The Auto Xone

By Zachary Visconti Posted on December 30, 2024 Lucid Motors has officially begun deliveries of its long-awaited Gravity SUV, after the company has talked the electric vehicle (EV) up throughout much of this year and following initial production beginning a few weeks ago. After Lucid officially began producing the Gravity at its Casa Grande, Arizona plant earlier this month , the company shared on X on Monday that it has begun deliveries of the electric SUV to employees, friends, and families to end the year. The EV maker says these were some of the very first Gravity units to come off the line as production units, after Lucid initially had its first pre-production version of the vehicle roll off the line in July . Last month, Lucid also launched its online order page for the Gravity , pricing the EV between $94,900 and $126,500, depending on the options selected. The vehicle launched with just one trim, the Grand Touring, which is rated by the EPA for u...

By Zachary Visconti Posted on December 29, 2024 Another Tesla Cybertruck has been registered in Europe, as was confirmed over the weekend by one of the company’s engineers for the unique electric vehicle (EV). On Sunday, Tesla’s Lead Cybertruck Engineer Wes Morrill reposted an image on X of a Cybertruck driving in the Netherlands with a European license plate. The photo, which was originally posted by X user Dénis van Vliet on Saturday, shows the Cybertruck driving on a freeway in Eindhoven, though he also notes that the EV has an Albanian license plate. “First Cybertruck registered in EU, driving in Netherlands? Someone was bound to figure it out eventually,” Morrill wrote. Credit: Dénis van Vliet | X READ MORE ON THE TESLA CYBERTRUCK: Tesla Cybertruck spotted at BYD facility in China When implicitly asked by another user how European buyers could somehow get Cybertrucks registered, Morill responded by saying, “Make friends.” Morrill also share...

The Top Gear TV show might be over, but its tamed racing driver – a masked, anonymous hot shoe known only as “the Stig” – lives on … and his latest adventure involves pitching the 1,400 hp electric Ford SuperVan demonstration vehicle around the famed Top Gear test track. Sideways . Whether we’re talking about record lap times at hallowed motorsports grounds like Bathhurst or the Hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed , we’ve been covering the 1,400 hp SuperVan project for some time – but the big boxy Transit-ish racing van with hypercar-slaying performance never seems to get boring. In this video from the official Top Gear YouTube channel (is Top Gear just a YouTube show, now?), the boxy Ford racer seems to have sprouted an additional 600 peak horsepower in its latest “4.2” iteration, for a stout 2,000 hp total. For his (?) part, the Stig puts all of those horses to work in what appears to be a serious attempt to take the overall track record. I won’t spoil...

By Simon Alvarez Posted on December 27, 2024 Elon Musk is a known critic of using Lidar for self-driving vehicles. But as per Li Auto CEO Li Xiang, Musk would probably be a lot more open to using Lidar if he tried driving around China’s highways at night. Li’s comments: As per the Li Auto CEO, Lidar simply makes autonomous driving systems safer in China.  “I believe that if Musk had ever driven on different highways in China deep in the night, he would have chosen to keep a Lidar in the front as well.” Li also noted that his company uses Lidar to ensure optimal safety . The Li Auto executive also noted that cameras could only see 100 meters away, but Lidar has a detection range of 200 meters.  “China is different from the U.S. If you regularly drive at night in China, you’ll see large trucks with broken taillights, and the large trucks with broken taillights may be even parked right on the main road,” Li stated. Most Chinese automakers pursu...

Isuzu is giving Red Bull electrified wings – the iconic drinks company is officially the first to put the production version of its new-for-2025 Isuzu NRR-EV medium duty electric box truck to work in North America. Deployed by Red Bull North America, these first-ever customer Isuzu NRR-EV medium duty trucks are busy delivering cans of Red Bull products throughout Southern California with zero tailpipe emissions, marking the first time the best-selling low-cab/cabover box truck brand in the US can make such a claim. “Today marks a major milestone for the industry and for us. Watching the NRR-EV evolve from a concept to a viable operating product is a big deal,” explains Shaun Skinner, President of Isuzu Commercial Truck of America. “Our teams and our clients have put so much time and effort into making this happen, and it speaks to our teamwork and dedication to more sustainable transportation solutions. It is no longer just a plan, we have zero-emission trucks serving our cus...

By Simon Alvarez Posted on December 25, 2024 xAI has closed its Series C funding round of $6 billion. A number of companies were part of the investment round, including tech and finance giants A16Z, Blackrock, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Kingdom Holdings, Lightspeed, MGX, Morgan Stanley, OIA, QIA, Sequoia Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Vy Capital.  Strategic investors NVIDIA and AMD also participated. The companies will continue to support xAI’s scaling infrastructure. What they’re saying:   Elon Musk has welcomed NVIDIA’s investment. In a post on X , Musk noted that “It’s an honor to have NVIDIA as an investor.” It’s an honor to have @nvidia as an investor — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 25, 2024 xAI’s Rapid Progress:   After its Series B funding round in May 2024, xAI has not slowed down. The AI startup achieved notable significant technical milestones , which include: Colossus : The world’s largest AI sup...

Construction at BYD’s new EV plant in Brazil was suddenly halted Monday after authorities found Chinese workers in “slavery-like” conditions. The workers were hired in China by another firm, and BYD has since cut ties. BYD and the firm are now saying the term “slavery” was unjustly used, and some translations may have been misunderstood. Why construction at BYD’s EV plant in Brazil is halted Updated 12/26/24 : This article has been updated with the latest information, including a statement from Jinjiang Group and comments from BYD’s general manager of public relations, Li Yunfei. Read more below. According to a statement from the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT), 163 workers at the construction site of BYD’s new EV plant in Salvador, Brazil, were “being held in conditions analogous to slavery.” Construction on the site was halted on Monday after the findings. According to the authorities, Jinjiang Group, one of the contractors BYD hired to build the new EV plant, hired the worker...

By Simon Alvarez Posted on December 24, 2024 Tesla has rolled out a new round of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) free trials to some customers in North America. The program seems to be Tesla’s latest effort to promote its FSD (Supervised) system to as many customers as possible.  Screenshots featuring the new round of FSD (Supervised) free trials were reported and shared on social media platform X. Interestingly enough, even customers who have an active FSD subscription are eligible for the new 30-day free trial program. Tesla’s message: If you have an active FSD (Supervised) subscription, 30 days of free FSD will be added to your vehicle. pic.twitter.com/SvgaYfM4yi — Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 24, 2024 Following is Tesla’s message to customers, as shared on X. Your Full Self-Driving (Supervised) Trial starts now! You’ve been granted a complimentary trial* of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) for your (vehicle) ending in XXX. Under ...

By Zachary Visconti Posted on December 22, 2024 Tesla has started deploying a unique charging solution for heavily driven U.S. highway corridors, utilizing its grid-scale energy storage units to boost the number of stations available ahead of an expected bump in travel for the holidays. In order to accommodate the increase in travel, Tesla has launched four Megapack Chargers in heavily traveled areas of the U.S., offering a mobile Megapack unit along with pre-fabricated Supercharger units. These mobile chargers have been deployed in Bakersfield, California, Primm, Nevada, El Centro, California, and Cambridge, Ohio, and can now be seen on Tesla’s Supercharger map . Credit: Tesla Charging | X Credit: Tesla Charging | X Credit: Tesla Charging | X Credit: Tesla Charging | X READ MORE ON SUPERCHARGERS: Tesla set to launch new V4 Cabinet enabling fastest Supercharging speeds yet While the Bakersfield and Primm mobile charger locations appe...

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An all-electric pickup for under $14,000? That’s right. Geely’s Radar Auto launched its new “King Kong” EV pickup in China on Monday at an ultra-affordable price. Would you drive one? Radar launches King Kong EV pickup for under $14,000 Volvo and Polestar owner Geely Auto launched Radar, a new off-road-focused sub-brand, in 2022. Deemed “China’s first electric outdoor lifestyle brand,” Radar launched its first EV, the R6 pickup , in November 2022. Although the R6 hit the market with an already low price of around $25,000 (178,800 yuan), the electric pickup is now getting significantly cheaper. In fact, priced under 100,000 yuan, the company claims its new model “has a lower electric ratio than oil and subverts the fuel price.” Radar launched the new King King EV pickup starting at 99,800 yuan, or around $13,700. The cheaper model comes after a slow sales start. Despite cutting R6 prices earlier this year to 136,800 yuan ($18,800), it wasn’t enough to drive demand. The new King...

By Zachary Visconti Posted on December 21, 2024 The U.S. state of Illinois has been granted almost $20 million to help several areas transition to electric school buses, as part of a program within President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced on Friday that it has been awarded $19.9 million to purchase and deploy 70 electric school buses and to construct additional electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, as detailed in a press release . The funding comes from the IRA’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program, allowing the state to deploy replace retired internal combustion engine (ICE) buses with electric versions across nine Illinois school districts. In addition to deploying the electric buses under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant, the state plans to use the funding to help build charging stations for the electric vehicles (EVs), along with providing workforce training...

A coal plant in South Texas will shut down and convert to a solar + battery electricity generation facility, with the help of a $1.4 billion grant from the US Department of Agriculture meant to help clean energy while saving rural jobs. The grant will go to San Miguel Electric Cooperative Inc (SMECI) headquartered in Atascosa County, Texas, south of San Antonio, and serving 340,000 customers 47 South Texas counties. SMECI has operated a mine mouth lignite-fired coal plant (named due to its proximity to the mine that supplies it) since 1982. The plant is in the town of Christine, Texas, population 337. But that coal-fired plant is one of the dirtiest in Texas. It’s the fourth-largest mercury polluter in the state, producing around 12 times as much mercury as is allowed by a new EPA rule . It also has two coal ash ponds on site which leech into the local water table and create some of the most contaminated groundwater in the country. Here’s a passage from a 2022 Earthjustice report...

By Joey Klender Posted on December 19, 2024 Tesla uses a little-known Cybertruck Easter Egg with the massive windshield wiper to help with efficiency and aerodynamics. The Easter Egg is called “Aero Mode,” and it all has to do with the positioning of the obnoxiously large windshield wiper that Tesla installed on the Cybertruck. According to the Cybertruck’s Lead Engineer, Wes Morrill, Aero Mode positions the wiper vertically along the A Pillar of the all-electric pickup . It activates the mode automatically at higher speeds and helps decrease drag, which is a very important metric to minimize, especially for EVs, as it can greatly decrease range if it is not managed correctly. The tidbit was shared by Morrill with Matt Wallace: Learned something new about the Cybertruck from @wmorrill3 yesterday. At higher speeds the wiper will move slightly and enter what’s called “aero mode” to help with efficiency and aerodynamics. Super cool to hear it directly ...

Rivian (RIVN) has reportedly agreed to a “secret” deal with the UAW as it works toward its next growth phase. The new agreement is contingent on the EV maker reaching profitability. Here’s what you need to know. What the private UAW deal means for Rivian Under the confidential deal, Rivian would opt for a neutral stance on unionizing efforts at its Normal, Illinois, manufacturing plant. According to sources close to the matter (via Bloomberg ), the deal is based on Rivian hitting specific targets, including reaching profitability. The private agreement could pave the way for the UAW to unionize workers in Normal. Rivian has yet to post a quarterly profit on an adjusted basis. The EV maker posted a net loss of $1.1 billion in the third quarter , down from the $1.34 billion loss in Q3 2023. CFO Claire McDonough reiterated that Rivian is still on track to reach a positive gross profit in the fourth quarter. CEO RJ Scaringe said the company is seeing “meaningful progress” on reduci...