Jennifer Mossalgue

An autonomous Waymo car hit a cyclist in San Francisco yesterday – but luckily the cyclist had only minor injuries. Still, it’s bad news for urban cyclists, and for Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle division, which is already having a tough time shaking off all the bad buzz from the Cruise disaster.

Major German car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen is investing a hefty $500 million into its transmission plant in South Carolina – all to transform it into a “flexible manufacturer of parts” for both ICE and plug-in hybrids, and for both passenger cars and large commercial vehicles by launching production of its PowerLine transmission in the US.

The US-China trade war heats up as the Biden administration has signaled a warning that electric vehicles from China could pose a “significant national security risk” in that the huge amount of data they collect could be sent to China.

Regulators hate them, saying all the popularity of massive, heavy SUVs runs counter to environmental targets. Paris even slapped some hefty fines on SUVs parking in the city. But European consumers are showing nothing but love for the SUV, in all shapes and sizes. In a new milestone, SUV sales took the market lead at 51%.

After some dreary news coming from EV players Polestar and Renault’s Ampere, Lotus is feeling confident and ready to roll with listing its shares on Nasdaq by the end of March. The EV arm of the company is valued at $5.5 billion on a pre-money equity value basis, according to the company via an email to Electrek.

Hyundai is prepping an entry-level electric mini-SUV called Casper to take on rivals Dacia Spring and Citroën’s ë-C3 in Europe. The best part, the price is aimed at that elusive yet coveted €20,000 range (about $21.5K).

Parisians have voted to triple the parking costs for SUVs – including heavier electric ones and hybrids. This Sunday, the city held a referendum, with Parisians voting 56.6% in favor of increased parking fees for SUVs and heavy sedans, of all varieties.

Stellantis has been at odds with the Italian government for its lack of support in EV adoption and not backing home-grown brands Fiat and Alfa Romeo. But now Italy says it is open to buying a stake in Stellantis, Reuters reports, using the same model France uses for its beloved Renault.

 
China’s BYD is selling millions of EVs, famously outselling Tesla in the last quarter of 2023, and riding an enormous wave of success. But not many Europeans (and practically no Americans) have ever heard of it, much less trust it as a reliable brand. But as the EV giant makes inroads outside of China, it is looking to change that, the old-school way, dealer by dealer.

More bad news for Polestar. The struggling luxury EV maker just lost its funding from Volvo, which is handing full responsibility for the brand over to China’s Geely. However, Volvo is letting them down easy, saying it’s a “natural evolution” for the two brands.

Once an EV darling thought to revolutionize EV production with its concept of micro-factories that crank out delivery vans for the likes of Uber and UPS, UK startup Arrival is in a desperate search for funding after being delisted from Nasdaq this week.

Germany is Europe’s biggest auto market, and it’s been one of the main drivers of EV growth. But now that is expected to change course, as EV sales are projected to drop – by 14% – for the first time in eight years.

Ford has been looking to build the first LFP battery facility in the US, boosting domestic production. But it has been leaning on Chinese tech from CATL to make that happen, and Republican lawmakers have criticized the project. Now they’ve asked the Biden administration to investigate four Chinese companies involved in the plant.

Despite a truly terrible year for GM that involved plants being shut down for weeks due to a union strike, Bolt battery recalls, EV production problems, and the nightmare that keeps on giving that is Cruise, General Motors says it should tally up nearly $10 billion for 2023 – but we certainly don’t owe that to stellar EV sales.

EV drivers looking to get behind the wheel of their new Volvo all-electric SUV EX30 may have to wait a bit longer as Volvo works to resolve some software glitches before delivery – the second time a Volvo EV launch has been delayed due to software.

French automaker Renault just canceled its planned IPO for its EV spinoff Ampere. While the IPO was scheduled for the first part of this year with an expected valuation of up to €10 billion ($10.47 billion), Renault says that market conditions aren’t optimal to make the move.

Two US environmental agencies say they will start using AI to better monitor the impact of offshore wind farms on marine animals, particularly endangered North American right whales, of which there are only about 360 left in the world.

An independent investigation that probes the madness that ensued at Cruise after one of its robotaxis dragged a pedestrian 20 feet in San Francisco last October has been released. In it, you’ll find everything from blaming it on the internet to hush-hush culture to what went wrong with the automated vehicle itself.

Norway won’t be issuing a recall of Tesla Model S and X vehicles in the country after a government investigation into suspension safety issues – the same one Reuters wrote about in its investigation, targeting Tesla for blaming customers for faulty parts, which Tesla then fired back at on X.

On the heels of unveiling the long-awaited all-electric Porsche Macan SUV, the company’s chief financial officer Lutz Meschke delivered what could be some dreary news, if it happens: He said that Europe’s plan to ban ICE vehicles by 2035 may get pushed back due to a slowing EV demand, reports Automotive News Europe. 

S&P Global Mobility released its latest round of US data on new EV registrations for November 2023, and some surprising new trends are popping up – with very modest gains by Tesla and Ford, compared to bigger moves from smaller EV players Rivian and Kia, as well as luxury EVs from Mercedes and BMW.