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2+ min ago (489+ words) When electric vehicles started becoming popular around a decade ago, much of the public charging infrastructure was free. They weren't especially fast chargers, sure, but they didn't cost anything to use. That was true in the United States as well as in Europe. Today, you have far more chargers available, but a much smaller proportion of them are free. In many European countries, they have mostly disappeared, but in the United Kingdom, you can still find them around, mainly in supermarket parking lots. Efficient Alex, a driver and YouTuber from Great Britain, wanted to see how far he could drive his ten-year-old Nissan Leaf in 24 hours using only free publicly available chargers. He had planned a 281-mile loop to get him back home, but unforeseen circumstances cut the journey short. Alex's journey didn't get off to a good start, although…...

49+ min ago (437+ words) Tesla has reached a new milestone in Consumer Reports" (CR) highly influential auto brand rankings. For the first time ever, the electric-only automaker landed in the top 10, moving all the way up to 10th place for the 2026 model year " a big leap from 18th last year. CR didn"t hold back in explaining why the brand jumped ahead. "Tesla makes the most reliable electric vehicles now," the organization said, adding that "quality issues have significantly improved for 2026." The acknowledgment marks a major shift for Tesla, which has historically been dinged for panel gaps, trim inconsistencies, and early production glitches. The report ranks more than 30 brands by combining CR"s road-test evaluations with safety data, owner satisfaction, and " most importantly " reliability. Tesla earned the No. 9 spot in reliability among all automakers with a score of 50, outpacing the other pure-EV brand in the rankings,…...

53+ min ago (410+ words) US-based Factorial Energy and South Korea's POSCO FUTURE M are teaming up on all-solid-state batteries, the "holy grail" of battery tech. All-solid-state batteries promise significant improvements in driving range, charging times, and safety. Although next-gen battery tech shows promise in the lab, proving it in the real world hasn't been easy. For one, new equipment is needed to manufacture them. All-solid-state batteries also use a solid electrolyte, unlike the liquid electrolyte used in current lithium-ion batteries. One of the biggest challenges in bringing the new battery tech to market has been finding a solid material that doesn't crack yet still conducts electricity. Factorial Energy and POSCO look to change that. The two companies announced a new partnership at the Future Battery Forum in Berlin this week. Under the agreement, Factorial and POSCO will combine resources to develop materials for all-solid-state…...

1+ hour, 58+ min ago (823+ words) For years, the loudest and most persistent argument coming from the Tesla camp, including Elon Musk himself, against Waymo has been simple: "Sure, it works, but it can't scale." The narrative, usually pushed by those heavily invested in the promise of Tesla's "generalized Full Self-Driving", was that Waymo was a geofenced parlor trick. They argued that Waymo's reliance on lidar, radar, and, specifically, high-definition (HD) mapping would mean it would take years to launch in every new city. But the narrative is now dying, as Waymo went from testing to fully autonomous in a couple of Texas cities in just a few months. Unlike Tesla, Waymo has been offering fully autonomous commercial rides for years, which has been a threat to the narrative Elon Musk has been pushing: that Tesla is the leader in autonomous driving. Musk's solution has been…...

2+ hour, 21+ min ago (345+ words) CATL's future appears to include continued expansions into marine electrification, as an executive for the company recently predicted that fully electric boats will soon be able to navigate the open seas safely. CATL is already the leading battery manufacturer in the world, with its products already powering electronic devices, EVs, and even electric planes. For the last five years, CATL's batteries have also helped power electric boats. In fact, some of the largest fully-electric vessels in the world are. Still, those passenger boats have only been able to navigate safer waterways, such as rivers and coastlines. For example, CATL helped develop a river cruise ship, the Yangtze River Three Gorges No. 1, back in 2020, contributing 10,000 LFP battery cells. At the time, CATL shared that the river cruise had the most passenger seats and power capacity in the world for an all-electric…...

2+ hour, 27+ min ago (442+ words) Lucid Motors" (LCID) CFO confirmed its upcoming midsize vehicles will be priced at "the heart of the market," starting at around $50,000. While Lucid is ramping up output of its first SUV, the Gravity, the luxury EV maker has much bigger plans in the works. Speaking at a fireside chat at the UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference on Wednesday, Lucid"s CFO, Taoufiq Boussaid, offered a few updates on the company"s midsize platform. The platform will underpin "three different cars with three different top hats," Boussaid said. This is the first time Lucid will build on the back of a platform, which will cut costs while making it easier to scale, the company"s CFO explained. Although the midsize models are aimed at a different market, Boussaid said they will "remain a premium product because that"s the DNA of…...

2+ hour, 40+ min ago (1417+ words) The Trump administration has decided that America needs a breather from fuel economy regulations'you know, those innovation-through-necessity measures that have saved U.S. consumers an estimated $5 trillion at the pump over the years. Now automakers'the same ones who just spent billions on labor, tooling, R&D and lobbying for electric vehicles'face a cocktail of uncertainty that tastes eerily similar to the federal pullback on EV subsidies. The must-read auto and tech briefing, every weekday. Welcome back to Critical Materials, your daily roundup for all things electric and tech in the automotive space. Also on deck: car companies are pursuing side-hustles at a surprising rate and Waymo heads to Philly.Let's jump in. Trump Announcement White House In the eyes of an automaker executive, thepullback on fuel economy standardsmight seem like a win at first. Less-strict standards mean no longer needing to squeeze…...

3+ hour, 10+ min ago (236+ words) Ava Community Energy, a not-for-profit energy company in California, has just opened its first EV fast charging hub in downtown Oakland. It uses Kempower DC chargers and is the first of 15 planned sites. The fast charging hub is located in Oakland City Center West Garage, and features both CCS and NACS charging ports. Kempower manufactured the 18 charging towers in use at the site, while EV Realty oversaw engineering, procurement, and construction of the site itself. It's perhaps Ava's status as a not-for-profit public energy company that makes the new charging hub unique. The company says it is aims to deliver charging stations that are "reliable, accessible, and community-centred' in line with Oakland's 2030 Equitable Climate Action Plan (ECAP). Ava Community Energy CEO Howard Chang explained his company's approach to this issue, saying: "We want to be part of the solution to…...

3+ hour, 27+ min ago (349+ words) SpaceX's Starlink has officially launched its high-speed satellite internet service across South Korea today. The launch follows regulatory approvals granted earlier this year that allowed foreign satellite operators to provide broadband services in South Korea. Pre-orders opened earlier this week, with devices expected to ship immediately following activation. The arrival of Starlink adds a new layer to South Korea's telecom landscape. Despite being known as one of the most connected nations in the world with widely available fiber-optic infrastructure, the country has long struggled to improve connectivity in remote, mountainous, and island communities where wired service remains inconsistent or entirely unavailable. Thanks to its constellation of satellites operating in low-Earth orbit, Starlink can bypass the need for underground cables and beam internet directly from space to users anywhere in the country with a clear view of the sky. For many…...

3+ hour, 31+ min ago (426+ words) November was the new electric car market's weakest month of growth in nearly two years, figures show. Some 39,965 new pure battery electric cars were registered last month, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. That was up 3.6% from November 2024, which was the smallest year-on-year increase since December 2023, when registrations declined by 34.2%. That sharp fall was attributed to supply chain issues and a stronger than usual December 2022. The overall new car market fell by 1.6% last month, with 151,154 new cars registered. The SMMT said this sixth monthly fall in registrations this year was driven by a 5.5% decline in demand from private buyers. Purchases for fleets owned or leased by businesses or other organisations edged up 0.2%. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: "Even in a fragile market, zero emission vehicle uptake continues to rise, which is exactly what we need. "But…...