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...

Toyota supersizes battery in fuel-cell semi, teases formula for pickups

Kenworth-Toyota hydrogen fuel-cell semi prototype. -  May 2024In its latest production-bound version of hydrogen fuel-cell semis, Toyota is adding much more of something that will help it go the distance consistently: batteries. Hydrogen fuel cell power is often seen as an alternative to batteries, but here the latter makes the former better. Toyota has opted to fit 200 kwh of lithium-ion NCA (nickel cobalt...

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...

Test drive: 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 overshadows Model 3

2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6With more range, better functionality, actual style thanks to a better design, and competitive price, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 just makes better sense than the Tesla Model 3. But that style does come at a price for taller passengers; Tesla has upped its interior-material game; and the car that’s so forward-thinking still lacks some tech polish...

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...

Rivian R2 production, Kia EV3 debut date, Eli Zero: Today’s Car News

Kia EV3 conceptKia confirms the EV3 for production. Rivian revamps its Illinois plant for R2 production. EVs are already having a big effect on gasoline demand. And how small of an EV is big enough? This and more, here at Green Car Reports. Rivian is rejiggering the production capacity of its plant in Normal, Illinois, to accommodate up to 155,000 of its more...

Rivian aims for 155,000 of its $45,000 R2 electric SUVs in Illinois

Rivian R2Just after the reveal of its more affordable R2, R3, and R3X models in March, Rivian announced plans to rejigger its production capacity at its existing plant in Illinois, to accommodate the R2 electric SUV at that plant instead of an even larger one in Georgia that remains on the drawing board. Recognizing that the R2 is critical to the...