sidestep the EU's 18.8% tariff on Geely's Chinese-built EVs and support the group's target of 1.5 million annual sales outside China.CHERY TO OPEN UK R&D CENTRE AT MILLBROOK IN LATE 2026Chery will open a research and development centre at UTAC Millbrook in Bedfordshire in late autumn 2026, starting with chassis and driver-assistance tuning for British roads before extending into autonomous driving and AI, alongside a pact with Nissan to explore building its UK cars at Sunderland. Chinese brands took about 16% of UK registrations in the first half, with the Jaecoo 7 the third best-selling vehicle overall at 23,840 units, up 184%.CHERY TO LAUNCH IN GERMANY IN 2027 WITHOUT AN EVChery is establishing its German headquarters at Frankfurt's Gateway Gardens and will launch the Chery brand in the first half of 2027 with four Tiggo SUVs, all hybrids or plug-in hybrids and no battery-electric model, despite EVs being Germany's fastest-growing powertrain. An electric Chery Q, compared with the Renault 5 E-Tech, will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October, as the group targets 30 dealers at launch and 100 by the end of 2027.HYUNDAI AND GENESIS DRIVERS GET IONNA CHARGING AT $0.31/KWHFrom 20 August, Hyundai and Genesis EV owners in the US can stack two 10% discounts on Ionna's $0.39/kWh base rate, cutting it to $0.31/kWh, with one discount expiring 30 September and the other continuing indefinitely. Sessions must be started through the car maker's app or Plug & Charge rather than the on-site card reader, and eligible models include the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 9, Kona Electric, GV60 and Electrified GV70, but not the recently discontinued Ioniq 6.HYUNDAI AND KIA PARTNER WITH KALUZA ON SMART CHARGINGHyundai Motor Group has partnered with Kaluza to build smart charging into Hyundai and Kia EVs from August 2026, integrating with the Kia and myHyundai apps so drivers can set a ready-by time and charge on cheaper, cleaner power, launching in the UK first and then Australia. Vehicle-to-grid services are due from 2027, adding to Kaluza's existing work with Stellantis, Volvo, Volkswagen, Porsche and Mitsubishi Motors.DUTCH INSURER UNIVÉ RESTRICTS COVER FOR 14 CAR BRANDSUnivé, a Dutch insurer with over 1.8 million members, has restricted or excluded 14 car brands based on parts availability, repair information and access to qualified workshops, limiting Dongfeng, Lucid, Firefly, Nio and Zeekr to third-party liability and fully excluding Hongqi, Changan, Voyah, KGM, Leapmotor, VinFast, Jaecoo, MHero and Omoda. The brands took 3.6% of July's Dutch registrations, up from 1.0% a year earlier, and dealers call the warning heavily overblown, with Chery saying it holds more than 30,000 parts at Schiphol-Rijk.
Volkswagen is preparing to quit building cars at four German factories. Every one of them builds EVs.On Thursday this week, in Wolfsburg, Volkswagen's supervisory board voted unanimously — a day ahead of schedule — to approve something called Future Plan 2030.50,000 more job cuts by the end of the decade. The model range gutted and cut roughly in half by 2035. And four German plants placed under a review that could end vehicle production at all of them.Those four plants are Emden. Zwickau. Hanover. And Audi's Neckarsulm.Zwickau was the first large car factory in Europe converted entirely to electric vehicles and Emden was the second. Hanover currently builds the ID. Buzz whilst Neckarsulm builds the e-tron GT and the A6 e-tron.Volkswagen spent something like 2.2bn euros converting Zwickau and Emden alone.Six years later, the company says it cannot demonstrate a competitive future use for either of them.So the question isn't "is Volkswagen in trouble."We knew that already.The question is why the factories it electrified hardest are the ones it now says it can't justify - and what that tells you about how Europe built its EV industrial policy.
While most Americans think of a truck or a sedan when they hear “electric vehicle,” a quiet revolution is happening in other countries on two and three wheels. In China and India, the electric vehicles doing the most to push out oil aren't cars – they're scooters, mopeds, motorcycles and the three-wheeled rickshaws and tuk-tuks that move people and packages through some of the world's busiest cities. According to BloombergNEF's EV Outlook report, 46% of global sales of two- and three-wheelers were electric last year. Collectively, they're displacing more oil than cars. Electric delivery vehicles are also starting to show up in bigger U.S. cities. How might even greater adoption of “other” EV types benefit decarbonization? Guests: Aleksandra O'Donovan, Head of Electrified Transport, BloombergNEF Samhita Shiledar, Principal, RMI David Zipper, Contributing Writer, Bloomberg; Co-host, Look Both Ways Highlights: 00:00 Introduction 02:37 Aleksandra O'Donovan on the BNEF 2026 EV Outlook 03:54 Aleksandra O'Donovan on adoption of electric two and three wheelers 08:40 Aleksandra O'Donovan on oil displacement from two and three wheelers 13:23 Aleksandra O'Donovan on what electric vehicle adoption means for emissions 18:36 Samhita Shiledar on the difference between US and Indian transportation 20:47 Samhita Shiledar on the reality of switching to electric vehicles for drivers 26:25 Samhita Shiledar on how the transition to EVs affects riders and consumers 33:04 Samhita Shiledar on the future of electric two and three wheelers 35:50 David Zipper on “car bloat” 41:37 David Zipper on what e-bike adoption rates in the US say about demand 47:47 David Zipper on golf cart adoption For show notes, transcripts and related links, visit our episode page at ClimateOne.org Join Climate One for a town hall event on September 28 at 6 p.m. on navigating AI, climate, and the future of democracy. How do we ensure that AI and data centers serve the public good? How does a democracy function when AI is distorting our sense of shared truths? Tickets available at climateone.org/events *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. *** Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week's episode, we discuss Tesla's latest Cyberflop, lots of cheap Ford electric pickups, VW in trouble, and more. The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek's YouTube channel. As a reminder, we'll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in. After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcasts Spotify Overcast Pocket Casts Castro RSS We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming. Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast: Tesla opens search for Cybercab fleet sales, but FSD owners are still left out Tesla Cybercab is already under NHTSA investigation after launch Tesla Full Self-Driving can now take over manual driving to avoid a collision Tesla settles fatal Autopilot fire truck lawsuit, avoiding jury trial Ford wants to sell 100,000 Fathoms in the $30k EV truck's first year Range Rover's first luxury electric SUV costs $140,000 and delivers V8 power [Images] Polestar 4 SUV launches at €57,900 — and it finally has a rear window These EVs retain their battery best, largest-ever study finds Rivian rolls out RivianOS 2, unifying software across R1 and R2 VW to cut 100k jobs and may stop building EVs at 4 plants Here's the live stream for today's episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET): https://www.youtube.com/live/X9nRjdjLmLY
(September 04, 2026) IT’S FOODIE FRIDAY! The Fork Reporter Neil Saavedra starts the hour talking about the FDA updating guidance for ‘ready to eat’ produce, grilled foods in every state, and Wendy’s Frost Frights Kid’s Meal is BACK! President Trump wants to eliminate EVs in California… is that even possible? The ‘Gen Z Stare’ and the decline of saying things out loud.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The digital economy may get the headlines, but behind every AI breakthrough, electric vehicle, automated warehouse, and data center is a complex physical supply chain making it possible. In this episode of The Buzz, powered by Toyota Automated Logistics, hosts Scott Luton and Karin Bursa welcome Gaurav Singh Chaudhary, founder and editor of Silicon and Steel, to explore the infrastructure, materials, energy, and global trade relationships powering some of today's biggest transformations.From Walmart's massive investment in automated fulfillment to dramatic shifts in the Southern timber industry, Scott, Karin, and Gaurav break down the connections between changing consumer demand, automation, trade policy, and supply chain strategy. They examine the potential impact of semiconductor tariffs on AI infrastructure, why nuclear energy's fuel supply could become a critical bottleneck, and how AI and EV manufacturers are increasingly competing for the same electronics and manufacturing capacity.Along the way, the conversation highlights an important reality: the AI economy isn't purely digital. Its growth depends on chips, energy, batteries, data centers, manufacturing capacity, logistics networks, and resilient global supply chains.Key TakeawaysSpeed must be designed into the network. Walmart's next-generation fulfillment investment demonstrates why companies can't simply compensate for poor network design with more expensive transportation.Automation is changing the nature of warehouse work. As fulfillment processes become increasingly automated, traditional manual roles are giving way to jobs focused on maintaining, operating, and optimizing technology.Supply chains operate on dramatically different timelines. Timber can take decades to mature while demand, tariffs, interest rates, and trade policies can change within months, creating significant challenges for long-term planning.The AI economy has a very physical foundation. Chips, servers, power generation, cooling systems, batteries, and data centers all create supply constraints that can determine how quickly AI infrastructure scales.Nuclear energy presents a supply chain bottleneck. The fuel required by emerging small nuclear reactors creates sourcing and geopolitical risks that extend far beyond simply building more reactors.AI and automotive supply chains are increasingly interconnected. EVs and AI infrastructure compete for electronics, chips, circuit boards, batteries, and manufacturing capacity while AI demand is also creating new opportunities for automotive battery investments.Context turns data into actionable intelligence. Supply chain-specific AI must understand industry terminology, relationships, workflows, and business rules, not simply process general-purpose data.Supply chain leaders can no longer look at AI, energy, manufacturing, trade, logistics, and infrastructure as separate conversations. This episode connects the dots between them. Tune in for practical insights into how automation, tariffs, shifting demand, energy constraints, and emerging technologies are reshaping global supply chains and why understanding the physical infrastructure behind the digital economy will be essential for navigating what comes next.Additional Links & Resources: Toyota Automated Logistics: https://toyota-automated-logistics.com/ With That Said: https://bit.ly/WTS-30-Aug-2026 From Data Chaos To Decision Intelligence: How AI Continues To Reshape Logistics: https://bit.ly/ExecExchange-MattMcKinney-LoopMeet Hunter Wendelstedt, MLB's next Ángel Hernández in the making: https://bit.ly/MLB-ABS-MakingTractionWalmart to build $1.3B fulfillment center in Georgia: https://bit.ly/Walmart-Invests-in-GATimber Was Gold in the South—Until a Market Collapse Crushed the Forest Economy: https://on.wsj.com/3T96zoxAnother potential headache for US data centers — Trump tariffs: https://politi.co/4gFffutWest Wants Nuclear for AI. Russia Controls the Fuel: https://bit.ly/3Uigrg6Silicon & Steel: https://siliconandsteel.co/ Connect with Gaurav on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsc/Upcoming Live Programming: https://supplychainnow.com/upcoming-live-programming/Supply Chain Now Resource Hub: https://supplychainnow.com/resource-hub/Learn more about our hosts: https://supplychainnow.com/aboutLearn more about Supply Chain Now: https://supplychainnow.comWatch and listen to more Supply Chain Now episodes here: https://supplychainnow.com/program/supply-chain-now Subscribe to Supply Chain Now on your favorite platform: https://supplychainnow.com/join Work with us! Download Supply Chain Now's NEW Media Kit: https://bit.ly/3XH6OVkLearn more about Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions: http://blueyonder.com/cognitiveWEBINAR- SAP AI Inside the Supply Chain: From Silo to Orchestration: https://bit.ly/4bvpz6KWEBINAR- Operational AI in the Supply Chain: How context empowers agents and humans to operate side by side: https://bit.ly/4x7Vd2ZWEBINAR- You Can't Manage What You Can't See: Using Visibility, KPIs, and AI to Optimize Logistics Operations: https://bit.ly/4ql6iemThis episode was hosted by Scott Luton and Karin Bursa, and produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua Miranda, and Amanda Luton. For additional information, please visit our dedicated episode page at: https://supplychainnow.com/thebuzz-from-silicon-to-steel-supply-chains-behind-ai The content in this episode, including all audio, videos, visuals, and graphics, is the property of Supply Chain Now and is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, distribution, modification, or re-uploading of this content in any form is strictly prohibited without explicit written permission from Supply Chain Now.For licensing inquiries or permissions, please contact us at production@supplychainnow.com© 2026 Supply Chain Now. All rights reserved. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
It's ev.news Briefly for Thursday 03 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the ev.news Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/evnewsPOLESTAR 4 SUV LAUNCHES IN EUROPEPolestar has launched the Polestar 4 SUV in Europe, its largest market, adding a more practical body variant with a linear roofline, vertical tailgate, conventional rear window and mirror, 25mm more rear headroom, standard roof rails rated to 100kg dynamic load, 1,665 litres of capacity with the 60:40 seats folded and a 15-litre front trunk. Rear Motor versions offer 200kW and up to 630km WLTP range while Dual Motor models produce 400kW and up to 600km, both using a 100kWh battery charging at up to 200kW DC for a roughly 30-minute 10-80% top-up, priced from €57,900 in Germany and £54,750 in the UK with first deliveries planned for Q4 2026 and Canada to follow Europe.SCOUT REVEALS TWO TRAVELER CONCEPTSScout Motors has revealed the Mountainside and Trail-ready concepts based on its Traveler electric SUV, debuting at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience, with the rugged Trail-ready wearing Galvanized Steel paint, a Canvas roof, full-metal bumpers, elevated roof rack with trail lights, front winch, 18-inch beadlock wheels, 35-inch off-road tyres and a brick-red leather Denim District interior, while the refined Mountainside uses Morning Dusk charcoal-brown paint with gold flakes, 22-inch dish wheels, light-brown leather, grey fabric and recycled walnut trim. Scout has not confirmed whether either will be sold as a package or which features are optional; Traveler production starts next year with deliveries from 2028, and the range-extended Harvester, using a four-cylinder generator and 63kWh LFP pack for a claimed 500 miles, launches before the battery-electric version.FRANCE BEV SHARE RISES TO 38% IN AUGUSTBattery-electric vehicles took 38% of France's new-car market in August 2026, up from 35% in July, with registrations climbing 113% year on year to 36,159 units according to the CCFA. Chinese brands took 7,070 registrations or 7.5% of the market, led by BYD on 2,195, MG on 2,003 and Jaecoo on 1,987, but were outsold by Renault alone on 13,128, ahead of Peugeot on 11,716 and Tesla on 5,038, of which 4,622 were the Model Y, France's best-selling BEV.MOST USED EVS RETAIN ABOUT 90% CAPACITY AT 150,000KMAn Aviloo study of more than 500,000 battery-health tests across 20 popular models in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia between 2022 and 2026 found most used EVs retained about 90% of usable battery capacity at 150,000km, with median state-of-health scores ranging from 87% to 94%, led at that mileage by the Mercedes-Benz EQA at 93.97% and Hyundai Ioniq 5 at 93.79%, and trailed by the Nissan Leaf at 86.67%, Mini Cooper SE at 87.11% and Renault Zoe at 87.33%. Chinese models were excluded for lack of data, air-cooled and smaller batteries such as the Zoe and Leaf degraded faster, the Leaf ZE1 showed a 13.5-percentage-point spread between individual cars, and with warranties typically covering eight years or 160,000km and requiring replacement below 70%, the findings strengthen calls for mandatory battery-health certification since identical age and mileage can mask very different treatment.KIA OPENS CANADIAN ORDERS FOR 2027 EV4 GTKia has opened factory orders for the 2027 EV4 GT at certified Canadian dealerships from CA$58,595, its third "affordable" EV to get GT treatment, replacing the standard car's front-wheel drive with a 288-horsepower dual-motor all-wheel-drive system paired to an 81.4kWh battery for an estimated 431km of range. The GT adds GT-exclusive neon-accented brake calipers, 20-inch alloys, suede and synthetic-leather seats, a GT instrument cluster and a steering-wheel GT boost button, sitting above the standard EV4 that launched in Canada in late 2025 from CA$38,995 as what Kia called the country's most affordable EV.HONDA SEEKS 1.5 TRILLION YEN IN SAVINGSHonda is seeking 1.5 trillion yen ($9.4 billion) in savings by 2030 to improve its car business, expecting cumulative EV-related losses to exceed $12 billion and shifting towards hybrids while under pressure from Chinese manufacturers including BYD, which are taking share in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe on software, battery technology and the industry's lowest prices. Honda briefed major suppliers on the plan in spring and, according to internal documents, is targeting a 30% cost reduction in pressed and forged components, electrical parts and software-defined-vehicle parts, with individual targets issued to suppliers afterwards.MNDOT OFFERS $41.2 MILLION FOR UP TO 40 SITESMnDOT is offering $41.2 million in its third and largest NEVI round for fast-charging sites across Greater Minnesota, expecting to award up to 40 locations across 74 eligible areas with no more than one station funded in each, now able to go beyond I-35, I-90 and I-94 after the federal government certified those routes as fully built-out corridors. Funded sites must provide at least four NACS and four CCS1 connectors delivering a minimum 150kW per port with all ports in simultaneous use, be open during the host business's hours, and include an ADA-compliant charging space, adequate lighting, security cameras or staff, and snow removal within two hours of storms exceeding an inch — even though most earlier interstate sites have yet to open.TESLA US SALES DROP 26% IN AUGUSTMotor Intelligence estimated Tesla sold 40,816 vehicles in the United States in August 2026, down 26% from 55,500 a year earlier and its largest year-over-year monthly decline of 2026, with demand appearing to stabilise around 40,000 units a month, below the 47,000 monthly average of the first half of 2025 and below tax-credit-inflated third-quarter volumes. Ending Model S and Model X production, extending Model Y and Model 3 offers, starting Model Y L deliveries, expanding a certified pre-owned programme from $20,600 and fully claiming California's MyFirstEV allocation within days did not materially change the trajectory.VOLVO GLOBAL SALES FALL 7.4% FROM JUNE THROUGH AUGUSTVolvo Cars sold 148,239 vehicles globally from June through August, down 7.4% year over year despite a 13% rise in electrified sales — fully electric up 27%, plug-in hybrids down 1% — which made up 53.5% of global volume, with the decline blamed on China's continuing downturn and weaker US demand for electrified models. The company expects a significantly stronger second half as EX60 deliveries ramp up from Gothenburg production that began in spring at around $60,000 in the US, alongside European growth and continued US recovery, while shifting more output stateside to cut tariff exposure with XC60 production starting in South Carolina later this year and global Polestar 3 production consolidated there.XPENG TAKES UK COMMERCIAL CONTROLXpeng is establishing its own UK national sales company, taking ownership of its UK operations and responsibility for strategic and commercial development while retaining International Motors — the Subaru and Isuzu importer that originally handled its UK shipping and retail — as a provider of operational infrastructure and local distribution expertise. Having entered the UK last year with the G6, delivering 1,800 units through 48 dealers in England, Wales and Scotland, Xpeng plans to add the X9 MPV as an ID Buzz rival and the L03 coupé-crossover, sold as Mona in China, though no UK launch date or pricing has been announced and an entry price below £40,000 would pitch it against the Skoda Enyaq and Ford Explorer.35% OF SCREEN-EQUIPPED OWNERS NEVER USE THEMJD Power's 2026 U.S. Tech Experience Index study, surveying 68,084 owners of vehicles with passenger screens, found 35% had never used the screen and only 6% used it every drive, even as the feature spreads through new vehicles. Smart ignition, climate control and driver-preference settings scored highest for satisfaction with the fewest problems while added complexity in driver-assistance features lowered scores, suggesting owners prefer predictable technology and that a screen — a cheap, simple way to make a plain dashboard look advanced, useful for passenger HVAC control or films on long trips — improves appearance rather than the ownership experience.
It's ev.news Briefly for Wednesday 02 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the ev.news Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/evnewsJLR LAUNCHES ELECTRIC RANGE ROVER FROM £154kLand Rover's first fully electric Range Rover arrives next year from £154,070 (about $208,473), using a 120kWh battery and two motors producing 542bhp, with a WLTP range of 372 miles and claimed real-world range of 330 miles. Built on the MLA-Flex architecture designed from the outset for battery power, it weighs around 2885kg but sits 88mm lower in centre of gravity than the V8, retains 900mm wading depth (960mm practical), and tows 2500kg versus 3500kg for the combustion model, with JLR's analysis of 360 million customer journeys concluding it suits 97% of them.NORWAY ELECTRIC CARS REACH NEW RECORDBattery-electric cars took a record 98.7% of Norway's 13,451 new passenger-car registrations in August, up from 96.9% a year earlier and 97.6% in July, according to the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council. Volkswagen led brands and the ID.4 led models ahead of the Toyota bZ4X and BMW iX3, while Xpeng and BYD together took 11.4% of the market against 4.9% in August 2025.VOLVO EX30 GAINS V2L IN SOFTWARE UPDATEVolvo has added vehicle-to-load charging to the EX30 via an over-the-air update, delivering up to 3kW at 16 amps through a separate adapter connected to the charge port, with supply cutting off automatically below 20% battery. The feature will not be offered in the US, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan or Japan, and arrives alongside a customisable contextual bar, redesigned settings menu and Plug & Charge in some European markets for model-year 2026 cars onwards.RENAULT SCENIC LONG RANGE REACHES 399 MILESThe Renault Scenic Long Range now covers up to 399 miles, a 20-mile gain from an extra 2kWh of capacity, and though peak charging stays at 150kW it holds that rate longer, cutting 10% to 80% charging to 28 minutes from 38. A revised Comfort Range version, possibly not returning to the UK, switches to LFP chemistry with 7kWh more capacity, 290 miles of range and 165kW charging, both paired with the existing 215bhp rear motor.GENESIS PLANS FOUR MORE EUROPEAN MARKETSGenesis will start selling in Austria, Denmark, Poland and Portugal next year despite a 19% fall in European sales, relying on expansion and electrification to fix weak regional performance. Its range is now almost entirely electric, with battery-electric vehicles making up 95% of European sales through July led by the GV60 and GV70, far above the 27% BEV share of the wider European premium market.FORD SHOWS FATHOM PICKUP IN DESERT TESTINGFord chief executive Jim Farley posted footage on September 1, 2026 of the Fathom electric midsize pickup undergoing hot-weather desert testing, revealing the name via a QR code on the camouflage that links to a Ford landing page. Production begins at Louisville Assembly in Q1 2027 ahead of an early 2027 sale date, with Ford claiming more passenger volume than a Toyota RAV4 but withholding full specifications.CHINA ISSUES OVERSEAS GUIDELINES FOR CHINESE AUTOMAKERSChinese regulators issued guidelines on September 1 for automakers' overseas operations, telling them to price with reference to costs and market conditions rather than to gain unfair competitive advantage, avoid frequent or substantial price changes, and refrain from misleading advertising. The rules also demand stronger anti-monopoly, anti-corruption, antitrust and social-responsibility compliance, protection of Chinese brand reputation abroad, adherence to local labour laws and better management of political, economic and safety risks in host countries.CANADA RELEASES 24,500 CHINA-MADE ELECTRIFIED-VEHICLE PERMITSCanada released 24,500 further permits for China-made electrified vehicles on September 1, completing the 49,000 first-year quota introduced in January under a trade deal with Beijing that replaced a 100% tariff, though imports still face the standard 6.1% most-favoured-nation rate. Global Affairs Canada issued permits for 15,344 EVs and 259 hybrids in the first six months, leaving importers able to bring in 33,397 vehicles including 8,897 carried-over permits, as BYD, Chery and Geely pursue certification, hiring and dealers ahead of expected sales by early next year.BMW IX3 CROSSES PORTUGAL ON ONE CHARGEA 2026 BMW iX3 50 xDrive drove 739km (459 miles) the length of Portugal on National Road 2 without recharging, finishing with 20% battery left after three days and 14 hours at the wheel with BMW Portugal ambassador Ana Varela driving. The route mixed mountains, winding roads, valleys, plains and towns rather than maximising range, and falls short of a December 2025 run of 1,007.7km from BMW's Debrecen plant to Munich that ended on 2%.US ADDS RECORD STORAGE CAPACITY IN SECOND QUARTERThe US installed a record 20.2 gigawatt-hours of energy storage in the three months to June, with a Solar Energy Industries Association and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence outlook forecasting 71 gigawatt-hours added across 2026. More than 74% of second-quarter capacity was built in states Donald Trump won in 2024, driven largely by Arizona, Texas and Utah, with growth partly tied to data centres using batteries to handle rapid demand swings from artificial intelligence.SOLAR PANELS COOL HYPOTHETICAL TOMATO FARMA simulation found tomato leaves under solar panels ran 1.84°C cooler through the day and up to 7.56°C cooler at peak afternoon heat than in open field, receiving 47% less sunlight but losing only 31% of carbon uptake. Panels above crops were 5.6°C cooler than those over bare soil, recovering about 15% of the efficiency lost to heat, while perceived temperatures for workers fell 4.46°C, and the model could be applied to other climate and crop combinations.