Author: EVAI

Three liability insurance companies have sued to avoid covering defense and settlement costs incurred by third-party lender Nicholas Financial in a separate class-action case involving allegations of deceptive and illegal loan-related practices.

• GM announced in 2022 it could build 1M EVs annually in 2025
• It aimed to make 400,000 EVs over 2022 and 2023—later extended into 2024
• Backpedaling on both targets, CEO Barra now says an undeveloped EV market is to blame

General Motors CEO Mary Barra has walked back the automaker’s target of having production capacity for one million EVs in 2025, blaming slowing demand.

Barra told CNBC (via Bloomberg) at an event July 15 that GM wouldn’t have the planned production capacity in place by next year, adding that customer demand would determine how quickly GM would reach one million annual EV sales, and that it’s currently seeing a slowdown in EV deliveries.

2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV RS

“We won’t get to a million just because the market’s not developing, but it will get there,” Barra said.

U.S. EV deliveries were flat in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2023, but still up 11% from the first quarter, according to research firm Cox Automotive. But GM has also struggled more than other automakers to ramp up EV production.

2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV

GM announced the one-million-EV goal in 2022, but struggled to accelerate EV production in the following year, due mostly to issues ramping up its Ultium battery cells. The automaker reported 21,390 EV deliveries in Q2 2024, up 34% from Q1 and 40% from the same period last year, indicating that it has turned a corner.

However, this pace meant GM was well off a goal of delivering 400,000 EVs in the first half of 2024, itself pushed back from 2023. And the discontinued Chevrolet Bolt EV outsold other Chevy EVs in the first half of this year, despite no longer being in production. So GM still has a long way to go with the Ultium ramp-up, which might be as much of an explanation of why it’s continuing to postpone EV targets as slowing demand.

• Waymo expands reach 

• UAW leadership under fire 

• Dealers lose over $1 billion after CDK cyberattack 

• Do EVs cost less than ICE vehicles?

• EV tax credits improve affordability 

• The 2025 Lucid Air Pure just became the most efficient car in America.
• The Pure has an EPA-rated range of 420 miles.
• The price? $71,400, base.

The 2025 Lucid Air Pure—the single-motor, rear-wheel-drive version of the Air electric luxury sedan—continues to offer more range than the Tesla Model S for less than $80,000.

Lucid on Tuesday confirmed a 420-mile EPA-estimated range for the Air Pure, which was rated at 419 miles as a 2024 model. That equates to 5.0 miles per kwh from the Pure’s 84-kwh battery pack, based solely on the range rating. Lucid expects a 146 MPGe EPA efficiency rating as well, which equates to about 4.3 miles per kwh in the EPA combined driving cycle.

This means the Air Pure uses less electricity to get from one place to another than any EV currently available, Lucid claims. That keeps the size of the battery pack in check, reducing consumption of raw materials, cost, and demand on the grid when it’s time to charge, Lucid notes in a press release. It’s another reminder that efficiency is what really drives Lucid engineering.

Considering the scope of vehicles rated by the EPA, it’s also the most efficient U.S.-market vehicle of any fuel or powertrain type.

The Air Pure was initially available with all-wheel drive, but Lucid adding the rear-wheel-drive version in late 2023 and eventually dropped the all-wheel-drive configuration in an effort to streamline the Air lineup. Lucid cut the price by $7,500 earlier this year to $71,400. That price remains in effect for 2025, keeping the Air Pure below the Tesla Model S, which starts at $74,630 with dual-motor all-wheel drive and a 402-mile range.

Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson – Arizona plant commissioning

For 2025, the heat pump previously available on the Air Grand Touring and high-performance Air Sapphire is now standard across the lineup, helping to reduce range loss in cold weather. All models also receive new control hardware with triple the processing power and twice the memory, according to Lucid.

An expanded driver-assistance suite is also rolling out for 2025, adding features like a surround-view camera system and a live blind-spot camera view, while Grand Touring models receive an upgraded audio system.

The all-wheel-drive Grand Touring’s range drops slightly for 2025, from 516 miles to 512 miles, but it’s still by far the longest-range EV currently on sale. It’s priced from $112,400 which, like the Pure pricing, is unchanged from 2024. The Air Touring remains the least-expensive all-wheel-drive Air, with an $80,400 base price and up to 406 miles of range.

The gas-powered Hyundai Palisade three-row SUV is about to get a redesign The new look will be boxy like the midsize Santa Fe A hybrid Palisade is set to join the lineup Hyundai has once again been spotted testing its redesigned Palisade, and the latest prototype has lost the heavy camouflage seen previously, revealing a significant departure from…

The 2025 Genesis GV70 lineup goes wireless with its Apple CarPlay and Android Auto A refreshed Genesis GV70 arrives for 2026 The Genesis GV70 costs $47,050 The Genesis GV70 is one of the better options for buyers in the market for a compact luxury crossover, and it’s been enhanced for the 2025 model year with some minor updates. The key change is…

• The 2025 Genesis Electrified GV70 gains wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• The Genesis Electrified GV70 will get a refresh for 2026
• The 2025 Genesis Electrified GV70 costs $68,300.

The all-electric 2025 Genesis Electrified GV70 carries over with only a handful of changes, but a big update is planned for 2026.

For 2025, the Electrified GV70 adds wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as Genesis Connected Services telematics, while the Makalu Gray paint color has been dropped. Pricing starts at $68,300 for the Advanced grade, while the Prestige grade starts at $75,100 (both prices include a mandatory $1,350 destination charge).

Both grades include a 77.4-kwh battery pack and dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain rated at 429 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque, with a boost mode that provides 483 hp in 10-second bursts. EPA range is likely to remain unchanged at 236 miles.

2025 Genesis Electrified GV70

Genesis showed an updated GV70 (it’s also sold with gasoline powertrains) at the 2024 Beijing auto show this past April, but it’s not expected to reach the U.S. until the 2026 model year. The biggest change is a 27-inch floating display screen that replaces the separate instrument cluster and infotainment touchscreen. It’s joined by interior ambient lighting and digital climate controls, while exterior styling gets some small changes.

Launched in the U.S. as a 2023 model following a 2021 reveal, the Electrified GV70 marked the debut of several important pieces of EV tech for Genesis and parent Hyundai, including a so-called multi-rapid-charging system that allows the Electrified GV70 to charge at 400 or 800 volts.

2025 Genesis Electrified GV70

Genesis started manufacturing the Electrified GV70 in Alabama in 2023—which may help explain why the U.S. version of the refresh is coming a bit later than other markets. Despite being made in the U.S., and being priced below the $80,000 price cap for SUVs, the Electrified GV70 at present doesn’t qualify for a federal EV tax credit.

Genesis is reportedly considering backpedaling on what up until now has been an ambitious EV plan. In 2021 the automaker laid out a plan to introduce only EVs or hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles starting in 2025, on the way to phasing out combustion engines by 2030. But it may launch some new hybrids as well—including a hybrid version of the GV70.

Paint colors and fewer versions mark the G70’s seventh model year The GV70 crossover SUV gets wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto The Electrified GV70 still doesn’t qualify for the $7,500 federal tax rebate The 2025 Genesis G70 sedan and GV70 crossover SUV carry over with minimal changes. A new Burleigh Blue Matte paint color is the main bit…

NOAA expects a more active Atlantic hurricane season. Dealers, already wary of higher insurance cost,s are monitoring it.

• The electric Porsche Macan lineup gains two variants for 2025
• Base Porsche Macan EVs are now single-motor and rear-wheel drive
• The 2025 Porsche Macan EV costs $77,295

Porsche’s electric Macan enters the 2025 model year with a new base model equipped with rear-wheel drive, a feature that should provide an efficiency boost for the battery-powered compact crossover.

The base Macan arrives in the fourth quarter of the year and costs $77,295, including a $1,995 destination charge. That’s almost $3,000 less than 2024’s base model, the Macan 4.

The base Macan is fitted with the same 800-volt electrical architecture and 100-kwh battery found in all other electric Macans, and is powered by a single motor at the rear axle, making it the first Macan in the nameplate’s history to have only two of its wheels driven. The motor, which uses a 480-amp pulse inverter and silicon carbide transistors to help boost efficiency, delivers a maximum 335 hp and will help the Macan accelerate to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds on the way to a top speed of 136 mph, according to Porsche.

By skipping a front motor and other associated hardware, it has a weight saving of 243 pounds compared to the similar Macan 4. This should make it the new range king in the electric Macan lineup. The EPA hasn’t released range estimates for any electric Macan model, but Porsche has indicated that the Macan 4’s estimate will come in around 300 miles.

2025 Porsche Macan 4S

The 2025 model year also includes the introduction of a Macan 4S model slotting in between the Macan 4 and Macan Turbo models that arrived for the electric Macan’s 2024 debut. The Macan 4S sports a dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain delivering a maximum 509 hp. It’s priced from $86,895, including destination.

Both Macan models get an air suspension with adaptive dampers as standard, and can be fitted with rear-wheel steering. Porsche’s brake-based Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus system is available for the Macan 4S. Prices for those additional features haven’t been announced.

The new model year also brings additional color and wheel options, plus an off-road package that increases the approach angle and ground clearance.

Order books for the 2025 Macan are already open. Porsche still sells the previous-generation gas-powered Macan alongside the new electric Macan. The automaker recently confirmed that only the electric Macan will be available starting in 2026.