#EVs

General Motors is reportedly in talks to purchase electric vehicle batteries from China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) with the twist being that the cells would technically be assembled inside the United States as part of an operation funded and overseen by the Japanese multinational TDK Corporation.

American car buyers are less willing to buy an EV than they were last year.

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The Mercedes-Benz EQS electric sedan will reportedly not see a second generation, likely to the disappointment of no one. Instead, the German automaker intends to build an all-electric S-Class to be sold alongside the internal combustion variant.

VinFast's second all-electric SUV, the VF9, has been issued a $10,000 price reduction before deliveries have commenced. The three-row utility EV was originally supposed to start around $83,000. But reports now have the MSRP pegged at $69,800 before taxes and fees.

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Despite all-electric vehicles having certain advantages over conventional combustion automobiles, they also have some clear drawbacks that have stifled their adoption rate on some of the world’s largest markets. Solid-state batteries are supposed to close the gap between the two and are allegedly approaching mass-market applications. However, we’ve been hearing a lot about them for years with the relevant voices citing little in the way of tangible progress.

Electric vehicles don't make exhaust noise. Some EVs will be performance cars. Performance cars with ICE powertrains often make very cool sounds.

For some, the lack of those sounds will be a problem

When news broke that Dodge would be electrifying the Charger as part of its redesign, the assumption was that the resulting product would cost more than the outgoing model. This is especially true considering the now-discontinued LX/LD platform was comparatively affordable due to having been around so long. However, leaked documents are suggesting that the new Charger will cost substantially more money than the old one.

UPDATE: Stellantis reached out post publication to clarify pricing. Please see below.

This week on the TTAC podcast we talk with Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds.com, about why Teslas are being traded in for gas cars -- and hybrids.

With so many manufacturers retreating from their earlier promises of electrification, the public has begun to take notice. While industry targets often go missed, the EV debate has grown rather contentious due to the strong rhetoric used by automakers for years. Companies weren’t just vowing to sell all-electric vehicles, they were claiming a fundamental shift in transportation was about to happen.

Ford pledged to incorporate Tesla’s NACS charging port standard in its new EVs in the next couple of years, but existing vehicles need an adapter to access the Supercharger network. The automaker is offering a free adapter to owners and initially set June 30 as the deadline, but Forbes recently reported that Ford moved that date back to August 31 due to supply chain issues.

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We've covered this before, and we need to say it again, since former president Donald Trump, who is the Republican nominee to be president again, got it wrong last night.

There is NO MANDATE FORCING AUTOMAKERS TO BUILD ELECTRIC VEHICLES.