EV startup Lightyear debuted its first solar-powered vehicle this week, a sleek sedan called the Lightyear 0. The company gave us a peek at a production prototype of Lightyear 0 in 2019, and at first glance, not much has changed. The car is essentially an unconventional hybrid equipped with both a conventional 60-kilowatt-hour EV battery pack and solar panels on its roof, hood and hatch. The solar panels on the Lightyear 0 will charge automatically whenever the car is exposed to the sun — it doesn’t matter if it’s parked or driving.

The Lightyear 0 isn’t as much solar-powered as solar-assisted. In order to drive for long distances, the vehicle has to tap into its battery reserve. The car’s solar panels can provide 44 miles of range per day in a sunny climate, whereas its EV range is 388 miles. But for drivers with exceptionally short commutes or those who need their vehicle infrequently, the Lightyear 0 could allow them to no longer spend money on gas or charging. The company claims that those with a daily commute of 22 miles can drive the Lightyear 0 for two straight months in the Netherlands summer without needing to charge. Drivers in sunnier climates can go for longer. Lightyear claims that the sun can provide the Lightyear 0 with anywhere between 3,700 to 6,800 miles of range annually.

It’s important to note that Lightyear 0 owners will need to drive for a significantly long time in order to justify the vehicle's purchase as a cost-saving measure. The Lightyear 0 will cost €250,000 (which amounts to roughly $263,262 USD), and the company only plans on making 946 units. But a more reasonably-priced vehicle is on the way. Lightyear recently also unveiled a prototype of a $33,000 solar-powered car, which is scheduled to go into production by 2025.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has deepened (PDF) its investigation into a series of Tesla crashes involving first responders to an engineering analysis. As The Washington Post explains, that's the last stage of an investigation, and the agency typically decides within a year if a vehicle should be recalled or if the probe should be closed. In addition to upgrading the probe's status, the investigation now covers 830,000 units, or almost all the Tesla Model Y, Model X, Model S and Model 3 vehicles the company has sold since 2014.

This development expands upon the investigation the NHTSA initiated back in 2021 following 11 collisions of Tesla vehicles with parked emergency responders and trucks. Since then, the agency has identified and added six more incidents that occurred over the past couple of years. In most of those crashes, Autopilot gave up vehicle control less than one second before impact, though Automatic Emergency Braking intervened in at least half of them. 

The NHTSA also found that the first responders on the road would've been visible to the drivers at an average of eight seconds before impact. Plus, forensic data showed no driver took evasive action between 2 to 5 seconds prior to impact even though they all had their hands on the wheel. Apparently, nine of the 11 vehicles originally involved in the investigation exhibited no driver engagement visual or chime alerts until the last minute before the collision. Four of them didn't exhibit any engagement visual or chime alert at all. 

The NHTSA also looked into 191 crashes not limited to incidents involving first responders. In 53 of those collisions, the agency found that the driver was "insufficiently responsive" as evidenced by them not intervening when needed. All these suggest that while drivers are complying with Tesla's instructions to make sure they have their hands on the wheel at all times, they're not necessarily paying attention to their environment. 

That said, the NHTSA noted in its report that "a driver's use or misuse of vehicle components, or operation of a vehicle in an unintended manner does not necessarily preclude a system defect." As University of South Carolina law professor Bryant Walker Smith told The Post, monitoring the position of a driver's hands isn't effective enough, because it doesn't ensure a driver's capability to respond to what they encounter on the road. 

In addition, the NHTSA noted that the ways a driver may interact with the system is an important design consideration for Level 2 autonomous driving technologies. These systems still aren't full autonomous and still mostly depend on the human driver, after all. "As such, ensuring the system facilitates the driver's effective performance of this supervisory driving task presents an important safety consideration," the agency wrote.

Ford head Jim Farley said the brand’s electric vehicles may shift to fixed prices and completely online sales. In a speech today at an IBM conference, Farley described a future where Ford dealerships would no longer stock inventory but serve as customer service centers for picking up online orders or repairing existing vehicles — with buyers also having the option for home delivery.  In this hypothetical scheme, eliminating car dealerships would put an end to haggling with salespeople.

“We got to go to non-negotiated price," said Farley. Naturally, he also used his speech to throw some jabs at competitors. "I believe some Mach-E and Lightning customers would love to have a Mustang for the weekend. Maybe they want a Super Duty. I can do that," Farley said, "They can't."

The company announced plans this year to be the top EV car maker in the world, hoping to beat out Tesla and other companies with strong EV brands such as BMW, Nissan and Kia. Farley said Ford aims to have the capacity to produce 600,000 EVs by 2023, a notably smaller figure than the 936,000 deliveries that Tesla made last year.

The CEO said he believes that prices for EVs will lower to an average of $25,000, as the cost of batteries and distribution gets cheaper.

BMW is expanding its lineup of electric vehicles once again. The iX1 SUV is an all-electric variant of the X1 crossover — BMW announced a third-gen edition of that vehicle as well. The iX1 is pegged as an entry-level model that's expected to supplant the i3 as the automaker's least expensive EV.

The company says the X1 will have two petrol and two diesel engine options when it arrives in October. Those variants "will immediately be followed by" the iX1 xDrive30, along with plug-in hybrid versions.

The iX1 will have a dual-motor powertrain with one on each axle. They'll produce a combined output of 313 horsepower and 364 lb-ft of torque. BMW says the EV will be able to go from zero to 100 kh/h (62 mph) in 5.7 seconds.

The automaker estimates the iX1 will have a range of up to 438 kilometers (272 miles). It can be charged at a rate of up to 127 kW and BMW claims you'll be able to top up the battery charge level to 80 percent of capacity in 29 minutes at high-speed public stations.

Inside the EV, you'll see a curved display with support for voice and touch controls. The central console includes a wireless charging tray for your smartphone. There will be support for BMW Digital Key Plus, along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

BMW will build all models in the X1 lineup at its plant in Regensburg, Germany. It's keeping many of the details about the iX1 under wraps for now, including the battery capacity and pricing. The company should reveal pricing closer to the launch window.

Don't worry if you thought the Polestar 2's performance was somehow tepid. Polestar has announced a production version of the performance-tuned "Beast" EV it showed at the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Polestar 2 BST edition 270 now produces 476HP from its dual motors (up from 408HP), and you'll also see modifications like a lowered ride height, stiffer springs, adjustable Öhlins dampers, a front strut bar and Polestar 1-influenced 21-inch wheels with custom Pirelli P Zero tires. This is a Polestar EV you can take to the track, to put it simply.

The BST edition 270 isn't quite as capable as the Beast. You'll have to make do with the usual four-piston Brembo brakes instead of the six-piston Akebonos from last year's one-off model. Even so, the improved driving dynamics and 4.4-second sprint to 62MPH should make it a viable alternative to rivals like Tesla's Model 3 Performance.

This variant will be very difficult to get. As the name implies, Polestar is making just 270 examples to sell across China, Europe and North America. You'll have to register just to be invited to buy one; if selected, you'll pay $75,500. Production is poised to start in the middle of the year, with deliveries starting in the fourth quarter.

The debut of this limited version makes sense. Polestar was originally Volvo's badge for high-performance models, and it spun out from Volvo (and Volvo's parent Geely) with a focus on speed. In that regard, the BST edition 270 is a reminder of the brand's roots, and a hint that projects like the Polestar 3 SUV and O2 convertible concept are just extensions of that go-fast strategy.

Five years later, Mercedes is finally ready to show the finished version of its hybrid hypercar. The production Mercedes-AMG One now packs a Formula 1-derived, 1,063HP hybrid powertrain with a turbocharged 1.6-liter V6 engine and four electric motors, including one motor in the turbocharger and another linked to the crankcase. While the car won't rev up to F1 levels (to last longer and use commercial fuel), the result is high responsiveness across the rev range, sustained boost pressure and strong torque even at low engine speeds. The One promises the advantages of both gas and electric powerplants, to put it another way.

That unsurprisingly translates to brisk performance without guzzling too much gas. You'll reach 62MPH in 2.9 seconds (124MPH in seven seconds), but the combined fuel consumption is relatively modest at 27MPG. Mercedes SUVs like the AMG GLE 53 aren't as efficient, for context. You can drive 11.2 miles purely on electric power, and the 800-volt architecture helps you charge quickly (including from the gas engine in race mode) while minimizing weight. The custom seven-speed manual, your only transmission option, is built to keep the One's engine operating at peak performance.

The interior is just as plain as you might remember from the 2017 concept, although that still gives you a digital instrument cluster, an infotainment touchscreen and a camera-linked screen that replaces the usual interior rear mirror. Expect plenty of carbon fiber, nappa leather and microfiber cloth.

The first customers should get their Mercedes-AMG One cars in the second half of 2022. Not that you're going to buy one — all of the production models have been spoken for despite the $2.7 million price tag.

Mercedes-Benz

You're far more likely to drive the equally new GLC (shown at middle), which is built solely around hybrid power (four "mild" hybrids and three plug-in models). The PHEV variants of the updated SUV have up to 74.5 miles of pure electric driving, and will prioritize the EV mode for long urban trips and other "suitable" routes. Mercedes hasn't detailed prices at this stage, but the revamped GLC should reach European dealers in the fall.

Ford has begun deliveries of the F-150 Lightning. The first customer to get their hands on the electric pickup is Nicholas Schmidt, who lives in the automaker's home state of Michigan, around a two-hour drive from the F-150 Lightning plant in Dearborn. Ford started full production of the EV there last month.

The EV is replacing a gas-powered F-150, Schmidt told Bloomberg. Schmidt, who also owns a Tesla Model 3, said he had considered buying a Rivian R1T and also placed a reservation for a Tesla Cybertruck. He said whichever electric pickup he was able to order first would be the one he bought. After taking delivery of the F-150, Schmidt cancelled his Cybertruck reservation.

Ford said at the beginning of this month it would start delivering the F-150 Lightning "in the coming days." While it's not the first automaker to deliver an electric pickup in the US (Rivian started doing so last year), it beat Tesla to the punch.

It had a leg up on Tesla in this market anyway, as the F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the US for the last four decades. Case in point: it received nearly 45,000 pre-orders for the Lightning in just 48 hours. Given that the Cybertruck won't go on sale until next year, both Ford and Rivian have a shot at building up a significant share of the electric truck market long before Tesla gets the Cybertruck into the wild. 

Despite already struggling to meet production targets, luxury EV maker Lucid has now issued a recall for the Air due to potential issues stemming from the car's wiring harness.

In a recent notice posted on the NHTSA website spotted by Lucid Insiders, a summary for the recall says unsecured wires on 2022 Air vehicles could cause the car's displays to turn off. And because the Air's displays contain critical information including speed, range and warning indicators, this would present a hazard in violation of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

The notice states that the potential number of affected vehicles is 1,117. That means with Lucid having delivered less than 1,000 cars to date, the recall appears to cover all 2022 Air Dream Edition and Grand Touring models. For any potentially affected owners, you can get more info by calling Lucid's customer service at 1-888-995-8243 and mentioning recall number NCR-22-01-0.

Official notification letters are slated to be sent out on June 20th Meanwhile, for cars that are subject to the recall, the NHTSA says Lucid dealers will be responsible for inspecting vehicles and addressing the issue as needed, free of charge.

Going forward, Lucid Insiders claims the company has already started making adjustments to the glass canopy on new vehicles to prevent any issues with unsecured wires. However, perhaps the bigger concern is that this recall comes just a few months after Lucid recalled 200 cars for having front strut dampers that may have been improperly installed by a supplier. And with reservations for the Air now exceeding 25,000 cars, ironing out any issues will be hugely important if Lucid hopes to deliver those vehicles in a timely manner.

Automaker Stellantis and Samsung SDI are teaming up to build a $2.5 billion EV battery plant in Indiana, reported CNBC. It’ll be the first US-based battery plant for Stellantis, which has an umbrella of 16 brands that include Jeep, Maserati, Dodge, Fiat and Chrysler. Construction on the lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility is set to begin later this year, with a projected launch date for the first quarter of 2025. This timing fits in nicely with Stellantis’ goal of selling 5 million EVs globally by 2030. The plant will be located in Kokomo, where the Chrysler parent company already has a supplier base.

Stellantis said the Kokomo facility will provide lithium-ion battery modules for a wide range of vehicles, including plug-in hybrids and full battery-electric vehicles. The timing makes sense, given the automaker’s ambitious electrification plans in both Europe and North America. As TechCrunchnotes, Stellantis has been a pretty late arrival to the electric future. Currently the company only sells three plug-in hybrids — the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Minivan, the Jeep Wrangler 4xe and the Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe. Stellantis has thrown a lot of time and money into changing that, with plans to offer more than 75 battery vehicle models by 2030.

We’re due for a number of new EV concepts from Stellantis in the next couple of years, including an electric Dodge muscle car, an all-electric Ram pick-up, a fully electric 4xe model in every Jeep SUV category and Chrysler’s 400-mile range electric SUV. All together, Stellantis has planned to invest $35.5 billion in electric vehicles by 2025. The automaker recently also teamed up with LG to build a $4.1 billion EV plant in Windsor, Ontario, which is projected to launch in 2024.

Hyundai will allocate an additional $5 billion toward investments in the US, the automaker announced on Sunday. The funds will support the company’s work in electric vehicles, robotics, air taxis, self-driving cars and artificial intelligence. The announcement follows the recent news that Hyundai plans to build a $5.54 billion electric vehicle plant in Georgia. With that facility included, the automaker intends to invest $10 billion in the US by 2025.

Some of the money will go toward supporting Boston Dynamics, which Hyundai acquired in 2021. The automaker said it is committed to growing the robotics firm by expanding its manufacturing capabilities and product lineup. The company will also support Motional, its Boston-based self-driving unit, by working to make its driverless technology safer and more accessible to customers in the US and other parts of the world.

“The move supports carbon neutrality goals with new technologies and contributes to manufacturing in the US,” Hyundai said in a statement. According to the automaker, its new Georgia plant will produce 300,000 EVs per year once production starts sometime in the first half of 2025. Construction on the facility will begin in early 2023.