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ev.news Briefly: Off-Peak Discounts, Heavy Haulin’ & more | 27 Sep 2026
Sep 27, 2026
Show notes
UK OFF-PEAK EV CHARGING COSTS 2.3P PER MILE IN NEW ANALYSIS Carbon Brief estimates UK EVs charged overnight at home cost about 2.3p per mile, versus 20.1p for petrol and 21p for diesel, while charging at the domestic price cap costs around 7p per mile. The advantage depends heavily on access to home charging and off-peak tariffs, and although electricity prices and a planned 3p-per-mile EV tax from April 2028 will narrow the gap, EVs are still expected to retain a substantial energy-cost advantage. VOLKSWAGEN OFFERS $12,500 TO CLEAR REMAINING US ID.4 STOCK Volkswagen is offering US buyers and lessees $12,500 on remaining 2025 ID.4s until 2 November, after first-half 2026 sales fell 77.2% to 2,205 and production at its Chattanooga factory ended in April. The large incentive is intended to clear very limited stock while Volkswagen prepares a future North American replacement, expected to adopt the ID. Tiguan name but with no announced launch timetable. VOLVO ELECTRIC TRUCK RANGE WINS INTERNATIONAL TRUCK OF THE YEAR 2027 Volvo’s FH Electric, FM Electric, FMX Electric and FH Aero Electric have won International Truck of the Year 2027, with judges highlighting improvements in range, efficiency, payload and suitability for different heavy-transport roles. Production of the next generation began in Gothenburg on 14 September, with the FH, FM and FMX Electric offering up to 470 kilometres of range and further production planned in Belgium. MERCEDES-AMG NEEDS REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO START CHARGING AT TEST EVENT A Mercedes-AMG needed several attempts to establish communication with a charger during CharIN Testival 2026, illustrating the interoperability challenges created by technologies including Plug & Charge, bidirectional charging and megawatt charging. The controlled test does not show how common such failures are for consumers, but CharIN says compatibility, connector locking and vehicle-to-grid implementation still need improvement even as ISO 15118-20 standards mature. EXPLOREN PLANS MORE THAN 600 FAST CHARGERS ACROSS AUSTRALIA Exploren will invest A$30 million over two years to install more than 600 DC fast chargers across Australia, with many offering 200 kW or more alongside contactless payment and upgrades to existing sites. The expansion builds on the company’s acquisition of Engie’s Australian and New Zealand charging network in 2025, adding new hardware while also improving maintenance and ease of use across its existing network. NEW ZEALAND REPORT FINDS CCS2 VEHICLE-TO-GRID SUPPORT LIMITED TO TRIALS A New Zealand government-backed readiness report finds that CCS2 vehicle-to-grid support remains largely restricted to approved trials, with BYD and NordEast requiring individual vehicle approval and only StarCharge Halo and SigenStor EV DC chargers meeting the report’s stated requirements. Wider adoption could begin from mid-2027 if BYD introduces standard-warranty V2G support as planned, while current trials are already testing enhanced export payments of up to NZ$0.70 per kWh in grid-constrained areas.
ev.news Briefly: Bentley, ID.Polo, EV Prices & More
Sep 26, 2026
Show notes
BENTLEY UNVEILS TORCAL EV WITH UP TO 876 HP Bentley has unveiled its first EV, the Crewe-built Torcal SUV, with a 113 kWh net 800V battery, up to 375 miles of WLTP range and 400 kW peak DC charging; the standard model produces 810 hp, while the Torcal S makes 876 hp and reaches 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. Bentley quotes conflicting 10–80% charging times of 16 minutes and “just under 20 minutes”, while pricing, deliveries and EPA range remain unannounced. VOLKSWAGEN ID. POLO WINS 2027 GERMAN COTY AWARD Volkswagen’s €24,995 ID. Polo has won the Budget category of the German Car of the Year 2027 awards, beating seven rivals including the second-placed Renault Twingo and scoring higher in four of five main judging criteria. It joins the Kia PV5, Mercedes-Benz GLC EV, Xpeng X9 and Hyundai Ioniq 6 N in an all-electric five-car final for the overall title. AVERAGE NEW-EV TRANSACTION PRICE FALLS TO $54,813 The average US new-EV transaction price fell 2.7% year on year to $54,813 in August, narrowing its premium over the wider new-car average of $50,089 even as EV incentives declined from 14.6% to 12% of transaction prices. Tesla averaged $52,616, and the figures suggest underlying EV prices are falling rather than manufacturers simply relying on increasingly large discounts. PORSCHE BOXSTER EV PROTOTYPE CHARGES DIRECTLY AT TESLA SUPERCHARGER A forthcoming electric Porsche Boxster prototype has been photographed plugged directly into a Tesla Supercharger in California using a centrally mounted NACS inlet, suggesting Porsche may be testing a single port for both AC and DC charging rather than the dual-port arrangement used on its current EVs. The production configuration and launch timing remain unknown, but the sighting adds further evidence that development continues after CEO Michael Leiters confirmed in August that Porsche still intends to build the electric sports car. TESLA LEADS REPORTED 2,500-TRUCK ZET SCALE ORDER Tesla has been named primary supplier for a reported 2,500-truck battery-electric Class 8 order organised through ZET SCALE, although the number of Tesla Semis within the order is undisclosed because Kenworth, Volvo and RIDE are also suppliers. The programme aims to aggregate fleet demand, reduce residual-value risk through leasing and eventually arrange more than 10,000 trucks, while Tesla has separately opened its 50,000-unit-a-year Nevada Semi plant and IMC Logistics has ordered 50 Semis. CARWOW’S MAT WATSON SAYS BUY A BYD OVER A TESLA Carwow’s Mat Watson argues that a top-spec dual-motor BYD Seal Excellence is particularly compelling on its current £297-a-month lease, compared with £405 for the more comparable Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD, while offering 530 hp and a 3.9-second 0–60 mph time. The comparison reverses for cash buyers, where Carwow prefers the cheaper Model 3 for its range, space and technology, making the Seal’s advantage primarily a consequence of its unusually aggressive lease pricing. UK BEV MODEL CHOICE DOUBLES TO 171 UK buyers can now choose from 171 battery-electric models, twice as many as in 2023, after 85 new BEVs arrived in three years — roughly one every fortnight — while typical electric range has risen beyond 300 miles. SMMT figures show BEVs, plug-in hybrids and hybrids together now represent 76% of roughly 385 new-car models, suggesting vehicle choice itself is becoming a substantially smaller barrier to EV adoption. ZEEKR 9X MAY REACH AUSTRALIA IN Q1 2027 Zeekr is aiming to bring its flagship 9X SUV to Australia potentially as early as Q1 2027, following the 7GT wagon and ahead of the smaller 8X, which is currently expected in the second half of 2027. Zeekr Australia has not confirmed either the 9X’s timing or pricing, although managing director Frank Li says the company is trying to secure the Q1 launch. WEAKEST CELLS CAN CUT EV BATTERY PACK LIFE BY 22.8% Research using more than three years of real-world EV data found that a small number of faster-degrading cells can force an entire battery pack into retirement early, reducing estimated pack lifespan by 17.7% in passenger cars and 22.8% in buses. The study found cell-to-cell differences became substantially more pronounced beyond about 105,000 miles in passenger cars, suggesting tighter manufacturing consistency, better balancing and thermal management could extend usable battery life.
ev.news Briefly: Renault 5, Polestar, Volkswagen & more
Sep 26, 2026
Show notes
RENAULT 5 E-TECH GAINS RANGE WITHOUT PRICE RISE Renault’s MY27 Renault 5 E-Tech will retain its £21,495 UK starting price and £3,750 Electric Car Grant eligibility, while the 40kWh version offers up to 197 miles WLTP and 52kWh models increase to 259 miles through aerodynamic and battery-electronics improvements. New features include automatic SmartMode drive-mode selection, a cooled Qi2 magnetic wireless charger, upgraded 4G/5G eCall and optional Google Gemini integration, with orders opening on 22 September 2026. POLSTAR CUTS CANADIAN PRICES BY UP TO C$15,000 Polestar has introduced limited-time Canadian incentives including C$10,000 Alternative Cash on the 2027 Polestar 4, up to C$15,000 off the Polestar 3 and either 0% financing with a C$5,000 EV bonus or C$8,000 Alternative Cash on the Polestar 2 Long range Dual motor. None qualifies for Canada’s federal EV incentive because transaction prices remain above C$50,000, while China-built Polestar 2s can now enter Canada under the 49,000-vehicle quota at the 6.1% tariff rate. VOLKSWAGEN STARTS ID. CROSS PRODUCTION AT NAVARRA Volkswagen has begun series production of the ID. Cross electric SUV at its Navarra plant in Spain, alongside the Škoda Epiq, with launches planned across 34 countries and German pricing eventually starting at €27,995 for the entry-level Trend. Front-wheel-drive versions offer 85kW, 99kW or 155kW outputs with 37kWh or 52kWh batteries, providing up to 427km WLTP range and DC charging at up to 105kW. VOLKSWAGEN CANCELS PLANNED EXTRA WOLFSBURG SHIFTS, INCREASES EV PRODUCTION Volkswagen’s German battery-electric order intake has overtaken combustion-engine orders, prompting the company to cancel planned extra shifts at its combustion-only Wolfsburg plant while adding shifts for EV production at Emden. Four small EVs produced in Spain have accumulated more than 100,000 pre-orders, including over 40,000 for the ID. Polo, while German BEV registrations rose 75.1% year on year in August to 68,930 vehicles and a 32.4% market share. LEAPMOTOR PASSES 1,000 EUROPEAN RETAIL LOCATIONS Leapmotor says its European network reached 1,020 retail locations across 36 countries in September 2026, roughly two years after launching European sales through its Stellantis joint venture. The network now covers around 80% of the region and puts customers an average 22-minute drive from a retailer, giving the relatively new Chinese brand access to Stellantis’s established sales and after-sales infrastructure. EVS FAIL MOTS LESS OFTEN THAN PETROL ABOVE 120,000 MILES Analysis of more than 45 million MOT tests by New AutoMotive found electric cars were 25% less likely than comparable petrol cars to fail once mileage exceeded 120,000 miles, with EV failure rates remaining around 16% from roughly 60,000 miles while petrol and diesel rates continued rising. EVs nevertheless recorded around 1.8 times as many tyre defects as petrol vehicles, while hybrids also performed strongly and in several categories had lower failure rates than both petrol cars and BEVs. ENBW OPENS 480 KW CHARGING PARK EnBW has opened its first public charging park using XCharge C7 chargers rated at up to 480kW, with 12 charging points at its Stuttgart headquarters site and capacity to expand to 20. The company plans to deploy 480kW technology at a double-digit number of charging parks by the end of 2026, while the new site also includes seating, vending facilities, an automated toilet and a 16kWp solar canopy. CHINA OPPOSES REPORTED EU HYBRID LIMITS China has strongly opposed reports that the EU asked it to voluntarily restrict hybrid-vehicle exports to around 15% of the European market, although neither side has confirmed such an agreement. China’s commerce ministry said voluntary export restrictions would violate WTO rules and fair-competition principles, while the foreign ministry said Beijing would protect the interests of Chinese EV companies affected by EU measures. BRUEGEL PUTS EU BATTERY RULE COST AT €2,100 Bruegel estimates that requiring EU-origin battery cells for vehicles receiving certain forms of public support could increase production costs by around €2,100 for an EV with a 60kWh battery, based on estimated cell costs of €85/kWh in Europe versus €50/kWh globally. The proposed Industrial Accelerator Act remains under negotiation and would apply only to specified procurement and support programmes, while Bruegel stresses that its €2,100 figure is a production-cost estimate rather than a prediction of the retail-price increase consumers would pay. SCARINGE SAYS R3 WILL BE PRICED BELOW R2 Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe says the forthcoming R3 will be priced materially below the R2 and that a later R4 will move the price point lower again, although Rivian has announced pricing for neither vehicle. The R2 Standard is expected by late 2027 at $45,000 with more than 275 miles of estimated range, while R3 production details remain limited and Rivian’s Georgia factory, intended to build R2 and R3 vehicles, is targeted to begin production in 2028.
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