Report: Subaru to add Crosstrek Hybrid, lean on Toyota for EVs

2024 Subaru Crosstrek WildernessSubaru will lean on Toyota for three more electric crossovers through 2026, but it first will revive the Crosstrek Hybrid, Automotive News reports. The previous Crosstrek Hybrid was actually a plug-in hybrid, which borrowed powertrain components from Toyota. It was launched for the 2014 model year and lasted for two generations before being...

2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid gets refreshed look, up to 36 mpg, same price

2025 Kia Sorento HEVThe 2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid features updated exterior styling and a refreshed interior for the same price as the 2024 model. That unchanged base price is $40,065 for the base EX grade with front-wheel drive. The lineup also includes an all-wheel-drive EX model starting at $41,865 and an SX Prestige grade (available only with all-wheel drive)...

Vinfast updates troubled VF 8 EV—with Sony entertainment

Vinfast VF 8 with Sony RideVuSony is in the process of launching its own Afeela EV brand in partnership with Honda, but in the meantime the company's new in-car entertainment app is debuting in the Vinfast VF 8 electric SUV. Dubbed Ridevu, this feature offers access to a regularly updated library of over 2,000 movies over a 12-month subscription period, according to Vinfast...

Musk: Tesla Supercharger network plans $500M expansion despite layoffs

Tesla SuperchargerDespite recent layoffs, the Tesla Supercharger network is due for an expansion, CEO Elon Musk claims. Tesla will spend "well over" $500 million on the Supercharger network this year, Musk said Friday on X (formerly Twitter), the social media network he owns, adding that this investment will fund "thousands" of new chargers and is separate from any...

Report: Trump offered to nix EV incentives for $1B donation from Big Oil

President Donald Trump (Photo courtesy Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons)At a meeting with top oil executives at his Mar-a-Lago club last month, Donald Trump offered to reverse Biden administration environmental policies in exchange for a $1 billion donation to his presidential re-election campaign, the Washington Post reports. The donation would be a "deal," Trump said, because of the taxation and regulation oil...

BP seeks stranded Tesla Supercharger sites in $1B EV charging buildout

Tesla Model 3 (Europe-market refresh) BP is eying Tesla Supercharger sites as part of a planned expansion of the oil giant's U.S. charging network, Bloomberg reports. The company said it "is aggressively looking to acquire real estate to scale our network, which is a heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement." Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier this month fired most of the...

Car flame retardants might make us sick—and be unnecessary in EVs

2025 Land Rover DefenderOutdated federal standards for the flammability of vehicle interior materials—put in place before the rise of EVs—pose an unnecessary health hazard, argues Consumer Reports. In response to a study from the Green Science Policy Institute at Duke University, which found harmful chemicals from flame retardants can be present in the air of...

Here’s how California seeks to cut the cost of home EV charging

Lucid Connected Home Charging StationSpikes in electricity rates can raise the cost of charging an EV at home, but California has a solution. As explained in a recent post on The Equation, from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), California is considering adding a fixed charge on electricity bills from its largest utilities in exchange for a reduction in the per-unit price of...

Report: EVs are slowing the pace of growth in gasoline demand

Fuel gaugeGrowing EV sales in both the U.S. and China could contribute to a halving in gasoline demand in 2024, says the consultancy Wood Mackenzie. Demand is likely to rise 340,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 26.5 million bpd for the year, but that's the slowest growth since 2020, and down from a growth rate of 700,000 bpd last year, according to the report...

Tiny Eli Zero urban EV priced at $11,990, goes up to 90 miles—slowly

Eli ZeroEli Electric Vehicles on Tuesday opened U.S. reservations for its Eli Zero, a tiny urban EV with a starting price of $11,900. Launched with help from crowdfunding, the Zero was first shown in 2017 and began shipping to European dealers in 2021. At the time, Eli said it was targeting a 2022 launch for the U.S. That date has slipped significantly...