Author: EVAI
2025 Kia Carnival preview
What kind of vehicle is the 2025 Kia Carnival? What does it compare to? The 2025 Kia Carnival minivan tries to hide its sliding doors with Kia Sorento-like SUV styling, making it a more alluring option to the Chrysler Pacifica, Honda Odyssey, and Toyota Sienna. Is the 2025 Kia Carnival a good minivan? The addition of a hybrid option this year…
McLaren GT recalled because hood might spring open
McLaren has issued a recall on its GT supercar due to the front hood potentially opening unexpectedly. The recall covers examples from the 2020-2023 model years, and affects a total of 1,012 cars in the U.S. According to the recall notice published by the NHTSA on Sept. 11 (recall campaign number 24V661000), excessive tension in the manual release…
Here’s how you can help Consumer Reports rate public charging
- Data from Chargeway users will be used for Consumer Reports EV charging ratings
- The Chargeway app provides advanced route planning and more
- What Chargeway provides to CR will be anonymous by user
Consumer Reports hasn’t yet evaluated electric vehicle charging on anything like the scale the organization does when looking at the reliability of EVs. But with a series of partnerships announced Thursday, the consumer advocacy giant might be able to get a more comprehensive look at the reliability of public charging.
The effort, called the EV Charging Community, engages with a series of EV advocacy groups, including Plug In America, GreenLatinos, and Generation 180, plus via a technical partnership with Chargeway, one of the apps recommended by Green Car Reports for tapping into the route-planning smarts some EVs lack.
Chargeway calls itself a software company, and it’s evolved to include a range of EV charging aspects, but it’s best known for the color-coded graphics it launched back in 2017 to help users identify EV chargers by output at a glance.
Under the new partnership, once a user reviews a charging station on the Chargeway app, the network, station location, and vehicle model charged will be sent to Consumer Reports, with the option to send advanced reporting info including power, arrival/departure state of charge percentage, and more. All this will be anonymized, as only the ratings, charging data, and feedback on a per-session basis will be shared with Consumer Reports, not the Chargeway users’ personalized data.
Chargeway partnership with Consumer Reports for charger reliability
According to Chargeway, data submitted through the app will then be used by Consumer Reports for “creating a rating and reporting system for public EV charging experiences to be shared with charging networks, automakers, policymakers, and the public. This will provide EV drivers a platform to improve public charging experiences and help create accountability throughout the industry.”
“Charging stations are critical services, but when they’re out of order or barely functional, it wastes consumers’ valuable time,” said Drew Toher, Consumer Reports’ sustainability campaign manager.
CR says that it’s already seen 27% of its 1,600 enrolled community members, in the early stages of this effort, have experienced a problem with public charging. As Consumer Reports pointed out, members of the public who don’t use Chargeway can also enroll to be part of the community at this link.
“Now, instead of posting complaints on social media and feeling ignored, EV drivers can use the Chargeway mobile app to provide their feedback to the leading consumer advocacy organization,” said Chargeway founder Matt Teske, in a release about the partnership, adding that Chargeway shares CR’s goal “to give drivers a voice in the public EV charging reliability conversation.”
Individual EV drivers might have good reason to feel that’s been sorely missing, as failed charging attempts and bad experiences, responded to with token direct messages, often don’t appear to trigger repairs or resolution of issues.
Chevrolet EVs at a Tesla Supercharger station
What’s more, hands-on equipment problems also appear to be a growing portion of issues. The ChargeX Consortium, created in 2023 by the federal government to help tackle EV charger reliability ahead of the rollout of $7.5 billion in charging infrastructure, reported last year that one of the issues was confusion over a lack of charger error code standardization across EV chargers. J.D. Power, in its most recent study of EV charging satisfaction, found it improved in interface aspects, although inoperable chargers still affected 61% of failed charging attempts.
The reporting feature has been added to updated versions of the Chargeway app available now for iOS and Android.
Hyundai and Kia seek to cut LFP battery cost, reliance on China
- Process could cut costs and reduce emissions in making LFP cells for EVs
- It lays the foundation for greater LFP manufacturing in South Korea, outside China
- Chinese suppliers also continue to innovate on a battery type they championed
Hyundai and Kia this week launched a project to develop cheaper cathode materials for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries that could also reduce reliance on Chinese battery suppliers.
The project aims to develop a new production process for LFP cathode material, the two automakers said in a press release. Instead of adding lithium to “precursor materials” like phosphate and iron sulfate, as in current LFP production, a new “direct synthesis” process would combine iron powder, phosphate, and lithium without the precursor step, Hyundai and Kia explained.
Eliminating this step from the manufacturing process will cut costs and reduce emissions of hazardous substances, lowering the environmental impact of the battery-production process, the automakers claim. It’s also being developed in South Korea, by South Korean companies, laying the foundation for greater LFP battery cell manufacturing in that country.
2025 Hyundai Kona Electric
This news comes nearly a year after Hyundai announced a two-year joint venture to develop LFP batteries in its home South Korea and lessen dependence on Chinese battery suppliers for them—with the aim to achieve affordable LFP cells that bypass China.
LFP battery tech originated in the U.S., but U.S. companies abandoned it for lack of a near-term payback, while it’s been refined over the past two decades by several Chinese companies. Now it’s used in the base Tesla Model 3 and Ford Mustang Mach-E, which don’t qualify for the EV tax credit because of those versions’ Chinese content.
Roughly one-fifth of the world’s batteries for EVs are LFP. They’re not as dependent on nickel and cobalt, and they’re less prone to overheating, thermal runaway, and heat-related degradation. Currently China’s BYD and CATL hold most of the world’s manufacturing capacity for LFP. Although Ford, for instance, plans to make some in Michigan, cells will be made at a Ford-owned factory with Chinese production methods.
2023 Kia Niro EV
General Motors has also confirmed that the next-generation Chevrolet Bolt EV, due in 2025 as a 2026 model, will use LFP cells. They could be key in making the Bolt EV GM’s most affordable EV, as promised.
Meanwhile China continues to innovate on the LFP battery type. China’s GAC introduced LFP cells with a 20% boost in energy density last year, and CATL claims next-gen LFP cells that can add 250 miles of range in 10 minutes.
Daniel Ricciardo fired by RB F1 team, replaced by Liam Lawson
Red Bull Racing feeder team RB has dropped Daniel Ricciardo Liam Lawson will race with RB for the remainder of the season Lawson may be promoted to Red Bull if he manages to outperform current RB driver Yuki Tsunoda Daniel Ricciardo has been dropped by the RB Formula 1 team, potentially marking the end of his F1 career. The Red Bull Racing feeder…
Here’s why Toyota is nixing Prime badge for PHEVs
Toyota says the switch away from Prime is a matter of easier recognition Otherwise, RAV4 and Prius plug-in hybrids carry over with few changes Toyota’s sold the most Prime PHEVs in California emissions states Prime time has ended for Toyota plug-in hybrids, as the automaker makes a marketing move to recast them as interchangeable with…
2025 Mini Countryman
What kind of vehicle is the 2025 Mini Countryman? What does it compare to? The third-generation Mini Countryman grows into the small crossover segment, as Mini’s largest vehicle gets larger. It shares a flexible platform with the BMW X1, which is why it has combustion and electric powertrain options, similar to the Volvo XC40. Rivals include…
2025 Audi Q6 E-Tron costs $65,095, has up to 321 miles of range
- The 2025 Audi Q6 E-Tron arrives at dealers in the U.S. later this year
- Q6 E-Trons have up to 321 miles of range
- The Q6 E-Tron costs between $65,095 and $80,595.
Audi this week confirmed pricing and EPA electric range for the 2025 Q6 E-Tron, which is scheduled to arrive at U.S. dealerships before the end of the year.
Pricing starts at $65,095 (all prices include a $1,295 destination charge) for the Premium grade with the single-motor rear-wheel drive powertrain. Premium Plus and Prestige grades are also available at $68,895 and $71,895, respectively. A dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain is also available for an additional $2,000.
However, you’ll need rear-wheel drive to achieve the maximum EPA-estimated range of 321 miles, which only applies to single-motor models with the Ultra Package and 18-inch wheels. All-wheel drive models max out at 307 miles of range.
2025 Audi Q6 E-Tron
All models have a 100-kwh battery pack (94.4 kwh usable), and considering that, Audi is delivering on its promise of greater efficiency compared to previous EVs like the Q8 E-Tron.
Dual-motor models up output to 456 hp, compared to 322 hp for single-motor models. That results in estimated 0-60 mph times of 4.9 seconds for dual-motor models and 6.3 seconds for single-motor models.
The lineup also includes a sportier dual-motor SQ6 E-Tron variant, priced from $74,195 in Premium trim and $78,595 and $80,595 in Premium Plus and Prestige trim, respectively. The 509-hp SQ6 boasts a quicker 0-60 mph time of 4.1 seconds, but range drops to 275 miles.
2025 Audi Q6 E-Tron
Revealed earlier this year, the Q6 E-tron is the first Audi model based on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE), which it shares with the Porsche Macan EV. The Q6 E-Tron also debuts a new interior, with a three-screen layout that will be repeated in other Audi models—both electric and gasoline.
The Q6 E-Tron won’t be the only PPE-based Audi EV for long. It’s set to be quickly followed by the Audi A6 Sportback E-Tron, which clothes the new platform in a sleeker hatchback shape (an Avant wagon will also be sold outside North America). This model is expected to reach the U.S. next spring or summer.