Author: EVAI

The 2025 Subaru WRX sees an effective $3,065 price increase because of the deletion of the base model from its lineup. The least-expensive WRX is now the Premium grade, which starts at $36,920 with the mandatory $1,170 destination fee. That’s compared to $33,855 for the 2024 base model, with $50 of that difference due to a higher destination fee…

Lotus plans to launch hybrids to join its EVs The company says it is open to launching an Emira hybrid Lotus is working on an electric successor to the Emira, but the launch may be delayed Lotus not long ago planned to exclusively launch electric vehicles, leaving the Emira sports car as its last vehicle equipped with a gas engine. However, the…

Genesis has provided the first glimpse of its LMDh race car, as well as a hint at where it will compete. The luxury brand recently posted a teaser sketch on its Instagram page, which was reposted by the official page of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). LMDh cars are currently eligible for the WEC Hypercar class, as well as the GTP class…

Porsche is recalling 2,941 electric Macans because their headlights are too bright, which can reduce visibility for oncoming drivers and increase the risk of a crash.

The recall includes 2024 and 2025 Porsche Macan Electric models manufactured between Mar. 15, 2024, and Nov. 04, 2024. Headlight-control software in the affected vehicles was programmed to European standards rather than U.S. standards, resulting in beams that exceed brightness levels specified in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, according to the NHTSA.

2024 Porsche Macan (electric)

Porsche told the NHTSA that the programming error was corrected for later-production vehicles, but that 100% of the recalled vehicles are estimated to have this issue. And customers will have to take their cars to dealerships to have the headlight software reprogrammed, free of charge, as the fix can’t be implemented via an over-the-air update.

Porsche expects to mail owner notification letters Jan. 24, 2025. Owners can also contact the automaker’s customer service department at 1-800-767-7243 for more information. Porsche’s reference number for this recall is ARC5.

2024 Porsche Macan (electric)

The electric Macan arrived for the 2024 model year as one of the first electric vehicles based on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) shared with Audi, and also underpinning that brand’s Q6 E-Tron SUV and A6 E-Tron sedan. The new architecture advances tech first used in the Porsche Taycan to the mass market, including an 800-volt charging system that allows a peak charge rate of 270 kw.

Only dual-motor Macan 4 and Macan Turbo grades were available for 2024. Porsche expanded the range for 2025 with a single-motor rear-wheel drive base model that effectively lowered the electric Macan’s price by about $3,000, as well as a dual-motor Macan 4S slotting between the Macan 4 and Turbo models. Porsche is still selling the previous-generation gasoline Macan alongside the Macan Electric, but has said only the electric model will be available starting in 2026.

Testing of an electric version of the Range Rover luxury SUV continues apace.

Reservations for the electric vehicle, dubbed the Range Rover Electric, opened in late 2023, with deliveries slated to start next year. That will likely make it a 2026 model in the U.S. Before that can happen, Land Rover is conducting testing in extreme conditions to ensure the Range Rover EV offers the same off-road capability as the internal-combustion version.

Range Rover Electric prototype

Land Rover said that it was close to finishing a hot-weather testing program in which prototypes were subjected to temperatures as high as 122 degrees F, as well as up to 90% humidity.

Prototypes were also taken to Dubai and driven up a 300-foot sand dune five times. Accomplishing this without any loss of performance from high temperatures is required of all new Range Rover models, Land Rover said.

Range Rover Electric prototype

This follows a trip to the Arctic Circle last winter for cold-weather testing. Engineers evaluated how prototypes responded to temperatures as low as -40 degrees F, and tuned chassis systems for low-grip surfaces. These include a traction control system that manipulates the electric motors, rather than the brakes, as in combustion Land Rovers.

The Range Rover Electric is expected to use a modified version of the MLA (Modular Longitudinal Architecture) platform from current gasoline and plug-in hybrid Range Rover models. It will be built at the same Solihull, U.K., factory that has built Land Rovers for decades. An electric Range Rover Sport, as well as an electric replacement for the Range Rover Velar, are expected to follow as well, along with three EVs for sibling brand Jaguar.

As crucial as things like touchscreens and software are to the modern automotive experience, we seldom stop to ask why everything looks so ugly.

Your average car’s touchscreen and menus likely have all the functionality of a Palm Pre, with the aesthetic appeal and artistic value of a Fort Worth outlet mall. Their menus and controls often feel haphazardly designed and look utterly forgettable. This is true even after more than a decade of in-car screen dominance and a future we’re constantly told is centered around over-the-air updates and smartphone-like tech features. 

So when Rivian set out to completely overhaul its in-car software experience, its designers declared that things don’t have to be this way. 

The electric startup’s latest infotainment setup features cel-shaded depictions of its trucks and SUVs, offset by animated depictions of different landscapes, bright colors, speed lines like you’d find in a Japanese manga comic and tons of “Easter eggs” in the backgrounds. New updates even give the software “costumes” inspired by classic TV shows and movies like Back to the Future and Knight Rider. 

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When I asked Rivian’s Chief Design Officer Jeff Hammoud why his team went this route, one word came up again and again: “Optimism.” 

“We felt it was an opportunity to have a little bit of fun and create a personality around the car,” Hammoud said in a recent interview. More than that, he said, the new software interfaces reflect a philosophy inside Rivian. “We want it all to look inviting,” Hammoud said. “Our vehicles have a friendly look and that’s part of our brand… that optimism around what we’re trying to do through electrification and protecting the world for our kids.” 

Rivian’s new interface language went live this summer on the heavily updated 2025 R1S and R1T models and via software updates to earlier cars. They give owners an animated representation of their vehicle that spins and transforms as they adjust things like ride height settings and the various driving modes.

On another car, switching to sport mode might mean a new set of gauges on the central display or shifting the menus to a red color scheme. But on an R1S or R1T, a cartoon depiction of the car zooms onto what looks like a race track as its glowing taillights fade into a red-and-white background. Instead of pop-ups to confirm you’re in “Snow Mode” or some off-road setting, Rivian offers a shift to a charming winter landscape or the vehicle perched atop a rocky mountain. Clouds, windmills and birds move about in the backgrounds and all of these visuals take on a different character at night as well. 

None of this is vital for a car to function properly, of course, and it’s highly unlikely that these animated graphics will be a make-or-break selling point. But they add a ton of something intangible—character—to Rivian’s cars, and they turn something that used to be an afterthought at best into something you actually look forward to using. And Hammoud said that a ton of effort went into devising how this ecosystem should look and feel.

“We used this idea of manga-style [or] Studio Ghibli films, those really optimistic movies where you feel like you’re in another world, and really taking that into a style where we could create the different worlds of the drive modes,” Hammoud said. He’s of course referring to the famed Japanese animated classics from Hayao Miyazaki and other creators like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service and, most recently, The Boy and the Heron. All of those are landmark animated films released to international acclaim. But Hammoud said they also share the general vibe Rivian is going for these days.

“You look at something like Akira, versus Studio Ghibli,” he said, referring to the 1980s comic and landmark animated film about a dystopian future. The latter is “a little bit more optimistic and on the friendly side of that. We want to communicate power and dynamism with the vehicle, but we still wanted to have this sort of, ‘sitting down Sunday morning watching cartoons with your kids’ vibe with it as well.” 

That stands in stark contrast with another eye-catching electric vehicle designed that has a distinctly apocalyptic energy: hard angles, allegedly bulletproof stainless steel, a “Bioweapon Defense Mode.” While Hammoud didn’t mention it by name, he made clear that he, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe and their design teams didn’t share the same philosophy.

“When you look at trucks, their faces are very aggressive, very angry, like the front ends could eat small children,” Hammoud said. “Purposely, we’re like, ‘All right, well, we don’t need a big grill.’ We want it to look inviting. Look at our headlight shapes. Our vehicles have a friendly look.”

Much of this was afforded by the power of the Unreal Engine, a 3D graphics software system made famous in video games that’s now making its way to the automotive world. This allowed Rivian’s artists and designers to “scale” all these new images easily without having to draw each one individually. 

“It was really important to us that whatever car you have, it’s the right set of wheels and it’s the right color [on the screen], so that way we’re looking at is actually representative of your vehicle,” Hammoud said. “If we had to create, which is what we did in the past, an image for every single [Rivian color or option], that’s thousands and thousands of images.”

With the Unreal Engine, Hammoud said, “You put in the specifications of the vehicle, like if it’s a Forest Green car with 22s, you just put that into the code, and boom, it’s rendered and it updates.”

Rivian isn’t alone in trying to add a more distinctive look and character to its software experience as well as its exterior designs. Mini recently added a cartoon dog to its infotainment systems as an AI-powered virtual assistant, and several Chinese automakers are taking similar approaches. And as with those cars, Rivian’s approach goes beyond mere visuals; these functions represent new ways for drivers to interact with their cars and control their features in the software-driven vehicle era. 

So does it work? Based on a recent test of a 2025 Rivian R1S, I think the answer is mostly yes. It’s fairly easy to find the functions you want and the big, bright displays represent novel ways of presenting information to the driver. That’s crucial since Rivian famously—or perhaps infamously—eschews most physical buttons and Apple CarPlay in its EVs. It also aims to do more with voice controls, although it has a ways to go there to match many competitors. 

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But this approach to software does show what Rivian’s made of, and why a traditional conglomerate like the Volkswagen Group sees such value in what the company does. That 2025 R1S got better while I had it, receiving an over-the-air software update that improved the energy and efficiency gauges (and put them in line with the rest of the car’s new artistic language) while correcting some issues with the stereo and adding the Halloween-themed visuals. 

And until Rivian can get the upcoming R2, R3 and R3X models on the road, it’s got more in store for its current cars both through software updates and more tweaks—though Hammoud was cagey about what exactly is coming next.

“We have some new updates that are coming next year on R1 that I’m excited to share, some special editions,” Hammoud said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

A concept car previewing the design direction of Jaguar’s upcoming electric-vehicle lineup leaked Monday ahead of its official debut.

The Jaguar Design Vision concept was due to be unveiled Monday night at Miami Art Week, but images were posted online ahead of that on the CocheSpias Instagram page. Those images show a two-door fastback coupe with a somewhat more angular appearance than current Jaguar models, but with a long hood that nods to classic Jag sports cars like the E-Type.

The concept also lacks a rear window, like the Polestar 4, with a camera system likely aiding rear vision. A slat motif is repeated at the front and back, and even the roof, although it’s unclear if this serves a functional purpose such as cooling or is merely for decoration.

Jaguar Design Vision Concept leak – Photo via CocheSpias Instagram page

The interior features an oval steering wheel and a divider between the seats, but seems to lack screens, suggesting that relevant information will be projected onto the windshield itself.

Many of the Design Vision concept’s features are expected to show up on the first of Jaguar’s upcoming EVs, a a low-slung grand tourer the automaker has already shown testing with camouflage. The production version, which could have four doors instead of two, is scheduled to debut in 2025 sporting a six-figure price tag and more power than any previous Jaguar road car, with deliveries starting the following year.

Jaguar Design Vision Concept leak – Photo via CocheSpias Instagram page

The grand tourer will be one of three models comprising Jaguar’s electric reboot, announced in 2021. In the meantime, Jaguar has been discontinuing most of its current gasoline models, as well as its first EV, the I-Pace, leaving only the F-Pace SUV in showrooms until the new electric models arrive. An SUV and a more traditional-looking sedan are expected to follow the first model.

All three will be based on a new platform called JEA (Jaguar Electrified Architecture) and will feature North American Charging Standard (NACS) ports to give drivers access to Tesla Supercharger stations.

The potential high cost of EV battery replacements is a major worry for new-car shoppers, but that likely won’t be the case for long, according to battery-analysis firm Recurrent.

Recurrent, which produces battery health reports for used EVs, predicts that plummeting new-battery prices will make replacing a battery pack cheaper than repairing a gasoline engine by the end of the decade.

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5

Whether it’s a gasoline engine, a battery pack, or any other component, repairs don’t make financial sense if they exceed the value of a car. Battery replacement costs are already trending away from that, according to Recurrent. They now represent 75% of the value of a $15,000 used car, down from 100% in 2020, the company estimates, adding that by 2030 battery replacements will be equivalent to 30% of the value of a $15,000 used vehicle.

This is being made possible by declining costs for new EV batteries. As Recurrent notes, Goldman Sachs predicted earlier this year that average battery prices would reach $80 per kwh in 2026—almost 50% lower than 2023. With the exception of a bump in 2022 due to high raw material prices, that’s generally been the trend since the start of the modern EV era. The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that EV battery costs have dropped 90% since 2008.

2025 Kia EV6

Recurrent assumes that these trends will continue, and that by 2030 there will be a robust market for used EV batteries that could allow owners to offset some of the cost of replacement. Growth of so-called second-life applications such as stationary energy storage could allow EV owners to negotiate the sale of their vehicles’ used packs, potentially lowering the effective price of new packs by $10-$20 per kwh, Recurrent predicts.

Lower costs could not only help make used EVs more affordable, but might keep more of them in circulation. A 2023 report found that it’s more common to replace battery packs than repair them, which, at current battery prices, could lead to relatively new vehicles being “totaled” by insurance companies over minor damage and higher insurance premiums for those that remain.

What kind of vehicle is the 2025 BMW 2-Series? What does it compare to? The 2-Series is a compact coupe or a four-door sedan called a Gran Coupe. The different body styles result in a range of competitors, including the Audi A3 and the Mercedes-Benz CLA. Finding an entry-level 2-door coupe gets harder each year. Is the 2025 BMW 2-Series a good…

The U.K.’s Alan Mann Racing today specializes in maintaining classic cars and developing restomods, but it was once a mainstay of the racing scene, as this video explains. Alan Mann Racing, or AMR for short, was founded in 1964 by racing enthusiast Alan Mann, who’d gotten his start running a garage that prepared race cars for competition. Mann…