Author: EVAI

• 77% of Americans indicated they’d wait up to 40 minutes for a charge to 80%
• Many current EVs meet that timeframe already
• More consumers prefer dedicated charging stations vs. gas stations with chargers

Long charging times and lack of available public charging stations have been cited as major roadblocks to EV adoption in countless studies and surveys, but a new survey of U.S. consumers conducted by Deloitte indicates that attitudes may be changing.

While it included about 31,000 responses from thirty different countries, the survey found that charge times may be what analysts called a “softening barrier” for U.S. consumers and EV adoption, with many appearing less interested in speeding up EV charging to match gasoline fill-ups. Of U.S. consumer surveyed, 77% said they were willing to wait up to 40 minutes to charge their car from zero to 80%—well within the DC fast-charging envelope of many current EVs.

Gravity EV charging center in New York City

While respondents said that fast-charging time was the most important part of the EV charging experience, a majority were able to wait 21-40 minutes for a charge. The location was also important, with 44% of respondents saying they preferred a dedicated EV charging station to a gas station with chargers, while only 15% preferred the opposite.

The study also underscored that many EV drivers don’t require frequent fast charging. Most (79%) of U.S. respondents intending to buy an EV said they planned to charge at home. That’s a figure close to what various studied have found for years—although 58% of the overall survey sample said they do not currently have access to a charger, which begs for more details. And 35% of U.S. consumers surveyed said they drive more than 60 miles from their home only once or twice per month, while a further 23% said they never go that far.

General Motors and ChargePoint EV fast charging

This paints a different picture than a Deloitte study published about a year ago, which concluded that EV charge times and cost could be holding shoppers back. Two years earlier, another Deloitte study found that two-thirds of Americans didn’t want an EV, primarily due to range and cost concerns.

If this study’s conclusions are accurate, though, EVs are set to exceed consumer expectations. The list of vehicles with especially short road-trip charge times is growing, and several companies, including Toyota, have teased that 10-minute charge times may be around the corner—potentially involving solid-state batteries.

Woven City is a key project in Toyota’s shift to a mobility company Will test ideas, products, and services for mobility Could affect in-vehicle software, or the shape of urban vehicles, among many areas At CES 2025 in Las Vegas on Monday, Toyota provided an update on its Woven City project that was first presented in concept form at CES…

Despite a lack of direct competition, sales of the traditional gasoline Ford Mustang coupe and convertible were down in 2024, and they were again outsold by the electric Mustang Mach-E. Last year marked the first full year of production for the redesigned 2024 Ford Mustang, codenamed S650, after its introduction partway through the 2023 calendar…

The electric Ford Mustang Mach-E SUV outsold its gasoline coupe and convertible siblings in 2024.

Ford recently released its Q4 and year-end sales results, which showed 51,745 Mach-E sales and 44,003 gasoline Mustang sales. Those represented a year over year increase of 26.9% from 2023 for the Mach-E, and a decrease of 9.5% for the gasoline Mustang.

That’s despite the Mustang being the last of the V-8 pony cars after the discontinuation of the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger at the end of 2023 (although some leftover inventory remained in 2024) and having its first full calendar year of production following a redesign.

2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Charlotte Motor Speedway, July 2023

Ford pointed to supply chain issues for the Mustang’s 2.3-liter turbo-4 engine, which kept inventory low throughout the second half of the year. This isn’t the first time. In mid-2021, Ford was building more Mach-E EVs than gasoline Mustangs, after reportedly choosing to prioritize the electric model in the midst of a global chip shortage.

The Mach-E has had strong sales from the get-go, though. In April 2021, shortly after its introduction, Ford said the electric SUV was moving quickly off dealer lots—an important metric in the auto industry. Ford also started delivering the Mach-E less than a year after the Tesla Model Y’s arrival, helping to quickly position it as an alternative, and has remained committed to true volume production from the beginning.

2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally

The Mach-E has also proven itself to be a solid effort. At its introduction, we felt the Ford was better looking and better to drive than the Model Y, which is why we named it Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2021. The Mach-E hasn’t been redesigned like its gasoline sibling, but for the 2024 model year it received some updates, including a new Rally grade.

Ford has taken a quite different path with the F-150 Lightning pickup truck, which shares not only a gasoline model’s badge but also its underlying structure. It recently paused production of that model, which managed reasonably good sales earlier in 2024, but remains a small fraction of overall F-150 sales.

• Pebble first showed its Flow electric travel trailer in 2023
• The Pebble Flow is expected to enter production early this year
• The Pebble Flow costs $109,500 and comes with a 45-kwh LFP battery pack

California-based startup Pebble on Monday unveiled a production-intent version of its Flow EV travel trailer, which it hopes to begin delivering to customers in the first half of the year.

First shown in 2023, the Pebble Flow uses a 45-kwh LFP battery pack and self propulsion to assist a tow vehicle, helping to counteract the substantial range loss EVs experience while towing, or the equivalent drop in fuel economy for gasoline and diesel vehicles, the startup claims.

Battery specs are unchanged from what Pebble previously discussed, but the company claims it has made changes to the drivetrain, which can also be used to align the trailer with a tow hitch and even maneuver it in and out of parking spaces using a remote-control function, as part of a smartphone app.

As before, Pebble claims the battery pack can also be used as a backup power source at campsites. It can be charged using conventional AC or DC connectors, as well as an integrated 1.1-kw solar array.

Pebble Flow EV travel trailer

Pebble made some design tweaks, including integrated taillights, aimed at improving both aerodynamics and ground clearance. It also increased the size of the Flow’s pass-through storage space, and added all-terrain levelers and a hitch receiver for accessories like bike racks.

Pebble Flow EV travel trailer

Changes were also made inside, including cabinets that flip up rather than down for easier access, side and rear windows that flip open to increase airflow, a bigger door opening, and increased storage space. A motorized awning has been added as well which, along with lights, stairs, and stabilizers, can be activated at the push of a button.

Pebble expects to begin production early this year, with the first customer deliveries following soon after. Customers can reserve a build slot with a $500 refundable deposit.

The first examples will be Founders Editions with all options included and available limited-edition colors for $175,000. Pebble didn’t break out of the cost of those version, but regular pricing starts at $109,500 for the basic version and $135,500 for a dual-motor version bundling remote control and other tech features. 

Pebble isn’t the only startup thinking along these lines. The Lightship AE.1 Cosmos Edition is another travel trailer with a built-in battery pack for supplementary propulsion—and a $250,000 starting price. Airstream unveiled an EV-friendly travel trailer concept in 2023, while Thor Industries—owner of the iconic trailer brand—has proposed a range-extended electric RV as an alternative.

Note — This story was updated with revised pricing from Pebble

The Pebble Flow electric travel trailer is set to enter production early in 2025 The production-intent version of the Flow trailer debuted at the Consumer Electronics show The Pebble Flow costs $109,500 California-based startup Pebble this week unveiled a production-intent version of its Pebble electric travel trailer, which it hopes to being…

• Genesis is giving the GV60 a mild refresh for 2026
• Genesis revealed the updated GV60 globally, but hasn’t detailed specs
• The revamped 2026 GV60 should arrive in the U.S. later this year

The Genesis GV60 is about to receive its first major refresh, which will include a new dashboard display and minimal styling changes.

Genesis revealed the updated GV60 in its home market of South Korea on Monday. Sales are expected to begin in that market later this quarter, and while U.S. launch timing wasn’t discussed, the refreshed GV60 is also expected to land here as a 2026 model.

As hinted at by spy shots of camouflaged prototypes, the styling changes are relatively small. The front fascia is new, while the headlights retain the same shape but receive new internals with smaller LED elements. A new five-spoke 21-inch wheel design will be available, and more exterior trim—such as the wheel arch cladding and the lower part of the rear fascia—is now body color.

2026 Genesis GV60

Inside, a 27-inch dashboard display occupies the same real estate as the previous interface, but Genesis eliminated the bezel that previously separated the instrument cluster and touchscreen elements. Other aspects of the imaginatively-designed cabin, such as the crystal-orb shifter, remain.

Genesis did not discuss specifications, but a bigger change may come in the form of an 84-kwh pack, replacing the 77-kwh pack currently used in single-motor rear-wheel-drive models and the 77.4-kwh pack used in dual-motor all-wheel-drive models. The bigger pack has already been implemented in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, which share the GV60’s E-GMP platform.

Also unannounced at this time, but expected as part of the GV60’s refresh, is a Magma performance model, the first of a new sub-brand competing against the likes of BMW M and Mercedes-AMG. Genesis showed a GV60 Magma concept at the 2024 New York auto show, and confirmed a production version later in the year.

2026 Genesis GV60

The Magma will likely surpass the 429-hp output of the current GV60 Performance. Genesis also offers a non-Performance all-wheel-drive variant rated at 314 hp. Rear-wheel drive models are rated at 225 hp, but offer the most EPA range of any current GV60 configuration, at 294 miles.

The GV60 arrived in the U.S. as a 2023 model and was a Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2023 finalist. The rear-wheel-drive powertrain was introduced for 2024, followed by a less-expensive all-wheel-drive version for 2025. Outside the U.S., the GV60 was also the first EV to offer wireless charging, although it’s unclear if that feature will make it here.

Porsche built its reputation with internal-combustion sports cars, but at the turn of the 20th century Ferdinand Porsche, whose son Ferry would later start the sports-car brand, tinkered with electric motors—including in-wheel hub motors.

The first electric-vehicle boom occurred at the turn of the 20th century, before internal combustion established itself as the dominant technology. And on Apr. 4, 1900, an EV that the then 24-year-old Porsche helped develop was unveiled at the Paris World’s Fair.

Having previously a complete electric car in 1898, Porsche designed electric motors to be integrated with the front hubs of a vehicle built by the Austrian firm of Jason Lohner & Co. in a period of only 10 weeks. Each motor generated 2.4 hp, which got the vehicle, known as a Lohner-Porsche, up to a top speed of 19.8 mph. Besides the motors, another notable innovation of the Lohner-Porsche was four-wheel braking—a rarity at the time.

Working with Ludwig Lohner, Porsche continued to develop hub motors, creating three sizes with outputs up to 11.8 hp for use in trucks and buses as well as passenger cars. These motors were intended for use with lead-acid batteries—typical of the time—that provided a claimed range of up to 31 miles.

Lohner-Porsche Semper Vivus hybrid

Porsche also designed an all-wheel drive electric race car named La Toujours Contente (French for “the one who’s always happy”), with one 13.8-hp motor powering each wheel. But the engineer’s hub motors saw the most use in hybrids—starting with the Lohner-Porsche Semper Vivus (Latin for “always alive”), which combined front hub motors with a gasoline engine.

Lohner and Porsche eventually applied the same hybrid layout to about 300 production vehicles, including 40 for the Viennese fire department, as well as assorted taxis and private passenger cars.

More than a century later, in-wheel motors are still attracting interest, although adoption for production vehicles has been slow. Chinese automaker Dongfeng claimed to be the first to use them in a fully-homologated passenger car in 2023, although they were also intended for the Lightyear 0 and Lordstown Endurance before production of both vehicle stalled.

Aptera is also including hub motors in what it claims will be a super-efficient 3-wheeler, and patent filings from Ferrari, Hyundai, and Toyota indicate they’re being studied by established automakers as well.

In the 1960s, Chrysler built a handful of cars powered by aircraft-style turbine engines. And where does one take a turbine when it’s in need of a rebuild? To the original manufacturer, of course. Like the other cars in his collection, Jay Leno’s Chrysler Turbine Car saw regular use—until its engine failed. So Leno sent it to Williams…

• Toyota is reportedly working on a reborn Previa seven-seater people carrier coming in 2026.
• It will be available with plug-in hybrid or pure electric power, and it will be mechanically related to the Sienna.
• It could become the first battery-electric vehicle built on Toyota’s TNGA-K platform.

The 1990 to 1997 Toyota Previa minivan was never a sales champ, but its unusual, rounded design certainly made it stand out. Now, the automaker wants to renew its lineup, and one report says an all-new Previa that you can plug in is in the cards for launch in the next couple of years.

Forbes, citing local sources from Japan, says Toyota is gearing up to launch the all-new Previa in 2026 with both plug-in hybrid and pure electric powertrains. It reportedly won’t be underpinned by the e-TNGA EV-specific platform used in the bZ4X and Lexus RZ, with Toyota opting for the TNGA-K platform shared with models like the Crown and the Sienna, which is Toyota’s only minivan on sale in the United States.

The Sienna is also the Previa’s more conventional replacement, and it will probably live on alongside the new Previa, as a non-plug-in hybrid alternative with a more traditional design.

According to Forbes’ unnamed insider source, Toyota has chosen the TNGA-K platform to allow for both plug-in hybrid and pure electric powertrains. Had it used e-TNGA to create the new Previa, it would have been limited to offering only a BEV variant in a market where plug-in hybrids are steadily growing in popularity.

The plug-in hybrid Previa could borrow the Prius Prime’s powertrain, which combines two electric motors with a 2-liter engine for a total of 220 horsepower. The Prius Prime has a 13.6-kilowatt-hour battery pack, giving it a claimed WLTP range of 33 miles. The larger and heavier Previa PHEV will go less on one charge, so Toyota may choose to equip it with a larger pack to boost its electric range.

The 18.1 kWh pack that powers the RAV4 Prime seems a much better fit for a seven-seater minivan. It gives the RAV4 PHEV an EPA range of 42 miles, so it should take the more aerodynamic Previa even further.

Toyota doesn’t currently make any EVs on TNGA-K. For the pure electric variant of the Previa, Toyota could adapt the powertrain out of its bZ4X, which has a 201 horsepower single-motor front-wheel-drive configuration in base form and adds a second motor in the rear to for 215 hp, all-wheel drive and a lot more torque.

The bZ4X has a 71.4 kWh battery with a usable capacity of around 64 kWh, giving it an EPA range of 252 miles in single-motor guise. The larger and heavier Previa would probably struggle to get anything over 200 miles on one charge, so the BEV variant will likely feature a bigger battery pack than the bZ4X.

The source also notes that Toyota considered a fuel-cell version too, but that was shelved since this type of powertrain is proving even less popular than before when it still struggled to find buyers. Toyota’s FCV sales took a nosedive in 2024, falling by nearly 70% in the first eleven months of last year compared to 2023.

Toyota’s EVs haven’t been among the best on the market, but a practical, battery-powered people carrier might change that, especially if it has a bold design. It will likely be designed to remind of the 1990s original, whose unusual rounded design may have polarized opinions when it was new, but today it might serve as the basis for a cool retro-futuristic design, something like the transformation of the classic LeCar into today’s sharp Renault 5 electric hatch.

Toyota created the original Previa as a global vehicle, which will likely remain the case with the new model. Even though it was discontinued in the U.S. in 1997, the Previa continued to be sold in other markets. It received a second generation in 2000, which lost some of the original’s roundness and its mid-engined layout, but it remained a boldly-styled minivan. The third-generation model arrived in 2006 and it remained in production until 2019.

What they all had in common was their very slanted nose and aerodynamic profile, with the most significant difference to the second and third generations being their more upright rear. Toyota will likely integrate this same desire for aerodynamic efficiency into the new model’s design, making a lot of sense in an age when streamliners seem to be returning.

We tried to picture what a 2026 Toyota Previa might look like by using Midjourney AI, and you can see the resulting image at the top of this article.