Thinking of buying a new Tesla Model 3? If you’re based in Europe, you might want to hold off until the end of this year because Mazda’s new electric 6e looks like it might be worthy of your attention.

A European version of the Chinese EZ-6 that debuted last year, the 6e is a good looking sedan whose liftback rear end gives it a practical advantage over the Model 3. Moving on Mazda’s Kodo design language, the 6e features an LED framed grille whose lights flutter to indicate battery state while charging.

Related: New Mazda EZ-6 Is China’s Electric Mazda6 Sedan

Frameless door glass, a low roofline and an active rear spoiler give the 6e a sporty look, and the rear-wheel drive chassis layout means the driving experience might well live up to that promise.

Not that the 6e is exactly blisteringly fast in either of its available forms. Mazda will offer the EV with two batteries. The smallest a 68.8 kWh unit that delivers up to 300 miles (483 km) of electric range, can charge at 200 kW and go from 10-80 percent in 22 minutes, or add 145 miles (233) of range in 15 minutes. A bigger, 80 kWh battery stretches the range to 345 miles (555 km) but needs 45 minutes to top up from 10-80 percent.

Go for the smaller battery and your 6e comes with 255 hp (258 PS) and can get you from zero to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 7.6 seconds. Choosing the bigger pack drops the output to 241 hp (244 PS) and adds two tenths to the 62 time. Both look like mild performers next to a Model 3, even the most basic of which clocks 62 mph in 5.8 seconds.

The cabin looks more inviting and less spartan than a Model 3’s, but places a similar focus on digital displays. A 10.2-inch unit handles instrument duties ahead of the driver along with a head-up display, and most vehicle functions are handled via a central 14.6-inch touchscreen.

The 6e goes on sale in mainland Europe in the second half of 2025, with UK sales starting early the following year.

Mercedes drivers are about to get a whole lot more choice when it comes to juicing up their EVs. From February 2025, the number of charge points open to them will balloon when access to Tesla’s Supercharger network is granted.

The option to charge at 20,000 Superchargers across North America – while still retaining Mercedes’ no-hassle Plug & Charge functionality – brings the total number of Mercedes me Charge points to more than 110,000 across the region.

Related: Tesla Dragging Its Feet Over Rolling Out Supercharger Access To Other Brands

But while US Mercedes drivers will be able to plug in at Supercharger sites in only a few weeks’ time, those in Canada have to wait until “later” in 2025. And neither group of drivers can take advantage of the Tesla-Mercedes tie-up until they’ve purchased a certain piece of hardware from their dealers.

Existing Owners Need A $185 Adapter – And A Visit To The Dealer

Like many other automakers, Mercedes has promised to fit its new North American-market EVs with Tesla-style NACS (North American Charging Standard) sockets during 2025. But anyone who already owns an EQ-badged Benz, or buys one between now and the switchover, will need to pay $185 for a CCS to NACS adapter.

Granted, that’s not a huge amount for the convenience it offers, especially if you’re a Merc owner, but the likes of Ford and Hyundai, who will also adapt the same standard, are offering existing EV owners the adapter for free.

Cars will also need a free software update at their dealers (what, no OTA fix?) to allow them to use the Supercharger network. But once that’s completed, the chargers will be included in the list of sites visible on the dash display and integrated into Mercedes’ “Navigation with Electric Intelligence” feature that directs drivers to the most appropriate charging location.

“Magic Port” Rapid Charging Is Scarce

Tesla has come under fire for being slow to roll out Supercharger access to other brands, having first announced the plan in 2023. The automaker gave those brands the opportunity to switch to its NACS port and said it would fit a “Magic Dock” to its chargers, enabling an electric vehicle from the likes of Ford, GM, or Hyundai to enjoy rapid charging alongside Tesla models.

More: Tesla Wants Automakers To Adopt Its New 48V Charge Connector The Way They Did With NACS

But by the end of 2024, only around 100 of Tesla’s circa 2,500 Supercharger stations in the US were outfitted with the Magic Dock, an investigation by Bloomberg Green discovered.

Audi, BMW, Fisker, Ford, Genesis, GM, Honda, Lucid, Mazda, Porsche, VW and others have committed to switch to the NACS port, while Hyundai’s facelifted Ioniq 5 already has one. Most brands are also working on, or have, such adapters.

Kia definitely isn’t getting cold feet about electric vehicles, and it’s not just SUVs the Korean automaker thinks need the EV treatment. These spy shots show the company’s PV5 van being developed to give models like the VW’s ID.Buzz Cargo a hard time.

Built around Kia’s e-CCPM (Electric Complete Chassis Platform Module) architecture, the PV5 is a production LCV version of an electric van concept shown 12 months ago. Like VW’s ID.Buzz, it’ll be available in both passenger van and commercial forms, but the PV5 will offer far more configurations than its VW rival.

Related: Everything We Know About The Kia PV5 Electric Van

And we don’t just mean in terms of motor and battery options, which Kia hasn’t revealed much about yet, incidentally. No, we’re talking about modular body sections that enable the PV5 to be configured with low- and high-roof body styles and potentially even as a truck.

When it revealed the concept, Kia said the body units were attached by mechanical couplings and electromagnetic fixture points, allowing owners to customize the PV5s, though looking at these spy shots suggests it might not be a DIY swap and the versatility is experienced at the point of ordering.

Only the brief glimpse of painted metal below the roof behind the sliding door helped us tell this LCV apart from the passenger-carrying minivan we saw last September, and which had a glass panel in the same location. That and the simple steel wheels that replace the alloys seen on the previous prototype.

Both versions feature the same dropped waistline at the front door to improve visibility, have tough, black plastic wheel-arch spats, and are bundled up in a mountain of camo that keeps much of the design details a secret. But we can see the DRLs tracking the line of the frunk and real headlights stashed in the bumper below.

A couple of frames even give us a taste of the inside of the PV5, one showing a large grab handle on the A-pillar and a huge rectangular touchscreen that’s much taller than the ones Kia uses on its current EVs, including the range-topping EV9 SUV.

The PV5 launches later this year and will be joined by a smaller PV1 and PV7. We’re also hoping the off-road PV5 Kia showed at SEMA also makes it to production. Would you take one over a VW ID.Buzz Cargo?

Note: the gallery below also contains shots of the concept and also a Carscoops rendering of how the PV5 could look.

Images: Baldauf, Kia, Josh Byrnes

Technology is great when it works, but when it fails the results don’t only leave us frustrated. Sometimes tech breakdowns can induce sheer terror, as one Ford Mustang Mach-E owner discovered when a battery failure left his child trapped inside the EV.

In a post on Reddit, user @r3d_ra1n explained how all seemed well when his wife parked the 2021 Mach-E up with the battery showing a 25 percent charge. She exited the EV and closed her door before moving around to the other side of the Mustang to open another door to get her infant son, which is when the panic set in.

Related: Ford’s Electric Mustang Mach-E Outsold The Gas Mustang For The First Time Ever

The Mach-E doesn’t have conventional door handles, just a touch-sensitive switch on the pillar, and on this occasion, neither the owner’s wife’s keyfob nor the Ford app on phones belonging to the wife or the poster would unlock and open the door. Not ideal when a helpless baby is inside and it’s a toasty 80 degrees (27 C) outside.

AAA was alerted but failed to open the car by applying a jump pack to the 12-volt battery in the frunk, which was unlocked via the emergency access door below the headlight. Ford Roadside Assistance was also called out, but before that second crew arrived – which was 90 minutes after the baby first became trapped – the owner had taken matters into his own hands and smashed a window to gain access.

With the window busted the owner was able to open the door using the internal emergency release. That manual release is intended to prevent occupants getting trapped inside but it’s obviously no good if the occupant is a lone baby, so it’s worrying that Ford didn’t think to fit an emergency key slot on the outside of the car, as most other automakers do. The 2021 Mach-E came with the same key fob as other Fords and included a physical emergency key hidden inside, but the blank is uncut because there’s no lock.

In a first update to his Reddit post the owner says the car was towed to a dealer, who noted various failure codes but put the problem down to a faulty 12-volt battery, which is a consumable item and therefore not covered by the car’s warranty. But having then gained a ton of attention on social media he says was contacted by Ford HQ who told him they were working on his case.

H/t to Road & Track

Road, good. Train track, bad. That’s something most car drivers are able to get their heads around. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, on the other hand, is still getting to grips with the concept. A video picking up plenty of attention on social media shows a Tesla driving itself onto train lines, and it’s not the first time one of Elon’s cars has ended up on the wrong kind of track.

The incident took place in California where a Tesla owner was driving his EV through traffic in Santa Monica. Or, to be more precise, the owner was being driven by the car, which had its Full Self-Driving assistance tech engaged and its onboard cameras recording every move.

Related: Tesla Driver Reportedly On FSD Dodges Train By Taking Control At The Last Second

Pulling onto Colorado Avenue from an intersection, the Tesla turned too sharply and ended up driving down LA’s Metro E Line track which runs parallel to the road, the footage shows. The driver, Jesse Lyu, founder of AI company Rabbit, makes no attempt to correct the maneuver, which has you wondering if he was paying attention, even though Tesla expressly says FSD does not make its EVs autonomous.

To be fair, the train line we’re talking about here is a typical city type that looks just like a regular road lane, and because the rails are flush with the ground, it can be driven over by a car. But unfortunately for the owner, a fence on the left and concrete curb on the right makes it harder to get off the train track when he realizes his mistake – and spots a train bearing down on him from behind.

hi @elonmusk – FSD v13.2.2 just drove me to a train line here in Santa Monica. sending this video clips and hopefully you guys can fix it fast. (i was shaking and i had to ran a red light to save my life). pic.twitter.com/GOERJSEcTq

— Jesse Lyu (@jessechenglyu) January 2, 2025

And he’s unable to move forward to safety at the next stoplight because there are buses and pedestrians crossing in front of him. As soon as the pedestrians are clear he runs the red light to get out of the way, but says he was left shaken by the experience.

“I’ve got nowhere to go, the train is right behind me,” Lyu says in commentary provided of the video he posted to X. “This is crazy, I could get killed because of this. I had to run the red light to save my life.”

hi @elonmusk – FSD v13.2.2 just drove me to a train line here in Santa Monica. sending this video clips and hopefully you guys can fix it fast. (i was shaking and i had to ran a red light to save my life). pic.twitter.com/GOERJSEcTq

— Jesse Lyu (@jessechenglyu) January 2, 2025

H/t to SFGate

Is your street or route to work blighted by potholes? Or are you a professional getaway driver currently doing a five-stretch after a strip of police spikes thwarted your escape from that last bank job? Then China’s YangWang U9, which can leap into the air like a skateboard pro, has your name all over it.

You’ve probably seen the 1.68 million yuan ($230,00 USD) YangWang U9 before, and maybe even watched a video of it driving on three wheels or jigging about in a kind of dance with the help of its Disus X suspension. But now a new video released by the Chinese carmaker showing what the suspension can do has been released and its expanded skillset is equally weird – simultaneously amazing and completely pointless.

Related: YangWang U9 Hits 244 MPH Top Speed, But Can’t Beat The Taycan At The Nurburgring

The 100-second promo places a 1,287-hp (1,305 PS / 960 kW) quad-motor U9, complete with its McLaren Senna-style rear spoiler, on a test track, where it accelerates hard from a standing start up to 120 km/h (75 mph) before leaping over a water-filled crater in the ground. The front wheels pop-up first to help get the U9 airborne, then the rears follow. Though the gap is only 8 ft (2.5 m), text on the screen tells us the U9 actually jumped 20 ft (6 m) in total.

Next up there’s a 13-ft (4 m) stretch of tire-shredding metal spikes, each measuring 1.4 inches (35 mm) tall, the kind of thing James Bond used to throw out of his car to send the bad guys spinning into the weeds. And then there’s a same-sized patch of four brightly colored dust strips. The U9 clears them both, and it does it all without a driver onboard, relying purely on its autonomous tech.

But why? Who needs a bunny-hopping 1,300-hp EV that doesn’t even need you? Unless I’m missing something, it’s just another desperate gimmick, like the dancing. You’re never seriously going to be leaping over potholes in the road, and it doesn’t seem to jump high enough to clear any obstacles you might encounter, like roadkill. Or even police road spikes. No use to getaway drivers, then…

Perhaps YangWang should come up with a third video showing how the Disus X suspension does something that’s useful and desirable, like, oh, go round corners really, really well. But since the U9 has already failed to beat the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT and Xiaomi SU7 Ultra at the Nürburgring, maybe gimmicks (and a 244 mph top speed) is all it’s got.

As soon as Cybertrucks began finding their way into owners’ hands, people started testing their durability claims and documenting the results on YouTube. One social media star who always takes things a step beyond the sane managed to snap his Cybertruck’s frame in a video test against an F-150 last summer, and now he’s back with a second video to find out whether Tesla or Ford builds the toughest truck.

In a video titled Cybertruck Durability Test #2, which in no way prepares you for the torture inflicted in the following 20 minutes, Cody Detwiler, better known to YouTube audiences as WhistlinDiesel, really does push the durability of both the Tesla and a gas-powered F-150 to the limit. Admittedly neither of the duo breaks in the first test, a simple tug of war, in which the trucks take turns making each other look helpless, but we don’t have to wait long for some carnage.

Related: Whistlin Diesel Snaps Tesla Cybertruck Frame In Viral “Durability” Test

That arrives first when Detwiler strips the teeth on the Cybertruck’s front driveshaft while trying to pull donuts in front-wheel drive mode. And soon after the F-150 snaps its propshaft while jumping over rough terrain carrying 3,500 lbs (1,590 kg) of cinder blocks in the bed before the Tesla loses a rear wheel in a similar stunt.

I don’t want to spoil too much of the video but both trucks are in a real mess by the end of the test and Detwiler says it’s almost too close to call. But the fact that only one vehicle is still fully running when the credits roll – after rising from the dead using a drowned smartphone hack – and another has required multiple dealer visits just to stay in the game means there’s a clear winner in our eyes.

Whistlin Diesel’s video dropped only a couple of days after the destruction of a totally different Cybertruck. In that tragic terrorist incident, a Tesla pickup apparently rented through Turo and loaded with gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters, and firework mortars was detonated by its driver outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The driver died in the explosion and seven people were injured.

These fresh spy shots show a Porsche test driver putting a prototype Cayenne Electric through its paces. We had expected the big brother to the new Macan Electric to debut in late 2025 or early 2026, but with Porsche rethinking its EV strategy, could that launch be in danger of slipping back?

Although Porsche hasn’t confirmed any delay for its first zero-emissions Cayenne, we know that it’s been forced to adapt its brand-wide electrification plan in the wake of changes in the car market, as have other automakers. Porsche revealed last year that it would extend the lifespan of some combustion models and modify EVs currently in development – specifically the K1 three-row SUV – in order for them also to be able to accommodate combustion powertrains.

Related: Porsche Delays Key EV Launches Amid Engineering And Market Challenges

It’s too late in the development process for the electric 718 Boxster and Cayman and the Cayenne Electric to be included in that retrofit program, but that’s not such a problem where the SUV is concerned, because Porsche plans to keep the current combustion Cayenne (which was heavily updated and facelifted for 2024) on sale alongside it for years to come.

Although both will wear Cayenne badges and have similar interiors, they’re totally different under the skin down to the different platforms. The Cayenne Electric sits on a stretched version of the PPE architecture already being used by the Audi A6 e-tron and Q6 e-tron, and of course, Porsche’s own Macan Electric. And though it’s difficult with this prototype’s disguise in place to get a clear picture of the design details, we’re expecting the Cayenne to borrow plenty of headlight and grille styling ideas from its younger sibling.

Entry-level Cayennes will probably also share their powertrains with mid- or high-spec Macans, which feature a 509 hp (516 PS / 380 kW) bi-motor setup in 4S trim and 630 hp (639 PS / 470 kW) in Turbo guise.

And the Cayenne Turbo? Perhaps the 872 hp (884 PS / 650 kW) and 939 hp (700 kW / 952 PS) of the Taycan Turbo and Turbo S give us an idea of the kind of muscle pricey versions of the SUV could be shooting for. Maybe there’s even one in the works with the 1,020 hp (1,034 PS / 760 kW) motors out of the Taycan Turbo GT to provide an answer to the Tesla Model X Plaid that makes the same power.

But weighing on Porsche’s mind is the fact that Taycan sales tanked last year even as global EV registrations rose, and the introduction of a facelifted car and super-fast models couldn’t avert the slide. The Macan Electric isn’t performing as well as expected in dealerships, either. Would you press ahead with a Cayenne Electric launch in the next 12 months if you were Porsche or would you hold off until the luxury EV market has recovered?

Images: SH Proshots

The Soul EV introduced the idea of zero emissions driving to Kia buyers, but its replacement, the 2025 EV3, promises to be better in every way, and doesn’t cost any more to buy.

On-paper at least, the EV3 seems to tick every box. It borrows its EV9 big brother’s confident, modern design, delivers a great driving range and is well equipped. But it’s got some strong rivals in the Volvo EX30 and Skoda’s new Elroq.

QUICK FACTS

What’s Under The Hood?

Choosing an EV3 at launch in Europe means first deciding how far you want to go between charges, though every version lasts longer than the old Soul EV. The base Standard Range battery – only available in the entry-level Air trim (pictured on the left above) – measures 58.3 kWh and is good for 270 WLTP miles (435 km) on a charge, which is probably fine for people planning to use the SUV for urban duties.

Related: New Kia EV3 Confirmed For US, Gets Sporty GT Too

But if you do want to stretch its legs, or don’t have easy access to a charger at home, the Long Range option adds a bigger 81.4 kWh battery that can take an Air to 375 miles (604 km). Plusher GT-Line (right of pic) and GT-Line S (center) models only come with the bigger pack, but their extra weight and bigger wheels reduces the range to around 362 miles (583 km), which is still great. Even the EV9 with its huge 96 kWh battery can’t touch those numbers.

Kia is working on adding dual-motor and even faster GT versions, but those will come later. At launch the only power option is a single, front-mounted motor making 201 hp (204 PS / 150 kW).

How Does It Drive?

Kia’s European cars have a different suspension tune to those in the US and Korea, and tend to err on the sporty side of comfortable. But the engineers took a more relaxed position with the EV3 and the result is a car that rides bumps incredibly well in Air form on the stock 17-inch wheels. GT-Line cars upgrade to 19 inches and don’t feel anywhere near as supple, but even they aren’t uncomfortable, and the shorter tire sidewalls sharpen the steering.

The EV3 isn’t the kind of car that encourages you to go crazy as soon as the road turns twisty (maybe that will change when the GT arrives), but it has a well-rounded chassis package that’s still fun to to drive, feels well suited to family use and is good match for the single-motor drivetrain.

Fastest of the bunch is the lightest, the Air SR, which runs from zero to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 7.5 seconds, while the bigger battery adds a 0.2 second penalty and the heavier GT trim the same amount again. So you won’t be hanging with a Rimac Nevera from the lights, but you always feel like you’ve got enough go to keep up with real traffic, to nip through gaps and overtake when you need. The base EV, remember, takes more than 9 seconds to hit 62. Tapping the steering wheel paddles lets you switch in multiple stages between almost no regenerative braking effect to virtually one-pedal driving.

What’s The Interior Like?

If you’re a fan of the way Kia has shrunk the EV9’s exterior styling down to work on the EV3, you’ll love the smaller car’s cabin, too. As on the three-row SUV, you get a pair of 12.3-inch screens, one for the instruments and a second that’s a touchscreen, separated by a smaller display used to operate some of the climate control functions.

It looks great and works well with a couple of minor exceptions. One is that the main touchscreen is a bit of a stretch away and the second is that the climate section is partially hidden behind the steering wheel, though you do at least get hard keys on the dash to tweak the temperature.

Another minor complaint is just how grey it is inside the Air-spec cars (shown above). There’s acres of light-medium grey plastic everywhere, which helps make an otherwise stylish cabin look a little drab. The fact that the GT-Line cars have extra trim that lifts the ambience, plus a sportier three-spoke wheel, might be enough to persuade you to upgrade.

2025 Kia EV6 Review: Facelift Is Better Than Ever, But We’d Wait For The EV5

But even the base £32,995 Air is well equipped. It gets a heated wheel and front seats, parking sensors and a rear camera, various electronic safety features and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Stepping up to £39,495 GT-Line, as Kia expects most drivers to do, brings 19-inch wheels, privacy glass, artificial leather and lumber support for the seats, a wireless phone charger, LED headlights and a digital key.

On GT-Line cars you also get a strange slide-out, front-seat armrest that’s meant to work as a table for your laptop, but it does ruin the armrest storage space and kind of looks like a kitchen counter. And lastly, £42,995 GT-Line S trim adds ventilated relaxation seats, a 360-degree camera, power tailgate, sunroof, head-up display, a Harmon Kardon audio system and the option of a £900 heat pump.

How Roomy Is It?

You don’t expect limo-like comfort from an affordable SUV riding on a compact 2,680-mm (105.5 inches) wheelbase. But the EV3 is a surprisingly useful family tool. It’ll accommodate four adults easily and dropping the two-deck cargo area floor to its lower setting gives a handy 460 liters (16.2 cu-ft) of luggage space.

Volvo’s EX30 only offers 318 liters (11.2 cu-ft), though the Skoda Elroq just tops the Kia by serving up an additional, though hardly deal-breaking, 10 liters (0.35 cu-t). A sliding rear seat would have made the EV3 even more practical, but then the Volvo and Skoda don’t get that feature either.

How Long Does It Take To Charge?

One of the few EV3 disappointments is that it makes do with 400-volt electrics rather than inheriting the 800-volt setup used by the more expensive EV6 and EV9. The result is slower charging speeds, the SR battery models charging at a maximum of just 101 kW and needing 29 minutes to fill from 10-80 percent, while the LR pack can accept a slightly better 128 kW so only needs 2 additional minutes to go from 10-80 despite its bigger capacity.

Related: Skoda’s New Elroq EV Aims For The Mainstream Sweet Spot

A Skoda Elroq charges at between 145-175 kW depending on the model, so can be topped up a few minutes faster, though the difference isn’t huge. But it’s a shame the EV3 can’t fill up in 18 minutes like the 800-volt EV6 can.

Verdict

Kia has done it again. In the EV3 it’s built a fantastic small EV that’s great to look at, well built, comfortable, and has a usefully large range and trunk. A dual-motor option and sporty GT model coming later will broaden its appeal, and some extra interior color and faster charging would be welcome, but most buyers looking for an affordable electric SUV are going to find the EV3 just fine the way it is.

European drivers can get their hands on a an EV3 now, but America won’t be able to buy one for at least a year, the one upside being that it will cost far less – around $30,000-35,000 when it does go on sale. And by the time the EV3 does arrive stateside, both Europe and America will also be introduced to the bigger EV5 already on sale in China. Based on our experience with the EV3, it could be the best family EV of its generation.

Photos: Chris Chilton/Carscoops, Kia UK

Is the EV boom over? Not according to respected industry analysts, who say sales of electric vehicle are set to grow by 30 percent in 2025 even as various automakers are watering down their electrification plans, claiming that demand is too weak.

Experts at S&P Global Mobility predict that sales of battery-powered electric vehicles will hit 15.1 million units next year, taking their market share to 16.7 percent of global car sales. Although the final figures aren’t yet in for 2024, estimates put sales at 11.6 million BEVs, giving them a 13.2 percent market share.

India Will Grow, But The US Depends On Trump’s Policy

Growth will vary dramatically from region to region, the study says, and will be influenced by many factors including government policy, tariffs and incentives, plus of course the availability of a suitable charging infrastructure.

Related: Global EV Sales Shatter Records In November Thanks To China’s Unstoppable Growth

A look at the table below highlights just how different EV demand is in different parts of the world. Electric cars are expected to account for just 7.5 percent of total sales in India, for instance, though the 117 percent year-on-year change, means they’re gaining ground fast.

In the US, EV sales are projected to grow by 36 percent to 11.2 percent of the market, though much of the success depends on what incoming White House resident Donald Trump and his team has planned for EV tax credits and tariffs on cars built outside the US.

Predicted 2025 EV sales by region

China Is On Fire

China has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to buying EVs, which are expected to grab almost 30 percent of the country’s car market. But because that share is already huge, the rate of growth isn’t as rapid as in other regions: it’ll climb 20 percent versus 2024. Even so, EVs in China are expected to outsell ICE vehicles for the first time in 2025, beating the government’s target of electric vehicles to account for 50 percent of new car sales by 2035.

However, even though analysts predict that this trend will continue well into the future and claim that “China’s EV juggernaut is unstoppable”, an oversupply of models, stiff competition and price wars will result in the demise of many local brands.

More: Porsche To Shut 30% Of Its Dealerships In China After Sales Tumble

Moreover, European, Japanese and US automakers, who a few years ago used to dominate the world’s biggest car market, are already facing a steep decline in their sales as buyers turn to domestic brands. In 2020, foreign cars accounted for 64 percent of new car sales, while in 2024 their share has plunged to just 37 percent.

Europe Will Expand Despite Germany’s Troubles

We’ve heard about dismal EV sales in Germany during this year and how the removal of state subsidies has impacted demand for electric cars. Alongside the aforementioned decline in China, they have resulted in the likes of the VW Group facing a serious turmoil, with huge job cuts and even the closing of factories being proposed by the management and the workers’ union threatening with massive strikes if those plans go forward.

But the study still anticipates EV sales in western and central Europe will grow by 43 percent, taking their market share to more than 20 percent, despite France and Spain being set to slash, or at least dial down, subsidies in 2025.

The EV6 wasn’t Kia’s first electric car, but it’s the one that really cemented the Korean automaker’s place at the forefront of the modern EV revolution. Sharp styling, a long range and fast charging speeds helped win it numerous awards and thousands of customers, but the three-year old fastback has now been facelifted to help out battle newer rivals, including its own already-revised Hyundai Ioniq 5 cousin. We grabbed some seat time in Europe to see what the facelifted EV6 has to offer ahead of its arrival in U.S. and Canadian showrooms next spring.

QUICK FACTS

What’s new?

Things change even more rapidly in the EV segment than they do for normal ICE cars, with non-stop tech advances quickly making older EVs looks outdated and impractical. But the EV6 was so advanced when it appeared in 2021 that Kia hasn’t felt the need to do much beyond making some subtle improvements.

So the exterior design is little changed, the most obvious tweaks being the new headlights, although the lower bodyside moldings, wheels, bumpers and distinctive full-width rear light bar are also refreshed. The modest update means the curvy EV6 has quite a different look to Kia’s latest cars like the EV3, EV9 and combustion-powered K4, but it still presents as modern and exciting.

More: Kia’s Updated 2026 EV6 Adds Range, Tech, And A Fake Gearbox For GT

There are also some interior changes, which we’ll get to later, and bigger battery packs to increase the already respectable range figures. All cars in the UK, where we drove the EV6, now come with a 84 kWh battery (up from 77.4 kWh), while in markets that offer two sizes, like the US, the base battery steps up from 58 to 63 kWh. Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 received the same upgrade when it was facelifted at the beginning of this year.

What’s the lineup?

While the US will carry over the availability of a single-motor base car with 167 hp (169 PS / 125 kW), the UK lineup skips that and goes straight for the 225 hp (228 PS / 168 kW) version, but also driving only the rear wheels.

A dual-motor version provides all-wheel drive and a bump to 320 hp (324 PS / 239 kW), and as before the even more powerful GT tops the lineup. That inherits the Ioniq 5 N’s 641 hp with overboost (650 PS / 478 kW) setup and fake transmission for 2025, but we’ll have to wait to drive that one another time.

Prices start at £45,575 for the base model 225 hp Air and top out at £58,125 for the GT-Line S with the optional heat pump. GT prices, and prices for US models, will be announced later.

How’s the interior?

Much like the exterior mods, the changes to the interior focus on refining what’s already there, rather than ripping it up and starting again. So while the general layout of the interior and console is familiar, the dashboard is improved by a pair of 12.3-inch digital displays hidden behind a single pain of glass that’s now more rectangular. It brings the EV6 closer to newer models like the EV9, though the EV6 retains its strip of touch sensitive buttons below its air vents rather than adopt the SUV’s rocker switches. I prefer the EV’s setup.

Related: Hyundai Group Models Get Google Maps Overhaul Ahead Of Full Shift To Android Auto OS

GT-Line cars get a sporty three-spoke steering wheel, but base-model Air trim in the UK (and their ‘Light’ equivalents in the US) still has the old two-spoke rim. All trims get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto this time, but they keep last year’s unnecessarily large center console that blocks access to the storage area below. Swapping the rotary gear selector for the EV9’s twistable column shifter would have allowed a big chunk of the console to be chopped away and improved practicality.

Other minor grumbles are the poor visibility resulting from the thick rear pillars and a cargo bay that’s a little shallow, capping the space available at a so-so 490 liters (17.3 cu-ft). Single-motor models augment that with a usable frunk, but it shrinks to almost nothing when you spec a front motor.

Rear passenger space, however, is huge. There’s plenty of knee-room, and headroom isn’t bad despite the sloping roofline. But because the front seats are mounted so low rear riders can’t get their feet under them, which is going to make long journeys uncomfortable.

How does it drive?

The EV6’s sporty profile promises a good time behind the wheel, and even if the experience isn’t as dynamic as what the far more expensive Porsche Taycan serves up, the tight suspension and relatively low center of gravity mean it’s more agile than some other electric cars. Even without the flagship GT’s torque vectoring, the regular models steer smartly and put their power down cleanly.

True, the ride is on the firm side, an almost inevitable payoff for the good body control, but it’s never harsh. Think 2000s-era Fords, but with a bit more polish, and also a bit more precision than last year’s EV6 thanks to additional body strengthening and improved steering response.

We didn’t drive the GT, but the regular dual-motor car is no slouch. It gets to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 5.3 seconds, which is almost a match for a Tesla Model Y (4.8 seconds), and pushes you back in your seat between 10-50 mph (16-80 km/h) hard enough to make you feel slightly nauseous, like fast EVs do.

More: Can The Kia EV6 GT Beat A BMW M2 In A U-Drag Race?

The single-motor EV6 isn’t anything like as rapid, needing 7.7 seconds for the 62 mph run compared with just 5.7 seconds for the similarly priced RWD Model Y, but the surprise is it never feels truly sluggish thanks to the instant throttle response. Factor in the extra agility that comes from the lighter curb weight and better weight distribution, plus the lower price and longer range, and you could easily argue that it’s the pick of the lineup.

How far will I go on a charge?

Upping the battery size has stretched the WLTP range in the entry-level, single-motor EV6 from 328 miles (528 km) to 361 miles (581 km), while the US specs for the same model list the range climbing 9 miles (15 km) to 319 miles (513 km).

The dual-motor car is now rated at up to 339 miles (546 km) rather than 314 miles (505 km) in Europe, but we don’t yet have EPA numbers for that one. What hasn’t changed is the charging speeds, which were already super-quick due to the E-GMP platform’s 800-volt electrics. Find a charger kicking out at least 260 kW and you can take the battery from 10-80 percent in 18 minutes.

What else do I need to know?

Remember how Hyundai bowed to customer pressure and put a rear wiper on the facelifted Ioniq 5? Sadly, Kia didn’t rectify the same mistake on the EV6. And although all versions of the EV6 charge at the same speed, charging will be a less comfortable experience in the entry-level Air because it doesn’t get the powered lie-flat seats fitted to GT and GT-Line S models.

Otherwise, the Air is well equipped, coming with 19-inch alloys, heated seats and wheel and adaptive cruise control. GT-Line cars get wireless phone charging, privacy glass and sportier trim, including the three-spoke steering wheel, while GT-Line S versions ramp up the luxury with 20-inch rims, a head-up display and ventilation for the front seats and heating for the rears.

Another important factoid for US buyers is that the Georgia-built EV6s arriving in showrooms next year will feature a North American Charging Standard (NACS) socket. UK cars obviously don’t get the same upgrade.

Verdict

There wasn’t much wrong with the EV6, which was deservedly named European Car of the Year in 2022, but Kia has still managed to improve it in some key areas. The most useful of those is the bigger battery, which should now mean most owners see close to 300 true miles (483 km) between charges in the single-motor, rear-drive car, and we also like the new infotainment system and wireless CarPlay functionality.

The tweaks should help keep the EV6 on most EV buyers’ shortlists if not necessarily in top position, though by this time next year it will have some awkward opposition on its hands. That’s when Kia launches the EV5, and considering the EV9 has already had a detrimental impact on EV6 sales despite costing far more, the smaller SUV is bound to steal some attention. But until then, or for buyers determined not to buy an SUV or a Tesla Model Y, the EV6 remains a great electric buy.

Photo Credits: Chris Chilton/Carscoops

Tesla’s long-hyped, Mad Max-meets-LEGO Cybertruck has been on the streets for a year now, and, predictably, the drama has already arrived with it. One owner is out here claiming their electric pickup fell victim to a mere pothole on the road, racking up an eye-watering repair bill of over $34,000. Yes, thirty-four grand. Yet he still thinks the EV is tough and capable.

In a Facebook post picked up by Reddit, the unnamed Cybertruck lover reveals images of the damage and a screenshot of the total repair bill, which came to $34,013 including tax.

Related: Cybertruck Wheels Snap Off Like Twigs In Bizarre TikTok Video

“I finally got my truck back after nearly four months,” he wrote. “It got worked over pretty hard, and many more things needed to be replaced than originally expected.”

Certainly more than would be expected from a typical hard pothole strike in a full-size truck, the kind of vehicle that’s usually one of the most resilient on the road. Just how big was this pothole? I’m imagining something the size of the sinkhole that opened up at the Corvette museum back in 2014 maybe?

“The rear suspension mounts broke and then punched through the frame, requiring the full rear frame replacement,” he explains. “Front and rear rack and pinion steering, suspension all the way around, front and rear bumpers, air suspension systems, and bed components, to name a few.”

Some Reddit commenters have openly questioned whether a pothole really would cause that much damage to a truck, regardless of whether its a traditional body-on-frame pickup or built around aluminum castings, like the Tesla.

One commenter claims (without offering proof) that the owner posted in August that the damage occurred when he jumped the truck 22 ft (6.7 m), and the owner’s slightly cryptic comments in this latest post only serve to fan the flames.

More: Eagle Cap Camper Snaps Ram 3500 Dually In Half, Mopar Refuses $17,000 Repair Bill

“Since the insurance paid for it I won’t comment on how it was driven, just that a very large pothole in our washed-out road caused all the dominoes to fall,” he says.

But despite suffering such a huge amount of damage and needing an equally huge amount of work and money to get it back in working order, the owner doesn’t think any less of his Tesla.

“This is not a commentary on the durability of the truck,” he says. “You would be astounded at how tough and capable this truck is. This is still the most amazing truck I’ve ever had!”

A pothole and $32,000 of repairs later he still loves the truck!
byu/IcerC inCyberStuck

GM head Mary Barra raised a few eyebrows this week when she claimed the automaker and President Donald Trump are “goal-aligned” despite Trump’s plans to introduce tariffs that Barra admits could have a “very substantial” impact on GM’s business.

“I think we’re very goal-aligned,” the CEO told guests at the Automotive Press Association event on Wednesday, before going on to explain just what the two usually opposing sides see eye-to-eye about.

Related: Trump’s Tariffs Could Cut 17% From Automaker Profits

“We want a strong economy. We want a strong manufacturing base in this country. We agree automotive jobs are important,” Detroit Free Press reports Barra saying. But she made no bones about the difficulty GM (and other automakers) face, both in terms of the uncertainty in the short term, and the potential fallout from Trump’s decisions later during his time in office.

“We’ll have to see what the policies will be,” Barra said. “It’s hard for me to predict what will happen. We’re doing a lot of scenario planning, and we’ll adjust accordingly.”

Barra admitted that Trump’s proposal to place a 25 percent tariff on vehicles imported to the US from Mexico and Canada (where GM has production sites) “could have a very substantial impact” on its profitability, as could scrapping the $7,500 EV tax credit.

Although Trump and Barra have sometimes been at loggerheads, and she was the recipient of the president’s anger on social media over GM cost-cutting measures, Barra described her sometime foe as a good listener. GM will be hoping that he’s still willing to listen to what Barra has to say and not listen too intently to the opinions of Tesla boss Elon Musk – soon to be in charge of the much-hyped Department of Government Efficiency.

“Any time you have an administrative change, there’s policy changes that occur,” Barra said, per The Detroit News. “We’ve been working with any every administration for the last several decades, and General Motors will continue to do that. But I’m actually looking forward to working with the president and with the administration, because I think we can grow the importance of the auto industry and manufacturing.”

We’re constantly hearing about an EV downturn and how automakers are changing their electrification strategies because consumers aren’t consuming. And sure, sales of electric cars are down in countries like Germany, but in the US people are still buying EVs, and they’re buying more of them than they did 12 months ago.

EV registrations climbed 5 percent in October versus the same month in 2023, topping out at 101,403, according to data from S&P Global Mobility. And it wasn’t Tesla driving that growth, but legacy automakers.

Related: Global EV Sales Shatter Records In November Thanks To China’s Unstoppable Growth

Chevrolet’s EV sales jumped 38 percent to 6,741 helped by demand for the Blazer and Equinox, while Cadillac Lyriq registrations grew threefold to 2,489 and the Hummer shifted 1,015 electric trucks, four times as many as it did last October. 

Like the Equinox, Honda’s Prologue, which is built on the same GM platform and in the same Mexican GM plant, wasn’t available in 2023, but made its presence felt this year. It found 4,168 homes, only 12 fewer than Chevy did of its version. Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 facelift also gave its sales numbers the desired nip and tuck, boosting registrations from 3,555 to 4,485.

Although the overall number of EV sales is up, the rate of growth has slowed and some models registered fewer deliveries than previously. The Ford Mustang Mach-E, for instance, was down from 3,949 to 3,479 according to S&P Global Mobility’s spreadsheet and Rivian R1S sales dropped by more than 500 to 2,456. There are also fears that the EV segment relies heavily on tax credit availability to boost demand, and public interest could wane if Trump pulls the plug on the incentives when he takes office.

BEST SELLING EVs USA

Tesla’s registration numbers actually fell by 1.8 percent, and if you remove Tesla from the equation, EV sales increased not by 5 percent, but by 11 percent. And this isn’t a blip for Tesla: the automaker’s numbers have fallen in seven of the first 10 months of 2024, Auto News reports, and that’s despite the facelifted Model 3 and Cybertruck being new for this year. While the Model 3 gained ground, the Model Y fell back, sales tumbling from more than 25,000 to under 22,000.

But before anyone gets the idea that Tesla is falling behind in the EV race, we should make clear that it still outperformed the second best-selling brand’s EV models six times over. Or every single brand in the 2nd to 12th spots combined.

EV REGISTRATIONS USA

Renault’s retro-influenced 4, 5 and Twingo have gone down a storm, but the French automaker has very different plans for its other models. The company’s design boss says an army of new EVs launching from 2028 will look forward, not back, and begin a design shift away from traditional SUV shapes.

Design boss Gilles Vidal suggests we look to this year’s Embleme concept, a sporty, low-slung crossover, for an idea of what to expect when the new-generation electric cars arrive on their also-new EV platform.

Related: Renault Embleme Concept Is A Sleek FCEV Crossover With Ultra-Low Emissions

“The cars before the Embleme were maybe a bit misleading, because you see a 5, a 4, a Twingo,” Vidal told Autocar.

“The Embleme is a better representation of what’s next for the brand globally in terms of design, and maybe new silhouettes, for the future: generous shapes, not too minimalistic, but simpler than what we did lately on Scenic.”

Vidal even suggested that wagons, whose market share has been eroded by SUVs and crossovers, could influence future sport-utilities. He described sport wagons as “kind of sexy” and said their low rooflines but large cargo areas made sense for EVs that need to balance the twin priorities of practicality and driving range.

Vidal acknowledged that anti-SUV sentiment, which is particularly strong in the automaker’s home city of Paris, was a consideration during the design process, but believes that maybe the hate was unwarranted.

“There’s still a huge fight against SUVs on principal, but would you say the same thing about MPVs?” he asked Autocar’s reporter. “They are the same weight, have the same engines, the same CO2 emissions. But no-one would ever criticize an MPV, a respectable family product. Who are we to criticize aggressive looking cars?”

But while Vidal’s team is striving to come up with something entirely new and forward-looking to replace Renault’s familiar SUV shapes, that doesn’t mean it is already making plans to cut short the lives of the 4, 5 and Twingo. He described the trio as “timeless” and claimed they’d evolve slowly, like Fiat’s retro 500.

Update: Becky Peterson, a journalist from the Wall Street Journal, says she’s acquired a copy of the Deutsche Bank report from the Autonomous Day conference that took place in NYC on December 5. The report confirms many of the points mentioned in the Chinese media, including that Travis Axelrod met with Deutsche Bank during the conference.

Peterson outlines five key points from the report, including that Deutsche Bank refers to the “new Tesla model” as the “Model Q.” The report also mentions that the EV is expected to launch in the first half of 2025, priced under $30,000 with federal tax credits or less than $38,000 without, and built on Tesla’s existing platforms. However, it’s unclear from her tweet whether these statements are Axelrod’s own words or Deutsche Bank’s assessment.

In another tweet, Peterson pointed out that the report makes no mention of “Redwood, the internal code name for a mass market vehicle, built on a new platform, which Musk paused earlier this year” adding that “It also doesn’t say anything about the size or cost, or how it might differ from a Model 3”.

We’ve reached out to Peterson and will update this story if we hear more.

I got a copy of the Deutsche Bank report.

Here's what it does say:

1. @travisraxelrod met with DB for its Autonomous Driving Day on December 5 in NYC.
2. DB describes "the new Tesla model" which it calls "Model Q".
3. DB says it will launch in the first half of 2025, and…

— Becky Peterson (@beckpeterson) December 9, 2024

Original story follows below.

If a report coming out of China, citing statements from a Deutsche Bank conference and Tesla’s VP of Investor Relations, is to be believed—and that’s a big if until there’s official confirmation or firsthand verification, Tesla is allegedly gearing up to launch a new EV called the Model Q next year, priced at just $30,000.

Or at least that’s the gist of a story currently doing the rounds in the Chinese media. The report claims that Travis Axelrod, Tesla’s head of investor relations, confirmed the existence and impending arrival of the new entry-level car during a Deutsche Bank Autonomous Driving Day conference.

Related: Will A $25K Model 2 Small Crossover Hit The Spot For EV Buyers?

The story appears to have originated with Wall Street CN, which claims Axelrod said the baby Tesla will debut in the first half of 2025 prices at $37,500. But if returning president, Donald Trump, opts not to trash the current EV tax credit system the transaction price could drop to just $30k.

And that’s not the only secret car Tesla has in store for us next year, according to the same report. It claims the automaker will also launch other new models to expand its market size in a bid to hit a 25-30 percent growth target. One of those additional EVs could be a long-wheelbase, three-row Model Y conceived primarily with China in mind, but which could also work well in other countries and help plug the huge gap between the Y and X SUVs. The Model Y is also scheduled for a facelift in 2025.

Tesla warned however, that rolling out new product would inevitably lead to a temporary drop in profitability, Chinese media says. Other news supposedly coming out of the conference includes Tesla’s affirmation that it would launch a self-driving taxi service in California and Texas in 2025 using Model 3 and Y vehicles ahead of the launch of the company’s real robotaxi, the Cybercab, in 2026. Tesla will eventually cut the cost of Cybercab production to $30k per unit, the report claims.

We reached out to Travis Axelrod, Tesla’s Investor Relations team, as well as Deutsche Bank’s North American and Chinese divisions for comment, but have yet to hear back from anyone, so for now you probably ought to take the news with a pinch of salt. But if it’s true, legacy carmakers are going to have a nightmare on their hands trying to compete.

Note: The images in this story are digital renders by Francois Hubert/SB-Medien of how a new small Tesla crossover could look, and are not endorsed by Tesla.

Illustrations Jean Francois Hubert/SB-Medien for Carscoops

China’s EV market is booming. Sales of fully electric and hybrid cars have trebled over the last three years and are almost eight times higher than they were in 2020. It’s a great time to be an automaker selling electrified vehicles, but not so great if you’re an exec in the oil industry.

Almost one-fifth of the world’s oil production currently goes to China. The country has provided most of the industry’s growth since the millennium, as it has for the auto industry and others. But now analysts think China’s love for EVs will result in a marked drop in demand for gasoline, which accounts for 25 percent of the nation’s oil consumption.

Related: China Becomes First Country To Hit 1 Million Monthly EV Sales

One brokerage firm told reporters it expects Chinese gasoline use to drop by between 4 and 5 percent every year between now and the end of the decade. A demand reduction was always forecast, but China’s electric boom means it’s happening much faster than many experts had anticipated.

One in 10 cars currently on the road in China is electrified, but at the current sales rate, the mix is expected to double by 2027 and could reach 100 percent by the 2040s, Anders Hove, a China researcher at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, told Bloomberg.

That kind of shift would have a devastating impact on the oil industry, Hove predicting that China’s oil demand for light vehicles would plummet from its current 3.5 million barrels per day to just 1 million by 2040.

Though that’s a major problem for Big Oil, it can at least take some comfort in knowing that other nations are in far less of a rush to abandon their combustion cars – EVs only account for 10 percent of US car sales. And even in China, a big chunk of the growth in electrified vehicles has come from sales of PHEVs, which still need some gasoline, though exactly how much they need in real ownership scenarios across China still needs more investigation.

Dodge dealers are set for some big paydays if they can persuade drivers to take a new Charger EV home. A new report claims retailers could bank thousands of dollars on every 2024 / 2025 Charger Daytona they sell, and that’s before the inevitable markups enter the conversation. For dealerships, it’s a windfall. For buyers? Well, that depends on how much they’re willing to shell out for Dodge’s electrified muscle revolution.

According to Cars Direct, which analyzed the difference between dealers’ internal Stellantis order guide invoice pricing (the price the dealer pays Dodge) and the MSRP for the same vehicles and found high-spec Daytonas could generate over $3,200 for the retailer.

Related: Dodge Charger Daytona EV Shows Its New Colors As It Gets 0% Financing Deal

The investigation revealed the base Charger Daytona has a before-options MSRP of $57,995, but an invoice price of $55,096, meaning the dealer will pocket $2,899 from a straight cash sale. That compares with an invoice-to-MSRP difference of just $607 on a 2023 Challenger SXT, which sounds very low, although dealers also get deals from automakers and may often pay below invoice for a car.

Things get even more lucrative if the buyer is looking at the sportier Scat Pack. The official invoice price for one of those is $61,746, so if the dealer sells at MSRP, he could bank $3,246. But we’re talking about one of the most hotly anticipated American performance cars of the year. The dealers likely aren’t going to be selling at MSRP. One dealer in Scottsdale, AZ, told Cars Direct Daytonas will be slapped with a markup of at least $10k.

Markups Meet EV Transparency

The report suggests Dodge might have purposely built dealer profit into the Charger to avoid markups being applied, and because EVs tend to have more transparent prices. But if other dealers have the same attitude as the Arizona one in the story, the strategy has not worked.

Whether the Daytona EV can handle those kind of markups once the initial rush of excitement is over remains to be seen. Dodge might bring forward the introduction of the combustion-powered, six-cylinder Charger because that’s where customers are indicating they want to spend their money.

But presuming it is the electric version of the Charger you want and you can find a dealer who isn’t going to fleece you with a crazy markup, there are some good deals around that make it a tempting package. Dodge is offering $549 per month lease deals and giving buyers 0 percent APR for up to 72 months.

First-generation Mazda MX-5 owners look for a power boost have always had plenty of options available to them, including throttle bodies, turbochargers, superchargers and engine swaps. But now a UK company has come up with a greener alternative in the form of a plug and play EV conversion.

You might have heard of UK-based Electrogenic’s previous projects. The Oxford company makes drop-in EV packages for the original Land Rover Series and Defender, classic Minis and Porsche 911s, the Jaguar E-type and DeLorean DMC-12. It also hit the headlines when movie star Jason Momoa contracted the firm to perform a bespoke electro-conversion on his 1929 Rolls Royce Phantom II.

Related: Electrogenic’s DeLorean DMC-12 EV Still Needs Roads, But Not Gas

Like the company’s other EV kits, the Miata package is designed to be relatively simple to install, CAD modelling being employed to slot all of the components into the existing engine bay and tunnel space so no cutting or drilling is required. Electrogenic says the swap can be done by a trained mechanic in only a few days, and the kit is also fully reversible should the owner have a change of heart.

But with the single motor cranking out 160 hp (120 kW / 163 PS) instead of the original 1.6-liter combustion engine’s 116 hp (87 kW / 118 hp) and the zero to 60 mph (97 kmh) tumbling by about 3 seconds to 6 seconds, those owners might be having too much fun to want to switch back.

Yes, the 115 mph (185 km/h) top speed sounds less impressive – and it’s very close to stock – but irrelevant in a car that has always been about cornering fun. And Electrogenic says there’s more of that to be had because the weight distribution is the same as on a donor MX-5, but a huge jump in torque from 100 lb-ft (136 Nm) to 229 lb-ft (310 Nm) gives you more opportunities to exploit the chassis.

Naturally there’s a weight penalty, even if the distribution is the same, but it’s not terrible. The EV swap adds 220 lbs (100 kg), though the resulting 2,425 lbs (1,100 kg) curb weight makes it 27 lbs (12kg) lighter than a 2025 Miata RF, and only 84 lbs (38 kg) porkier than the current rag-top.

You even get multiple driving modes with different torque and regeneration characteristics, and though the 150-mile (240 km) range is way off modern EV standards, it’s probably as far as anyone would want to go in an early MX-5 in one hit no matter what kind of powertrain is under the hood. The 42 kWh battery can also be charged in an hour.

As with all of these classic EV conversions, this is a niche proposition. Maybe more than the others because the cost of the kit (still TBC but sure to be north of $20k) is going to be harder to justify on a car that even in mint condition is only worth $15-20k than it is on a classic 911 worth $120k. Some potential buyers might also be put off by the loss of the MX-5’s manual shift action, always one of the joys of driving a Miata, although Electrogenic has done custom manual conversions for customers in the past, so we image the team would do it again if offered the right kind of financial encouragement.

With Porsche about to reveal its 718 EVs and Alpine’s boss this week claiming the upcoming electric A110 will weigh less than rival combustion sports cars, machines like Electrogenic’s MX-5 kit are highly topical, and we’re sure we’ll only be seeing more in the years to come. Would you EV swap your classic NA Miata?

You might have heard that Jaguar has a new concept. Actually, that’s underselling it. Jaguar has a new everything. The automaker wants to reposition itself as a more expensive, more exclusive brand and has scrapped its entire existing model line and come up with a suite of new badges and logos.

New logos won’t save the company from oblivion, but Jaguar is hoping a trio of new cars might, and today we were introduced to a concept designed to shows us how they could look. The Type 00 is a two-door coupe that previews a four-door electric coupe we’ll see in production form at the back end of 2025 and on the street a few months later.

Related: Radical Jaguar Type 00 Concept Previews Make-Or-Break MY26 Electric Sedan

Two more cars will follow before 2030, all riffing on the same new design language. None will look anything like today’s Jaguars when you see them heading towards you. Type 00’s square face shows no evidence of the classic E-type oval grille or the boxier, mesh-filled version seen on more recent cars that can be traced back to the 1968 XJ.

The clean surfaces and lack of curves are both modern and modernist, recalling the minimalism of cutting edge 1930s and ’40s product design and architecture. But Jag’s designers couldn’t help but make a few nods to the company’s past masters.

Though you could hardly call it a retro design, the long-hood, short-deck proportions are ripped straight from the original E-type coupe’s blueprints. And the vertical panel between the fender and the 23-inch front wheel also comes from the same Jaguar icon. Fortunately the track width to body ratio is not borrowed from the E-type – the concept’s huge rims are pushed right out to the edges of its swollen arches, and then some.

More: Everything We Know About The $130K Jaguar Type 01 Electric Sedan

It’s a brave, ambitious bit of design, no doubt, and not everyone will love it. So which camp are you in? Do you love or hate Jag’s new design direction? Take part in our poll and then drop a comment below to tell us what you like or loathe about the Type 00.