Toyota now aims to roll out 30 electric vehicles by 2030, expanding on its plan to sell 15 fully electric models by 2025. It gave a taste of the future by previewing a broad range of EV concepts during a presentation.

Among those is a pickup, which could compete with the likes of Ford's F-150 Lightning and Rivian's R1T. As Autoblog notes, the Toyota Pickup EV looks very much like the Toyota Tacoma. As such, there could be an electric option for the next version of that pickup.

Toyota

Other models include a Sports EV and an FJ Cruiser-style Compact Cruiser EV. There are commercial models too, such as the Micro Box and Mid Box. Toyota once again showed off the self-driving e-Palette, which was used to transport athletes during this year's Summer Olympic and Paralympic games. The company pulled them from use at the Paralympics after the EV hit a visually impaired athlete. 

At the higher end of the spectrum, Toyota also revealed a lineup of Lexus electric EV concepts. It said the Electrified Sport should be able to go from 0-60 MPH in just over two seconds and have a range of about 435 miles. The brand also showed off an Electrified Sedan and Electrified SUV.

Toyota

Although Toyota has now committed to spend around $70 billion on electrifying its vehicles, its medium-term projections for EVs are relatively conservative. It expects to sell around 3.5 million EVs per year by 2030, which is around a third of its current volume of vehicle sales. 

By contrast, Volkswagen estimates that, by that time, half of its vehicle sales will be electric models, and by 2040, the majority of its sales in major markets will be EVs. After becoming an early leader in hybrid vehicle tech, Toyota is playing catchup with other automakers in the EV market, so making comparatively muted projections shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

Meanwhile, Toyota recently announced plans to build a $1.29 billion EV battery factory in North Carolina by 2025. The company last month declined to join other automakers, including GM and Ford, in pledging to phase out fossil fuel-powered cars by 2040. However, Lexus plans to only sell EVs by 2035.

Ford CEO Jim Farley tweeted that it's been tough keeping up with the "incredible demand" for the company's all-electric Mustang Mach-E, but the automaker's going to try. In the tweet, he said Ford is increasing production of the Mach-E to 200,000 vehicles per year in the US starting in 2022 and in Europe by 2023. That's triple the units the company manufactured in 2021. While Farley didn't detail how Ford plans to make that happen, Automotive News has reported that the company will delay its Explorer and Aviator EVs to make way for Mach-E production. 

According to the publication, Ford sent a memo to suppliers telling them that the electric vehicles would be delayed by 18 months. Further, the EVs will no longer be manufactured at Ford's Cuautitlan, Mexico plant, which will now be dedicated to manufacturing the Mustang Mach-Es. The Explorer and Aviator EVs were supposed to be the company's next major EV launch after the F-150 Lightning and were scheduled to start production by mid-2023. The 18-month delay means it won't be rolling off the production line until December 2024 — Ford also has yet to announce which factory will manufacture the new vehicles. 

Farley previously said the Ford has decided to double its EV output to 600,000 electric vehicles per year by the end of 2023 as part of its efforts to become the biggest EV manufacturer in the US. Back then, Automotive News reported that production will be spread across the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit.

Mercedes-Benz has issued a server-side update to fix an oversight that had allowed owners of its EQS EV and recent S-Class sedans to watch video content on the 56-inch MBUX Hyperscreen displays found in those cars while they were in motion. In a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration filing spotted by Consumer Reports editor Keith Barry, the automaker says it found an “incorrect configuration” on its backend server in November that may have been installed on some vehicles. It estimates nearly 227 cars were affected by the oversight. And while Mercedes is not aware of any crashes, it’s moving forward with a recall.

News of the decision comes in the same week that a report from The New York Times said Tesla recently updated its vehicles to allow passengers to play select games even while their car was moving. “Solitaire is a game for everyone, but playing while the car is in motion is only for passengers,” the company’s infotainment system says after someone launches the title. It’s possible for the driver to bypass that warning and then play the game. It’s a feature NHTSA says it’s in contact with Tesla about.

“The Vehicle Safety Act prohibits manufacturers from selling vehicles with design defects posing unreasonable risks to safety,” a spokesperson for the agency told Engadget. In 2019, NHTSA said 3,142 people in the US died in crashes involving distracted drivers.

Many car brands are touting recycled parts in their vehicles, but Ford thinks it can claim some extra bragging rights. The badge claims the Bronco Sport is the first vehicle to use parts made entirely of recycled ocean plastic. Ford used plastic from the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to make wireless harness clips in the SUV. They're as durable as previous petroleum-based clips, but require less energy to make and even cost 10 percent less.

The company has been using some degree of recycled plastic for over two decades, although it has been getting creative as of late. It recently started making F-250 fuel-line clips from 3D printer waste, and used water bottles for the underbody shields on the 2020 Escape.

This move could be an important step toward more sustainable car production. At the same time, it shows just how far Ford has to go. They're small parts in an SUV that's sold exclusively with a combustion engine inside — this would carry more weight if they were larger components in a hybrid or pure electric vehicle. Ford has vowed to further electrify its lineup and explore future uses of ocean plastic. Until that happens, though, this is more a hint of that future than a major milestone.

Polestar has released an over-the-air update that boosts the Polestar 2's torque and horsepower. It bumps up the EV's oomph to 469 horsepower (an increase of 67hp) and 502 lb. ft of torque, an increase of 15.

In practical terms, Polestar says those upgrades shave around a tenth of a second off the 0-60 MPH acceleration time, which is down to 4.4 seconds. The company suggests the biggest acceleration boost will be found in the mid-range. It claims that going from 50 to 75 MPH will take 2.2 seconds, which is around half a second faster than the typical Polestar 2 setup.

The update isn't free, however. It's available in the Polestar Extras store for eligible cars in the UK, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Germany and Austria, and it costs around €1,000 ($1,130). Polestar plans to offer the update in the US and Canada in the spring, with pricing to be announced later.

Polestar isn't the only automaker to increase EV performance via over-the-air updates. Tesla has also offeredpaid updates that boost acceleration in some models, such as Model 3 and Model Y.

Tesla will replace the Autopilot cameras in the front fenders of some its electric vehicles for free, according to CNBC. While Tesla has yet to issue a recall, the news organization has seen internal documents distributed to authorized service providers in late November, asking them to replace faulty repeater cameras at no cost to owners. Apparently, the cameras on some Model S, X and 3 vehicles manufactured by the company at its Fremont, California plant have faulty printed circuit boards. 

Those cameras capture the car's blind spots, and Autopilot wouldn't work without them. If they're not working as intended, drivers typically only see a block box on their main display and may get alerts that their Autopilot has limited function. CNBC says Tesla may have to replace cameras for at least several hundred vehicles as a result of the faulty PCBs it used.

A Tesla sales manager told the publication that internal service notices are sometimes followed by voluntary recalls, but the automaker has yet to issue a statement. Tesla recalled vehicles several times in the past over various issues. In October, it recalled nearly 3,000 Model 3 and Y vehicles, because their front suspension lateral link fasteners may loosen. The company also recalled 11,704 Tesla EVs from 2017 and later in November after they became prone to false-positive braking following a buggy Full Self-Driving beta update.

Two years ago, BMW delivered its 500,000th electrified vehicle (including EVs and hybrids), promising to deliver one million units in two years. Now, the company has announced that it's met that goal by delivering its one millionth electrified vehicle, an iX xDrive40 SUV (shown above), to a customer in Europe. It's also promising to double that tally to two million by next year, while delivering two million fully electric EVs by 2025. 

BMW was a pioneer in the pure electric category with the i3 and i8 EVs, but has been slow to ramp up its offerings since then. As such, the majority of its electrified sales have been hybrid, rather than pure EVs. (The term "electrified" generally encompasses both PHEVs, mild hybrids and EVs.) Between January and September of 2021, BMW reportedly sold 59,688 EVs and 171,887 plug-in hybrid vehicles worldwide, according to CleanTechnica. In 2020, it sold 192,646 plug-in vehicles, including PHEVs and EVs, InsideEVs reported. 

This year, the company launched the i4 sedan and iX SUV pure electric models into the US market, but they only went on sale last month. It also offers four PHEVs, including versions of the 7, X5, 3 and 5 models. Over the next year, BMW will add the fully electric BMW 7 series and X1, plus the high-volume BMW 5 series by 2023. It plans to have "about ten million fully-electric vehicles on the road" by 2031 or so.

Toyota has selected a site for its proposed $1.29 billion US battery manufacturing facility. On Monday, the automaker said it would build the plant on the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite, a tract of land located in Randolph County in central North Carolina. When the facility is complete sometime in 2025, it will consist of four production lines, each capable of producing batteries for 200,000 vehicles per year. Toyota plans to eventually expand the facility to produce enough power cells to support up to 1.2 million cars annually.

The plant is part of a broader $3.4 billion investment the automaker has earmarked to expand its battery production capabilities in the US. When Toyota first announced the $1.29 billion facility, it said it would create approximately 1,750 jobs. The company notes it picked Greensboro-Randolph Megasite for a handful of reasons. One of the more notable ones is that it’s a location with access to renewable energy. Toyota says it’s “committed” to using 100 percent clean energy to produce batteries at the facility.

The scale of the project is an acknowledgment by the automaker that it needs to diversify its electrification strategy. More so than any other automaker, Toyota invested significantly into fuel cell technology. So far, it has little to show for its efforts. Outside of California, you can’t buy its Mirai fuel-cell sedan. However, the company’s latest plan is to offer 70 different electric models, including 15 battery electric vehicles, by 2025.

When Tesla finally starts rolling the Cybertruck off the production line in 2022, the electric vehicle will debut with a four-motor variant. CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that model will offer "independent, ultra fast response torque control of each wheel." Some other EVs have a motor on each wheel, including Rivian's R1T.

Musk also reiterated that the Cybertruck will have front and rear-wheel steer. He previously noted the EV would offer rear-wheel steering, which will enable it to drive diagonally, "like a crab." Notably, the Hummer EV has a crab mode. Nissan's e-4orce all-wheel control system — which is in the Ariya electric crossover, upcoming next-gen Leaf and a lunar lander prototype — has front and rear motors too.

Tesla removed all Cybertruck specs and pricing from its website in October. Would-be owners can plunk down a refundable deposit of $100 and configure their order close to when Tesla starts production, which is scheduled to happen next year. However, it seems you'll likely have to wait longer if you want a two-motor version.

Nissan has unveiled the lunar lander prototype it has been working on with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The automaker has been collaborating with the agency on driving controllability since January 2020.

To help ensure the rover doesn't get stuck on the lunar surface, Nissan has employed a version of its e-4orce all-wheel control technology. The company says its driving-force controls can minimize wheel spin "in accordance with surface conditions." Not only could that prevent the rover's wheels from digging into the moon's powdery, rocky terrain, it might help the lander conserve precious energy.

Nissan announced the e-4orce powertrain system early last year. The tech, which is featured in the Ariya electric crossover and upcoming next-gen Leaf, allows for precise, independent control for all four wheels. The Ariya has front and rear motors, and the torque of each can be controlled individually to deliver traction during acceleration.

The company believes "the knowhow gained from this joint research with JAXA will lead to innovations in our vehicles that will bring benefits to customers," according to Toshiyuki Nakajima, general manager of Nissan's Advanced Vehicle Engineering Department.

The current design of the rover isn't aesthetically exciting, unfortunately. Right now, it's a rectangular box on wheels. But, as is usually the case, it's what's on the inside that really counts.