How safe are some of the biggest and thirstiest SUVs?
Why is the $7.5 billion federal electric vehicle charging network moving so slowly?
This is our look at the reversal week — here at Green Car Reports — for the week ending June 6, 2024.
It’s been another big week of learning about some of the hotly anticipated new electric cars, with reports on some of the biggest news for green car shoppers. Rivian on Thursday paved the way for its mass-market R2 with more comfortable, better-performing, lighter and simpler “Gen 2” versions of its electric trucks. The 2025 Rivian R1S SUV and R1T will be offered in two-, three- and four-motor designs, with standard, large and maximum battery packs (LFP). And as Green Car reports have attested on the road, in the mud, and on the drag strip, it all adds up to a more attractive car.
Toyota Crown Signia 2025
And do you want a spacious gasoline-powered station wagon that can get close to 40 mpg? That’s what Toyota has introduced with the 2025 Crown Signia, and at around $45,000, it’s a comfortable, more car-like family alternative to the Boxier Highlander Hybrid.
When the Jeep Wagoneer S electric SUV was unveiled last week, executives confirmed that extended-range Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer 4xe versions are on the way, with larger battery packs and packaging capable of maintaining its three-row layout. As Jeep plans mild hybrids, plug-in hybrids, electric vehicles, and more, it’s leaving out a large number of building blocks — and based on executive feedback about what type of plug-ins are best for which situation, they may be rolling out in the wrong order.
2024 Jeep Wagoneer
Separately, last week, the CEO of Stellantis, Jeep’s parent company, told media at an investor conference last week that a $25,000 Jeep EV would be arriving in the US soon.
The federal government on Friday unveiled vehicle fleet fuel efficiency standards for 2027-2031 that would improve vehicles’ average miles per gallon, but less aggressively than originally proposed. Besides softer targets for trucks and SUVs, the rules give automakers plenty of extra points for electric vehicles.
Production of the 2025 Volvo EX90 begins in South Carolina
U.S. production of the 2025 Volvo EX90 electric SUV has begun in South Carolina, the Swedish automaker reported this week. It says the first customer cars will be delivered in the United States in the second half of the year. US-made Hyundai and Kia EVs will be coming to dealerships soon, with the Kia EV9 starting US production last week, and Hyundai’s initial US-made electric vehicle now confirmed as the Ioniq 5. But will these cars be eligible for the full US tax credit? 7500 USD?
Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Manchin has returned to criticizing the EV tax credit rules put in place by the Biden administration, and this week called for enforcement of rules requiring domestically sourced battery content — rules that were recently relaxed by two years. Manchin already has a problem with the “leasing loophole” written into the appropriations, which effectively provides federal subsidies for foreign-made luxury electric vehicles.
In Europe, both Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis this week temporarily halted their European battery plans, as they refocused their efforts on affordable electric cars, amid slowing demand, especially for premium electric cars.
2024 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV 580 4Matic
Mercedes-Benz has recalled nearly 15,000 electric vehicles due to a software issue that could cause a high-voltage system to shut down. It’s a glitch in the vehicle’s diagnostic system and there’s nothing wrong with the battery, but the problem requires a return to the dealership for an update.
According to a recent patent application, Ford is studying the possibility of swapping an electric vehicle’s battery via charging stations. If such a system based on smaller modules becomes a reality — perhaps for fleet vehicles, or other types of mobility — it will be very different from the complete alternatives that companies like Nio and Ample are making today.
Impacts of 2023 and 2024 Chevrolet Tahoe crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Many large, gas-guzzling SUVs aren’t actually very safe, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found in a new round of crash tests of the Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition, and Jeep Wagoneer. Of these three-row models that largely get less than 20 mpg, only the Wagoneer earns the highest rating of “Good.”
A new AAA poll found that fewer Americans are likely to buy a new or used electric vehicle in 2024, compared to a similar survey last year. The reasons are not surprising, and are due to cost and convenient shipping; Specifically, it indicates that nearly a third of Americans are unable to install an electric vehicle charger where they live.
View EnviroSpark EV chargers at Waffle House
Why is the $7.5 billion federal electric vehicle charging network funded in 2021 moving so slowly? So far, only eight plants have opened in six states, according to one report, largely because states are taking the lead but have to contend with “a patchwork of public and private utilities, regulators, and bureaucracy.”
New York City already had fleets of electric taxis in the 1890s. But a few mishaps, and the dominance of petroleum distribution, meant that electric vehicles did not re-emerge as a practical alternative to internal combustion taxis until the 2010s.
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