Category: General

Canadian electric school bus firm Lion Electric faces financial difficulties and is looking to be rescued, reports Bloomberg.

Lion on Sunday announced the layoff of 400 people, representing more than half of its workforce, and said it was suspending manufacturing at its U.S. factory in Joliet, Illinois. When the factory was announced in 2021, Lion said it would be the largest for medium-duty and heavy-duty electric vehicles in the U.S.

Lion is one of three companies—including Blue Bird and Thomas Built Buses—that have delivered the majority of U.S. electric school buses to date, amid a push to replace dirty diesel fleets spurred by state and federal incentives. 

Lion A Electric School Bus

Mach Capital, the investment arm of Canadian real estate developer Groupe Mach Inc., is in talks to provide additional funding to Lion, according to the report, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter. In 2023, Groupe Mach and the Mirella & Lina Saputo Foundation were among a group of investors that bought more than $90 million (CAD).

The Canadian province of Quebec has also given Lion 192 million Canadian dollars. Economy minister Christine Frechette told Bloomberg and other media Monday that the provincial government was prepared to provide additional funding “if the business plan holds up, and if there are other players besides the public.”

Lion C Electric School Bus

Lion is one of a small group of manufacturers touting electric school buses as a replacement for diesel. In the U.S., that transition has accelerated recently with increased state and federal incentives. The EPA has begun distributing $5 billion in funding for electric school buses mandated under the Biden administration’s infrastructure law, awarding $965 million in 2022 and $1 billion earlier this year. But the future outlook isn’t so good.

While it has been assembling vehicles in the U.S., as a Canadian company Lion might be targeted by the incoming Trump administration, which is expected to place a 25% tariff on auto parts shipped across the border. It’s also unclear if Biden’s EV-friendly policies will survive under Trump. Both factors could make Lion’s electric school buses a lot more expensive for cash-strapped school districts.

• Offers better power-to-weight ratio, only 220 pounds more than original Miata
• Required creative use of space to accommodate 42 kwh—and 150-mile range
• Electrogenic claims conversion is fully reversible

Electrogenic has launched an electric conversion kit for the Mazda MX-5 Miata, which the U.K.-based company claims will preserve the sports car’s nimble handling traits.

In a press release, the company claims a weight increase of only 220 pounds over the stock version, at 2,425 pounds, but with a 21% improvement in power-to-weight ratio and identical weight distribution (these comparisons are based on a first-generation NA Miata rather than newer models). Range for this fully electric Mazda MX-5 Miata is estimated at about 150 miles.

Electrogenic 3D-scanned a Miata and designed the battery setup to fit into whatever space was available. It managed to cram 42 kwh of battery modules into the small sports car, placing them under the hood where the gasoline inline-4 engine would normally be, and in the rear space normally occupied by the fuel tank. This leaves trunk space unchanged, while keeping mass as low in the chassis as possible, Electrogenic claims, adding that the conversion is entirely reversible.

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

A single electric motor produces 160 hp and 228 lb-ft of torque. The conversion retains the stock rear-wheel drive setup, and while Electrogenic notes that it can be applied to automatic or manual-transmission cars, actual drive is through a single ratio, as in most electric cars. Electrogenic claims a 0-60 mph time of around 6.0 seconds and a 115-mph top speed.

Electrogenic also includes a range-focused Eco drive mode and a Sport mode that provides more immediate throttle response. Regenerative braking is incorporated as well, with intensity ramped up in Sport mode.

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

Electric conversions for big SUVs have become rather common, as there’s a lot of space and they’re easy to get right for that reason. But Electrogenic has done some cool conversions over the years of some distinctive cars, including a Citroën DS and a classic Mini. And it even recently worked with Kia to mark its 80th anniversary with a restomod.

Up until now EV conversions have primarily been very specialized hobbyist projects, mostly for special-interest vehicles, and unless you really know what you’re doing in procuring used packs and parts, they can be expensive. But a California bill proposed last year sought to change that with a rebate for EV conversion projects. A few companies have attempted to build lower-cost conversion kits—France’s Transition One, for instance—but none with large-scale success yet.

Porsche has opted not to use one-pedal driving in its current EVs, and that won’t change with electric sports cars due to replace the current gasoline 718 Boxster and Cayman.

It’s all about giving the driver more control and confidence, Porsche research and development boss Michael Steiner said in a recent interview with Autocar.

“If you ask any race driver, none would choose a one-pedal system because you should have control of recuperation and braking on the same pedal as seamlessly as possible,” Steiner said. “In cornering, if you don’t have the right feeling on the pedal, you don’t have trust in the stability of the car.”

2025 Porsche 718

Porsche’s current strategy, as seen in the Taycan and Macan Electric, taps into regenerative braking only with the brake pedal. This is more efficient, the automaker argues, because it makes better use of built-up kinetic energy for deceleration. Steiner reiterated that point here, while adding that Porsche’s approach gives the driver greater control and awareness.

“If you have all the braking on the brake pedal, then you as the driver can do the modulation you need—and also feel the reaction of the tarmac, steering, and things like that,” Steiner said. “So you can control the car with the brakes as well as the throttle and, in our view, this is superior to a system that does something you can’t control.”

Porsche Mission R concept

Announced in 2022 and due to arrive in 2025 as 2026 models, the 718 Boxster convertible and Cayman coupe will replace the gasoline equivalents as the entry points to Porsche’s sports-car lineup.

Spy shots from earlier this year show proportions similar to the gasoline 718 models, which may stick around alongside the EVs for a period of time, combined with styling elements from other electric Porsches. Some elements are expected to carry over from 2021’s Mission R concept, including a T-shaped battery pack filling the central tunnel and the space behind the seats, although it’s unclear if production models will match the concept’s 670 hp, which could be briefly boosted to 1,073 hp.

The first customer examples of the Lucid Gravity electric SUV began rolling out of the automaker’s Casa Grande, Arizona, assembly plant Thursday.

The Gravity was first revealed in production form at the 2023 Los Angeles auto show, and it arrives as a 2025 model, initially in Grand Touring form with a starting price of $94,900 before destination. Grand Touring models target more than 440 miles of range with battery capacity similar to the Lucid Air Grand Touring sedan—suggesting not much more than 118 kwh.

2025 Lucid Gravity

2025 Lucid Gravity

2025 Lucid Gravity

A dual-motor powertrain is expected to deliver 828 hp from dual motors which, along with the range estimate, is in line with what Lucid claimed when the Gravity was first shown in 2023. The automaker said at the time that launch versions would do 0-60 mph in less than 3.5 seconds. A prototype drive earlier this year hinted at fairly sporty handling as well.

The Grand Touring will be followed by a $79,900 Touring grade, arriving for the 2026 model year. Lucid hasn’t confirmed any additional variants, but it’s possible the automaker will eventually introduce a lower-priced Pure grade and a tri-motor Sapphire performance version, matching the current Air lineup.

The first customer Gravity models have Combined Charging Standard (CCS) ports, but Lucid confirmed in September that the Gravity will get a Tesla North American Charging Standard (NACS) port starting in 2025.

Today marks an exciting landmark for our company. Production of the Lucid Gravity is now underway at our factory in Arizona!​

This milestone is a celebration of the hard work by our passionate and dedicated team to bring this groundbreaking SUV to life. Its combination of space… pic.twitter.com/ItJsOL3H3Y

— Lucid Motors (@LucidMotors) December 5, 2024

Lucid will next move closer to the mass market with three additional models. The first will be a $50,000 mid-size SUV called the Lucid Earth, which is expected to start production in late 2026.

The Earth and Gravity SUVs will likely open up a bigger market than the Air, of which Lucid delivered just 2,781 units in the third quarter of 2024. Even that was up 90% from the same period a year ago, when Lucid was likely still working to ramp up production.

• Tariffs imports from Canada and Mexico could add $2,100 for U.S.-assembled vehicles
• Mexico-made pickup trucks might cost $8,000-$10,000 more
• Proposed tariffs could also drive up the cost for EVs like $35k Chevy Equinox EV

The incoming Trump administration’s proposed 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico could hit the Detroit Three automakers hard, raising the prices of not only EVs but also the gasoline pickup trucks that are those automakers’ lifelines, according to recent reporting from Reuters.

GM would likely see the biggest impact from these policies, which are steeped in the anti-immigration rhetoric that was a major feature of Trump’s campaign message but would disrupt long-established North American supply chains, according to Reuters.

GM is expected to import more than 750,000 vehicles from Canada and Mexico this year, according to that Reuters report, which cites business analytics firm GlobalData. About half of those will be the highly-profitable full-size gasoline pickups that contribute most to the automaker’s bottom line.

2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV

Separately, Reuters also notes that tariffs could affect the price of the Chevrolet Equinox EV, currently GM’s most affordable electric model. It’s assembled in Mexico and costs $34,995 before a $7,500 federal EV tax credit Trump is expected to take away.

Mexico is a major EV manufacturing hub, with more EVs going to the U.S. than are sold domestically—but that’s just part of an overall trend that relates to all types of vehicles and the parts that go into them. As Reuters states, 90% of light vehicles and 43% of auto parts manufactured in Mexico are exported to other parts of North America. GM, Ford, Nissan, and Stellantis lead with exports from Mexico to the U.S., but Toyota, VW, and Honda each brought in more than 100,000 vehicles from Mexico just in the first six months of 2024. 

The Trump tariffs would apply to both complete vehicles and parts. A 25% tariff on parts from Canada or Mexico would add $2,100 in cost to consumers for U.S.-assembled vehicles, and $8,000-$10,000 for vehicles also assembled in Canada or Mexico, according to Reuters, citing Wells Fargo estimates.

Ford Mustang Mach-E assembly – Mexico

Trump voters may feel that financial pain more than most. While many pickup trucks are assembled in the U.S., a good share of popular models, including not only GM’s Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, but also the Ford Maverick, Ram 1500, and Toyota Tacoma are built in Mexico. So the vehicles most popular in rural areas that overwhelmingly voted for Trump will also be impacted by tariffs, Reuters points out.

Trucks are at least profitable, offering a chance that automakers can absorb the cost increases rather than pass them on to consumers. That may not be the case with more affordable compact cars like the Nissan Sentra, longtime industry analyst Sam Fiorani noted to Reuters. EVs could follow the same price-hike path as affordable gas cars. 

Stellantis on Thursday announced an agreement with Texas-based Zeta Energy to develop lithium-sulfur batteries that could significantly reduce cost and pack weight, while boosting charging speed.

The automaker and Zeta Energy claim lithium-sulfur chemistry can deliver comparable volumetric energy density to current lithium-ion battery cells, but at less than half the price per kwh. Sulfur is cheap and widely available, Stellantis noted in a press release, adding that batteries will be produced using unrefined sulfur produced as a byproduct of other industries, other waste materials, methane, helping to keep costs down while minimizing carbon dioxide emissions.

STLA Large platform

Lithium-sulfur tech also “has the potential” to increase fast-charging speeds by up to 50%, the automaker emphasized, along with significantly lighter battery packs with the same usable capacity as equivalent lithium-ion packs.

The agreement calls for pre-production development work with an eye toward possible commercialization by 2030. Stellantis intends to use existing battery factories, and claims it can keep the supply chain for battery materials concentrated within either Europe or North America, in line with its current vehicle manufacturing footprint.

Stellantis STLA Medium platform

Stellantis in 2023 announced a partnership with Lyten to develop lithium-sulfur battery tech, as well as an investment in the California-based startup from its Stellantis Ventures arm. The automaker made clear to Green Car Reports that this partnership with Zeta Energy is complementary to the partnership with Lyten.

For years, lithium-sulfur batteries have been considered one of the next frontiers to greatly boost range without adding weight or driving up production cost. Advances from the past decade have helped push development past some of the key obstacles, but mass production and relatively short life for the cells have remained issues. It will be interesting to see if Stellantis can address those issues before the end of the decade.

A consortium of stakeholders aims to roll out a universal plug-and-charge protocol for the U.S. in 2025, allowing all electric vehicles to automatically start charging at public stations simply by plugging in.

Announced Wednesday, the initiative is being undertaken by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the federal government’s Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, and the Electric Vehicle Public Key Infrastructure (EVPKI) consortium, which represents automakers, charging networks, hardware manufacturers, and other private interests.

2023 Cadillac Lyriq at EVgo DC fast-charging station.

Some automakers have been rolling out plug-and-charge piecemeal, often packaged as part of charging ecosystems for each brand’s customers. But that’s left a range of situations in which plug-and-charge will work with some vehicle-and-charger or vehicle-and-network combinations but not others. This new effort aims to shift reliance away from individual automakers or specific hardware or software variations and make plug-and-charge the norm.

That means developing a common framework that allows all EVs, chargers, and charging networks to seamlessly communicate, a press release from the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, a collaboration between the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Transportation (DOT), said. The office was created under the Biden administration’s infrastructure law to serve as the main point of contact for the administration’s national EV charging network plan.

2023 Nissan Ariya at EVgo charging station

Key to this is a Certificate Trust List (CTL) to be developed by the consortium members. It would essentially be a compendium of vehicles, hardware, and payment platforms that meet certain standards. The goal is to allow for quick authentication when a vehicle is plugged in to charge, by pre-clearing adherents to these standards. The consortium also aims for robust cybersecurity measures, something the federal government has been investigating since at least 2022.

No timeline was given for the full rollout of this evolution of plug-and-charge, but the initiative takes EV charging a further step away from the bad old days of requiring multiple accounts, cards, and fobs to access all public charging stations.

• Rivian owners won’t need a service-center visit to switch tires and wheels
• Gen 1 Rivians will gain launch control
• Framework for third-party apps is completed

Rivian offers regular over-the-air updates, and it’s listening to customer feedback to lay out what it prioritizes, whether the good, the bad, or the ugly.

In a fireside chat at the automaker’s Venice Space in CA in November, Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid laid out a host of features and software tweaks that are in the works. All are driven by owner feedback.

Rivian interface will allow user-configurable tire sizes 

The first three years of Rivian R1T and R1S production saw 20-, 21-, and 22-inch wheels offered with off-road all-terrain tires and all-season street-oriented rubber. The updated 2025 models, known as Gen 2, slim that down to just 20- and 22-inch wheel offerings still with off-road all-terrain or all-season rubber. But the adventure-ready vehicles are ripe for customization as seasons, or adventures, change.

Changing the wheels and tires from the 22-inch wheels down to 20s with winter tires or all-terrains currently requires owners to visit a Rivian service center to have the vehicle’s infotainment system reprogrammed to recognize the different wheel and tire size. This will then factor into the trip computer’s range estimation.

The ability for users to manually change the wheel and tire size is coming in a future software update in the first quarter of 2025, according to Bensaid.

Launch control for Gen 1 Rivians

It’s coming, Bensaid confirmed.

Currently the launch control feature for the pre-2025 R1T and R1S models is in development, and it will arrive in calendar-year 2025.

Bensaid wouldn’t reveal much about the system, but he said, “We want it to be really an exciting package.”

“There will be some surprises,” Bensaid noted. He went on to say there are some features that owners have been requesting for a long time, and they are coming, but the exec wouldn’t expand on what those features are.

Charging and data transparency

Bensaid also confirmed the rollout of what’s being called Energy App 2.0. The goal is to bring data transparency and insight to customers so they understand charging curves. The hope is to help educate customers on what to expect from a charging standpoint, what to expect from a range standpoint, and even promote sustainable behavior.

2025 Rivian R1S

Opening Rivian infotainment to third-party apps

Bensaid said the ultimate vision is for Rivian to open up its infotainment platform to third-party developers. This would enable companies that make apps like Gaia GPS or onX off-road map apps to work when out adventuring in the boonies. Bensaid was quick to note he can’t provide any timelines for any of this given everything else going on from a priority standpoint, but the framework is in place.

Updated gauge cluster design

The software exec also confirmed that Rivians will receive a new digital gauge cluster design in 2025. 

Nissan Ariya owners will be able to charge their electric vehicles at Tesla Supercharger stations starting Dec. 10, the automaker announced Wednesday.

Nissan plans to fit new EVs sold in the U.S. with North American Charging Standard (NACS) ports starting in 2025, but existing vehicles will be able to charge at Supercharger stations using a $235 adapter, which is available to order now, Nissan said.

2023 Nissan Ariya e-4orce

Most major EV brands now plan to adopt the NACS port, while providing adapters to owners of existing EVs. Ford initially offered free adapters, but most other automakers that have begun offering Supercharger access, including General Motors, Kia, Polestar, and Volvo, are making customers pay for them.

Nissan said 17,800 Supercharger sites will be incorporated into its Nissan Energy Charging Network interface, which offers real-time charger availability status and payment through the MyNissan app. The same features are also available for chargers on the Electrify America, Shell Recharge, EVgo, and ChargePoint networks in the U.S.

2023 Nissan Ariya e-4orce

All of this capability is available only on the Ariya, which has a Combined Charging Standard (CCS) port like most other new EVs. Nissan does not plan to offer NACS adapters for the Leaf, the last EV on sale using the CHAdeMO port. Nissan has confirmed that the Leaf will continue for the 2025 model year, but it’s likely to be replaced soon by a more crossover-like sequel with a NACS port.

The Ariya, meanwhile, was a Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2024 finalist thanks to its quiet interior, comfortable ride, nimble handling, and an interface that got things right straight away instead of leaning on future software updates. It arrived as a 2023 model and received price cuts of up to $6,000 for 2024.

From the beginning, Rivian intended its charging network to be at least partly publicly accessible. Now it’s ready to open its Adventure Network DC fast-charging sites to electric vehicles from other brands.

This will be the case with what Rivian calls its next-generation Adventure Network sites, the first of which opened Thursday in Joshua Tree, California. Rivian said that it expects to open additional locations in Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New York in the coming year.

Rivian Adventure Network charging site in Joshua Tree, California

These sites will offer DC fast charging at up to 900 volts, with Combined Charging Standard (CCS) connectors initially. Vehicles with Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) will also be able to charge via adapters, Rivian said, with built-in NACS connectors coming as part of a future update as Rivian moves to adopt NACS for its EVs as well.

Rivian also noted that these new chargers “meet the design and siting requirements to be eligible for relevant state and infrastructure funding.” The automaker expects government funding to help pay for further expansion of the network, which it sees as “an important source of revenue” going forward.

Rivian Adventure Network charging site in Joshua Tree, California

New chargers will also have larger displays and a tap-to-pay option, allowing for use with or without Rivian’s mobile app. The automaker said it will employ “100% renewable energy matching” to ensure a lower overall carbon footprint for EVs charged on its network.

Rivian started deploying its first Adventure Network chargers in 2022 as part of a “two-tier” strategy alongside Waypoint Level 2 AC destination chargers. In keeping with the automaker’s brand image, the network has been planned as a backcountry counterpart to the Tesla Supercharger network, with chargers primarily located near recreational sites.