Author: EVAI

Ponz Pandikuthira, chief planning officer of Nissan Americas, sees strong momentum as it refreshes its portfolio Nissan has redesigned profitable QX80 and Armada, sees good demand for entry Kicks “There’s no way we’re going to run out of cash in 12 months,” Pandikuthira said The headlines suggest Nissan is in trouble. Cutting 9,000 jobs, slashing…

• Leaky door handles halted ID.4 production and deliveries in September
• With replacement parts ready, VW is soon restarting production
• Fixing customer cars and dealer stock is the priority

Volkswagen on Friday reported some disappointing U.S. delivery numbers for the year for what had been set to be its mass-market electric vehicle. It sold 17,021 ID.4 EVs in the U.S. in 2024—down 55% versus 37,789 sales in 2023.

Partly, the issue was simply that the ID.4 lineup wasn’t on sale for much of the year—first with a pause as refreshed 2024 models rolled in, then with a recall that stopped production and deliveries.

VW also on Friday confirmed that the ID.4 is back on track. It has enough replacement door handle hardware to restart deliveries of its ID.4 and fix a backlog of vehicles in dealer stock—and, within the next few weeks, to resume production at its U.S. plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

VW issued the recall of all 2021-2024 ID.4 models in September, amounting to 98,806 vehicles, as it ramped up a remedy for defective door handles that might cause the EV’s door to open unexpectedly. The recall effort has since been expanded to include 99,064 vehicles in the U.S. plus 20,790 vehicles in Canada. 

2024 Volkswagen ID.4

2024 Volkswagen ID.4

At that time, VW also issued a stop-sale for the ID.4, covering both new and pre-owned vehicles in dealer inventory, and it stopped production of the model in both Zwickau, Germany, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

Concerns focused on the design of the door handle itself, and a part that couldn’t effectively keep out water. According to recall documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), water could enter the door handle, reaching a printed circuit board and causing “communication issues” between the handle and control unit. That might result in a clicking noise that VW said in those documents was similar to what the door makes when it’s normally unlocked.

2021 Volkswagen ID.4 1st Edition

VW has already sent letters out to owners, and it’s shipping a redesigned door handle out to dealerships, which will be using them not only to perform the recall fixes but get deliveries of their own stock restarted once again. “The priority is to get existing cars repaired and to get cars that were sitting on dealer lots into the hands of customers,” said Volkswagen spokesperson Mark Gillies. 

Under the recall, dealers will inspect and replace the door handles as needed, and update vehicle software. VW stressed that under federal rules, the recall must be completed before delivery. 

2025 Volkswagen ID.4

2024 Volkswagen ID.4

2025 Volkswagen ID.4

The 2024 Volkswagen ID.4 is a top-seller and up until now received a series of meaningful improvements resulting in quicker acceleration and more range, plus speedier new infotainment hardware and a much-improved interface. The interface had especially soured the experience for some early adopters (it recalled 2021-2023 models for those screen issues). Considering the ride, handling, and packaging advantages this model has had all along, the ’24 now feels like what it was supposed to be at launch. 

All 2024 VW ID.4 models have qualified for the full $7,500 EV tax credit—bringing the base $41,160 price effectively to $33,660 for some), while the 2025 VW ID.4 has missed the cut, as of yet. But the 2025 ID.4 gets ChatGPT functionality that sets the stage for a next-generation in-car voice assistant. 

Trademarks for the Nissan Xtrerra name are being renewed, hinting at a possible return of the rugged SUV. Nissan filed trademark renewal applications for “Xterra” and “Nissan Xterra” in the U.S. Dec. 23, 2024. Both trademarks apply to “motor vehicles, namely automobiles, sport utility vehicles, and structural parts thereof.” Trademark filings can…

With megawatt charging slow to ramp up, General Motors appears to have an alternative solution to speed up charging for electric commercial vehicles.

This is discussed in a patent filing published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Nov. 26, 2024, although it was originally filed by GM about two years earlier. In the document, GM notes that medium-duty and heavy-duty electric vehicles require large battery packs that can be time-consuming to charge using conventional methods.

General Motors multi-port charging system patent image

GM’s proposed solution involves equipping vehicles with multiple charge ports and dividing packs into smaller “subpacks” that can be connected in parallel. This allows individual subpacks charged from either a single charge port or both ports simultaneously, instead of charging the entire pack through a single port.

This solution is aimed at larger vehicles that would require bigger packs than the average passenger car (don’t be led astray by the passenger car used in the filing’s example, above), but GM’s inclusion of medium-duty vehicles wouldn’t leave out the GMC Hummer EV or the largest GMC and Chevrolet electric pickups, which do fall into that category based on weight.

General Motors multi-port charging system patent image

Megawatt charging was announced several years ago as a charging solution for electric big rigs, but it’s been slow to roll out, partly because of the on-the-ground electrical realities. Tesla confirmed megawatt charging for the Cybertruck and Semi, but its Supercharger V4 tech hasn’t truly yet arrived.

We’re already seeing a number of different solutions to speed up charging based on what’s currently available at the connector level. The GMC Hummer EV essentially uses 400-volt battery packs connected in parallel most of the time, albeit with just one charge port. Meanwhile, Porsche splits its 800-volt Macan battery pack into two 400-volt virtual packs to increase charging speed.

Ford is recalling about 20,000 plug-in hybrid SUVs due to a manufacturing defect that could cause battery cells to short circuit. The recall encompasses 2020-2024 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrids and 2021-2024 Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring plug-in hybrids, with 16,480 Fords and 4,004 Lincolns affected. These vehicles may have battery packs with cells…

The 2025 calendar year ushers in a robust crop of new and redesigned 2025 model years, with highlights ranging the high and mighty Chevy Corvette ZR1 to the cheeky, efficient Honda Civic Hybrid. But on the sadder end of the spectrum, we’re tallying the list of vehicles that didn’t make the cut—the cars, trucks, SUVs, and EVs/hybrids that…

Heated windshields are a fairly common feature, but Genesis is testing new hardware it claims can defrost windshields faster while using less energy. Instead of the embedded wires used in current heated windshields’ Genesis version relies on 20 layers of transparent metal coating, which can conduct current supplied by a 48-volt electrical system…

What kind of vehicle is the 2025 Chevrolet Traverse? What does it compare to? The 2025 Chevy Traverse is a three-row crossover SUV that compares well with the Hyundai Palisade, Toyota Grand Highlander, and Kia Telluride. Is the 2025 Chevrolet Traverse a good SUV? The Traverse wears classy styling and it rides well. It’s a 6.7 out of 10 here…

Modern LED headlights have a problem: They’re bright, compact, and energy-efficient, but they don’t generate as much heat as HID or halogen lights. That means they’re more likely to accumulate a coating of snow, ice, or moisture that can disrupt illumination. Rivian appears to be working on a solution. In a patent application filed with the United…

Polestar 3, Volvo EX90, Tesla Model 3 missed finals Lucid Gravity, Charger Daytona EV among models not quite arriving for this year’s list Volvo EX30 didn’t quite arrive in time, again Earlier this week we named five Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2025 finalists. The Chevrolet Equinox EV, Hyundai Kona Electric, Porsche Macan Electric, Rivian…