Volvo EX90 details, Wrangler 4xe recall, EV battery prices, Tesla Cybertruck: The week in reverse
What did Hyundai and Kia represent better than wheel hub motors?
And which electric truck are buyers most excited about? Note: It’s not the Cybertruck.
This is our review of Week In Reverse – here at Green Car Reports – for the week ending December 1, 2023.
The Tesla Cybertruck was unveiled in production form on Thursday, and the stainless steel construction, steer-by-wire system and packaging unlike any other truck are all notable firsts. Tesla made many claims about its performance – such as overtaking a Porsche 911 while towing a 911 – but it failed to meet some of the key pragmatic goals it had previously set for itself around price and range. But it will also be the Cybertruck first Tesla with bi-directional charging. With the introduction of Powershare, the Cybertruck and future Tesla models will be able to provide power for workplaces or campsites, for home backup power, or for charging other electric vehicles.
2025 Tesla Cybertruck – Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
US prices for the 2025 Volvo EX90 electric SUV is available – and with a starting price of $77,990, this luxury model’s lineup picks up right where the Kia EV9 peaks. And for less than $80,000, this American-made electric vehicle should be eligible for tax credits.
Some owners of the 2021-2024 Jeep Wrangler 4xe– yes, this is the best-selling plug-in hybrid in the US – is instructed not to charge and not to park near buildings or other vehicles. With about 32,000 potentially affected vehicles, Stellantis will use diagnostic software to check for a battery problem, but the number of vehicles with the fault is much lower.
2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe
Volkswagen’s Scout EV brand The company is reportedly planning to outsource the development of its upcoming electric SUV and pickup to Austrian company Magna – the same company that builds the Mercedes G-Class, Jaguar I-Pace and Fisker Ocean. These could be the two products that are scheduled to be manufactured in South Carolina in 2026. So it’s still unclear how Magna could get involved.
Nissan confirmed on Monday that it will do that Next generation Nissan Leaf as well as electric versions of the Juke and Qashqai crossovers at its UK factory for the European market. This confirmed that these upcoming models are visually based on the concepts of Chill-Out, Hyper Punk and Hyper Urban.
Hyundai and Kia Uni Wheel drive system for electric vehicles
Hyundai and Kia have shown one Alternative to wheel hub motors This achieves some of the same packaging goals. Called the Universal Wheel Drive System, or Uni Wheel, it moves a planetary gear set into the wheel, with scaled-down motors nearby, bypassing the need for constant velocity joints.
According to Consumer Reports’ latest annual survey, The reliability of electric vehicles is worse than models with internal combustion engines. Looking at more than 330,000 vehicles from recent model years, CR found that vehicles with charging ports are more prone to failures – with plug-in hybrids being the worst – while hybrid reliability continues to outperform non-hybrids.
An annual assessment survey Buyer interest in electric truckswhich launched this morning, showed “a slowing in enthusiasm from buyers of all stripes” – although buyers remain very excited about the Tesla Cybertruck and the possibility of an electric pickup from Toyota.
Toyota EPU concept
Solid-state battery technology promises gains in energy density and charging, and its introduction could be a game-changer for the electric vehicle market. But according to recent figures from Toyota, one of the leaders in developing the technology, it will remain a niche offering until 2030 – so much so that Toyota appears to be seeing it by then more hydrogen fuel cell vehicles than solid-state electric vehicles.
Electric vehicle battery prices are falling again. Thanks to a number of factors – most notably underutilization of battery factories, which freed up material and drove down prices – prices for lithium-ion battery packs for electric vehicles have fallen 14% this year to a new low of $139/kWh sunk.
Lotus Flash Charge DC fast charging hardware
Performance brand Lotus is known for its fast cars, but is now offering a few of them fastest EV chargers in the world. Although the company is ready to make the most of its upcoming Eletre electric SUV, the list of electric vehicles that can benefit from the additional charging power is currently very short.
Thanks to some final guidance announced last week on hardware components, fewer electric vehicle drivers may have to worry about plugging in at night Wireless charging of electric vehicles. This “missing piece” of standardization, allowing vehicle parking systems to help with precise alignment across charging stations, could give the technology a long-awaited jump-start.
Nio has had great success with its battery swapping business, which has recently expanded into Europe. Geely, the parent company of Volvo, Polestar and Lotus, has just has partnered with Nio for battery replacement in China – and “a consistent battery replacement process” between brands in the future.
Hyundai at the Tesla Supercharger
And Green Car Reports has rounded up all the brands that have announced a Switch to Tesla NACS charging port for charging electric vehicles. It all started in May with a joint announcement from the CEOs of Tesla and Ford, but the change has continued this month with announcements from Subaru and Lucid. The fact that electric vehicles from all of these brands are flooding Supercharger stations next year could be one of the reasons Tesla is mandating a rollout Supercharger overload fee: $1 per minute.
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