Author: EVAI

Ford is looking at ways to make electric vehicle battery packs easier to repair—especially as their cooling systems become more advanced—a patent filing indicates.

The document, which was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Dec. 12, 2024, after being submitted by Ford Jun. 12, 2023, details how battery modules could be replaced without removing the entire pack from the vehicle. This could reduce repair costs and could be greener, potentially allowing some packs to be rehabbed with new modules rather than replaced.

Patent image of Ford battery pack designed for easier module replacement

Ford discusses retaining the common layout of a battery pack mounted under the floor, with multiple modules that in turn contain multiple battery cells. Electrical terminals with removable caps and spring-loaded connectors would allow modules to be removed as needed.

The patent filing also mentions immersion cooling, in which battery components are directly cooled by a non-conductive fluid that won’t cause electrical shorts. Immersion cooling is a relatively new idea in EV development, as most modern EVs even with liquid cooling use the coolant outside modules and/or with a cooling plate. But this necessitates additional hardware that makes accessing battery modules more complicated.

Patent image of Ford battery pack designed for easier module replacement

Other automakers, such as Mercedes-Benz, have considered going the other way completely, toward air-cooling. The physical configuration of cells and modules is also being considered, with General Motors looking at different cell arrangements to maximize cooling and Canoo designing a structural battery pack with modules interconnected with the vehicle frame and cooling system.

It’s new territory. Rimac is one of the only companies that has detailed a true immersion cooling system that thermally conditions each cell at multiple points (the Cybertruck might qualify for this description too, but Tesla has not yet detailed the system). Bringing such tech to the mass market may help Ford get a jump on others—even Tesla. 

The Sorento Hybrid AWD averaged 32.7 mpg during one Rocky Mountain vacation A center locking differential and Snow mode eased the anxiety of a snowy descent SX Prestige trim handles the altitude better than at least one human If I were to die today, my teenagers might scrawl an epithet that reads, “Drink more water.” It’s my most…

The compact crossover SUV segment is the most popular type of car in the U.S. for how well it serves buyers, due to their versatility, practicality, and affordability. With available all-wheel drive and a range of hybrid and plug-in powertrains, as well as top safety ratings in most cases, they cast the widest net of how most drivers intend to use…

JLR is looking to use recycled content in seat foam to further lower the environmental impact of its future electric cars.

The automaker announced in November that it’s working with chemical company Dow and seat specialist Adient to recycle polyurethane seat foam, a difficult task that means most of the material usually ends up in landfills, according to JLR. The automaker aims to start testing recycled seat foam in pre-production vehicles later this year.

Recycled foam will be one element of a “circular seat” made from material that can be easily recycled, which is estimated to halve the carbon dioxide emissions associated with production of current seats, according to JLR.

JLR tests recycled seat foam

Increased emphasis on reusing materials rather than discarding them, the foundation of what’s called the “circular economy,” is the focus of a dedicated JLR research lab. Researchers at this lab have found that a major obstacle to reuse is the difficulty of separating individual materials when a car is disassembled, either because of how their attached to each or because of mixed-material use in certain components.

Besides seats, other areas where Jaguar is looking to improve are front-bumper foam, where JLR is testing a new formulation with a reduced number of polymers for easier recycling, and aluminum body panels. In the latter case, JLR worked with suppliers to reuse scraps from the stamping process in new panels.

JLR tests recycled seat foam

JLR isn’t the only automaker thinking along these lines. Over a decade ago, Ford began incorporating renewable materials—including recycled jeans—into sound insulation for its vehicles. In 2021, BMW showed a concept car based on the idea of a circular economy, which the automaker claimed was made from 100% recycled materials and was itself 100% recyclable.

Such efforts are especially important for electric vehicles, as their lack of “tailpipe” emissions makes emissions from production a more significant part of their overall carbon footprint. JLR aims to make its Jaguar brand all-electric within the next few years, starting with a six-figure GT car inspired by the Type 00 concept shown at the end of 2024, with electric Land Rover models planned as well.

The 2025 Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck carries over without major changes. For now at least, that includes prices—remarkable, given the unpredictably of Lightning pricing since the truck’s launch.

Ford substituted 2024’s Avalanche paint color for Space White Metallic, but the least-expensive Lightning is still the fleet-oriented Pro model, which starts at $47,780 with the mandatory $2,095 destination charge.

2025 Ford F-150 Lightning

For non-fleet buyers, the lowest-price Lightning is the XLT, which still starts at $65,090 with destination. The Flash grade introduced for the 2024 model year is positioned above the XLT at $70,090 with destination, while the more luxurious Lariat and Platinum grades remain at $79,090 and $87,090, respectively.

All versions of the Lightning are still configured with dual-motor all-wheel drive and a crew cab with the same bed length, but with two battery options and outputs. Versions with the 98-kwh Standard Range pack make 452 hp while models with the 131-kwh Extended Range pack produce 580 hp, with 775 lb-ft of torque in either case. EPA range is unchanged at a maximum 240 miles for the Standard Range pack and 320 miles for the Extended Range pack.

2025 Ford F-150 Lightning

Don’t be surprised if current prices change, as they have fluctuated substantially in the past. In 2024 alone, Ford initially cut prices on top-trim versions, but increased prices for the rest of the lineup at the beginning of the year. It then essentially reversed itself a few months later with price cuts of up to $5,500.

Those cuts came after high prices hurt demand for the Lightning, something Ford initially tried to address with a production slowdown in late 2023. Production was then paused at the end of 2024 amid a reset of Ford’s EV plans.

• The BMW M3 CS wins two U-drag races against the more powerful Hyundai Ioniq 5 N in this video.
• Even though EVs usually beat ICE cars off the line, the BMW launches more brutally than the Hyundai.
• They Hyundai Ioniq 5 N puts on a great show especially considering it costs half as much as the BMW.

It’s always fun to watch drag races between combustion and electric performance cars that seem evenly matched on paper. The turbocharged inline-six BMW M3 CS is less powerful than the electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, but it’s also lighter by almost 1,000 pounds. EVs’ instant power delivery usually helps them perform very well against combustion cars, but in this case, the Hyundai only saw the rear end of the BMW.

The Ioniq 5 N makes 601 horsepower, but if you press the N button, it temporarily bumps power to 641 hp while torque goes up to 568 pound-feet. This increased power lasts for around 10 seconds, but that should be enough to stay ahead in a drag race against a combustion car with 543 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque.

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Edmunds does drag races differently. It has the cars perform a U-turn at the quarter-mile mark, introducing an element of handling into the mix. Braking power and cornering speed don’t matter in a typical straight-line drag race. This U-Drag format with the 180-degree turn can certainly spice things up because a car can be really quick in a straight line but not so good in the corners, where its opponent can catch up.

However, in the case of the M3 CS versus the Ioniq 5 N, the combustion car is quicker in a straight line and around the corner, where it increases the lead it had built on the first straight part. Powering out of the corner, though, the Hyundai actually reels the BMW back slightly thanks to its ability to put its power down instantly, whereas the M3 has to change gears, losing some of its advantage.

It’s worth noting that during the second run, after they change drivers, the Ioniq 5 N sounds like it has the fake engine noise enabled, which also enables fake gear shifting that does affect its outright pace slightly. It also doesn’t seem like the BMW is pulling away significantly through any of the runs, which you would think it does, being a lighter car with comparable power and multiple gear ratios to make the most of that power even at higher speeds.

Edmunds measured the M3’s best 0 to 60 mph time at just 3.1 seconds, while the Ioniq 5 couldn’t get lower than a 3.3-second sprint time. That’s precisely how quick Hyundai says it should be, while the BMW was one-tenth quicker than the manufacturer claims. There really wasn’t much in it through the quarter mile, where the M3’s best time was 11 seconds flat, and the Ioniq 5 N needed two-tenths more.

This race shows that the M3 CS is quicker, but it’s also nearly twice the price of an Ioniq 5 N. This shows just how impressive a performance car the Hyundai really is since it can keep up with the quickest version of the world’s greatest sports sedan, and it doesn’t look out of place at all in its company. It would have been a quicker race if they used a regular M3 Competition, not the more extreme CS, which has less power and doesn’t launch quite as brutally.

Ken Block’s “Hoonitruck,” a heavily modified 1977 Ford F-150 used in the late rally driver and viral-video star’s “Gymkhana” series, will be up for grabs at Barrett-Jackson’s annual Scottsdale, Arizona, collector car auction, which starts on Jan. 18. The truck was commissioned by Block, who died in 2023 in a snowmobile crash, as a follow-up to the…

Tesla is recalling 239,382 electric vehicles across most of its model lines because of rearview camera displays that could fail. Circuit boards in the affected vehicles could short out, causing a loss of the rearview camera image on the central display screen, according to the NHTSA. This could increase the risk of hitting someone or something…

Rivian is looking to patent heated headlight lenses to help increase the performance of the lighting on its electric pickup trucks and SUVs in snow, ice, and rain.

The LED headlights that have become the standard in the auto industry don’t give off so much waste heat all the time as previous HID or halogen lights, which can often melt any accumulated moisture by themselves. That’s what Rivian is trying to address with this patent, which was submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Jun. 21, 2023, but only published by that office Dec. 26, 2024.

Rivian heated headlight patent image

In that document, Rivian discusses adding a layer of carbon nanotube material to the outer lens of a headlight. This would be surrounded by a silver bus-bar heating element, which would transmit heat to the nanotube layer, warming it and in turn allowing it to melt anything accumulating on the headlight lens.

Carbon nanotube material is comprised of tube-shaped lattices of carbon atoms less than a nanometer in diameter—hence the name. Carbon nanotubes are known to gave good thermal conductivity, which might explain Rivian’s choice of the material here.

Rivian heated headlight patent image

There’s been much talk of the importance of heated seats, and even heated seat belts, in EVs as a more efficient way to fight cold temperatures with minimal additional energy draw. But this is more about lighting technology than powertrain technology, specifically the need to clear LED lighting elements of accumulated precipitation that could partially block them.

Not all patented ideas reach production, and it’s unclear how much of a priority heated headlights are for Rivian right now. The automaker is preparing to start production of its more-affordable R2 electric SUV in 2026 and open a new Georgia plant by 2028, with the latter expected to receive a boost from a $6.6 billion federal loan.

Hyundai on Friday used the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon to showcase a special edition of the Ioniq 5 N with additional performance upgrades. Called the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N DK Edition, it’s scheduled to launch in Japan and South Korea later this year. Hyundai said it’s evaluating other potential markets, so importation to the U.S. hasn’t been ruled out. The…