Jennifer Mossalgue

To be frank, Americans don’t buy Fiats. The brand sold only a few hundred cars in the US last year. But Fiat hopes to – finally – charm the US with the “immersive Italian experience” of its upcoming Fiat 500e – Stellantis’s first all-electric car in the US. Unlike many of those hulking SUVs we’re seeing, this sweet retro-styled city car is one of the lightest and cheapest EVs on the market. To set the dolce vita vibes, the car even comes with its own theme music.

The new year has brought some new, tighter restrictions for drivers in France, particularly for those driving heavy, polluting cars. As of January 1, the government has revised its malus écologique, a one-time penalty tax for registering bulky, CO2-emitting cars, to include a lot more ICE vehicles, even some of the most popular budget models. 

Swedish lithium-ion battery maker Northvolt locked in European approval for a €902 million ($986 million) subsidy from the German government to build its gigafactory there.

Kia-owner Hyundai certainly isn’t in a big rush to go carbon neutral. It has set its target as the far-away date of 2050. But now it says it will rely heavily on hydrogen fuel cells generated from plastic, food, and organic waste to power a whole new generation of EVs, from passenger cars to heavy-duty trucks. Problem is, there is nowhere to charge them.

Volkswagen said it wouldn’t get involved in a price war with Tesla. But now it too is dramatically slashing prices on its ID line of electric vehicles in Europe, following Tesla’s price cuts for the top-selling Model 3 and Model Y.

Japanese automaker Honda has been, shall we say, laying very low when it comes to developing a decent electric vehicle, although we can expect its second EV attempt in the US, the Prologue, soon. After calling off beats with GM to “beat out Tesla” with a cheap SUV, it has now emerged with news that it is mulling over a $14 billion EV and battery plant in Canada.

Vietnamese EV maker VinFast has announced a new CEO at the helm, and an aggressive new strategy to expand globally while gaining a foothold in the US. In addition to announcing plans for a $2 billion in factory in India, it just announced a fresh crop of dealership openings in the US, with plans to expand the network to 125 points of sale across the country.

Anyone living in San Francisco knows that the city has been a testing ground for hundreds of self-driving cars – and there is probably a good reason why. In light of a series of incidents, including a pedestrian who was seriously injured by a Cruise robotaxi last year, California law enforcement has its hands tied when it comes to issuing moving violations when no human is behind the wheel.

Italy has some of the oldest, most polluting cars in Europe clogging up its roads, and the country is lagging behind other European countries in EV adoption. But the government aims to change that, to the tune of a $1 billion investment to encourage people to ditch their gas- or diesel-burning cars for electric ones.

California EV startup Faraday Future, which has just relaunched delivery of its luxury $309,000 electric car, is at risk of being delisted from NASDAQ due to plummeting share price.

The much-anticipated 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV has been off to a rough start. After customer complaints over its software issues, which sparked a halt on sales right before Christmas, General Motors has now issued a small safety recall, which includes the Chevrolet Blazer EV, for vehicles that may have defective doors that could fly open while driving.

It was a very good year in France for electric cars, for all kinds of reasons – among them, new cheaper cars entering the market supported by generous government subsidies. In 2023, 26% of new cars sold in France were battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, a huge 47% jump from 2022. 

It’s no surprise that Norway is leading the world in EV adoption, but 2023 saw the country reach new heights with electric vehicles taking a record 82% market share, and Tesla with a whopping 20% market share. And despite Tesla’s ongoing labor disputes in the region and blocks on imports, new car registrations for Tesla vehicles in Sweden grew by 9% in December.

It was a huge year for profits at Chinese auto behemoth BYD. In 2023, the company sold 1.6 million fully battery-electric vehicles, coming close to Tesla’s projected goal of 1.8 million vehicles. Adding up sales for all so-called new energy vehicles, including battery-only vehicles and plug-in hybrids, BYD sold a whooping 3 million vehicles in 2023.

China’s ever-growing electric vehicle industry is setting up shop in Hong Kong, but not to expand business in the minuscule Hong Kong market. Rather, they are looking to leverage the city’s financial system for global expansion, Bloomberg reports.

The fallout from robotaxi company Cruise continues, as now General Motors has just filed a lawsuit against San Francisco for $121 million in what it calls unfair taxes and penalties since it acquired Cruise. GM argues that San Francisco charged the company an inflated tax rate because it factored in its Cruise self-driving car division, which GM says is a separate entity.

Vietnamese EV maker VinFast has announced that it will open doors to its first dealership in the US in the same state where it is building its $4 billion EV factory. The automaker is partnering with North Carolina’s Leith Automotive Group to start selling its fully electric cars in the state.

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi officially unveiled its first electric car yesterday at a launch event in Beijing while declaring its big ambitions to rival Tesla and Porsche and become a top automaker within the next two decades.

Competition to advance L3 autonomous driving technology is revving up in China, as a fresh batch of automakers is now being allowed to test their self-driving systems on highways and expressways. Among the latest is Chinese vehicle giant BYD, which has joined Mercedes and BMW in receiving permits to test their L3 technology on high-speed roads.

New year, new rules: As of January 1, things are about to get a little easier when it comes to getting your federal tax credit for buying an electric vehicle. Now the rebate – which is up to $7,500 for new EVs that qualify and up to $4,000 for used EVs that qualify – is available immediately when you purchase your car, rather than needing to wait potentially months to file a claim with your tax return. And auto dealers are signing up in droves with the IRS.

New data shows electric cars and plug-in hybrids made up more than 24% of all new passenger car registrations in the European Union this year, rising a bit from last year. While gas vehicles still hold nearly a third of the market, diesel rates took a dive.