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Kia EV9 and Volvo EX30: Are they 2024’s most important EVs?

One’s a three-row midsize SUV under $60,000; the other’s a compact hatchback that starts in the mid-30s. Now we’ve driven both. Choosing “best of” or “most important” new cars is always dicey, and doubly so with electric vehicles. New entries are announced virtually every month, and picking the 2025 models that will be most important… Read more »

Toyota demonstrates Tesla-inspired gigapress die-casting process

It’s been a long time since auto industry observers have seen Toyota as an innovator, so it was a pleasant surprise when the world’s second-largest automaker demonstrated a version of the die-casting process pioneered by Tesla, using a massive hydraulic press to cast the entire rear third of an auto chassis as a single piece…. Read more »

GM acquires casting specialist TEI, a key enabler of Tesla’s gigacasting process

Tesla’s gigacasting process, which uses giant casting machines to make car bodies with just a few massive cast parts, allows the company to greatly simplify chassis assemblies, saving loads of time, money and factory space. Other automakers, including Ford, Hyundai and several Chinese brands, have taken a keen interest in the technology. Tesla’s process relies… Read more »

Volvo orders two Tesla-style Giga Presses for Slovakia EV plant

Tesla pioneered megacasting, a technique that uses giant casting machines to make car bodies with just a few massive cast parts (a Matchbox car is said to have provided the inspiration), and other automakers quickly took notice. In 2021, the LK Group reported that it would supply giant casting presses to several Chinese companies. In… Read more »

No complaints at Volvo—EV sales soar in October

The legacy automakers had a truly scary October. Ford and GM, both of which had seemed to be manfully slogging forward with electrification, have scaled back their EV plans, moaning that they can’t make a profit on EVs. (It’s not just American companies—VW and Mercedes are wavering too.) Their can’t-do jeremiads are aimed at politicians,… Read more »

LG Energy Solution will invest $3 billion in US plant to supply Toyota with EV batteries

Another sign that the sleeping Japanese giant is starting to stir: Toyota has signed a supply agreement with Korean battery-maker LG Energy Solution for lithium-ion batteries that Toyota will use in its US-built EVs starting in 2025. LGES will invest $3 billion in its Holland, Michigan battery facility for dedicated production lines to supply a… Read more »

Electric taxis in Austria use automated charging system as the country phases out fossil-fueled taxis

Taxis in Austria are going electric. Starting in 2025, only emission-free taxis will be allowed (unlike some countries currently in the news, Austria has shown no signs of reneging on this pledge). Automated EV charging can greatly facilitate taxi electrification, as e-taxis can charge automatically while waiting at taxi stands. The eTaxi Austria project has… Read more »

EV charging is changing, Part 4: Behind the scenes as seven automakers counter Tesla’s Superchargers

Part 1: How automakers’ disappointment in Electrify America drove them into Tesla’s arms Part 2: No, NACS is not today’s Tesla connector Part 3: Why Tesla’s NACS is unlikely to kill CCS EV charging is changing, but much remains to be settled A flurry of news over less than a year permanently altered the US landscape… Read more »