Lincoln Corsair plug-in hybrid review, Lightyear 0 solar car, Fisker Pear EV details, Cadillac Celestiq peek: Today’s Car News

How many miles apart is the federal government asking for EV fast-chargers?

Which “expensive” electric car did a Senator drive to Washington, D.C.?

This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending June 10, 2022.

Ford’s Lincoln luxury brand doesn’t yet offer any EVs, but we recently drove the next-closest thing. In a review of the Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring plug-in hybrid, we found that it delivers some impressive hybrid gas-mileage numbers and electric miles, but its glimpse of an electric future is unfocused. 

The federal government spelled out more about the national EV charging network due to be funded—at least initially—by the infrastructure law passed late last year. In Federal Highway Administration guidance, it lays out some minimums: four 150-kw DC fast-charging connectors per station, every 50 miles—and with some requirements for accessibility and charging. 

What had been a federal probe of Tesla vehicles over their Autopilot features’ propensity to lead to collisions with emergency responders’ vehicles was this week elevated to an Engineering Analysis. Affecting 830,000 Tesla vehicles from the 2014-2022 model years, it’s now one step short of a safety recall that might demand some sort of over-the-air fix. 

2023 Polestar 3

Polestar previewed its upcoming electric performance SUV, the Polestar 3, with an unobscured first photo this week—plus a confirmation that it’s due for a full reveal in October and a production start in early 2023. Expect it to rival the Tesla Model X Plaid, BMW iX M60, and Audi E-Tron S.

The production version of the Lightyear One solar car was revealed, with specs that deliver on many of the technology targets announced earlier on. Owners of the Lightyear 0 making a 22-mile daily commute might not need to charge for months, the company suggests. It’s pricey, through, at about $263,000—and so far limited to Europe only. 

Teaser for Fisker Project PEAR due in 2024

Two upcoming electric models were given a little more detail this week with teaser photos. With a new interior sketch of the upcoming $29,900 Fisker Pear EV, the electric automaker showed how it plans to make the most out of interior space and outward visibility, in a compact vehicle that could return up to 310 miles of range. And the first photos that Cadillac provided of its upcoming flagship electric car, the Celestiq, were just up-close. And yet one of them was enough to assure us that in its upcoming show car form this model hasn’t become another rugged crossover.

The Hyundai Ioniq hybrid and plug-in hybrid—once challengers to the Toyota Prius and Prius Prime—will soon be discontinued, the international automaker confirmed Monday. With the buzz-worthy Ioniq 5 now occupying the badge, and starting a sub-brand that will soon include a sedan and SUV, it’s making way for the future—although Hyundai’s U.S. arm seemed to leave the door open for a brief 2023 model year. 

2022 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid

A California study spot-checking DC fast-charging connectors found some serious reliability issues in DC fast-charging infrastructure for one of the nation’s largest EV markets—underscoring that networks may be following a warped definition of uptime. 

Despite the misrepresentation by a major news outlet, Senator Stabenow from Michigan managed to underscore a money-saving point about EVs. That “expensive” electric car she drove to Washington, D.C., was the Chevy Bolt EUV, a version of the cheapest EV on the market. 

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV

We brought two pieces of news from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) that signaled some good and some bad about current conditions and clean energy. The prolonged drought in California will increase the carbon cost of the electricity that EVs plug into this year; while about 15% of the state’s electricity comes from hydropower in a normal year, it shrinks to 8% in a drought year. But on a national level, with price hikes for coal and natural gas, the grid will lean toward renewable sources, the EIA anticipated—meaning it and the EVs it charges may get cleaner this summer. 

Sales of Volvo’s electrified vehicles have been surging. Its plug-in Recharge models—with EVs and plug-in hybrids combined—topped 35% of its U.S. sales, and in California, three of four Volvos sold now have charge ports. 

2023 Volvo XC40 Recharge

Remember Tesla’s referral program and its $1,000 incentives and free cars? Yeah, you won’t see anything like that from Polestar, but the all-EV brand did start its own referral program. 

Improved energy density and improved safety are among the advantages of the solid-state battery cells Solid Power aims to deliver to BMW and Ford for evaluation before the end of the year—and it announced it’s just set up a pilot production line for its own internal testing first. 

Solid Power solid-state battery cells

Earlier this spring, a coalition of 17 states and other interests allied to oppose the EPA’s decision to grant California Clean Air Act authority. Now five automakers have stepped up to side with the EPA. 

And are drivers of EVs and hybrids less stressed? That’s what results from a survey conducted by Stellantis’ DS Automobiles suggested—and credit the peace and quiet of electric propulsion for it. 

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