Will Mini build a rival to the Volkswagen electric Bus? We follow another round of twists and turns toward a renewed EV tax credit. And Panasonic is pushing toward mass-production of Tesla’s 4680 format. This and more, here at Green Car Reports. 

Panasonic is sounding increasingly on-board with mass production of the larger-format 4680 cells Tesla is banking its future on, even though hurdles might remain. The battery supplier’s top executive in its new battery division reported to Nikkei Asia this week that technological goals may have been mostly achieved, although “mass producing them requires new techniques.”

Does a Mini electric van make sense for the city-focused brand? Mini on Thursday revealed that it’s developing a production EV that takes some design inspiration from the Vision Urbanaut concept first shown in 2020. The sustainability-focused urban electric van could end up as one of the more direct rivals to Volkswagen’s much-anticipated electric Microbus revival, due in 2023.

And as a House vote on the revised social spending and climate bill approaches, we’re still tracking the progress of a reconstituted EV tax credit that, in its latest form, ups the qualifying MSRP to $80,000 in some cases and holds firm on a $4,500 bonus for union-made EVs. 

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