Author: Stephen Edelstein

Kia marks 80th anniversary with EV restomod

1996 Kia Pride EV conversionKia is celebrating its 80th anniversary The automaker commissioned an electric conversion of its Pride hatchback A pair of 10-kwh batteries provide up to 120 miles of range in the restomod Kia turns 80 this year, and to celebrate the automaker's U.K. division commissioned an electric restomod of a humble Pride hatchback. The EV conversion was done...

Toyota exec says shift to EVs will lead to job losses

Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda at Woven City groundbreakingEliminating internal-combustion engines would also eliminate many jobs related to engine-related technology, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda told Reuters and other media Thursday. "If electric vehicles simply become the only choice, including for our suppliers, those people's jobs would be lost," said Toyoda, who previously held the job of CEO and is...

BMW i7 and i5 recalled for steering issue

2024 BMW i5Two BMW electric sedans are being recalled over steering components that could break, requiring more effort to turn the wheel. The recall includes 202 BMW i5 sedans from model years 2024 and 2025 and just 21 BMW i7 sedans, all 2024 models, plus non-electric versions of both. The recalled vehicles may have steering spindles manufactured with...

VW reportedly plans 8 cheaper electric models by 2027

Volkswagen ID.2all conceptVolkswagen plans to launch eight affordable electric vehicles by 2027, brand boss Thomas Schaefer said in a recent interview with German publication Auto Motor und Sport (via Reuters). "We have to produce our vehicles profitably and put them on the road at affordable prices," Schaefer said in the interview. One of those affordable models will be...

Honda created a manual transmission for EVs

2023 Honda Civic Type RMost electric vehicles don't have multi-speed transmissions—and don't need them. Multi gears may even hurt efficiency, in fact. But that hasn't stopped Honda from experimenting with a manual transmission for electric cars. The automaker is currently testing a manual gearbox—complete with a clutch pedal—for EVs, an engineer told...

GM adopting LFP batteries, could cut $6,000 from EVs

2024 Chevrolet Equinox EVGeneral Motors on Tuesday filled in some details on plans to use cost-cutting lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells in future EVs. Now it has a number for the level of cost-cutting that's potentially gone into the next Bolt EV. As reported by InsideEVs, GM executives said at an investor conference that LFP cells would combine with other...