Author: EVAI

• FX 5 and FX 6 would together span $20,000-$50,000 price range
• California EV maker has shipped prototypes from “collaboration partners” in China
• Would offer EVs with/without gasoline range-extenders; claims to be entering U.S. regulatory testing

Faraday Future plans to show prototypes of affordable electric vehicles at CES 2025, scheduled for Jan. 5-7 in Las Vegas.

The prototypes are part of a new sub-brand called FX (short for Faraday X) that Faraday outlined in a September investor presentation. At the time, the company said it was planning two models called FX 5 priced at $20,000-$30,000 and FX 6 priced at $30,000-$50,000. Both are also slated to be offered with fully electric and gasoline range-extended powertrains.

Those targeted prices are far below the current listed base price of $309,000 for Faraday’s only production model thus far, the FF 91 electric SUV. In contrast to the main brand, which Faraday has struggled to build itself, the FX sub-brand will be an asset-light operation—like the now-defunct Fisker—with limited marketing and an online-only sales model.

Faraday Future FF91 2.0 Futurist Alliance

Faraday said in a November press release that the FX prototypes were due to leave Beijing for Los Angeles, following up with another release on Dec. 19 confirming that they had reached U.S. shores. After CES, they’ll go to Faraday’s manufacturing facility in Hanford, California, for development work and testing, according to the company.

Faraday promised additional updates about the FX rollout at CES. The company previously said it was targeting a 2025 production start, subject to funding. In a Dec. 22 press release, Faraday claimed $30 million in new financing commitments from “certain institutional investors”—a small drop in the bucket for other automakers, but apparently enough to keep the now-scrappy EV maker going.

Faraday Future FF91

Faraday has a long-established record of turnover, abrupt strategy changes, and missed timelines. Former GM EV1 chief engineer Pete Savagian, more recently at Canoo, was the senior VP of Faraday Future up until 2018. He was one of several of Faraday’s initial core executives, as former CEO Jia Yueting held tight, to leave the company amid a relationship (and $2 billion lifeline) with Hong Kong based Evergrande gone sour. 

Financial issues contributed to a drawn-out launch for the FF 91. It was first shown in production-bound prototype form at CES 2017, but the first customer example wasn’t delivered until August 2023. And that’s with what was intended as a low-volume flagship without the scaled-up volume Faraday is eyeing for the FX EVs.

Ford is recalling 11,922 F-150 Lightning electric pickup trucks due to an issue that could cause suspension components to detach, potentially leading to loss of control.

The recall includes 2023 and 2024 models. These vehicles may have front upper control arm ball-joint nuts that weren’t properly tightened at the factory, which could allow the control arm to detach, according to the NHTSA. Control arms extend out horizontally from the vehicle’s frame or body structure and attach to the wheel hub, keeping the hub and its attached suspension components aligned on their vertical axis.

2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Flash

The ball-joint nut represents one of those attachment points, and if it’s loose the control arm can separate, causing loss of directional control and increasing the risk of a crash, the NHTSA noted. If the ball-joint nut is loose or missing, drivers may also notice vibration and hear a clunk or rattling sound during suspension jounce and rebound, the NHTSA said.

Ford told the safety agency that it is aware of one accident attributed to this issue, as well as two field reports and a warranty claim, the latter representing two incidents related to the problem. As for the cause, Ford believes changes in the alignment or orientation of a tool used to attach suspension components may have prevented it from being properly seated during assembly.

2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Flash

Dealers will inspect the affected ball-joint nut and, if necessary, replace it and/or the related knuckle assembly. Ford expects to mail owner notification letters Feb. 3, 2025. Owners can also call the automaker’s customer service department at 1-866-436-7332 for more information. Ford’s reference number for this recall is 24S76.

The Lightning arrived for the 2022 model year and received a handful of updates for 2024, including a range-boosting heat pump and a new Flash grade positioned between the XLT and Lariat models.

A Shelby 427 Competition Cobra, billed as the winningest Cobra of all time, is headed to auction The car will be sold at Mecum’s 2025 Kissimmee sale Mecum’s estimate is between $4.5 million and $6 million One of the most successful original Shelby Cobras on the racetrack will go under the hammer at Mecum’s auction scheduled for mid-January in…

• Recent data suggests infrastructure has built out to handle peak EV charging demand
• There are about 50% more public charging connectors in 2024 vs. 2023
• Public EV charging is making progress in reliability

U.S. public electric vehicle charging infrastructure kept up with EV sales growth in 2024, and even improved in reliability, according to a study released in early December by Paren, which provides data services for EV charging.

The study looked at end-user experience for fast charging sessions during the Thanksgiving travel week—described as the “Super Bowl of fast charging.”

The study found that the number of charging sessions increased nearly 50% during Thanksgiving week of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. But the number of charging connectors also increased by about the same amount.

The Thanksgiving week served as 2024’s “pressure test” for the charging sector, as it’s when motorists are out on the highways at once in a way that’s not rivaled by any other holiday time—even the Christmas and New Year’s week, when travel tends to be spread among many days.

Comparison of Thanksgiving week EV charging sessions and utilization rates (via Paren)

As a result, the average rate of utilization—defined here as a measure of total charging session minutes per connector as a percentage of open hours (typically over a 24-hour period)—declined slightly from 24% to 22%, year-over-year. It shows that infrastructure is keeping up with the increased number of EVs on U.S. roads.

And the number of EVs in the U.S. did indeed increase steadily throughout 2024, with sales up by more than 10% year-over-year in the latter months of the year, and EV market share inching closer to 10% of the overall U.S. light-vehicle market. But 2024 has definitely been a year in which infrastructure gets out ahead of sales growth for EVs—surely a good thing to set the stage for the market. Lack of public chargers was a dealbreaker for nearly half of shoppers in a 2023 J.D. Power survey.

The progress is due in part to lots of filling-in of road-trip fast-charging stations across the nation, allowing far more than the couple of cross-country routes that existed just a few years ago. Electrify America has also tested the idea of limiting fast-charges to 85% at busy stations, and networks seem to be getting smarter about when they need more chargers. For instance, Tesla is adding temporary Superchargers to ease one of the busiest times.

Love’s Travel Stop EV charging

Paren also saw increased reliability, based on the company’s own index that emphasizes the frequency with which drivers are able to successfully initiate and complete charging sessions. This saw an increase of 3.4 percentage points compared to last year, reaching 85.5%. But it’s unclear how much further progress will be made in building out reliable public charging infrastructure over the next few years.

A 2023 Energy Department study suggested that we may need as many as 182,000 publicly-accessible DC fast-charging ports by 2030, to support anywhere from 30-42 million EVs on the roads by then. But given the outcome of the election, it may give infrastructure another chance to work ahead.

Florida’s Drop Top Customs is almost ready to deliver a convertible conversion for the latest Dodge Charger Photos of the Charger Daytona EV with the conversion applied have been posted to social media Pricing hasn’t been announced but a conversion for the previous Challenger costs $23,999 Dodge hasn’t announced plans to offer a convertible…

The GMA T.33 supercar is set to gain a track-focused “s” version The T.33s will be the third and final version of the V-12-powered T.33 GMA will then launch a different type of car boasting a new platform The U.K.’s Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA) will unveil a more track-focused “s” version as the third and final version of…

• The Toyota Previa was the automaker’s minivan in the ’90s
• Toyota might bring back the Previa nameplate
• The resurrected Previa might feature electrified powertrains

With its aerodynamic shape and mid-mounted engine, the Toyota Previa minivan remains one of the Japanese automaker’s most daring designs. And it might return with plug-in powertrains.

According to a report in Japan’s Best Car magazine spotted by Forbes, a new Previa is slated for a 2026 launch using the TNGA-K platform that underpins the Toyota Camry, Crown, and RAV4, among others, with the intention of accommodating both plug-in hybrid and all-electric powertrains. A hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain was also reportedly considered but the discarded.

This report, which is based on conversations with an anonymous Toyota source, doesn’t mention the U.S. market. But the fact that the TNGA-K platform is already homologated for use here in so many other models could perhaps give Toyota a head start on making the new Previa U.S.-ready.

1991 Toyota Previa

Granted, the original Previa wasn’t very successful in the U.S. While it gave Toyota an up-to-date entry in the then-booming minivan segment, sales gradually tapered off from its introduction in 1990 to its discontinuation in 1997. Just 3,780 were sold in that final year, Forbes notes, before the Previa was replaced by the more conventional Toyota Sienna.

The Previa stood out thanks to its rounded exterior, often described as egg-like in period. The new Previa will reportedly feature similar styling, while offering seating for up to seven. If it reaches the U.S., it will be a counterpoint to the Sienna, which is now hybrid-only, but still more conservative in design.

1991 Toyota Previa

Among U.S.-market minivans, all but the Honda Odyssey have switched to hybrid powertrains. The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid has been a plug-in hybrid for years and as we’ve seen, can go more than 30 miles without the engine.

For the U.S., the Volkswagen ID.Buzz is the first time the minivan—or passenger van—has gone all-electric. But it might not be alone soon. Kia has teased another quirky possibility in the PV5, one of a series of electric vans based on an extremely modular architecture. And an all-electric Chrysler minivan is in the works—potentially as soon as 2027.

The 2023-2024 Ford Lightning electric pickup truck is being recalled for a loose nut that can result in a loss of directional control, the NHTSA disclosed Monday. The issue stems from the wrong torque being applied to a nut on the front suspension during assembly. The suspect nut on the ball joint connects the front upper control arm to the…

Lamborghini’s SC63 LMDh will only contest IMSA’s five-race Michelin Endurance Cup in 2025 Lamborghini will not participate in the 2025 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship A return to the World Endurance Championship in future seasons has not been announced After announcing in November plans to sit out the 2025 season of the FIA World…

Kia is recalling 22,883 EV9 electric SUVs because they may be missing mounting bolts for their second- and third row-seats.

The EV9 arrived in the U.S. as a 2024 model and is currently being sold here as a 2025 model. The recall includes a mix of vehicles from both model years that may have left the factory with missing seat bolts due to an error by an assembly-line worker, Kia told the NHTSA. All of the affected vehicles were assembled in South Korea; Kia began building EV9s at its U.S. plant in June, but has only produced small numbers of the SUVs there.

2025 Kia EV9

Without these mounting bolts, seats may not be able to properly restrain occupants in the event of crash, increasing the risk of injury, the safety agency said. Owners may also notice ratting or looseness of the seats if bolts are missing.

Kia estimates that just 1% of the recalled vehicles are missing the bolts in question, and told the NHTSA that it is not aware of any crashes, injuries, or fatalities related to this issue, which was discovered during a quality-control inspection.

2025 Kia EV9

Dealers will inspect the seats and replace any missing bolts free of charge. Kia plans to mail owner notification letters Jan. 24, 2025. In the meantime, owners can contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542 for more information. Kia’s reference number for this recall is SC329.

This recall follows two in October. One addressed a remote parking system issue in 12,400 vehicles from the 2024 model year equipped with that feature. The other addresses a software issue in both 2024 and 2025 models that could cause digital instrument clusters to fail.