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Mara is sick. The 24-year-old has been living in a mosquito-infested forest near Tesla’s German gigafactory since March, and despite the 78 degrees Fahrenheit heat, a cold is spreading through the camp. Sitting on a makeshift bench, she tells me how she left Berlin to live among the pine trees, roughly an hour’s drive outside the city, in an attempt to stop the company from expanding.
Nissan has resurrected the Evalia nameplate in Europe with a new iteration of the Townstar. This model shares close ties with the Renault Kangoo and the Mercedes Citan/T-Class compact van twins. It comes in a long wheelbase configuration with options for five or seven seats and is available with either fully electric or gasoline powertrains.The Nissan Townstar Evalia serves as the counterpart to the Renault Grand Kangoo and succeeds the aging e-NV200.
As Elon Musk steps away, yet again, from the idea of a $25,000 Tesla, let’s take this opportunity to zoom out and appreciate what a truly affordable EV can be. For this we need to ignore the Nissan Leaf—currently the cheapest EV in the US at $29,280—and skip over Europe, home to the adorable but flawed $10,000 Citroen Ami, and head to China.
Have you heard? The hybrids are coming. As sales growth falters for electric vehicles, particularly in the United States, automakers have started to turn their gaze toward the EV’s less-charged-up cousins.
Back in March, the US Environmental Protection Agency finalized a long-in-the-works rule requiring automakers to dramatically increase the number of battery-powered vehicles they’re putting on the roads. The government has mandated that by 2032 more than half of new cars sold in the US must be electric. There are some caveats, namely that plug-in hybrid cars will fulfill the federal requirements for what a “battery-powered” vehicle is.
Just one year after the debut of the facelifted VW ID.3, the automaker introduced a series of upgrades focused on the infotainment, equipment, and electric powertrain. The VW ID.3 Pro S gains a more powerful electric motor, while the entire lineup benefits from the latest infotainment, new features, and reduced charging times.The ID.3 Pro S used to share the 201 hp (150 kW / 204 PS) electric motor with the rest of the lineup but is now boosted to 228 hp (170 kW / 231 PS). The power increase is standard in Germany, while customers in other European markets can upgrade their EVs after the purchase, thanks to the new “power-on-demand” option.
In a move that shocked the electric vehicle industry, Tesla yesterday eliminated the jobs of hundreds of employees in its electric vehicle charging and policy units—workers widely reputed to be best-in-class in a rapidly expanding global business.
Lancia formally introduced the all-new Ypsilon in the Italian market, two months after the debut of the Limited Edition Cassina which is now a permanent member of the lineup. The mild hybrid version is priced from €24,900 ($26,500), while the EV starts from €34,900 ($37,200) before incentives.The lineup includes three trims – the standard Ypsilon, the high-spec LX, and the flagship Edizione Cassina. The latter is now widely available, unlike the identical launch special that was limited to 1906 units.