Ford is determined to compete against electric vehicle rivals like Tesla and Rivian, and it's willing to reorganize the company to improve its chances. The brand is splitting its car manufacturing business into separate EV-only and internal combustion engine (ICE) divisions to help it fight both "new EV competitors" and conventional challengers. The electric unit, Model e, is meant to speed up large-scale development of EVs while producing connected vehicle technology for all of Ford. Effectively, the badge hopes to edge closer to the fast-moving, tech-driven cultures of its EV-only competitors.

The ICE division, Ford Blue, will concentrate on "relentlessly attacking" costs, improving quality and streamlining operations to help turn a profit. Blue will supply hardware-focused engineering and manufacturing to the rest of the company.

Company chief Jim Farley will serve as president of Model e. Apple and Tesla veteran Doug Field, who joined Ford in September 2021, will lead the unit's development as its Chief EV and Digital Systems Officer.

The split, part of a larger Ford+ strategy, isn't a complete surprise. Ford EVs like the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning have seen strong early demand, but Tesla still dominates the US electric market with deliveries of over 1 million cars last year. The move theoretically helps Ford catch up to or surpass Tesla while keeping ICE cars viable — at least, until ICE is phased out.

This approach also mirrors EV-focused strategy changes at some of Ford's mainstream competitors. GM already plans to become EV-only by 2035, while Stellantis unveiled a "Dare Forward" plan that will see EVs lead sales in Europe and the US by 2030. Even Hyundai was rumored to have stopped developing new combustion engines, although it denied the claim. Electric cars are taking priority across the industry, and Ford doesn't want to risk being left behind.

Hyundai plans to release 17 full electric vehicle models by 2030 as part of its efforts to strengthen its lineup and to catch up to rival automakers. The company's CEO Jaehoon Chang has made the announcement when he unveiled Hyundai's electrification roadmap in an investor presentation. Out of 17, 11 models will be under the main Hyundai brand, while 6 will be released under its Genesis luxury brand. 

The automaker announced last year that Genesis will switch to electric powertrains completely by 2025, though at the time, it said that it expects to have eight EV models available for sale in 2030. Chang's latest announcement includes more concrete details about Hyundai's electrification plans. He said the company is investing 19.4 trillion won ($16.08 billion) in its EV-related endeavors, including setting up more manufacturing plants with the capability to produce EVs. The automaker is also aiming to capture a 7 percent market share in the global EV market and to sell 1.87 million electric vehicle units per year by 2030.

The company has yet to reveal the exact models it's releasing within the next eight years, but it did say that three of them are sedans, six are SUVs, one is a light commercial vehicle, while the last one is a new vehicle type. The first release will most likely be the IONIQ 6, an all-electric sedan that will be available for purchase this year. In 2024, Hyundai will be releasing the IONIQ 7, as well. 

While $16.08 billion is a considerable investment, analysts told Reuters that it's in in no way "aggressive" when compared to the commitments made by some rival companies. Toyota, for instance, plans to invest 8 trillion yen ($70 billion) for its electrification projects by 2030, while GM had earmarked $35 billion for its EV and automated vehicle investments from 2020 through 2025.

With the Polestar 2 already in production, Polestars 3 and 4 on the horizon and the Precept concept slated to become the Polestar 5 in 2024, Polestar the company has just unveiled its latest electrified vehicle idea: the Polestar O2 convertible concept.

Polestar

“Polestar O2 is our vision of a new era for sports cars," Polestar’s Head of Design, Maximilian Missoni, said in a Tuesday press statement. "By mixing the joy of open top driving with the purity of electric mobility, it unlocks a new mix of emotions in a car."

The O2 will reportedly be built upon the same "bespoke" bonded aluminum unibody platform that the company is using for the Polestar 5, and generally resemble the Precept concept design it is derived from which, according to Polestar PR, "shows how Polestar’s evolving design language can be adapted to different body styles with a strong family resemblance." That is, while the Polestar 5 will be a high-performance four-door grand touring vehicle, the O2 will offer a more compact, 2+2 sportscar feel, despite both being built on the same basic underpinnings.

Polestar

Now, you might be wondering how a convertible EV would even work given that traditional convertibles are rather inefficient — their frames are thicker and heavier to offset the structural strength lost by cutting off the roof and their aerodynamics are a mess because, again, no roof — and that is an excellent question. The company doesn't yet have drag coefficient data to share, but it did assert that "disguised design features like integrated ducts that improve laminar air flow over the wheels and body sides, and rear lights that function as air blades to reduce turbulence behind the car," are being investigated to maximize the vehicle's range.

With a shorter wheelbase and only an afterthought of rear seats, the O2 offers a sportier, more aggressive stance than the Polestar 2. And those wheels! The exterior is a study of sharp lines with a low-slung cabin seated between angular fender flares and an acutely angled glass-top roof that retracts back into a broad trunk. It looks like if you mashed up a Ford F40 with a Porsche 718 Spyder and then flattened out all the curves. It looks like a roadster you'd see on the streets of Los Santos. I am a fan.

Polestar

The interior sounds equally supple, featuring a "thermoplastic mono-material" throughout for the hard bits, paired with recycled polyester as "the sole material used for all the soft components." Because nothing beats the seat-squelching experience of sitting on polyester and plastic in full sun with the roof down. 

Polestar

Drivers will also be able to film their top-down adventures thanks to the O2's integrated cinematography drone. Developed in collaboration with Hoco Flow, this autonomous camera drone rides in an area of negative pressure generated from an airfoil deployed behind the rear seats. The drone can follow along at speeds up to 56 MPH and the captured footage can subsequently be edited and shared from the central infotainment system once the vehicle is parked. I mean, personally, I'd prefer an eATV or even an electric skateboard if automakers are going to bundle in secondary transports with their vehicle offerings, but sure, a camera drone will definitely remain cool and novel and useful after the first couple flights. I mean, just look at how well they turned out for the Renault KWID or the Lexus LF-30 Electric Concept. 

Polestar

Like the Precept, we won't likely see street legal O2 as it is now. Instead, Polestar plans to launch three new cars over the coming three years, "each of which has potential to gradually realize some of the ideas presented by these concept cars," so keep an eye out for low-flying drones. 

Stellantis isn't just leaning on a Chrysler concept to define its EV future. As part of a new "Dare Forward 2030" strategic plan, the automaker has unveiled the first all-electric Jeep SUV. The company didn't provide specifications or even a name, but the Jeep EV launches in early 2023 and appears to be relatively compact like the Compass. Autoblognotes Jeep might be using the STLA Small platform that supports up to an 82kWh battery and 300 miles of range.

More is coming in 2024. You'll find a more off-road oriented model and a "lifestyle family" SUV in 2024. Jeep won't be alone, either, as Ram will release an electric ProMaster van in 2023 and 1500 pickup truck (shown at middle) the following year.

Stellantis

The cautious rollout leaves Stellantis behind Ford, GM and other incumbent brands that already have multiple EVs either on the road or coming this year. That's not including electric-only badges like Tesla or Rivian. To date, the company has focused on either converted cars like the Fiat 500e or its 4xe plug-in hybrids.

The new machines and Stellantis' new plan might help with that, though. Under Dare Forward, the brand hopes to sell five million EVs in 2030. That's enough to completely replace its European passenger car sales, and half of all passenger cars and trucks in the US. There will be over 25 EVs aimed at American buyers. It's just a matter of whether or not the brand can make up for lost time, particularly with rivals like GM already planning to eliminate combustion passenger vehicle sales.

Toyota has reportedly halted vehicle production at all its plants in Japan following a cyberattack against a major supplier, Nikkei has reported. "Due to a system failure at a domestic supplier (Kojima Industries Corporation), we have decided to suspend the operation of 28 lines at 14 plants in Japan on Tuesday, March 1st," Toyota wrote on its global website. 

Kojima supplies both exterior and interior parts, including components used in its air-conditioning system and steering wheel. The parts weren't affected but Kojima was reportedly unable to communicate with Toyota or monitor production. The issue affected Toyota's "just in time" manufacturing system that requires parts be delivered just before they're installed so they don't have to be stocked. 

Toyota didn't mention a cyberattack on its website, but Kojima confirmed the issue. "It is true that we have been hit by some kind of cyberattack. We are still confirming the damage and we are hurrying to respond, with the top priority of resuming Toyota's production system as soon as possible," a Kojima official told Nikkei. 

Two other Toyota partners were reportedly hit, including truck manufacturer Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor. The origins of the cyberattack, type of malware and other details have not been revealed. Toyota didn't say when it expects to restart the manufacturing lines, but the Japanese government is reportedly involved in the investigation. 

Uber hopes to accelerate a planned sale of its remaining holdings in Yandex.Taxi, the Russian-owned ride-hailing platform, reportedThe New York Times. Uber owns a 29% stake in the service, which was roughly equivalent to $800 million at the end of 2021. While speeding up the sale is directly in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Uber has been looking to exit the Russian market for a while. Last year Uber announced it would sell its stake of Yandex’s autonomous vehicle and food delivery divisions back to the Russian internet company for a total of $1 billion. In the wake of Monday’s decision, three Uber executives resigned from the board of Yandex.Taxi.

“In light of recent events, we are actively looking for opportunities to accelerate the sale of our remaining holdings and, in the meantime, will remove our executives from the board of the joint venture,” Uber said in a statement to the Times.

The decision aligns with similar moves made by private US companies like Google, Apple, Meta, Netflix and others to cut ties with Russia in light of its invasion of Ukraine. It will also mark the end of what has been a very rocky ride for Uber in Russia, since it first launched in the country in 2014. The ride-hailing and food delivery market in Russia was already dominated by Yandex.Taxi, which is partly owned by Russia’s largest tech company, Yandex. Both companies entered in a $3.7 billion dollar deal in 2017, with Uber owning 37 percent of Yandex.Taxi. Customers in Russia can use either the Yandex or Uber app to hail a ride.

Concerns that Yandex.Taxi is illegally harvesting user data prompted Lithuania’s transport and economy minister on Monday to ask Google and Apple to remove the app from their respective app stores, citing national security concerns. Back in 2018, the head of Lithuania’s cybersecurity center noted that the Yandex.Taxi app requests access to your camera, microphone and local data network, and urged locals not to use the platform. Yandex has denied the allegations and stated that the app complies with EU data regulations.

Tesla Superchargers close to the Ukraine border will offer free electric vehicle charging to support those leaving the country following Russia's invasion. Owners of Tesla and non-Tesla EVs will be able to use stations at Trzebownisko, Poland; Košice, Slovakia; and Miskolc and Debrecen (both Hungary) at no cost for a limited time. It's unclear whether Tesla plans to expand the program to other Supercharger sites.

"We hope that this helps give you the peace of mind to get to a safe location," Tesla wrote in an email to local owners, according to Elektrek. It's said to be the first time Tesla has offered free charging to owners of third-party EVs.

Tesla doesn't currently operate in Ukraine, though some people there are said to have imported its EVs and the company wants to open Supercharger sites in the country (it's not clear how the conflict may have impacted those plans). The company has offered free charging during other times of crisis, including when hurricanes struck the US.

It's not just passenger cars and big rigs receiving the EV treatment — the vehicles in the middle are getting some TLC, too. Lightning eMotors is doubling its production capacity just weeks after partnering with GM to electrify medium-duty vehicles like delivery trucks, school buses and shuttles. The company's Colorado factory will make up to 1,500 fleet-worthy EVs per year by the end of 2022, with plans to produce 20,000 per year by 2025. Those figures might not sound like much, but Lightning is targeting a relatively niche audience.

The recent team-up will see Lightning "upfit" GM's medium-duty platform with electrified versions. While GM will provide the chassis, Lightning will produce the end product destined for commercial use. Lightning is GM's first specialty vehicle maker to offer full EVs in this category.

The combined efforts might not be as exciting as from-scratch electric cars headed to your driveway. Even so, it represents an important part of a broader effort to reduce transportation emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency notes that 29 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation, and more than half of those emissions originate from road-going vehicles that include medium-duty machines. The more companies like GM and Lightning can electrify fleets, the closer they can get to eliminating transportation emissions as a factor in climate change.

The USPS is moving forward with plans to spend $11.3 billion on a fleet of next-generation mail trucks that mostly run on gas, despite requests from the EPA and Biden administration to electrify its new vehicles instead. The new trucks, which were revealed last year, feature modern amenities like air conditioning, 360-degree cameras, and collision detection. While they can be powered by either gas or electric engines, the initial order from the USPS only included 5,000 electric trucks, or around 10 percent of the entire order.

"Our commitment to an electric fleet remains ambitious given the pressing vehicle and safety needs of our aging fleet as well as our fragile financial condition," Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a statement. He went on to say that the agency would try buy more EVs as additional funding became available, but added that "the process needs to keep moving forward" to give postal workers more modern vehicles. 

Today's postal trucks, which include the Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV), have been in service since the 1980s, have few safety features and abysmal single-digit fuel economy. Practically any modern truck would be an improvement, but the EPA argued earlier this month that investing in more gas vehicles would ultimately accelerate climate change and hurt American health. The USPS ultimately decided to ignore the EPA's request for supplemental environmental impact statements, and it refused to hold a public hearing about the next-gen vehicle plan. 

A new wave of 5G-enabled cars are headed our direction. Audi is the latest automaker to announce it will offer 5G connectivity in select models of future cars. The German manufacturer announced today that select models of Audi vehicles, beginning in 2024, will be able to connect to Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network. 

Drivers of the new Audi 5G lineup can expect a host of new features, including higher speeds to download or stream entertainment, an improved in-car navigation system with 3D mapping, cloud-based user-profiles and even the (arguably dangerous) ability to buy things in your car.

Just note that drivers will likely need to pay a subscription to access Audi's 5G in-car services. While Audi didn't disclose how much a 5G subscription would cost, the current Function On-Demand plan with 4G in-car WiFi and navigation is $849 a year on most models. 

The new 5G vehicles will also build on Audi’s current crop of in-car connected services, including information on traffic lights and low-latency road alerts. This will likely mean an even faster and more detailed version of what Audi’s 4G-enabled cars already offer. We’ve already seen current Audi models that offer integrated payment for toll roads and will alert drivers when they’re near a school bus, cyclists, road crews and other obstacles.

Audi’s 5G cars will also be equipped with mobile edge computing, which likely means better autonomous driving features since the cars will be able to react to data instantly. The tech industry has pushed for mobile edge computing on cars as a way to improve the safety of AV features. Edge computing will allow for real-time data processing, so cars can respond faster to other cars, infrastructure, and connected devices on the road.

The US is getting closer to the connected car future that major automakers like Audi, BMW, Volvo, Ford have pushed for. Roughly 60 percent of US drivers rode a connected vehicle in 2021, and that number is expected to grow to more than 70 percent by 2025, according to an eMarketer report. While drawbacks for drivers include the added costs of subscription plans and cybersecurity risks, many still enjoy the added safety and entertainment features.