After years of policy wrangling and behind-the-scenes bargaining, the European Union appears poised to walk back one of its most ambitious climate mandates.

The bloc is reportedly scaling down its planned 2035 ban on combustion-powered petrol and diesel cars, a move that follows persistent pressure from industry leaders, particularly in Germany and Italy, and comes despite objections from brands like Volvo and Polestar that had supported the original plan.

Read: EU’s 2035 EV-Only Dream Hits A Hybrid Speed Bump

Following reports last week that lawmakers were softening their stance on the ban, the leader of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, told German newspaper Bild that the bloc has agreed to ease its mandate from a full ban on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2035 to a 90 percent reduction instead.

Weber also stated that a full ICE ban wouldn’t be coming by 2040 either, though he didn’t clarify whether a new target year is under consideration.

While speaking at a press conference in Germany late last week, Weber said that the European Commission will present its revised proposal on Tuesday.

Plug-Ins Get a Lifeline Too

“The technology ban on combustion engines is off the table,” he told Bild. “All engines currently manufactured in Germany can therefore continue to be produced and sold.” Weber added that the EU can now pave the way for the continued sale of plug-in hybrid models, including those with longer driving ranges.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, also present at the press conference, endorsed the decision, saying it now offers the automotive sector “real planning security.”

Earlier in December, Merz had written directly to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging the body to allow continued production and sale of ICE-powered vehicles past the 2035 deadline.

That letter, according to European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas, was “very well received in Brussels.”

Although the Commission’s revised legislation has not yet been made public, Tzitzikostas recently hinted that alternative fuels may feature more prominently in the new framework, citing “zero- and low-emission fuels, and advanced biofuels” as possible avenues for compliance.

Sources: Bild, The Guardian

A billboard advertises an artificial intelligence company in San Francisco in September. California is among the states leading the way on AI regulations, but an executive order signed by President Donald Trump seeks to override state laws on the technology. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

State lawmakers of both parties said they plan to keep passing laws regulating artificial intelligence despite President Donald Trump’s efforts to stop them.

Trump signed an executive order Thursday evening that aims to override state artificial intelligence laws. He said his administration must work with Congress to develop a national AI policy, but that in the meantime, it will crack down on state laws.

The order comes after several other Trump administration efforts to rein in state AI laws and loosen restrictions for developers and technology companies.

But despite those moves, state lawmakers are continuing to prefile legislation related to artificial intelligence in preparation for their 2026 legislative sessions. Opponents are also skeptical about — and likely to sue over — Trump’s proposed national framework and his ability to restrict states from passing legislation.

“I agree on not overregulating, but I don’t believe the federal government has the right to take away my right to protect my constituents if there’s an issue with AI,” said South Carolina Republican state Rep. Brandon Guffey, who penned a letter to Congress opposing legislation that would curtail state AI laws.

The letter, signed by 280 state lawmakers from across the country, shows that state legislators from both parties want to retain their ability to craft their own AI legislation, said South Dakota Democratic state Sen. Liz Larson, who co-wrote the letter.

Earlier this year, South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed the state’s first artificial intelligence law, authored by Larson, prohibiting the use of a deepfake — a digitally altered photo or video that can make someone appear to be doing just about anything — to influence an election.

South Dakota and other states with more comprehensive AI laws, such as California and Colorado, would see their efforts overruled by Trump’s order, Larson said.

“To take away all of this work in a heartbeat and then prevent states from learning those lessons, without providing any alternative framework at the federal level, is just irresponsible,” she said. “It takes power away from the states.”

Trump’s efforts

Thursday’s executive order will establish an AI Litigation Task Force to bring court challenges against states with AI-related laws, with exceptions for a few issues such as child safety protections and data center infrastructure.

The order also directs the secretary of commerce to notify states that they could lose certain funds under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program if their laws conflict with national AI policy priorities.

Trump said the order would help the United States beat China in dominating the burgeoning AI industry, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping did not have similar restraints.

“This will not be successful unless they have one source of approval or disapproval,” he said. “It’s got to be one source. They can’t go to 50 different sources.”

In July, the Trump administration released the AI Action Plan, an initiative aimed at reducing regulatory barriers and accelerating the growth of AI infrastructure, including data centers. Trump also has revoked Biden-era AI safety and anti-discrimination policies.

The tech industry had lobbied for Trump’s order.

“This executive order is an important step towards ensuring that smart, unified federal policy — not bureaucratic red tape — secures America’s AI dominance for generations to come,” said Amy Bos, vice president of government affairs for NetChoice, a technology trade association, in a statement to Stateline.

As the administration looks to address increasing threats to national defense and cybersecurity, a centralized, national approach to AI policy is best, said Paul Lekas, the executive vice president for global public policy and government affairs at the Software & Information Industry Association.

“The White House is very motivated to ensure that there aren’t barriers to innovation and that we can continue to move forward,” he said. “And the White House is concerned that there is state legislation that may be purporting to regulate interstate commerce. We would be creating a patchwork that would be very hard for innovation.”

Congressional Republicans tried twice this year to pass moratoriums on state AI laws, but both efforts failed.

In the absence of a comprehensive federal artificial intelligence policy, state lawmakers have worked to regulate the rapid development of AI systems and protect consumers from potential harms.

Trump’s executive order could cause concern among lawmakers who fear possible blowback from the administration for their efforts, said Travis Hall, the director for state engagement at the Center for Democracy & Technology, a nonprofit that advocates for digital rights and freedom of expression.

“I can’t imagine that state legislators aren’t going to continue to try to engage with these technologies in order to help protect and respond to the concerns of their constituents,” Hall said. “However, there’s no doubt that the intent of this executive order is to chill any actual oversight, accountability or regulation.”

State rules

This year, 38 states adopted or enacted measures related to artificial intelligence, according to a National Conference of State Legislatures database. Numerous state lawmakers have also prefiled legislation for 2026.

But tensions have grown over the past few months as Trump has pushed for deregulation and states have continued to create guardrails.

In 2024, Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed the nation’s first comprehensive artificial intelligence framework into law. Under the law, developers of AI systems will be required to protect consumers from potential algorithmic discrimination.

But implementation of the law was postponed a few months until June 2026 after negotiations stalled during a special legislative session this summer aiming to ensure the law did not hinder technological innovation. And a spokesperson for Polis told Bloomberg in May that the governor supported a U.S. House GOP proposal that would impose a moratorium on state AI laws.

Trump’s executive order, which mentions the Colorado law as an example of legislation the administration may challenge, has caused uncertainty among some state lawmakers focused on regulating AI. But Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone and state Sen. Robert Rodriguez, Democratic sponsors of the law, said they will continue their work.

Unless Congress passes legislation to restrict states from passing AI laws, Trump’s executive order can easily be challenged and overturned in court, she said.

“This is just a bunch of hot air,” Titone said. “It doesn’t hold any water and it doesn’t have any teeth because the president doesn’t have the authority to supersede state law. We will continue to do what we need to do for the people in our state, just like we always have, unless there is an actual preemption in federal law.”

California and Illinois also have been at the forefront of artificial intelligence legislation over the past few years. In September, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the nation’s first law establishing a comprehensive legal framework for developers of the most advanced, large-scale artificial intelligence models, known as frontier artificial intelligence models. Those efforts are aimed at preventing AI models from causing catastrophic harm involving dozens of casualties or billion-dollar damages.

California officials have said they are considering a legal challenge over Trump’s order, and other states and groups are likely to sue as well.

Republican officials and GOP-led states, including some Trump allies, also are pushing forward with AI regulations. Efforts to protect consumers from AI harms are being proposed in Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.

Earlier this month, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis also unveiled a proposal for an AI Bill of Rights. The proposal aims to strengthen consumer protections related to AI and to address the growing impact data centers are having on local communities.

In South Carolina, Guffey said he plans to introduce a bill in January that would place rules on AI chatbots. Chatbots that use artificial intelligence are able to simulate conversations with users, but raise privacy and safety concerns.

Artificial intelligence is developing fast, Guffey noted. State lawmakers have been working on making sure the technology is safe to use — and they’ll keep doing that to protect their constituents, he said.

“The problem is that it’s not treated like a product — it’s treated like a service,” Guffey said. “If it was treated like a product, we have consumer protection laws where things could be recalled and adjusted and then put back out there once they’re safe. But that is not the case with any of this technology.”

Stateline reporter Madyson Fitzgerald can be reached at mfitzgerald@stateline.org.

If you were hoping falling interest rates, bigger incentives, or sheer consumer exhaustion might finally drag new-car prices back to Earth, number-crunching industry experts have some bad news.

According to the latest Kelley Blue Book data, the average transaction price of a new vehicle in the US hit $49,814 in November, and it’s showing no real sign of dropping.

Also: Nobody Wants These 2024 Models And Dealers Are Drowning In Inventory

That figure is up 1.3 percent year over year and effectively unchanged from October, suggesting the industry has settled into a comfortable rhythm where fifty grand is the new normal.

Cox Automotive says prices usually peak in December, meaning the holiday season could push things even higher as buyers gravitate toward well-optioned trucks, luxury SUVs, and vehicles that require six figures of income and very little financial anxiety.

Fewer Incentives

Incentives are still around, but they are not doing the heavy lifting they once did. In November, incentives averaged 6.7 percent of average transaction prices, down from nearly 8 percent a year ago.

Automakers simply do not need to discount aggressively when buyers keep selecting expensive trims with panoramic roofs, giant screens, and fancy wheels.

The data makes one thing clear. Cheap cars are disappearing from the sales mix. Vehicles with MSRPs under $30,000 accounted for just 7.5 percent of November sales, down sharply from 10.3 percent a year earlier.

Meanwhile, more than one in 10 vehicles sold cost over $75,000. The most popular sub-$30K survivors remain familiar names like the Toyota Corolla, Chevrolet Trax, and Hyundai Elantra, clinging on like endangered species.

While transaction prices may have leveled off for now, average MSRPs, commonly known as the asking price, are still inching upward, reaching $51,986 in November. That marks a 1.7 percent increase over last year.

Blame Pricey Trucks

Trucks continue to be a major contributor to price inflation. Full-size pickups now average more than $70,000 for the third month in a row and accounted for over 14 percent of all sales in November, with nearly 183,000 units delivered. That helps explain why the industry average keeps floating upward even when compact and midsize segments remain relatively stable.

Read: Senators Want Cheaper Cars, Even If It Means Getting Rid Of Automatic Braking

Electric vehicles add another twist. The average EV transaction price fell slightly month over month to $58,638, but remains up 3.7 percent year over year. Incentives jumped to over 13 percent of prices as sales softened again, dropping more than 40 percent compared with last year.

Tesla’s average transaction price rose to $54,310 in November, even as sales fell 22.7% year over year, largely due to sharp declines in Model 3 demand. Prices for the Model Y, the best-selling EV in the U.S., edged up slightly. Cybertruck sales fell to 1,194 units, their lowest monthly total of 2025, though its average price rose to $94,254.

Who’s Really to Blame?

According to Cox Automotive Executive Analyst Erin Keating, today’s prices aren’t just the result of inflation or supply hangovers, but they reflect what consumers are choosing to buy.

“It’s important to remember that the KBB ATP reflects what consumers choose to buy, not what’s available,” she explained.

“Many new-car buyers today are in their peak earning years and are less price-sensitive, opting for vehicles at the higher end of the market to get the features and experiences they value most. In November, sales of vehicles priced above $75,000 outpaced those below $30,000, underscoring this preference for premium products” Keating added.

The takeaway is simple. Prices are high because buyers keep buying high. Until that changes, the average US driveway will continue to look alarmingly expensive.

We just have to hope the trend doesn’t discourage automakers from developing and building the more affordable models that less affluent Americans still need.

Average Transaction Price by Automaker Group

Average Transaction Price by Brand

Average Transaction Price by Segment

Data Cox Automotive / KBB

In 2021, Ford and South Korean battery manufacturer SK On committed to a massive $11.4 billion investment aimed at building several joint-venture electric vehicle battery plants across the United States. It was a huge business decision that showed Ford’s commitment to the EV market.

That was then. As 2025 winds down, the two companies are pulling the plug on the battery partnership altogether, a sharp turn that underscores how turbulent the EV landscape has become.

Also: Ford’s CEO Applauds Trump’s CAFE Rollback, Says They Were Forced Into EVs

The move follows two key developments. First, the rollback of the federal EV tax credit, which has hit sales across the board. Second, the U.S. administration’s recent decision to revise fuel economy standards, a move expected to favor gasoline-powered vehicles over electric ones.

Disruption in the Battery Game

Through the high-profile breakup, SK On will take over the joint venture factory that’s already been established in Tennessee, known as the BlueOval plant. Ford will then take control of two factories in Kentucky located next to each other.

SK On was the one to formally dissolve the partnership, although the company maintains that it intends to continue working with Ford around the Tennessee facility.

It believes that ending the joint venture will allow it to enhance productivity and improve operational flexibility. Additionally, it notes the split will allow it to accelerate its North American energy storage system business.

What Happens to the Government Loan?

One of the more immediate consequences of the split is a reassessment of a government loan approved near the end of the Biden administration. Originally pegged at up to $9.6 billion for the joint venture, the loan will now be reduced under the Trump administration’s oversight.

Exactly how much it will be cut remains to be seen. According to Bloomberg, the loan will be restructured to “reduce exposure to taxpayers and ensure its prompt repayment.”

Read: Ford And SK On Get $9.6 Billion Loan From US Government For Local Battery Plants

It’s understood that Ford is working voluntarily with the Energy Department to repay the loan more quickly than originally planned.

Bleak Outlook for EV Sales

In the background, Ford’s local EV sales are falling, and chief executive Jim Farley expects further carnage. He recently said that because of the Trump administration, EV sales could fall by as much as 50 percent in the US.

Ford also lost $5.1 billion before interest and taxes on its EV business in 2024 and expects to lose even more this year.

“We believe the writing was on the wall this partnership was not going to work moving forward,” WedBush securities managing director Dan Ives told the Detroit Free Press.

“Ford has to make some difficult moves and this was a smart strategic one to rip the band-aid off. The EV market is dramatically scaled down for Ford now and they have to adjust accordingly.”

As BMW prepares for a significant leadership change at the very top of the pyramid, a key shift is also happening within its high-performance division. Just days after the company confirmed that Milan Nedeljkovic will succeed Oliver Zipse as CEO next year, BMW M has named a new head of development.

Stepping into the role is Alexander Karajlovic, best known for overseeing one of M’s most polarizing recent projects, the BMW XM SUV.

Read: BMW’s Next Boss Already Has 40 New Models On His Plate

Karajlovic’s track record within BMW includes a range of roles that place him squarely in the performance and SUV space. Between November 2017 and 2020, he led development for BMW’s X derivatives and served as project manager for the XM, the M division’s first standalone model since the M1 in 1978, and arguably one of its most divisive to date.

He also served as vice president for the BMW M Product Line for two years, before heading back to the broader BMW group and worked in the areas of Requirements, Concepts, and Driving Experience Integration.

He now steps in for Dirk Hacker, a veteran who’s been with the BMW Group for 37 years and spent the last 11 of those at BMW M. Hacker has led development since 2015, a tenure that included not only technical oversight but hands-on involvement as a driving instructor with BMW’s Driving Experience program. The last model launched under his direction was the new M5 Touring.

“Dirk Hacker’s departure sees the long-term Head of Development at BMW M GmbH bow out to start his well-earned retirement,” BMW M chief executive Franciscus van Meel said. “His name is inextricably linked with an unprecedented product offensive, superior product quality and yearly sales records at BMW M.”

BMW M’s Future Plans

Karajlovic takes over at a time of transition, as the M brand begins laying groundwork for its next-generation lineup. Among the most closely watched projects is the upcoming M3, which is being developed in both all-electric and twin-turbo six-cylinder versions.

The fully electric model, a major technical shift for the badge, is expected to feature four electric motors and deliver upwards of 700 hp, a configuration that will likely spark no shortage of conversation among fans and skeptics alike.

BMW has named its next chief executive officer, confirming that Milan Nedeljkovic, the brand’s current head of production, will take the reins next year. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for the company, as it pushes deeper into electrification and prepares to usher in its Neue Klasse generation of vehicles.

Nedeljkovic won’t be stepping into the role immediately, though. Incumbent CEO Oliver Zipse will continue leading the company until BMW’s Annual General Meeting on May 13, 2026. After that, Nedeljkovic is set to begin his term, with a contract that runs through 2031.

Read: New i3 And 3-Series Reveal BMW’s Most Striking Split Yet

Zipse has been at the helm for seven years, steering BMW through an unusually turbulent stretch. His time in charge included the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread supply chain disruption, and a bevy of product rollouts that ranks among the most intensive in the company’s history.

“Oliver Zipse has always prioritized BMW’s success,” chairman of the supervisory board of BMW AG, Dr. Nicholas Peter described. “He consistently took a clear stance—even in the face of great external headwinds—and thus kept the company on track during turbulent times.”

Nedeljkovic, meanwhile, is a BMW veteran. He joined the company in 1993 as a trainee and has since held senior roles at its Oxford, Leipzig, and Munich facilities. According to Dr. Martin Kimmich, deputy chairman of the supervisory board and chair of the Global Works Council, he’s built strong relationships inside the company.

“He is held in high regard by and enjoys the trust of BMW’s workforce,” Kimmich said. “Together with him, we look forward to continuing the long tradition of cooperative collaboration between the Works Council and corporate management as a foundation for our BMW success story.”

The Future of BMW

The next five years will be hugely important for the BMW brand. It plans to launch more than 40 new or updated models by the end of 2027, all of which will use the same computing systems as the new iX3.

That includes a full facelift of the company’s vehicle range, unified under the design direction set by the second-generation iX3. Many of those models will also adopt the iX3’s new Panoramic iDrive system, marking a significant update to both interface and in-cabin tech.

Lucid Motors has plenty on its plate already. Cash burn, slow production ramps, a delayed Gravity SUV launch, and media stories about drivers being shafted with huge repair costs. Now it can add one more thing to the list: a high-profile lawsuit from its former chief engineer that claims a serious lack of harmony at the Newark, CA, HQ.

Eric Bach, who spent a decade at Lucid and rose to become Senior Vice President of Product and Chief Engineer, has filed a federal lawsuit alleging wrongful termination, discrimination, and retaliation.

What Sparked the Fallout?

At the center of the complaint is a claim that a senior HR executive referred to him as a “German Nazi” during an internal investigation into workplace culture. Bach was born and raised in Germany and says the remark was deeply offensive and discriminatory.

Also: Spilled Water Bricks Lucid, Repair Costs As Much As A Used Corolla

According to the lawsuit, Bach learned about the comment in mid-2025, months after the start of an HR-led culture probe Bach claims was already “tainted by racist beliefs.”

During that investigation, he says he was stripped of key responsibilities, including oversight of Lucid’s electric powertrain division, and excluded from board meetings.

After encouraging a colleague to report the remark through internal channels, Bach claims Lucid confirmed the comment was made, yet failed to act meaningfully.

Pushed Out

Things escalated from there. Bach says the company began pressuring him to resign in October 2025 before firing him outright on November 5. Lucid’s public statement at the time merely said he had “departed,” offering no hint of the brewing conflict behind the scenes.

Lucid, for its part, is having none of it. The automaker issued a blunt response calling Bach’s legal claims “absurd” and says it is confident the facts will show legitimate reasons for his termination.

Company sources have pointed to long-running product delays, quality issues, and execution problems, arguing that leadership restructuring was overdue.

Bach’s responsibilities were partially handed to Emad Dlala, who was promoted to Senior Vice President of Engineering and Digital after Bach’s exit.

Tricky Timing

The lawsuit lands at an awkward moment for Lucid. The company is still trying to ramp production of the Gravity SUV while developing a more affordable midsize EV due in late 2026.

Executive turnover has been relentless, with former CEO Peter Rawlinson resigning earlier this year and multiple vice presidents exiting across different strands of the business.

Also: Lucid Teases $50K Mid-Size SUV As It Readies L4 Autonomous Driving

Bach’s complaint paints a very different picture of his standing, citing praise from board members and repeated salary increases, and even suggestions that he was being groomed for a future CTO role.

He’s now requesting damages and a very public jury trial. For a company built on calm luxury, Lucid’s latest saga is anything but serene.

Sources: Wigdor, Tech Crunch

Ford has finally found a way back into Europe’s affordable small-car market by borrowing one of Renault’s smartest ideas.

Related: Renault Is Emptying Its Secret Vault And The Concept Cars Inside Are Unreal

The two automakers have announced a new strategic partnership that will see Ford launch at least two electric cars for Europe using Renault’s Ampr EV platform, the same architecture used in the Renault 4 and 5.

What’s Replacing the Fiesta?

One of Ford’s upcoming EVs is expected to become a spiritual successor to the Fiesta, a car Ford unceremoniously killed off in 2023 after eight generations and nearly five decades.

The new electric supermini is due to arrive in early 2028 and will be built alongside the Renault 5 at Renault’s ElectriCity complex in Douai, France.

The second model will likely be a compact electric crossover based on the Renault 4, potentially replacing the Puma Gen-E somewhere down the line.

Given Ford’s Explorer EV is based on VW’s ID.4 you might have expected Ford to borrow the upcoming ID.Polo and ID.Cross’s MEB platform for its new small cars, but instead it turned to Renault.

Crucially, Ford is insisting these won’t be lazy badge-engineering exercises. Unlike the new Nissan Micra, which is essentially a rebodied Renault 5, Ford says its new EVs will be “distinct Ford-branded vehicles” designed in-house.

Expect unique styling, bespoke interiors, and chassis tuning aimed squarely at delivering the driving feel Ford fans expect.

Under the skin, though, the shared EV hardware will be identical. That likely means front-mounted motors producing 121 hp (122 PS / 90 kW) in regular versions and 215 hp (218 PS / 160 kW) in a reborn Fiesta ST, plus battery options of 40 kWh and 52 kWh.

Can It Save Ford in Europe?

For Ford, time is of the essence. With Focus production ended, the Fiesta long gone and its Explorer and Capri electric SUV and crossover underperforming, the brand’s market share has cratered.

A Fiesta-sized EV priced close to the Renault 5’s expected €25,000 (£22k/$29k) mark could be exactly what Ford needs to regain relevance.

But a new lineup of subcompact EVs isn’t all we’ll see as a result of this partnership. The duo has also agreed to explore the possibilities of joining forces for new light commercial vehicles.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra recently acknowledged that federal fuel efficiency standards were set so aggressively under the Biden administration that her company would have been forced to scale back production of internal combustion engine vehicles just to stay compliant.

More: GM’s CEO Defended Tesla And Musk To Biden, But The Snub Happened Anyway

Barra shared this during a conversation at a high-profile industry conference hosted by The New York Times, where she discussed the internal pressures major automakers face under the current regulatory environment.

Timing matters, of course, as her comments came shortly after President Donald Trump confirmed that fuel efficiency standards are being rolled back, reducing the pressure on automakers to build EVs and providing them with more flexibility to manufacture and sell more combustion-powered models.

“Had to Start Shutting Down Plants”

Under the Biden-era rules, automakers would have been required to reach a fleet-wide fuel economy average of 50 miles per gallon by 2031. According to Bloomberg, achieving that would have meant electric vehicles making up more than half of all sales by that point.

Read: GM CEO Says EV Shift To Happen “Over Decades”

If GM couldn’t meet those benchmarks, and if the administration didn’t revise the rules to reflect market realities, Barra claims that the company would have had little choice but to curtail sales of its gasoline-powered lineup.

She added that internal forecasts indicated the company would have “had to start shutting down plants” if its EV sales didn’t grow quickly enough.

Barra also touched on several other topics with Andrew Ross Sorkin, the interviewer and the founder and editor at large of DealBook. At one point, he asked her about GM flip-flopping in supporting policies during the first Trump administration, again when Joe Biden was elected, and once more after Trump returned to the White House in January.

Bending The Knee Or Business As Usual?

Barra responded by framing GM’s approach as pragmatic, not political. The company, she said, wants to build vehicles people want to buy, and it simply has to work within the regulatory frameworks set by whoever is in office.

Also: Ford’s CEO Applauds Trump’s CAFE Rollback, Says They Were Forced Into EVs

Now, thanks to the rollback of CAFE standards, it will have the freedom to better manufacturer vehicles based on what their customers want, rather than simply what they must build to meet regulatory requirements.

How this will impact the American car industry remains to be seen, but if those rules remain in place in the future, we don’t expect to see EVs accounting for a significant share of the market any time soon.

Construction on a new city hall in Raleigh, N.C., was at a standstill Nov. 18 as word of immigration raids kept away most workers. Industries with large immigrant workforces, such as construction, are asking for federal relief as they combat labor shortages and raids. (Photo by Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline)

As food prices remain high, the Trump administration has made it easier for farmers to hire foreign guest workers and to pay them less. Now, other industries with large immigrant workforces also are asking for relief as they combat labor shortages and raids.

Visas for temporary foreign workers are a quick fix with bipartisan support in Congress. And Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ office told Stateline that “streamlining” visas for both agricultural and other jobs is a priority for the Trump administration.

But some experts warn that such visas can be harmful if they postpone immigration overhauls that would give immigrant workers a path to green cards and citizenship.

“Lack of permanent status is costly to migrants, employers, and the broader economy,” wrote Pia Orrenius, a labor economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, in a report published in June. Workers are “vulnerable to policy changes triggered by a change in administration, most recently the threat of mass deportations.”

In a Nov. 25 interview with Stateline, Orrenius said the crackdown on illegal immigration could be a good thing if it leads to permanent solutions.

“If you can stop undocumented immigration, then great. This is a great time to work on comprehensive immigration reform,” Orrenius said. “Where is there a scarcity of workers and how do we address those legally instead of illegally?”

Restaurants, construction and landscaping businesses have lost a combined 315,000 immigrant workers through August this year, more than any other industries, according to a Stateline analysis of Current Population Survey data provided by the University of Minnesota at ipums.org.

The construction industry needs more foreign worker visas like those already being provided for agriculture to prevent more delays in building everything from homes to highways, business owners say.

The industry needs help to “provide lawful workers while working to prepare more Americans for permanent careers in construction,” said Jaime Andress, testifying at a congressional hearing last month on behalf of the Associated General Contractors of America trade group. About 92% of contractors with open positions are having trouble finding enough skilled labor, whether it’s for construction of buildings, highways or utility infrastructure, she testified.

There are about 145,000 fewer immigrants working in restaurants, on average, through August of this year compared with the same period in 2024, the Stateline analysis found. There are about 127,000 fewer in construction and 43,000 fewer in landscaping.

One landscaping firm, which did not agree to an interview, lost $50,000 in contracts this year when workers stopped showing up because of rumored immigration raids, said Rebecca Shi, chief executive officer of the Chicago-based American Business Immigration Coalition, which advocates for employers seeking immigration changes.

“He had 75 workers and 50 of them didn’t show up one day because there were rumors ICE was going to be in the area,” Shi said. “Many of them were citizens and legal workers, but they were worried about family members and neighbors, so they didn’t show up either. It’s bad for the economy when you lose a worker, but it’s also the fear and uncertainty. We know restaurants that have lost 50% of staff and are at risk of closing because people just aren’t showing up.”

The coalition organized a “fly-in” in October to Washington, D.C., to ask members of Congress for more help to legalize immigrant workers through work permits in hospitality, agriculture, construction, elder care, health care and manufacturing.

In a letter dated Dec. 2, thousands of businesses in all 50 states asked the administration for an additional 64,716 H-2B visas, saying they rely on them for seasonal surges in hospitality, tourism, landscaping, forestry, seafood production and other industries.

And a bipartisan group of 33 U.S. senators from 22 states signed a letter Nov. 13 by Maine Independent Sen. Angus King and South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds asking for more H-2B seasonal employment visas.

“Employers’ workforce needs cannot be met with American workers alone,” the letter said.

Construction contractors say they need visas that are similar to the H-2A visas for agriculture that the Trump administration streamlined in October to make them easier and cheaper for farmers to hire temporary foreign workers.

The Associated General Contractors of America wants visas like the proposed new H-2C visas floated by Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker. Those would allow up to 85,000 less-skilled temporary workers in construction, hospitality and other fields to stay in this country up to nine years. The bill, introduced in September, has not advanced.

The association also supports a pathway to legal status for some workers already in the country, as proposed by Florida Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar and Texas Democratic U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar. The bill, introduced in July, also has not advanced.

“Workforce shortages are the leading cause of construction project delays,” said Brian Turmail, a vice president at the association. “Nearly 1 out of 3 contractors have been impacted in one way or another by enhanced ICE enforcement activities. That number is almost certain to increase now that ICE has received significant boosts to its budget as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

Those industries are asking for more help as the latest federal immigration raids further affect workforces in Illinois, Maryland and North Carolina, with more raids planned in Louisiana. Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data research organization at Syracuse University, reported a “massive redeployment of government military and civilian personnel to immigration enforcement” in recent months, with total detentions reaching more than 65,000, according to a Nov. 24 report. Nearly three-quarters of those arrested have no criminal convictions.

Construction, landscaping and other industries are already heavy users of H-2B visas for temporary non-agricultural foreign workers, according to government figures reviewed by Stateline.

In fiscal year 2025, which ended in September, there were about 209,000 H-2B visas, with Texas (20,051), Florida (18,515), North Carolina (8,634), Colorado (7,723) and Louisiana (7,234) getting the most. The most common occupations were building and grounds (94,152); food service (31,403); construction (16,729); farming, fishing and forestry (15,665); and personal care (12,170).

Some of the largest users of the visas last year were Core Tech Construction of New York City, a concrete coring and cutting firm (2,619 visas); ABC Professional Tree Services of Texas, which provides land clearance services (1,913); and Progressive Solutions LLC of Arkansas, which provides herbicide application to utilities (1,882).

The H-2B visa program needs to be streamlined and expanded to be useful for employers and workers, said David Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian CATO Institute, who has written about the visas.

Employers don’t always get the workers they want because the United States limits H-2B visas to 33,000 twice a year. Requests for the visas have already surpassed the 33,000 cap for the first half of fiscal 2026.

“The paperwork is a nightmare for employers and there are a lot of steps for workers also,” said Bier. “And there are so few visas available that your chance of getting all you need is almost nil.”

Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@stateline.org.

Advancements in battery innovation are transforming both mobility and energy systems alike, according to Kurt Kelty, vice president of battery, propulsion, and sustainability at General Motors (GM). At the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) Fall Colloquium, Kelty explored how GM is bringing next-generation battery technologies from lab to commercialization, driving American battery innovation forward. The colloquium is part of the ongoing MITEI Presents: Advancing the Energy Transition speaker series.

At GM, Kelty’s team is primarily focused on three things: first, improving affordability to get more electric vehicles (EVs) on the road. “How do you drive down the cost?” Kelty asked the audience. “It's the batteries. The batteries make up about 30 percent of the cost of the vehicle.” Second, his team strives to improve battery performance, including charging speed and energy density. Third, they are working on localizing the supply chain. “We've got to build up our resilience and our independence here in North America, so we're not relying on materials coming from China,” Kelty explained.

To aid their efforts, resources are being poured into the virtualization space, significantly cutting down on time dedicated to research and development. Now, Kelty’s team can do modeling up front using artificial intelligence, reducing what previously would have taken months to a couple of days.

“If you want to modify … the nickel content ever so slightly, we can very quickly model: ‘OK, how’s that going to affect the energy density? The safety? How’s that going to affect the charge capability?’” said Kelty. “We can look at that at the cell level, then the pack level, then the vehicle level.”

Kelty revealed that they have found a solution that addresses affordability, accessibility, and commercialization: lithium manganese-rich (LMR) batteries. Previously, the industry looked to reduce costs by lowering the amount of cobalt in batteries by adding greater amounts of nickel. These high-nickel batteries are in most cars on the road in the United States due to their high range. LMR batteries, though, take things a step further by reducing the amount of nickel and adding more manganese, which drives the cost of batteries down even further while maintaining range.

Lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries are the chemistry of choice in China, known for low cost, high cycle life, and high safety. With LMR batteries, the cost is comparable to LFP with a range that is closer to high-nickel. “That’s what’s really a breakthrough,” said Kelty.

LMR batteries are not new, but there have been challenges to adopting them, according to Kelty. “People knew about it, but they didn’t know how to commercialize it. They didn’t know how to make it work in an EV,” he explained. Now that GM has figured out commercialization, they will be the first to market these batteries in their EVs in 2028.

Kelty also expressed excitement over the use of vehicle-to-grid technologies in the future. Using a bidirectional charger with a two-way flow of energy, EVs could charge, but also send power from their batteries back to the electrical grid. This would allow customers to charge “their vehicles at night when the electricity prices are really low, and they can discharge it during the day when electricity rates are really high,” he said.

In addition to working in the transportation sector, GM is exploring ways to extend their battery expertise into applications in grid-scale energy storage. “It’s a big market right now, but it’s growing very quickly because of the data center growth,” said Kelty.

When looking to the future of battery manufacturing and EVs in the United States, Kelty remains optimistic: “we’ve got the technology here to make it happen. We’ve always had the innovation here. Now, we’re getting more and more of the manufacturing. We’re getting that all together. We’ve got just tremendous opportunity here that I’m hopeful we’re going to be able to take advantage of and really build a massive battery industry here.”

This speaker series highlights energy experts and leaders at the forefront of the scientific, technological, and policy solutions needed to transform our energy systems. Visit MITEI’s Events page for more information on this and additional events.

© Photo: Gretchen Ertl

Volkswagen is leaning further into its Chinese operations, looking to export more vehicles built there to overseas markets. albeit with the notable exception of Europe. The strategy hinges on a striking cost advantage that makes developing cars in China significantly cheaper than in other regions.

As established European carmakers face growing pressure from newer Eastern brands, many are beginning to shift attention toward their Chinese production networks. For legacy manufacturers like VW, the appeal is increasingly hard to ignore.

Read: VW Will Start Selling Its Chinese Models Overseas

According to a report from the Financial Times, Volkswagen says it can develop and build a new electric vehicle in China from scratch for about half the cost of doing so elsewhere.

What Makes China So Efficient?

Volkswagen has invested billions of dollars into the local market, and, thanks to things like lower labor costs, shorter development periods, better battery procurement, and supply chain efficiencies, costs can be reduced by 50 percent.

Part of this efficiency comes from VW’s new research and development hub in Hefei, which is playing a key role in shaping the company’s next-generation EVs. By optimizing integration across teams and disciplines, the automaker now claims it can develop a new electric model in roughly 30 percent less time than before, a process that would traditionally take around 50 months.

Thomas Ulbrich, chief technology officer at Volkswagen Group China, described the facility as offering “an entirely new level of integration,” with software, hardware, and vehicle validation processes all running in parallel.

“We can now run software, hardware and full-vehicle validation processes in parallel, shorten decision loops and bring innovations to maturity much faster,” he told the Financial Times.

VW has already begun shipping Chinese-built petrol sedans to the Middle East, and Ulbrich confirmed the company is exploring similar exports to countries across Southeast and Central Asia. That said, there are no plans to bring these China-built vehicles to Europe.

The reason is twofold. First, the electronic architecture of China-developed vehicles doesn’t align with European standards. Second, tariffs on Chinese-made EVs would likely negate any cost benefits, undermining the very strategy that makes this approach viable elsewhere.

VW’s Chinese Plans

VW plans to release 30 new EV models in China over the next five years. These models will be crucial in helping the automaker regain market share in China.

Data reported by The Financial Times reveals that VW does not rank among the top 10 battery-electric or even plug-in hybrid brands in China, although it still holds a 20 percent share of pure ICE model sales.

Source: Financial Times

Many automakers spent the past few years racing to electrify their lineups, betting heavily that global demand for electric vehicles would surge. The industry poured billions into new EV battery plants across the world, particularly in North America.

Now, a new report suggests that much of that production capacity could end up sitting idle by the end of the decade.

Overcapacity Ahead

AlixPartners speculates that global production of EV batteries will be roughly three times greater than demand for EVs in 2030. By that time, EV battery production capacity in North America is expected to roughly quadruple.

According to Nikkei Asia, many manufacturers are already scaling back their ambitious battery production plans. Ford, one of the most aggressive investors in U.S. battery manufacturing, is a prime example. The company is building a $5.8 billion facility in Kentucky with its partner SK On, which is expected to employ about 5,500 people by 2030.

Read: Massive US Battery Plant Grinds To A Halt After Trump’s Tariffs

However, the Blue Oval already reduced its planned battery capacity by 35 percent. It also recently halted production of the F-150 Lightning indefinitely due to dwindling demand in North America.

General Motors has also been forced to make changes. It has been confirmed that 1,550 workers at the battery plants it operates alongside LG Energy Solution in Ohio and Tennessee will be sacked due to “slower near-term EV adoption and an evolving regulatory environment.”

Nikkei Asia also reports that Panasonic opened a new battery factory in Kansas in July, but has yet to say when it will reach full-scale production. Initially, it was expected to hit this mark by the end of the 2026 fiscal year. However, as a major supplier to Tesla, it has been affected by the fall in demand for EVs as well.

Slowing EV sales in the States have led to the cancellation of some endeavors entirely. T1 Energy was planning to build a battery plant in Georgia, but has since canned the project.

Changing Policy Winds

The Trump administration’s policies have further tilted the scales toward internal combustion vehicles. By removing the $7,500 federal EV tax credit and scrapping penalties for missing emissions targets, the government has made it easier for carmakers to ramp up traditional ICE production once again.

Source: Nikkei Asia

There is growing attention on the links between artificial intelligence and increased energy demands. But while the power-hungry data centers being built to support AI could potentially stress electricity grids, increase customer prices and service interruptions, and generally slow the transition to clean energy, the use of artificial intelligence can also help the energy transition.

For example, use of AI is reducing energy consumption and associated emissions in buildings, transportation, and industrial processes. In addition, AI is helping to optimize the design and siting of new wind and solar installations and energy storage facilities.

On electric power grids, using AI algorithms to control operations is helping to increase efficiency and reduce costs, integrate the growing share of renewables, and even predict when key equipment needs servicing to prevent failure and possible blackouts. AI can help grid planners schedule investments in generation, energy storage, and other infrastructure that will be needed in the future. AI is also helping researchers discover or design novel materials for nuclear reactors, batteries, and electrolyzers.

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere are actively investigating aspects of those and other opportunities for AI to support the clean energy transition. At its 2025 research conference, MITEI announced the Data Center Power Forum, a targeted research effort for MITEI member companies interested in addressing the challenges of data center power demand.

Controlling real-time operations

Customers generally rely on receiving a continuous supply of electricity, and grid operators get help from AI to make that happen — while optimizing the storage and distribution of energy from renewable sources at the same time.

But with more installation of solar and wind farms — both of which provide power in smaller amounts, and intermittently — and the growing threat of weather events and cyberattacks, ensuring reliability is getting more complicated. “That’s exactly where AI can come into the picture,” explains Anuradha Annaswamy, a senior research scientist in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and director of MIT’s Active-Adaptive Control Laboratory. “Essentially, you need to introduce a whole information infrastructure to supplement and complement the physical infrastructure.”

The electricity grid is a complex system that requires meticulous control on time scales ranging from decades all the way down to microseconds. The challenge can be traced to the basic laws of power physics: electricity supply must equal electricity demand at every instant, or generation can be interrupted. In past decades, grid operators generally assumed that generation was fixed — they could count on how much electricity each large power plant would produce — while demand varied over time in a fairly predictable way. As a result, operators could commission specific power plants to run as needed to meet demand the next day. If some outages occurred, specially designated units would start up as needed to make up the shortfall.

Today and in the future, that matching of supply and demand must still happen, even as the number of small, intermittent sources of generation grows and weather disturbances and other threats to the grid increase. AI algorithms provide a means of achieving the complex management of information needed to forecast within just a few hours which plants should run while also ensuring that the frequency, voltage, and other characteristics of the incoming power are as required for the grid to operate properly.

Moreover, AI can make possible new ways of increasing supply or decreasing demand at times when supplies on the grid run short. As Annaswamy points out, the battery in your electric vehicle (EV), as well as the one charged up by solar panels or wind turbines, can — when needed — serve as a source of extra power to be fed into the grid. And given real-time price signals, EV owners can choose to shift charging from a time when demand is peaking and prices are high to a time when demand and therefore prices are both lower. In addition, new smart thermostats can be set to allow the indoor temperature to drop or rise —  a range defined by the customer — when demand on the grid is peaking. And data centers themselves can be a source of demand flexibility: selected AI calculations could be delayed as needed to smooth out peaks in demand. Thus, AI can provide many opportunities to fine-tune both supply and demand as needed.

In addition, AI makes possible “predictive maintenance.” Any downtime is costly for the company and threatens shortages for the customers served. AI algorithms can collect key performance data during normal operation and, when readings veer off from that normal, the system can alert operators that something might be going wrong, giving them a chance to intervene. That capability prevents equipment failures, reduces the need for routine inspections, increases worker productivity, and extends the lifetime of key equipment.

Annaswamy stresses that “figuring out how to architect this new power grid with these AI components will require many different experts to come together.” She notes that electrical engineers, computer scientists, and energy economists “will have to rub shoulders with enlightened regulators and policymakers to make sure that this is not just an academic exercise, but will actually get implemented. All the different stakeholders have to learn from each other. And you need guarantees that nothing is going to fail. You can’t have blackouts.”

Using AI to help plan investments in infrastructure for the future

Grid companies constantly need to plan for expanding generation, transmission, storage, and more, and getting all the necessary infrastructure built and operating may take many years, in some cases more than a decade. So, they need to predict what infrastructure they’ll need to ensure reliability in the future. “It’s complicated because you have to forecast over a decade ahead of time what to build and where to build it,” says Deepjyoti Deka, a research scientist in MITEI.

One challenge with anticipating what will be needed is predicting how the future system will operate. “That’s becoming increasingly difficult,” says Deka, because more renewables are coming online and displacing traditional generators. In the past, operators could rely on “spinning reserves,” that is, generating capacity that’s not currently in use but could come online in a matter of minutes to meet any shortfall on the system. The presence of so many intermittent generators — wind and solar — means there’s now less stability and inertia built into the grid. Adding to the complication is that those intermittent generators can be built by various vendors, and grid planners may not have access to the physics-based equations that govern the operation of each piece of equipment at sufficiently fine time scales. “So, you probably don’t know exactly how it’s going to run,” says Deka.

And then there’s the weather. Determining the reliability of a proposed future energy system requires knowing what it’ll be up against in terms of weather. The future grid has to be reliable not only in everyday weather, but also during low-probability but high-risk events such as hurricanes, floods, and wildfires, all of which are becoming more and more frequent, notes Deka. AI can help by predicting such events and even tracking changes in weather patterns due to climate change.

Deka points out another, less-obvious benefit of the speed of AI analysis. Any infrastructure development plan must be reviewed and approved, often by several regulatory and other bodies. Traditionally, an applicant would develop a plan, analyze its impacts, and submit the plan to one set of reviewers. After making any requested changes and repeating the analysis, the applicant would resubmit a revised version to the reviewers to see if the new version was acceptable. AI tools can speed up the required analysis so the process moves along more quickly. Planners can even reduce the number of times a proposal is rejected by using large language models to search regulatory publications and summarize what’s important for a proposed infrastructure installation.

Harnessing AI to discover and exploit advanced materials needed for the energy transition

“Use of AI for materials development is booming right now,” says Ju Li, MIT’s Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering. He notes two main directions.

First, AI makes possible faster physics-based simulations at the atomic scale. The result is a better atomic-level understanding of how composition, processing, structure, and chemical reactivity relate to the performance of materials. That understanding provides design rules to help guide the development and discovery of novel materials for energy generation, storage, and conversion needed for a sustainable future energy system.

And second, AI can help guide experiments in real time as they take place in the lab. Li explains: “AI assists us in choosing the best experiment to do based on our previous experiments and — based on literature searches — makes hypotheses and suggests new experiments.”

He describes what happens in his own lab. Human scientists interact with a large language model, which then makes suggestions about what specific experiments to do next. The human researcher accepts or modifies the suggestion, and a robotic arm responds by setting up and performing the next step in the experimental sequence, synthesizing the material, testing the performance, and taking images of samples when appropriate. Based on a mix of literature knowledge, human intuition, and previous experimental results, AI thus coordinates active learning that balances the goals of reducing uncertainty with improving performance. And, as Li points out, “AI has read many more books and papers than any human can, and is thus naturally more interdisciplinary.”

The outcome, says Li, is both better design of experiments and speeding up the “work flow.” Traditionally, the process of developing new materials has required synthesizing the precursors, making the material, testing its performance and characterizing the structure, making adjustments, and repeating the same series of steps. AI guidance speeds up that process, “helping us to design critical, cheap experiments that can give us the maximum amount of information feedback,” says Li.

“Having this capability certainly will accelerate material discovery, and this may be the thing that can really help us in the clean energy transition,” he concludes. “AI [has the potential to] lubricate the material-discovery and optimization process, perhaps shortening it from decades, as in the past, to just a few years.” 

MITEI’s contributions

At MIT, researchers are working on various aspects of the opportunities described above. In projects supported by MITEI, teams are using AI to better model and predict disruptions in plasma flows inside fusion reactors — a necessity in achieving practical fusion power generation. Other MITEI-supported teams are using AI-powered tools to interpret regulations, climate data, and infrastructure maps in order to achieve faster, more adaptive electric grid planning. AI-guided development of advanced materials continues, with one MITEI project using AI to optimize solar cells and thermoelectric materials.

Other MITEI researchers are developing robots that can learn maintenance tasks based on human feedback, including physical intervention and verbal instructions. The goal is to reduce costs, improve safety, and accelerate the deployment of the renewable energy infrastructure. And MITEI-funded work continues on ways to reduce the energy demand of data centers, from designing more efficient computer chips and computing algorithms to rethinking the architectural design of the buildings, for example, to increase airflow so as to reduce the need for air conditioning.

In addition to providing leadership and funding for many research projects, MITEI acts as a convenor, bringing together interested parties to consider common problems and potential solutions. In May 2025, MITEI’s annual spring symposium — titled “AI and energy: Peril and promise” — brought together AI and energy experts from across academia, industry, government, and nonprofit organizations to explore AI as both a problem and a potential solution for the clean energy transition. At the close of the symposium, William H. Green, director of MITEI and Hoyt C. Hottel Professor in the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering, noted, “The challenge of meeting data center energy demand and of unlocking the potential benefits of AI to the energy transition is now a research priority for MITEI.”

© Image: Igor Borisenko/iStock

For the first time in nearly twenty years, the CEOs of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis may once again share a table before Congress. The Senate Commerce Committee has called on Ford’s Jim Farley, GM’s Mary Barra, and Stellantis’ Antonio Filosa to testify on January 14 in a high-profile hearing exploring the auto industry’s outlook on federal transportation policy and vehicle affordability.

The session will also delve into the uneasy transition toward electrification, a subject that continues to divide policymakers and automakers alike. Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, has been invited to join the discussion, adding an electric perspective to the mix.

More: Lawmakers Demand Answers From Hertz On AI Rental Damages System

The last time all three Detroit bosses appeared together on Capitol Hill was late 2008 during the financial crisis, bailout negotiations, and a moment when the industry’s future looked genuinely uncertain. This time, the pressure points are different but no less significant.

Why Bring Them Together Now?

Senator Ted Cruz, who’s spearheading the hearing, has titled it “Pedal to the Policy: The Views of the American Auto Industry on the Upcoming Surface Transportation Reauthorization.”

Based on reporting from the Union-Bulletin, the sessions will probe fuel economy and emissions mandates, tariffs, federal EV policy, new-vehicle pricing, and how automakers plan to navigate the next decade. Cruz frames the meeting as a long-overdue reality check on affordability.

“The average price of a car has more than doubled in the past decade,” said Cruz, blaming “onerous government-mandated technologies and radical environmental regulations.”

What’s Driving Up Costs?

No doubt, the average transaction price (ATP) of a new car is quite high these days. Data from Cox Automotive shows that it surpassed $50,000 in September.

A decade ago, that figure was in the low $30,000s. Notably, analysts think the shift is due to several factors, including, but not limited to, regulation. Inflation, tariffs, higher-end trims, and the introduction of more EVs all have a part to play.

Also: EVs Now Sell Faster Than Gas Cars In The Used Market

Republicans say policy changes earlier this year, including repealing federal EV mandates and CAFE targets under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, are steps toward lowering prices. However, Cruz argues lawmakers need to go further. This is all happening at a critical point in the U.S. automotive industry too.

The debate comes at a pivotal moment for the U.S. auto sector. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) faces renewal or renegotiation by July 1. If it lapses, the fallout alone could drive vehicle costs higher, regardless of any new legislation.

Source: Union-Bulletin

Tesla has long been familiar with the courtroom, especially when it comes to class-action lawsuits in the United States. Over the years, the company has paid out millions to settle various cases, but this week brought a rare turn of fortune for the EV maker.

Read: California Judge Approves Class Action Against Tesla Over Racial Harassment

A California state judge has ruled that a group of African American factory workers cannot sue Tesla as a class over alleged racial discrimination, handing the company a temporary reprieve in a high-profile case that’s been unfolding for years.

What Changed in Court?

The lawsuit, originally filed by former assembly-line worker Marcus Vaughn, had claimed that Black employees at Tesla’s plant in Fremont, California, were subjected to racial discrimination that included slurs directed at them and nooses hung at their workstations.

Initially certified as a class action in 2024, the case was scheduled to go to trial in April 2026. However, earlier this week, California Superior Court Judge Peter Borkon said the 2017 lawsuit can no longer proceed as a class action, noting that many of the 200 workers randomly selected to testify at trial have been unwilling to do so.

As such, Borkon says he can no longer trust that the experiences of a smaller selection of workers can be applied to the entire class.

According to one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, Lawrence Organ, many of those named in the class-action are low-income workers who cannot afford to miss work and testify in the case.

More Lawsuits Could Come

But Tesla is still in hot water. While the class action hasn’t been certified, the plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel, Bryan J. Schwartz, says lawyers will pursue hundreds of individual lawsuits. So far, more than 500 have been filed, and by the time it’s all said and done, more than 900 separate lawsuits alleging racial discrimination could be filed against Tesla.

“Tesla has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire with this decertification, because they are now facing hundreds of victims of race harassment seeking damages in their own suits,” Schwartz told KQED.

It’s no secret that the automotive industry is in the midst of a gigantic transformation. Tariffs, trade wars, and shifting consumer interests are all playing a role. Now, Tesla is working to end its reliance on Chinese-made components for U.S.-built cars.

It’s just the latest automaker to take this step, with GM reportedly doing the same, though it will take time for both companies to fully achieve their goals.

More: GM Quietly Told Suppliers To Ditch Chinese Parts And Now The Trouble Begins

According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, Tesla earlier this year instructed suppliers to begin eliminating Chinese parts from every vehicle produced in the United States.

Evidently, it told them to get the job done within the next two years at most. If possible, it would like the shift to be done within the next year. Sources indicate that it’s already swapped out some Chinese components.

Tariffs and Timing

Several forces came together to make this happen. Tesla was already moving away from Chinese-sourced parts after the pandemic. Matters escalated this year when President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs on Chinese imports.

That created new volatility in an already fluctuating market, which affected Tesla’s pricing and procurement plans. According to the report, Tesla is working to build a business that is more resilient to political decisions.

Recently, a semiconductor conflict between China and the Netherlands triggered fresh supply interruptions at Tesla. Dutch chip maker, Nexperia, whose packaging happens in China, became tangled up in an export-blocking dispute, and as such, automakers like Tesla were caught up too.

New Routes Around China

Interestingly, Tesla has been encouraging Chinese suppliers to set up shop in Mexico and Southeast Asia for years. This could potentially allow Tesla to sidestep tariffs that are aimed solely at China itself. It also halted the use of Chinese-made lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries in favor of making them in Nevada next year.

Notably, Tesla isn’t the first automaker to go down this route. Earlier this year, GM quietly instructed its suppliers to cut out Chinese components altogether by 2027.

No doubt, these two companies won’t be the only ones to try this same trick. Only time will tell whether or not it actually works out, cuts costs, and brings more manufacturing to America.

Audi is stepping up its assault on the North American market by finally doing something its BMW and Mercedes rivals have been doing for years: building vehicles inside the US.

Related: Audi’s New 4×4 Could Blend Scout DNA With G-Class Swagger

The VW-owned luxury brand already lagged behind its opposition in terms of stateside sales, but its lack of a US plant means it’s been particularly hard-hit by the tariffs, since it relies on imports from Europe and Mexico. Now it plans to tackle that problem with a new luxury SUV aimed at the Land Rover Defender and produced in the US.

Built by Scout

The secret SUV will be a range extender hybrid designed specifically for the US market and will be built locally. But that doesn’t mean Audi is about to commission a new factory of its own on American soil, German website Automobilewoche reports.

Instead, it will build the SUV at the Blythewood, South Carolina, plant currently being constructed by VW-owned Scout Motors, which hopes to begin rolling out Scout trucks and SUVs by late 2027.

Scout, a utility brand launched by International Harvester in the late 1950s but dormant since 1980, was resurrected by VW in 2022 and plans to launch with two vehicles, the Scout Traveler SUV and Scout Terra truck.

Scout’s new models have ladder-frame chassis, which would be a first for Audi, and four-wheel drive systems with proper locking differentials. Although Scout offers both fully electric and range-extender powertrains, over 80 percent of reservations are for the range-extender, CEO Scott Keogh told Bloomberg recently.

While the full EVs can travel for 350 miles (563 km) on their 120 kWh batteries, the range-extenders offer around 500 miles (800 km) of range, only 150 miles (240 km) of which comes from their smaller battery.

What Could it Look Like?

Although Audi hasn’t revealed any images of its tough new SUV, and we’ve yet to see it in spy shots, we have had strong hints from the automaker that one is on the way.

Earlier in 2025, Audi debuted the Q6 e-tron Offroad Concept, which featured portal axles and a massively increased ride height to underline how serious Audi is about building a more off-road-focused machine.

Though Audi used the Q6 as a base for that concept, the real SUV, probably due in 2028, will be much bigger and almost certainly boxier, as imagined in these images below from @theottle.

@theottle

A bin of THC edible products from Virginia stores is displayed by the state attorney general. While states continue to expand access to legal marijuana, a separate market of hemp-derived intoxicants has blossomed. (Photo by Graham Moomaw/Virginia Mercury)

A provision significantly limiting the sale of intoxicating hemp products made its way into legislation to reopen the federal government just a day before the Senate approved the bill. Its inclusion follows years of pressure from states and the marijuana industry.

While states continue to expand access to legal marijuana, a separate market of hemp-derived intoxicants has blossomed. The products, from drinks to gummies, are sold in gas stations and smoke shops. Critics say some companies have exploited a legal loophole from 2018 to manufacture products that get people high — without the safety regulations and taxes facing the legal marijuana industry.

That’s led dozens of states to limit or ban certain intoxicating hemp products. Most states also have pushed for federal changes, though some farm states worry the pending federal bill — which the House is expected to vote on as soon as today — goes too far.

A bipartisan group of 39 state attorneys general recently urged Congress to clarify the federal definition of hemp, arguing that the underregulated industry threatens public health and undermines law enforcement.

Texas lawmakers this year approved a strict ban on intoxicating hemp, but that measure was vetoed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The governor raised constitutional concerns because federal law allowed the products, but he then issued an executive order increasing state agency regulations, including age restrictions.

This summer, Florida regulators seized tens of thousands of packages of hemp products that failed to meet new child protection standards, including child-resistant packaging, marketing restrictions and enhanced labeling rules. In Tallahassee, the state Senate approved a ban on hemp-derived THC products, including beverages, but that measure died in the state House. A similar effort last year was vetoed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said it would harm small businesses.

Last month, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation strengthening state enforcement of its ban on intoxicating hemp products. Similarly, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine declared an emergency last month in an executive order banning intoxicating hemp products for 90 days while lawmakers debate potential legislation.

Missouri hemp businesses fear new federal THC limits will destroy the industry

Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the primary psychoactive component of the cannabis plant. The 39 state attorneys general argue manufacturers are manipulating hemp to produce synthetic THC that can be more intoxicating than marijuana.

“In this way, legal, nonintoxicating hemp is used to make Frankenstein THC products that get adults high and harm and even kill children,” the attorneys general wrote.

Hemp-derived gummies and beverages are sold without consistent age restrictions or labeling regulations and oftentimes resemble candy. During his announcement, DeWine showcased brightly packaged intoxicating hemp products that resembled name-brand candy products.

“Certainly, it’s easy to see how a child will confuse this product with real candy and eat a few gummy bears and ingest enough THC to require hospitalization,” he said, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

Though it has faced mounting restrictions in the states, the hemp industry says the federal change poses an existential threat.

On Monday, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable said the legislation pending in Congress would wipe out 95% of the nation’s $28.4 billion hemp industry.

“The language will force patients, seniors and veterans who rely on hemp products to break federal criminal law to acquire them,” the trade group posted online.

Jonathan Miller, general counsel for the organization, said the industry has been pushing for regulation rather than outright prohibition. He acknowledged the problem of bad actors, but said those can be addressed with strong regulations like those that exist in Kentucky and Minnesota.

“These are good examples of states that have put together robust regulations. But we need to see that at the federal level, and we’ve been supporting legislation to do that for the last seven years,” he told Stateline.

Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky’s senior senator, said he included the hemp measure in the bill to close an unintended legal loophole and that the measure would still allow farmers to grow hemp for fiber, oil and drug trials.

But fellow Kentucky Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said the move would “eradicate the hemp industry” and could override some state laws. Paul offered an amendment to remove the hemp provision but failed.

The hemp loophole

Hemp derives from the same cannabis species as marijuana, but is legally defined by its lower levels of THC, the psychoactive component of the plant.

While marijuana remains illegal under federal law, Congress sanctioned hemp in the 2018 farm bill to allow an agricultural market for hemp-based textiles, animal feeds and human wellness products centered on cannabidiol, or CBD, products. The farm bill allowed cultivation of hemp plants with a THC concentration of 0.3% or lower by dry weight.

But that threshold has become essentially meaningless, said Katharine Neill Harris, a fellow in drug policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

That’s because manufacturers have found ways to convert legal hemp plants into potent forms of synthetic marijuana. Aside from the potential of creating very strong products, she said the process requires the addition of solvents and other ingredients that raise many safety questions.

“With marijuana products, you can get some very potent products,” she said. “But the psychoactive components to THC are naturally occurring. It naturally occurs in that natural amount. You’re not doing a whole bunch of manipulation to increase the potency of the product and adding ingredients.”

Harris has tracked the growing number of states regulating the industry: Six states and the District of Columbia now ban all consumable hemp products with any amount of THC. In 24 states, intoxicating hemp products are permitted, though 15 of those states allow only low-potency products.

But even states with strict regulations still must contend with legal online markets.

“There’s a big part of that activity that you can’t control as a state when something is federally legal, and so that’s one thing that they’re asking for is federal leadership on this issue,” she said. “I think there is a big demand for some sort of industry standards.”

If approved by Congress and signed by the president, as expected, the new hemp legislation will likely have uneven impacts across the states.

For example, the change likely won’t dramatically alter the legal landscape in Alaska, where the regulators have banned all intoxicating hemp products. Marijuana businesses complain those products are still being sold, despite the ban.

But in a state like Nebraska, where lawmakers have been unsuccessful in limiting intoxicating hemp, the change could drastically alter both consumer access and business sales, depending on enforcement.

On Monday, Paul said the federal legislation would wipe away hemp regulations in many states, including Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine and Utah.

“The bill before us nullifies all these state laws,” he said.

‘Running with knives’

The hemp industry has argued that a lot of the opposition to it stems from marijuana businesses looking to protect their own markets, noting that campaigns for restrictions are often more organized in states that have legalized marijuana.

But producers of intoxicating hemp are looking for market access without the associated safety regulations and tax structures states have created for marijuana, argued Chris Lindsey, the director of state advocacy and public policy at the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, an organization representing the legal marijuana industry.

“They want to have some kind of regulatory framework that’s somehow different than the one that states already have [for marijuana],” he said.

His organization cheered the Senate’s efforts “to address the dangerous proliferation of unregulated synthetic THC products.”

Lindsey said hemp-derived products can contain contaminants, including pesticides. Many hemp products can be sourced cheaply overseas, he said, and with lax oversight, there is no system to recall tainted products here.

“To me, that’s like running with knives,” he told Stateline.

Floridians react to federal legislation that could ‘devastate’ state’s hemp industry

The Missouri Cannabis Trade Association recently purchased hemp products from gas stations and smoke shops from across the state to test them in an effort to show they need more regulation.

In its “Missouri Hemp Hoax Report,” the organization said independent testing found 53 of the 55 products purchased were actually intoxicating marijuana well above the legal limit of THC. Third-party lab results also showed some of the products contained pesticides and heavy metals.

Those results underscore that the products should face the same rules as legal marijuana does, said Andrew Mullins, president and executive director of the cannabis trade association. State law requires marijuana to be grown and manufactured in Missouri, mandates lab testing and allows for sales only at licensed dispensaries.

“In my mind, if it’s marijuana, which most of this is, then it should be regulated like marijuana,” Mullins said.

He said calling the unregulated products “hemp” is akin to someone selling whiskey and calling it corn: “Everybody is using hemp as a cover to basically sell intoxicating drugs.”

Mullins acknowledged the confusion among policymakers and law enforcement. But he said there are already laws — including those against trafficking marijuana without a license — that could help address the issue.

Catherine Hanaway, a Republican who was sworn in as Missouri’s new attorney general in September, has vowed action on unregulated hemp products, particularly THC beverages that are booming in popularity.

“Our focus is on the health and safety of Missourians,” James Lawson, her deputy chief of staff, told the Missouri Independent last month. “This is an unregulated industry that makes untested, unknown substances available to the public without any oversight, including children where we think it’s particularly detrimental.”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org.

For the second time this year, Toyota has delayed its plan to build a new factory dedicated to EV batteries in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture. The decision, while not unexpected, highlights the company’s cautious approach amid fluctuating global demand for electric vehicles.

Sales of Toyota’s EVs have slowed, yet the automaker maintains that the plant will still move forward in due course.

Read: Toyota’s Lineup Overhaul Could Include A Surprise Sedan And Electric Highlander

Toyota paid roughly 6 billion yen, about $39 million, for the site located in an industrial zone under development in northeastern Fukuoka Prefecture. As part of the purchase, the company agreed to begin construction within three years.

Earnings Results Shift The Timeline

Despite this, the car manufacturer announced in March that it would postpone work at the site due to fall demand for its EVs. The governor of Fukuoka, as well as Toyota President Koji Sato, have since confirmed work on the site has been postponed for a second time.

Production had initially been slated to start in 2028, though an updated timeline has yet to be provided, according to Nikkei Asia.

Word of the delay coincided with Toyota’s latest earnings report. It cut its global EV sales expectations by 10 percent from a previous forecast of 277,000 units for the fiscal year ending March 2026.

Even so, Toyota hasn’t ruled out adjusting its long-term targets, including its aim to reach 1.5 million global EV sales in 2026, a figure that could yet evolve as market conditions change.

Toyota Is Still Betting On EVs

Notably, Toyota is still investing heavily in new electric vehicles and factories. It continues to work towards opening a new factory in Shanghai, China, around 2027, to produce EVs for Lexus. This facility will likely handle the production of the LF-ZC and LF-ZL that were introduced a couple of years ago as concepts.

Toyota’s EV sales through the first nine months of the year were actually up 20.6 percent to 117,031 units, but even so, that number has still fallen short of expectations.

Until the company is confident that sales will rise significantly, it doesn’t make sense to rush and build new plants only for them to sit idle or operate at partial capacity.

Sources: Nikkei Asia