Which brand just passed Mercedes-Benz in U.S. registrations—with only EVs?
Which upcoming EV could be the basis for a future U.S. military vehicle?
This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending November 12, 2021.
Subaru revealed its first mass-production electric vehicle, the Solterra, in prototype form. The 2023 Subaru Solterra might achieve more than a 250-mile EPA range, based on early indications, and is likely to arrive only with dual-motor all-wheel drive. There’s no Tesla-style yoke in this one, as Toyota teased in its bZ4X cousin.
The 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV were back in production—for a short time, so it can get some new cars out as it also installs replacement battery packs for owners hobbled by the Bolt family’s battery recall.
![2022 Bolt EV assembly - battery marriage 2022 Bolt EV assembly - battery marriage](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/2022-bolt-ev-assembly--battery-marriage_100791942_l.jpg)
2022 Bolt EV assembly - battery marriage
Several Kia and Hyundai hybrids are being recalled for an engine issue that could lead to a stall or fire. Some owners of the 2017 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and 2017-2018 Kia Optima Hybrid will get engine replacements, and Kia is extending its warranty on all affected models to 15 years/150,000 miles.
Kia teased its Concept EV9, a boxy, fully electric SUV that’s due to be revealed in full at the LA auto show this next week. It points to a production-bound follow-up to the EV6 that’s arriving soon. And the Genesis GV70 EV could be on deck to become the first EV from the Hyundai-Kia-Genesis family to be assembled in the U.S., according to a report from South Korea, citing labor-union presentations.
![Kia Concept EV9 teaser Kia Concept EV9 teaser](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/kia-concept-ev9-teaser_100815115_l.jpg)
Kia Concept EV9 teaser
President Biden is still due to sign a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives just before last weekend. Although the expanded social-spending bill containing items like the EV tax credit expansion is now on a different trajectory and expected later in the month, the infrastructure package included $65 billion for the nation’s electric grid and $7.5 billion for nationwide EV charging station deployment.
Tesla continued to gain share of the luxury market and just last month passed Mercedes-Benz in the U.S., going by registrations. And yet it continues to lose share of the electric vehicle market itself.
![Farizon Auto Homtruck Farizon Auto Homtruck](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/farizon-auto-homtruck_100814813_l.jpg)
Farizon Auto Homtruck
The Tesla Semi got another new potential rival. Volvo and Polestar parent Geely revealed a production-bound electric semi called the Homtruck—due starting in 2024, with Level 4 autonomous driving supposedly in the works.
Lordstown Motors has delayed its Endurance electric pickup to the third quarter of 2022, as Foxconn’s $230 million acquisition of its Ohio assembly plant helps give it the funds to keep going. Future joint-developed vehicles from the company, it revealed, might not include the in-wheel motors that it’s been touting all along, the company also suggested.
![Lordstown Endurance Lordstown Endurance](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/lordstown-endurance_100755057_l.jpg)
Lordstown Endurance
The original military Humvee was the basis for a GM brand—Hummer. Now with GM’s revival of Hummer, the GMC Hummer EV might be used as the basis for a U.S. military vehicle.
A partnership between GM and EVgo prioritizes urban fast-charging, and it’s just been expanded to 3,250 fast-charging stalls, in 52 major-metro markets, by 2025. There’s also now a discount program for Uber ride-hailing drivers.
Research from Ford and Purdue University points to phase-change cooling as a way of extracting more heat from charging cables to speed up DC fast-charging—without bulking up cables.
![BMW 5-Series plug-in hybrid wireless charging system BMW 5-Series plug-in hybrid wireless charging system](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/bmw-5-series-plug-in-hybrid-wireless-charging-system_100711219_l.jpg)
BMW 5-Series plug-in hybrid wireless charging system
Also relating to charging: Shoppers would be even more interested in electric vehicles if wireless charging technology were to be included—says a study commissioned by a company set to gain much from greater adoption of the tech. It would however help avoid the clunky cables and connectors that do sour some on the experience.
A California company already claims to be making money by using retired Nissan Leaf battery packs for energy storage—as grid-connected power brokers that can help with peak demand times.
![Ford F-150 Lightning augmented-reality experience Ford F-150 Lightning augmented-reality experience](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/ford-f-150-lightning-augmented-reality-experience_100814015_l.jpg)
Ford F-150 Lightning augmented-reality experience
Nearly 80% of the more than 160,000 people reserving the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup have never owned a battery electric vehicle before and 56% haven’t owned a Ford vehicle. That’s a vast field of newbies, and so Ford is turning to augmented reality to educate on features.
And Volvo’s methodical carbon-footprint assessment for its C40 Recharge serves as a teachable moment that can apply to most EVs—that lifetime CO2 footprint for EVs will keep getting better with a greener energy mix.
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