Don't worry if Mercedes' insistence on EQ branding for electric cars seems arbitrary — the naming scheme might not last much longer. Sources speaking to the German daily Handelsblatt claim Mercedes will drop the EQ brand as soon as late 2024, when it's expected to debut its next wave of compact cars. Simply put, the company won't have much use for the label when more and more of its cars will be electric.

Mercedes first used the EQ name on production cars with 2019's EQC SUV. Since then, the company has applied the branding to both electrified versions of conventional designs like the EQB as well as unique models like the EQS SUV. Concept cars like the long-range EQXX have similarly stuck to the nomenclature.

In a statement to Reuters, a Mercedes spokesperson said it was "too early" to divulge plans. However, the representative said the automaker would "adapt" the use of the EQ brand as it transitioned to an all-EV lineup by 2030. The identification still plays a key role in the company's current electric vehicle strategy, the spokesperson added.

If the report is true, the rethink won't come as a surprise. While car manufacturers have frequently used names to highlight electric powerplants, such as the Chevy Bolt and Ford Mustang Mach-E, they're starting to rely on more traditional monikers as EVs become more commonplace. Chevy's upcoming electric Blazer is one example. EVs will eventually become the default, and companies won't get to use the presence of an electric motor as a selling point.

Lucid had such lofty goals for 2022. It originally planned to build 20,000 vehicles during the year. But, due to supply chain issues and a shortage of parts, it had to revise down the target to between 12,000 and 14,000 and then again to between 6,000 and 7,000 units. Ultimately, though, Lucid ended up beating that annual guidance.

The automaker says it built 7,180 vehicles in 2022 and it delivered 4,369 of them. During the October-December period, it produced 3,493 vehicles (an increase of 53 percent over the previous quarter) and delivered 1,932. The company started delivering the Lucid Air in Europe in December.

We'll find out more about what this means for Lucid's bottom line when the company reveals its Q4 financial results on February 22nd. In any case, beating the annual guidance, even after it significantly slashed the target, is a positive sign that the automaker is overcoming its production issues. Meanwhile, Lucid will soon start taking reservations for its Gravity electric SUV, with deliveries slated to start in the US and Canada in 2024.

Five years after debuting at CES 2018, Hyundai’s e-Corner technology is closer to reality. Following its most recent appearance at CES 2021, the system was on display at last week’s show. And this time around, rather than building a dedicated prototype to showcase the tech, the automaker’s Mobis arm instead integrated e-Corner into an Ioniq 5 EV.

As you can see from the video the Hyundai shared (via Autoblog), the module, much like the Hummer EV’s “CrabWalk” functionality, allows a car’s wheels to turn in ways they can’t in a vehicle with a traditional suspension system. Subsequently, that allows you to complete maneuvers you can’t in other vehicles. Parallel parking, for instance, is as easy as turning the wheels 90 degrees and driving the car horizontally. Less practical but just as cool, e-Corner also enables cars to move diagonally and rotate on the spot. It’s even possible to pull off a pivot turn.

It will likely be another few years before e-Corner modules start showing up in production vehicles. In 2021, Hyundai Mobis said it was planning to begin rolling out the technology in 2025. That said, it wouldn’t be surprising to see other automakers incorporate the technology into their cars since the division produces parts for other companies, not just Hyundai.

To be clear, I still own a car. While I might wish I were hardcore enough to live car-free, I’m not. But instead of owning two or more vehicles (like most American households do), my family now just has one. We bought the RadRunner Plus from Rad Power Bikes after we sold our second car, but I should note that two factors made that move feasible: My husband and I both started working from home, and we moved to a neighborhood that’s only a three-minute walk from our kid’s school. So if I feel a touch of pride in swapping a car for an e-bike, I realize I’m in a fortunate situation that doesn’t apply to everyone.

That said, this bike is rad. It’s fun to ride, it can carry a lot of cargo and takes on hills with seemingly zero effort. I feel like what keeps more people from adopting the bike as a routine form of transport are sweatiness and cargo space. No one wants to show up wherever they’re going looking like they just got out of a sauna, and most of us need to carry around more stuff than what fits in a small bag. The RadRunner solves both issues. If you don't want to pedal a single stroke, the throttle and 750-watt motor will oblige. If you need space for your kid, your coffee and a bag of groceries, you can configure the bike to handle them all at once (though the accessories are going to cost you).

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Rad Power offers three cargo bikes: the RadRunner 2, the RadRunner Plus and the RadWagon. They all have a 45-mile range, a 750-watt motor and an integrated rear rack. The Runner 2 and the Runner Plus are the same size, while the Wagon has an extended (and noticeable) rear rack. When I was first thinking about investing in an electric bike, I saw someone riding one around town with a huge orange rear rack that provided enough room for two school-age kids on the passenger seat. Turns out that was a RadWagon, and while I ultimately went for the smaller Plus model, I’m glad that my Wagon sighting led me to investigate the brand further.

The decision to go for the smaller model was easy (I don’t have two kids or carry all that much stuff), but deciding between the RadRunner 2 and the RadRunner Plus was a little tougher. The former costs $1,500, which is expensive enough, and the Plus adds another $400 to the sticker price. The biggest difference is probably the drivetrain, with a single speed on the Runner 2 and seven speeds on the Plus. The Plus also comes with a cushioned back seat, fenders, an improved headlamp and a control panel with a display that includes an odometer, current speed, battery life and pedal assist levels (the control panel on the 2 doesn’t have a display). The Plus also comes in silver, and it’s very possible that color was the final deciding factor for me.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Before pushing the buy button, I did take a cursory glance at other brands, but no one else seemed to match the level of enthusiasm Rad Power owners put into their reviews. I also liked the large number of accessories they offer. (I’m a sucker for accessories.) Case in point, I bought the front basket, the center console and a basic milk crate and some bolts from Amazon for the back basket, since Rad Power seems to always be out of theirs. I haven’t installed the front basket yet (it requires some light brake rewiring and I just haven’t gotten around to it). The center console is cool, especially the cup holder part, but it negates the sideways step-in benefit of the moped-style frame, so I don’t use it often. So far, the rear milk crate is what I get the most use out of. For kid transport, I got the Thule kid’s seat which fits kids up to 40 pounds, and a grab bar to use with the padded passenger seat once he outgrows the Thule.

Assembly is straightforward with an easy video that walks you through installing the front tire, handlebars, headlight and seat. Rad Power recommends consulting a bike repair person to help, but that wasn’t necessary for me. I liked that the battery came charged enough to get a few rides in. After paying $1,800, it would have been a bummer to have to wait to play with my new toy.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Riding it takes a little adjustment if you’re accustomed to a manual road or gravel bike. First of all, your riding position changes. If you tend to adopt the aggressive, forward-leaning bike messenger position, it might feel a little odd to sit so upright. I’ll admit I felt a little “uncool” the first time I rode it. But that feeling disappeared once I started thinking of the Plus as a moped rather than a bike – more like Roman Holiday, less like Miss Gulch.

The motor kicks in after a half turn of the pedals and you can increase your pedal assist from the light push of a level one to a very zippy level four. There’s also the throttle, which pushes you along with zero pedaling on your part. I find that I use the throttle most after coming to a full stop, particularly at intersections. It engages immediately and quickly propels the bike forward, getting me across traffic safely, with none of the slow start up you have to muscle through on a regular bike. Once going, I mostly rely on pedal assist levels two and three to keep the pace. One thing I noticed is that this bike does not coast. That’s not surprising as it weighs over 75 pounds and has 3.3-inch wide tires, but pedaling more or less constantly made me modify my riding style.

Turns are a little different as well. Where you might feel like a cohesive unit on a road bike, leaning into the turns Tour de France-style, on the Plus, turns are a two-step process: you turn the wheel, then you go in that direction. I was a little wobbly at first but here, too, I got the hang of it. With all that power behind you, it’s nice to know the brakes are solid. There were times when I got going around 25 miles per hour, and the brakes brought me to a stop in a way I felt was safe. I should note that after you reach 20 miles per hour, you won’t get any sort of motor assist. That’s because Rad Power bikes are limited to comply with the legal limits for e-bikes in many states.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

In the end, the little differences are just things to get used to, and I got acclimated pretty quickly – especially when facing a 250-foot elevation gain over the course of a ride. I was a little disappointed when I realized the 300-pound weight limit means that my husband and I will never be able to ride the same bike together. Given that I don’t know many couples with a combined weight of under 300 pounds, I feel like this might be true for many adults over 30. Still, this bike has opened up an ideal alternate form of transportation, one in which I can carry lots of cargo plus a kid, while getting only minimally sweaty.

In July, GM announced that it was partnering with EVGo to establish a "coast-to-coast" charging network for its electric vehicles. On Thursday, Mercedes Benz announced that it will be building a network of its own — at least, in partnership with Chargepoint — that will be accessible no matter what make or model of EV you drive. 

Mercedes and Chargepoint plan to establish 400 new charging hubs throughout the US and Canada — that's 2,500 new DC fast chargers in all — "in key cities and urban population centers, along major highway corridors and close to convenient retail and service destinations," according to Thursday's announcement. The automaker and MN8 Energy will finance the scheme while Chargepoint will supply the hardware and infrastructure. Chargepoint in 2020 partnered with NATSO for a billion-dollar project to install its chargers along rural highways. Those effort continue. 

The hubs and DC fast chargers will all be accessible by EV drivers of all stripes, regardless of their vehicle type — the inverse of Tesla's proprietary network. But since Mercedes is pulling the purse strings, its customers can look forward to a few extra perks when they pull into a hub. That includes being able to reserve a space ahead of time and automatic vehicle-station handshake authentication. 

Each charger can deliver up to 500V of power, allowing 400V-architecture vehicles like the Rivian R1T to take full advantage of the increased power transmission while 800V vehicles like the Audi A6 e-tron, the Porsche Taycan, Hyundai's Ioniq 5 and Kia's EV6 will see improved charge times though not the upper limit of what their electrical systems can handle. The company notes that these chargers are, "designed to easily scale to meet future demand as EV adoption and vehicle capability grows."

Certain variants of Tesla's Model Y may not qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit based on the IRS's latest guidelines, a situation that Elon Musk has called "messed up." It looks as though the five-seat Long Range version of the hatchback is too expensive as a car and not considered an SUV, so it falls outside the current guidelines. That could change, though, as the rules won't be finalized until March 2023.

The IRS has divided vehicles into two categories: vans, SUVs and pickup trucks under $80,000, and other vehicles under $55,000. For the first category, the vehicle must have 4-wheel drive or be rated at more than 6,000 pounds of gross weight. It also has to meet four of five other characteristics, most notably front and rear axle clearances of 18 centimeters or higher and a running clearance of at least 20 centimeters (no Model Y meets these specs).

Internal Revenue Service

According to the IRS, only the 7-seat variants of the Model Y qualify as SUVs in the category up to $80,000, while the 5-seat vehicles (Long Range, AWD and Performance) are in the $55,000 section. The 7-seaters comfortably fall under the $85,000 limit, but all the 5-seaters exceed the $55,000 price, so they don't qualify. Tesla doesn't have a specific AWD variant of the Model Y in the US (both the Long Range and Performance models are AWD), so it's not clear which model the IRS is referring to. 

Critics are pointing out that far more polluting hybrid vehicles qualify for the tax credits, including two Jeeps, the Audi Q5 e Quattro, BMW X5 xDrive45e and Ford's Escape PHEV. However, if someone buys a Jeep Wrangler with 56 MPGe (23 MPG after the battery is depleted) instead of a Tesla Model Y with 122 MPGe, then the government isn't doing the most it can to reduce carbon emissions. The IRS has invited consumers to comment on the matter, and Musk encouraged people to do so in a tweet. 

It’s been a decade since the first Tesla EV made its commercial debut and the electrification of American automotive society began in earnest. Acceptance at the newfangled technology was slow at first but, over the past ten years as battery capacities have grown and range anxieties have shrunk, electric vehicles have become a daily sight in most parts of the country. Doesn’t hurt that virtually every notable automaker on the planet has jumped on the electric bandwagon with sizable investments in battery and production technologies as well as pledges to electrify their lineups within a decade or so.

Not even recent years’ production slowdowns and supply chain disruptions brought on by the COVID pandemic managed to stall the industry’s momentum. The International Energy Agency in January reported that EVs had managed to triple their market share between 2019 and 2021 with 6.6 million units being sold globally last year. That’s not to discount the crippling impacts of the chip shortage, which saw fleets of nearly-finished electrified vehicles parked and idled as they awaited necessary components. Or in Tesla’s case, simply sold without the needed part — oh calm down, it’s just the steering column, there’s nothing critical in there, anyway that’s what autopilot is for, right?

2022 has eliminated any lingering doubts about whether EVs are here to stay (hint: they are). “So far in 2022, global EV sales are up 70 percent, or around 2 million units,” from 2021’s figures, according to Morgan Stanley. It is expecting a further 22 percent increase — around another 1.8 million units — in 2023. China’s BYD set monthly EV sales records throughout the year. Domestically, an Experian study released in October noted more than 600,000 new EV registrations through the first ten months of 2022, a 60 percent year-over-year jump. EVs may not be quite as ruggedized as their hybrid cousins, but who cares about that when you’ve got Ken “Let’s See If I Can Barrel Roll This Car” Block blowing the doors off of the Vegas Strip in an 800V Audi S1 Hoonitron? Or have VW tickling the American public’s deep seated nostalgia with a reimagined Hippy Wagon for the 21st century? Even Sony is getting into the EV game. EVs are no longer niche, they’ve become an indelible part of the culture.

In terms of market share, Tesla and BYD both retained their dominant positions within their relative markets and briefly jockeyed for the world number one spot before BYD pulled away. The Chinese automaker’s EV sales now account for nearly 20 percent of the global total. For its part, Tesla passed notable milestones in its 10,000th Model Y produced at the Texas Gigafactory and the millionth vehicle to roll out of production at Gigafactory Shanghai.

2022 also saw big moves and bigger investments from the rest of the automotive industry, from Ford and General Motors especially. Ford began delivering its highly-anticipated F-150 Lightning EV pickup in May, turned them into roving conference rooms with help from Cisco, began beta testing their bidirectional charging capabilities with California’s public utility as did GM, developed a new battery chemistry, announced plans to bring seven more EV models to the European market by 2024, and imagined a world without dealer showrooms for EV sales. General Motors had a banner year of its own. The company began production on its new marquee Lyriq EV, unveiled its Yukon Denali, Silverado, Blazer and Celestiq EVs; teased its upcoming Corvette hybrid, and secured a sizable federal loan to expand its battery manufacturing base.

Rebecca Cook / reuters

Not to be left out, Hyundai announced in 2022 a $5 billion investment in its US-based production capacity, including a new EV factory in Georgia. The Korean automaker, which has quietly risen to prominence in the US market in recent years, announced its next EV flagship, the Ioniq 6, in July the latest in Hyundai’s effort to release 17 electric vehicle models by the end of the decade. Kia, Hyundai’s sister brand, showed off the company’s brawnier EV6 GT at Monterey Car Week.

VW’s 2022 was fruitful as well and it appears that the automaker has fully embraced its electrified future (following the dieselgate scandal, how could it not?). VW opened a new ID.4 production plant in Tennessee, announced plans to invest an additional $7.1 billion into its North American production capacity over the next five years and dipped its toes into the EV battery business as well. Pfft, all Volvo did this year was debut the “safest car ever.”

And it wasn’t just the established brands, Lucid Motors is riding high this holiday season, buoyed by the November unveiling of its new top of the line Air Sapphire along with two (ahem, relatively) less expensive Air model variants, which will start at $87,000 with 410 miles of range and go up from there. The company also revealed plans this year to sell 100,000 units to the Saudi government, which has heavily invested in the company.

2022 also saw a drastic expansion of the nation’s various fast charging networks. In June, the Biden White House proposed a set of standards for the national EV charging network. The following month, GM announced that it will partner with EVGo to create a 500-station “coast-to-coast” fast-charge network and in December, opened its first two Community Charging Initiative sites in Wisconsin and Detroit. Hertz, fresh off two significant purchase contracts with Polestar and GM, revealed it is working with BP to host the latter’s BP Pulse chargers at select Hertz car rental locations — not unlike what VW and BP have planned for Europe. Similarly, IKEA will team up with Electrify America to bring EA’s fast charging network to the Swedish homeware maker’s parking lots. Perhaps most exciting, the White House in July confirmed rumors that Tesla would be opening its expansive North American SuperCharger network to non-Tesla EVs by the end of the year — that’s an additional 1,700-plus charging points for drivers to fill up at.

Caroline Brehman via Getty Images

But 2022 wasn’t all smooth asphalt and sunshine. Rivian fell on hard times this year, struggling with production issues, layoffs, price hikes, lawsuits in response to said price hikes followed by reversals of said price hiles, delays to the R1S delivery schedule and trim level cullings. Rivian performed so badly in 2022 that it dragged Ford’s stock value down alongside it — but it was still a better year than Lordstown had.

And hey, at least they didn’t use the tip of their tongue to test for live wires like BMW did in July when it tried to paywall access to seat heaters that vehicle owners had already paid for. Even Mercedes had the good sense to charge $1,200 a year only for funtime performance extras like added torque and a shortened 0-60, rather than essential capabilities like retaining rear-end sensation on cold winter mornings.

We also saw significant pricing fluctuations in EVs this year. Tesla raised prices across the board for its entire lineup, as did Polestar with its single motor variant, while VW dropped the price of its 2023 ID.4 by around $4,000 thanks to its use of a slightly smaller battery pack.

For as eventful as 2022 turned out to be, 2023 and beyond is sure to be even bigger for the EV industry. We’re expecting debuts of the VW ID.3; the Lucid Gravity, Polestar 3, Jeep (one of four!) and Honda Prologue SUVs. The Kia EV9 is slated for release in the second half of the year while the Buick Wildcat won’t be realized until 2024. With any luck, these EVs will serve merely as stopgaps until Volkswagen can perfect its Gen.Travel concept and begin shuttling us around in automated transport pods. Like Wall-E, but just as fat.

Mercedes isn’t tip-toeing into electrification. The automaker put together an aggressive plan and it shows no sign of slowing down. That’s why every few months it seems like there’s another Mercedes-Benz EV being announced.

In all this removal of gas-powered engines, Mercedes still needs to make sure to build vehicles that exude the luxury customers have come to expect from the automaker. It started with the EQS as the electric version of the S-Class sedan and followed that up with the EQS SUV. A taller vehicle with more headroom, off-road capabilities and the number one feature wanted by the US market: it’s an SUV.

While the parity of tech features between the EQS and EQS SUV is impressive, the one thing that S-Class owners moving to an electric luxury vehicle will notice is the increased headroom in the EQS SUV. There’s also the design, which looks better on the SUV, and if you opt for all-wheel-drive the off-roading capabilities are there for when the second home happens to be up a dirt road.

Still, we put the EQS SUV to the test and found that overall it’s an impressive entry into the luxury EV SUV market, even with its weird regenerative brake pedal. Watch the video below for the full story.

Ford F-150 Lightning prices are going up again. The US automaker is raising the electric pickup’s starting cost by $4,000, bringing the new entry price to $55,974. That’s a 40 percent increase over the electric vehicle’s initial starting price in May 2021.

Ford toldCNBC today that it is changing pricing “as a normal course of business due to rising material costs, market factors, and ongoing supply chain constraints.” Raw material costs of nickel, cobalt and lithium — crucial to electric car batteries — have soared alongside EV demand.

Through the end of November, Ford has only sold 13,258 F-150 Lightning units, but that number is a reflection of supply constraints rather than low demand (on the contrary, the truck is still a hot commodity). The company plans to boost production to 150,000 units by next fall — and it said earlier this week that it’s still on track to meet that goal. It recently added a third shift of workers to a Michigan production plant to help meet that goal.

Ford is the second-biggest American seller of electric vehicles (behind Tesla), and the F-150 Lightning is the top-selling electric truck. Considering Ford F-series trucks have been the best-selling vehicles in the US for three decades, that customer loyalty appears to be carrying over to EVs. Earlier this year, Engadget's Roberto Baldwin rode along for a test drive and commented on how much it felt like a standard F-150.

Uber Eats has expanded autonomous food deliveries to Miami under a new partnership with robotics company Cartken. AI-powered robots will start making deliveries from select retailers in the Miami suburb of Dadeland today. The companies plan to expand autonomous deliveries to other parts of Miami-Dade County and more cities in 2023.

Uber Eats started two autonomous delivery pilots in Los Angeles in May after teaming up with Motional and Serve Robotics (which spun out of Uber). In September, Uber Eats agreed a 10-year deal with Nuro for autonomous food deliveries, beginning in Texas and California.

Cartken also works with Grubhub on college campus deliveries. Its six-wheeled robots use NVIDIA Jetson tech along with sensors and cameras to help them avoid collisions and take routes with fewer hazards. The machines, which are built by Magna, have a cargo capacity of 1.5 cubic feet, which is roughly the same as two full paper grocery bags. They can travel at up to six miles per hour, depending on conditions and the environment.