I check out a lot of new electric cars here at InsideEVs. And sometimes I think to myself, "Yeah, I could really get used to this!" 

Then I look at my bank account. 

Without going into details, let's just say I'm not exactly prepared to purchase a $95,000 Lucid Gravity, no matter how outrageously impressive I think that vehicle is. I think that's exactly why Slate, America's latest electric vehicle startup, is so compelling to so many people. 

The company broke cover on Thursday night, announcing plans to bring a refreshingly simple and cheap EV pickup truck to market in late 2026. It comes with crank windows, two seats, no touchscreen and a targeted price of under $20,000 after federal rebates. That's about one-third the going rate for a new electric car in this country. 

Plus, Slate envisions the pickup as a blank canvas for upgrades, including a kit that transforms it into a five-seat SUV. Yep, you read that right. 

I checked out the Slate truck in person (see below), and I have thoughts! Thoughts on whether this is a good deal or not, thoughts on this wild customization process and thoughts on whether a low-tech EV works in 2025. My colleague Suvrat and I get into all that and more on this week's episode of The Plugged-In Podcast. 

We also talk about CATL's huge battery news and Tesla's awful first quarter. Can Tesla bounce back with the help of new affordable models? And what exactly will those models be like, anyway? 

Check out the show wherever you get your podcasts: We're on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio and more. If you haven't yet, please subscribe to the show and leave us a review. 

And we're looking to answer more listener questions on the show! Drop your burning questions about EVs, EV buying and the future of transportation below, or email us at podcast@insideevs.com.

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Mercedes helped invent the motorized van in Germany in the late 19th century. Now, it’s reinventing the category for America in the 21st. The global luxury brand has announced that it will be sending various iterations of its modular, battery-powered VAN.EA architecture to the States to move not just cargo, but people—and if all goes well, Very Important People. That flagship version was just previewed by the hyper-luxurious Vision V.

According to Dr. Andreas Zygan, head of development for M-B vans, the sleek new one-box-shaped haulers can be kitted out as “chauffeur-driven limousines,” complete with first-class seats, large screens, and elegant materials. “It should feel like a living room where you can relax and chat, an office for those always on meetings and even a man-cave for gaming and infotainment,” Zygan says.

If this use case seems incongruent with your perspective on minivans as the dwindling province of youth soccer carpools—devoured, like every other interesting vehicular category, by the crossover/SUV—it is time to reconsider.

“A lot of SUVs are actually monospaces in drag,” says Ralph Gilles, chief design officer for Stellantis, using the technical term for one-box van shapes, like the segment-leading Chrysler Pacifica and Voyager.

“The minivan market is kind of stubborn right now at about 500,000 units a year in the United States,” Gilles added. “But this might go up a little bit as we ‘sexify’ the van and continue to develop its appeal. Because one thing we’ve learned about our Pacifica customer is surprisingly few are that stereotypical Minivan Mom, maybe 20%.”

Some of the remaining 80% are retirees looking for ease of ingress/egress and a shuttle for visiting grandkids, Gilles says. But the majority of them are “doers:” adventurers, surfers, mountain bikers, model airplane aficionados, antiques haulers.  

The boxy interior of a van gives designers plenty of room to experiment with. In the Vision V design study, Mercedes includes folding lounge chairs and a 65-inch TV. 

“So as we keep developing the mono-space,” Gilles says, “we want to make sure it can flex to many more use cases.”

The stats bear out this trend. After reaching a nadir in 2020, passenger minivan sales have been increasing in recent years and are on target to have what may be their best year in a decade in 2025. 

This potential resurgence is the product of the same considerations that have always driven van usage. Primary among these—according to Felix Kilbertus, chief creative officer of automotive design consultancy Pininfarina—is their capacity to “create as much space as possible on a given footprint.” With a low floor, wide openings, and large interior volume, you can cram more humans and their physical and emotional baggage into a minivan, more readily. A Honda Odyssey has nearly as much overall cargo space as a Chevy Suburban despite being 21 inches shorter.  

Secondly, we may be witnessing a turning of generational tides. Just as Boomers abandoned their forebears’ station wagons for minivans, and Millennials abandoned minivans for SUVs, current families are looking for differentiating options. “I think that there will be another generational shift,” says Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at Telemetry. “People don’t necessarily want to drive what their parents drove.” (Pininfarina’s Kilbertus adds, wryly, that designers are over the sport ute form: “We are so bored with SUVs.”) 

The VW ID. Buzz proves that—with the right design—a van can be visually compelling while still being practical.

But the most compelling factor for the van’s potential reincarnation is electrification. Hybrids like the Chrysler Pacifica, Toyota Sienna, and Kia Carnival achieve remarkable efficiency, and the Pacifica, which is a PHEV, even offers over 30 miles of battery-only power. A purely electric drivetrain enhances all of the form’s positive attributes.

Because the drivetrain components can be placed where needed, instead of run down the middle of the interior, Kilbertus says, “electric mono-volume vehicles allow the wheels to be pushed to the edges, enhancing space.” The resultant larger floor increases the size of the battery pack the space is capable of accommodating, raising range, and providing a low center of gravity for improved handling.

This Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid cutaway shows why the low, wide floors of a van are a great place to stash batteries.

Moreover, the aerodynamic teardrop shape works naturally on mono-volume vehicles, furthering efficiency. (Mercedes-Benz USA’s product manager Iain Forsyth says that the company is aiming for a 310-mile range in their small US van.) And the cavernous interiors allow more flexible seating patterns, placing people face-to-face for meetings, or in rows for privacy. “Electrification makes vans quieter, more stable, and roomier—and thus more premium,” Kilbertus says. “It’s a natural match.” 

Electric vans also lend themselves readily to autonomy, should such technology ever arrive. “Once you can get rid of the steering wheel, you can move the A-pillar and windscreen forward, so you gain a lot of space,” Kilbertus says. “And space is the ultimate luxury.” Forsyth notes that Mercedes has “ambitious plans to achieve SAE Level-3 for private van customers by the end of the decade.” Level 3 allows customers to take their eyes off the road in certain situations, with the vehicle technically driving itself.

The van revival is already underway overseas. “This type of form factor is very popular in China, as well as Japan and Korea, and increasingly in Europe,” Abuelsamid says. In those locations, vans act as executive transport, either individually owned or as livery vehicles. Outfitted with Wi-Fi and captains’ thrones, they allow people to take advantage of their long commutes. 

The Chinese-market Li Auto Mega shows is a luxurious, all-electric minivan that looks like no other van on the road.

Big electric vans also provide access to personal private space, which, Kilbertus says, is at a premium in densely populated cities, especially in Asia. They could become more of this “third space” in the US as well, Gilles says. “Imagine a place where you spent a lot of quality time, or in some extreme cases, would actually park on purpose and watch a movie in the van or do karaoke. Or a parent might even do yoga while waiting for the kids to finish karate practice,” Gilles says. Vans are also less conspicuous than blingy SUVs, or stately limousines, making their occupants less of a target for paparazzi, kidnappers, or protestors’ ire.

We have seen all manner of fervid overseas vehicular trends fail to translate here. Yet Mercedes remains confident of its bet. “There’s already a market out there for luxury upfitters who customize vans” Forsyth says, referencing American companies like Becker Automotive or Bespoke Coach, who create deluxe, mid-six-figure rolling offices/RVs for celebrity clients. “We’re looking to fill a gap in the market that hasn’t been addressed yet.”  

Moreover, Kilbertus notes a convergence between American and Chinese needs, because “both markets are big geographically, and people in them like big cars,” he says. Electric vans’ flexible, modular scalability, and the push for zero-emission solutions to the massive and growing business of home delivery, also helps companies more readily recoup investment on flexible EVan platforms.

The first new electric passenger van in our market, the $60,000 - $70,000 VW ID Buzz, is a delightfully stylish nostalgia play, but it’s pricey considering its utterly utilitarian interior and limited 231 miles of range (which diminishes significantly on the highway). It’s unclear whether it will succeed here, but other options might. 

Pininfarina recently showed a concept that may be poised for American success, the Foxtron Model D. Intended to be produced by Foxconn, the company that manufactures iPhones in China, it features an active suspension and very soft cocooning interior surfaces. But its exterior features a notable prow, and the faceted muscularity of an SUV, abiding Gilles’ “drag” comment. 

Chrysler has already suggested that its next-generation minivan might be available on an electric platform. Ford’s electric Transit cargo van can be upfitted for use as a shuttle or large family vehicle, potentially presaging a dedicated people-mover option in next-gen models. GM is experimenting with designs for mono-volume electric passenger vehicles in a range of sizes, some in collaboration with Hyundai, which is establishing leadership in the category. 

“Vans are just a better solution for most people, especially with electrification,” Abuelsamid says. “They’re just much more practical.”

Moreover, unlike commercial vehicles, passenger vans can be imported into the United States—at least right now—without suffering from the longstanding 25% “Chicken Tax” tariff, further opening up our market to potential imports. The same can’t be said for commercial vans, however, making it hard to achieve the economies of scale a flexible van platform would normally provide.

Volvo is also getting into the luxury van market with the EM90. It's going to China first, but it could make it to other markets.

Of course, any discussion of tariffs conjures the capricious whims of our current government. So who knows what might happen with imports, exports, EV credits, battery production or pretty much anything. 

Yet, these unknowns might become an incidental asset. “We’re dealing with unprecedented volatility right now,” Kilbertus says. “But socio-cultural moments can sometimes cue a challenging of the status quo, like the way the petrol and smog crises of the 70s gave us better, more efficient, cleaner vehicles.”

He goes on. “The SUV says, ‘I need to save myself and protect what’s mine.’ The van is a more egalitarian and humanistic form. It’s all about shared space. It’s about traveling together.” Perhaps we can find our way to that journey, or perhaps we’re already on it.

More EV Van News

I'd like to think that I have a pretty good read on things in the electric vehicle space—it is my job, and what have you—but I didn't have Subaru's one-two EV punch on my bingo card for 2025. This week at the New York Auto Show, the outdoorsy all-terrain brand unveiled an updated Solterra and the entirely new Trailseeker, both with significantly upgraded specs from its first efforts in this arena.

They're the main topic of discussion on this week's Plugged-In Podcast, which, in the spirit of full disclosure, was recorded before we got to see both cars in person. (Design-wise, they do look better in real life.) I think both have the potential to be needed hits, especially the Trailseeker, which is more of an Outback than even the new Outback seems to be.  

Also on deck today: Tim Levin gives us his impressions of the Lucid Gravity SUV, which may just be the best EV he's driven yet (and even having only driven the Air sedan myself, I do believe it.) And we examine the potential ramifications of a new bill from U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin that could ban Chinese cars from the American market entirely. 

Our podcast is available on the InsideEVs YouTube channel, plus all major audio platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. New episodes drop every Friday. If you haven't already, please go subscribe and leave us a review.

And if you've got a question about EVs, drop us a line at podcast@insideevs.com. We may answer it on air. 

Thanks for tuning in!

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

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Tesla is going through the most difficult year of its recent existence. Even though its two more affordable models, the Model 3 and Model Y, are still popular, buyers are reconsidering buying one because they don’t like Elon Musk. The Tesla boss’ foray into politics and his support of President Trump is having a profound negative effect on sales that’s especially visible in Europe.

People are actively protesting against Elon Musk in many European countries, encouraging car buyers not to give Tesla their business. Sales in some countries have fallen by as much as 50%, which is reflected in Tesla's Q1 sales report, showing a year-over-year global sales drop of 13% in the first quarter.

If you were considering buying the cheapest Tesla, the Model 3, which starts at €39,900 before incentives, it’s still a great car, one of the best. Even with the smaller battery pack, the Model 3 delivers 318 miles (512 km) of range. You can pay an extra €5,000 for the long-range rear-wheel-drive Model 3, which is more powerful and ups the WLTP range to 436 miles (702 km).

The Model 3 Highland update addressed many older issues, especially ride comfort, although it's not quite as sharp to drive as before. Tesla even made the Model 3 Performance look and feel like a proper hot version of a sports sedan (which it didn’t before) thanks to a unique exterior, sporty bucket seats and other much-needed changes. The Model 3 Performance is now better than ever, and at €57,900 in Europe, it’s a bit of a bargain considering how quick it is.

We get why you may not want to buy a Tesla in Europe and have prepared a list of alternatives, including several very talented Chinese cars that are not available in the United States. While a few years ago, the only real Model 3 rival was the Polestar 2 (and even that wasn’t exactly a direct rival since it’s a bit taller and a liftback), now there are several midsize EVs that you can buy in Europe, and it’s a very competitive segment populated by very enticing vehicles.

Polestar 2

The Polestar 2 is an oldie in the midsize sedan segment, proving popular in its nearly five years on sale. However, while it may look the same as it did back in 2020, Polestar has made numerous under-the-skin improvements that won’t become apparent until you’ve driven an early example back-to-back with the latest version.

The big change for the Polestar 2 came in 2023 when the base model was changed from front- to rear-wheel drive and it got more power and performance. This made a big difference to the way it drives, making it more engaging than before.

Battery capacity was also increased from 78 kilowatt-hours to 82 kWh, increasing the single-motor long-range variant’s WLTP range to 394 miles (634 km). This version has a 299 hp motor good for an acceleration time to 60 mph of 5.9 seconds, and you can add a second motor for a combined 421 hp and 4.3 seconds to sixty. The optional Performance Pack ups power to 476 hp and lowers the sprint time to 4 seconds, and it still has 367 miles (590 km) of claimed range on the European test cycle.

You can buy one in Europe starting under €50,000, but for that you get the smaller 69 kWh battery, less power at 272 hp and 321 miles (516 km) of WLTP range. The top model will set you back around €66,000, with slight variations depending on where in Europe you’re buying it.

BMW i4

BMW sells a lot of EVs around the world, and Europe isn’t an exception. Its i4 is a strong seller, and it offers exactly what you’d expect from an electric 4 Series Gran Coupe. It drives well, it has a top-notch interior that is well built, feels expensive and has decent range too.

The base i4 eDrive35 costs €57.500 and comes with a single rear electric motor that makes 282 hp (286 PS) and can send the car to 62 mph in exactly 6 seconds. Its 70.3 kWh battery, with a usable capacity of 67.1 kWh, gives it a WLTP range of up to 310 miles (500 km).

The rear-wheel-drive variant to get is the eDrive40, which is €30,000 more expensive, but it gets the larger 83.9 kWh battery that pushes range to 372 miles (600 km), and it’s also slightly more powerful with a lower sprint time of 5.7 seconds. BMW also offers a dual-motor all-wheel-drive i4 xDrive40, which has 395 hp (401 PS) and can accelerate to 62 mph in 5.1 seconds.

The most powerful i4, the M50, costs €72,100. It has the same larger battery but even more power out of its two motors for a combined 536 hp (544 PS) and an acceleration time of 3.9 seconds. It’s no sports car, though, with a total mass of over 4,800 pounds (2,185 kg), which you can really feel driving around a bendy road.

Hyundai Ioniq 6

Many may not consider the Hyundai Ioniq 6 as an alternative to the Model 3 because of its unusual streamlined styling that seems to split opinions. However, that shape is not just for show; it gives this pebble-shaped sedan a drag coefficient of just 0.21. The model was recently restyled, so you may like it better now.

Like most Hyundai-Kia group electric vehicles, the Ioniq 6 is built on the E-GMP 800-volt electric platform, which allows it to charge quicker than most vehicles on this list (including the Model 3), and it helps cut its electricity consumption while running.

The pre-refresh Ioniq 6 got either a 53 kWh battery in base form, good for 266 miles (429 km) WLTP, or a 78 kWh pack that gave the 225 hp single-motor model up to 381 miles (614 km) of range. The all-wheel-drive variant adds a front motor for a combined 320 hp (325 PS), good for an acceleration time of 5.1 seconds, and the range drops slightly to 362 miles (583 km).

With the facelift, Hyundai will likely introduce new, slightly higher-capacity battery packs as well as a range-topping Ioniq 6 N performance variant, which, if the Ioniq 5 N is any indication (and it is), will be quite something to drive and experience.

The base price of an Ioniq 6 in Germany today is €43,900. If you want the long-range battery, it climbs to €54,000. Adding all-wheel drive pushes the price to €61,100. Pricing will likely change once the refreshed model is rolled out.

BYD Seal

Those who have driven both the Model 3 and the BYD Seal say the latter feels better inside, and it’s just a little bit more luxurious than the Tesla, whose pursuit of minimalism may not be to all buyers’ taste. The Seal is winning many Model 3 buyers in Europe, thanks to its excellent road manners and convincing range figures.

You can buy a Seal in Europe with one of two LFP batteries, the larger of which has 84 kWh (82.5 kWh usable) and is good for up to 354 miles (570 km) WLTP. The standard model gets a single 313 hp rear motor, while the dual motor bumps that up to 530 hp for an acceleration time to 62 mph of 3.8 seconds.

Even though it’s more powerful than a Model 3, the Seal is a bit heavier, so it can’t match the Tesla’s pace. It also doesn’t charge as quickly as the Model 3, topping out at 150 kW for a 0-80% charging time of 37 minutes, which is the least of any car on this list, and even with a bigger battery, it can’t match the Tesla and Hyundai for range.

It starts at €46,990, with all-wheel drive pushing the price to €50,990, a great deal before any national incentives are applied. It also strikes a great balance between an engaging drive through the corners and remaining comfortable over uneven roads.

Nio ET5

Nio has been selling cars in several European markets since 2021, and they are now fairly common in the Nordic countries, Germany, and the Netherlands. The manufacturer’s third model on the continent (after the ES8 and ET7) is the ET5, which is a direct Model 3 rival in terms of size, specs, and scope.

It’s the car on this list with the most dramatic sloping roofline, and Nio even adds a black panel at the top of the decklid to make it look even smaller to accentuate the fastback effect. It looks great from a front three-quarter perspective with a rear part that makes it look like a mini-Porsche Panamera.

One cool thing about the ET5 is that it’s also available as the ET5 Touring, which looks like a mini-Panamera Sport Turismo. This increases the available trunk load volume from 13.7 cu-ft (387 liters) to 15.9 cu-ft (450 l), and it makes the ET5 a whole lot more practical for carrying larger items.

Another unique option that Nio offers is renting rather than buying the vehicle’s battery. This brings the upfront cost down but requires owners to pay a monthly subscription. This grants owners access to Nio’s battery-swapping scheme (the only one of its kind currently operational in Europe), which features 59 swapping stations in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany.

If you order an ET5 by the end of June, Nio will throw in two years of battery-as-a-service (BaaS) free. The standard monthly BaaS fee is €169 for the standard battery or €289 for the larger long-range pack. There’s also a €10 fee for every swap, and Nio is charging customers €0.39 for each kilowatt-hour used.

The base ET5 sedan with the 75 kWh standard-range battery quoted at 283 miles (410 km) WLTP has an upfront cost of €59,500, and the wagon is €2,000 more expensive. The long-range 100 kWh pack boosts the range to 367 miles (590 km) and costs €68,500. Opting for BaaS cuts the price by €12,000 for the standard car or €21,000 for a long-range ET5.

Zeekr 001

You can think of the Zeekr 001 as a more budget-friendly alternative to a Taycan Sport Turismo and, just like the Porsche, it has an 800-volt platform with all the advantages it brings. Zeekr was only founded in 2021, but the Geely-owned brand now has a controlling share in Lynk&Co and its vehicles are designed in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Even though Zeekr calls the 001 a “shooting brake,” it’s more of a fastback with slanted rear glass and a liftback tailgate that reveals a sizable 18.7 cu-ft (530 l) trunk. One 100 kWh battery pack is offered, which gives a WLTP range of 385 miles (620 km) or 369 miles (594 km) in dual-motor guise.

The single-motor 001 starts at €54,990 and has 268 hp, giving it a 0-62 mph time of 7.1 seconds. Adding a second motor for €65,490 doubles the power and slashes the acceleration time to 3.8 seconds.

There’s also a bonkers quad-motor hot version, the 001 FR, with a combined output of 1,247 hp and a quoted sprint time of 2.02 seconds. It will keep accelerating up to 173 mph (280 km/h), making it a serious performance machine. However, it’s unlikely for the Plaid-rivaling FR to arrive in Europe. EU tariffs imposed on Chinese-made EVs probably make it uneconomical to import.

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Since President Donald Trump’s sweeping automotive tariffs were announced, we’ve seen plenty of denial, anger and bargaining. Depression is setting in. With the other four stages of grief sorted, let’s focus on acceptance. Accept, at least for argument’s sake, that an auto-market contraction will be a result of this trade war.

A war, by definition, has winners and losers. So who wins here? 

(Welcome to Power Moves​, an InsideEVs column on the winners and losers of the EV race. Every other week, I explore how one of the world’s most vital industries is navigating its biggest shake-up ever. Newsletter subscribers get it delivered directly to their inbox a day before it goes on the site, so if you want early access, sign up below. Deputy Editor Mack Hogan)

The Biggest Loser: Europe

I’m going to try not to turn this into a geopolitics newsletter, but the intersection of global affairs and cars is where I like to hang out. From either lens, boy, is it a bad time to be a European player. 
 
Germany’s overall economy contracted again last year, a misfire that could bring the economic engine of Europe sputtering to a halt. Falling auto sales were already a problem. Now, with Volkswagen highly dependent on China and with minuscule manufacturing presence in the U.S., the pain will get much, much worse.
 
“It’s very bad,” JATO analyst Felipe Munoz said of VW’s current predicament. “Volkswagen Group is mainly selling cars from Mexico and Europe [in the U.S.], and their own presence in the U.S. is with three products.” 

Those would be the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport large SUVs and the ID.4 electric crossover. Hardly enough to build a brand on. Mercedes is less exposed, with some U.S. production, but its U.S.-built products rely almost entirely on imported parts. Volvo’s South Carolina plant is similarly dependent on foreign parts. BMW SUVs get up to 32% of their parts from the U.S. and Canada, but the South Carolina-built X3 best-seller is only 9% American, per federal filings. Yowch.

Other regions face similar exposure. But if the world retreats to a non-globalized, tariff-protected economy, it’s European automakers that stand to lose the most. Europe’s market is relatively unprofitable, regulated and shrinking. That’s not a market you want to rely on.

The Structurally Weak

When you think of struggling automakers, I don’t blame you if Stellantis is first to mind. 

Chrysler seems to be some sort of cursed totem, dooming whatever corporate hegemon controls it at the time. Yet the picture for the latest holding company is not as grim as you may think, because in terms of debt to cash, Stellantis is doing quite well. As my friend Alex Dykes from Auto Buyers Guide pointed out, it’s sitting on nearly $40 billion of cash as of its Q4 2024 financial report, with far less long-term debt than many competitors. 

Stellantis has three EVs on sale here: The Dodge Charger Daytona EV (pictured), built in Canada; The Jeep Wagoneer S, built in Mexico; and the Fiat 500e, built in Italy. So tariffs will hurt Stellantis' already weak EV game.

Yet its cash pile is $9 billion smaller than it was last year, which is why I still put the company in the “structurally weak” category. It can afford to lose some money, but given that it was losing money before things got bad, that’s going to make a protracted slowdown brutal. 

Their position reminds me of a recent quote I heard about another automaker: “We don't have a cash problem," incoming Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa told me. Instead, the company had a “cash flow problem.” The company has the same cash flow issue as Stellantis, but with a worse balance sheet. With about $6 billion on hand and $6 billion in debt due soon, Nissan cannot endure prolonged pain.

I’d lump Mazda in here too, as almost every car it sells is imported and it’s too small to soak up tariff costs, build a competent EV and keep its existing products fresh. Pick one, at best. 

The CX-50 is the only Mazda built in the U.S.

The Middle Ground

General Motors does plenty of manufacturing in the U.S., but it is more exposed to Mexico and Canada than Ford. Its recent EV growth has all been on the back of the Equinox and Blazer EVs, both of which are built in Mexico. Most worryingly, some of its cash-cow trucks come from South of the border. There’s no going concern here—Mary Barra’s GM is profitable and competitive—but you’re going to see a contraction if the tariffs hold.

Hyundai is also strong enough to endure, but facing serious headwinds. The company imports most of what it sells from South Korea. It's swallowing the cost at first, in no small part because it’s sitting on tens of billions of cash, has the backing of a giant conglomerate that builds more than cars and knows the South Korean government will lend a hand.
 
Yet it has only promised to do so until June. The company did sense the prevailing winds and bet big on the U.S. But with domestic EV production just getting started and its new American steel plant far off, it’ll pay a price in the short term. 

Hyundai's "Metaplant" in Georgia will be a huge boon, but most of the company's products are still imported.

The Not-Quite Winners

All of these companies will still likely see profits fall if tariffs hold, so the aren't pure "winners." But Tesla, Toyota, Honda and Ford all seem well-positioned. 

Tesla has the least exposure to full-vehicle import tariffs, as it builds everything it sells in the U.S. within our borders. All of its U.S.-market cars use over 60% U.S. and Canadian parts. (Note that federal filings don't distinguish between U.S. and Canadian parts content, a relic of a bygone era where they were seen as mostly interchangeable). 

Teslas sold here are all built in the U.S.

Tesla still faces some risk, mainly from retaliation and increased industry demand for U.S. parts and labor driving up its own costs, but it’s well-blanketed. The real risk to its business comes if Trump rolls back emissions standards and manages to kill California’s zero-emission vehicle rules. That’d kill Tesla’s regulatory credit business here, which is a major profit center.

If the administration doesn’t cancel the regulatory credit system, it’ll be a headache for Honda and Toyota. Both make most of their most profitable cars here, but only sell EVs made abroad. Since they have to sell a certain number of EVs under current rules, they are going to lose a lot of money trying to move their EVs. 

Still, these Japanese giants have brought so much production to North America. Unfortunately for Toyota, though, many versions of the Rav4—America’s best-selling non-truck—are built in Canada. Bully for Honda, which builds the CR-V in the states. Toyota can tank it, too, as it’s got one massive cash reserve to weather any temporary disruption.
 
Finally, while Ford is struggling to build profitable EVs, it builds its most profitable models stateside. It may have some debt and some exposure—the Mustang Mach-E, Maverick and Bronco Sport are Mexico-made—but it’s not as hosed as its rivals.
 
The best-case scenario, then, is that you get through this without losing too much money. Even still, expect these tariffs to impact a lot of long-term investments, including in EVs. Europe is already weighing looser emissions standards. Trump wants to get rid of ours altogether. And with a 25% tariff on anything imported and no tax credit to support EVs, it’s not like the American consumer is going to be lining up to keep leasing Prologues. 
 
So whichever company survives or thrives, the biggest loser will be consumers who want reliable, affordable, clean transportation.

Contact the author: Mack.hogan@insideevs.com. 

Related Stories

China’s electric carmakers are outclassing their Western competition so much that it’s almost not news at this point. But their technological supremacy hit such a crescendo in recent weeks that even people who aren’t car nerds had no choice but to perk up. 

BYD, China’s leading electric-vehicle maker, unveiled what you could call the holy grail of EV technology: A car that can charge up nearly as quickly as filling your gas tank.  

Hefty tariffs on Chinese automobiles mean BYDs aren’t coming to America anytime soon, and that got us thinking: What would it take for this kind of tech breakthrough to hit the U.S. market? After all, any EV driver would welcome charging stops that are quicker than the current norm of 15 to 40 minutes. 

The BYD Han L, pictured here, and Tang L debut the automaker's new Super e-Platform and megawatt charging tech.

There are two main components at play here: the cars themselves and the necessary charging infrastructure. Let’s break down what would need to happen in each of those areas for ultra-fast, high-powered charging to take off in America. 

BYD’s Big Charging News 

The core of what BYD revealed was vehicle technology—not a new, more powerful kind of EV charger. So if other automakers want to match this kind of capability, they’ll need to overhaul their cars from the ground up.

BYD’s new “Super e-Platform” debuts in the Han L sedan and Tang L SUV, which went on sale this week. Its most eye-popping claim is that it enables 400 kilometers (250 miles) of range to be added in just five minutes of charging. Even if we shrink that figure to account for the generosity of China’s EV range estimates—under more realistic EPA testing, we’re talking about roughly 165 miles—that still blows away the competition.

Tesla says its new Model Y can add 169 miles of range in 15 minutes of charging. So the BYD notches charging times that are about three times quicker. The kicker: The Han L costs about the same as the Model Y in China. 

The Cars

So what’s BYD’s edge? It starts at the core of any EV: the battery. BYD has made strides that other manufacturers would need to emulate in order to achieve similar levels of performance. 

Attempt to shove too much power into a battery cell that can’t handle it, and you get nasty side effects, said Bryan McCloskey, a chemical engineering professor specializing in batteries at the University of California, Berkeley. 

If the lithium ions in a cell move too quickly from a battery’s positive electrode to its negative one—that’s the process of charging—metal deposits can build up over time in a process called lithium plating. Too-fast charging can also create excess heat. Both outcomes can spur unwanted reactions within a cell, degrade its energy capacity over time and, in the worst case, lead to catastrophic failure. 

But for its latest “Blade” battery, BYD says it has cut the internal resistance of its cells to allow ions to flow more freely. And it seems to have managed the heat issue at both the cell and pack level too. 

“I think there's no question that it's a breakthrough,” McCloskey said, adding that the five-minute charge that BYD demonstrated, which added roughly 60% to a Han L’s state of charge, is “wildly impressive.” Still, he’d like to see how these batteries hold up over years of repeated charging and if any major incidents occur. 

More EV Charging News

Another important caveat: Generally speaking, you can make a battery that packs a ton of energy or charges crazy fast—but not both. So the lithium-iron-phosphate cells BYD developed probably can’t contain nearly as much energy nor deliver as much range as batteries from rivals. That helps explain why the Han L offers the EPA equivalent of under 300 miles of range, which is fine but not great. 

BYD also needed an electrical system that could handle the same monstrous power as its battery. That’s why the Super e-Platform is rated for a whopping 1,000 kilowatts, 1,000 volts and 1,000 amps. 

In EVs, more kilowatts equals faster charging. The Model Y can support a peak charging power of 250 kW. The Lucid Gravity, now America’s fastest-charging EV, can suck in an impressive 400 kW. BYD has produced the first passenger EV that can take in 1,000 kW, otherwise known as one megawatt. 

The 1,000-volt electrical system is key to getting those kilowatts up, and BYD says that’s another first. The laws of physics say that at a higher voltage, you can pump in higher charging power while keeping the current (aka amps) constant, or not raising it too much. This helps boost charging speeds without generating too much heat, the enemy of faster charging. 

So why doesn’t every car company make 1,000-volt EVs? They are moving in that direction, and toward faster and faster public charging, but it isn’t easy. 

Vehicles like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Porsche Macan Electric and Tesla Cybertruck have 800-volt electrical systems. The Gravity pushes the bar higher with a 926-volt architecture. But 400-volt systems have been the industry standard for years. Most components available to automakers are designed for 400-volt systems, and engineering new systems increases development costs. 

To understand why this leap forward in vehicle technology happened in China and not the U.S., it helps to recognize how far ahead China’s EV market is in almost every way. That country’s government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to make its auto industry a global powerhouse. Moreover, China has experienced intense consumer demand and ruthless competition between EV manufacturers. So BYD and its rivals have a huge incentive to crank out mind-blowing stuff to stay ahead. 

“A lot of that innovation is pushed because every six or seven weeks, there's another announcement from Huawei, from Zeekr, or from Xpeng,” said Tu Le, managing director of the consulting firm Sino Auto Insights, naming just a few of China’s cutting-edge EV brands. “Who’s pushing Tesla here in North America?”

The Charging

Vehicles are one limiting factor for megawatt charging in America right now. But we would also need new, higher-powered EV charging stations similar to what BYD unveiled alongside the Super e-Platform. 

The automaker revealed a 1,360-kW charger and said it planned to deploy 4,000 of them across China. The unit has two cables, which drivers can plug into their Han L or Tang L’s dual charging ports for maximum charging power. BYD also says drivers can plug into two standard chargers simultaneously for twice the juice. 

Most DC fast chargers in the U.S. are rated for 150-350 kW. But charging industry executives told InsideEVs there’s not much standing in the way of megawatt chargers in the U.S. apart from a lack of demand. 

“On the infrastructure side, we can get there,” said Andrew Cornelia, CEO of Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging, which operates 400-kW plugs at its stations. 

Companies like Tesla have already been developing megawatt chargers for heavy-duty electric trucks, which have enormous batteries and need extremely high-powered charging to reduce downtime. Kempower, a charging hardware manufacturer, is working on a 1.2-MW charging unit for electric semis.

Megawatt charging is already in development in the U.S. for electric trucks like the Tesla Semi.

“Our target really has never been: we want to charge a car in 10 minutes,” said Jed Routh, Kempower’s vice president of markets and products for North America. “There’s no reason why we couldn’t. It would be the same technology, assuming the cars could take it.”

Installing megawatt charging stations could require expensive, time-consuming grid upgrades in certain areas. That’s already hampering the rollout of electric-truck stops in California. BYD said large stationary batteries, also known as microgrids, will help augment the grid at some locations, per CarNewsChina.

So five-minute, megawatt charging is achievable in the U.S. But is it even necessary? Some experts and executives in the EV space aren’t convinced. Cornelia called BYD’s announcement a “watershed moment,” but he also said typical gas-station stops are between 10 and 12 minutes.

“So that’s actually the number we’re solving for,” he said. “Do we need to charge in five minutes? The answer is probably no.”

Then again, BYD’s announcement just made a lot of headlines in America, a country where it doesn’t even sell cars. It’s hard to believe other automakers wouldn’t kill for that sort of attention—especially in a place where car buyers are driven by “want,” not “need.”

Got a tip about the EV or charging world? Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com

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America's renewed love of tariffs seems predicated on the idea that the rest of the world wants—needs, even—the kinds of goods we make. And cars are certainly a big part of that plan. But what if the rest of the world turns to someone else for that instead? Maybe, say, a certain Chinese automaker that keeps hitting one home run after another lately?

On this week's episode of the Plugged-In Podcast, we're talking tariffs again, even though we wish we didn't have to. But we're specifically looking at the potential winners and losers in the tariff fight. And my theory is that BYD, which has already made tremendous inroads into Europe, Latin America and Africa could take advantage of the chaos and grow even more quickly. 

Also on today's episode: my co-host Tim Levin and I chat about what we know of EV newcomer Slate and its reported $25,000 pickup truck. And we explain why buying a used EV may be the smart move right now as tariffs threaten to spike car prices pretty much across the board. 

Our podcast is available on the InsideEVs YouTube channel, plus all major audio platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. New episodes drop every Friday. If you haven't already, please go subscribe and leave us a review. Thanks for tuning in!

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

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The car of the future is not one that will remain unchanged over time. It is one that will adapt, improve, and offer more functionality as time progresses. It will integrate with the other gadgets in your life, offer increasingly automated driving and become ever more customized to your unique preferences. There have been several large paradigm shifts in the history of the automobile, and this one could be a permanent game-changer. 

That is, if car companies can actually pull it off.  

Hyundai Motor Group's Pleos software brand

The new dividing line between the innovative and antiquated is software. Software is what makes a Rivian or Tesla feel so modern, and a Toyota or Mazda less so. It’s what allows cars to have over-the-air updates delivering notable improvements in your own garage. It allows seamless smartphone integration and even repair diagnostics without the need to enter a service shop.

Ten years ago, buyers wanted cars with the best fuel economy, safety features, and reliability. Today, they… well, they still want that stuff. But 10 years from now, software could become the deciding factor in most car purchases. They will ask questions like: How does this product interact with my devices? How will this product improve over time? Does this car offer autonomous features that learn and adapt? And most importantly, when will its technology become obsolete?

But not every automaker will be able to succeed in the world of software. So far, most of their attempts to become software companies have been marked with speed bumps at best or disastrous delays and C-suite turnover at worst.

“You need to be able to write from layer one of the silicon all the way up to the application layer of the car in order to control it properly," now-former Volvo CEO Jim Rowan told the UK's Autocar in a recent interview. "There are three companies in the world that have managed to do that: Tesla, Rivian and Volvo. There’s a lot of good car companies but none of them have figured it out. It’s a big deal—and freaking hard to get this done. But we’ve stuck at it.”

Rivian software updates

Rowan is correct. Long-term, failure in software may translate into the failure of the automaker itself. Building a good car is no longer enough. The car has turned into a consumer electronic device. But what does this mean for the automotive industry as a whole? And who will be the winners and losers?

Enter The Software-Defined Vehicle

Software-defined vehicle (noun) – A vehicle in which core functions like driver assistance, infotainment, and performance are primarily controlled by software rather than fixed hardware. These features can be updated, modified, or enhanced remotely via over-the-air software updates, allowing for continuous improvements and new capabilities over time.

Every modern car has some element of software, and has since the advent of electronic fuel injection in the 1980s. However, the degree to which the software affects the functionality and usability of the vehicle varies significantly. For instance, a 2007 Toyota Camry has electronic stability control (ESC), a feature where a computer reads sensor inputs to modulate braking. 

But the Camry is just as much of a software-defined vehicle as a Casio F91W is a smartwatch. A true software-defined vehicle offers far more than isolated software-driven features. The entire vehicle is designed as a platform with software managing key functions. 

Toyota too has updated its tech game in recent years, especially on electrified models. 

Still, for much of automotive history, software played a minor role. It was limited to controlling isolated systems like stability control or basic infotainment systems. In other words, automakers implemented software, but it did not take center stage.

According to Rivian’s Director of Electrical Architecture, Kyle Lobo, an SDV encompasses two primary aspects.

“One is wanting to make sure that all of the controllers in the vehicle are updatable,” Lobo told InsideEVs. “And then the other part is vertical integration. So that's like making sure you have full control of the feature, the system development, the hardware and software implementations of that. That allows you to change things, and modify things more quickly.” 

2025 Tesla Model Y Launch Series (Euro-spec)

Tesla pioneered that approach, in part because it had to. Early on, Tesla engineers realized they lacked the off-the-shelf parts, software and features to make the EV they wanted, so they made them in-house. That spread to everything Tesla does, from its smartphone app to its charging network.

Since then, China’s automakers have taken that idea and run with it, and startups like Rivian are doing the same. Meanwhile, traditional automakers—who have typically used countless different third-party vendors for parts and software—are trying to get more vertically integrated too, with mixed results.

Rethinking The Automobile Itself

The original Model 3 never shipped with auto high-beams, wipers, voice control, nor functional heated rear seats. All of these features soon arrived via over-the-air updates. This approach streamlined production, reduced upfront costs, and enhanced the user experience long after purchase.

While automotive startups like Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid Motors have faced financial and production constraints, their lack of legacy baggage has been among their greatest asset. Without organizational inertia, entrenched supplier relationships, or sunk-cost-driven decision-making, they were empowered to rethink everything. They were given a clean sheet of paper and a diverse team of Silicon Valley designers, engineers, and software gurus to make magic happen.

A result of this systemwide mindset has been the introduction of the zonal architecture. Typical cars have dozens of onboard electronic control units (ECUs) used for various tasks like infotainment management, keyless entry, powertrain controlling, and more. 

zonal architecture

These get their jobs done, but they require lots of wiring and lack centralized cohesion. It’s like having a separate WiFi router in each room of a school for each individual device. Instead, why not just have one router in each room that accommodates everyone’s devices? 

“So we'll see a shift from application-specific domains to more of a zonal architecture where each different area of the vehicle will have a zonal controller that will communicate to a central computer that will run the software-defined functions,” said Robert Day, the Director of Automotive Partnerships at ARM. For startups building highly-connected vehicles, streamlining the approach of ECU placement and design was somewhat of a no-brainer.

Reducing Complexities And Improving Efficiency

As Rivian increasingly becomes another leader in the software space,, it has embraced the concept of zonal architecture. “We looked at a clean sheet approach, which would be, let's place ECUs geographically, and then just have it connect to the thing that's most local,” Lobo said. “We have an East, we have a West, and we have a South {zone controller}. The West Zone controller, for example, connects everything on the driver's side of the car, so the accelerator pedals and the front suspension system.” 

Rivian Zonal Architecture

In total, Rivian uses just seven ECUs for the 2025 R1S SUV and R1T pickup. This number is down from 17 in the original R1S and R1T. Some modern luxury vehicles competing with Rivian’s offerings can contain as many as 150 ECUs. Even chopping out 10 ECUs made notable improvements inon weight and wiring requirements. “We've reduced the harness lengths by 1.6 miles in the car with the same feature set,” Lobo said. Rivian said that this, paired with the fewer ECUs, shaved 44 pounds off the weight of the vehicle. That means the cars cost less to make and operate more efficiently overall.

These improvements piqued the interest of Volkswagen Group, a company notorious for its issues with software. In 2020, Volkswagen launched a new software division called CARIAD. But it has since struggled, leading to the delays of several key vehicles including the Porsche Macan EV and Audi Q6 e-tron. This was even part of what cost Volkswagen’s previous CEO, Herbert Diess, his position at the company. The stakes could not be higher. 

Audi Q6 E-Tron Software

In November 2024, the two announced a joint venture called Rivian and VW Group Technology. Within this JV, Rivian will supply its software platform for future Volkswagen vehicles, like the upcoming ID.1. “We will be providing architectures to the Volkswagen Group vehicles,” Lobo told InsideEVs. “We’re really excited as it's like a really fun moment for us to spread the technology to other companies and have them benefit from it as well.”

Volkswagen ID.Every1

Along with the ID.1 and other Volkswagen vehicles, Rivian plans on utilizing its zonal architecture as the basis for its own upcoming products too. “So now you're increasing the gamut of choices that you have, especially with the next generation of R2 and R3 coming in,” said Vivek Surya, Rivian’s Director of Software Product Management. “That increases the scope of customers that you can start bringing into the ecosystem, and also brings the industry to a new standard where there's an expectation from customers across the board on what a vehicle should be capable of.”

The Broader Implications of SDVs

For automakers, utilizing a software-defined platform allows for much more control of the user experience. There are now multiple areas in which the automaker can collect data to understand user behavior. At times, this access to data can be detrimental to the user. Consider Tesla. 

2025 Tesla Model Y Juniper (U.S. Spec)

In 2020, Tesla launched its own insurance program that adjusts rates based on driver behavior. Drivers are given a Safety Score, which can be affected by speeding, hard braking, aggressive cornering, tailgating, night driving, and more. Unless you want to pay through the nose, no longer are weekday nights reserved for carving canyons. The optimistic way to view this is that safe driving is rewarded through lower insurance rates. The pessimistic viewpoint would be an overreach of big tech. 

But control can create an incredible experience for the user. This was part of Steve Jobs’ philosophy at Apple. Why are those products so elegant to use? In part, because Apple controls almost everything, from the software to the hardware. You can’t easily service Apple products on your own and they’re generally more expensive than competitors. But they offer fluid user interfaces and seamless connectivity in a package of hardware and software encased into an attractive aluminum shell. 

Volkswagen ID Software 3.0

You can see the downsides to that approach with cars as well. As our vehicles become more software-centric, more like the so-called “smartphones on wheels,” they may well get harder to service by an independent mechanic—or in your own garage. Long-term software support is also now an open question; look at the Fisker owners who had to fight for that after the company went bankrupt.

Honda Series 0 Prototype

Think of an online video game, or even an older smartphone, that’s no longer supported by its manufacturer. What happens if that sort of thing happens to your vehicle? You don’t need a game or a phone to get you to work, or your kids to school on time. Eventually, we may need ways to guarantee that owners will be taken care of long-term when they opt for these cars.

What’s Next

The automobile is evolving into a tech appliance.

But unlike previous automotive developments, this revolution isn’t being led by legacy automakers. It’s being driven by the fresh-faced underdogs. “There are few companies able to do that {software}, and we have a privileged spot where we are able to make those updates and make that meaningful for customers,” Surya told InsideEVs. Granted, software alone won’t keep them afloat in the risky world of new car ventures, but it does give them an edge.

Rivian's new charging reliability software

Simultaneously, legacy automakers are facing an existential crisis. Volkswagen’s partnership with Rivian was a massive signal to other automakers: adapt or be left behind. Building cars efficiently is now just one aspect of being an automaker. Now, software encompasses the other half of the package. Building a good car has never been harder. 

We are seeing more automakers catch on, however. While it’s drawn endless criticism for lacking Apple CarPlay, General Motors’ Android Automotive-based systems show a lot of potential, including for over-the-air updates. And brands like the Geely Group-owned Volvo and Polestar are undertaking huge high-tech pushes of their own. Toyota has indicated it’s aiming for a big push on software in the coming years as well. Rivian and Tesla won’t have this world to themselves forever. 

Polestar 3 Performance (2024) im Test

For now, they’re taking advantage of that first-mover approach. “As a startup, we got to think a little differently from a traditional OEM, where we are not burdened with the choices that were already made,” Surya said. “So that gives us a lot more freedom to express ourselves in terms of features, as well as bring in a lot more improvements just in the customer feedback.”

Now, the question will be whether they all can get the customers on board with this transformation.  

Andrew Lambrecht is a contributor at InsideEVs and an industrial engineering student at Clemson University. In addition to InsideEVs, Andrew writes at Forbes Wheels and Business Insider, covering the transportation sector. Check out his podcast, The Current Review.

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The ostensible idea behind President Donald Trump's new 25% tariffs on imported cars and parts is that they'll spur those cars and parts to be made in America, instead of abroad. The problem is, none of that is going to happen overnight—or even within the space of a few years—so if you're in the market for a new car soon, you and your wallet should brace for impact.

That's one side of this ordeal. The other is more in our lane: what it all means for a global auto industry that's already struggling with huge investments in electrification, software, autonomy and other future technologies. That's the topic of the day on the Plugged-In Podcast.

Also on today's episode, my co-host Tim Levin and I (appearing together in person for a change!) discuss Tesla's path forward after a very rough first quarter of the year, and how Toyota is becoming a victim of its own hybrid success. Wait lists for the Prius? What a time to be alive. 

Our podcast is available on the InsideEVs YouTube channel later today, plus all major audio platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. New episodes drop every Friday. If you haven't already, please go subscribe and leave us a review. Thanks for tuning in!

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For the past six months, I’ve been quietly toying around with purchasing a new or new-to-me electric vehicle. I looked into a lease of several on-the-lot EV specials and came across a 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 SE, advertised for a featherweight $89 per month, for 24 months. Of course, after taxes, fees, and my not-tier-one credit, the final price came to a little over $325 a month for a 10,000-mile short-term lease.

“That’s really a good deal. If you don’t want it, I just might take it from you myself,” the salesman told me, encouraging me to take the white Ioniq 5 that day. I was already approved, all I had to do was sign a few papers and I could take the car home with me that night. I hesitated. 

Sure, the math shook out. I had the whole rundown on paper, right in front of my face, but I couldn’t help but think, “How does anyone afford this?” On paper, I make over the median wage for the state of Ohio, and should have no problems affording the car.

But when I account for rent, savings, or any other bills I’ve got to pay, spending money on this car seems like a bad idea for a car I don’t necessarily need.“I’m sure there will be similar deals when I’m ready to buy,” I told the salesman. I thanked him for his time and exited the showroom.

It turns out that I probably should have signed on the line that day. The Trump administration’s 25% tariff on basically all imported goods (including cars) is here. If we thought things were bad now, it’s about to get worse. Especially for EVs.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs are all-reaching, ranging from a minimum of 10% for countries like the United Kingdom to nearly 100% for goods from countries like Cambodia and Laos. Cars not made in the U.S. will be subject to a 25% tariff, including ones made in Canada and Mexico under the now-somewhat nullified USMCA agreement.

Ioniq 9 Metaplant

This goes beyond just the point of manufacture and also includes parts, which may traverse the border multiple times before they’re installed. Chances are, your car has parts from suppliers like Magna, a Canadian company responsible for parts. Or Denso or Bosch, which make damn near everything in a Japanese or German car, respectivly. Or perhaps your run-of-the-mill cheap car is made in a foreign country that isn’t so far away. Your reasonably priced Chevy Blazer or Equinox EV is made in Mexico.

Now, these cars are facing a serious price increase in an era where affordability is an ever-evaporating, fleeting conquest that manufacturers are desperately chasing to preserve any semblance of sales volume.

I didn’t really need that Ioniq 5. I work at home, own other cars and drive testers as part of my job; this wasn’t necessarily a move I needed to make. But plenty of Americans do, and that’s why so many struggle with record-high car payments and even repossessions. Yet, true affordability keeps eluding them lately through no fault of their own.

“Automakers will have to pass on the massive cost increases resulting from the new tariffs to consumers, who have, since the pandemic began, already seen average new vehicle transaction prices rise alarmingly from about $39,000 at the end of 2019 to nearly $50,000 at the end of 2024,” said Ed Kim, the president of the research firm AutoPacific, a few weeks before the Trump Administration had fleshed out its universal tariff idea. 

Kim was blunt. “There is little to no upside to these tariffs for the automotive industry, and new vehicle shoppers may have to weather the biggest hit to new vehicle affordability they’ve ever experienced in their lifetimes,” he said. And he’s right.

Just look at the math on the Ioniq 5 I initially intended to lease. Its MSRP was about $51,000 flat. After a discount and incentives from Hyundai, the actual lease sale price was more like $36,000. The price of the car included $13,500 in rebates, including the lease-special $7,500 IRA EV tax credit. What would those prices look like with tariff cost increases tacked onto the MSRP? 

And as my colleague Patrick George wrote last week, even U.S. production can’t save the automakers completely. The newest Ioniq 5 is made in America, but with only 30% American parts content for now. Once a U.S.-made battery is added, that shoots up to about 60% American parts. Either way, whatever’s left over gets hit with tariff price increases. There’s no escape from this.

This isn’t just me bloviating about the privilege to decline a monthly car payment that’s still nearly half of what’s common for many Americans. No, these tariffs are already having a tangible effect on consumer demand. This week, AutoPacific released a new study that examines just how.

It queried buyers over the age of 18 who plan on buying a car within the next year. A whopping 75% of all surveyed said they planned on altering their purchases in some way. These new actions included financing over longer terms, choosing a cheaper car, or opting to lease instead of purchase. 

A full 23% of new car buyers surveyed may just bow out and wait until the market stabilizes. Another 13% may leave the market entirely, as they don’t think they’ll be able to find a car they can afford. Keep in mind this survey was conducted well before we had the details of the new tariff scheme fleshed out.

Still, even with those who might be able to go the distance with any tariff-induced price hike, it’s not exactly inspiring as to how much of a runway there is for that. The survey showed that 52% of new car buyers who agree to pay more than they originally planned would be willing to pay an extra $3,000 to $5,000, but keep in mind that the remainder wouldn’t. Similarly, buyers who finance more car than they intend, the majority surveyed were only willing to pay about $100 extra per month. 

These tariffs threaten cheaper models, bigly. Sure, a buyer of a say, a Blazer EV may be persuaded to buy a marginally cheaper Equinox EV. But a buyer who may have only been able to afford an Equinox EV may have to buy a used car. Or just exit the market entirely. That’s bad for electric car growth, which is bad for America’s ability to grow its battery industry to make cheaper electric cars down the line—and obviously bad for the environment too.

Affordability is a big concern for all types of cars, but especially EVs. To assume that tariffs won’t have an effect on prices is naive, or that, say, Hyundai won’t try and spread the tariff costs on other imported models (like the Sonata or Kona) across its lineup to ease the burden. That is, unless you’re the president of the U.S, and think you can simply command automakers to “not raise prices” while increasing the costs to make them is somehow a feasible goal. 

Imported models like the Toyota BZ4X and Hyundai Kona Electric are now subject to a new 24% and 25% tariff, respectively. The not-so-good VinFast VF8 is now subject to an untenable 43% tariff, making an uncompetitive car a nonstarter. Cars like the Mini Countryman SE are already a hard bargain at $50,000; add on a tariff (and lack of IRA tax credit), taxes, and the payment for that car could easily touch the four-figure range. 

For much of middle America, that’s equivalent to a house payment. That is literally unpayable.

“Now more than ever will affordability be a major worry for most Americans, regardless of who they voted for, and regardless of who they blame,” said Robby DeGraff, the Product and Consumer Insights manager at AutoPacific. “These tariffs are going to seriously hamper many consumers’ ambitions. Whether that be taking a trip, making a key fix to their home, or purchasing a vehicle. Beyond that, our wallets are going to get squeezed at the pump, at the grocery store check-out line, you name it. Tariffs almost always end up hurting the consumer.”

And DeGraff said he’s especially worried about the downstream effects. “I’m concerned about our auto industry because it’s a domino effect; vehicle prices go high, consumers either wait or go used, demand falls, production pauses, plants go dark, and layoffs begin,” he said.

Buckle up, because we are in for a rough ride. And it’s clear that the Trump administration has no clue just how bad things can get for the average American consumer.

Contact the author: Kevin.Williams@InsideEVs.com

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Nissan has a product problem. The company can make great cars when it wants to, but an institutional addiction to letting things wither on the vine has created a problem with staying competitive—and the perception of being cutting-edge.

At any given time, some Nissans are great, and others are relics from a forgotten time. That makes it hard to convince people that the company is a pioneer, or a brand they want to buy from. At long last, the company is trying to tackle its biggest cultural issue.

"We're not quick enough," Chief Performance Officer Guillaume Cartier told media outlets, including InsideEVs, during Nissan's future product showcase event in Japan last week. "This is something we're planning to address." 

Nissan has plenty of products coming in the next couple of years. But whether it can sustain its wide lineup amid a capital crunch is an open question.

Incoming CEO Ivan Espinosa was, until March 31, the company's Chief Planning Officer. He oversaw product planning for the entire company, so the company's issues with executing timely programs is something he knows well. Fixing it is one of his first priorities. 

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"Today, developing one car takes us around 55 months," Espinosa said. "What we're doing is by doing family planning and other changes in our development cycles, we want the first car in the family to be done in 37 months, and the second car or third car or fourth car in the family is developed in 30 months."

So while it may take 37 months to develop the upcoming Xterra-inspired adventure EV, the Infiniti version should take less than three years. That's over two years quicker than it usually takes Nissan to design and produce a new model.  

That slow pace has put Nissan behind many Western competitors. The Leaf has soldiered on with an outdated CHAdeMO plug for years after the industry abandoned it, and even the 2024 model is still air-cooled. Its gas products fare no better, with cars like the Frontier and Z being based on platforms that are old enough to join the Army. The company is just too slow relative to its conventional peers.

Plus, there's a new challenge on the block: Chinese automakers, which are running rings around legacy manufacturers. The Wall Street Journal notes that Chinese luxury brand Nio can do an all-new car in 36 months, while Zeekr—which is under the same corporate umbrella as Volvo—can make a product from scratch in just 24 months.

That's why Ponz Pandikuthira, Nissan's chief planning officer for the Americas, described the rise of Chinese EVs as the auto market's iPhone moment. Their technology and pace of development are just leaving traditional automakers in the dust. 

A teaser for Nissan's Xterra-inspired adventure EV.

Nissan's attempt to catch up is necessary. Whether it'll be successful is another thing entirely. Nissan design boss Alfonso Albaisa described how the company was pushing design checkpoints closer together, cutting many of the intermediate steps and reducing how many employees influence design. But the real challenge will be addressing the cultural aspect: How do you take a company that is used to being slow, methodical and unhurried and teach it to run with the quickest in the pack?

Espinosa, Cartier and Albaisa seem excited by the challenge. But it's not the first time I've heard Nissan pitching a turnaround plan. The plan is the easy part. The execution will be hard, and Nissan has to prove that it's changed if it wants to keep consumers excited. 

"It's a good start, but, everything is coming quite late, so all of these measures should have been taken some years ago," JATO Global Automotive Analyst Felipe Munoz told InsideEVs. "Not three or four years after the Chinese just took off. But still, everything is welcome to solve their situation and catch up."

Contact the author: Mack.hogan@insideevs.com. 

Tesla sales are suffering around the world, but especially in Europe. EV buyers here are ditching the brand following its boss’ political pivot and support of President Trump’s policies, many of which seem designed to break the longstanding friendship between the United States and the European Union. Luckily, Europeans have a wider assortment of Tesla alternatives than American buyers, and they are taking full advantage of these choices.

Europeans not only have more locally made EVs to go for but also an increasing number of highly tempting vehicles being imported from China, which are still coming to Europe despite tariffs. Even if you ignore Tesla completely, there has never been a better time to buy an EV in the EU. Sales data from the continent shows that the pace with which car buyers are abandoning pure combustion cars in favor of electric or electrified and cars seems to be accelerating.

Tesla topped the European sales charts in 2024, riding on the success of the Model Y, but it may be dethroned if the anti-Tesla sentiment persists. We recently drove the revised Tesla Model Y, which is marginally more efficient and shows improvements in many areas. However, driving it also put into perspective just how much more competitive its market segment is these days, with lots of talented rivals vying for supremacy.

The same goes for the Model 3, which was updated last year. It’s also an excellent EV—probably the best in its class for the money—but it too faces a series of highly capable rivals. Buying an EV in the segment is no longer as simple as just buying whatever Tesla has on offer.

Still, European roads are full of Teslas, and the Model Y is the most common. These things are everywhere, and that’s unsurprising for the world’s best-selling vehicle two years in a row. As a package and value-for-money proposition, it’s hard to beat. The base standard-range rear-wheel drive Model Y costs €44,990 before any national EV incentives are applied, and these are around €5,000 on average in EU countries.

If you want the long-range rear-wheel-drive Model Y, which bumps WLTP range from 310 miles (500 km) to 386 miles (622 km), the price goes up to €49,990. The €52,990 dual-motor big-battery Model Y cuts the acceleration time to 62 mph (100 km/h) from 5.6 to 4.8 seconds. Range falls to 364 miles (586 km), but it’s considerably quicker feeling and more capable thanks to all-wheel drive. But while these are solid options, they aren't the right fit for everybody. Let's break down the best Tesla Model Y alternatives for buyers in Europe.

Skoda Enyaq

We drove a Skoda Enyaq a few years ago, and we appreciated it especially for its high-quality, almost luxurious-feeling interior, oodles of space and excellent road manners. The Enyaq is still around, and while it’s not been a sales champ in Europe, it’s still a solid choice.

Since the last time we drove it, the model got a visual makeover. It now starts at €44,400, undercutting the cheapest Model Y. The base Enyaq gets a 59-kWh battery, giving it up to 268 miles (432 km) of range, and its single rear-mounted 204 hp motor can propel it to 62 mph in 8.1 seconds.

The longest-range Enyaq is the 85 model, which gets a 77 kWh battery that increases claimed range up to 359 miles (578 km), and the motor gets a power bump to 286 hp, which drops the sprint time to 6.7 seconds. The dual-motor 85x variant has the same output and acceleration time, but WLTP range drops to 341 miles (549 km).

Skoda also offers the Enyaq Coupe, a coupe-like fastback roofline that sacrifices some practicality for a sportier look. Thanks to better aerodynamics, the rear-motor 85 model is quoted at up to 370 miles (596 km) WLTP.

Cupra Tavascan

Based around the same Volkswagen MEB platform as the Skoda Enyaq, VW ID.4 and Audi Q4 E-Tron, the Cupra Tavascan tries to project a sportier image than all of them. It has a coupe-SUV body, like the VW ID.5 or Skoda Enyaq Coupe, but it looks a lot more aggressive than all of them.

It starts at just under €50,000, which varies slightly from market to market, and there’s no low-power, small-battery model. It comes with a 286 hp rear motor and large 77 kWh battery pack as standard, giving it a zero-to-62 mph of 6.8 seconds and a WLTP range of 339 miles (547 km). The dual-motor Tavascan has 340 horsepower. Opting for all-wheel-drive cuts the sprint time to 5.6 seconds and the range to 354 miles (517 km).

BYD Sealion 7

BYD is slowly establishing itself in Europe these days, and the Sealion 7 is one of its most important models. In Germany, it starts at €47,990, and for that you get a 313-hp motor that drives the rear wheels and an 82.5 kWh battery good for a sprint time of 6.7 seconds and 299 miles (482 km) of WLTP range.

You can add a second motor to drive the front wheels for all-wheel drive and 530 hp combined, which lowers the acceleration time to 4.3 seconds and the range to 283 miles (456 km). There’s also a larger 91.3 kWh battery that ups range to 311 miles (502 km), but its extra weight adds two-tenths to the acceleration time.

It’s worth noting that even though the Sealion 7 is roughly the size of a Model Y, the small-battery variant weighs over 4,850 pounds (2.2 metric tons), which is over 660 lbs (300 kg) heavier than the big-battery Tesla. This shows in the BYD’s handling, which feels cumbersome compared to the lighter and more agile Tesla.

Xpeng G6

Xpeng G6

Another tempting Chinese Model Y rival in Europe is the Xpeng G6. Its base price in Germany is €47,600, which gets you a single-motor G6 with 296 hp and a 66 kWh battery. The small battery nets the base G6 a WLTP range of 270 miles (435 km), which can be increased up to 354 miles (570 km) with the optional 87.5 kWh battery.

You can also get it with a 487 hp dual-motor setup that propels the G6 to 62 mph in 3.9 seconds. Just like the Sealion 7, though, it’s a bit heavier than it should be for its size. It weighs over 4,600 lbs (2.1 metric tons) in dual-motor guise, and it’s not that great to drive even though its suspension is quite stiff. Its design also looks a bit derivative, and it doesn’t really have a strong identity, making it the perfect car to help you pass by unnoticed.

Zeekr 7X

Geely-owned Zeekr announced pricing for its 7X electric crossover in Europe late last year and promised that the 800-volt model would start at €52,900, with deliveries commencing this summer. It’s built on the same SEA platform shared with Geely brands, including Volvo, and you can get it with either a 75-kWh battery that’s good for 298 miles (480 km) WLTP or a 100-kWh pack that gives you 382 miles (615 km) of range.

It’s one of the more powerful vehicles in the segment. Its base single-motor version pushes 416 hp to the rear wheels, which is enough to dispatch the 0–62 mph sprint in 6 seconds. The dual-motor all-wheel drive model gets 637 hp, and the acceleration time drops to 3.8 seconds. The top-of-the-range Performance variant with two motors and the big battery costs from €62,990.

Onvo L60

Nio’s more affordable sub-brand, Onvo, announced that it plans to offer its L60 Model Y rival in Europe starting in 2025. However, the tariffs now being imposed by the European Union may have made it alter its plans, so, for now, the L60 is only available in the UK, where it is expected to cost just over £40,000 (€47,800).

Renault Scenic E-Tech

Just like Chinese car buyers prefer to buy local brands, Europeans do too, and the new Renault Scenic E-Tech is expected to be a hit. Renault repurposed the nameplate, which was previously used to designate people carriers on an electric SUV. It’s one of the most stylish offerings in the segment, and it has great specs, too.

The base model costs around €41,000 depending on the market, and it comes with a 170 hp motor that draws from a 60 kWh battery with 261 miles (420 km) of range. You can upgrade to a 218 hp (still front-wheel-drive) Scenic that also gets a larger 87 kWh battery, pushing range to 385 miles (620 km).

Peugeot e-5008

Renault’s traditional French rival Peugeot also offers a model in the segment, the e-5008, which has more power and range and is available with all-wheel drive. The €51,150 entry variant has a single front motor with 213 hp and a 73 kWh battery that’s good for a claimed 312 miles (502 km).of range The bigger 98 kWh battery takes the range to 410 miles (660 km), and it’s marginally more powerful at 231 hp.

If you want all-wheel drive, that’s only available in combination with the smaller battery. It adds a motor on the rear axle for a combined 326 hp, which doesn’t affect range too much as it’s still quoted at 310 miles (500 km) per charge.

Opel/Vauxhall Grandland Electric

The Opel Grandland Electric (sold as a Vauxhall in the UK) is built on the same platform as the e-5008. Its specs are identical to the Peugeot’s, but the entry price is a bit cheaper at €46,750, and it drives a bit further on the 73 kWh battery. The claimed WLTP range is up to 325 miles (523 km), and you can also get it with a larger 82 kWh battery that extends it to 363 miles (585 km).

There’s no all-wheel-drive option available for the electric Grandland, but for the kind of life these vehicles lead, that’s not an issue. Its more conservative and minimalistic design is more traditional, and it doesn’t advertise the fact that it’s electric as much as the Peugeot does, and its interior is also more conservative and traditional-looking. That could be the perfect antidote for someone turned off by the Model Y's hyper-modern interior. But regardless if the Opel is the one for you, it's safe to say there are plenty of options here without a Tesla badge.

More On This

When I tell strangers my job is to review cars for a living, the most common response is “What do you think of Tesla?” For well over a decade, Tesla has been the strange and novel outsider that caught the attention of the non-automotive world. Where “legacy” automakers were staid and dull, Tesla was tech-first and exciting. Its EVs set the bar during the 2010s for all other automakers, both in function and in screen-first form. 

As CEO and largest single shareholder Elon Musk and his DOGE project have moved towards becoming a de facto fourth branch of the right-wing Trump administration; however, enthusiasm has cooled dramatically. Protests at Tesla dealerships have cropped up across America. Secondary market values have cratered. Calls to trade in Teslas have mounted. 

It is time for me to definitively answer all those strangers’ questions about Tesla: I don’t think they’re a good buy, and I think there’s a strong case to sell one you own right now. 

The Case Against A New Tesla

Tesla’s first four mass-production models—the full-size luxury sedan Model S, the large gullwing-doored Model X SUV, the affordable midsize sedan Model 3 and the Model Y crossover that followed it—were unrivaled in the EV market when they first launched. 

But in the past half a decade, Tesla’s competitive advantage has narrowed from a seemingly uncrossable chasm to a sliver at best. When the Tesla Model 3 hit the market in 2017, the best-selling EV in history was the Nissan Leaf. That relatively goofy-looking, economy-minded hatchback had an EPA-rated 107 miles of range.

Then the Model 3 arrived with a then-unheard-of maximum 310 miles of range. And for years now, the Model Y has been the crossover to beat in the entire global electric space.

But that lead today has shrunk to well within the margin of error. For a real-world example, the longest-range variant of the new 2025 Tesla Model Y has 339 miles of EPA-estimated range; a 2025 Kia EV6 in its long-distance guise should target 319 miles.) When you account for the fact that Tesla had, for years, suppressed complaints about its overly optimistic in-car range figures, and used unusual testing strategies to raise its EPA estimates, that 20 miles of extra range is a lot less consequential. In real-world tests by Edmunds, the vast majority of Teslas failed to reach their EPA estimated range, even though the vast majority of EVs from other brands that Edmunds tested exceeded their EPA estimates.

Many other auto manufacturers are also future-proofing their EVs for longevity—while Tesla continues on with relatively unchanged architecture. All of Tesla’s EVs save for the Cybertruck are built on 400-volt underpinnings, while other manufacturers—including Hyundai and Kia, and now Volvo, Audi and Porsche, among others—have moved to an 800-volt system. This means they can handle more electricity at once and charge more quickly. Implementing a lower-voltage system saves the company money up front, but it means that its components reach higher temperatures during fast charging or high-speed antics. This leads to further battery and range degradation over the long term. 

Tesla also has a less-than-stellar safety history. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened several probes into Tesla, mostly for its “Full Self-Driving” functionality. Tesla's related "Autopilot" system has been linked to crashes involving 54 injuries and 14 deaths, according to one investigation. 

The company’s most recent model, the Cybertruck, has suffered several rounds of recalls in numbers vastly higher than the industry average. (The most recent recall involved a risk that the body panels would fly off while driving.) Additionally, the lack of easily accessible physical door linkages on most Teslas has been implicated in a variety of high-profile fatalities. Concerningly, despite stellar crash-test ratings, Teslas are involved in fatal accidents more often than any other brand, at a rate nearly twice the average.

Financially, the decision between many other EVs and Tesla remains a wash. To continue our example, the new U.S.-made Kia EV6 and the Tesla Model Y should be eligible for the full $7,500 federal EV tax credit. While the future of that incentive is very unclear, at the time of this writing, the equivalent long-range Kia is estimated to be slightly less expensive, by about $2,000. There are similarly close comparisons for every vehicle Tesla currently makes. 

With startup U.S.-based automakers Lucid and Rivian, plus the entry of Chevrolet, Cadillac, Ford, Jeep, RAM, and Dodge into the EV space, there are plenty of domestic automakers to choose from without switching to a gas-powered car. As an automotive reviewer, it’s worth noting that I have found most EVs on the market to be better cars than Tesla’s offerings, as well. They ride smoother, they’re more intuitive, and there’s more specialization on offer at every level of the market. (Indeed, my go-to recommendation for new EV shoppers looking for a relatively affordable crossover is the EV6.)  

With the Tesla Supercharger network increasingly open to non-Tesla EVs, it is genuinely easier than ever to skip the Tesla dealer and look elsewhere. 

But what if there’s one in your garage right now? Is it time to sell?

The Pragmatic Case To Sell Your Tesla

The main reason to sell now is that Teslas are shedding value at obscene rates and are likely to skyrocket in operating costs. EVs have long suffered from poor resale value, but Teslas have outpaced that trend for the past year and a half. Until the inauguration, this was largely thanks to the company’s use of aggressive discounting to move new inventory, combined with large rental fleets, like Hertz dumping tens of thousands of cars on the market at once. 

The situation has only worsened since President Donald Trump’s re-election win. Musk’s $290 million in Republican campaign support and his advisory role to the president have made him a lightning rod for criticism. This has been catastrophic for Tesla. 

Tesla, for years, did not advertise its cars. It instead relied on word-of-mouth, media coverage, and Musk’s massive personal platform, making him a figurehead of Tesla in a way that, say, Mary Barra of General Motors is not. Combined with the fact that Musk is Tesla’s single-largest shareholder and derives roughly one-third of his $303 billion in net worth from Tesla stock, Tesla is now indelibly associated with the billionaire. (The massive crop of “I Bought This Before He Went Crazy” stickers is evidence of that.) 

Despite Musk’s right-wing views, Tesla and EV owners skew more Democratic and progressive than drivers of any other brand. This makes them more likely to dump their cars from political pressure. 

Edmunds found that buyers searching for new cars are also, increasingly, walking away from Teslas—just 1.8% of surveyed buyers are shopping for one compared with 3.3% as recently as November. It’s unlikely that right-wing buyers will show up in droves to replace cratering demand, even as Musk gains favorability among Republicans, as Republicans are vastly less likely to buy an EV for their next vehicle.

Concerningly for current owners, as values collapse further, new Teslas will become comparatively worse deals. Due to Tesla’s direct-sales model, it has a much stronger incentive to move inventory than most other automakers, which makes further fire sale incentives likely—and risks creating a negative feedback loop. 

Even worse for current owners, it may not even be a wise financial choice to sit on a rapidly depreciating Tesla. Tesla insurance rates have long been well above average, with premiums coming in somewhere between an average Aston Martin and an average Porsche policy. This is thanks to poor parts availability, a shortage of trained technicians, and complex repairs. 

With Musk and Tesla as symbols of the Trump administration, it’s made Teslas a magnet for vandalism, and insurers warn that could drive premiums up even higher. While the U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, has threatened to hit Tesla vandals with domestic terrorism charges, it remains unclear if she has the legal standing to do so and if it will actually deter vandalism, especially if Musk touches the third rail of American politics and guts Social Security as he has threatened to.

Even if you plan to drive your Tesla into the ground, if the company hits dire straits, it’s likely to be more difficult to maintain than most other cars. Tesla is much more vertically integrated than other automakers, meaning that it manufactures most components internally, limiting the number of third-party replacement parts available.

Its direct-sales model means that if the company needs to cut costs, there are no dealer franchises with other brands on hand to help offload the burden: either the company sells enough cars to keep its outlets and service centers—which it also directly owns—open, or it has to close them. A steady stream of parts and service is dependent on the company’s continued health, and even if its U.S. market sales recover, Tesla is currently facing brutal headwinds in both China and Europe.

If this has convinced you to sell, there are a handful of competitors specifically enticing Tesla owners to defect to another brand right now. Polestar is currently offering $20,000 in discounts for Tesla trade-ins on Polestar 3 leases. Lucid is offering a $4,000 bonus to Tesla owners. 

Still, I’ll admit: it’s likely that if you trade in a Tesla today, you’ll take a haircut, given how rapidly the cars have depreciated—but it’s fairly likely to get worse as the months wear on. It may well be better to rip the band-aid off now. 

If this hasn’t convinced you yet, however, there’s still my most important argument.

The Moral Case To Trade In Your Tesla

Musk appears to be an aspiring oligarch. He purchased one of the largest social media sites on Earth and turned it into a right-wing propaganda outlet. He then spent $290 million on supporting Republicans in the 2024 elections. That likely won't track with the traditional politics of most Tesla owners; a level of apparent corruption happening concurrently should be concerning to anyone. 

Since then, he has received unprecedented direct support for Tesla from the federal government, including a brazenly unethical car-sales-pitch performed by Trump on the White House lawn and an FBI task force dedicated to protecting Tesla’s cars from vandalism.

He has parlayed his influence and wealth into an unprecedented amount of access, via his special advisory role to the president and “DOGE”, to sensitive governmental information and funding. DOGE’s haphazard behavior is actively making civil servants’ lives more stressful. DOGE overstepped any constitutional justification to shut down the humanitarian USAID organization, potentially harming tens of thousands of people and irreparably damaging America's standing on the international stage. His DOGE-directed cuts to the IRS are estimated to cost the federal government $500 billion in revenue, not cost savings, this year alone. And Musk has made frequent comments about the need to cut entitlement programs, which he calls "the big one."

Musk himself has repeatedly espoused versions of the Great Replacement Theory, a discredited extremist view that repackages white supremacist ideology to paint immigration as a plot to destroy the West. He believes birth control and abortion could “cause the collapse of civilization”. He has publicly retweeted posts stating that “Hitler didn’t murder millions”. At Trump's inauguration, he performed a gesture that looked like a Nazi salute, and then when pressed on it, joked about Nazis.

Most of his views are abhorrent to an overwhelming majority of Americans, and he himself is wildly unpopular. While some corrections can (hopefully) be made in the 2026 and 2028 elections, Musk and DOGE have moved fast enough that it’s likely the federal government is already permanently damaged. Stopping him quickly is the only way to limit the carnage. As an unelected and unaccountable “advisor”, the American public has little recourse.

Except via Tesla. Musk's influence largely has stemmed from his wealth. A third of his $300 billion in net worth is directly from Tesla stock. Tesla—as a direct-sales consumer-goods firm that owns both distribution and service networks—is uniquely vulnerable to a widespread boycott of its products, both on the new and used markets. Indeed, one of the very few parts of Tesla’s business that continued to increase in revenue in Q4 2024 was its service business, which means depriving the company of that revenue—by not buying a new Tesla, encouraging others to avoid them too, and trading in your Tesla and letting it sit on a dealer lot—is extremely impactful to the company’s short-term prospects and to Musk’s net worth.

It is possible that sustained pressure will heavily damage the company and reduce Musk’s wealth and power. With other environmentally friendly cars on the market (and a growing EV reuse and recycling industry for Teslas that end up utterly worthless), there are very few downsides to trading your Tesla right now. You can stop supporting the world's richest man and his quest to remake the government in his own image. You might just stop him in his tracks entirely in the process. 

If you were waiting for a sign, this is it. It’s time to sell. 

Victoria Scott is an author, photographer, and auto journalist with bylines at Motor1, Road & Track, Insider, The Drive and other publications. She lives in Seattle with her wife and their cat, Burt. She can be found on Bluesky, Patreon, and her personal website.

Clarification: An earlier version of this story reported that Elon Musk is the majority shareholder of Tesla; he is in fact the largest single shareholder. This story has been updated to reflect this. 

More Tesla Coverage

Even in a year marked with all kinds of uncertainty, the American electric vehicle market continues to grow rapidly. But what's holding that growth back isn't necessarily the cars themselves—it's the charging.

So much of the electric world is about infrastructure, from making sure customers have good home charging options to giving them ways to easily handle road trips and off-the-beaten-path errands with quality public DC fast charging. The first one is generally seamless and great; the second one can be a real crapshoot.

Enter Mercedes-Benz, which is taking some of the boldest steps among traditional automakers to ensure that DC public fast charging doesn't just magically get better on its own. On this week's episode of the Plugged-In Podcast, my co-host Tim Levin and I are thrilled to chat with Andrew Cornelia, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging. 

We've covered this division of Mercedes here quite a bit. It's working to establish a vast network of seamless, high-quality public charging stations across the U.S. with amenities like restrooms, snacks and 400-kilowatt chargers that actually work every time.

Cornelia knows his stuff; he worked at Tesla's charging operation for almost five years, and his operation seeks to ensure that the rest of us can eventually enjoy just as good an experience. Mercedes' network of fast-charging stations is open to all EVs, not just ones from the Silver Arrow brand, although those owners do get special perks and preferential treatment.

Tune in to hear Cornelia's ideas about how to make charging better, plus what he really thinks of BYD's new five-minute fast-charging breakthrough.

Also on today's podcast, we talk about Rivian's new Also micro-mobility brand. I'll also brief you on my impressions of Hyundai's wild new Savannah, Georgia Metaplant that's home to the American-made Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9. Oh, and tariffs? It wouldn't be the Plugged-In Podcast if that didn't come up. 

Our podcast is available on the InsideEVs YouTube channel later today, plus all major audio platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. New episodes drop every Friday.

If you haven't already, please go subscribe and leave us a review. Thanks for tuning in!

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

Previously On The Pod

One of the greatest advantages electric vehicles have over internal combustion vehicles is their ability to recover energy while slowing down. Instead of wasting the kinetic energy, EVs convert it to electricity, feeding power back into the battery. You can’t do that with gas cars. Once fuel is burned, it’s gone, you’re never getting it back.

But there’s another way to conserve energy: coasting. That’s when you get up to speed and then let the vehicle glide freely with minimal power inputs. So, which technique is better for squeezing the most range out of an EV? Regenerative braking or coasting? I decided to try and find out.

Volkswagen loaned me the ID. Buzz last week for this test. I drove it in New York City and its suburbs for roughly 250 miles, comparing efficiency in different conditions. The ID. Buzz offers regenerative braking with two modes: a default "D" (Drive) mode for light coasting and a "B" mode for more aggressive braking. (In general, the Volkswagen Group is skeptical of true one-pedal driving like many EV makers offer, so B mode kind of replicates that experience—until you have to use the brake pedal to stop.) 

In short, I found that regen was more effective overall but it wasn’t always the best way to maximize range.

The ID. Buzz gets 86 kilowatt-hours of usable battery capacity. The EPA-rated 231-mile range on the AWD trims gives it an efficiency of 2.7 miles per kilowatt-hours. That’s not what I observed in either mode, but it was somewhat in that territory.

The impact of coasting on efficiency depends on several factors: topography, aerodynamics, vehicle weight, driving style and even weather. It’s the most effective on flat terrain and gentle downhill slopes. But if you live in a hilly area, coasting loses its edge, since the energy saved going down gets used while climbing back up. Then again, that applies to regen, too.

The ID. Buzz, even though I love its design, has the proportions of an average Manhattan apartment. It’s tall, boxy and not exactly aerodynamic, even though its surfaces are relatively smoother than other vans.

It measures 195.4 inches long, which is nearly five meters. It has a curb weight of a whopping 6,197 pounds (2,811 kg), of which the battery alone accounts for 1,230 pounds. For reference, the base Chrysler Pacifica is 1,700 pounds lighter. That means the ID. Buzz doesn’t slice through the air, but once it gets going, it’s like a boulder barrelling down the hill. It requires plenty of stopping power—it gets disc brakes upfront but drum brakes at the rear, which is a shame for something that’s so heavy.

By default, regenerative braking is off. To activate it, you have to twist the column-mounted gear selector from “D” to “B.” Even then, the regen is mild, not the aggressive one-pedal driving experience found in some EVs. You’ll still need to use the brake pedal to come to a full stop.

Also, regenerative braking never truly deactivates. Sure, the vehicle coasted every time I lifted my foot off the throttle. But pressing the brake pedal still activates recuperation. I also drove in Comfort mode. That’s how this van is meant to be driven. It doesn’t like being hustled. And besides, most owners will likely drive it in Comfort mode, too, especially if they’re ferrying passengers.

All these variables influenced the efficiency numbers I calculated and the ones indicated by the vehicle’s computer.

On a bright sunny day with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees F (10 degrees C), I observed a maximum efficiency of 3.2 miles per kilowatt-hour while coasting. That’s around suburban New York City roads. That number tanked when it started pouring and I got stuck in traffic while returning to the city. 

Coasting is inefficient in stop-and-go traffic, but on open roads, the ID. Buzz required minimal throttle inputs to keep going. Over 103 miles of driving in mixed conditions, of which 70% of the drive was in NYC suburbs and the rest in the city, the calculated efficiency was 2.1 miles per kilowatt-hour while coasting. The efficiency indicated by the on-board computer was 2.4 miles per kWh.

For reference, the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 deliver well above 3.0 miles per kWh, but they aren't brick-shaped like the ID. Buzz. It’s also worth noting that this is based on the energy delivered by the 350 kW Electrify America stations. It does not factor in the energy losses, so the energy accepted by the vehicle was likely slightly lesser and hence the efficiency marginally higher than calculated.

After switching regenerative braking on, the efficiency improved noticeably.

Over 90-odd miles of driving in the same mixed traffic conditions, the calculated efficiency was 2.5 miles per kWh and the indicated efficiency was 3.0 miles per kWh. In the city, I observed this number climb to 3.2 miles per kWh, identical to what the ID. Buzz delivered while coasting on open roads.

So even though regen was better overall, the best way to squeeze the most range is to use a bit of both.

Regen shines in stop-and-go traffic, and coasting is great on open roads. Instead of keeping your foot planted all the time, you can let go if road conditions allow the vehicle to cruise smoothly.

Some automakers allow a higher degree of customization with their regenerative braking settings. Arguably chief among them is the Hyundai Motor Group, whose EVs have multiple strength levels set with paddle shifters on the steering wheel. As many tests have shown, including the video below, using regenerative braking is the best way to maximize around-town efficiency. On the highway, you may prefer to just coast instead. 

Also, remember that anticipation and defensive driving can help your efficiency. If you see brake lights on the cars ahead, don’t accelerate and then slam on the brakes when you get closer—that’s just a waste of electrons. You don’t have to hypermile like a saint, but smart driving habits benefit both your wallet and your vehicle in terms of maintenance and repairability.

All said, it’s impractical to switch between coasting and regen every single time. Unless you’re laser-focused on eking out every last mile of range from the battery, leaving regen activated should suffice for the majority of drivers.

Have a tip? Contact the author: suvratkothari@insideevs.com

Related Stories

When you go electric, you probably won't go back. Unfortunately, actually doing so isn't always easy, and not many folks are eager to help. Luckily for you, we're always down to pick up the slack when the automakers, dealers or even other news sources might let you down.

That's why we've launched E-Mail, a new feature on our weekly Plugged-In Podcast. While my co-host Tim Levin and I love to dive into the news, discuss our latest reviews and interview special guests, we're also going to start answering your questions about EVs, the auto industry, the future of technology and anything else you need to know.

Do you want to know which EV is right for your budget? Are you torn between going electric, buying a hybrid or keeping your old gas-burner a bit longer? Do you struggle to understand autonomous driving, electric charging or how China's rising auto sector figures into all of this? We're here to help. 

Consider our advice operation open for business. Got a question? Drop us a line at podcast@insideevs.com. Our show is available on the InsideEVs YouTube channel, plus all major audio platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. New episodes drop every Friday.

For better or worse, most drivers are still bound by the gas station paradigm. You know, drive the car until it's almost empty, then go to a gas station and fill up. Electric vehicle veterans know that the many different ways you can charge open up new possibilities, but for most folks, the idea that an EV can't "fill up" as fast as a gas car is an instant dealbreaker. 

I don't blame them for that. Modern EVs are only starting to go mainstream, and we've had the gas-car experience for a century. Yet even as the public charging experience in the U.S. and Europe gets better and faster with each passing year, China's EV sector is light-years ahead. 

On today's episode of the Plugged-In Podcast, my co-host Tim Levin and I are covering two topics related to charging. The first is BYD's apparent breakthrough in five-minute DC fast charging, which starts with two new EVs priced around just $38,000. That technology made headlines all over the world, and has led many investors to doubt whether Western automakers can ever catch up to China. 

Next, we move to a Consumer Reports study that says the American DC public fast charging experience still isn't great, unless you're a Tesla owner. Shocker, I know.

Many networks are getting better, while some, like Shell Recharge, perform so poorly that we've sometimes wondered if they're a part of some counter-EV operation by the oil companies. (I'm being facetious when I say that. Mostly.)

Finally, we wrap up by getting Tim's impressions of the new Cadillac Escalade IQ. We feel bad as EV fans for saying this, but we both love the Escalade. It's large, in charge and unbeatable for comfort. Thankfully, it has an electric version now that plays all of those hits, except better—if you can pay for the privilege. 

Our podcast is available on the InsideEVs YouTube channel later today, plus all major audio platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. New episodes drop every Friday.

If you haven't already, please go subscribe and leave us a review. Thanks for tuning in!

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

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Mercedes-Benz has just pulled the wraps off its brand-new third-generation CLA-Class, which brings important changes to a familiar formula. The "entry-level" Mercedes is now available as a pure EV or with hybrid power, and it has a lot of impressive engineering under its tapering body. It brings some impressive range and efficiency claims to the table. And it's familiar enough to avoid some of the design mishaps of the unloved Mercedes EQ cars.

Yet while you can't fully judge a car until you drive it, I'm a bit concerned that Mercedes' high-tech EV do-over might be more compromised than we had hoped. 

The CLA’s biggest plus points remain the way it looks—you’re not going to mistake this for something else—and the fact that it runs on an 800-volt electric architecture, which allows it to charge quickly and run efficiently. It also has remarkable electric range for its battery capacity, with a WLTP rating of almost 500 miles (800 kilometers), which should still be around 400 miles (643 km) on the EPA’s more realistic test cycle.

Yet after seeing it in person, I have to say it’s not a car that I instantly fell in love with.

It's an improvement over, say, an EQS SUV, but this design is still not quite as sleek and elegant as the older car. The new CLA may only be just over an inch taller, but it looks taller than that compared to the low-slung stance of its predecessor. The front end, with its full-width light bar inspired by the EQXX, looks good, but the lights seem a bit too high-set, and they make the front fascia and the entire vehicle look tall, as does the side profile.

Mercedes has tried to mask how much metal it has on the sides by giving the car creases on the fenders above the wheels. They are meant to make the car look like it has muscular haunches, which it only really has in the rear, but the creases still look good in the front too, even if they are a bit deceiving.

It looks its best from the rear, with its taillights connected through a series of small vertical LED light bars. The lights are quite high-set, but they look excellent in combination with the typical CLA/CLS fastback roofline and the tapering aesthetic. The subtle deck lid ducktail spoiler looks really good, too.

2025 Mercedes CLA in Stuttgart

The CLA debuts Mercedes’ new interior design direction, which is still very screen-centric, with up to three screens in the front. However, there’s no screen in the back, like you get as standard on a Tesla Model 3. Mercedes doesn’t seem to care much about the rear occupants in this car, who have less space in the new car than they did in the one it replaces.

To make matters worse, in the CLA EV, the battery that’s in the bottom of the car pushes the floor up and, along with it, the rear passengers’ legs. It also makes rear footwells too shallow, and you can’t slide your feet under the front seat. This may not be a comfy place to travel long distances.

Thankfully, the hybrid CLA doesn’t have this problem, and the rear seats should be much more comfortable. Mercedes wins back some points with the standard panoramic glass roof, which extends all the way to the back and makes sitting in the rear more pleasant. But sitting in the back of a Model 3 is better in every way, even when it comes to perceived quality.

While we used to criticize Tesla for its often shoddily assembled interiors that didn’t seem built to last, the manufacturer has clearly been listening. In the latest Model 3, not only do you get a rock-solid build (which should also the case with the CLA), but you also get soft-touch materials on most surfaces, making the car feel nice and plush.

The CLA’s cabin has exclusively hard plastics, with padded material only on the center part of the door cards. The places you touch regularly feel nice, but in the Model 3, even the ones lower down or in harder-to-reach places feel nice. I honestly can’t believe I’m rating a Tesla’s interior perceived quality higher than that of a Mercedes, but this is my empirical conclusion after experiencing both.

Then we get to the elephant in the room, which is the CLA EV itself. It’s inconceivable to me how Mercedes managed to get the CLA to weigh over two metric tons (4,400 pounds) in its base single-motor configuration or over 2.1 tons (4,630 lbs) for the dual-motor. As was pointed out by our colleagues at Motor1, that’s more than an S-Class, which is just plain ridiculous, and it raises some questions.

We again have to look at the segment benchmark, the Tesla Model 3, which weighs under 1.8 tons (3,968 lbs) in single-motor guise with the long-range battery. That’s a difference of around 300 kilograms (661 lbs), and it makes us wonder how and why Mercedes allowed the CLA to put on this many pounds. Carrying around that much weight also affects braking, increases tire wear and generally makes the car worse.

It’s surprising to me that Mercedes allowed the CLA to get this overweight and not do anything about it. The internet tore another new German plug-in, the BMW M5, a new one for how much it weighed, and the same thing is already starting to happen with the CLA too. If you read the comments below articles written about its debut, the weight issue pops up every single time, often multiple times.

The CLA EV may dip below the 4,400-pound mark with the smaller LFP battery pack, which should also be lighter. Even so, it will still likely be heavier than a Hyundai Ioniq 6 single-motor long-range, which weighs just over 4,200 pounds.

This isn’t what I had in mind when I first heard Mercedes was turning the CLA into a bespoke EV. Being overweight was one of the things I was sure this was going to avoid, and I was also expecting a flat floor in the back and ample legroom. At least it has a frunk because if it didn’t have one, it would have attracted plenty of criticism for that as well.

I’ve only compared the CLA to the Model 3 and Ioniq 6, but there are also dozens of rivals from China, which offer very competitive specs while undercutting all of the models above.

As a fan of the first two generations of CLA, which I’ve experienced in many powertrain configurations and always found them to be good-looking and nice to drive. Now it's part of Mercedes' move away from having parallel lineups of ICE and EV vehicles, as well as the EQ naming strategy, offering both versions of the same models instead, like BMW or Genesis. That's likely a smart decision as electrification becomes more common and more and more ordinary buyers opt for EVs, but want the kinds of cars they're familiar with from companies like Mercedes. If this is the way things are going for the Stuttgart brand, I'll save my final judgment for when I drive it.

But I'm hoping that all this extra weight and a fairly cramped interior won't totally compromise the CLA experience.

More On The Mercedes CLA

We've always said that if the Toyota bZ4X ever got some upgrades to its range, charging and performance, it could be a top-tier electric vehicle. Now, that finally seems to be happening, and Toyota also has a lot more EVs headed our way as sales take off. Is the electric era of Toyotathon upon us at last?

It's Friday, and that means another episode of the Plugged-In Podcast. This week, Senior Reporter Tim Levin and I discuss what's new at Toyota and Lexus after I covered the news from the automaker's Kenshiki Forum in Brussels last week. Let's just say there's a lot to be excited about soon, if the world's largest automaker can deliver.

We're also on deck to discuss President Donald Trump's impromptu one-make White House auto show this week, and whether it will actually move the needle for Tesla's sales—and maybe even change what some of Trump's biggest fans think of EVs. 

Finally, we're debuting a new feature: reader mail! Or listener mail, in this case, I suppose. In this segment, Tim and I will answer all of your burning questions about the EV world—the market writ large, buying them, selling them, owning them, charging them and almost anything else you want to know. We're kicking it off with a note from a listener who's considering dumping his Toyota Sienna minivan for an EV. But is there any electric option that can replicate all of the long-distance driving and gear-hauling he does? 

Consider our advice operation open for business. Got a question? Drop us a line at podcast@insideevs.com.

Our podcast is available on the InsideEVs YouTube channel later today, plus all major audio platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. New episodes drop every Friday.

If you haven't already, please go subscribe and leave us a review. Hope you enjoy!

Got a topic or guest you'd like to see featured on the show? Contact us: podcast@insideevs.com. 

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The primary reasons for China's EV market dominance are myriad and well-trod. China put serious government money behind EVs. It cut red tape, incentivized buyers, and provided cheap property. Homegrown companies with minimal or no experience building ICE vehicles saw the transition as an opportunity, not a chore, as many Western companies clearly perceive it. Yet one factor is as under-covered as it is important.

A far larger proportion of Chinese EV buyers are first-time car buyers. Many more had owned only one or two cars before. That's key for one main reason: In China, EVs were free from much of the baggage still weighing them down here. 

Ford's CEO recently called the economics of large SUV EVs "unresolvable." I agree, which is why EREVs and hybrids will stick around in those segments for a long time.

The average new-car buyer in the U.S., meanwhile, was around 51 years old in 2022, per Cox Automotive. Even the average used-car buyer was 49, and both groups had higher-than-average income. These are relatively wealthy people who grew up in a country dominated by cars. They were raised in internal-combustion cars. They were raised when air travel was far less affordable and popular, too, which means almost every one of them has a memory of a family road trip in a gas car. They've purchased gas cars for most of their adult lives, and relied on them for a vast majority of their travel.

Now, they are being told that EVs are here to replace them. But for the big, heavy vehicles most buyers are accustomed to, road-trip capability requires a huge upfront price premium, a suite of planning and charging apps and a longer, more arduous driving experience. They're being told to buy a product sold by the company that has long sold them gas cars, in the shape of the car they know, for more money and with, on average, worse reliability.

So of course they're pissed off.

I know I am. In seeking to replace a $2,500 Chevy Tahoe for camping duty, I leased a Chevy Blazer EV. I love driving it around town, but its eco tires limit its off-pavement capability. Its seats don't fold all the way flat, so I can't sleep in it when I camp, as I do in the Tahoe. When I took it on a 1,000-mile round trip to Utah, I lost hours of time charging.

I had to bail on the chance to see an awesome overlook in Bryce Canyon because of range anxiety, and because I had only one of the two necessary Tesla charger adapters. The one I did have allowed me to use Superchargers, but that required parking across two stalls, which made me look like a jerk. The real kicker: With prices ranging from $0.53 to $0.65 per kWh at many stations, I didn't save any money over doing the trip in a gas crossover.

The experience sucks.

I have not found a 1:1 EV replacement for this, because frankly the idea of a 27-year-old with no kids driving an SUV big enough to sleep in is absurd. It doesn't need an EV analog.

So if you're approaching this from a gas-car paradigm, I get it, I really do. You think about road trips. You think about driving into the backwoods. You think about summer trips to Hilton Head from Cleveland, 14 hours away. You think about screaming kids at rest stops, and all the hassle of learning a new way to do something your gas car solved decades ago.

But an EV isn't a gas car. It's entirely different. That means it comes with a fundamentally different trade-off, which is well-covered: The current versions are either too expensive or bad at road trips.  

I like my Blazer EV, but I would never have paid the $52,000 sticker price. I got it for $273 a month with $2,000 due at signing, with the dealer and GM taking a loss. That's a sign that these big, expensive EVs aren't really winning customers on merit.

Those two problems are linked. Because when you release EVs from the expectation of road trips, everything else fades away.

Take the Blazer. What I've described in vivid detail covers three total days in about eight months of ownership. They spanned the edge of my edge case. A 1,000-mile trip to rural America. That's the dream of the American road trip many of us share. Yet it's nothing near the primary utility of our car. I've lived in California for about three years now, and it's only the second time I've ever gone more than 500 miles on a trip. My far more frequent trips to Joshua Tree National Park and Anza Borrego Desert State Park are well within the Blazer's easy reach. Even these, though, are outliers. 

Despite all of the ads showing mountain trails, despite the marketing onslaught for towing, or performance, or "finding new roads" or conquering the Great West, that's maybe one-tenth of every mile your car drives. In reality, it takes you to work. Or school. To visit friends. The city next door. It shuttles you from one place to another, with no real heroic adventure involved. 

Listen, it would be sick if this is what day-to-day life was like. But in seeking to solve the absolute edge case—people who go off-roading in large luxury SUVs—the Hummer EV got more expensive, more absurd and way heavier. Maybe we can leave rock-crawling to hybrids and EREVs.

For all of those cases, an EV is a far better solution. Yet our focus on the alternative case—road trips—has dampened that advantage. EVs require almost no regular maintenance, with sealed motors and far simpler drivetrains. Yet when you force an EV to fit into the road-trip paradigm, it must be heavy, which means you spend more on tires. EV simplicity means they should be cheaper to produce, too. Except, you guessed it, that giant-ass battery makes it $15,000 more expensive than the gas version.  

I know, I know. You need to take that road trip. Though it happens once a year, it is vital, for whatever reason. Trust me, I am not coming for you. I'm making the opposite point: Let gasoline handle these duties for the time being. Offer extended-range EVs, and hybrids and even full gas powertrains to those who frequently travel long distances. Gas trucks are incredible machines, and it'll take a while before any EV can fully replace the Ford F-150 for the same price. Leave road trips to the fossil-burners. Lord knows they can handle it. 

The Lightning is a great truck, but it's a tough sell against a gas F-150 that's far cheaper and can tow anything, anywhere.

That'll free up EV designers to focus on the actual advantages of this transition. Automakers are already choosing to make range-extended EVs with small batteries and gas powertrains for further endurance. As an alternative, they'll offer a more expensive pure-EV play, with hundreds of miles of EV range. 

Flip that script. Offer the same, small battery pack on both options. Give the EV a 150-mile range and make road-trip capability the upsell. Hell, offer range-extender rentals, or the ability to rent more battery modules. Dealership service centers will surely be looking for new ways to stay busy as EVs quickly eclipse ICE reliability.

Offer us low-range EVs that are actually exciting, too. Buyers may have scorned the Nissan Leaf and Mini Cooper SE, but did planners ever consider that Americans won't buy hatchbacks regardless of propulsion? Offer a city SUV, with enough space and range to take your mountain bike to the woods, but a $30,000 asking price before credits. If Chevy can offer a 319-mile Equinox EV for $35,000, even greater savings seem possible. 

The Chevy Bolt could handle anyone's commute and even handle medium-length road trips. If someone can manage to build one with more sex appeal than a laser printer, that could be the electric people's car we need.

Make a luxury version, too. I'd be happy to keep my beat-up gas truck forever if my daily driver was a leather-wrapped electric pod with the best speakers and seats I've ever had. With small motors and a small battery, the simplicity of the design means luxury trimmings should be more accessible than ever. Make an electric Ford Ranger, too, and tell anyone who wants road-trip range to get the hybrid. The EV is the cheaper, simpler, smoother option, not a 1:1 replacement for a product that's already nearly perfected.

EVs are already taking off in the commercial van sector, because buyers in that segment focus on what they actually do day-to-day, rather than on the once-a-year trip they may eventually take.

This is an opportunity for reinvention. But it requires us to ditch the binary of EVs being better or worse than gas vehicles. It requires us to stop approaching these as cars with batteries, and instead as a new transportation option. It will not replace gasoline in every possible scenario, at least not yet. But for the lives we actually live, for 90% of the miles we actually drive, this is the ideal solution.  

EVs aren't gas cars. That's a good thing.

Contact the author: Mack.Hogan@insideevs.com. 

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