Charged with Electric Vehicle News and Views
Rivian is looking to patent heated headlight lenses to help increase the performance of the lighting on its electric pickup trucks and SUVs in snow, ice, and rain. The LED headlights that have become the standard in the auto industry don't give off so much waste heat all the time as previous HID or halogen lights, which can often melt any... 
Tesla is recalling 239,382 electric vehicles because of rearview camera displays that could fail. The recall includes 2024-2025 Tesla Model 3 and Model S sedans and 2023-2025 Model X and Model Y crossovers. Circuit boards in these vehicles could short out, causing a loss of the rearview camera image, according to the NHTSA. A functioning rearview... 
Faraday Future provided further detail on plans for its new FX sub-brand at CES 2025 in Las Vegas this week. The company reaffirmed plans for an affordable EV called the FX 5 that will cost between $20,000 and $30,000 and a larger model called the FX 6 priced between $30,000 and $50,000. First outlined in a September 2024 investor presentation... 
The Tesla Model Y is receiving its first refresh since debuting six years ago The updated Model Y is expected to arrive in the U.S. this spring Tesla sales were down in 2024 Following its refresh of the Model 3, Tesla has released an updated version of the Model Y crossover, codenamed Juniper, though only for the Chinese market right now... 
Scout Motors wants owners to be able to repair its electric trucks without visiting a dealership unless absolutely necessary. Now it's providing more detail on how it plans to make that happen. When it unveiled concept versions of the Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck last October, Scout claimed that approximately 80% of repairs could be... 
Tesla is recalling a small number of 2024 and 2025 Model S and Model X electric vehicles because their driver's-side airbags could tear during deployment—increasing the risk of injury to vehicle occupants. The recall includes just 294 vehicles manufactured in a short window—Nov. 6, 2024, to Nov. 27, 2024. These vehicles may have... 
Reservations for Scout Motors' range-extended models are outpacing those for pure electric versions, Scout CEO Scott Keogh said in an interview with Bloomberg at CES 2025 in Las Vegas this week. The new Volkswagen Group brand plans to launch its Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck in 2027 with a powertrain called Harvester that adds a gasoline... 
Starting in February, Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles will be able to charge at 20,000 Tesla Supercharger stations in the U.S., the automaker announced Thursday. Supercharger access will be enabled via a software update installed by dealerships—not over-the-air. Customers will be contacted by Mercedes to schedule this. The update will... 
Volkswagen will rollout Tesla Supercharger access for its EV customers this summer, when adapters will be ready for current CCS-equipped vehicles. "We get access to the network in June/July, when we have an official VW adapter," VW spokesperson Mark Gillies told PCMag at CES 2025 this week, adding that the automaker is still lining up suppliers to... 
The NHTSA on Tuesday said it is opening an investigation into 2.6 million Tesla electric vehicles in the U.S. over reports of crashes involving the automaker's Actually Smart Summon remote-driving feature. Launched in September, Actually Smart Summon is the current version of the Smart Summon remote valet feature Tesla introduced in 2019. It's... 
Mazda on Monday announced a new Japanese battery plant that will assemble cylindrical cells into modules and battery packs for use in a planned electric vehicle based on a dedicated platform. Located in Iwakuni City, in Japan's Yamaguchi Prefecture, the plant targets 10 GWh of annual production, Mazda said. Cells will be supplied by Panasonic... 
Donut Lab, a subsidiary of Finland-based Verge Motorcycles, claims to have a motor with the highest power density of any such unit in the world. At CES 2025, Donut Lab announced it had achieved this feat with donut-shaped motors designed to be integrated with a vehicle's wheels and tires. This adds unsprung mass, which can make tuning for ride and... 
Thomas Built Buses manufacturers most of the yellow school buses that populate U.S. roads—and an increasing number of them are electric. The company on Tuesday unveiled its second-generation electric school bus. Dubbed the Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley, it features a number of changes over the first-generation model that launched in 2017. Key among... 
The Afeela 1, the EV from a joint venture between Honda and Sony, will arrive in 2026 Base Afeela 1 EVs will cost $89,900 while the Signature trim costs $102,900 Afeela is now taking $200 deposits, but it'll only be available in California initially Sony and Honda confirmed pricing for the first electric vehicle from their joint Afeela brand at... 
Honda 0 SUV arrives first in North America in early 2026 Honda 0 Saloon arrives in the later half of the year, likely as a niche flagship Production of both models begins this year in Ohio Honda showed off near-production-ready prototypes of the Honda 0 SUV and Honda 0 Saloon at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Following... 
Long charging times and lack of available public charging stations have been cited as major roadblocks to EV adoption in countless studies and surveys, but a new survey of U.S. consumers conducted by Deloitte indicates that attitudes may be changing. While it included about 31,000 responses from thirty different countries, the survey found that... 
The 2025 Toyota Prius continues unchanged except for a new Nightshade grade and a small price increase. The base Prius LE grade now costs $29,485 including the mandatory $1,135 destination charge—$400 more than the comparable 2024 model. The cost of the Prius XLE positioned just above it increases by the same amount, to $32,930. Toyota also...