Author: EVAI

AC Cars building new versions of Ace sports car Modern Ace offers gas and electric powertrains Both powertrains deliver approximately 300 hp AC Cars will use next week’s 2024 SEMA show in Las Vegas to present an electric version of its modern Ace sports car. AC is the U.K.’s oldest surviving car company, and the company that supplied Carroll…

The updated 2025 Porsche 911 GT3 unveiled earlier this month may be the last time Porsche’s track star is offered without turbocharging or hybrid technology. In an interview with Autocar published on Tuesday, Andreas Preuninger, Porsche’s head of development for GT-badged cars, said stricter Euro 7 emissions regulations planned by the European…

• A Xiaomi SU7 Ultra completed a lap of the Nurburgring Nordschleife quicker than the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT.
• The record-breaking vehicle is a stripped-out prototype with a carbon fiber body, so it’s lighter and quicker than the production version.

Xiaomi clearly wants its SU7 electric performance sedan to rival the Porsche Taycan. There is certainly a lot of Porsche in its design, right down to the font used for the “Ultra” text on the car, which looks very similar to the one Porsche uses to write “Turbo.” Now, the Chinese newcomer has taken a stripped-out SU7 Ultra prototype to the Nurburgring Nordschleife, where it put down a quicker time than the quickest Taycan, the Turbo GT, with the optional Weissach package.

Update Friday, Nov. 1: After this story ran, a Porsche Cars North America spokesperson pointed out that this Xiaomi SU7 Ultra prototype and the Taycan Turbo GT completed their Nürburgring laps in different classes. So while the Xiaomi was quicker, it’s not as apples-to-apples as many initial stories implied. Our original story follows below. 

Yesterday, on October 28, the SU7 Ultra prototype managed to complete a lap of the famed circuit that measures 12.9 miles (20.8 kilometers) in 6:46.874, which is quite a bit quicker than the Porsche’s 7:07.55 time. What makes it even more impressive is the fact that the SU7 lost power for 12 seconds during the record run and was still able to complete the lap ahead.

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The SU7 Ultra is powered by three electric motors, with one powering each of the rear wheels and another sending its power to the front axle. It has a combined output of 1,548 horsepower and it can accelerate to 62 mph (100 km/h) in under 2 seconds and to 124 mph (200 km/h) in 5.98 seconds. Its top speed is 217 mph (350 km/h).

With these numbers, it’s faster and more powerful than any other sedan in the world (electric or otherwise), beating the Lucid Air Sapphire’s 1,234 hp, the Tesla Model S Plaid’s 1,020 hp or the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT’s 1,092 hp.

Now, it’s worth noting that even though Xiaomi brands the SU7 Ultra as a road-legal vehicle, the car they used for the record run appears to have a fully stripped-out interior and roll cage. This means it’s lighter and stiffer than the actual roadgoing model, which will be slightly slower around a track. Manufacturers are known to do this when they set out to break Nurburgring records, so it’s no surprise that Xiaomi’s record breaker is tweaked to get the most possible out of it.

Earlier this month, Xiaomi opened pre-orders for the SU7 Ultra, which costs 800,000 yuan ($112,500) in China. One of the big changes between the record-breaking prototype and the actual production model (expected to be revealed next year) is that it won’t feature the former’s full carbon fiber body, so it will be slightly heavier as a result. Having a full interior will drive the weight up further, so it will be much closer to the Taycan Turbo GT in terms of lap times.

The Lucid Gravity electric SUV is still on track to start production before the end of the year, targeting more than 440 miles of range and more than 800 hp, Lucid confirmed Tuesday.

Order books are scheduled to open Nov. 7 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Orders will initially be taken for a Gravity Grand Touring model priced at $94,900 before destination. A Gravity Touring model expected as a 2026 model year is scheduled to start production after the Grand Touring, in late 2025, with a $79,900 starting price. 

2025 Lucid Gravity

The estimated maximum range is based on “battery pack capacity similar to that of the 2025 Lucid Air Grand Touring,” the automaker confirmed. That version of Lucid’s sedan has a 112-kwh pack that contributes to 516 miles of EPA range. The difference will likely come down, at least partially, to the Gravity’s additional weight and less aerodynamic form versus the Air.

The range figure and 800-hp output are also consistent with what Lucid discussed when the Gravity was unveiled in Nov. 2023. At the time, Lucid said the latter figure applied to a dual-motor variant that would arrive first (presumably the now-confirmed Grand Touring) and would enable a 0-60 mph time of less than 3.5 seconds.

2025 Lucid Gravity

Lucid confirmed in September that the Gravity will get the Tesla North American Charging Standard (NACS) port starting in 2025, meaning the first customer cars will likely have a Combined Charging Standard (CCS) port, as seen on Gravity prototypes.

Following the Gravity, Lucid is expected to move further downmarket with three affordable EVs, although they may only be considered to be truly affordable in relation to Lucid’s existing models. The first is expected to be a $50,000 midsize SUV called the Lucid Earth due to start production in late 2026.

As the second-generation Tesla Roadster remains on the drawing board, a Texas-based company has sketched out a new life for original Roadsters, while improving their handling.

Re/Cell, which specializes in remanufacturing EV battery packs, recently unveiled a replacement Roadster battery pack that’s 400 pounds lighter than the original and takes up 3.7 cubic feet less space—making it about half the volume of the original pack.

With 47 kwh of total capacity, Re/Cell expects the replacement pack to return 220-240 miles of range, which is in line with the factory pack. But instead of just matching the factory specs, the weight and volume reductions of the new pack are claimed to help make the Roadster a better car.

Re/Cell replacement battery pack for the Tesla Roadster

“Replacement packs for the Roadster are expensive and overburdened, with an unnecessary focus on straight-line performance and range,” Re/Cell president Chad Maglaque said in a statement. “The focus should instead be on handling and speed, to match the racing pedigree of its world-class performance chassis.”

The Roadster was based on the Lotus Elise, and Lotus founder Colin Chapman, with the maxim “simplify, then add lightness,” would likely agree with this emphasis on handling over straight-line acceleration.

Re/Cell claims its pack also helps lower the Roadster’s center of gravity and allows more mass to be moved toward the center of the chassis—further improving handling—while also making room for DC fast-charging hardware and liquid cooling systems for the motor and power electronics module (those features are optional, however).

2010 Tesla Roadster Sport (photo via Hagerty)

The battery itself gets an upgraded cooling system consisting of a molded core with attached ribbons, allowing for a 50-times-greater contact area for heat transfer compared to the factory cooling system, along with consistent temperature control, Re/Cell claims. The company stuck with the original 18650 cell format, though of course the chemistry has evolved significantly.

Re/Cell has priced the pack at $27,895 for the version offering maximum performance, after a $11,500 core credit for their existing pack. It uses those early Roadster cells for remanufactured battery packs and use with solar systems or as backup power. Out of more than a half a million cells Re/Cell processed this past year, it disposed of or recycled just 150, the firm said to Green Car Reports. 

The last Tesla Roadster was built in December 2011, just before the Model S was launched. This was the car that launched Tesla, but Elon Musk didn’t have much to do with it, nor did he start Tesla. He became CEO in late 2008, after the Roadster had already gone into limited production.

Tesla has not been consistent over the years about providing factory support for original Roadsters. But since the sports car was introduced, EV battery costs have plunged, creating more of an opening for aftermarket companies like Re/Cell to provide alternative solutions.

Polestar and Volvo on Tuesday confirmed details of its rollout of Tesla North American Charging Standard (NACS) adoption, which the automakers claim will give customers access to more than 17,800 Tesla Supercharger DC fast-charging stations.

Current Polestar owners can now order a $230 NACS adapter through their local service center, with deliveries planned for mid-November, the automaker said in a press release. Volvo will also offer adapters to existing customers through its dealers for the same price, and will include free adapters with new EX90, EX40, and EC40 purchases or leases. Adapters for the China-made Volvo EX30, currently in limbo due to steep tariffs on EVs imported from that country, will be announced later.

2025 Volvo EX90

Future EVs from both brands will adopt the NACS port as standard equipment. When they announced Supercharger access in 2023, both Volvo and Polestar said this would happen starting in 2025, but didn’t provide any updates with this announcement.

Most major EV brands have at this point committed to NACS, but are adopting the Tesla charge port at varying speeds. Ford was the first to announce, in May 2023, and became the first to provide Supercharger access when it began shipping free adapters in February. Rivian followed with its own free adapters in March, and General Motors announced adapters in September. But GM charges $225 for them.

Polestar 3 at a Tesla Supercharger station

Hyundai has so far skipped over the Tesla adapter phase, announcing in September that the 2025 Ioniq 5 would be built with an NACS port. The automaker will instead offer adapters for the Combined Charging Standard (CCS) port the Ioniq 5 previously used, maintaining access to the considerable number of CCS stations also in operation.

Polestar began as a racing team closely aligned with Volvo, evolving into a performance brand for Volvo before the latter’s parent company, Chinese automaker Geely, repurposed it as a standalone brand in 2017. While the two brands share resources and vehicle platforms, Polestar has been pulling in its own direction with plans to make its own motors and other components, while Volvo earlier this year lessened its funding commitment to Polestar.

• The first electric Cadillac V-Series will be a 2026 Lyriq
• The 2026 Cadillac Lyriq-V will arrive in 2025
• Cadillac hasn’t said how much power the Lyriq-V will have or how much it will cost

The Cadillac Lyriq will be the first electric vehicle to wear the luxury brand’s V-Series performance badge.

Cadillac confirmed Tuesday that the Lyriq-V will arrive early next year as a 2026 model, with further details to be revealed at that time. For now, there’s little to be gleaned from the photos released by Cadillac, which only reveal subtle styling changes versus the standard Lyriq.

“V” has been the letter signifying performance at Cadillac since 2004, when the original CTS-V sedan launched. Over the ensuing two decades, Cadillac introduced numerous V-Series versions of its existing models, lent credibility by a racing program. The current lineup includes V-Series versions of the CT4 and CT5 sedans—in both standard and full Blackwing configurations—and the Escalade SUV.

2026 Cadillac Lyriq-V

The V-Series treatment will likely include an increase in power over the standard Lyriq’s 500 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque (with the optional dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain) plus chassis enhancements for sportier handling. Meanwhile, the 2025 Lyriq drops the previous base trim level, while remaining trims get price cuts. Those small changes are in line with what is still a fairly new model.

The Lyriq arrived for the 2023 model year as the first Cadillac EV based on what parent General Motors was then calling the Ultium architecture (GM recently decided to phase out use of the Ultium name). So it’s appropriate that the Lyriq is also the first Cadillac EV to morph into a V-Series performance vehicle.

While GM is reportedly reconsidering plans to make Cadillac all-electric by 2030, the luxury brand will soon have an extensive lineup of EVs. The Lyriq will be flanked by the entry-level Optiq and three-row Vistiq, with the Celestiq sedan and Escalade IQ addressing the higher end of the market. Whether Cadillac will launch V-Series versions of any of those EVs remains to be seen.

EVs could help hasten the ongoing transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy through the end of the decade, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The IEA predicts that more than half of the world’s electricity will come from low-emission sources by 2030, and that demand for coal, oil, and gas will have also peaked by then. Greater use of renewables will be needed not only to reduce carbon emissions, but to meet growing demand for electricity from EVs and other sources like data centers, according to the report.

Current policies are on track to add the equivalent of Japan’s demand use to global electricity use each year. But low-emission sources, led by renewables, are expected to outpace this demand in every scenario the IEA envisions. That in turn keeps trimming down the share of fossil fuels used in electricity generation.

Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in United Arab Emirates

This would merely continue an ongoing trend. Renewables provided 30% of the global electricity supply in 2023, while fossil fuels decreased to 60%, their lowest share in 50 years, according to the IEA.

That’s being helped by market forces. After pandemic-induced declines, 2021 was an anomaly fueled by a momentary blip in coal popularity, but overall, the cost of coal and natural gas in recent years has actually fueled some of the push to renewables.

It’s worth noting, however, that the IEA expects nuclear power to remain at 10% of global electricity generating capacity in all scenarios. Continued pushback against nuclear power, as well as new technologies aimed at increasing its use, could move the needled in the plus or minus direction.

Charging stations at Volkswagen Arizona Proving Grounds

The report also pointed to huge potential for EV growth and emissions cuts, simultaneously, in parts of the developing world. Almost 750 million people—mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa—lack access to electricity, the IEA estimates.

Long-term and due to a Biden administration push, the U.S. shift toward wind and solar will continue to cut coal use and make EVs cleaner. But the U.S. utility landscape is fragmented, which could make a wholesale shift away from fossil fuels more challenging.

A symbiotic relationship with renewable energy is just one part of the emissions-reduction picture. A report from consultancy Wood Mackenzie also confirmed, through an alternate analysis, that EVs are putting a big dent in global gasoline demand.

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