If you're interested in an electric pickup truck, your choices as we close out 2024 really aren't bad anymore—albeit still on the expensive side. There's the stalwart Ford F-150 Lightning, which is currently selling with some of the best deals we've ever seen; the newcomers Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV, which pack big range with big batteries but also big charging times; and the Tesla Cybertruck, which is equal parts science experiment and avant-garde art project. 

So lately, I've been wondering if the Rivian R1T is the sweet spot between all of those varied electric pickup choices. And over the next few days, I intend to find out. What should I do with it, and what do you want to know about it?

I (wisely) left frosty upstate New York for my native Texas this Christmas, and I'm glad I did because the highs down here have been around 70 degrees. Pleasant? Yes. Concerning? Also yes. But this is pretty optimal weather for what I have in mind: a drive from San Antonio to the West Texas desert, about 400 miles one way, and into a part of the country that's not exactly replete with DC fast chargers.

2025 Rivian R1T Road Trip

Yet the R1T should be up for the task. This is a 2025 R1T, the one with all of the physical updates and several recent software ones too. In Rivian Blue, this truck is a Dual Motor model with the 149-kWh Max Pack battery good for an EPA-estimated 420 miles of range, perhaps aided by the ultra-aerodynamic Range Wheels. With options, including the Performance Upgrade and Ocean Coast + Dark Ash Wood interior, and this truck goes for around $96,000.

No, not cheap. But I do feel like I'm getting a lot with this truck—more than with other Rivians I've experienced in the past.

2025 Rivian R1T Road Trip

Thanks in part to the various software updates, every Rivian I drive ends up being better than the last. Yet I've never fallen completely in love with the R1S; maybe it's because the "big electric SUV" thing has been done so much, albeit almost never with Rivian's off-roading prowess. But this electric pickup truck? It feels more novel, more interesting than another big family-hauler. It's less conventional than an F-150 Lightning, more pleasant (in every conceivable way) than a Cybertruck and with a less thirsty battery pack than the General Motors electric trucks. 

So, yes. Sweet spot. But other road trip tests have been less kind to the R1T's long-distance prowess. Maybe I can do better? We'll soon find out.

What's Good So Far

This is actually the first time I've had a lengthy go with the R1T. It's utterly charming, giving off that optimistic vibe that Rivian designers like to say is part of the company's DNA. Inside, the cabin is airy and comfortable while the software setup is whimsical, colorful and quite easy to read.

It's a very maneuverable truck for its size, which is more than a foot longer than the R1S. The steering is light but precise and navigating tight spaces and parking lots has been generally quite easy; more so than the oddly-proportioned Cybertruck. It's quite quick, too, albeit heavy. 

Rivian R1T Gear Tunnel

Two words: gear tunnel. This is just a fantastic stroke of EV packaging. Two panels on either side of the truck open up to reveal a 65-inch hollow tunnel that can fit two medium-checked suitcases (provided they're zipped tight) and lots of other gear. I was slightly worried all our travel gear wouldn't fit in a pickup truck, but this thing has it handled. 

Finally, Rivian's software game really is getting better and better. The smartphone app, phone-as-key, charger finder, over-the-air feature additions and other touches are increasingly putting Rivian on even footing with Tesla. It's not quite as polished as that company's setup, but it outclasses a lot of other options out there.

2025 Rivian R1T Road Trip

What's Not So Good So Far

The biggest challenge has been one that's common to big EVs: efficiency. At most, I'm seeing about 2.7 or so miles per kWh, and often quite a bit less at sustained highway speeds. That isn't surprising. It's big, it's heavy and it's aerodynamic as a brick (although it looks great.) We'll be in a good position to test its 70 mph range, but it's not the distance king the Tesla Model 3 I just rented was. 

2025 Rivian R1T Road Trip

Also, Rivian's no-buttons approach to everything has its downsides. I have yet to be convinced that fiddling with a touchscreen to adjust my air conditioning to be a superior experience to having actual air vents. 

Finally, can it really do up to 220 kW on a DC fast charger? I juiced it up tonight on a 350 kW EVGo station (battery preconditioned and all) at 30% and never saw speeds above 190 kW. We'll see how it fares out on the road. 

But I'm excited to see what it can do out there. I like this truck so far. Got questions? Ask away.

2025 Rivian R1T Road Trip

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

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Try and think of a two-seat electric roadster. Once you’ve come up with ‘Tesla Roadster’ and realized that it hasn’t been on sale for years, and that Musk’s delayed flying-machine sequel may never happen, I’d like to direct you to a real car that currently exists: The MG Cyberster.

MG, in case you didn’t know, isn’t the same company that used to make the MGB your dad coos over. It’s owned by the Shanghai Automobile Industry Corporation (SAIC), and it’s doing quite well. The MG4 EV is a common sight on European roads, and the firm’s various hybrids and EVs can be found in most cities without looking too hard. Most of the cars are affordable, sensible affairs, and all the better for it. But this is MG, the king of the Brit sports car manufacturers (for a bit in the '60s and ‘70s, anyway), and the lineup wouldn’t be complete without something a little bit racy. Enter stage left: The Cyberster.

(Full disclosure: MG loaned me a Cyberster for this review.)

On sale in European and other international markets, the Cyberster is in a class of one. It’s the only ragtop two-seater EV out there, and while some may use that as an excuse to rest on their laurels and phone the job in, MG has put a lot of effort into this one.

It’s available either as an all-wheel-drive, dual-motor 503-horsepower GT, or rear-wheel-drive single-motor 335-hp Trophy. Each boasts a 77kWh (74.4kWh usable) battery to deliver a WLTP range of 276 or 316 miles, respectively. I tested the dual motor GT in silver, with a ‘please don’t wear new jeans’ light gray interior.  

There’s a respectable 8.8 cubic-foot trunk in the back, too, so you can put plenty of stuff in there, and the cabin’s got enough storage to fit your day-to-day knick-knacks. The cabin is festooned with screens: three in front of the driver and one in the center console. The two that flank the instrument panel are touch-sensitive and control various aspects of the car, as does the one lower in the cabin, which gives the whole thing a Star Trek-y vibe. 

It’s a long car, at nearly 15 feet, which is needed because of the whacking great battery, and at 6 feet, 3 inches, it’s pretty wide. Sitting 4 feet, 4 inches high, it’s not the squattest of things, but a black cowl around the window line helps hide its visual weight and draws your eye lower. 

Every sports car, whether it’s in a class of one or not, needs to have some theater about it. The Cyberster’s party piece is fancy doors. They both open upwards, and you can open them by prodding the button on the door… or you use the key. Press the key for the left or right door on the fob and it’ll gracefully rise as you approach. It’s a neat touch, and made me smile every time I hopped in for a drive.

Inside you’ll find big, comfy seats, and a spacious cabin. It's tech heavy, but there are still buttons to press should the mood take you. The paddles behind the wheel either shift regen levels, or switch the car between comfort, sport or custom drive modes. You’ll spy a big red button on there as well: the ‘Super Sport’ button. That’s for moments of silliness, effectively equivalent to a “Sport Plus” or Track mode.

Once you’re on the move it’s a quiet, slick affair. Comfort mode keeps the GT’s silly power in check, allowing you to glide up to speed briskly, but not uncomfortably. Being a heavy car, the Cyberster does bounce around a bit over rough city asphalt. London’s roads are a patchwork of awful repairs, so I let plenty of grunts and groans fly over my time with the Cyberster. 

With the roof up, the MG keeps you nearly insulated from the world outside, though it can get a bit creaky when the car’s disturbed by uneven tarmac. While it takes the shine off the experience a touch, there’s little you can do about physics. If you want to drop it, the whole process happens quietly and quickly with no fuss. Plus, the GT’s heated seats took the edge off a chilly London evening.

Sports cars are often used to pose around town, sure, but they should also be capable on twisty roads. On country lanes in comfort mode, the powertrain’s briskness is wonderful. Numbers build, fall and build again with ease. Sport mode makes the Cyberster a far more angry car. The pace becomes frantic to the point where your stomach starts making interesting shapes every time you press the throttle.

Far more extreme is ‘Super Sport.’ It’s out-and-out hooliganism, and unless you’ve got your wits about you I can see how you might end up getting yourself into trouble. The world gets VERY blurry when you mash your foot down. It’s a neat party piece, but not one you’ll want to use too often if you want to keep police away from your doorstep. 

Twisty roads reveal one of the Cyberster’s weaknesses, though. It’s heavy. If you’re pressing on, enjoying the power, and generally being a hooligan, the car feels awfully bouncy. Being a bit of a chonker, undulations and anything other than mirror smooth roads upset it enough that it stops being fun and starts being a bit ‘cling on and see what happens.’

If you want a composed ride when you’re giving it some, you won’t find it here. This is a swift cruiser. Dial the pace back a bit and it settles neatly. 10/10ths is for straight lines. It steers smoothly enough, and MG’s rightfully proud of the Brembo brakes at each corner. When you can hit 62mph from rest in 3.2 seconds, chunky stoppers are a blessing.

The GT with its silly power and all-wheel drive promises to manage 3.7mi/kWh on a run, which I guess could be possible if you drove like a saint. I managed to get an average of 3.1kWh in mixed driving—a lot of highway, a decent chunk of town and some time on bendy roads I know well. 

Being a modern car, there are touch screens. They fit well here, but they can be fiddly. To adjust maps, music or to flick through menus you need to look quite closely. This wouldn’t be a problem, but MG has a suite of advanced and intrusive active safety systems fitted to the car. I figured out how to turn most of them off, but I couldn’t figure out how to turn off the sensor on the wheel that tracks your eyes. If the car doesn’t feel you’re paying close enough attention to the road ahead it’ll scream at you. Loudly. This wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t need to go into the car’s various screens to do things, but I did. The car itself created the issue, and then yells at you for dealing with it. How irritating.

So if you’re looking for an MG sports car just like the cars of old, this… isn’t it. It’s too heavy, its ride too compromised. The MG Cyberster is a cruiser. It’s perfect for gently gliding along at a steady pace, taking the world in as you go. It’s a start for the ‘affordable’ EV sports car category, and it’s a damn good one. Just take it easy out there.

Alex Goy is a freelance journalist based in London. He likes British sports cars, tea, and the feeling of the mild peril that only owning a British sports car can bring to your day.

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In recent months, more and more automakers have started selling North American Charging Standard (NACS) adapters to allow owners of their electric vehicles to access the vast Tesla Supercharging network. Ford will sell you one for $200, Polestar and Volvo will hook you up for $230 and General Motors will do it for $225. 

But there's even better news if you drive a Hyundai: you'll be able to get a NACS adapter for zero dollars next year. That means that owners of the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Kona Electric will be able to use Tesla's Supercharger network at no cost whatsoever. Consider it an early Christmas gift from Hyundai.

The Korean automaker announced this week that Hyundai EV owners who have purchased or leased their vehicle on or before Jan. 31, 2025 will be able to request an adapter in the MyHyundai online owner portal. "This Hyundai-authorized adapter will give CCS-port-equipped Hyundai EV drivers access to more than 20,000 Tesla Superchargers in the United States," the automaker said. 

Hyundai officials also indicated the Genesis luxury brand will eventually do the same with details to be announced early next year; no word yet on Hyundai's corporate cousin Kia, although a similar approach could be likely. 

Hyundai Ioniq 5 Adapter

Nearly every automaker operating in America is pivoting to Tesla's style of plug—now known as the SAE J3400 standard—and allowing access to Tesla's charging network to give EV owners a better overall experience. Yet Hyundai is arguably making some of the biggest and earliest moves in that direction. The new 2025 Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 will actually include a NACS plug from the factory, and will use the traditional CCS style of plug with a separate adapter of their own. Hyundai officials have said that adapter use will not impact charging speeds for either type of car. 

The automaker said that owners can check HyundaiNews.com for future updates. 

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

More Hyundai EV News

It’s an accepted fact that VinFast’s cars aren’t very good. The brand has been plagued with missed delivery dates, poor reviews, low sales and an alarming allegation that it has police detain critics of its products in its home country. Now things are going further. Last week, an engineer responsible for VinFast’s latest models claimed he was fired after an ask me anything thread on Reddit. The engineer, Hazar Denli, became really concerned about the quality of the suspension components on its models.

According to reporting from the BBC, Denli became concerned with VinFast’s approach to speed and deadlines, insisting that the brand was cutting corners with its product, particularly with development on the VF6 and VF7 crossovers that have been slowly making their way out of Vietnam, and into new markets. For instance, Denli said that parts wore out five times as quickly during validation testing as they should have; some parts only lasted as little at 15,000 miles when they should have gone for 95,000 miles. Troublingly, Denli said this premature wear could lead to a loss of control of the vehicles.

"We saw, for example, the front strut-to-knuckle connection was loosening, which could be extremely dangerous," Denli told the BBC. "It could cause a loosening of the entire structure that could cause wheels to come off.

Denli says that JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) conspired with its parent group Tata Group, alongside VinFast, who figured out who made the Reddit thread. When Denli was identified, he was subsequently terminated and his name was blacklisted in an industry recruiting software, the BBC says. Keep in mind that VinFast’s IPO paperwork revealed that Tata Technologies (part of Tata Group) did much of the chassis engineering for all of VinFast’s models, except for the VF3 and VF5.

This is very concerning, and adds onto existing problems for the automaker. An accident involving a VinFast VF8 is already under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. On, April 24, 2024 a VF8 struck a tree, and caught fire, killing the family of four inside. Denli’s claims track with the previous reporting we’ve done at InsideEVs. Earlier this year, we reported on Sonnie Tran, a Vietnamese blogger who was critical of Vinfast’s products in his home country. Tran alleged that VinFast used the police to harass him, even arresting him and threatening jail time if he didn’t take his criticism down.

Right now, VinFast has delivered on its promise to produce the VF3 through VF9, at least in Vietnam. All of these models are on sale, and the brand plans to export them to new markets. Just a few weeks ago one of the alleged vehicles of concern, the VinFast VF6, was officially put on sale in a handful European countries. VinFast still plans to sell these cars in the U.S. by 2026. 

We will be watching with interest and concern as to how this will play out. The Vinfast VF8 has 28 complaints according to the NHTSA. Denli is trying to hold JLR to an employment tribunal, claiming he had done nothing wrong. 

Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com.

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The Tesla Cybercab shocked the world when it made its first appearance without any form of traditional driver controls. We're talking about no steering wheel, no pedals—nothing for someone in the front seat to put their hands (or feet) on to control the car or override the software. It turns out that Tesla's workaround is to pilot the car like a video game, literally.

That small tidbit comes from a report by AutoEvolution which has some sources at the Petersen Museum where the Cybercab is on display until the new year. According to the report, Tesla's super secret method is a small Xbox-like game controller that plugs into the car to control steering and pedal input since, you know, there's no other hardware installed in the car that can do this.

Cybercab controls recently came into question after the Petersen Museum recently showed some behind-the-scenes footage of the Cybercab arriving at its facility. In the video (embedded above), the car can be seen working its way up a ramp with someone in the front seat. People speculated that someone was sitting in the seat to maneuver the car, especially since it was unlikely that Tesla's FSD software could figure out how to navigate inside a building.

It turns out they were right.

AutoEvolution says that its sources confirm this method was used to control the car while it was inside of the museum. The sources also confirmed that the car could be controlled wirelessly from outside (like a big RC car).

We also know that Tesla is working to hire a fleet of robotaxi operators. These teleoperators will work as safety operators when the automaker launches its first company-run fleet—presumably before 2027—although it has a number of kinks to work out first. These operators will likely control the vehicle remotely to remediate safety or navigation problems that the Robotaxis are unable to overcome on their own, similar to how Waymo uses remote operators when it is unsure of how to handle a situation (for example, confirming which lane is blocked by cones so it doesn't get caught in wet cement).

The automaker must also figure out how it plans to launch the service, including the tough human side of the business like vehicle cleaning and maintenance. General Motors recently bowed out of this side of the business after determining the amount of capital it would take for Cruise to launch and maintain its service. Tesla also needs to decide where it will first launch the service, though recent reports indicate that Tesla has its eyes on Texas due to the lack of regulation around autonomous vehicles.

All of that being said, keep in mind that Tesla intends to make these cars available for the general public to purchase. That means these are issues that the public—whether operating their own fleet or personally owned robotaxi—will need to overcome as well. Will the public have their own Tesla controller at the ready in case their car does something unexpected, or if they need to pilot it outside of the operational design domain? With the current state of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, things will have to change before a controller-controlled car can hit the streets. But given Musk's close-knit ties to the president-elect, anything is possible.

More Tesla Cybercab News

It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since the ‘new’ Mini came onto the scene. BMW’s take on a British classic mixed, and continues to mix, retro and modern with a ‘cheeky’ attitude and a charming drive. Over the years, it’s evolved to the point where ‘Mini’ isn’t simply a hatch but a brand all of its own with sporty, economical, practical, and, in the years gone by, one that looked oddly like a cycling helmet. 

2024 saw a Mini reinvention. The hatch is simply ‘Cooper,’ the lineup’s chunky Countryman SUV sits at the biggest end of the range, and, as the year faded, a new sibling arrived: the Aceman. 

What Is It?

Electric only, the Aceman fits neatly below the Countryman and snugly above the Cooper. Europe’s voracity for small SUVs is seemingly unending, and as Mini remains a manufacturer that no one seems to hate, it makes sense for the German/English firm to enter the fray so we can all buy ever more of them. 

Starting at around £31,000 (around $40,000), it’s a smidge spendier than the three-door Cooper. For your extra cash, you get rear doors, an easier-to-access cabin, a new (if slightly froggy) face, and some extra usable space. While it’s an SUV in shape, it’s not a load lugger - the trunk can fit 10.6 cubic feet of stuff with the seats up and 35.5 with them down. You also get Mini’s new rather smart cloth-clad interior look - a big ‘ol disc screen to sort infotainment, nav, CarPlay/Android Auto, your speed, and all the things you expect, with a small row of physical buttons down below to turn the car on, select gears, and choose your ‘Experiences.’ The rest of the cabin is fairly minimalist. It does look good, but it follows the lead of others in keeping costs down. Fewer physical touch points and a big central screen to do all the heavy lifting means Mini didn’t need to spend too much on the rest of the interior - saving cash for batteries. 

Mini Aceman

How Much Range Does It Have?

Short of the upcoming hot JCW Aceman, there are two versions on sale right now. The Aceman E gets a 42.5 kWh battery, 181 bhp, a 0-62 mph time of 7.9 seconds, and a top speed of 99 mph. A bit more money will net you the perkier Aceman SE, which gets a 54.2 kWh battery, 215 bhp, 0-62 mph in 7.1 seconds, and 105 mph on the top end. Mini says they’ll manage 192 and 252 miles (WLTP) on a full battery while taking up 70 and 95 kW DC charging, respectively. Those recharge speeds won’t set your world alight, but they’re enough to get you from 10-80% SOC in around 30 minutes. 

There’ll be people moaning that the range isn’t enough to immediately jump in the car and drive at breakneck speed to another continent, but this isn’t that sort of car. It’s a small family car for the city and occasional trips further afield. You could well manage a longer drive, sure, but if that’s your jam, those numbers suggest you’re better off looking elsewhere. 

Mini Aceman

How Does It Drive?

Driving both the E and SE, if you ARE part of a small family, you’ll either love it or end up being annoyed by its quirks. One such quirk? The ‘Experiences.’ Flipping a switch, fiddling with the screen, or asking the car’s excellent ‘hey Mini’ voice command system to change which one you’re in. There are eight to choose from, all of which change the look of the infotainment screen, but only three do anything meaningful to the car. The core is the standard driving mode, Go Kart is Mini-ese for sport, and Green is, well, green. Swiping through all of them is a pain, especially when so few of them have a discernible effect on the car, though if you like the aesthetics one or the other offers… who am I to begrudge you?

Mini Aceman

You can, rather helpfully, use Mini’s excellent voice assistant (represented on screen by a cartoon dog called Spike) to flip between them with relative ease—it only dropped the ball once. It’ll do more than just swap modes, taking plenty of contextual commands to change radio stations, turn up heating, and other things. The days of naff voice control are long gone. The car’s navigation software is accurate, too, though the voice used on Mini UK’s test cars is a touch down in the dumps. Poor chap sounded like he’d just caught his wife sleeping with his best mate. Cheer up, nav man! There’s plenty more fish in the sea; just don’t, y’know, navigate yourself into it in a fit of ennui. 

The E, while brisk on paper, doesn’t feel super quick. If you’re after more grunt, the SE genuinely feels more hot-hatchy thanks to its extra power. Power delivery is predictably smooth, and the car is quiet when you’re on the move. Of course, it makes wibbly, wobbly noises to match what you’re doing with the throttle, which is a nice touch and makes you feel like there’s something approaching an engine under the hood. The various drive modes play with throttle mapping in the ways you’d expect - eco is soft ‘n floppy, core feels normal, and go-kart makes things a touch more brisk. 

The Aceman E will, apparently, manage 4.2-4.4 mi/kWh, but mixed driving saw a maximum of 3.8. The perkier SE promises 4.2-4.5 m/kWh on the WLTP cycle, but I only managed 3.0. I was enjoying its power, though. 

Mini Aceman

Mini’s steering is always a highlight. It changes with the drive modes, too, but it’s never too heavy or too light and offers feedback that keen drivers would appreciate while not being so driver-focused that normal humans would find it a bit much. It’s as much fun to hurl it around as it is to gently bimble around town. 

No matter which you go for, there’s a problem that’s hard to overlook: the ride is not great. I found the SE to be slightly better than the E, but the car’s 3792-3935lb (E:SE) weight puts a hell of a stress on the springs ‘and dampers, which means every lump in the road (and in the UK there are MANY) seems to upset the car. It can get rather tiresome. That said, it’s a fun thing to throw around. Smooth power, good steering, and a strong chassis are a great combo. While it’s all-electric, it’s still very much a MINI at heart.

More Aceman Info

Early Verdict

America’s hesitance to adopt smaller cars means it’ll miss out on a charming if occasionally lumpy, little SUV. It packs all the Mini charm you’d expect into a marginally more practical and rather good-looking little package. The Aceman is, well, Ace. 

Nio has just revealed the first electric vehicle that it wants to sell under its Firefly budget brand, a hatchback that will retail for just over $20,000 in China. When it reaches Europe sometime in the first half of 2025, it will likely cost a lot more than that due to tariffs and markup, but the company believes it will still be competitive, facing rivals from Smart or Mini. 

Firefly’s compact EV, known simply as the Firefly EV, has more than a passing resemblance to the Honda e. It is bigger and a bit more rounded, and its unique front and rear light clusters give it a unique identity. Technical details are virtually nonexistent for now. We don't even know if the vehicle is front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive; all we know is what we can see, as well as the fact that it will support battery swapping.

With its rear seat folded, the maximum load volume is 44.1 cubic feet (1,250 liters) and it also has a 3.24-cu-ft (92-liter) frunk.

Nio wants to create a network of Firefly-specific battery swapping stations in Europe, which it says cost about a third compared to the ones it has already installed for vehicles from the main brand. However, we don’t know the vehicle’s battery capacity or range rating, although we do know what the sales model will be.

Unlike the main Nio brand, which has a direct-to-consumer sales model avoiding traditional dealers, Firefly will have a completely different approach. Firefly vehicles will be sold through existing dealer networks, but they won't be dedicated to the brand, so they will likely be sold alongside other brands.

It will likely offer the vehicle without a battery, which you will lease from the manufacturer and pay a subscription to gain access to the swapping station network. This is called “battery as a service” (or BaaS), and it lowers the upfront cost of the vehicle and frees owners from having to worry about battery maintenance, but they will have to contend with monthly payments.

Nio first introduced BaaS in 2020, and in August of 2024, the company revealed that over 70% of buyers chose it. The percentage is much lower in Europe, though, where buyers prefer to pay more to also own the battery pack and not have to pay the monthly fee.

More Nio Stories

The era of consolidation has fully arrived for the automotive industry, and we have electric vehicles to thank. 

Granted, that era almost certainly kicked off a few years ago when Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA Group combined into Stellantis. And even before that, the now-late CEO of Fiat Chrysler warned that consolidation was the only way that car companies could survive the immense technological challenges ahead—electrification, autonomous vehicles and so on—without spending themselves into oblivion. But I'd argue the loudest bell has just been rung by Honda and Nissan, whose merger plans are now officially underway. Make no mistake: this is a big deal, and it says a lot about where the car business is going next.

That's the focus of today's Critical Materials, our morning roundup of technology and "mobility industry" news. Also on deck: smaller and more affordable vehicles are coming back, and a theory about Tesla CEO's latest moves in Washington, D.C. Let's dig in. 

30%: Details Emerge In Honda-Nissan-Probably Eventually Mitsubishi Merger 

Honda Nissan Mitsubishi CEOs

A mere week after a report in Nikkei Asia indicated Honda and Nissan were considering merging into one company, talks between the two automakers officially kicked off in Japan today. "Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. ("Nissan") and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. ("Honda") have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to start discussions and considerations toward a business integration between the two companies through the establishment of a joint holding company," the two said in a joint news release.

That was certainly quick. But it's probably because Nissan is running out of time. We've covered this company's many problems in the past so I won't recap them in their entirety here, but just recently, its own executives said it had about 12 to 14 months to survive before it would need some kind of restructuring. Enter Honda, a much more profitable and successful company riding to the rescue of one that's been lagging technologically and declining in sales for more than half a decade. And the Japanese government may have pushed the two into action after Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn reportedly eyed acquiring some or all of Nissan—an outcome that the country assuredly wouldn't want. 

So how might this work? Here are the highlights, according to their statements today:

And then there's Mitsubishi. In a separate statement, the smaller company—itself a part of the Nissan-Renault Alliance—is part of discussions now about "the possibility of achieving synergies at an increased level through Mitsubishi Motors’ participation or involvement in the business integration." Those discussions are set to begin by the end of January, so it's very possible we could see news next year of this merger including three companies instead of two.

So besides Nissan's troubles, why is this happening? Because the future—electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, AI, connected software tech and more—will be tremendously expensive to deliver. It's a sea change for a car industry that spent 100 years making internal combustion vehicles, largely by assembling parts from disparate networks of supplier companies. 

But the future is more like what Tesla and the Chinese automakers are doing: it's vertically integrated and focused on technology. And Japan's automakers are sorely behind the rising Chinese power players. They either have to team up to fight together, or become totally irrelevant.

Yet this merger presents a new set of problems. For one, Honda and Nissan have radically different company cultures; one is led by the engineers, the other by the sales and finance guys. And there's no guarantee that their combined resources will let them catch up quickly enough.

Finally, there's the question of whether these mergers are really beneficial or not. The Volkswagen Group and Stellantis have tremendous scale between them, but both conglomerates have had disastrous years in Europe and abroad. Perhaps Nissan-Honda-Mitsubishi's focus being on Japan, Asia and the U.S. will help avoid the disparate challenges the other two giants deal with. But becoming the world's third-largest automaker will not fix their mutual problems overnight.

Make no mistake: this merger, and how it plays out, will be one of the decade's most defining transportation stories. 

60%: Are Smaller Vehicles Finally Back?

2026 Chevrolet Bolt EUV Rendering Rear

I just spent the week driving a rented Tesla Model 3 Highland around Texas to see family over the holidays, and I was lamenting how the highest-range, most efficient EVs are always smaller cars and sedans—you know, the stuff Americans don't want to buy because we're so obsessed with big SUVs and trucks. But a trend that we've covered before has emerged even more clearly as the year wraps up: American buyers are starting to gravitate more to smaller vehicles now.

Above all, you can blame high prices for this change. Here's the Wall Street Journal: 

Sales of some smaller, entry-level models, such as the Honda Civic and Nissan Sentra, have taken off this year, rising 23% or more through November, according to research firm Motor Intelligence. Those increases have far outpaced the industry’s growth, which has been in the low single digits this year.

Meanwhile, large pickup truck sales, long a highly profitable corner of the market for the Detroit car companies, slid 1.9%, data from car-shopping website Edmunds shows. Sales of midsize SUVs, the type of vehicle typically favored by families, have also declined, falling 2.3% over 2023.

This rising interest in smaller offerings comes as owning a car has become increasingly unaffordable. The average selling price of a new car is still at historically high levels, exceeding $45,000 in November, according to J.D. Power. Insurance premiums, financing rates and repair costs have also climbed in recent years, further stretching household budgets.

As expenses have ticked higher, some buyers have become more willing to make a trade-off, sacrificing size and space for a lower monthly payment, analysts say.

“They need the functionality that the vehicle has, but they just need to buy the smaller size,” said Charles Chesbrough, a senior economist at Cox Automotive. “It fits into their wallet.”

If you're a fan of smaller cars, there are some really positive signs here. The Mazda 3, which is objectively excellent (it's what I drive when I'm not in our Kia EV6) has seen double-digit sales gains this year. Compact and subcompact SUV sales are up 12% this year, as people still want that extra ride height and capability without going too large. And the Chevrolet Trax, which is finally a pretty good car and can be had in the $20,000 range, saw sales jump 89% in November alone. 

So what does this mean for the electric market? I think it vindicates trends we've seen there as well: more buyers want affordable options and they're not interested in huge, luxury EVs with staggering price tags. It's why Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y hold the line so well, why the Chevy Equinox EV is doing so well and why there's so much hype around the new Chevy Bolt EUV due out next year. 

People are sick of expensive cars after the pandemic sent everything into a tailspin. That should soon lead to a more attainable electric sector too, hopefully.

90%: Did Musk Intervene In The Government Shutdown To Protect His China Operations? 

Elon Musk Dark Top

Meanwhile, in Washington, Congress has averted a government shutdown right before the holidays after passing a stopgap funding bill. But the U.S. came very close to that after Tesla CEO Elon Musk—who's now deeply involved with the incoming Trump Administration in a vague, unofficial capacity—stirred the pot on X to get lawmakers to kill it. 

Why would Musk get so involved in this particular issue? Well, CNBC reports that House Democrats are accusing Musk of intervening to protect his Chinese interests, which could've been threatened if the original spending bill had been passed: 

House Democrats Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut say their Republican colleagues in Congress caved to the demands of Elon Musk, sinking a bipartisan government funding bill that would have regulated U.S. investments in China.

The scrapped provision “would have made it easier to keep cutting-edge AI and quantum computing tech — as well as jobs — in America,” he wrote. “But Elon had a problem.”

Tesla, run by Musk, is the only foreign automaker to operate a factory in China without a local joint venture. Tesla also built a battery plant down the street from its Shanghai car factory this year, and aims to develop and sell self-driving vehicle technology in China.

“His bottom line depends on staying in China’s good graces,” McGovern wrote about Musk. “He wants to build an AI data center there too — which could endanger U.S. security. He’s been bending over backwards to ingratiate himself with Chinese leaders.”

Musk responded by calling DeLauro an "awful creature" on X. Anyway, we'll soon see how long Musk's relationship with Trump lasts if the CEO keeps taking the limelight from the incoming president. But as long as he does have influence in the new White House, expect it to be used accordingly. 

100%: What Other Automotive Mergers Could Happen In The Coming Years?

VW XPeng

Toyota-Mazda-Subaru? Volkswagen-Xpeng-Rivian? General Motors acquires Jeep, Dodge and Ram from an ailing Stellantis? I don't think we've seen the last of Honda-Nissan-style power mergers. Where do you see this going next?

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

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The Polestar 2 was the Swedish-based automaker’s first all-electric mass-market car. And for a good few years, it was one of the fiercest competitors to the Tesla Model 3–but then Polestar announced the only version of the 2 available in the United States from 2025 will cost over $65,000.

By contrast, the fastest Tesla Model 3, the Performance All-Wheel Drive, costs $10,000 less, which is a lot of money. The difference is even bigger when looking at the base Model 3, which retails for $42,490 without destination fees.

Nevertheless, people like Robert Dunn from the YouTube channel Aging Wheels bought a Polestar 2 and have very positive thoughts about the Chinese-made EV. In Dunn’s case, his Polestar 2 has recently passed the 100,000 miles mark, which means a lot of stuff had the chance to go wrong–and the battery warranty has ended.

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So, how did this Chinese-made, Swedish-designed electric sedan hold up after two and a half years and so many miles? In short, pretty good.

When it comes to battery health–which is possibly the most important metric for EVs–this particular Polestar 2 is currently at 88.8% battery health, according to the diagnostics software used by Robert Dunn. When the car had 77,000 miles on the clock, the battery state of health was at 91.5%.

In reality, the degradation led to a range loss of around 20 miles when driving from 100% to 0% state of charge, but Dunn rarely does that. Instead, he said he’s almost always keeping the battery between 10% and 80%, and the range loss isn’t really a big deal.

When new, this Polestar 2 Dual Motor Long-Range had an EPA-rated driving range of 249 miles. It has a 75-kilowatt-hour (usable) battery pack and two 150-kilowatt electric motors on each axle. Polestar updated the 2 for the 2024 model year, when it got a bigger battery and a single-motor version that was rear-wheel drive instead of front-wheel drive.

Inside, the car still looks pretty much like new, provided it’s clean. There’s a bit of discoloration on the driver’s side speaker grille, where the driver’s knee rests. Also, the cushion on the driver’s side door isn’t a cushion anymore because he always rests his elbow there when driving.

The yellow seatbelts are getting dirty, and the air conditioning is intermittently acting up. when that happens, a simple restart of the car usually solves it. The car also lost the GPS signal once, and it could only be fixed via a diagnostics tool plugged into the car’s OBD port.

There are a series of noises coming from the suspension and possibly the rear CV shafts, but they’re not as important to warrant a repair, just not yet. Some suspension issues were fixed under warranty for free,  but that’s pretty much it. Tires and windshield wiper blades were also changed a couple of times, but that’s perfectly normal for any car, as are the several rock chips on the bodywork and windshield.

The 2025 Subaru Solterra will be up to $7,000 less expensive than the outgoing model when it reaches dealerships in the United States early next year. It’s a significant price cut, but that’s about everything customers will get for the new model year, as there are precisely zero new features.

That said, the 2025 Solterra gets a new, top-of-the-line trim level called the Touring Onyx Edition, which comes with gloss black wheels and gloss black exterior and interior accents. This is the most expensive version of the Solterra, with an MSRP of $46,915 including destination.

On the other side of the list, there’s the 2025 Subaru Solterra Premium, which starts at $39,915, $6,500 less than the outgoing model. It comes as standard with dual-motor all-wheel drive, roof rails, 18-inch aluminum alloy wheels, an 8-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, dual-zone climate control and a pretty long list of advanced driver assistance features. These include Emergency Steering Assist, Lane Departure Prevention, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control and Hands-Free Low-Speed Driving.

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Next is the 2025 Solterra Limited, which retails for $43,415. Again, this gets a $6,500 cut compared to the 2024 model year. On top of what the Premium trim offers, the Limited comes with a 12.3-inch central infotainment display, a Harman Kardon audio system with 11 speakers, a 360-degree camera system, 20-inch allow wheels, 10-way power adjustable driver’s seat, 8-way power-adjustable passenger’s seat, heated rear seats, power rear liftgate, rain-sensing wipers, a wireless smartphone charger, a heated steering wheel and LED fog lights.

For $46,415, the 2025 Subaru Solterra Touring adds a panoramic glass roof with power sunshade, front and rear LED footwell lighting, heated and ventilated seats, a digital rearview mirror with Homelink and camera washer, as well as smart key access on all five doors. The 2025 Solterra Touring is $7,000 cheaper than the 2024 model year.

The list is completed by the Solterra Touring Onyx Edition–new for 2025–which costs $46,916 including destination. It adds a high-gloss black underguard, 20-inch wheels finished in black, black roof pillars, shoulder line trim, door frame, rear quarter window and roof spoiler, and black badging. Inside, black trim accents are installed on the front and rear doors, as well as on the seat upholstery.

The Solterra's EPA range rating and charging specs remain unchanged. Subaru's sole EV can go up to 227 miles on a full charge, and recharging it from 10% to 80% state of charge on a DC fast charger takes 35 minutes. The maximum DC charging speed is 100 kilowatts.

The Subaru Solterra is based on the Toyota bZ4X, which also got a significant price cut in the U.S. for the 2025 model year. Both are built in the same Toyota factory in Japan.

While there are many EV conversions that feature Tesla drive units and battery modules, there are hardly any that feature the bonkers three-motor Plaid powertrain with 1,060 horsepower. This lengthened and widened Cobra kit car is one of them, and it’s pretty bonkers.

The car needed to be bigger to fit the 100-kilowatt-hour battery pack out of a Model S Plaid and its three motors. You can see how much metal was added since it’s not painted, and the car looks about two feet longer than standard as well as about 10 inches wider. The longer wheelbase and wider track should also help improve comfort, stability at high speeds and the predictability of the handling while driving the car spiritedly.

It has Plaid front and rear subframes, so the wheels still stick out even though the body has been widened. The wheelbase appears to be a bit shorter than a Model S Plaid’s.

The vehicle was built by Don Swadley, who used a special custom controller created by Ingenext that makes the powertrain work. The result is impressive and, frankly, a bit scary too. We’d love to see this on a drag strip to see how it compares with the world’s quickest-accelerating vehicles.

Weighing around 3,300 pounds, it’s considerably lighter than a Model S Plaid, which weighs nearly 4,800 pounds. That’s an almost 1,500-pound difference, which explains why the acceleration looks so scary in the driving video posted by Revolt Systems. It shows the car not only accelerating from a standstill and pinning the occupants to their seats even under partial throttle but also how all four tires lose traction even when you floor it at higher speeds.

This Cobra is lighter and should, therefore, be even quicker than the Dodge Challenger Hellcat Plaid swap we featured last month.

The car has fully slick tires, whose grip on an unprepared surface and, when not up to temperature, can vary greatly. Even with all-wheel drive and sticky tires, though, this is still a pretty scary EV conversion, although if you take it to a drag strip with a grippier surface, it should catapult itself off the line and easily beat a Model S Plaid.

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The Volkswagen ID.Buzz electric minivan is one cool EV. It looks fantastic, which isn’t something you can usually say about minivans, but VW has managed to blend enough nostalgia and new stuff into the ID.Buzz’s design that it just works.

However, since the U.S. specs of the reimagined Microbus hit the interwebs, a lot of people can’t move past one figure: 234 miles. That’s the maximum driving range of the 2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz, as per the EPA, and it’s a huge pain point for those who were looking to get VW’s electric minivan for the purpose of cross-country travel.

The original Microbus from the 1950s and 1960s was far from a luxury vehicle, but it made a name for itself as a great road-tripping machine. So, can the new ID.Buzz live up to its ancestor’s legacy? Well, it’s complicated.

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Our friends from The Fast Lane EV traded in their Tesla Cybertruck and got a brand-new Volkswagen ID.Buzz thinking they would use it for long and very long road trips. But a dodgy charging experience, freezing temperatures and a snowstorm made the car’s inaugural road trip a “total train wreck.”

As you can see in the video embedded below, the team set out to travel roughly 500 miles. They set off from a hotel that supposedly had EV chargers on site, but those turned out to be Tesla Superchargers, which the ID.Buzz can’t use yet. So, with 15% juice left in the battery, the first charging stop was an Electrify America DC fast charging station, where the ID.Buzz can charge for free for the first 500 kilowatt-hours.

However, all the stalls were broken and couldn’t be fixed remotely, according to an EA call center worker who said that a service team was booked to go to the site and make it operational once again.

The next stop was an EVgo station 11 miles away that was thankfully online and working. After this first successful top-up, the driver gave up using the built-in navigation system and turned to PlugShare to plan the next charging stops. The EVgo stop took 41 minutes during which nearly 70 kWh of energy was dispensed.

The next charging stop was at a Shell, which required a separate smartphone app to start using the stall because there was no credit card reader on the charger. Not great, but the team was able to recharge here.

Almost 100 miles later, another charging stop was necessary, this time at an Electrify America station. This time, the stalls worked, and because the ID.Buzz has Plug&Charge, there was no need to use a credit card or an app because the EV communicates with the network automatically. Several charging stops were made during the trip and at the end, 12 hours were needed to go 500 miles. The average efficiency was around 2 miles/kilowatt-hour, which is slightly worse than the EPA-rated 2.4 miles/kWh.

At the end of the day, the car is “way cool” but the route planning is way behind what Tesla is doing with their Supercharger network and the non-Tesla charging infrastructure is still lackluster–although it is rapidly improving across the country. Next year, EVs made by Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and Scout will gain access to the Tesla Supercharger network in the U.S., which should make road trips much easier, but a concrete timeline has not yet been disclosed.

The Tesla Cybertruck is advertised as being dent-proof, rust-proof and even bulletproof. It all sounds very good, and it’s some very good marketing on Tesla’s side, but it’s not exactly true, as some owners found out the hard way. (Please don’t shoot your own car.)

That said, there are benefits to owning an unpainted car that’s covered in stainless steel panels, as one Cybertruck owner from Detroit found out after another vehicle dented the driver-side door of his electric pickup just a few weeks after getting delivery.

The ding was on the lower part of the door on the factory crease that extends to the rear wheels. Naturally, this being a brand-new car, the owner went to a Tesla collision center to get a quote for the repair. The estimate was a pretty hefty $3,000, with $828 for a new door panel and the rest in labor.

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Unfazed by the potential repair costs, the owner went home and tried to fix the ding with the help of a friend. The first attempt was with a sturdy suction cup, but it wouldn’t stay attached to the body panel and the dent was still there.

The next step was to heat the steel panel and then stick some glue sticks on the damaged area. The sticks were simply pulled by hand. Unsurprisingly, this didn’t work either.

However, a second try with the suction cup on a warm panel resulted in a definite fix, which was very satisfying to watch, as you can see in the video embedded above. The “pop” of the metal returning to its original form is nothing but bliss for people who like working on their own cars (this news writer included).

The cost? Chump change compared to the Tesla collision center estimate: a $25 lunch for the owner’s buddy who did all the work.

The Tesla Cybertruck was America’s best-selling electric pickup in the second quarter of 2024, the third-best-selling EV in the country in Q3, and the best-selling vehicle costing over $100,000 in the first half of the year. However, after starting the year strong, interest in the radical-looking stainless steel electric truck appears to be waning.

Cybertruck assembly line workers were told to stay home for three days at the start of December, hinting that there may be a demand problem. Reuters is now highlighting data that shows used Cybertrucks are taking far longer than expected to sell than earlier in the year, up to 75 days compared to 27 days in May, which should mean there’s a much higher chance that you can negotiate the price down and get a good deal on a used Cybertruck.

This is a strong sign of weakening demand and, according to Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligence at CarGurus, "The number of days they're sitting is getting longer and the price is coming down, and I can tell you the sales volume has come down.”

The Cybertruck almost matched the combined sales of all other electric trucks on the market (Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, GMC Hummer EV and Chevrolet Silverado EV) in July when it sold 5,546 units. However, analysts at the time argued that it may have simply been a case of Tesla filling a backlog of older orders, which wasn’t indicative of the vehicle’s actual demand.

Reservation holders are also taking delivery of their Cybertrucks ahead of schedule, and even those who reserved a non-Foundation Series (FS) truck have started receiving emails to finalize their vehicle’s configuration as their vehicle will soon start to be assembled. This while dozens of Founders Series Cybertrucks are waiting unsold in inventories across the country, and there are even reports that some of them are having the FS script buffed out and sold as regular models.

The cheapest used Cybertruck I could find on Cars.com was a Cyberbeast sold through CarMax that had covered just under 13,000 miles and was selling for $85,000. There were plenty of dual- and tri-motor Cybertrucks with very low mileage selling for under $90,000.

CarGurus says the average price of a Cybertruck is $106,845, which marks a 3.19% decrease over the last 30 days and almost 10% in the last 90 days. The lowest-priced used Cybertruck listed here is a dual-motor with 17,400 miles that has been wrapped in black and already has two previous owners, which costs $82,995.

The Cybertruck doesn’t address what you might call “typical truck buyers” in the U.S., who tend to be more conservative. If such a buyer were looking to go electric, they would likely pick something more conventional, like an F-150 Lightning or a Silverado EV, over the Cybertruck with its polarizing design.

It may be that after the initial hype and excitement following the start of deliveries in November 2023 has died down, the pool of people willing to spend $100,000 on a novelty showoff EV may have also been exhausted. Not that the Cybertruck isn’t an accomplished and capable vehicle, because it is. It may not be taken seriously because of how it looks or, more recently, because of company boss Elon Musk's full-on support of Donald Trump's presidential campaign and his key role in getting the former president reelected.

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While most Cybertruck owners say they really enjoy the vehicle, some were also dissatisfied with the build quality of the truck, which suffered multiple issues, including a dangerous flaw with the accelerator pedal and pieces of exterior trim coming loose and flying off at speed.

We liked the Cybertruck when we tested it, and we think it was a ballsy move by Tesla to make it as unique and innovative as it is, even though it wasn’t quite the revolution we were hoping for. We nominated it as a potential Breakthrough EV Of The Year in our 2024 Breakthrough Awards, but it didn’t win. As cool as it is, it just doesn’t do enough to spur EV adoption, especially considering that the highly anticipated cheap version probably isn’t happening.

Electric cars are rapidly taking over the streets. Recently, you might have passed a Tesla Model Y cruising down the highway or seen a family unloading their gear from a Honda Prologue by the soccer field. They're everywhere. But there is one significant effect: more cars than ever need to get plugged in. 

If you've charged in a busy urban area, you might have encountered full or over-capacity chargers. This means that drivers must be familiar with the proper etiquette to ensure swift and courteous charging sessions. Like the rules of the road, there are rules to charging. InsideEVs has compiled five key tips to make sure all EV drivers have hassle-free charging sessions. 

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Rule #1: Plug In If You're Sitting In An EV Spot

The cardinal rule of charging an electric car on a public charger is to plug in. This rule applies to all chargers, but primarily level 2 stations at work, hotels, or shopping centers. Namely, if you're in a charging spot, plug in. If your car is at a high enough state of charge where it doesn't need to be plugged in, then you should find a regular parking spot. 

The charging spots are there for vehicles to charge, not for people's cars to occupy. 'ICE'ing' is a term used to describe an internal combustion engine-powered car that is intentionally parked in an EV spot. It's annoying and inconsiderate when this happens. But in the case of an EV not plugging in, it's the exact same scenario. There's a vehicle blocking other people's access to the charger. 

With the influx of EVs on the road, charging spots are more likely to be occupied. And some people rely on these chargers for their daily travels. Therefore, if you see an open charging spot and need a charge, plug in!

Rule #2: Leaving Your Car Sitting After Charging

As an extension of the first rule, you should always leave a charging spot once a session is complete. When your car has completed charging, the spot should be vacated to allow others to charge. Especially at hotels, many EV drivers have likely planned their trip to account for an overnight charging stop. Therefore, if your car is done charging at ten at night, the courteous thing to do would be to unplug and find a different spot. 

Most DC fast charging stations have idle fees, meaning you will receive a bill if your car is done charging and still plugged in. Tesla charges an idle fee of up to $1.00 a minute, depending on station business. Therefore, if your car has completed its charging session, it's time to find somewhere else to park. 

Rule #3: Charging In The Optimal Range

While every electric car on the market features different charging profiles, generally, they charge faster at lower states of charge. This means that when road-tripping, it is sometimes more time-efficient to "bottom charge" your car. For instance, the Model Y takes around 33 minutes to charge from 10 to 80 percent. But it takes 30 more minutes to go from 80 to 100. In other words, if the next charging stop isn't far away, it's not worth waiting to "top charge" the battery. 

Some drivers have EVs that come with free charging subscriptions. BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen (not anymore), and Hyundai are a few automakers that supply their electric cars with unlimited 30-minute charging sessions on Electrify America. While free charging is undoubtedly a perk, some drivers like to fully maximize the offer by charging from, say, 60 to 100% while they're shopping. 

While there is nothing wrong with taking advantage of an offer, one should be cognizant of others in line. If you're road-tripping, pulling in at 10 percent, and waiting for an ID.4 to reach 100%, you may not be a happy camper. 

Rule #4: Supercharger Parking Rules

While Tesla opening up the Supercharging network to other makes and models is a big deal, there's one big caveat. A lot of EVs on the market have their charge ports in different locations. All Ford and most GM EVs feature charging ports on the driver's side front quarter panel. Meanwhile, BMW's electric cars bestow their ports on the passenger side rear. 

On the other hand, Tesla's lineup has the charging port positioned on the driver's side rear. Since Tesla developed the charger and vehicle simultaneously, the engineers designed the cable to be just long enough to accommodate the port location. Shorter cables mean less coolant is needed, lessened electrical resistance, and a smaller bill of materials (particularly less copper). 

Tesla Ford NACS Supercharger Double Park

Depending on the station design, shorter cables might have trouble reaching all cars. Pull-through Superchargers should pose no serious issues, though the traditional parking-space style ones might. To charge a Chevrolet Equinox EV on a Supercharger, occupying more than one spot might be necessary. 

Simply put, if you're in a busy region, taking up multiple supercharging spots might block another driver's access to a stall. Tesla recommends not parking perpendicular to the spot lines, as that would block three stalls. Instead, drivers must straddle the dividing lines for the front charge port to come close enough to the cable. End spots are obviously the most desirable, though taking up two spots is the temporary solution for now. 

Tesla's 4th generation Superchargers will have longer cables, so this issue is isolated with previous generation stations. 

Rule #5: How Queuing Works

Unfortunately, queuing at charging stations is a bit of an issue. If you arrive at a full charging station in a busy spot, the best method is to park in a spot opposite the stalls. Therefore, you can see the cars entering and exiting. If there isn't a lot of parking lot traffic and it's safe, then it's usually all right to park in the lot facing the chargers. This way, other arriving drivers know that you were there first. 

Finally, once you've been queuing and get on a charger, it's recommended not to stay at the station unnecessarily long. If there's a long line, and the next charger on your trip is less busy, you should charge as much as you need to get there with a buffer. This will help get people in and out of the station and on their way. 

Final Note: Don't End Up In EV Purgatory 

The electric car community is rapidly evolving, with more members than ever. However, proper etiquette is needed to ensure everyone can get to their destinations quickly and seamlessly. This means that drivers must be conscious of their time at stations. 

But the best way is education. If you meet a new driver at a station, tell him or her about how charging works. Let that person know about the different types of charging stations or what charging curves are. Driving electric demands a learning curve, so keeping other drivers up to speed is good for everyone.

You know what donut-ripping, V8-loving, gas-in-my-veins Dodge drivers really don't want? An electric car. Well, they're getting one anyway. The 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona—a battery-powered take on the storied American muscle car—has arrived. 

And while it's maybe not as controversial as something like the Tesla Cybertruck, everybody's got opinions about this thing. I think it looks badass and serves up respectable specs, like over 300 miles of range. I think it was smart of Dodge to develop a deafeningly loud fake exhaust, because is it even a Dodge if it can't terrorize your neighbors? The real question is: Will the brand's die-hard customers, the "Brotherhood of Muscle," bite? 

My co-host Patrick George and I discuss that and more on this week's episode of the Plugged-In Podcast. Also on tap: We talk EV road trip tips and break down why Honda and Nissan might merge. And, be sure to stick around to the end for Patrick's very sincere pledge of allegiance to "co-President" Elon Musk. 

Our podcast is available on the InsideEVs YouTube channel and all major podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and Audioboom. New episodes drop every Friday. Make sure to subscribe on your favorite platform. 

Let us know what you think and what you want to see and hear, and thanks for tuning in! 

Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com

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Carlos Ghosn was never one to pull his punches. Even at the peak of his power at the helm of one of the world's largest automakers, he always had a lot to say. So following his daring escape from Japanese prosecution for alleged financial crimes, nobody should have expected the former Nissan-Renault boss in exile to just chill on a yacht somewhere. (Well, he had one, but he had to give it back.) 

Now, Ghosn is back in the public eye to weigh in on Nissan's potential merger with Honda, and he hasn't lost his fiery touch. That kicks off this Friday edition of Critical Materials, our morning roundup of auto industry and tech news. Also on tap: a Tesla recall that you should know about (but one of the over-the-air sort,) and possible news about a Tesla Cybercab deployment in Austin. Let's dig in.

Panic! At The Nissan-Honda Merger Talks

You may not care what Ghosn has to say about Nissan—or anything—anymore, especially since he hasn't been involved with the automaker since his 2018 arrest in Japan and subsequent flight from prosecution about a year after that. But I'd argue few people on earth know Nissan like Ghosn does. And few people know about mergers to save Nissan like Ghosn does.

After all, Ghosn was a top executive at Renault in 1999 when it formed the Nissan-Renault Alliance, an odd cross-continental team-up that rescued Nissan was on the brink of bankruptcy. Nissan's problems back then should sound familiar: an unsustainable focus on volume, forgettable models, a hangover from a financial crisis, and so on. He would soon lead both companies to a surprising degree of financial and sales success until his downfall. 

Now, Nissan is in crisis again. It's the poster child for how far behind the Japanese auto industry is technologically, and for how much ground it's losing to new, high-tech players in China. Japan Inc. needs capital and expertise to deliver a future focused on batteries and software, and Honda—despite being in much better shape these days—has been called up on to help make that happen. Merger talks could start as soon as Monday, according to reports.

But Ghosn told Bloomberg he doesn't see the point: 

“It’s a desperate move,” Ghosn said Friday on Bloomberg Television. “It’s not a pragmatic deal because frankly, the synergies between the two companies are difficult to find.”

Nissan and Honda operate in the same markets with similar brands and products, Ghosn said, casting doubt on the merits of the two combining. He believes Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has pushed Honda to go forward with a deal.

“They’re trying to figure out something that could marry the short-term problems of Nissan and the long-term vision of Honda,” Ghosn said. While there is “no industrial logic” to a deal, “there is a moment where you have to choose between performance and control.”

It's also worth noting here that Ghosn is hardly some benevolent, unbiased actor. He has maintained both his innocence and a huge axe to grind against Nissan since his departure, and has spent the years since railing against the automaker's management and failures in the marketplace. 

But he's right that synergies are hard to find here—in Nissan and Renault's case, the alliance was a tight partnership between two giants that often operated in very different markets and wasn't an outright merger. (Neither Japan nor the French government, which partially owns Renault, ever seemed good with that.) But Honda and Nissan are direct competitors basically everywhere and in every segment. How does this make sense for Honda, in particular? 

Ghosn also addressed the reports that this merger was prompted by interest in Nissan from Taiwanese electronics giant (and iPhone manufacturer) Foxconn, which has wanted to get into the carmaking game for some time. The current thinking by many industry watchers is the Japanese government is moving this along to protect some of its most important companies from foreign control. But Ghosn warned Foxconn will be back, somewhere:

“I can understand that a company like Foxconn — headed by very serious and realistic management — is going to say, ‘You know what, instead of us investing to do our own electric car, let’s buy a car company,” Ghosn said. “They’re not going to be the only one to try to do that.”

We'll know more as this reportedly starts to play out next week. 

60%: Tesla Recall For Tire Sensors

Tesla Model Y Tire

Hey, Tesla owners: you may own one of the 700,000 models affected by a new recall. Luckily, this one's an over-the-air update. Here's what to know from the Associated Press:

According to a letter Thursday from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall includes certain 2024 Cybertruck, 2017-2025 Model 3, and 2020-2025 Model Y vehicles.

The issue is that the tire pressure monitoring system warning light on the vehicles may not remain illuminated between drive cycles, failing to warn the driver of low tire pressure. Driving with improperly inflated tires can increase the risk of a crash.

Are OTA updates "recalls"? I say if they fix a problem, I have no issue with that phrasing.

90%: Tesla Cybercab May Be Headed To Austin 

Tesla Cybercab, LA Auto Show 2024

It's not uncommon to see Google's Waymo driverless cars zooming around tech-crazed Austin these days. But if Tesla CEO Elon Musk gets his way, Austin could eventually see Tesla Cybercabs on its roads too. Here's one more from Bloomberg:

Emails acquired by Bloomberg through public records requests show a Tesla employee has been communicating with the city of Austin’s autonomous vehicle task force since at least May to establish safety expectations for the vehicles as the company decides if Austin will be the first Texas city where Tesla deploys driverless fleets.

“Tesla is still working to strategically find a city within Texas to deploy... The city of Austin is obviously on our roadmap, but has not yet been decided where we will deploy first as we have many options available,” a November email from the employee said.

 A successful rollout is key to Tesla as Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has increasingly bet the company’s future on autonomous technology and robotaxis, but the needed approvals could be years away. A number of competitors have already deployed driverless cars on public roads in select cities.

But Austin's own mayor has been a critic of the technology too, and as the story notes, Texas isn't necessarily the regulatory free-for-all that you might expect it to be:

In Texas, where autonomous vehicles are regulated much like any other car and cities do not set regulations, Tesla will face few regulatory hurdles. Companies must have insurance, be able to follow traffic laws and be equipped with video recording devices. Robotaxis must have their own licensing, and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has yet to list Tesla as a licensee.

Still, testing the Cybercabs—which will controversially rely on cameras and AI instead of Lidar and other advanced sensor suites like Waymo's cars—in the warm-weather home of Tesla makes a lot of sense for the company. I would not be shocked at all if testing begins there as early as next year. 

100%: How Do You Feel About Robotaxis In Your City?

Tesla Cybercab Robotaxi

You may live with them already if you're in Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco or Austin. Are you fine with them being in your town, or coming to them eventually? What safeguards would you want if they were to hit your streets?

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

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Europe is experiencing some weird times. From politics to economy and car sales, it’s far from rosy, and arguably the biggest player in the electric vehicle game is having a rough year.

Eleven months into 2024, Tesla recorded a double-digit decrease in registrations, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), which released official figures for November.

To be clear, Tesla is still one of the largest EV manufacturers in Europe and the United States, but its grip is weakening on the other side of the Atlantic. Last month, Tesla recorded a 40.9% decrease in registrations in the European Union compared to the same month last year. The number of registrations went from 31,810 in November 2023 to 18,786 last month, marking a decrease in market share from 3.6% to 2.2%.

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Year-to-date, Tesla had 211,405 registrations in the EU, 15.2% fewer than last year’s 249,265 units.

It’s a similar story when the European Free Trade Association members and the United Kingdom are included in the mix. EFTA members include Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. On these markets, Tesla registrations went down 28.4% in November, from 36,563 units last year to 26,191 units this year, which made the American automaker’s market share go down from 3.4% to 2.5%.

Year-to-date, Tesla registrations in the EU, EFTA and UK went down 13.7% from 327,635 units in 2023 to 282,692 units this year, while the market share shrunk from 2.8% to 2.4%. In the EU alone, which has 27 member states, Tesla’s market share went down from 2.6% in the first 11 months of last year to 2.2% this year.

The automaker’s losses can be attributed to a number of factors, including the increasingly controversial attitude of its CEO, Elon Musk, and the decrease in government incentives. Some European states have reduced the amount of money offered toward the purchase of a new EV, while others have eliminated the incentives altogether.

That said, Tesla’s significant drop in European registrations has largely left the EV industry unaffected. Considering the sheer volume of electric cars sold by Tesla, EV registrations as a whole only went down by 1.4% in the EU, EFTA and UK from January to November and they actually went up 0.9% in November compared to last year. In the EU alone, EV registrations went down 5.4% year-to-date and 9.5% in November.

This can only mean one thing: other automakers have stepped up to try and fill the gap left by Tesla, and customers are following suit.

American e-commerce giant Amazon now has over 20,000 Rivian Electric Delivery Vans (EDVs) making deliveries across the United States. This year, the American-made commercial EVs have delivered over one billion packages for Amazon.

The previous fleet update came at the beginning of August when Amazon said Rivian had delivered 15,000 EDVs. At the end of November, the e-commerce giant said its Rivian commercial van fleet has expanded to over 20,000 units, but many more are yet to come.

Amazon and Rivian struck a deal in 2019 to put 100,000 electric delivery vans on the road by 2030. The first Amazon-branded EVs were delivered in the summer of 2022. In other words, roughly two and a half years were needed to produce 20,000 units, which comes out to approximately 700 units per month.

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With five years left until the 2030 deadline, Rivian has a good shot at reaching its target if it keeps up the same production pace. In a previous email sent to InsideEVs, the company said it remains on track to deliver on its EDV commitments.

Roughly 300 Rivian-made Amazon Electric Delivery Vans were sent to Germany, but the vast majority are shipping parcels in the United States in cities like Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego and Seattle.

To keep the huge fleet of electric vans running, Amazon has installed over 17,000 chargers at more than 120 delivery centers throughout the country, making it the largest private charging operator in the world.

The Rivian-made electric commercial vehicle was designed exclusively for Amazon, but the exclusivity deal was shuttered last year when Rivian said anyone could buy its now-renamed Commercial Van or RCV. AT&T has a pilot program where it’s testing several RCVs and R1 EVs, and Canada Post has commissioned several custom-made delivery vans known as the Morgan Olson C250e, which is based on the Rivian ECV.

Dodge, perhaps alone among contemporary automakers, has seen immense success in translating the archaic 20th-century Muscle Car formula into the 21st. It has done this by stuffing increasingly outrageous iterations of its modern Hemi V8 into nearly every vehicle in its product line. Its fervent Hellcat-ing has been enough, surprisingly, to maintain steadily vigorous sales of its Challenger coupe and Charger sedan, 20-year-old cars aping 55-year-old designs and riding on platforms developed more than 30 years ago.

But those vehicles are finally going away. They will be replaced by flexible-powertrain two- and four-door models, both called Charger, that will be motivated, at launch in early 2025, solely by a 100.5 kWh battery pack and a pair of electric motors. (And if you’re a Mopar nut but are committed to internal combustion, your muscle-car future means an inline-six engine, as if you were one of those guys whose entire wardrobe consists of ///M apparel. Can you imagine?) So how does Mopar’s methylized muscle-maker plan to convince potential consumers to buy into such a blasphemous switcheroo?

2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV

To get enthusiasts’ “butts-in-seats” and assist with this electron baptism, Dodge is planning a whole series of events in the upcoming year, said Matt McAlear, the brand’s CEO. It will take its new EV muscle cars on tour in the first quarter of 2025 to train its sales and dealership staff and demonstrate the vehicles’ capabilities. It is launching a courtesy transportation program wherein it will send EVs to dealers to use for short-term consumer test drives, or as 96-hour loaners when customers come in to have their vehicle serviced. It will host consumer-facing “Thrill Ride” drive events at upcoming Mecum and Barrett-Jackson classic car auctions, and at its drifting/drag racing “Roadkill Nights” live events in the summer–—prime sites for the gathering of Hemis of all vintages.   

“Dodge is always best as a brand when it does something different,” McAlear said, referencing the automaker’s marketing slogan from the 1980s and 1990s, Dodge Different. And he’s certainly right about convincing people with actual seat time and not just ads. Study after study indicates that once people experience EVs for themselves, or hear from friends and family who do, they’re far more likely to pull the trigger themselves.

Plus, he said, this EV has the bona fides. “This vehicle, it's a muscle car first. If you look at the specs, the design, the capability, and take powertrain out of it, it’s a better muscle car on paper than the cars it replaces,” he noted. “So while there is a polarizing, controversial aspect to this—that it happens to have an EV powertrain as one of the powertrains that’s going to power it—no one can argue the battery electric technology enables terrific performance, and that's what we're bringing to market with this.”

2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV

To enunciate this point, McAlear pointed out that even after Dodge introduces ICE-powered iterations of the Charger in the second half of 2025, gasoline power will represent “the entry-level vehicles from a performance standpoint.” So if a potential consumer desires a car with the quickest acceleration (0-60 in 3.3 seconds) they’ll learn that that capability is a battery-only option.

This powertrain rollout and hierarchy is a stated part of Dodge’s strategy for muscling the muscle car faithful toward EVs, according to McAlear. Another prong in this program is to focus on added utility and daily drivability, to create what Stellantis design chief Ralph Gilles called “emotional alibis” to lead consumers toward acceptance of this new product.

2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV

McAlear listed a suite of capabilities that can provide such cover for what amounts to a highly irrational and emotional purchase. “All-wheel-drive, for instance, helps us compete more in the North as a daily driver,” he said, referencing its all-weather capability. “A hidden hatchback capability gives you amazing cargo space that you didn’t have in your old vehicle. The new Charger two-door now has more rear-seat legroom than the outgoing four-door,” he said. “So this becomes much more of a daily driver than any of the muscle cars that we've had prior.”  

Will this litany of added functionality convince Dodge die-hards, who will receive a defeatable synthetic exhaust note that is as boisterous as that of the outgoing car, but no scent of unburned fuel or ability to smoke the rear tires from a standstill? 

2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV

“Probably not immediately out of the gate,” McAlear said. “It's going to take some time. It's going to take them seeing one on the street. It's going to take them going in for service and testing one while they're getting an oil change. But I've seen those people get behind the wheel and come out with changed opinions.”

However, convincing the faithful may not be the ideal tactic for furthering this car’s market penetration. “Though a muscle car and an electric vehicle seem diametrically opposed, there is an opportunity for electrification to magnify the idea, benefits, and aspirational nature of the muscle car,” said Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision, a Southern California automotive research and consulting firm. “However, the conversion of those from the past, I do not believe is the best strategy. Instead, a new generation of muscle cars can find success with younger folks who think they like muscle cars.”

As it turns out, Dodge has just such consumers in its targets. “If you look at our current demographic today, we have the youngest demographic in the mainstream auto industry,” said McAlear. “We have the highest percentage of Gen Z and Millennials. And those customers have the highest propensity to be willing to adopt electrification. So that sets us up.” 

2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV

Dodge might be onto something here. Though muscle car seems like an anachronistic category to anyone who isn’t a Boomer, research shows that these vehicles have and maintain broader appeal. “The interesting thing with those cars, I think, is they’re far more long-lived than cars like tri-five [1955-57] Chevys, or other American cars of the era,” said Brian Rabold, vice president of valuation for Hagerty, the world’s largest insurer of collectible vehicles. “There are a lot more entry points for younger generations to become interested in them—through driving video games, through movies like the Fast and Furious franchise.” As Rabold notes, pop cultural exposure conjures interest and desire, and translates into purchases, whether those be old Polaras and Road Runners, or more recent Fox Body Mustangs and fourth-gen Firebirds.

Still, rumors have persisted that interest in Dodge’s new muscular EV is less robust than the brand initially suspected and that it is thus rushing the inline-six-powered iterations to supplement this engagement. McAlear denies this categorically.  

“That's what you call an urban legend,” he said. “Someone put one thing on the Internet. And if it's on the Internet, it's true, right?” He laughed, underlining his sarcasm. “We're always trying to bring every new vehicle to market as quickly as possible,” he continued. “It doesn't do us any good from an R&D and a capital expenditure standpoint to hold sales any longer than we have to. So nothing has changed with our timing.” 

2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV

Overall, once both powertrains are on the market, McAlear expects the mix of Charger buyers to segment about evenly: half electric, half gas. This aligns with Dodge’s current mix of high-test Hemi- versus lesser-powered Challengers and Chargers. “If we look historically at our V6 versus our performance V8, it was roughly 50/50,” McAlear said. “So I still think there's an opportunity, over time—as adoption continues to happen, and as infrastructure comes in across the U.S. in terms of charging capability—I think there's the ability for this [EV] to beat a 50/50 mix.” (Dodge officials declined to address questions about demand or pre-orders, but said they plan to remain flexible in terms of production based on consumer demand.) 

If any marque is positioned to succeed with an electric muscle car, it seems to be Mopar’s performance brand. “Consumers who own the Charger and Challenger usually love their vehicles,” said Edwards, whose firm conducts hundreds of thousands of in-depth psychographic surveys with new car buyers annually. “Even those who never buy a Dodge can often agree that Dodge is an exciting brand that has a lot to offer. If Dodge takes the position that they are innovating excitement, then this next step could be a doorway for Dodge’s electric future.” He added one further provision. “They just have to get the messaging right.”

2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV

McAlear and his teams seem to be thinking about this carefully, calibrating their messaging to entice purchasers who may be simultaneously powertrain-aware and -agnostic. “People buy a muscle car for so much more than just what powers it. They buy it because of how it makes them feel. It's an extension of their personality. It puts a smile on their face. They have fun being in it. They have fun being seen it,” he said. “So I think that's what this vehicle does. And it opens this up to a much larger demographic and audience.”

After spending some time in the Daytona Charger EV, recently, I felt like it succeeded in charting a freshly charged path into the moribund world of muscle cars. So Dodge seemingly has the product right. And it has a history of creating memorable messaging.

We’ll see if it can find a magic recipe that yields results from a youthful audience open to this surprisingly compelling and venerable category.

Brett Berk is a freelance automotive writer based in New York. He has driven and reviewed thousands of cars for Car and Driver and Road & Track, where he is a contributing editor. He has also written for Architectural Digest, Billboard, ELLE Decor, Esquire, GQ, Travel + Leisure and Vanity Fair.   

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