Category: General

• Used-vehicle market complex as leases end

• Stellantis’ search for CEO successor

• New rule’s impact on China-built cars

• Antitrust settlement gets judge OK

• Automotive News Congress recap

New York City is due to get 5,000 new EV chargers through an alliance between a parking operator and charging-infrastructure company.

The Hudson Valley Parking Trust, which recently acquired Icon Parking, New York City’s largest purveyor of parking spots, is working with Invisible Urban Charging (IUC) to install the chargers at parking sites it controls, the organizations jointly revealed earlier this month.

IUC is the same company that in 2022 unveiled a plan to double the number of EV chargers in Florida. That project focused on high-amp Level 2 AC chargers, and that appears to be the case here as well. The company aims to deploy 1 million chargers over the next five years.

IUC EV chargers

Additional chargers will help address surging EV growth in the Big Apple. It saw a 660% increase in EV ownership over the past five years, and it aims to replace 400,000 vehicles with EVs in NYC for carbon neutrality by 2030.

New York City was fairly early in preparing for charging infrastructure, enacting a rule in 2013 that 20% of newly-constructed parking spaces must be charging-ready. That doesn’t cover existing structures, though, or address street parking. Roughly 1 million vehicles are street-parked in New York City, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) estimates, and the city is working on a streetside charging program.

2024 Hyundai Kona Electric

While NYC hasn’t been short on logistical issues, it’s been the place for some charging innovation—like Gravity’s showcase charging station claimed to be the fastest-charging in America. 

As an MIT study out last year concluded, more emphasis on daytime and workplace charging could help reduce the need for additional power plants—by soothing peak-time evening demand. This goes hand-in-hand with a longtime argument that while DC fast-charging is great for long road trips, in the broader sense the deployment of smart charging is more important.

Volvo has no plans to change its current strategy of styling electric cars like its internal-combustion models, Florian Mockenhaupt, the automaker’s senior manager of exterior design, said in an interview with Australia’s Drive.

“Everything still has to look like a Volvo,” Mockenhaupt said, adding that Volvo is still chasing reductions in aerodynamic drag that can help improve EV range. But it won’t resort to nontraditional designs like the Mercedes-Benz EQS, which now sports a fake grille and a hood ornament in an effort to look more like other Mercedes sedans.

Some might say models that chase aerodynamics at all costs end up looking like a melted bar of soap, with arched rooflines and flush transitions.

2025.5 Volvo XC90 and 2025 Volvo EX90

Maintaining a familial look that links future Volvo models to their predecessors is important for the EVs, Mockenhaupt said, but also comes with practical considerations. Super-sleek designs might compromise interior space, he noted.

“We know people love spacious interiors, so you will never see a Volvo XC90 or EX90 with a super slammed roof, because it’s not fitting our customers’ expectations,” Mockenhaupt said. The EX90 3-row SUV emphasizes that approach with a styling reboot that maintains traditional SUV proportions. Some of the same design features also carry to the smaller Volvo EX30, which has been delayed in the U.S. due to new tariffs.

2025 Volvo EX30 electric SUV (single-motor, Cloud Blue)

Volvo recently announced that its lineup won’t be all-electric by 2030 as originally planned, but it still expects 90% of the vehicles it sells to have a plug by that point. Plug-in hybrids will continue to play an important role in Volvo’s lineup, with additional EVs as well.

Among those new EVs will be the EX60, an electric counterpart to the XC60 SUV launching in 2026 that will debut a new scalable architecture called SPA3, and the ES90 sedan. They’ll give Volvo’s design team more opportunities to prove that this design direction is the right one.

Faraday Future, which has struggled to deliver its $300,000 FF 91 electric vehicle, now plans to launch a sub-brand selling affordable EVs at scale.

In a recent presentation to investors, Faraday Future announced Faraday X—FX for short—which aims to launch two models called FX 5 and FX 6 priced between $20,000-$30,000 and $30,000-$50,000, respectively. The FX 5 will be the mainstream offering, while the FX 6 will be a larger model targeted at families, according to a Faraday Future press release.

Faraday Future announces FX sub-brand

Both models will be available with fully electric or gasoline range-extended powertrains. Faraday Future is targeting a 2025 production start, although the company said this is “subject to securing necessary funding.” The FX sub-brand will be an asset-light operation—like the now-defunct Fisker—with limited marketing and an online-only sales model, according to Faraday Future.

Faraday Future has long teased more affordable models as follow-ups to its FF 91, while making little progress toward producing any vehicles at all. The company had previously announced that it would ramp up the more affordable FF 81 at a former General Motors plant in South Korea, but with no mention of that model or its also-under-development FF 71 in the corresponding business presentation, FX appears to be stepping ahead.

Faraday Future FF91 2.0 Futurist Alliance

The company said nearly nine years ago that they “are very fast” in getting EVs to market. But that most definitely hasn’t proven true. The FF 91 flagship was unveiled nearly eight years ago, and a first delivery was made last August.

The FF 91 had originally been hinted to be a somewhat more premium rival to the Tesla Model S, then it was revealed to cost in the vicinity of $300,000. So Faraday Future will be making a big leap with these affordable models.

• Fisker EV owners have a list of confirmed service points
• Bankruptcy continues, production or brand restart looking unlikely
• Owners will have to pay for some recall repairs, Fisker again says
  

Fisker owners in North America can rest a little easier this week knowing that they’ll have access to a network of approved service centers for their Ocean EVs. 

The news comes Tuesday from the Fisker Owners Association (FOA) after months of “working to identify shops interested in providing service for previously stranded Ocean owners.”

Initially, the list of Fisker service points that can handle repairs, including recalls, includes 20 locations in the U.S. and three in Canada. The above link, which will be kept updated, notes that a list of service points in Europe is “in progress.”

One key to that, according to the FOA, was access to Fisker’s proprietary diagnostic tool, termed FAST, required to service the vehicles. 

2023 Fisker Ocean One

It’s an uplifting piece of news that may help assure Fisker owners have usable EVs for years—with a little extra perseverance.

What’s still unclear is how deep owners will have to dig in for repairs—especially for safety recall repairs that are the manufacturer’s responsibility under federal law. Earlier this month a notice on the bankrupt automaker’s website suggested that owners would have to pay for recall repairs. After some pointed out the legal issues in that, Fisker quietly modified its language to again provide labor. Yet in another, more recent update of the same page, made on Sept. 23, Fisker now says that for the water pump issue and door handle safety recall “the customer will be responsible for the labor costs incurred to complete the repair(s).”

Although based in California, Fisker filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware in June. It’s now well underway as a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which was relatively good news for owners as it requires the company to keep operating in some capacity through the process, with a plan to repay creditors. In recent weeks there’s been a flurry of court documents as creditors request money owed, and as those Fisker assets that are free of liens and claims are approved for liquidation. 

2023 Fisker Ocean One

The chances that we’ll ever again see production of the brand’s promising Ocean EV look very slim, given the nature of the EV’s birth, development, and production. It depended on Austria’s Magna Steyr as a contract manufacturer, though recall documents revealed Magna’s engineering bills weren’t fully paid. Fisker was in charge of coordinating software and various vehicle integration aspects. At the time of its bankruptcy, Fisker estimated liabilities at up to $500 million.

According to an Automotive News report last month, more than 800 owners have also retained Hagens Berman, the same firm that represented VW TDI owners and dealers in that automaker’s diesel emissions scandal. 

Kia on Wednesday confirmed its rollout plan for Tesla North American Charging Standard (NACS) adapters and access to the Tesla Supercharger network.

Customers who take delivery of a 2024 or 2025 Kia EV9 or a 2024 Kia EV6 from Sept. 4, 2024, will receive a free NACS adapter. All other Kia EV owners—including EV6 and EV9 owners who took delivery of their vehicles before the cutoff date, as well as all Kia Niro EV owners—will have to pay an undisclosed price for their adapters.

2024 Kia EV6 GT

Most major car brands have announced plans to adopt the NACS charge port, but only a handful have followed through with plans to offer adapters and Supercharger access. Of those, only General Motors is making all customers pay for adapters. But Kia is being stingier than Ford, which offered one free adapter per vehicle to all existing EV customers initially.

Kia plans to begin shipping adapters in early 2025, and plans to open up Supercharger access January 15 of that year. Interestingly, Kia’s didn’t specifically mention Tesla or Superchargers, only saying that customers will be able to charge at “more than 16,500 NACS DC fast chargers in the U.S.” That number is based on the count of total NACS connectors by the Energy Department’s Alternative Fuel Data Center (AFDC) as of September 2024.

2023 Kia Niro EV

Most other automakers—Stellantis being the only exception—were quick to mention Tesla in their announcements. Kia is one of the automaker partners in the Ionna North American fast-charging network, which has voiced its commitment to both the NACS and CCS standards. So perhaps Kia is looking to emphasize the idea of NACS connectors that aren’t part of the Supercharger network in anticipated of Ionna’s buildout.

Kia, along with sibling brands Hyundai and Genesis, announced NACS support. Hyundai has started building Ioniq 5 EVs with Tesla NACS charge ports, but Kia did not discuss a timeline for adding NACS ports to its vehicles.

• Porsche’s electron-powered product blitz

• Monroe Capital chosen for $1B supplier fund

• U.S. readies ban of Russian, Chinese tech

• Audi EV catches fire on service lift

Rolls-Royce will leapfrog rival Bentley into the all-electric era.

Automotive News reported the automaker is now planning two new EVs including a crossover and a sedan. And that may be in addition to the possibility of an electric Rolls-Royce convertible.

Rolls-Royce launched its first EV, dubbed the Spectre, in 2023, as the brand’s unique expression of electric excess.

The second Rolls-Royce EV to join the lineup after the Spectre coupe will be an SUV, the report claims. The automaker’s electric SUV is going to be full-size, but smaller than today’s V-12-powered Cullinan, according to Automotive News. Expect the electric SUV to arrive in early 2027.

Following the electric SUV in late 2028 will be Rolls-Royce’s third EV, a sedan. The electric sedan will be the replacement for the full-size Phantom flagship, according to Automotive News. The Phantom is a historic Rolls-Royce nameplate and it’s unclear if the electric sedan will bear the name.

The Spectre will serve as the Phantom coupe’s replacement for the foreseeable future. Rolls-Royce already had to recall the Spectre EV due to an insufficient electrical ground that could increase the chance of a fire.

Like other automakers, Rolls-Royce committed to go all-electric by 2030, but unlike competitors, it remains steadfast with that commitment. Despite over 60% of Rolls-Royce vehicles having a V-12 under the hood during the first quarter of 2024, the automaker will wind down models with a combustion engine by the end of 2031.

Rolls-Royce’s main competitor, Bentley, at one time looked poised to go fully electric before its rival. It said in 2020 it would have an entire lineup of plug-in hybrids by 2026 and move to an electric lineup by 2030. But in March Bentley noted its first EV won’t debut until 2026 with deliveries starting in 2027, with the later target because of a changing market landscape. 

• EV concept gets retro Japanese-van form with futuristic cues on the outside
• It can store energy from solar panels, back up the home when needed
• Interior experience is prioritized—as an “extended living room” for viewing, gaming, or work

Japanese electronics firm Sharp recently unveiled a fully electric concept van. And perhaps not surprisingly for a company known for televisions and audio systems, the Sharp EV emphasizes the cabin experience.

Unveiled at Sharp’s Tech-Day ’24 product showcase in Tokyo last week, the LDK+ is an electric van with an interior imagined as an “extended living room,” according to a Sharp press release, focusing more on how the vehicle is used while stationary.

This takes the form of a high-tech makeover of classic camper van or custom van builds. There’s no shag carpeting to be found, but the rear seats can rotate backward to face a screen mounted on the inner side of the tailgate. Liquid-crystal material in the windows allows the transparency to be adjusted for privacy.

Sharp LDK+ electric van concept

Sharp suggests the LDK+ could be used as an extension of a house. Parked in the driveway, it could serve as a theater room, children’s play area, or workspace while still maintaining connectivity with family members “as if they were in the next room.”

This focus on the experience inside the vehicle reminds us of the Afeela brand, a project between Sony and Honda also built around a Japanese electronics company with no previous direct experience building cars.

Bidirectional charging could also allow the LDK+ to serve as a home backup power source, Sharp suggests. Excess power from home solar panels could be stored in the van’s battery pack for use in an emergency or to lessen overall emissions. 

Sharp is already supplying some of the tech for new vehicles and EVs—like the displays for the Fisker Ocean. Since 2016, the company has also been majority owned by the Hon Hai Technology Group, otherwise known as Foxconn, which has its own automotive ambitions.

Foxconn introduced an open platform for EVs in 2020, and has shown an electric cargo van that may or may not be related to the Sharp LDK+ concept. Foxconn has had various other EV projects and, in the U.S., purchased a former GM plant in Ohio that briefly built the failed Lordstown Endurance electric truck in the U.S.

• GM CEO is “surprised” EVs are political
• Barra said GM is on track to be EV-only by 2035 if customers are ready
• GM’s Corvette boss didn’t commit to an electric Corvette, but one’s already been confirmed

GM’s top executive is surprised that EVs became a political lightning rod.

“It did surprise me; I never thought the propulsion system on a vehicle would be (a political issue),” GM CEO Mary Barra said during an interview with Kris Van Cleave for CBS Sunday Morning.

In 2021 GM said that it would not sell vehicles with tailpipes by 2035 and that it intended to be net-zero carbon status by 2040.

The all EV pledge still exists—kind of. Barra told Van Cleave that for GM’s light-duty vehicles (i.e. not its heavy-duty pickup trucks) it will be ready to be EV only by the originally stated 2035 mark. But Barra was quick to note that the automaker will be “guided by the consumer, but the plans we have in place will get us there.”

2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ

In 2022 GM announced it would produce 1 million EVs in North America annually by 2025. That included 600,000 electric trucks. But that’s not going to happen. Barra backed away from that EV target in July noting slowing demand.

Addressing concerns about softening EV sales, Barra noted the automaker never thought this would be a linear transition. While EV market share is sagging in California, overall EV sales are up in the state leading EV sales for the U.S. market.

Van Cleave asked Barra if legacy automakers can move fast enough to compete on the world’s stage against Chinese automakers. “I believe yes, absolutely yes we can and I think yes we are. Our workforce is quite young,” Barra said.

Barra noted that most of GM’s technical talent has been with the company less than five years. She said “for about 40% the new, young, employees are joining GM because they want to be part of a company that is going to change and lead in the move to electric vehicles.”

Teaser video for C8 Chevrolet Corvette hybrid

Van Cleave also interviewed Tony Roma, the executive chief engineer of the Corvette sports car. When asked about an electric Corvette Roma told Van Cleave that GM wouldn’t apply electrification just for the sake of it. “It has to earn its way in and make the cars better in a way our customers will respond to,” Roma said.

GM president Mark Reuss announced in 2022 that an electric Corvette is in the works. First to come would be the electrified Corvette E-Ray hybrid, which arrived in 2023. No timeline has been given for the electric Corvette, but Reuss noted it would be Ultium-based, which means it would theoretically not ride on the current C8 Corvette’s chassis.